Back to the 90s!

I remember when so called fashionistas spoke of the 90s with disgust and resentment; a decade to be remember for awful hair and fashion. Although that may be true in some cases, there is more to the 90s than too large a perm and outfits consisting of one piece of denim too many. 

I recently was forced to leave work in double denim: due to a wardrobe malfunction! And guess what it didn't look half bad; this made me think, maybe the 90s are not just for the UO hipsters, maybe all of us can pull this look off!

Top H&M
Jacket River Island
Shorts, Earrings and Bracelet TOPSHOP
Bag TOPMAN
Creepers Amazon

So here is my attempt at the 90s, and I must say hipsters watch out! This little outfit is not overly outrageous or grunge, it is not too much of anything! It's a great example of middle ground: middle ground which allows anyone to look cool yet be comfortable. I myself don't really like to stick out too much so this is great. This modern take on the 90s is a look for anyone, if your a little leg shy try a pair of skinny jeans or even a baggy pair just make sure you're careful with the double denim! 

If your careful you can look cool and care-free, if not you might just look like your slightly chubby aunt on holiday!

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River Island Outfit of The Day

All from River Island

Latest Obsession!

All from TOPSHOP

TOPSHOP has blown me away with it's selection of great 'not-so-girly' wear! With the latest craze for pastels and all things bright I have begun to struggle to find things I love to wear. Yes it is important to follow trends and keep up to date, but it is much more important to be comfortable, and wear things that suit you. A feeling of relief rushed over me when I discovered these; I knew TOPSHOP's Facebook page will come to some use one day! I can genuinely say that I will be off at the shops tomorrow searching and trying all these great pieces on.

Short and sweet but thought these were defiantly worth a shout out. 

*Just a side note! Studs can be styled in numerous ways and can make even a feminine, pastel outfit edgy!*

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The Glowing Miracle

*A little review #2*

Benefit's Watt's Up! soft focus highlighter.

Recently I realised my make-up, although doing a great job at making me remotely attractive, was not cutting it! I needed something to brighten up my face and maybe, by some miracle give me a 'summery glow'. After some research I decided I was in dire need of the high beam highlighter so I ventured into my nearest Debenhams. Here I stood inches away from the high beam and this little miracle caught my eye! I decided to conquer my fear of make-up counter shopping and my fear of other people applying my make-up at once and asked if I could see what this highlighter looks like; it turned out to be love at first sight!

This is a very concentrated swatch of the product, it may be even a little darker in person.

Now this is the perfect bronzing, feature-enhancing little miracle! For those that are a little shy, or feel they cannot pull-off bronzer but would like to add a little colour to their face, this is what you need. The picture above shows you what it's like on my skin, however you would never put so much on your face. It blends very nicely into the rest of my make up, however I have not been using the round sponge applicator to apply it; I preferred to either use my fingers our blend out with a stippling brush.

As the benefit counter-girl was applying the highlighter she let a great tip slip! What I like to do with the product is applying it straight to my cheeks by drawing a straight line up my cheekbone and then using my stippling brush and my blusher blend it out! When using a blusher over the product it leaves you with a flawless summery glow whilst still remaining natural-looking. 

So if you'd like to warm up your face and accentuate some areas, this is a great little one-stop product that will do the job. Although a little pricy at £24.50 I do think it is worth it and should last you absolutely ages!

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Another Sale *H&M SALE*

Summer Sales are starting to fill our high-streets and H&M is no exception! H&M has never been known to be pricy but with this sale you can pick up some true bargains. Here is some I have found.

Now who wouldn't want a pair of shoes for￡14.99 or a cute little top for just under￡5. Totally worth a look even if H&M isn't normally your go to for clothing!

Apologies for the short post, all I wanted to do is inform you of this great sale! Nothing more nothing less!

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Best Foot Forward *OFFICE SALE*

Hurry! Run now! The Sale at Office is just days away and you can start planning out what to buy now on the Office online store! If you're still here to read this and haven't clicked straight over to find a great bargain then here is a few things I found, and shall be getting them as soon as I can!

