Wishes and Wants #6

What do you know, once again, I have a lust-list longer than my legs filled with some extravagances that just have my little fashion heart fluttering...

Office Twickenham Patent Loafers
Topshop Tika Skaters
OPI Nail Lacquer in Alpine Snow
Dior Addict Lipstick in shade Exotique
Kiehls Ultra Light Moisturiser
Chanel Notes du Printemps Collection

I seriously hadn't noticed until I compiled an image with them all together just how many pairs of shoes and nail polishes I want. Wishlists don't get much girlier do they?

The Office loafers are just a perfect feminine loafer, and would be ideal for work and play, I'm just reasonably terrified of the £95 price tag. If anyone wants to treat me, I'm a size 6. Same goes for the much more casual burgundy Topshop pair, however these come in a lot cheaper at £20, I'd appreciate them in a few colours, especially these, and the cute pastel pink pair.

Dior is my weakness, and it's no secret, but I've been on the hunt for a subtle pink shade with a slight sheen, which looks natural but girly (I WILL be specific where lipstick is concerned) and Dior have it spot on with their Addict lipstick in the shade Exotique. I have a perfect white nail polish by Models Own, and the formula of the polish just isn't there for me, so I'm dying to get my hands on OPI's Alpine Snow after hearing about it being the best white polish out there.

I'm feeling really shocked and repulsed by the fact that after checking all of my day moisturisers, not one of them actually has SPF. I take so much care of my skin, and one little thing has slipped through the cracks. I've scoured the net for reviews on SPF moisturisers, and this Kiehls Ultra Light one, seems to be highly rated by many, and given I love Kiehls as a brand, I think I may have to cave...

I've been swooning over the Chanel Notes du Printemps Spring 2014 collection since the images first surfaced back in November, and no website at all was giving a UK release date, I tweeted Debenhams last night, and they said to look out on the 24th Jan- two days away! Lets all get excited!! My first purchases from the collection will be Le Vernis in Ballerina and Tapage, then I may consider that beautiful frosted pink Illusion d'ombre.

What's on your radar at the moment? Since Spring is (HOPEFULLY) on the way, we all need some wardrobe and beauty updates, right?!

Street Style on Sundays

I LOVE a little bit of Pinterest, and the street style snaps on there can be pretty damn amazing, so I thought I'd do a little bit of style-spo (sorry)  from the website that seems to have females glued to computers and tablets, like a squirrel is glued to nuts.

(Note: don't you just hate people which put "spo" after things, "thinspo" "shoespo"... Shall we not?)

Today I'm ALL over monochrome looks...

Can we take a second to appreciate Elin Kling's STUNNING colour-block trousers in the first picture? Not only a colour palette for casual looks, however, here's some more "less casual" looks...

I've never been in love with a dress as much as I am with Phoebe Tonkin's Alex Perry dress, I literally spent four hours of my life trying to find out who it was by, only to discover it isn't available in the UK. Aussie road trip, anyone?

(None of these pictures are my own, they're all sourced from Pinterest)

Favourite Things #5 - The First in a Long While

It feels like an absolute life time since I last shared my favourite things with you, I think mainly because it IS a life time since I did. Let's not look at dates or anything, it could prove a little scary.

Anyway, I thought I'd share which have probably been the most-used and popular products in my regime through the past few months...

Avene Thermal Spring Water - Not the first time this stuff has featured on my blog, but since I've been using it religiously as part of my cleansing routine (which, yes, was one of my New Year's resolutions!) I've noticed a visible difference in my skin, and the hydration levels, too.

Clarins Blue Orchid Face oil - I bought this on a bit of a whim when it was 20% off in Debenhams, because after trying my Aunty's Sanctuary version, I found how bloody amazing oils are for Winter month hydration! This product, has in my eyes, been dubbed my winter skin saviour, and has made me (cough) dislike, Hydraluron. (Blasphemy!)

Kiehl's Creme de Corps - at first, I was apprehensive, and thought, it's just a body lotion, but BOY was I wrong... It's a thick, not strongly scented lotion, which leaves your skin hydrated for days, gets rid of the winter dryness, AND, leaves your skin with that glow that you only ever seem to see on Victoria's Secret models. All in all, I think I've been converted from Soap and Glory.

Bioderma Sensibio - don't think this one needs an explanation, does it?

Chanel Le Vernis (Rouge Noir) - As a rule, I tend to stay away from dark nail polishes, as I've just never found the perfect one, but now I have. Rouge Noir, is a perfect deep red, a classy, dark nail polish, more class than trash (I had to get that one in there, apologies.)

OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil - I've had a ton of cuticle oils, and I find them to be a necessary part of a manicure to make sure the polish lasts longer, and to keep nails/cuticles hydrated. This one, is so far the best I've ever tried, it smells so fruity, and is a thick oil, which goes quite a long way, meaning, a day and night application every day doesn't leave the bottle empty within a couple weeks.  

