The Inspiration Post #1

As I mentioned in my New Year's Resolutions for Blogging in 2015 post, I was looking forward to starting a content series on my blog - and welcome to the first in the series!

I decided to make my content series a monthly post all about what has inspired me for the month, from beauty and fashion to homeware and food (and I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of random mentions in between!).  

Photo from Pinterest

Moroccan Mirror Love
I am obsessed with everything Moroccan-styled for my home, the geometric shapes you can get for wallpapers, cushions and curtains in rich, bold colours are just amazing.  At the moment I am in love with this gorgeous quatrefoil mirror, makes me swoon!  If anyone knows where I can get this in silver/gold and in the UK, please let me know!

Photo from Pinterest

White Tulips

How gorgeous are white tulips!  I spotted them in a store earlier this month, put them in a big vase in my kitchen and fell in love.  The bright white and healthy green colours really brighten up my home and get me excited for Spring - I just want to have vases and jars of them all over the house!

Valentino: Photo from Vogue.co.uk

Elie Saab: Photo from Style.com

Couture Dresses
Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week Spring 2015 has been stealing up all my free time and attention this past week - staring at gorgeous dresses, what's not to love?!  This dress from Valentino is just beautiful! The gorgeous light layers of fabric and shimmer of rainbow colours across the dress makes it look oh so dreamy.  Elie Saab is another favourite of mine, sticking with solid colours a lot of the time yet working with different fabrics and embellishments makes me fall in love with their collections season after season...*looks through all the beautiful photos again*...

Photo from Pinterest

Travel

I don't know if it's the slightly yucky weather recently or some sort of January blues, but my mind has been filled with ideas of travelling and visiting a few places I have never experienced before - after all life is all about the experiences and memories you make.  I'm so excited as I have booked up to visit a few states in America later in the year! I can feel my browsing history becoming clogged up with searching all things America over the next few months.

What has inspired you this month?  I'd love to hear about it!

Have an amazing weekend everyone ♥︎

Coconut Oil: My Beauty Saviour

One of my beauty staples all year round is coconut oil.

Not only does it help to promote a healthier you from the inside - keeping your heart healthy, aiding digestion, strengthening your immune system and helping to treat infections - but it also does great things on the outside too.

Below I've outlined my favourite beauty uses of coconut oil that I thought might be useful to you too - it really is a girl's best friend!

1 / Healthy, Shiny Hair

I love to use coconut oil as a deep conditioning treatment for my hair.
It's great for damaged or dry hair and being 100% natural means there is no alcohol or other chemicals in the mix.

How To:

I section off my hair and melt some of the coconut oil, then I apply it focusing on the driest areas of my hair (mainly the ends!).  I use it sparingly at the roots of my hair and on my scalp, as for me it can weigh my hair down.
Once it is all coated in oil I tie or clip it up and put a shower cap over it to help it really sink into the hair.  You can then leave the treatment on for as long as you like!  I either keep it on for 2-3 hours on a Sunday evening and then wash out or keep it in overnight (remember to put a towel down on your pillow) then wash out the next morning.
Make sure you really shampoo your hair well when washing out to make sure your hair isn't greasy or heavy.  I try to do this at least once a month and I really notice a different in my hair when I keep it up!

2 / Skin Saviour

Similar to dry hair, it really helps to counteract dry skin.  Mainly because of the protein, vitamin E and good fatty acids within coconut oil.

I use this on my face by rubbing a small amount into my hands, and it helps to soothe my skin and help inject some moisture - it also helps to balance out my dry skin and oily T zone.
I do this once a week and it's a great way of applying a gentle treatment to your face.

This is also great for removing any stubborn make up and can also be used on dry skin anywhere on your body. I don't think it works great on the rest of my body personally and I stick to my standard Soap & Glory moisturiser, but I do love the effects on my face.

3 / Shaving

Oh no! Have an emergency leg shaving situation and you're all out of shaving gel? No problem, coconut oil comes to the rescue!

It's great at keeping your legs moisturised while helping with the shaving process, just apply some to your legs (dry or wet) and remember to remove used oil from your razor between strokes.


Do you have any other beauty uses for coconut oil I could try out?
Let me know if you have tried any of these before!

Have a great weekend everyone ♥︎

Lip Loves

Happy Saturday!

I have loved using gorgeous lipsticks, lip balms and lip bullets recently (just to name a few!) and I thought I'd cover off one of my favourites - the Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stain, which is also named Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain on a couple of my products.