Surprisingly there is a great selection of Vans which I will be more than intrigued to check out, however, unfortunately Toms seem to be a no show in the sale which is a shame but I guess thats all down to the fact they sell well and for a worthy cause. 

As I scoured their website I found a wide selection of shoes both of the spring/summer season and the winter passed, so why not have a look at a great pair of reduced boots for the winter to come. Lets face it a good pair of boots is a timeless staple essential! 

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Top, shorts and bag Topshop.
Shoes Toms.

So this little number has been totally and utterly inspired by a good friend and fellow aspiring blogger Dipdye Doll she's been totally and utterly in love with the dip-dye trend this season, from her gorgeous blonde hair right down to the things she wears! 

So here is my take on the dip-dye trend as I think its not only the light splash of colour on the tips of your hair, but can be transferred into the clothes you wear. You can create a look to fit this trend in two ways: 

1. Wear a piece of clothing such as the shorts above that is clearly dip-dye.

2. Create an over-all appearance by wearing bright colours at one end and fading to light pastels on the other!

This outfit is an eclectic mix of the both and I must say I'm positively in love with this cute little rug-sack. It has an air of artsy-chique! Perfect to add a splash of colour to even the most dull of outfits!

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Lazy Sundays Recommends

This is really a quick shout out to something that has change a mediocre train ride of people spotting, to an amazing adventure that tugs at both my heart strings and my imagination. I have never been a big reader and the sight of one of these books would have frightened me a month ago and to be fair rightly so, the first book alone is around 800 pages and it's one of the smallest in the series! However in my quest to educate myself and find something to do on those tedious train rides home from work: I discovered this!

A friend dropped these books into a conversation and left me intrigued so I thought I'd check them out, and yes I do agree this might not be a read for everyone but I think anyone who appreciates a good story will love these books!

I'm not gonna lie I haven't been through all of them yet but I do intend to finish them all and how can I not! Each chapter, no matter how short leaves you with a taste to discover more and the fact that each chapter is in the perspective of a different person who is probably in a different location of the realm leaves you hanging in suspense waiting to return to the events your missing. 

So if you have a lazy Sunday to fill do have a look at these books! This is the core 5 plus there are two more books written after the author, unfortunately passed on, from extensive notes; don't fret I've heard they're just as great and I will be sure to give them a read!

I know this sort of fiction is not to everyones taste so I thought it's best to give my opinion rather than tell the story! Apologies to those who this post was useless to, but for those that have read or are excited to get stuck in fell free to leave a comment on your thoughts about the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series.

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Soak and Float Away Your Dry Scalp!!

*A little review #1*

Lush 'Soak and Float' Shampoo Bar

For over 3 years I have struggled with a very itchy scalp due to my dry skin. After a lot of research the one treatment that was spoken about most was Zinc, I decided it was probably best to try find some Zinc shampoo and give it a go! The only high-street Zinc shampoo I could find was Head&Shoulders and that turned into a 2 year battle of love and hate; some days the shampoo would be great but on some it would just dry my scalp even more and leave me fighting the urge to itch my scalp. Another issue I had with Head&Shoulders was the fact it left my hair feeling flat and rather tangled looking, I thought enough was enough and began my search for a better alternative!

Finally I came across the Lush Shampoo Bars, and the one which has benefitted me the most has been the 'Soak and Float'.

And I'm not saying this has been the complete solution, but it was a relief! My scalp is much much more hydrated and I rarely feel the need to itch, and no this shampoo does not contain Zinc but it has got an alternative: cade oil. Cade oil is an antiseptic and has anti-dandruff properties, however no matter how beneficial it is for your scalp it is also the one fault with this product; it has a terrible smell! Well I may be exaggerating with 'terrible', but it's very smokey and reminds me of smoked meat, which is not what you want your hair to be smelling off. The smell does stick to your hair while it's wet but luckily as it dries it does seem to fade away, another way to mask the smell is to use a lovely smelling conditioner, that seems to help greatly!

The shampoo bar is quite textured and does contain marigold and rose petals so it's not one I'd recommend to just wet and rub into your hair, it's probably best to damp the shampoo bar a little and lather in your hands, you need very little on your hands as it lathers up quite nicely; I'd recommend to start with little and then build up if you need more. 

