L'Oréal Beauty and the Beast lipstick collection

I heard about this collection by L'Oréal before it came out via social media and was really interested straight away. I, (probably like many of you reading this) have a weakness for lipsticks. My initial excitement was short lived as I soon found out that they were going to be exclusive to Amazon Italy. 

Then they were released and all of a sudden people in the UK somehow had got hold of them. Apparently, although challenging, it is not impossible to shop on Amazon.it.

Armed with my knowledge of navigating Amazon.co.uk and Google translate in another tab of my browser; I was able to make a purchase. They didn't have them all in stock at the time. In fact, they had already sold out once and then restocked. There were a couple of other colours available (there are seven in the collection) but these were the ones I thought I'd be most likely to wear.

They are part of the colour riche collection and are actually shades that already exist, they have just been repackaged for the release of Beauty and the Beast. It cost me just under £30 to get these 3 including delivery. The regular colour riche's are £6.99 in Boots, so you are paying a bit extra for the packaging and the fact they have been shipped from Italy.

Lumiere is the shade 231 "Silk" and is the perfect nude for me. A subtle hint of sheer colour and a lovely sheen, perfect for every day wear.

La Bestia (or "the Beast" in English) is 703 "Oud Obsession". This is a deep chocolate brown, which unfortunately looks quite patchy because of the sheerness of the formula. I hope that can be avoided with a decent lip liner as a base.

Spolverina or Fifi the feather duster is a rich deep plum colour which seems to have a much more even formula than la bestia. It is the colour riche shade 374 "Intense Plum" which describes it perfectly. You definitely need a lip liner with this one though to stop it bleeding.

I would quite like to have bought the rose too as that looks like it would be a good staple red to add to my collection. I'll just have to wait and see if it comes back in stock.

Red and black, a perfect valentines match

Last week, I was browsing around Miss Selfridge in Outfit at my local retail park and spotted this gorgeous bucket bag hanging in a corner. What first caught my eye, was the flash of red on black which reminded me of a pair of Louboutins.

I told myself I didn't need another bag (having recently invested in a Kate Spade Byrdie) and reluctantly walked away after admiring it for far too long. 

This week, I was browsing through my personal emails one morning after arriving at work early and saw a sale email from Miss Selfridge. I followed the link to the site and there was the bag with 30% off. At that point, I just couldn't say no any longer and virtually threw it into my basket. The rest is history as they say!

 

Perfect for a valentines date too. Click here for the bag.

DIY Balmain style jumper

I recently saw Victoria from In the Frow wearing a gorgeous Balmain roll neck jumper in one of her YouTube videos. It is such a simple piece but the addition of gold buttons on one shoulder turn a basic roll neck into something much more sophisticated. However, the £575 price tag makes it somewhat less desirable to me. So, I had an idea! Why not do a DIY of this straightforward, yet stylish piece?

I headed over to Primark and bought a black roll neck jumper for £6. I sized down as I wanted it to be really fitted. Then I popped into the local market and picked up five gold buttons with an anchor detail on. 

 

I worked out the placement of the buttons and sewed them on one by one with black cotton. It took about 20 minutes in total. 

This is the finished jumper. The buttons don't sit quite as well and flush with the jumper because of the style of them. I think I'll keep an eye out for some other buttons to switch them with. Also the weight of the buttons is a slight issue as the ones on the neck cause it to droop slightly. 

It is quite an easy DIY though and not a bad saving.

Balmain = £575

Primark jumper and buttons from market = £7.75

Total saving = £567.25

What do you think?

How charming | Pandora charm birthday collection

I just turned another year older and my family made a great start to my Pandora charm collection. You may remember from this post that I bought the bracelet as a treat to myself during the summer and up until now I had been wearing it plainly with no charms. 

My boyfriend got me the October signature heart birthstone charm which is an open carved heart shaped charm with the birthstone in the center of each side. It is double sided so it looks the same even if it swings round. He also got the curious cat charm which is a single sided very cute little cat face to represent our lovely cat Alfie.

My brother got me the sister's love charm which is a heart shape with 'sister' engraved and a pink cubic zirconia. It is double sided, so it has the engraving an jewel on both sides.

From my parents I got the vintage E charm which is again double sided, an open carved sphere and the letter E carved with 3 small clear cubic zirconia's in the letter.

I'm so happy with my little collection of charms that are all special in their own way. 

At some point it would be good to get a rose gold one to match with the clasp and put in the middle of my other charms. But for now, I am loving the look of this.

Which charms are your favourite?

Autumn nails

I've neglected my nails since being back at work. Teacher's will know how it is; you get caught up in the craziness of the first term and never have much of a chance to take your foot off the throttle.

But now I'm in the routine and I'm seeing lots of beautiful autumnal colours, it is time to get back to it.

I've found a range of nail shades that I think will be perfect for Autumn.

Kiko 365 tattoo rose

Sally Hansen 370 commander in chic

Barry M cosmo berry

Essie cocktail bling

OPI stay off the lawn

Rimmel hottie choccie

I'm going to start off by buying the Kiko one - I fell a little bit in love with that when I discovered the picture on Pinterest.

If you think I've missed any good ones, please comment below and let me know.

Smelling delightful | The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club

In the Spring, I joined The Fragrance Shop Discovery Club and it has turned out to be the best £5 I spend each quarter.

 

 

 

Every season they send you a box containing a number of different fragrance samples. It tends to be five for the ladies and two pour homme (to keep the boyfriends/husbands/brothers/dads happy). There is also a little booklet in the box that tells you about each of the fragrances, along with voucher codes to use if you buy the full size of any of the scents. All this for only £5 including P&P. Just £5!

 

 

 

I find it a great way to try different perfumes and the samples are a great size to pop in your handbag and carry around with you. It is also really useful for me to hear what my boyfriend likes so I can make a metal note for birthdays and Christmas presents.

 

I have a one use voucher code that I am going to give away to one lucky person to get their first Discovery Club box free.

 

All you need to do is:

1. Comment on this post

2. Follow me on Instagram (@emma2710)

3. Send me a message me on Instagram and I'll send you the code.

 

Hurry though, as the code is only valid for a limited time.

 

What is your favourite fragrance for Autumn?

 

 

A day at the office | Work OOTD

I've been dying to wear this outfit since I bought it during the summer holidays, but the weather has been too nice to wear trousers up until now (very rare for this country!). So, today with a cloudy forecast looming, it seemed like the right time for its first outing.

I think I've mentioned before that being a teacher, I often find it hard to find decent work wear. The shops have some great clothes, but sometimes for one reason or another they just aren't appropriate for school. 

The blouse for me was love at first site. Such a lovely material; really soft and luxurious feeling, sleeveless, just off white with a smart black tie. It was a complete bargain from H&M at only £14.99.

I decided to style the blouse with some black wide leg trousers which are going to be huge during AW16. This pair are from Miss Selfridge, they cost £30, but I think I had a 20% off email code from them. (I thoroughly recommend that you sign up to the Miss Selfridge mailing list as they regularly send out discount codes.)

Picture from ASOS

Finally for the shoes. I'm on my feet a lot during the day and I also walk to work, so comfortable shoes are a must. I do have some nice loafers, but sometimes you just want some height. These are the ASOS Shaken heels which are currently on sale for £24 (RRP £32). The heel height is perfect but they are hurting my big toes, so I may have to send them back if I can't stretch them out.

What is your favourite place to shop for work wear?