Schoolgirl

Top♥ Vintage BCBG

Skirt♥ Primark

Tights♥ Primark

Belt♥ Vintage

Coat♥ French Connection

Boxing Day Festive Haulin'

The second best thing about Christmas after presents are the bargains. No, I was not insane enought to hit Oxford St on Boxing Day, I was too scared of falling and being trampled, but I did go the day after hoping some sort of calm and I was actually pleasantly surprised :)

My theory with massive national sales like the Boxing Day ones are to ignore cheap shops like Primark and New Look and go for the more expensive stuff. Only because Primark is cheap anyway and even if you get some massive percentage decrease like 80% or summin, you probably with only save £8? Whereas you can actually make use of the sales and get the things you been lusting after now:

Eg. Fur coat:

I have been wanting a classy faux fur coat for absolute yonks now but I have often been sourly disappointed with poor quality and high prices. My mum has loads of real fur but firstly, I don't feel comfortable wearing cute-but-now-dead animals on my back, but also I can't really pull off the whole lavish look.

I'm also not really into the whole animal print, I kinda think it looks quite tacky and its not really 'me'.

This is the first one that I bought from ASOS and though the design looks nice, it wasnt quite casual enough for me, I wanted something that I could wear everywhere. Also the length of it cut me off right mid-thigh for some reason, making me look so incredibly short and smurfy. Needless to say it is only its way straight back to ASOS

QUE FRENCH CONNECTION:

This is exactly what I have been looking for: black, understated, warm, casual.....

As you can see better from the back, there is a large waistband that gives the coat some shape. I love this because every single other one that I have tried completely swanps my petite body and makes me look like a complete tent, not a good look.

This is actually the coat of my dreams and it surprising warm as well without being excessively bulky and best of all (without sounding like a cheapskate) it was over half price reduced from £165 to £80!

TOPSHOP

I often don't shop at Topshop because for me, it is all talk and no trousers to be honest. It charges sometimes ridiculous prices for the simplest things that just completely frustrates me, I mean who wants to pay £40 for a white cotton sleveless tee with a heart printed on it, get me tee for a pound at Primark and some transfer paper and I'll do it myself!

Anyway.....

I love this dress, its totally my colour and has a nice twist on the plain bodycon

I'm not really a huge black clothes person but I did love this dress and I think it makes my small shape look kinda nice and adds a few curves that I didn't know existed.

All in all, a very successful haul in my opinion, I would also like to mention that my mum and I found a very nice brand in Selfridges called 'Cos' which, even without the sales has quite reasonable prices and I really loved their designs. i bought a very retro, simplistic shirt from them but my camera has just died so maybe I shall include in an OOTD but my mum got a truckload of things and I recomment you check them out!

What did you get from the Boxing Day hauls?



Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to you all! Christmas has to be my favourite part of the year, not the actual day so much but just the general excited atmosphere that surrounds us as Christmas approaches.

5 Things I love about Christmas:

1) Lights all over town

2) Shopping for others rather than for myself, I feel so fulfilled :)

3)Cards that fly in their hundreds through my letterbox every day (slight exaggeration)

4) General festivities, wreaths on doors, Christmas trees, carols etc etc

5) Presents!!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!

What are your favourite things about Christmas?

My Perfect Imperfections...

AndreasChoice has been one of my favourite gurus of all my Youtube times so when she came up with this genius idea, I had to do it..

I think this is a great tag to do as it shows other women that the majority of the things that we hate about ourselves no one else has even considered as a flaw.

I think women can be overly critical of themselves, myself included so I thought, to teach myself a lesson, I would also display my useless insecurities on the internet for all to see...

IMPERFECTIONS:

1) Firstly, I hate my skin.

Throughout my teenage years I had pretty severe acne and since my dermatoligist put me on the pill I have only had the odd bump or two. But now my skin is left all scarred with so much hyperpigmentation. Of course my friends tell me that I have nothing to hide, but I feel that the first thing people notice about others is their skin and no matter how gorgeous and stunning your eye makeup looks, in my opinion, if you're skin isn't up to it, then it kindaa ruins the whole look.

 My skin has often brought my confidence down a lot, and it took me ages to come to terms with the fact that these scars will pretty be with me for life. So there's my excuse to slapping on my usual layers of foundation every morning :)

2) Secondly, I have the weirdest hands in the entire world.

Ahh, my first day in secondary school, the nerves were kicking in and in all honesty, I was terrified. The girl the teachers put me next to seemed nice enough, until she turned to me and said: 'OH MY GOD, YOUR FINGERS ARE JUST LIKE VOLDEMORT'S!' Naturally, having my fingers compared to 'he who must not be named' doesn't do much for my acceptance of these weirdly shaped, strangely long with barely any fingernail things people like to call hands.

