Pick of the week #16

 

Following on from last week's beach holiday shop, here's my top pics for the best beach beauty buys.



 

1. Face sun protection - Rituals £14.00

I find that regular body sun tan lotion is too greasy for my face and I end up getting a breakout while I'm away. I've been using this SPF30 face cream for 3 years now and I love it, plus I get a 30% discount which always helps with the price.

 

2. Maybelline BB cream - Superdrug £7.99

I LOVE the Universal Glow version of this BB cream. It gives a really good glow and pre-holiday I was worried that it would be too orange for me but whilst I was out there and gradually getting a tan it was the perfect cream for a coverage that wasn't foundation-heavy. I also used it for months afterwards going back to work, so I can't wait to get a good use out of it again.

 

3. Mark Hill sea salt spray - Boots £5.99

My hair is neither here or there so I like to put a product in it whilst I'm on the beach to stop the frizz and keep the flyaways tame. I can't remember the spray I used last year so I'm going to try this one this year and hopefully it'll keep my hair in good shape.

 

4. Palmers Cocoa butter lip balm - Boots £1.89

This is another beach bag essential for me that I've used year on year. I'm a devoted Vaseline addict but it just doesn't do the job in the sun, my lips just burn straight away. This lip balm is cheap and cheerful, smells great and does the job.

 

5. Moisture Surge - Clinique £32.99

This moisturiser is the best thing since sliced bread. Fact. I use it all throughout winter when my face gets dried out by the cold and wind, but also use it on holiday when I get a heat rash on my cheeks / chin every year without fail. It keeps my skin moisturised and clears it up much faster than anything else.

 

Next week's Pick of the Week - Holiday Footwear

 

Dans x 

Pick of the week #15

 

As I've got summer holiday on the mind lately, this week's Pick of the Week focuses on my favourite place to holiday shop, H&M. I love how pretty and affordable its beach wear and accessories are - perfect to wear every day and cheap enough to even through away if you've worn through them on your week away, which always happens with me with sandals!

 

1. Leather buckle sandals (currently sold out) £39.99

I'm not surprised these are sold out, I love them and wish I had spotted them earlier! Leather sandals always last forever, and the embossed buckle on the back of these really make them stand out.

 

2. Crochet cream bag £12.99

This bag is perfect for the beach to keep your valuables in; I always carry a smaller bag around and pop it in my big beach bag to keep it safe. 

 

3. Sunglasses £4.99

I made the mistake one year of taking only my vintage Raybans on holiday, and this left them a bit scratched from all of the moving around; I even left them on the table at dinner once and had to run back heart in throat hoping they were still there! So I learnt my lesson and stocked up on plastic rimmed sunglasses to take to the beach, to keep my favourite sunglasses off of the sand.

 

4. Straw hat £7.99

I don't like the sun on my face all day every day and find myself covering up in the shade come 1pm - I'm not the kind who can sunbathe all day! So I like to keep a hat on hand to keep myself cool.

 

5. Printed bandeau bikini top £9.99

I've never bought a swim suit from H&M before and I actually expected them to be cheaper than they are. But I love this bright bikini top and it's a great flattering shape.

 

Next week's Pick of the Week - Holiday Beauty Buys

Pick of the week #13

 

1. Rimmel BB Cream 9 in 1 Make Up - £4.99 Boots
I found a tester of this in my make up drawer so I must have pulled it out of a magazine at one point. I was surprised that the tester was a 'light' shade as usually

2. Floral Bandeau Playsuit - £25.00 Topshop
The photo of this doesn't do it justice. It looks great and is the perfect look and fabric for a beach holiday. It's one of those playsuits that you can throw on every day on holiday and you'd look great.

3. Knitted mint jumper - £38.00 Topshop
The colour of this jumper in the flesh is gorgeous; perfect for spring and you can wear it with shorts, throw it over a dress, or wear it with jeans. It's versatile and I love it.

4. Garmin Forerunner 10 - £99.00 Tesco
I'm still at the stage where I'm running holding my iPhone (bad I know), so on my wishlist is this pink GPS watch, which will track all of my activity without the heavy load. And even better, if you buy this pink version from Tesco they will donate £5 of every purchase to Breast Cancer Care.

