Wish List | November

Suede Heel Ankle Boots - £79.99 from Zara (click here to view)

Charlotte Tilbury The Complete Brush Set - £240 from John Lewis (click here to view)

Limited Edition Green Sequin Dress -  £399 from Karen Millen (click here to view)

Monochrome Checked Skinny Scarf - £45 from Ted Baker (click here to view)

Elie Saab Le Parfum 90ml - £78 from Selfridges (click here to view)

Wooden Bar Multi-Row Necklace - £25 from Topshop (click here to view)

Pure Wool Lace Fedora Hat - £35 from M&S (click here to view)

Green Draycott Satchel - £99 from Hobbs (click here to view)

Stripe Texture Pencil - £45 from Oasis (click here to view)

Ciao ♥ Xx 

Follow

Farfetch Competition

Ciao ♥ How are you? I was recently invited to take part in a fashion challenge by the international fashion website Farfetch. The aim of the competition is to create an outfit that is stylish and suitable for the upcoming festive holiday season. This was lots of fun to create as I usually put together outfits featuring high-street brands opposed to luxury ones. Featured below is my entry for this competition. I opted for quite an elegant outfit that has a subtle hint of mysteriousness and grunge. I tried not to choose anything that was too cliché (i.e. a red dress or gold jewellery) as I didn't want my outfit to be a predictable choice for the festive season. I wanted it to stand out from the crowd opposed to blending in. After all, these are the outfits that people tend to remember the most.

Please note that all items featured below are currently available to view or purchase on the Farfetch website. What do you guys think? Is this something you'd wear? :)

Long Kimono Pleated Dress by Iris Van Herpen (click here to view)

Geometric Sandals by Charlotte Olypmia (click here to view)

Tassel Detail Belt by Lanvin (click here to view)

Poppy Cage Knuckle Box Clutch by Alexander McQueen (click here to view)

Tear Drop Earrings by Givenchy (click here to view)

Are you guys following me on Instagram and Twitter? Get following if you’d like to be updated with my day-to-day thoughts and adventures.

Ciao ♥ Xx 

Follow

Product Review | Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

Ciao ♥ How are you? I hope you all had a lovely weekend doing whatever it was you were doing. Hmm! Is it still acceptable to ask about your weekend now that it's Wednesday? (*scratches head hesitantly*) Oh well! I'm sure a lot of you had fun spooking it up on Saturday evening with it being Halloween and all. For those interested (not many I'm sure), I did the very opposite and spent my evening at home in my pjs. Oh, the fun.

Now that the greeting is out of the way, let's get down to some serious skincare business. I'm back today with a review on one of my go-to skincare products, Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream.

 

Elizabeth Arden is a brand I've practically grown up with as my mum used to have quite a few of their fragrances; my favourite being Sunflowers which smells lovely. However, it was only a year or two ago that I became a lot more familiar with their extensive line of skincare products. Thank fudge as my lips are prone to drying out and cracking especially come autumn and winter. I've tried to prevent this from happening by using an array of products, from several different brands, including Blistex, Carmex, Chapstick, Nivea and Vaseline. You name it, I've tried it. Unfortunately, none of these led to any long-lasting effects meaning I was always on the lookout for something new, and something better. That was until I discovered this little gem.

This product comes in a 50ml tube, available in a fragrance-free version and can be used to do the following: "shape brows, revitalize shine, soothe dry hands and smooth cuticles and nails. Also for symptoms of chapping, peeling or flaking due to minor burns, sunburn, windburn, scrapes, abrasions or cracked lips". It also has an expiration date of 36 months which is almost unheard of in the life of a cosmetic or skincare product.

It's available from several different retailers both in-store and online. The price of it does vary depending on where you purchase it from. For instance, it usually retails for £26, as seen on the Elizabeth Arden, Boots, John Lewis and Debenhams website, but I've found it for less than half of that price (£11.65 to be exact) on allbeauty.com. This just happens to be one of my favourite websites ever as their prices are literally unbeatable. Kerching! Y'all can thank me later :)

For those who are still not keen on the price, keep in mind that I've had mine for six months now and there's still plenty of product left despite me applying a liberal amount, a few times a day. Overall, I feel it does a great job at ensuring my lips are kept moisturised and hydrated. Not surprising as this product was first created in 1930 and has been a success ever since. Need I say more?

What do you guys think? Does this sound like a product you'd be interested in? Let me know what your thoughts are in the comment box below.

Ciao ♥ Xx 

Follow

AW15 Fashion Trend #2

Ciao ♥ Brr! Autumn has unwelcoming-ly blown into our lives bringing coming months of cold days, and even colder nights. Although there's little nothing we can do about this, other than dress in accordance to the weather (hello layering), we can certainly take charge as to how fashionably well we do this.