3) Finally, my eyelashes

I seem to have inherited my father's large Turkish eyes, but my mother's ridiculously stubby barely-there Korean eyelashes which, quite honestly, make me look like some sort of martian. Basically mascara, other than family, friends, God and money is my one true love.

(Perfections seems a bit conceited so...) My BODY LOVES

1) I really do appreciate my hair, sometimes I am quite horrified when I see peoples' hair care routines on Youtube showing them applying countless products and then torturing their hair with insane amounts of heat. I seem to have been quite blessed when it comes to hair. There never really is any frizz and it is very,very strong (thanks mum:), I only really need a trim once a year at most. All in all, my hair has been good to me, gives me no trouble and is very manageable :)

2)I really like my smile. I always get complements on my smile and people always ask me whether I have had braces/ several teeth whitening sessions and I am proud to say that I have had neither!
Also my teeth are very very strong and I have never had a filling so hopefully these babys will last me through my OAP years (unlike all my grandparents who have those really scary fake teeth :S)

3) All in all, I really like my body shape...

Again, thanks to my fantastic mother I have inherited a very proportionate body. Also I have very generously been given a very fast metabolism ie, I can eat whatever I want and rarely have to pay the coonsequences for it :) 

I hope this post has inspired all you ladies into addressing your insecurities and learning to accept them and move on, after all, there are more important things in life

Bare Escentuals Review ♥

So I bought the Bare Minerals/Escentuals Foundation about a month ago because I really have yet to find my HG foundation yet, my search has finally ended.

Now, I'm not a very fickle person, on the contrary, I am very picky when it comes to what I'll put on my face and the product really has to be stunning to even slightly impress me. Although I am usually 'anti-powder when it comes to face products, this foundation has just blown all comparison out of the water, it really is fantastic ♥

Colour

♥ I bought it in the colour 'medium beige' which is a perfect match for me

♥ NC30 for reference btw

Coverage

♥ This was where I hit the jackpot with this foundation

♥ I had incredibly bad acne throughout my teenage years and was left with so much hyperpigmentation

♥I really find it hard to come across a foundation routine that will flawlessly cover these scars without making me look like my makeup has been welded into my skin

♥For your benefit I have included a couple of 'before and after shots'

BEFORE

AFTER (after about 10 hours of wear)

♥ As you can see, the coverage is flawless, I did not apply any concealer at all just this foundation doing its magic

Finish

♥ As if there weren't enough good things to say about  this foundation, the finish is unlike anything else

♥ It is remarkably dewy-looking for a powder foundation and sits perfectly on my dry skin and doesn't cling to flakiness

♥ It looks so natural, especially in daylight which is a huge plus

♥ Lasts ALL DAYYY, which is the best benefit since I apply my makeup on at 6 in the morning and need it to sstay until at least 8 at night

Application

♥ I first moisturise my skin really well with 'Neutrogena Ultimate Moisture Cream with SPF 10' (which is amazing btw)

♥ Then I just go straight into it, bufffing the foundation in with my MAC 109 brush

♥ This final step is absolutely crucial for me, I take a large powder puff and just roll it onto my face, pressing the foundation into my skin

♥ I then proceed to apply the all the other slap onto my face :)

Other Foundations that didn't live up to the hype :(

♥ MAC 'Face and Body', nowhere near enough coverage for me and didn't even last half the day

♥ Revlon 'Colourstay', don't get me wrong, great foundation, just not AS great as I had expected it to be, it kinda sunk into my pores by the end of the day and frankly made me look quite crap

♥MAC 'Studio Sculpt', I remember the huge hype when this foundation came out and I think this was the biggest disappointment of all, sat awfully onto my skin, looks terrible, no coverage and didn't last at all, big thumbs down

The Poor Man's Haul

Yes, before I became a complete invalid I did go shopping and although I had quite a full wallet, I was possibly the biggest cheapskate of all time...ever!

♥ So, first up, the paradise for the fashionable poor- Primark

♥ Accessories from Primark are my weakness, my mother always told me, 'spend money on dirt cheap jewellery or blow it on the expensive kind, don't waste it on middle ground.' And wise words too

♥ The first is this gorgeous bee ring, quite cheap looking but what can you expect for two quid?

