MAC x Ellie Goulding Halcyon Days Eyeshadow Quad

Not going to lie, I was super excited when I heard back in summer that MAC Cosmetics were doing a collaboration with Ellie Goulding.  Not only do I love her music, I also love her make up looks which to me always seem natural while giving off a powerful, blonde bombshell vibe!  

Of course when December (eventually!) came around with the collection launch, I had to get my hands on some of the products, I have the Only You lipstick, 129 powder/blush brush and the gorgeous Halcyon Days eyeshadow quad.  

The eyeshadow quad is so beautiful, first of all the packing of this product is lovely, it's a solid, glossy black square with rose gold detailing on Ellie's logo.  Subtly beautiful packaging!  

The Halcyon Days quad is filled with 4 cream colour bases - definitely a change from MAC's primarily powder based quads - this quad includes gorgeous peachy pinks, brown and neutrals in cool tones which are just beautiful.  The 4 colours are: 

• Root
• Tint
• Every Time You Go
• Wished I Stayed

Another nice touch to this quad is underneath the cream shadows, a medium/dark blot powder.  This is useful for me before applying the cream shadow base by helping to prevent slipping across the lid as much; of course a blot powder comes in handy for any shine across the face too.  This quad also has a handy mirror so it's the perfect compact for your handbag or when you're on the go.  

The full MAC x Ellie Goulding collection looks beautiful, my sister also has the Halcyon Nights powder eyeshadow quad and Without Your Love lipstick, a lovely, warm pink shade - we are obsessed with this collection!  

Did you get your hands on any of the MAC x Ellie Goulding collection?  What was your favourite product? 

♥︎

The Fashion Edit: The Perfect Topshop Ankle Boots

It's time for my first fashion post of the year, and I'm kicking it off with my favourite pair of ankle boots from Topshop - the MISCHIEF Plated Heel Ankle Boots.

I had my eye on these for a while and I was lucky enough to receive them as a gift from my Dad and Sis at Christmas - thanks gals!

They are classic, black leather heeled ankle boots; a staple in any girls wardrobe!
What I love about these boots is the detailing, along the front of the toe and the inner half of the heel is gorgeous gold metal plated detail which adds a beautiful contrast to the black leather boot.
The heel itself is in a brown wood effect which compliments the gold plating perfectly and the heel isn't too high making them so comfortable and wearable.

As you'll know, heeled ankle boots go with most outfits you'll have in your wardrobe and these are no exception, I love them!  The perfect ankle boot with gorgeous detailing.

What are your go-to heeled ankle boots?

P.S. - These boots are now on sale in Topshop, £85 down to £45!  But be quick sizes are selling out fast!

♥︎

New Year's Resolutions for Blogging in 2016

Happy New Year blogging bunnies! ♥︎

I hope you had fun celebrating the start of 2016 and let's start making amazing memories for the year ahead!

I'm ready to look back on my 2015 resolutions and how I can build on new ones for 2016.  I've now been blogging for 14 months and have been learning so much about maintaining a blog, creating content and engaging with the blogging community.
I definitely underestimated the amount of time that goes into blogging - and I only add new posts once a week!

2015 Resolutions

Resolution 1 / Get Creative!  
This resolution still stands, I wanted to create a brand logo, design and layout for my blog which I did, however I want to still improve this over time and start to build a new website for my blog which I didn't do in 2015.
This was a biggie for me in 2015, however I believe now that content is more important than having a new website set up - if you have a basic site with engaging content readers will continue to return!  So this one would just be a nice to have in 2016 - time permitting!

Resolution 2 / Start a Content Series
I started a new content series of monthly inspiration posts in 2015 covering different topics of inspiration each month, including inspirational women, bloggers and fashion week beauty looks - not to mention random selections of inspiration in between!

This year I'd again love to do a content series, I'm thinking about doing one based around what I've been up to for the month, a bit of a monthly roundup of my life to add more personality to my blog - watch this space!

Resolution 3 / Engage with the Community 
One of the biggest lessons I've learnt this year from blogging is that engaging with others is SO important.  This is probably my biggest New Year's resolution to continue with in 2016, it is the only way my blog is going to grow rapidly and continue to improve.  Plus, speaking to fellow bloggers is one of the fun parts of blogging!