To assist you ladies in doing so, I've put together an 'AW15 Fashion Trends' blog post series which illustrates some of the hottest fashion trends around. The first instalment of this series focused on the 70s which you can have a read about here. In today's instalment I will be briefly discussing this season's obsession with velvet. Oh and when I say briefly, I mean briefly. Hmm! I just don't feel as if there's much for me to elaborate on when it comes to this particular trend. Now that's a first as I usually always have so much to say. Nonetheless, I'm going to try to be as informative as I possibly can in the shortest but sweetest type of way. Here I go...

If you're someone who follows fashion quite closely you'd have noticed that velvet has slowly been creeping up on us, season by season. Despite all of this effort it's never quite made it is as a key seasonal trend, until now that is. Evidently, AW15 has seen the likes of Alexander Wang, Burberry, Christopher Kane, House of Holland and Mary Katrantzou incorporate this super soft fabric into their AW15 RTW collections. Featured below are some of my favourite looks from their catwalk shows.

The majority of trends are usually centred around styles (i.e. monochrome, the 70s and sports luxe) opposed to fabrics. However, this is quite the opposite for AW15 as the high-street stores are flowing with an array of fabrics including corduroy, fur, leather, suede and velvet. Yes! This season it's ALL about fabrics. After all, how many of you sought high and low, in one shop and out another, to find the perfect denim button A-Line skirt or a pair of fitted leather trousers? Ah! Quite a few of you I see. Not at all surprising as both of these statement pieces were made desirable simply because of the composition of them. For instance, this season ladies are opting for a suede or corduroy version instead as it's on trend.

What's your favourite fabric? Do you like velvet? Personally, I once considered it to be a fabric that was best suited to either a child or someone a lot more mature in age. I'm not entirely sure why, I guess I just didn't think of it as being very fashionable. Has anyone else had that thought? Although I'm not completely head over heels in love with it, I'm slowly growing fond of it having recently picked up a black velvet embroidered cardigan from Rokit. It's gorgeous and was only £7. Bargain!

• #FashionTrendFact: Just like faux fur, velvet is better suited to this time of year. The texture, softness and warm essence of the fabric compliments the chilly autumnal days perfectly.
• #FashionTrendTip: Textures are a great way of adding some character and dimension to an outfit. It's also quite fun to stroke (LOL).

Below is a selection of my favourite velvet finds from the high-street and online stores, all of which are currently available to purchase. What are you favourite pieces? Mine has to be the bib front dress and love heel courts ♥

Velvet Jacket - £79.99 from Zara (click here to view)

Faith Navy Asymmetric Textured Velvet Clutch - £29/£23.20 from Debenhams (click here to view)

Velvet Love Heel Courts By Unique - £125 from Topshop (click here to view)

Velvet Scrunchie - £4 from Topshop (click here to view)

Faith Dark Red Velvet High Heeled Sandals - £45/£36 from Debenhams (click here to vew)

Velvet Floral Applique Dress - £210 from Karen Millen (click here to view)

Velvet Print Wrap - £39.50 from M&S (click here to view)

Velvet Ditsy Print Wide Leg Trousers - £45 from Topshop (click here to view)

Velvet Bib Front Dress - £50 from Oasis (click here to view)

Black Velvet Embellished Bow - £3.99 from New Look (click here to view)

White Stuff  Lindy Velvet Skirt - £45 from John Lewis (click here to view)

Velvet & Crystal Choker Necklace - £6 from Accessorize (click here to view)

Eastpak x House of Hackney Limited Edition Velvet Backpack in Carpet Print - £175 from ASOS (click here to view)

Onari Velvet Tank Top - £70 from Reiss (click here to view)

Ciao ♥ Xx 

Follow

H&M Sale Picks

Leather Biker Jacket - £139/£70 (click here to view)

Wool Hat - £19.99/£12 (click here to view)

Long Shirt - £39.99/£27 (click here to view)

A-Line Top - £24.99/£16 (click here to view)

Court Shoes - £39.99/£20 (click here to view)

Striped shorts - £39.99/£25 (click here to view)

Leather Clutch Bag - £39.99/£25 (click here to view)

Suede Handbag - £79.99/£40 (click here to view)

Sleeveless Dress - £49.99/£25 (click here to view)

Top with a Flounce - £12.99/£8 (click here to view)

Belt - £3.99/£2 (click here to view)

Suede Pencil Skirt - £79.99/£50 (click here to view)

Ciao ♥ Xx 

Follow