5. Sleeveless smock dress - £25.00 River Island
This dress also looks much better in the flesh. I love the loose fitting smock dresses, but I have to be careful that they don't make me look bigger than I am although I love the fit of this one. I bought it on Friday and it's perfect for the summer weather at the minute.

Dans x

Pick of the week #12

This week I'm in love with summer dresses!

 

1. Pleat crochet dress - £140.00 Topshop
This limited edition pleated dress from Topshop is really expensive and out of my usual budget but I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. It's so pretty, it'd be perfect for a wedding. I'm in love.

2. Sunflower print dress - £22.00 River Island
Tea dresses really flatter my shape and I love print dresses. At £22 this dress is very reasonable and would be perfect for a sunny day in the park. I'm going to go in and try this on!

3. Ink and ivory striped dress - £25.00 Dorothy Perkins
I've had my eye on this dress for a while although it's always out of stock in my size. They do it in this colour and a lighter blue, and Dorothy Perkins have 25% off all dresses on their website for 24 hours only. Perfect!

Dans x

Pick of the week #11

 

1. Daisy cami - £26.00 Topshop
This cami top caught my eye straight away from the New In section at Topshop this week. I love it! It's so bright and girly.

2. Coral sandals - £45.00 Topshop
I really need some new sandals but I'm usually so fussy that I go through summers with my perfect 2011 River Island sandals without adding to my wardrobe. But I love these, they are quite pricey for what they are, but I think I'll be popping into Topshop to check them out.

3. Vaseline Lip Therapy in Rose - £1.99 Superdrug
I wouldn't have got very far at all this week through my super-awful cold without my trusty Vaseline. This is the best basic lip therapy ever and the most trustworthy - I would never be without it.

4. Aztec print scarf - £18.00 River Island
This scarf also caught my eye right away and I love it. I have so many scarves, I'm never without one around my neck and I love this bold print.

5. A Different Nail Enamel in Grape Ice - £12.00 Clinique
Clinique have just launched their nail enamel and this limited edition shade is so pretty. They have sold out of a lot of the shades online but I know that John Lewis are doing an offer where you get a mini bonus time when you buy any two nail enamels. All of their range are suitable for sensitive skin and with only two coats you can give yourself a perfect gel-looking manicure for half the price.

Dans x

Pick of the week #10

 

1. Button through pocket dress - £26.00 Topshop
This dress just screams 'sunny Sunday in the park' and I love it. The perfect casual dress for relaxing in the summer, and not too expensive either for when I'm sure Topshop bring out further colours in the range.

2. Sterling silver circles bracelet with 18ct gold vermeil - £135.00 Azendi
I've always been in love with Azendi and was gutted to walk in one lunch time to be told that they were closing down in 20 minutes. So since then I've been buying from their website although I could easily go crazy on there and spend a million pounds. I'm completely in love with this bracelet.

3. Glimmerstick brow definer - £6.00 Avon
I've been looking for a brow definer for a while but was too scared to go to a counter and ask for advice on what to buy. I was really happy to get a sample of this in the latest Marie Claire, so I can start trying to define my brows myself, trial and error style!

4. Bedford North South large tote - £330.00 Michael Kors
I absolutely adore this tangerine tote. I know that I'll never be able to afford it but I think it'll be on my wishlist forever!

5. Vanilla Cupcake car air freshener - £2.99 Yankee Candle
I LOVE the Yankee Candle vanilla cupcake candle but DC hates the smell so I'd never be able to get it as a candle to smell the house out. So I thought what a perfect idea to get it as an air freshener in my car, which DC has no say over. Genius idea!

Dans

Pick of the week #9

 

1. Pastel cream leather barrel bag - £45 Zatchels
I'm so excited to receive my Zatchels barrel bag! I didn't think I was ever going to get my hands on it, but was pleased when my order finally went through and it should arrive on my office desk in the next couple of weeks!

2. Pirate chain necklace - £14.00 Miss Selfridge
I have a lot of jewellery but not a lot of costume jewellery, so this necklace would be perfect and versatile enough to go with everything.

3. Lip bullet in Rockability - £8.00 Topshop
I'm looking for a stand out lip colour for our friends' wedding on Saturday, and this one looks perfect so I'm off to Topshop tomorrow to try it out.