New Year's Resolutions for 2016

For 2016 I have 3 areas to focus on for my blog:

• Continue to engage with the community through comments and social media - this is a huge part of blogging and I want to do so much more of it in 2016
• Reach 1,500 Twitter followers - probably the most important social media platform for bloggers, so I want to make the most of it!  
• Add another social media platform to my blogging world - social media is arguably more important than your blog at times, people buy into other people and this is where your personality and blog comes to life (especially since blog commenting seems to be less popular and more inconvenient nowadays).  I'm thinking Instagram or Pinterest could be coming next!  

What are your New Year's Resolutions for blogging in 2016?  I'd love to hear what your focus is on for the year ahead!  

♥︎

The Fashion Edit: New Year's Eve Celebrations

Merry Christmas lovelies!  I hope you were all on Santa's nice list and received some beautiful gifts, and most of all had a wonderfully festive day yesterday with your friends and family!  I honestly love nothing more than celebrating with the people closest to me.

Now that Santa Claus has been, I know a lot of you will be looking for that perfectly sparkly New Year's Eve outfit to bring in 2016, so I've pulled together a similar post to last year with my top picks for gorgeous (and some cosy!) New Year's Eve outfits you'll love.
I researched a lot of these looks before Christmas Day to make sure I had the time to look for lots of sequin-y goodness for you all - which means some of these prices may now be reduced in the Boxing Day sales!  So if you like any of my picks below, hopefully you'll get a nice surprise and see there is a discount when you go to purchase - fingers crossed!

Red Scallop Sequin Bardot Dress £59

WOW! This is a gorgeous dress from Rare London, the cut of the dress and sequin scalloped detail makes this look super festive and totally feminine.  The colour is perfect for this time of year too, I love it!

Limited Edition Rose Gold Sequin & Fringe Mini Dress £40

Now this is a party dress!  Another Rare London dress which is perfect for a New Year's Eve party night - sequins, fringe and a plunge neckline screams party glam, I especially love the rose gold colour of this dress.  The capped sleeves with fringe detailing makes this dress a little different and the direction of the sequinned detail make this a flattering mini dress for your celebrations.

Brushed Sequin Dress £35

A simple yet sparkly dress from Topshop would be a great choice to bring in 2016, the bronzed dress has a lovely brushed sequin effect which I love every year, and with delicate straps it keeps the look classic - perfect for the no fuss party girl!  Just add statement heels and you're good to go.

Levana Embroidered Mesh Full Skirt Dress £299

Looking for a sophisticated dress that still stands out from the crowd this New Year?  Ted Baker have the beautiful Levana dress in their new collection, a flattering V-neck style with n embroidered midi length full skirt.  The contrasting embroidery is really what makes this dress, the detailing is stunning and will be sure to turn heads - this would be beautiful at a black tie New Year's Eve party.

Red Carpet Sculpt Premium Bandage Ultra Plunge Maxi Dress £110

This maxi dress from ASOS is stunning, you'll definitely pull off the sexy, sophisticated look wearing this.  A plunge neckline, thigh split and bandage style bodice all make this a stand out pick for your party night, since it's a maxi dress it adds sophistication to your look.  I'd suggest wearing a gorgeous hair brooch with this and putting your hair in an up-do or pull over to one side.  

Curly Faux Fur Double Breasted Coat £55

If you're out and about this New Year's Eve like I am (Edinburgh Street Party here I come!!), then you'll need this gorgeous faux fur coat from Topshop.  It's a curly textured faux fur jacket in statement black and white - it's just stunning!  This would also be a great option to wear over your sparkly mini dress on your way to your party, sequins and faux fur always look great pieced together (statement heels always help too).  

Chain Hand-Knitted Beanie £16

Another option if you're heading outside to bring in the New Year is a cute woolly hat to keep cosy yet stylish when you're celebrating.  I love this bright magenta hat from Topshop and the gorgeous chain knit style, it's such a simple way to dress up your look when you're out and about and is a great pop of colour.  Especially if like me you tend to stick to black, on black, on black..!

LED Reindeer Fair Isle Bobble Hat £10

There is another option if you refuse to let people tell you Christmas is over, make a statement with this totally amazing hat from Urban Outfitters.  Fairy lights and Christmassy goodness - what's not to love?!

Rosie for Autograph Silk Camisole Set £32

Finally, if you're staying in this New Year, I say you bring in 2016 looking gorgeous in this M&S Rosie for Autograph camisole set.  Her range for M&S is absolutely beautiful, I love the silk camisole set in this colour - so pretty!  

Whatever you get up to, I hope you have a wonderful time bringing in the New Year and have a happy and healthy 2016!  

♥︎

Last Minute Christmas Gift: Reindeer Beer!

