Must be love

Today I attended a beautiful wedding. I originally didn't think I would be able to attend due to lack of date (how sad!) but a text from a best friend the night before saying that should could come, gave me under 12 hours to prepare myself and find an outfit. On this occasion I am glad I hold the title of 'Clothes Hoarder' and pulled out this never worn little gem. A festive red dress, originally from New Look, purchased on Ebay for under £5. I have never found the right time to wear this as it is a little dressy. But I deem a winter wedding that perfect occasion.  

Went for a bronzed make up look. Using a little Soap and Glory palette that I found in my Christmas stocking. A perfect quad of nude and bronze shades. Also gravitating towards my old trusty Bobbi Brown shimmer brick, with the perfect amount of shimmer and colour. I love the colour of this L'oreal lipstick however a little unimpressed with how long this colour actually stays on the lips. A few reapplies were needed.  

L'oreal Paris- Collection Privee by Eva

Soup & Glory Lid stuff

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Compact- Bronze

Annie x

Party cleanser

The party season is in full swing and I myself have been hitting the town for the last 4 weekends straight. For someone who has a deep fondness of my pyjamas and dressing gown, this busy partying schedule is commendable. 

Unfortunately not managing to capture many of my past outfits of the nights, but with the aid of self timer I managed to get a quick snap of last nights. A great party piece of mine is this find from the girls section in M&S, bought for £12. The advantage of being a petite lady like myself allows me to just about get away with an age 13 that just about covers my derrière. But hey, what else says party like all over sequins and a flash of thigh!  

After a combination of long island ice teas and £1 rose wine it is fair to say I am not looking or feeling my freshest. In comes the face cleansers. You see, it is very hard to remove the nights make up with burger in one hand and a facial wipe in the other. So going in full hog this morning.

Starting my using the L'OREAL cleansing solution. Said to have similar properties to the well raved about Bioderma. With a large cotton pad this removes any trace of the left over make up and grime from the night before. Going in for extra measures with this oil cleanser from Lush called Ultrabland. It cleanses the skin without leaving it dry and irritated. Such a lovely product that makes your skin feel....well as we say here in Wales, Lush!

And last nights Fanta beverage is doing a good job at keeping my mouth from drying up.

Hope everyone is enjoying the festive season.
Annie x 

On strike

I am coming down hard on myself, I have put in place a spending ban. With Christmas on it's way my bank account has received a brutal battering. No item of clothing shall be purchased for myself, by myself, until, until I reach breaking point or payday. Which ever comes first.

I want to start delving into my wardrobe's (yes wardrobe's, plural) and wearing some long forgotten items. So here I am replacing the new with the old. Starting with the eldest item of the outfit, my trusty white jumper. Bought from Primark by my mother in my first year of uni in a bid to keep me warm. Despite a little bobbling under the arms this jumper is in tip top condition and still super soft. 

Added a pop of colour with a lime green shirt purchased this summer in the H&M sale. Unfortunately not coming up so well in these pictures are my navy smart trousers, bought again from Primark. The elasticated waistband is coming in handy with the recent influx of mince pie eating.  

Annie x 

Retro

My outfit for a girls night out. Went to a club that played the finest the 90's had to offer. On that 90's theme Im feeling like a french spice girl in this crop top; which unfortunately aint so crop and too short to be a full length top. Its one for a tucking in job. Loving this green leather look skirt from Asos, they also have a navy blue version that I am still eyeing up. Stuck on my leopard print boots for a bit of a clash and also so I could wear a nice thick pair of ski socks inside. This Cardiff girl (unlike many others) will not be contemplating going out this winter without a coat brrrrrrrr

Striped crop top: New Look sale

Green pleather skirt: Asos £7.50

Leopard print boots: New Look sale

Let us pay some appreciation to the newly appointed photographer, my father. A very patient man indeed.

Annie x

Northern lights

Spent the past weekend up north in Manchester visiting my boyfriend. Out of the 4 days I was up there, 2 of them were spent exploring Afflecks Palace. Such a cool place, could spend all day looking at the beads in the bead shop (sad? yes maybe) 

Caught a quick snap of my outfit of the day. As I mentioned in my last post, glitter is now acceptable to wear, everywhere. 

So here it is in my glittery black jeans. Picked these up in H&M recently for £4. Unfortunately the glitter had transferred onto the seats of a car, which isn't necessarily a bad thing #discocar  

Chanel suit inspired cardigan from Primark, reduced to £5

Light pink T-shirt, ebayed 

I need to get used to the awkwardness of public picture taking. How do people do it!? As usual apologies for the artless picture taking however the boy did come up trumps with a vintage find for me! Stay tuned, it's a good'un.

A lovely weekend trawling the christmas market and drinking mulled cider. With the dark nights here and festive lights, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas....and its only November!

Annie x

Confetti

Here is my new dynamic duo. Christmas is in the air and so that makes glitter acceptable to wear, everywhere!! As soon as I saw this glittery nail varnish in the new Cardiff e.l.f store I wanted it. On to the base coat. Im already an avid fan of MUA's lipstick and eyeshadow and so it was time to branch out to nail varnish. Jumping on the white nail varnish trend with this Tip-Ex inspired nail varnish. 

MUA- All Nude £1

E.L.F- Chic confetti £2.50

So here's the verdict on these new products. MUA you have not impressed me. Not too sure if its just the colour but it took about 3 coats to look...ok. The brush was itzy bitzy and the consistency very watery. This is just going to be used for nail art use in future. Having said this I love the final result. Now lets see how long it stays on.....  

Annie x

E.L.F

For those of you that may not be familiar with eyeslipsface.co.uk let me fill you in. E.l.f is an online makeup website with a large range of products for (you guessed it) your eyes, lips and face....also nails but 'elfn' isn't such an effective name. A lot of their products range from £1.50 to about £10. I had made an online purchase maybe 2 years ago to see what all the hype was about. I ordered a lip gloss, blusher brush and pressed powder and I have to say that the products were so so and didn't see much use on my face. They have since been shunned to the back of my makeup draw. I think the only problems with e.l.f is firstly, the company is still relatively new and so finding useful reviews on products are hard to come by; having said this most items on the website do have reviews from customers. Secondly as it is a website you are unable to swatch samples to check colour and consistency before purchase, also colours transcend completely differently when pictured. However this last aspect has been resolved for me, as e.l.f has come to Cardiff.    

Situated in Morgans Arcade the new and shiney e.l.f store. Myself and my cousin entered like two curious kittens and exiting with hands and arms full of sample swatches. They stock almost everything from the website however limited stock on the lower priced items. Before the store had opened, I was excited thinking I could easily start stocking up on the £1.50 make up brushes, however they only seem to stock the higher priced equivalents.        

After swatching and feeling up every item in the store I ventured online to take advantage of one of e.l.f's many promotions. 50% off when you spend £20!

So I made my order, however then had to wait a whole week for it to arrive, with only an apology email to compensate. Lets hope that the products aren't as disappointing. Reviews to come.... 

Annie x