Instalife

Welcome to yet another round-up of some of my instagram snaps from the last few weeks. If you hate this kind of post then do click away now; I’m personally a nosy sod so love seeing what people have been up to!
So, what has April taught me? I’ve totally learnt that Easter without anorexia in my life is so much more fun…and that I’m slightly obsessed with snapping my snacks (I do eat meals too!). I also take far too many photos of Mae and have a bit too much love for Breaking Bad!
How has your month looked? Leave links below…you can see more of my snaps by following me on Instagram…leave links to yours below as well.

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From Day to Night with Duo Boots

Recently I was invited to take part in a competition involving shoes. Anyone who knows me knows what I am like when it comes to footwear so it should be no surprise that I was more than willing to participate in this little challenge set by the folks at Duo Boots
I was sent a gorgeous pair of shoes to style up for this blog post, to style twice in fact- for a daytime look and again for a night/evening one. I chose a pair of sandals from the gorgeous selection on the website, and what I love most about Duo is that you can select from a range of widths- as someone with feet more like flippers this is a real bonus! I opted for this pair which really are so lovely, made from super soft leather and with the metallic heel, which is the perfect height for all occasions. Duo may seem on the pricey side but I’ve invested before and I will invest again just for the knowledge that the shoes or boots I go for will be tailored to fit my feet…you can’t put a price on quality and comfort!
For my day time look I pulled out my old faithful denim midi skirt from Zara which was a sale steal a few years ago, I think it cost me something like £3.99. I’ve almost got rid of it countless times but I’m glad it’s still in my wardrobe as it’s one of the easiest pieces I own to style and with that Primark Bambi tee that everyone (and their dog) has it made, in my opinion a perfect pairing with the sandals.
For my night time look I decided to debut this gorgeous Lavish Alice giraffe print dress which I was sent a couple of weeks ago. Easily my current favourite dress right now and exactly what I would wear on a night out teamed with some statement jewellery like this gold necklace from Jon Richard and some stacked bracelets from New Look. I’ll be doing a post with more photos of this dress soon as I just can’t get enough of it, but you can see how wonderfully it works with the shoes- the heel matches the jewellery and now I’m just awaiting a reason to wear this exact outfit on an evening out.
How would you have styled these sandals? What do you think of my looks? Click on any of the images to enlarge them.

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Birthday Blooms

Happy Birthday to me! 27 years young today, which makes me feel SO old compared to many bloggers out there! I thought I’d celebrate the day by showing off a gorgeous dress I picked up this week, every body knows that Birthdays mean pretty dresses, right?

Dress c/o F&F | Shoes: Esprit via Sarenza | Satchel c/o Brit Stitch

I was sent this dress as part of F&F’s “How You’re Wearing It” Inspire Me feature, which is perfect for finding ideas on how to wear the season’s hottest trends. I was asked to pick something from the Candy Cool collection, which is chock-full of the most beautiful pastel pieces including this baby blue daisy organza fit and flare dress. I just love this dress, the fit is perfect and I’m loving the combination of my two favourite things right now- pastels and daisies.
When a dress is this pretty I like to keep things quite simple in terms of accessories. I popped on some nude block heeled sandals by Esprit which are the perfect height for day time, and have a lovely double ankle strap detail which stops them being potentially quite bland. I kept jewellery very minimal and just added a vintage style bangle from New Look to bring a touch of sparkle.
I never usually feature my bag on the blog, I tend to use the same one daily and it gets repetetive, however I couldn’t resist pairing my baby pink satchel from Brit Stitch with this dress, making it the perfect outfit for a dinner date or picnic, or for just feeling pretty on a summer day.
Are you loving pastels as much as me? How would you have styled the dress?

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Sarenza Sunday- chic

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that are the best, and when it comes to shoes it doesn’t come simpler or better than the classic black pump. This is a bit of a luxury (read expensive) shoe crush, but hey, it’s my birthday tomorrow and a girl is allowed to dream.
Meet “Love Dance” by Love Moschino from the Boutique section on Sarenza. Aren’t they just the prettiest pumps ever? It’s the metal cut out heart detail that has won me over, and despite costing £155 I’m thinking that actually these aren’t a bad price for something I’d clearly wear every day. If I had the money available I’d be buying these to wear for work- I’m always on the look out for a comfortable flat shoe that has something a little bit different about it, and these fit the bill perfectly.
Have any shoes caught your eye lately?

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Oriflame- The One

New product launches from Oriflame always excite me as I can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be good. Recently they launched a range of products called “The One” and although I couldn’t attend the launch event I was lucky enough to be sent some products from the range to review.
The One brings the latest fashion and beauty trends from around the world with three ranges that cater to all your makeup needs. With names such as High Impact, Everyday Beauty and Longwear it’s easy to pick and choose products that suit you and how you choose to live.
The products I was sent came from the High Impact range, designed to create a bold statement and impressive finishes. This is the range I was most interested in to be honest, I like my products to make a bit of a statement, although Longwear and Everyday Beauty also appeal. Basically, I want everything.
First up was the Colour Impact cream eyeshadows in Beige Pearl and Intense Plum. These are really lovely and apply like a dream both with a gentle finger tip or an eyeshadow brush. Beige Pearl made a brilliant base for powder shadows and also looked great alone with a flick of black liner. Intense Plum is a stunning purple shade and initially goes on quite sheer so you can build it up to get the look you desire. My only gripe was that these did tend to crease towards the end of the day, but I find that with every cream shadow on me so I don’t hold it against this specific shadow.
Next came the Power Shine lipstick in Red Ovation; a lovely orange toned red that is so on trend for Spring/Summer. I’m always a bit shy when it comes to red lips but this built up from a really sheer gloss to a much stronger colour with ease so I could take baby steps in to the world of a bold lip.
Last but not least came the Volume Blase mascara. I didn’t actually hold out much hope for this as I’m not a fan of this type of mascara brush at all. It was a pleasing surprise when this turned out to be up to the usual Oriflame standards though and two coats later I had dramatic, volumatic lashes with no clumping. I love it when a product exceeds expectations and this one certainly did!
Overall this is another stunner of a range from Oriflame, is there anything they can’t do? I’d love to try some products from the other two ranges, and if I do I’ll share my thoughts on the blog. Which products would you most like to try? Oh, and any tips for wearing cream eyeshadows without creasing?

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