I'm Still Alive :)

Hello my lovely little bunch of followers, sorry for not blogging in donkeys to be completely honest we've been having a bit of a stressful time moving house so blogging hasn't exactly been top of my priorities and in other news, I've just been promoted in work so as you can imagine things are a bit hectic at the mo and I've had no time to devote to my little space on the web. Don't worry I'll soon be back over the next few weeks, with more updates than ever.

Much love, 

Three Simple Spring Outfits

Another Online Moodboard Addiction

So sorry, for not posting so much this month...I'm kind of in the process of finally moving out which I'm sooooooo excited about! I posted a few weeks back about one of my current obsessions which was Polyvore and I always had in mind that I would eventually post about my other current, favourite thing to do which is pinning!! 

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 I'm signed up to two pinning websites, the first I joined was Pinspire and then I also joined Pinterest, which you have to be invited to as far as I'm aware. If I had to choose I'd say I slightly prefer Pinterest for quality of images although there's not really a huge difference between either. Pinning is pretty similar to Polyvore in the sense that you create moodboards with images and also videos that inspire you however pinning is a lot more convenient as you can pin as you browse the internet. Say if your browsing for clothes online and you spot something you like you simply use a handy little toolbar button to pin the image to one of your boards. Here's some screenshots of a few of the boards I've created on Pinterest:

 I have to say, I love the images other people post so I tend to repin a lot more than uploading my own images, this is a habit I really wish I could get out of but there's soo many great images it's hard not to repin all the time!

 Pinning is really easy and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys collecting images or who wants to collate inspirations onto boards. The link to my Pinterest boards is in the side bar or here and the link to my Pinspire boards is here. Are you signed up to any pinboard websites, if so what do you think of them, are you as addicted as I am!?!

My New Favourite Hobby!

Elyse has been in a wayyyyy better routine lately which has consequently left me with a lot more time in the evening to do things other than cleaning, tidying and cooking! I am a bit of an online shopping addict which led to me discovering Etsy which is a pretty amazing website where people basically sell things they've made or customised. I've always been a bit arty farty at heart and after seeing the plethora of gorgeous, knitted baby stuff on Etsy I thought I'd have a bash at crocheting some headbands for baby girl.

I think I've crocheted about 5 headbands up to now but these were the first two I finished for her and I must say, even though they're not perfect I was quite impressed with myself! It's safe to say I've become a bit obsessed with crocheting and I actually find it a lot easier than knitting which I tried and kinda failed at when I was pregnant.

I think knitting's considered to be slightly more "cool" these days and not so much associated with grannies so I'd love to try and knit a snood for myself but not sure I'd be up to the challenge just yet! I personally love handmade, baby clothes and accessories but what do you think of handmade creations?

Valentine's Glossybox: A Mixed Bag?

After being pretty flippin impressed with December's Christmas Glossybox, I had high hopes for the next one although in the back of my mind I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good. However, upon opening my box I was quite impressed. For once, I'd actually heard of all the brands included and there were some products that I was genuinely excited to test out. From looking around at other bloggers boxes and seeing the variation in products, it seems that Glossybox are have finally tried to tailor the boxes more to the individual receiving it.

What's in the box from Top Left: Eyeko, FAB Body Moisturizer,

Whilst I'd loved to of tried the Orly nail polish that some people received,overall I was pretty happy with what was included. Murad is a brand I've been wanting to try for a long time purely because of the rave reviews for their acne skincare range so I was intrigued to see a primer product by them.

Swatches taken in natural daylight.

I don't think it would be fair for me to review the primer as I haven't actually used it on my face yet...and if I'm honest I don't know if I will as I tend to aim for a matte finish and this primer apparently gives a dewy finish which is a obvious no go for oily skinned girls like myself.

Swatch taken in natural daylight.

 I received the plum shade which I was quite happy about as I tend to just stick to safe black and this isn't too extreme a colour from black and completely wearable. I was really pleased to see a make-up product included but I think Glossybox should be including cosmetics a lot more than they have been! I do like testing out skincare products but when it comes to skincare, I like to stick with products I know work for me and more often than not, Glossybox include skincare products that aren't tailored to my skin.

As for the skincare products, admittedly I haven't tried any of them out yet but I'm definitely going to be giving the FAB Moisturizer a whirl over the next few days as the cold snap has dried out my skin to death. I've also started to notice scary signs of ageing (hello sagging cheeks!) so the Clarins may have to be slipped into my skincare routine as well! 