♥ Another animal ring but this time a dark sultry snake, I quite like the image of this on with a sexy black dress...hmmmm

♥ Are you seeing a pattern here? But this is surely my favourite, it's a statement ring but not so obvious it becomes extravagant. Really detailed for £2 and quite pricey looking. One problem: it does seem to get caught on almost everything :S

♥ And another one gone, Wow! I really am an animal lover. Anyways, these really are gorgeous, I wore these yesterday and got SO many compliments on them, really, really cute without being childish, more sophisticated and classy.

♥ I really like these, the deep blue colours really set off my medium, olive skin, they make me look really mature and instantly makes my look 'done' :)

Miss Selfridge

♥  This was in my OOTD, a lovely dainty barely-there ring, £1.50 from Miss Selfridge's, really quite lovely, actually has put a smile on my face :)

New Look

♥ I am SOOO proud of myself, I have officially bagged myself THE bargain of the year.

♥ I have been looking for a neutral blazer for ages. The majority of blazers I find are so masculine they swamp my petite body, this one is so soft yet structured and the perfect neutral colour, not quite camel, not really beige, but it will surely suit everythign :)

♥  It's really well made with rolled-up sleeves and is nicely tailored to the FEMALE body. Jeez, some high-street shops have really taken this 'boyfriend' trend too far :(

Anyway, guess how much I paid for it?

If you're in the £40-50 region..guess again

Lower

Lower

£7

Did you see that? £7 !!!!!

♥  Anyone who has read this quickly enough, run as fast as your feet will take you to the New Look sales, I swear, even if this was £45 I would still but it, it is so fantastically made and perfect for my taste :)

What have you recently bought?

Eyelash Extensions and Me :)

Urgh it has actually been the worst two weeks of all time, at first I had a cold which incidentally I passed onto my mum (sorry) and now I have bronchitis. Fantastic.

♥Anyway, to cheer myself up, I visited my mum and she treated me to some eyalsh extensions (yes she did pay)

Procedure

♥ Very comfortable, the bed was heated to the perfect temperature, I actually had a nice little snooze

♥ It involves the therapist painstakingly applying individual strands of hair to your actual lashes

♥ No pain inflicted at all but it is quite hard trying to lay eerily still

The Result

♥ I asked for 'natural, fluttery' eyelashes and that's what I got, they are relatively thick with quite a nice curl

♥ They don't swamp my half-asian eyes (my mum is Korean) and just look very natural

♥ I do get quite a shock every time I look in the mirror, the impact is quite lovely

♥The nicest plus from this is that I don't need to worry about curling, applying several coats of mascara, separating with a lash comb, applying eyeliner etc, you can wake up in the morning with full eye-makeup done!

♥Generally I look very 'done' even though I've spent 5 minutes on my makeup and quite wide awake looking too

♥Overall, a very nice treat for a holiday or a special occasion and in my opinion it does live up to the hype, however I don't think this would be great for continnued use as I think they would probably result in destroyed natural lashes

Maintenence

♥ Never use oil-based makeup remover or any type of oil near your eyes as it break up the glue (I have to give up my trusty bio-oil)

♥ No water is to touch them for 24 hours after the procedure

♥ Try not to apply mascara to them as when you go to remove it, they will probably all fall out, If you insist on mascara, used a water-based one and non-waterproof as waterprrod mascaras interfere with the glue

♥ In the shower, try to make sure that the water doesn't directly hit them

♥ Generally no rubbing or harrassing of the eyes as the oil from your skin will again break up the glue and may also rip out your natural lashes too

♥ Use an eyelash comb to gently comb them into place every morning to restore the neatness

♥ This picture is after a week of them in, as you can see some have fallen out but still a good few remain

♥ If anyone is wondering, the place where I got them done is:

Lotus Health and Beauty

28 Lambs Conduit Street

London WC1N 3LE

020 7831 6855

What are your experience with eylash extensions?

Split ends- How to prevent them...

Split ends are actually my worst nightmare, I love having long healthy hair and split ends just ruin that for me :( Also since my hair is very dark (leaning towards black)  there are just so damn obvious!

How to 'cure' split ends

♥ Ladies- let me just give it to you: there is no way to get rid of split ends.

♥The best cure is to chop them all off and with a fresh start-begin to actually look after your hair

♥Also-as hard as it may seem, get a trim at first sight of a split end otherwise it will just move up your hair shaft causing more damage as it goes along eventually equalling a drastic haircut (I don't know about you but a drastic haircut for me is anything over 5 cm)

How to prevent split ends 

♥ In an ideal world, women would not straighten/curl/crimp/blowdry/dye/perm their hair but cutting back on these things would really help (I'm quite blessed in the hair department and never really need to do much using heat nor colour)

♥ Brushing your hair-when it's wet especially can seriously damage your hair. When your hair is wet it stretches to almost 25%  making it weaker and more breakable.

