London Town

I'm so excited to be off to London in two days time. I haven't been for a while and have saved a big wedge to spend :) having a nightmare deciding what to pack as I am travelling very light. I used to be absolutely awful when I went away on holiday I would take so much more than I would ever need! I've managed to perfect packing lightly in the last few years, especially with nights away for gigs and staying at friends/boyfriends. Often I go straight from work and it's a nightmare trying to carry my work stuff and an overnight bag, and trying to negotiate public transport. 


Not only do I need to pack light for London to ease getting around with my trolley suitcase but I need space for my purchases! Ideally I wanted to have packed last week when I was on holiday from work but without the weather forecast for London I had no idea what to pack as I am only taking one outfit per day with something for the night. Looks like I'll be packing last minute on wednesday night as we leave first thing thursday. 


I'm hoping to visit the following places:


MAC - Can you believe I do not have a stockist in my county!!! It drives me absolutely crazy as you can't always judge a colour by the online picture! I have a list (that is currently missing...) and really hope I find what I'm after. I've also been foolish as I resisted the urge to buy anything from the recent collections mainly as I knew I'd be in London soon after. I didn't even look. Turns out I love Ever Hip from the Fashionflower collection. I don't hold out much hope I will find one as its sold out everywhere, no surprise as its gorgeous!


Lush - Again I do not have one in my county!!! Apparently rates are too high. Luckily my friends or family will always get me something if they are near a store and I buy bags full when I find myself in one :) I've had a voucher since Christmas, very happy I'll finally get to use it. 


M&M World - I'm not too sure what to expect from here but I'm hoping for some pink peanut M&Ms :) 


Camden Market - Very excited to go here. Need I say more.


Oxford St - Love this street! I read somewhere its thought to be the busiest street in Europe! That's some feat! Thursday night is late night shopping too :D not looking forward to a visit to Primark but feel I have to do it as my Primark is always months behind other Primarks in the country :-s can't wait for selfridges :) and there is a four floor Boots! Can't wait to see what I find!


Regent St - Hamleys, wish I'd gone here more as a child but then probably would have wanted everything. Toys r us was big enough when I was little. Ferrari and Lush. That's all I can remember. 


Covent Garden - Lots to find here, and like a tourist no doubt I'll stop to watch some street entertainment. 


I love the London Eye all lit up at night, last time we could see it from our hotel :) I've also been told there is a beach hut exhibition which I'm excited about. I love beach huts, my parents got me a canvas with them on last year for my birthday. It's all pastels which fits in my room as its sky blue and violet (with hot pink duvet covers, can't resist pink) 


My head is so filled with work, London, packing, and all the prep before I leave I feel like I can't think. I will no doubt blog about my adventures :) x

Sale Appeal

So it's that time of year where everywhere has sales on. I always find sales a bit hit and miss. Either you find loads of stuff you want or very little. I've been cutting back my spending of late and I'm going to London on thursday for a long weekend, of mostly shopping :)


I really wanted to have a look around and see what I could find but I chose only to visit my favourite shops. Here is some of what I found:

New Look: I originally wanted this top with the butterfly print (below) but the day I saw it I decided not to spend money! 

I went back just a few days later and it had disappeared. The sales assistant didn't even seem to know what top I was on about. I saw so many girls in my town wearing this I couldn't believe she didn't know it! Anyway when I saw the blossom design was in the sale it was too pretty to leave. £13 down from £21.99

New Look: I have a penchant for rings, or anything sparkly. Both of these fit the bill :) I prefer medium on my fingers as I prefer my rings looser rather than tighter. I love the turquoise flower, and the rose bunch has sparkly gems in between. 

River Island: I didn't buy much as my store was packed and messy and I didn't have the patience to look properly. The green with hearts is a snood, enough said. The pink is a silky scarf with gold chains. Both £5 from £12.99. The hairbow I couldn't resist, I have so many but this was £1.

Accessorize: They didn't have as much as I expected. I usually spend so much in there, sale or no sale. I got some keyrings and a boat necklace with a storm cloud and lightning bolt. 

Accessorize: Pretty obsessed with anything with London or the Union Jack on. The bag was £10 from £16, not half price but good enough. I love these little shoppers for when my handbag is on my elbow. The navy purse is a London scene, very similar to the shopper and a beach postcard purse as I LOVE the beach and all things beachy. 

Asda: Not somewhere I usually buy jewellery from but when I went food shopping I couldn't resist. The owls were full price at £1.50 but everything else was half price, so cheap! Love the butterfly cascade earrings, I always want something bigger in my ears for nights out when I'm wearing something that I can't wear a necklace with. The apple necklace is very similar to an accessorize one I wanted I didn't buy as it was just red. The asda one has green paint on the stalk so I preferred it. 


I'm really pleased with my finds and also how little I spent. I popped into Office after work today: big mistake. I may have to make a trip back tomorrow! I only didn't spend as I have been leaving my purse at home, haha. 


I bought several pieces of clothing from New Look, all of which need to be returned but you can only get an exchange on sale items :-/ we'll see how that goes. I usually try on in the changing room especially sale items but I was in a rush and I knew if I did return anything it wouldn't be much. 