I'm really tempted to try out a different beauty box but there's quite a few knocking about now, preferably I wanna try something that has a few more make-up or nail product inclusions...if you think you know which box is best for this, feel free to comment and let me know!

Contented Little Baby Routines

During the first few weeks of Elyse's life, I pretty much took a baby led approach to looking after her i.e. fed her when she wanted to be fed and let her sleep when she wanted to sleep. Needless to say, this led to me feeling worn out to the extreme and having had no time to get anything done, my house was looking in pretty bad shape. I think babba basically got her daytime and nighttime mixed up, so whilst she slept like angel during the day, it was near impossible to get her to sleep at night and this is when I started seeking desperate measures! I was determined not to put her on formula so began googling away for solutions to improve sleeping patterns and that's when I came across a few people recommending Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby Book. 

In a nutshell this book advises putting baby into a strict routine and whilst I definitely believe it's vital that children have a set bedtime routine, I think this book takes it to the extreme and beyond! Don't get me wrong, there are handy little tips here and there but I don't think it's necessary to follow the routine to a tee. For instance, I think the timings Gina suggests for awake and nap time are handy to ensure you don't let baby sleep too much which usually means less sleep for you at night but on the other hand it also feels like she dictates when baby should be changed...now I'm not being funny, but surely you should change babba's nappy when it's needed otherwise I'm pretty sure you'd be working through hundreds of nappies per week! And she also firmly believes in ensuring baby is swaddled at every nap time up to a certain age, unfortunately for me swaddling is something Elyse clearly didn't appreciate aside from the first few days after she was born when she was still adjusting to the big wide world.

Overall, as much as I've just slated the whole strict routine bulls*&^ I do think this book kind of helped me ease my lovely, nocturnal baby into a normal sleep and wake pattern although she didn't enjoy going to bed before 2am at one point, whilst she was on the routine! On the other hand, I think I'm just a bit lucky that Elyse has slept through from around 2 months old and lets mummy & daddy have lots of lie-ins! In a nutshell, take the routines with a pinch of salt...the suggested window of time in which your allowed to go out is friggin ridiculous, what a life your going to live if you only leave your house between 2-4pm! If you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, read the book lol. I can't remember how much I paid for the book but I bought it off eBay and it was really cheap like £3 or something so if you do want to see how the routines work for you, I'd try eBay.

What do you think of the Contented Little Baby Routines? Have they helped you and your baby? Did you follow them to a tee?!

Much love,

Polyvore: Online Digital Moodboards

Hi everyone, hope your all feeling okay! Sorry it's been a bit slow around here recently, been so busy this week as it was my lovely boyfriend's 21st birthday! Today I wanted to share with you something that I've recently become rather obsessed with and that obsession in particular is online, digital moodboards. If you don't happen to know what moodboards are they are a collage of photos, sketches, fabric samples, swatches, text (basically anything you've been inspired by) and are predominantly used amongst the design industry for instance many fashion brands create moodboards for seasonal ranges to show how the range has been inspired or how a concept has come about. 

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 Anyways, long story short I discovered an amazing website called Polyvore that enables you to create digital moodboards with the least amount of effort possible as all the images are readily available for you to choose from! The website also works similarly to many of the social networking sites such as Twitter in the sense that you can follow people who's style you like.

The moodboard above is something I threw together last night whilst I was getting babba off to sleep. It's a bit of a mixture of the kind of style I've been rocking this week and accessories that I'd love to own plus a few random graphics thrown in for good measure :-) Some of the people featured on Polyvore's homepage seriously put my moodboard to shame, the boards they've created are bloody brilliant. Another, really handy thing about Polyvore is that it provides links to where you can purchase items from...although I highly doubt I will even utilise this as I discovered I have rather expensive taste according to Polyvore!

I love looking at other people's styling ideas so if your on Polyvore already, feel free to post your link in the comments box. My link is in the sidebar if you'd like to follow ;-)

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask

Hey everyone, hope your all having a good week? Just thought I'd do a quick review of The Body Shop Ionic Clay Mask which I briefly mentioned in my 2011 Favourites.

I bought this mask after I'd tried out the Dermalogica Sebum Clearing Masque that contains Kaolin and Bentonite Clay as I basically wanted to try a cheaper alternative and I'm a big fan of The Body Shop's products already.

Mask when applied.

Mask when dry.