They are great products and do exactly as they say - work as both a lip balm and lip stain.
The lip balm is what really sells this for me, it doesn't dry out my lips and keeps them feeling soft for a good few hours.
The lip stain also lasts a long time - these tend to be my go-to lip products for long nights out or dinners, knowing the colour won't budge and would only need a quick application afterwards to balm those lips back up!

They also have the most amazing scent of fresh peppermint and the balm stains are retractable, meaning no mess when you need more product. At around £7.99 I think these products are great!

From top to bottom: 020 Lovesick, 010 Darling, 001 Honey

The colour selection is impressive, I've gradually purchased these colours over the past few months and enjoy the range I have at the moment.
Lovesick is my ultimate night out lip product and always make sure it's in my bag for any top ups throughout the night (which is why all detail on the stick has rubbed off!).
Darling is a nice change for me, being the only purple based lip product I have, but I like it for some day trips due to it being long lasting and a nice pop of colour.
My most recent addition is Honey, which is brown based however when applied to the lips just peaches up your lip colour slightly - really loving this as a daytime look!

Have you tried the Revlon ColorBurst Balm Stain range - any favourite colours?
Let me know if you have come across any other great balm stains I can try!

Sparkly Nail Favourites

Recently I've had more time to play around with my nail collection (with it being the festive holidays and all!) and I have enjoyed layering my colours with some sparkle!
I always start off my nail routine by tidying up my nails with a few tools and using the Sally Hansen Miracle Cure Strengthener as a base.

Over Christmas I fell back in love with my Nails Inc The Mall nail polish, I used it lots over the festive period in 2013 as well.  It's a gorgeous dark blue colour with a slight shimmer when the light hits the nail and it's very opaque - one coat and I'm ready to go!  To add a bit of sparkle I used OPI Snowflakes in the Air Nail Lacquer on my ring finger, I thought about using it across them all but I really loved the dark blue on its own too. The OPI polish is great, not too runny and packs in a lot of glitter in a mix of sizes and the colour changes from silver to holographic as the lights hits it too.  

For New Year's Eve I went for another sparkly nail look, this time starting with a coat of Topshop's Nails in Barefoot, another opaque polish and it's in a gorgeous nude, slightly pink colour.  I topped off all my nails in another Nails Inc polish in Exhibition Road, this packs in lots of large gold and purple glitter pieces and I decided to fade the glitter from the tips of my nails.  I got this effect by loading lots of glitter at the tip of my nail, then started to drag the brush down to pull some of the glitter out.  

I really loved both looks and plan on doing similar nail styles again soon!

Did you play about with your nail collections over the holidays?  What's your favourite go-to look for the party season?

New Year's Resolutions for Blogging in 2015

Happy New Year everybody! ♥︎

I hope you all had a lovely time bringing in the new year

and are ready to make some memories in 2015!

This is my first post of the year so I thought it was only appropriate to let you all in on my New Year's resolutions for blogging in 2015.  I only started my blog in October of 2014 and I have been really enjoying it! However I'm ready to step it up a gear and set some targets for the year.

Resolution 1 / Get Creative!
Since I haven't been blogging for long, I've been trying to wrap my head around the basics of taking photos, uploading posts and understanding Bloglovin' - however I'd love to be able to get creative with my blog.  So, I plan to set up my own website, including the design and layout, and create a brand logo.  This will take time but I'd love to see a huge jump in progress on my blog over the next year.

Resolution 2 / Start a Content Series
I love reading content series from other great bloggers, monthly favourites being a popular one!  It's a great idea to bring readers back to your page and create consistency throughout your blog.  I currently upload posts every Saturday so I think a monthly or quarterly series would be a good place to start - now to think up some content!
If you have any ideas let me know. :)

Resolution 3 / Engage with the Community
From what I have experienced so far through a few blog comments and twitter chats, those of you in the blogging community are so friendly and happy to help fellow bloggers out.  I love reading about other bloggers offering up hints and tips to others, it's like one big happy family!
I'm going to get more engaged in blogging conversations and commenting on other blogs too, I love being able to discuss my interests with others and I'm definitely ready to chat more and make the most of it!

Do you have any New Year's resolutions for your blog in 2015?
If you have complete your resolutions from last year I'd love to hear all about them!

The Fashion Edit: New Year's Eve Sparkle

Happy Saturday everyone!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas with your friends and family and aren’t going too crazy in the post-Christmas sales!

With New Year’s Eve being only a few days away, I thought it was only appropriate to bring you my fashion edit of the best New Year’s Eve sparkly outfits for your celebrations.  I have a bit of a mixed bag in terms of the price range, so hopefully there is something to suit everyone.

