Friday Lust

Well it’s that time of the week again when I find it incredibly hard to maintain any self control and not splurge on something new just to celebrate the fact that it’s the weekend!

Anyone who knows me will know that I am partial to a bit of fringe detailing but rarely can you get away with it these days unless you go for a full cowgirl-style get up. However, one place it totally rocks is on your feet and luckily for me, the retailers seem to agree this season. Today’s Friday lust is these beautiful Kurt Geiger boots:

Kurt Geiger Serena, £150

Studs and fringing and a cute cuban heel, what’s not to like??? Oh, right… the price tag is not to like for those of us on a budget. So…

Tesco F&F Fringe Detail Boots, £22

Tesco to the rescue!!! I fully admit that given the choice I would rather be rocking the Kurt Geiger bad boys but if you’re on a budget like I am then you can’t go wrong with a £22 pair from the supermarket 🙂

Happy Friday and happy shopping everybody!!! x

Dress for Less (Party Style)

Today I finally got to working on my Christmas party outfit post – all outfits will be under £50 and I mean it. Not Gok Wan style under £50 when you have to customise and accessorise so much it’s more like £500, actually under £50! Anyhow, whilst doing my research I found a fabulous party dress I just had to show you all – it’s a bargain buy but it so reminds me of a dress I am in love with.

If I had more money than I do, I would buy this beautiful Rare Opulence dress for my Christmas party, I love it so much!

It’s just the right mix of attention grabbing and classy but unfortunately for me, £175 is rather over budget. What I found today was the following Amys of Paris dress on the Tesco website for just £35. (A bit pricey for my outfit under £50 post.)

The instant I saw it, it reminded me of the Rare Opulence dress and it’s such a bargain for a dress that looks so good. If I didn’t already have my party dress sorted I would definitely have been placing an order.

Anyone else found any good dress-a-likes??? x

The Best of The Rest Part 2

Wowsers, it feels like forever since I wrote the post about Promod last week. The reason its taken me so long to follow up is that I have been away in the New Forest for the bf’s birthday…but more about that tomorrow.

Today, I am going to introduce you to the other little gems I found when I was mooching around online last week. I’m going to start with this absolutely bargainous little playsuit I found on the Miss Rebel website.  I found it in their clearance sale, reduced from £19.99 to just £9.99 and I’m thinking it will look great this winter with some tights, biker boots (perhaps the Tesco ones) and a leather jacket. It’s still available, along with some other great finds as well 🙂

If you’re on quite a tight budget like many of us are, then you might not be able to afford a real leather jacket to go with this look. My suggestions are: a.) try eBay, you’d be surprised what bargains you can find if you look hard enough and b.) try a faux leather little number such as this one:

This little beaut has just the right attitude and all for only £19.49 from Pink Heart. 

If you do get on the leather (or faux leather) bandwagon, a multitude of awesome dress / jacket combinations will open up to you for this autumn / winter fun time. You’ll probably have loads already in your wardrobe that can be re-vamped this way but if you’re still looking for something new, check out this maxi dress from Miss Lure:

I love it, although it’s just £24.00, I think it has a real All Saints look to it and we all know All Saints dresses cost a lot more than £24.00!

So for now, that is the best of the rest from me but I will continue my hunt. What I really want to find is any independent stores (physical or virtual) and fresh designers. I’ll get back to you on this as and when I find them. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know and I’ll check them out 🙂

Happy Sunday!

Mascara Review – L’Oreal vs. Clinique

My eyes are my favourite part of me – for all the things I hate, they are the one thing I am pleased turned out just the way they are. As such, I like to be able to show my eyes off to their best advantage at all times and an important part of that is getting my mascara right.

A few years ago my step-mum turned me into a big Clinique fan and since then I have refused to use any foundation that is not made by them and until recently I had been the same with mascara. However, I have gone a bit mad with my spending so I thought that I would try an alternative in the interests of frugality!

My usual mascara of choice is Clinique’s High Impact Curling mascara in black (£15.00) – check it out here. It is brilliant! I find the wand really easy to use, I can put on a couple of coats for great oomph and it stays put forever! None melts onto my face and when I take it off I have to use warm water and it comes off in clumps rather than a black mess all over my fingers.