The Body Shop claim that the mask draws out impurities, clarifies and refreshes the skin and I can certainly agree with their claims! In a nutshell, this is a fab mask if you have really oily skin as it pretty much sucks out all the dirt and oil. You do experience a tightening of the skin (see the cracks in my skin above?) when the mask starts to dry which I know is not everyone's cup of tea but I rather like this as it gives me the impression that the mask is doing it's job well.

The mask is available for £12.00 from www.thebodyshop.co.uk

BUT...I actually purchased mine from an eBay seller for around half the price so I would definitely recommend having a look on there if you want to save yourself some money, obviously make sure it's not used!

What other masks would you recommend for oily skin? Have you tried any of the other products from the Body Shop's Seaweed range...I really wanna try the mattifying day cream!

Nappy Creams Tried & Tested

When it comes to nappy rash, my little one has been fairly lucky so far with only one moderately bad bout of it so I've mostly used nappy creams as more of a preventative measure before bedtime and every other nappy change. When she did have it however, I was obviously keen to get rid of it asap. I've pretty much used up most of the samples I got in my bounty packs so I thought it may be helpful to review the brands I've tried for those of you that have a poor little one suffering!

Johnson's Baby Nappy Cream

I'm a big fan of the whole Johnson's baby skincare range but this for me was a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the other nappy creams I've tried. The texture is quite thin and runny so it doesn't really adhere to the skin which is important when you have an active baby.

£2.00 Available from Asda

Sudocrem Baby Skin Care Cream

Sudocrem is a hugely popular nappy rash cream and I cannot fault it really. A little definitely goes a long way with this so it lasts forever!I've got a full size tub of this also but I still have loads left in my little sample tubs. I slather this on Elyse at night and it looks as if I've just applied it when I change her in the morning. Nice, thick consistency and it helps to heal really quick. Sudocrem is also multi-purpose as it can be used for dry skin and spots which makes it a bit of cupboard staple product for me!

£2.00 Available from Asda

 

Burt's Bees Nappy Ointment 

I cannot stress how much I love this hence why I thought I'd save the best till last! As you can hopefully see from my swatches above, this spreads on really thickly and it adheres to the skin brilliantly. It has a strange scent to it, can't quite decide whether I like it or not but who cares when it's only going on to what will probably soon to be a smelly bottom! I also love the fact that this contains lots of natural ingredients, I don't think Elyse is particularly sensitive to anything but I'd rather not slather her in products with ingredients that I can't even pronounce! I know this is the most expensive of the three but I would still recommend this time and time again because of how effective it is at clearing nappy rash and how well it adheres to the skin.

 £4.99 Available from CheapSmells.com

I really hope this post was helpful, have you found any nappy creams to work better than others? Please feel free to comment if you have any other recommendations or if there's anything else you'd like to add!

Much love,

My Perfume Collection

I'm sure you've seen a few perfume collection posts knocking about the beauty blogging community and I personally enjoy seeing what perfumes other people recommend as I love adding to my little collection and if I'm honest, I love getting ready and looking at all the pretty bottles on top of my drawers...sad I know!

So this is my collection of perfumes minus any mini bottles and samples that I also have. Admittedly, I haven't bought a single one of the perfumes here (lucky me) so there are some here that I barely use and actually a few more that I'd love to add to my collection. I'm gonna run through each one below starting on the left.

Very Hollywood by Michael Kors

I asked for this for my 21st birthday a few years ago, simply because I loved how gorgeous the bottle was but after having a sniff of it, I'm afraid to say I wasn't so keen on it! I can't really put my finger on why I'm not keen on it it as It's quite a floral scent which is what I'm normally attracted to, I think maybe it's a little too strong for my taste and I just wouldn't want to wear this everyday.

Ralph Lauren Notorious

My lovely boyfriend bought me this a few years ago and I loved it that much I actually managed to finish the bottle, something that very rarely happens! It smells very musky and vanillary which I love, I tend to wear this at night though say if I'm going out clubbing or something.

Calvin Klein Eternity

I've had this for absolutely donkeys now but I kinda use it as a room spray instead of a perfume! It's fruity and floral but again not something I'd want to wear everyday.

Calvin Klein In2U

I recently posted about this in my Christmas Haul and as I've said before it's a nice, fresh, fruity scent which I'll enjoy wearing during the spring/summer months.

Hugo Boss Orange

I've raved about this before so I'm sure if you read my blog you'll already by aware of how much I love this! When I first seen the adverts for it I ignorantly thought it would smell really citrusy but it's actually quite floral with hints of orange and vanilla. I'd definitely recommend you all to have a sniff of this!