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder - I've heard mixed reviews about this product, but unsurprisingly when miss Zoe Newlove said she loved it, I thought, yep, I don't need any more convincing. I bought it with the LM fan brush, and it really is fantastic for brightening up the under eye area. I've used it on a few occasions without any concealer and it really does make the difference that other translucent setting powders just don't offer. All in all, I LOVE this product, and don't know how I ever lived without it.

Blistex Relief Cream - Completely not-glamourous but most definitely my secret weapon during winter. Having full lips, they tend to be more prone to being dry and flaky during winter, which, face it, is disgusting. So when I discovered this (years back) I felt as if I had found something revolutionary. You only need a teeny amount of this medicated balm, and I must be on my fifth tube throughout the years, it's simply amazing, and dare I say, a holy grail lip product of mine...

This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray - you all know about my struggles with anxiety and depression, and when I was suffering seriously badly, this time last year, I didn't sleep at all, and suffered with serious insomnia, so I have tried every sleep remedy you can think of, every pillow spray, by numerous brands, and I have NEVER come across one which works as well as this. In my opinion, it is like taking a sleeping tablet, leaving you relaxed, soothed, and drifting off within about ten minutes of having sprayed this on your pillow. It also doesn't leave any residue or marks on your pillow... Bonus! (Can't recommend the rest of the deep sleep range enough too, but it would have proved a fair job photographing them all!) 

Hair Bobbles With No Kinks? - Invisibobble Review

Anyone will understand the pain of wanting to scoop your hair back in a bobble, to keep it out of your face, but not wanting to develop the dreadful "kink" which appears every time you remove a hair bobble. Although I think that the never-ending war of bobbles and kinky hair has now been won. Introduuuuuucing (I can't help but think of a WWE-esque narrator now) Invisibobble...

My Aunty has already pinched one out of the box, and that's why there is only two pictured! Naughty...

The idea of Invisibobble, is that they are a "traceless hair ring" which means that they will not leave a mark in your hair, they also are caring to the hair, and helps to avoid headaches (I've never found this with any bobbles, do they seriously cause headache?!)

So, does the Invisibobble live up to its claims?

Traceless? Yes, it is completely traceless, I have tried it in both my naturally curly hair, and my blow-dried straight hair. Both times it had no kinks, and my Aunty with thinner hair than me, also tried it and was left with no kinks. Whether it refers to it being IN your hair, I don't know, but it isn't very attractive, but in my eyes, neither is a regular bobble.

Caring to the hair? This works because there is no metal, and the ends are sealed together so that it won't snag your hair. It is tons better than even the metal free bands I've used in the past, which still pull out strands of my hair. When I take one of these out, it slides out with ease and pulls zero hairs out with it.

Avoids headaches? I can't put this one to the test, as I only get headaches from reading without my glasses, and I never have a bobble so tight that it would cause headache. But I can imagine how this would avoid headache, as the weight being evenly distributed  means your hair feels a lot less restricted and a lot less "slicked-back."

I now sleep in these, by putting my hair on the very top of my head and sleeping like this means I don't lie on my hair giving it awkward kinks, neither do I have bobble kinks. Win, win...

They also claim that these have a bracelet feature, meaning when you're not wearing them in your hair, you can wear them on your wrist. Which is fair enough if you're 12, but in all honesty, I'm turning 19 very soon, I shouldn't be wearing a telephone cord shaped bobble on my wrist.

Being as partial as I am for a ponytail at the top of my head at the end of the day, these are an absolute saviour, and are one of the best bobbles I have tried, have zero gimmicks and fully live up to the claims Invisiboble makes.

Invisibobble is available from Feelunique, and is £3.75 for three hair rings. Find here.

Balmain Nail Couture Collection - The Ultimate nail varnish extravagance

When huge designer houses decide to do beauty products, this is exactly what you'd expect them to look like... 

Cue... 

Balmain's beautiful, extravagant, minimalistic offering... 

I was drawn to this like a squirrel is drawn to nuts, the colours in the box are all wearable, and would be ideal for someone starting off at branching into nail polish, thanks to the "suitable for every occasion" fashion shades. I'm the biggest fan of classic shades like these, and hardly ever wear glitter, or holographic nail polishes, so for a collection to come out, with shades this beautiful, I couldn't say no, could I?

The packaging of the box is literally the epitome of elegance, a simple, monochrome box, with the Balmain logo adorning the top, and the polishes themselves follow this theme, being simple, monochrome, square shaped bottles. (3,2,1 and swoon...)

The polishes themselves are actually really good quality, and have lasted a very long time in comparison to other designer polishes, cough, Chanel and YSL. The brushes are quite a wide fan-type brush, reasonably similar to that of Essie and Dior, meaning you can apply the polish in one swoop, especially with the curved tip, which seems to just follow the curve of your cuticle perfectly. Much unlike most nail polishes now, all three of these shades are opaque in two coats, without being excessively gloopy and thick in consistency.

I didn't actually get chance to take any pictures using a proper camera, so I've decided to sneakily use these that I posted on my Instagram. (Left to right, Noir with Mat Top Coat, Rouge, Nude)

So all in all, this is one of my favourite things of the moment, I'm falling in love with this beautiful collection, and couldn't recommend it more to people, you should all get one, because, well, I insist.