4. Orla Kiely tortoise shell glasses - £189.00 Boots
I have been in major need of some new glasses for so long now - my current ones are about 7 years old and I can no longer see properly through them! I'm saving up for a super cool pair of Orla Kiely's, available at Boots.

5. Mini dot iPhone case - £24.99 Cath Kidston
I invest to much money in clothes, shoes, bags, purses and makeup that I realised the other day how much I have been abandoning my iPhone - it looks so scruffy these days that I definitely need to throw away my boring plain (and cracking) white case and buy something a bit more stylish.

Dans

Pick of the week #8

 

1. Ochre tailored jacket - £55 Marks & Spencer
I spotted this blazer when out and about on my lunch break last week, and fell in love with it. It fits like a glove and is so flattering. I was hoping it'd go with the dress I bought for my friend's wedding - it doesn't, the colours clash too much - but there's no way I'm taking it back! Perfect colour for Spring and Summer.

2. Rose vermeil knot earrings - £25.00 Azendi
I LOVE Azendi jewellery and was so upset when our store closed down. It's J's birthday next week and I bought her a pair of these earrings in silver from their online site. I just couldn't resist to get myself a pair in rose gold too!

3. Framed kiss lock purse - £22.00 Warehouse
I clocked this purse whilst shopping for a present for my colleague at work. I love it so much but I also love my current Topshop black quilted purse that DC bought me a couple of Christmasses ago. This is definitely on my watch list!

4. Toggle link bracelet - US95.00 michaelkors.com
I found this bracelet on the US Michael Kors website and fell in love with it. Anything Michael Kors is good by me!

5. Combination dress - £45.99 Zara
I really love finding a gem in Zara, and I'm hoping to find this in their store at some point next week. I love the colours and the fit looks really flattering for my body shape.

Dans

Pick of the week #7

1. Conscious collection print blouse - £9.99 H&M
I bought this blouse during my lunch break last week and I'm in love with it, it's so flattering and fits perfectly. The only problem was that I left it at work, so I couldn't wear it over the weekend!

2. Pineapple bikini - £32.00 Topshop
I'm really hoping for a summer holiday this year, and if we book one then I'm right down to Topshop to pick up this patterned bikini.

3. Turquoise tote bag - £39.00 Accessorize
This bag turned my head when I walked past Accessorize on my lunch break last week, and I couldn't resist but to go inside and fawn over it for ten minutes. Definitely on my wish list for this summer.

4. Ciate paint pot in Pocket Money - free with Marie Claire
I've been on the lookout for this for the past week because every shop I had to only had the gold shimmer pot available. I love this shade; it's very similar to the Boujoir So Laque in Beige Glamour, which is my ultimate fave nail polish.

5. Tribal print sun top - £26.00 Topshop
I'm definitely in love with prints lately and this suntop, new in this week at Topshop, is at the top of my list for a payday pay out.

Dans

Pick of the week #6

Finally, I found my dress for the wedding!

The excellent thing was that it only took one shop. On Saturday DC and I went into town about midday to look for outfits. DC had already seen a jacket in Next that he liked, so off we popped and he chose his outfit in ten minutes... jacket, shirt, tie, and shoes! I was more than impressed; it usually takes a whole day of following him around the shops, and then around again the same shops, to look for an outfit before leaving empty handed.

 

This is DC in his outfit however the photo doesn't do him justice! The jacket is a perfect fit and I love it; it's not a suit jacket material but a bit thicker, about half way towards tweed.

 

After DC was happy with his outfit I had a quick browse in River Island for a dress, and realised that I hadn't planned this trip into town and that I had absolutely no idea what kind of dress I wanted to buy. We popped into Topshop and as soon as we went downstairs I clocked my eye on this dress and knew it would be perfect.

 

Iris wrap front skater dress
£42 Topshop

 

DC told me straight away that he didn't like it. I don't know whether it was the purple, the bright pattern, or probably the mixture of both but he wasn't keen on it at all. But of course, DC not liking something doesn't stop me from going for it...!

 

 
 

I fell in love with it the moment I tried it on, and even more so when I got home. (Excuse the bin in the background!) It's gorgeously bright and perfect for the wedding; there's several reviews of it on Topshop.com from ladies who have also brought it for a wedding.