Kenzo Flower Summer Edition

Kenzo Flower was something I used to absolutely kill out when I was in my teens until someone stole my bottle of it when I went to some crappy teenage rave! This is extremely floral as you can imagine and very sweet smelling. It's a lovely feminine scent though although maybe not to everyone's tastes.

Paco Rabanne Lady Million

Another perfume that I've been using lots recently, I wasn't really keen on this at first but it's definitely grown on me. Even though it smells quite fruity I think it's more of a night perfume as it has can be quite overpowering and it has a very sweet smell to it. I adore the bottle though!

DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom

I'd been wearing DKNY Red Delicious for years when by chance my pops bought me a twin set of Fresh Blossom and the original Be Delicious when he was on holiday. I'm so happy he did because they are two lovely fragrances. Fresh blossom is very fresh, subtle and floral and something that gets thrown in my bag pretty regularly.

DKNY Be Delicious

Whilst Fresh Blossom is quite floral this is a lot fruitier which I think is what the whole Be Delicious line is all about. It literally smells of apples but in a nice way? I can't really explain it but I would definitely recommend you to have a sniff of this and also Red Delicious which I religiously used to go through bottles of.

Nina by Nina Ricci

 I'm sure I can smell toffee apple in this! This is a nice, young fragrance i.e. not something I'd really wear anymore. I have got a lot of use out of this but I literally never wear it anymore, definitely something for a younger lady or older girl.

As always I'd love to hear your recommendations! Are there any perfumes in my collection that you also like?

NOTD: Peachy Floral

If you read my blog you may have noticed over the past few days, my layout has been going through a bit of an identity crisis but finally I have a new blog design and I'm pretty happy with it...for the time being ;-) So, to commemorate I thought I'd do not one but two NOTD's in honour of my girly new layout!

Photo taken in natural daylight, apologies for the lack of focus!

 First of all, sorry for the mess around my cuticles and pinky finger. I was rushing slightly as I'd just found my camera and sunset was rapidly approaching. Any bloggers reading this will understand how much of a nuisance it is having to make sure you take photos before daylight has started to fade :-\

Taken with flash.

Taken with flash.

 So as you can see, I've kept my first NOTD quite simple. For the flower detail on the ring finger I used a floral nail sticker that I received as a free gift with a China Glaze nail polish I purchased off eBay. For the base colour I've used Barry M nail polish in Peach Melba which I previously swatched here and featured in my favourites for 2011.

Taken in natural daylight.

Taken with flash.

 As you can see, I went a bit crazier with this hand! For this design I used my old but always reliable Collection 2000 nail polish in Ebony to stamp on a design taken from one of the fauxnaud monster bundle plates I posted about a few months back.

Top L-R: Maybelline Salon Manicure Base Coat, Barry M Nail Polish in Peach Melba, Collection 2000 Nail Polish in Ebony and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. Bottom L-R: Nail Art Stickers and Monster Bundle Plate (Design used is on the left of the plate).

 Hope you enjoyed this post, if you've any questions at all or just want a chatter please drop me a comment in the box below :-)

NOTD: Avon Sequinned Turquoise

I didn't actually go out for New Years Eve but despite staying in I kinda pretended I was going out and got all done up (sad I know!!) which obviously meant I had to do something with my naked nails. I really wanted to find a use for the Avon nail polish I was bought for Christmas and thought it would be a perfect glittery colour for NYE celebrations. However when I swatched two coats on my nail wheel I didn't think the colour really suited me so I came up with the idea of layering it over a black glitter polish by W7 that I'd kinda impulse purchased when I was doing a bit of Crimbo shopping in B&M's.

And this is how it looked, I'm gonna apologise now for how untidy my nails are, I was literally only having a little experiment and didn't expect to like it so much! I'm not a big fan of blue or green nails as I really don't think either of the two colours do anything to compliment my skin tone however I really like this teal sort of shade. I know that the colour on my nails is almost identical to the colour you see in the bottle but for some reason my camera has made the bottle seem a lot darker than it actually is :S

Products used from left-right: W7 Cosmic Black, Avon Nailwear Pro in Sequinned Turquoise and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 As you can hopefully see in the above picture, the Avon polish is more of a turquoise colour. I used one coat of the W7 polish, then painted one coat of the turquoise over the top and finished with the Seche Vite Top Coat for a glossy finish.