As you can imagine, it was scary moving away from that but I decided I would check out the L’Oreal Volume Million Lashes mascara in Extra Black as it was on offer in Tesco so I got it for £9.22. (Here is the product)

The verdict is mixed – the brush is great at separating my lashes and it really does add volume but I find the brush way too cumbersome for the lower lashes. However once on, my lashes look amazing – better than with my Clinique! BUT…by the end of a day at work, I look a bit like a raccoon with very dark circles under my eyes as my mascara has started to melt. Also, the sheer volume of mascara I have to apply means that getting it off is a messy is business and I tend to have black streaks all over my fingers and face!

So for me, my Clinique is the way forward as it works – day in, day out and I know I can guarantee it will always be on my lashes, rather than under my eyes. However, if you want a fairly cheap mascara to use for occasions only and also want the fake lash effect, you should give the L’Oreal a go.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has any winning tips on how to achieve lasting “wow” eyes 🙂 x

My New Crush… F&F at Tesco Boots!

Last year I bought a pair of grey biker style ankle boots from Tesco which were so super comfy that when the chain on them broke I bought a second pair. (Benefits of bargain fashion right there!) An additional bonus for big foot me was that I needed the 6 as well so I felt like my feet were smaller than they actually are! However this year, the chain has broken on the second pair so I was left with a bit of a dilemma. Back to Tesco I went.

And the trip was rewarded, I found an awesome pair of ankle boots and an awesome pair of long boots – biker rather than riding style. Riding boots are a bit too dull for my liking.

Here are my ankle boots:

They are a bargain at only £19.50 and I wore mine all day last week walking around London when we went to the London Dungeons. They’re still for sale online: F&F Ankle Boots.

And here are my long boots, yet to be worn but that is purely due to the weather being unusually warm. This week is meant to be a lot colder so look out for some pics of them as part of an outfit. These are only £28.00 and also still available online: F&F Long Boots.

Anyone else got any bargainous boots yet this year? I’m so fickle that I’m always after a bargain as I know I’ll probably change my mind about what I want a couple of months later! Until next time x

Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be…An orange monkey!

So with it being Ascot season and all, I will be making my debut Ascot appearance this Saturday (if I don’t drown in the rain first!) and I have a brilliant bright yellow dress for the occasion. Being such an English rose, (or at least that’s how I like to think of it) I decided it was not only advisable but totally essential to have a spray tan to make the yellow really work…so that’s what I did this evening.

This was my first spray tan and what an experience it was. It started with laughter as I dressed myself in nothing but a plastic shower cap and a paper-esque black thong. I could not take my reflection seriously and it was hard to believe my vanity had driven me to such an absurd look!

Then the tanning began, nice and easy until the point that the therapist stretched one arm and one leg forward and the other ones backward and asked me to do the same. Easier said than done. I realised then that I have even less control over my monkey proportioned limbs than I had previously known as she literally had to direct each limb into position…more laughter!

The tanning itself was quick and easy and then I was left to dry off and get dressed. Well what I sight I was! The tan had stuck to all of the fine hairs on my body meaning that my torso looked like that of a man, loads of dark hairs. I have never looked so unattractive in my life! I then proceeded to do a monkey dance in front of the mirror to celebrate, (the therapist had left the room by then) something tells me that I am not the usual sort of client they have, perhaps a bit too childish!!!

What I did realise after the experience though was the value of getting older. Not only did I go for my tan but I then traipsed over to Tesco to pick up dinner whilst wearing a mis-matched joggers and t-shirt combo borrowed from the bf (realised I owned no baggy clothes!). That is something I would never have done a few years ago for fear of being judged, equally the sight of my naked body used to be too scary for me, never mind for a beauty therapist. It appears that it really is true, you do start to accept yourself more as you get older – I had no qualms about stripping down for a tan!

Let’s just hope that my new found confidence has been put to good use and my tan comes out even and not too orange…fingers crossed!