♥ My advice is to load up your hair with conditioner and brush an afro comb through it, it gets rid of the majority of the tangles

♥Coloured and permed hair need special attention so use products such as 'split end protection' or 'prevention' - DON'T fall for the 'repairing' or 'reconstructing' products, they only seal the hair shaft TEMPORARILY, the moment you wash your hair again, the product washes out and you're stuck with your split ends again

♥Hair ties with the metal bit can snag and pull at your hair so use the cheaper kind of hair band that can't afford the metal :)

♥ Let your hair dry naturally

♥ Treat yourself to a good hair mask twice a week :)

My recommendations

♥ Herbal Essences: 'beautiful ends' Split end protection cream

♥ L'Oreal: 'Elvive' Damage care Conditioning Spray

♥John Frieda: 'Miraculous Recovery' Strengthening Creme Masque

♥Pantene: 'Repair and Protect' Serum

What are your tips to preventing split ends?

Outfit of the day-today :)

Today was a pretty boring day,  spent it away picking up my dad from the airport, it was slam-bang in the middle of the day so I couldn't really do anything before or after :(

I really wanted to show you these gorgeous boots I recently got from Primark, they're so unique and the colour's just so me!

♥Denim Jacket-Diesel

♥Striped Breton Sweater-Primark

♥ Velvet Shorts- Chariry shop (sorry :S)

♥Tights-Tesco (cheep and cheerful)

♥Boots- Primark

♥Bag- Balenciaga

♥These boots are a gorgeous duck egg baby blue colour with a tinge of grey

♥ I just love them because they're a unique twist to the recent trend of ankle boots, all my girlfriends seem to be wearing them but they always seem to be in the tan/beige/chocolate family

♥Also really cheap for real leather!

♥ BTW- you can't get these in normal primarks, they're exclusive to Oxford St :)

♥Earring-Claire's

♥ Ring-Miss Selfridge

GET NAKED!

Okay, so normally I'm not the type of girl who succumbs to the 'hype'. But, Urban Decay just cast a spell over me... actually, if you look at me reasoning, I have very good logic to my incessit spending...

1) I LOVE Urban Decay eyeshadows
2) I LOVE (with a passion) the 24/7 eyeliners
3) I LOVE Urban Decay Primer Potion

So, 2 EYELINERS
12 FULL SIZE EYESHADOWS
AND A MINI PRIMER POTION.....

BARGAIN OF THE YEAR!

♥The packaging is quite sleek except for the velvet backing which always picks up dust

♥ Starts off with the subtle highlight/lid colours

♥ It then graduates to the bronzey/gold to the deep sultry colours

 





L-R
♥Virgin: This is a really creamy light malt colour, quite matte with a gorgeous creamy, smooth texture
♥Sin: A shimmery pinkish-champagne, not glittery at all but just gives quite a foiled look to the lid
♥Naked: A flat matte beige-camel colour, slighlty darker than my skin tone which is a NC30 for reference :)
♥Sidecar: A very shimmery plum-brown with silver glitter infused through  it, very crumbly texture though
♥Buck: Another skin-toned colour a few shades darker than 'Naked', kinda a light milk chocolate

L-R

♥Half-Baked: A very warm gold again no actual shimmer but just a gorgeous foiled sheen
♥Smog: Absolutely gorgeous medium brown with a gold duochrome= Love!
♥Darkhorse: A deep shimmery brown w/ multicoloured glitter
♥Toasted: OMG LOVE! I cannot begin to describe this colour, it's a gorgeous, unique blend of silver, purple, caramel, pink, WOW this colour is amazing! seriously even if you don't feel tempted, get the pallette simply for this colour, you won't regret it!
♥Hustle: A deep maroon-slash-purple colour with silver shimmer
♥Creep: A blackened grey with LOTS of silver shimmer, not quite as pigmented as the others though :(
♥Gunmetal: A blue-grey with a hint of bronze and lots of silver shimmer, gorgeous under the bottom lashes

♥Zero: This is a staple eyeliner for me and I have been using it for over 2 years. It is a very creamy true black that really does what it says, it staus put 24/7!
♥Whiskey: This is quite a warm brown, just as creamy as 'zero' and much softer for a daytime look



WOULD I RECOMMEND THE NAKED PALETTE?

DEFINATELY! This is so worth the money, seriously for £27 you only buy 3 M.A.C eyeshadows for it and I honestly believe that these eyeshadows are proving stiff competition for M.A.C, just as pigmented and long-lasting


What are your thoughts on the Urban Decay Naked Palette?