All in all I really do think this a product worth a try if you do suffer from a dry scalp. As I said no high-street shampoo has really ever helped apart from Head&Shoulders and even then it was very hit and miss. So far this shampoo has been nothing but great in terms of helping the skin on my scalp. The smell however is a little off-putting so I was recommended by the Lush experts that Squeaky Green would do a similar job but it won't be quite as effective, however I do think it is a good compromise as it does smell of peppermint so a great improvement over the smoke!

If you can stomach the smell I would really recommend this, however I do suggest to get a good conditioner as it does wonders to the scalp but the hair does look a little dryer and frizzier than I'd like. 

*Just as a little side note my grandmother is a woman who takes herbal medicines and all that jazz very seriously and her main go to for clearing internal and external infections is marigold, you can make a tea and drink it or soak the petals in warm water, using a cotton pad to apply the affected area. This shampoo bar does contain marigold, which means it will act as an additional antiseptic to the cade oil relieving itchiness caused by infection or cleaning out any scabs you may have due to dryness. This just shows grandmas do know best!*
Hope this has been helpful, and please do feel free to leave a comment if you have found any other great remedies for a dry scalp as I'd love to give them a go!

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Lazy Sundays Recommends

Tracks for those Lazy Sundays

There is nothing better than a lazy Sunday spent in bed with some good music, so here are my top three tracks for this Sunday!

Cold Specks-Blank Maps
I highly recommend checking out this track on iTunes as it is currently the song of the week so totally free!As no surprise to those who know me my next two tracks come from YouTube. I first discovered 'FuzzyGrenade' or Cory about a year or so ago, and ever since then have not been disappointed and surprisingly his good looks have nothing to do with it! He has a wonderful voice and is even more skilled with his instruments so do check him out!

Cory Goble- A Face to Call Home (John Mayer Cover)

Noah is a little different, I came across his talent just a few days ago, but my god has this man got a voice to die for! Out of all the songs of his that I sampled The Coldplay Medley was my favourite, the transitions are so well done that only those who know the songs of by heart will tell that the song has change. Noah is definitely worth a look, his soulful, deep voice is perfect for a lazy lie-in!

Noah-Coldplay Medley

The Diamond Jubilee

No matter how controversial the issue of the Monarchy has become, there is no reason to celebrate the long reign of the Queen, and the long long weekend we get to enjoy!

The extra long bank holiday weekend is going to be pretty busy, from the street parties to the spectacular line up of the Diamond Jubilee Concert and well any celebration is an excuse to dress up!

So I've put together two outfits for the two events I'm looking forward to the most!

Up and down the streets of Britain, we will come together and partake in something as traditionally British as the Queen herself: street parties!

Us Britons used to be renowned for our ability to come together as neighbours and celebrate our community spirit, come Sunday hopefully we'll show the world that the neighbourly spirit is still in us.

This outfit will be perfect! You can find all these great pieces in Topshop. I especially love the bag, nothing better represents the Queen than her beloved corgis! 

Top H&M
Cropped Trousers and Parka From Topshop
Necklace Forever21
Bag and Pumps from River Island
*If the white cropped trousers aren't your thing do check out the Topshop Summer Trouser Offer  as there are many great summery trousers reduced to very affordable prices, now there's even more of an excuse to dress up!!*

Yes I know not many of us will get the chance to board one of the 1,000 boats set to sail the Thames this Sunday, but who said that we can't dress up and go down to the banks to see the wonderful pageant. 

And yes this is some what of a very nautical look, maybe a little too overboard but I must say I do love it! Nothing makes you feel more ready to set sail than stripes and anchors, with a lovely pair of cropped trousers, this look is classy yet suited to the nautical festivities. 

With all this fun and excitement we must not forget that we do still live in England and that the weather can be unpredictable to say the least, so why not pick up this great little parka; it conveniently folds up into a little bag, meaning you can bring it with you in your purse and pop it on if the heavens open!

So whatever your views on the Monarchy are I don't think there is any reason not to join in the celebration, I myself love any excuse for a party!

To find out about all the festivities do check out the BBC website, it has some great information on whats going on in terms of the big celebrations and the more local.