Sparkle 1 / The Ultimate Maxi Dress

Let's start off with the ultimate maxi dress which screams - bring in the New Year in style! This ASOS Red Carpet Premium Dress is stunning, a bit pricey at £150 but it is now down to £90 in the ASOS sale! It is such a unique, exciting dress; the balance between the gorgeous large kimono sleeves and low cut v-back make this an elegant, on trend option for your New Year's celebrations.  The large sequins are so eye-catching and you will definitely turn heads at the party!

Sparkle 2 / The Playsuit
A little easier on the pennies is this Motel Rocks Paulette Long Sleeve Playsuit in Burgundy coming in at £59.  This is super sparkly and in a staple winter colour.  The long sleeves, plunging neckline and cinched waist makes this a very flattering option for New Year's Eve - get a pair of gorgeous heels and statement necklace and you're good to go!

Sparkle 3 / The Co-ord
Another ASOS number! This Triangle Embellished Turtle Neck Crop Top & Pencil Skirt in Scuba are a stylish choice for New Year's Eve.  The golden metallic embellishment against the black edging is a nice touch and breaks up the sparkle, making both items of clothing really stand out.  This outfit comes in at £72 which is good for 2 separate items which can be worn all matchy matchy or worn again with contrasting crop top or skirt.  

Sparkle 4 / The LBD
If you're looking for the classic LBD with a bit of a twist then this Nicole X Cut Out Midi Dress Black Sequin from Missguided is the dress for you! The front of the dress looks like a co-ord top and skirt, and the high neck detailing makes this a little different.  It is usually £40 but is now down to £24.99 - bargain!! Get out your bold red lipstick and gorgeous strappy heels to go along with the gorgeous, reasonably priced dress.  

Sparkle 5 / The Accessory
Sparkly outfits not your thing?  This Sequin Crossbody Bag from Topshop might be just the right amount of sparkle for you.  It is the cutest little bag with a long chain strap and tonal sequins.  It's a perfect party bag and was £25 but now £15! 

Have you already got the perfect NYE outfit ready? Let me know what it's like!

I hope you all have a very Happy New Year and have amazing memories of 2014.

♥︎ 

Festive Treats: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Happy Saturday everyone!

Only 5 more sleeps until Christmas!  I love the run up to Christmas - party nights out, wrapping loved ones presents, Christmas movies and eating some goodies you usually would avoid!

On that note, todays post is all about making your own Christmas treats over the festive period, in the form of chocolate covered marshmallow reindeers, too cute!

For this treat you'll need:

• Marshmallows
• Pretzels
• Milk Chocolate
• Red M&Ms
• Silver or White Chocolate Pearls
• Cake Pop Sticks or Straws

You'll also need a spoon, scissors, bowl, pan and something to stand your sticks or straws in - I used a mason jar but a foam block would be best if you were making a lot of these so they don't stick together!

Step 1 / Cut your pretzels in half to create the antlers, this can be a bit tricky in getting the pretzel to cut in the right place - just make sure you have enough for trial and error!

Step 2 / Pop your marshmallows onto the end of your sticks or straws, I used festive straws from Ginger Ray with little tags saying 'Be Merry!' and 'Ho Ho Ho' - I love them!

Step 3 / Create 2 small holes in the top of your marshmallows to make it easier for the pretzel antlers to be added.  To do this I opened up a pair of scissors and jabbed the marshmallow a few times, there is probably a much easier way to do this - if you can think of another way please let me know! :)

Step 4 / Next you want to break up your chocolate and put it in a glass bowl.  To melt the chocolate you can either pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and keep bringing it out and stirring until melted, or you can place the glass bowl on a pan of boiling water while continuing to stir the chocolate until it has melted.  

Once it has melted pick up each of your marshmallow sticks and coat your marshmallow in the chocolate.  Once it is covered use a spoon to even out the chocolate a little and pop them back into your jar/foam block.  

Step 5 / Pick up your antler pretzels and position them in the small holes you made earlier, this can be a bit fiddly and I held the pretzels in place for a minute or so they wouldn't slip out - patience is key here! 

Step 6 / This is where your little Rudolph's come to life!  Add your silver or white pearl sprinkles as eyes and a red M&M for Rudolph's nose.  Again just make sure the eyes and nose don't slip off if the chocolate is still pretty melty.  Then pop them in the fridge to dry and your Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer are ready!

Are you going to try and make some homemade treats for your family and friends this Christmas? 

I think I'll make more of these for Christmas day :)

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!