It's the perfect skater dress shape for my shape and it's so flattering. I love the material and I'm so excited now for 4 May - finally I have a dress for the wedding, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!

Dans

 

Pick of the week #5

I'm still on the search for the perfect dress for DC's friend's wedding on 4 May. But in the mean time, I could really do with some more tops for the office. I get bored of my tops so quickly, and when I bought the house I ended up making some wrong decisions, buying some cheap Primark tops that now I've come to hate. Even one of my Directors asked me why I had a top on with Yorkie dogs all over it... I couldn't really give him an answer.

So I'm after something that's perfect for Spring, with short sleeves seems as I'm constantly rushing around the office getting hot and bothered.

These are my pick of the week:


Floral Peter Pan
£32 Miss Selfridge

Geometric
£25 River Island

Embroidered Mesh
£45 Topshop

Red Chevron
£25 River Island

Crochet Vest
£34 Topshop

Pansy Print
£32 Topshop

Pick of the week #4

Okay so the problem is that I, like many women, love shoes. If I could, I would buy a new pair of shoes every week from my wishlist. However, my wishlist also includes a new car, a summer holiday, and a million pretty things for my home.

So for the minute, these lovelies shall have to stay on my Spring list for a little white longer...


Tan t-bar sandals
- Topshop £48

Black strappy shoes
- Topshop £70




Hippy woven detail sandal
- Topshop £24

Studded sandals
- Zara £39.99

Pick of the week #3

I have to admit, I don't regularly shop in River Island. BUT I did find my most favourite 2011 summer sandals ever in there, which I wish I had bought a million pairs of. So I had a bit of a browse online last night and came across these dresses, which are always a flattering shape on me and I fell in love with their print and textures.

 

Blue floral print skater dress £30

Red contrast print smock dress £25

 

But they didn't even have them in store when I went in on lunch today, so I didn't have the option to try them on. I was going to leave it until the next stressful work day to get some fresh air and do a spot of retail therapy, but I came across these on my way out... 

 

Green tile print cut
out playsuit £28

Black tribal print
playsuit £20

Black & white geometric
playsuit £20

And I couldn't resist trying them on.

If only I was going on a summer holiday this year, these playsuits would be perfect. The geometric one is a bit short but the black tribal print has a better fit and would be perfect for a hot day at the park. As for the green cut out playsuit, I FELL IN LOVE. It looks so much nicer in the flesh - it's much brighter and more striking. It fits really well, it is quite loose around the waist but has a tie to tighten it up. It's a great length and I ended up buying it. It was supposed to be £28 but I was only charged £25 at the till - bargain! I'm going out on Saturday night so I'm really pleased that I now have something new to wear!

I didn't dare look around too much in River Island because there were so many things that caught the corner of my eye. I love a good Spring wardrobe, it's just a shame my bank doesn't agree!

Dans

Pick of the week #2

How annoying is it when you fall in love with a dress / skirt / pair of shoes, and then when you try it on you realise that you wish you had left it on the hanger?!

This is exactly what happened to me when I fell for this Topshop dress last week.

Texture stripe shift dress, £38, Topshop

I spotted it on my lunch break but didn't have time to try it on, and I also wanted to know that I really wanted it before I parted with my cash. This was confirmed when I found myself still thinking about it the next day, so off I trotted back to Topshop keeping my fingers crossed that they had it in my size - and they did!

I was so excited to try it on... and as soon as I managed to pull the zip up, the dream was shattered!! Obviously I wasn't expecting to look quite so fabulous in it as this model, but with all the running I have been doing and with the feeling that my body is changing shape I thought I may at least be able to pull it off.

Okay so perhaps it doesn't look as bad as I am making it out... but it just didn't fit right, with the seam on the waist giving the effect of a rounder stomach from the front view - if the seam was pulled straighter then it would have been much more flattering in my opinion.

 

My search for the perfect dress to spend this month's clothes budget on continues!

 

Dans

Pick of the week #1

I have been contemplating buy an Ipad Mini over the weekend but came to the conclusion that I can't justify spending so much especially when I am trying to save up for a new car! So it looks as though I will be popping over to Topshop at some point this week in my lunch break to try on these lovely items that won't make so much of a dent in my bank balance!

Floral Print Shirt Dress £40

Tassel Loafers £32

Jaquard Tunic £32

Dans