Let me know your bargains :) x

AW11 Primark Preview

Primark haven't always got the best press whether it's design infringement or how/where/who makes their products. If you take a trip to their website they have a whole section devoted to their ethical trading. Like others who may have seen the BBC Panorama I was extremely shocked to see that children were making the products. I was put off shopping there as I couldn't believe in this day and age it was still happening. I had been under the impression it had been clamped down on and eradicated. It has finally emerged after an investigation that the footage was fabricated and faked. I felt bad for Primark that they had been portrayed in such a way that wasn't true. It seems they really do look after the workers who make their products. 


Reading through the ethical trading on their website has reassured me and my local store has an entire window with awards for ethical trading and the like. I've noticed prices have gone up slightly lately but I hope this is down to better wages for the manufacturers. Primark is still the cheapest place on the high street and they've really upped their game in keeping up with trends. I'm used to seeing items in topshop, walking down the street and seeing the exact same dress in h&m for £30 less. But now primark and topshop sell exactly the same top. I cannot find a picture anywhere and I don't own one. They are £1o in topshop and £8 in primark. They both do lots of colours, it has a little pocket on the left breast, they have a folded back short sleeve and are loose in the body with quite a wide neckline. Hopefully you will know the tops I'm on about! 


When I first saw these items I thought wow it's not what I expect from primark. To me they seem more topshop likely. I first saw these items about 8 hours ago and I cannot stop thinking about them!   

£17 This dress is gorgeous! Reminds me of the peter pan dress by topshop. I will be making special trips to my store to see if I can make this an addition to my wardrobe. 

Anybody who knows me will know that electric blue is one of my absolute favourites colours! I've already got a patent electric blue pair but I still NEED this pair! At £12 they are a steal and I am hoping I manage to get a pair. 

£12 I'm drawn to this cardi for some reason. I love the clash of mustard and navy, I'm a sucker for navy anyway. Can't beat a sweet cardigan to make an outfit when you need a little something to keep you warm.

Kingfisher blue! £17 (can you see a love for blue yet?) Love this colour. Love the way the sleeves are looser on the arms and tighter on the wrist. I own some cardigans like this and I adore the way they look. 

£10! £10! I want this blouse so so so much! I love stars and navy so really I couldn't not own this! This will look so cute with skinny jeans (I virtually live in skinnies) really hope I will get one.

£15 for this beaut! Again I'm really drawn to the mustard colour. Love the collar, love the sleeves, love the tie, love it all basically. 

I have such a love for snoods. It started off two christmas' ago when I just couldn't find one anywhere. My friend Amy informed me h&m had one...but her boyfriend kept going on about it was hideous and I shouldn't even go and look at it let alone buy it. Anyway he was so insistent I didn't go...there I am on christmas day opening my present from Amy which was THE snood! It turned out I couldn't go and look at it because I'd buy it when it had already been got for me :) there is a photo of my happy beaming face sans make up face with the snood wrapped around my head as my dad and brothers wanted to know what it was. I don't wear my snoods over my head, I just wrap twice around my neck. Although I hate brown (I own one brown item, which I never wear) so unless primark do this in a different colour I probably won't buy. For £6 though I don't know! I have several snoods now and I will never go back to scarfs because a snood is the warmest thing ever :) 

So that's my favourite picks and I'm hoping to get my hands on all of them although I'll be happy with a couple. Let me know what you are after :) x

No Heat Hair

In early may I really wanted to dye my hair as my previous colour had gone out. My mum said maybe I should wait and work on getting rid of the dryness in my hair. It was mainly the ends and was probably due to me straightening my hair every single day. I decided to stop blow drying my hair and straightening it and dig out some products to help the dryness.

It wasn’t difficult at all to cut out blow drying my hair. With the warmer weather my hair could easily dry naturally while I did my make up rather than stay in the towel before blasting it dry twenty minutes later. I did cheat a couple of times in late may as my hair hadn’t dried enough for me to leave for work. I’m also attempting to grow my hair so as it gets thicker and longer its taking slightly longer to dry but I’ve found if I ruffle it every so often it speeds along the drying.

I have definitely missed straightening my hair. I love doing it and love how much nicer it looks straight. My hair is pretty straight anyway and friends still thought I’d straightened it when I hadn’t! In the summer I love using sea salt spray products and surf hair products so I wouldn’t usually straighten my hair in the summer anyway. I gave myself a platform to fall as I purchased new straighteners the same week I quit heat on my hair. I haven’t even tested them out yet!

In mid june I saw youtube videos and blog posts talking about “4 week no heat” and I realised others had been doing the same thing as me. I’ve now not used heat on my hair for two whole months! My hair definitely looks and feels healthier for it and seems to have grown a considerable amount too. I actually had a male friend tell me off for straightening my hair one day (he was lounging about as I got ready to go out) as I’d been moaning to him that I wanted longer hair and he said it was killing my hair to straighten it and it wouldn’t grow. So men really do make sense, sometimes!

There isn’t a more perfect time than now to avoid heat on your hair. The warm weather means your hair can dry naturally and if you’re going for curls, waves or bed head hair there are products out there that can do this for you with just your fingers! I’m going to extend my no heat hair for as long as I possibly can. I’m off to London next week and although I initially checked if the hotel room has a hair dryer (it does) I want to avoid using it, except if I need some help drying mac fix +! Probably not a good idea but I can't stand the feeling of my face being wet!