Just before Christmas, panic can usually set in if you still have some last minute presents to buy for friends and family - I'm here to help with that!

A few years ago I wanted to get a little extra for my boyfriends Christmas gift and I decided on bottles of beer, with a twist!  I decided to made some rein-beers to make the gift super festive and they were so easy to make.

You'll need:

• Beer bottles (or any bottles you'd like to use)
• Brown pipe cleaners
• Googly eyes
• Red pom poms or circular stickers
• Glue or sticky dots (or something similar to stick down your red nose and eyes with)
• Bows, ribbon or anything else you'd like to use to dress up your rein-beer  

We'll start by creating the antlers for the rein-beers, take a full length pipe cleaner and wrap this around the bottle, just below the bottle cap, and twist to hold in place leaving the lengths of the pipe cleaner pointing upwards.

Take another pipe cleaner and cut this in half (or shorter if you'd prefer) and bend into a U shape, attach this to one side of the pipe cleaner and twist to secure.  Do the same for the other side of the pipe cleaner - and now you have reindeer antlers!

Next we can secure Rudolph's nose, add some glue to one side of your pom pom and then attach this to the neck of the bottle (leaving enough room to add your googly eyes above), if you're using a red circular sticker you can easily just stick this onto the bottle neck.

To finish off your rein-beer, stick 2 googly eyes to the bottle neck above Rudolph's nose and if you have any ribbon or bows, add them to your rein-beer and that's it!  

It's so simple to create and can be done on any bottle you'd like to use.  It's such a great way to dress up a small gift for someone; I'm using these to add as extras to a few Christmas presents I have already bought.

Are you planning on creating this as a last minute Christmas idea?  

Tweet me @Saturdays_Girl with your rein-beer creation! 

♥︎

Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup Recipe

When Winter comes around I love nothing more than a warm bowl of homemade soup, it warms you up from the inside out and is sooo tasty!

This post is a bit of a change from beauty and fashion, but thought I'd share one of my favourite homemade soup recipes, it's super easy and you will love this over the festive period.

This spiced carrot and lentil soup recipe is a spicy twist on a classic soup, it's low fat too so you can indulge in more of your chocolates over Christmas!

I originally found a recipe here, although I've made some changes as I've started to make it more and more.

This recipe serves 4 and you'll need:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp crushed chillies
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 large carrots, washed and chopped (or grated - it's up to you)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 140g split red lentils
• 1 litre hot vegetable stock

You'll also need a hand blender or food processor to blend your soup together at the end.  

To make this hearty soup, heat a large pan and dry-fry your cumin seeds and crushed chillies until they begin to jump around, then take half of them out and set to the side.  In the pan, add in the rest of your ingredients - olive oil, carrots, onion, split red lentils, vegetable stock and chilli powder.  

Bring to the boil and then let this simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until your carrots are soft and your lentils are soft and swollen.  

Now use your hand blender or food processor to blend your ingredients together until smooth or as smooth as you like your soup.  Season with salt and pepper and your spices which were left to the side earlier, and that's it!  It's super healthy and super tasty, you could also serve this with yogurt since it is a spicy soup or with some warm bread (yum!).  

Do you have a go-to homemade soup recipe?  Let me know if you try this one out!  

♥︎

L'Oreal Infallible 24H Foundation Review

Since Christmas is nearly here, I'm under strict orders from Santa not to buy lots of beauty products this month! Which I'm finding difficult since there are so many gorgeous palettes and gift sets out at the moment.

The only beauty purchase I've made (so far...) is a new everyday drugstore foundation, the L'Oreal Infallible 24H Stay Fresh foundation.  I previously raved about the Bourjois foundations which I still think are great, however I was in the mood to try something new and L'Oreal really stood out for me as I've heard great reviews about their foundations so thought I'd give it a go!

L'Oreal Infallible 24H foundation definitely has high coverage, more than my current Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation with light to medium coverage, so you really don't need a lot of the product when applying to your face.  When first applied it looked as though the foundation was highlighting my pores and sticking to dry areas of my face, yet 5 - 10 minutes later once I had applied all of my make up it definitely had much more of a flawless finish and settled well onto the skin.

This foundation provides more of a matte finish than I'm used to, it's not completely matte but it 'fights make up meltdown' and does last longer than other drugstore foundations I've tried which is great!  This foundation also has a lovely, fresh scent to it and it's fast becoming one of my top drugstore foundations.  I think I'll need to start trying out more of the L'Oreal range!

Have you tried this foundation and what did you think?  Let me know if you have other drugstore foundation suggestions!

♥︎