Valentines OOTN 2015

Valentines Day can divide opinion and although Nick and I aren't massively into celebrations we do always go out for a meal, and we always go to a little Italian in York called Del Rios (if you're ever in York I would highly recommend it!), it's in an old cellar which makes it uber cosy and perfect for a valentines date. So yes, we're not huge romantics on the 14th of February but I am always more than happy to have an excuse to dress up!

I wore a dress from Joy, which I got in the sale a couple of weeks ago. It's still available online, here. Its such a flattering cut for anyone with a figure like mine (small waist, massive bum) and ticks the collar box so gets the thumbs up from me! The kitty bag was a Christmas present from Nick, I believe from TKMaxx. And I wore my trusty Primark boots which I always think dress down outfits for occasions like this. Although I didn't want to be casual, I also wouldn't have worn proper 'heels' with this dress as I think it would just push it over to the 'dressed up' side of things.

Anyway, I'll leave you with some pictures of the evening and say goodbye now!

♥

Happy (belated) Halloween - Sugar Skull

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went to a halloween party at the weekend. I'm not usually halloween-y person. I don't really get excited about it (I'm all about Bonfire Night) and I don't particuarly enjoy the thought of having to answer the door to thousands of children and then give them free chocolate (bah humbug, I know!) but this year I definitley was excited. Although it wasn't so much halloween that excited me, more the fact that someone I knew was throwing an actual party, that people were actually going to make an effort to dress up for! I love a bit of fancy dress and, although it did get boring at uni, I've had a good few years off and I was ready for it. Plus, the party wasn't just any old halloween party, it was Nicks brothers 30th birthday so it was planned well in advance which meant I could really think about what I wanted to go as. When I've dressed up for halloween before, it's always been last minute and my effort has always been pretty crap to be honest. This time though, I was on it! I toyed with many an idea, but finally settled on a candy / sugar skull (or calavera as I've learnt they're actually called).

I watched at a lot (and I mean, a lot) of tutorials on YouTube as well as scouring Pintrest and I think all in all, my effort turned out pretty well! I've never done full on face paint before but it was actually surprisingly easy to do. The main tutorial I used for inspiration was this one, although I did change the pattern more to my taste.

In case anyone is thinking of recreating the look I used the following products:
♥ Smiffys white face paint
♥ Black gel eyeliner
♥ Red lipstick
♥ Crafting gems (stuck on with eyelash glue)
♥ Floral crown from eBay (exact one here)
♥ Miss Selfridge crop top (exact one here)
♥ Mesh midi skirt (exact one here)
♥ Temporary tattoos (exact ones here and here)

I applied the face paint with a cheap make up sponge (I bought a multi pack from poundland) and applied the more intricate design with make up brushes.

(Me and my date for the evening - Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead)

(Another skull!)

(Me and one of my best chums who was a great Elphaba!)

Until next time :)

OOTN: Casual Drinks

Nick and I went out for drinks with one of our favourite couples to double date with on Friday (Tish and Katie - you may remember them from this post) and this is what I wore! It was one of those occasions that I am finding oh so difficult to dress for at the moment due to the fact I hate everything in my wardrobe, so I nabbed this shirt from Nick's mums collection - score! I love the berry red colour, and I there's nothing I love more than a polka dot print!

I wore this with black Joni jeans and suede chelsea style boots. And I wapped on my £4 Primark rain coat because it is England after all, and I also really like khaki green with the berry colour.

(OOTN - the details: New Look shirt (last year), Topshop Joni jeans, Primark raincoat, London Rebel suede Chelsea Boots via TKMaxx, Tesco rose gold watch, Accessorize sterling silver infinity necklace - similar here)

Until next time :)

OOTN: Sun flower co-ordinates

 (OOTN - the details: sunflower co-ords, by Hearts and Bows, bought via ARK clothing - shorts, top)

I have been coveting this co-ord set for months. I found it online somewhere before my holiday and had it book marked to buy once I got paid. But then pay day came and the shorts had sold out in my size :(

But the other day I went for a good ol' mooch around York, popped into Ark and saw it staring back at me. It was co-ord fate. Although I am disappointed that I didn't get to wear it on holiday.

Anyway I gave it its first outing on Saturday night to a friends going away drinks/night out. I would quite like to forget the evening as I drank far too much vodka and, although I didn't do anything embarrassing per se it's always awful waking up and having to work out whether you did anything stupid the night before. Luckily it only happens to me about once a year, phew. But at least my outfit looked good!

I paired it with thick tights, black boots and a small cardi because it rained all day and night yesterday and I needed practicality! I didn't wear any jewellery apart from rings because the sun flowers do all the work themselves!

(FOTN - the details: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in True Ivory (100), Soap and Glory Trick and Treatment concealer, Me me me highlighter in moonbeam, Rimmel professional eyebrow pencil in dark brown (001), Elf baked blush in D33, Collection fast stroke liquid eyeliner in black (1), Maybelline Coloursensational lip liner in pleasure me red (547).

PS. I promise that at some point in the near future I will learn how to take good outfit shots on a camera that isn't my iPhone. Promise.

OOTN: Birthday Meal at Bills York

(OOTN - the details: Zara knitted jumper with embellished neck, Topshop Joni jeans in black, Primark grey and black spotty dolly socks, London Rebel suede Chelsea Boots via TKMaxx)

(FOTN - the details: Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in Soft Beige (200), Bourjois Maxi Delight Bronzer for tanned skin (02), Tropic Sculpting Palette in Blushing (used highlight only), Maybelline the Falsies waterproof mascara in black, Barry M eyeshadow pencil Brown/Black (05), Hema kohl eyeliner pencil in black (21), Natural Collection blusher in Peach Melba , Rimmel Apocolips in Galaxy (301), moody face: optional)

Last Friday night, Nick, my parents and I ventured out into York to have a bite to eat at Bills which has just opened. As it was Nicks birthday whilst we were on holiday my parents wanted to take us out to have a bit of a celebration so I thought I would take a few outfit/face shots. Although it is August, England is up to its usual tricks when it comes to the weather which is why I'm dressed as if it's mid-November. 

I like the simple-ness of this outfit and make up. I feel as though the dark lip (it was darker in real life, damn you camera!), the neckline on the jumper and the small heel on the boots classes up the outfit and strikes a good balance between casual and 'dressed up', which, in my opinion, is the perfect look for a quiet meal and a couple of drinks - I'm definitely a "smart casual" kinda gal. Plus when you're going out for a meal and drinks,  it's super important to me to be comfy when I'm sitting in the restaurant - there's nothing worse than feeling like you have to keep on pulling your hem down, or wondering whether you've eaten too much and are bulging out of all the wrong places when you stand up!

Whats your go-to meal and drinks outfit?

Until next time:)

OOTN : Girly Drinks #2

 (OOTN - Playsuit - BooHoo, Belt - New Look, Bag - Miss Selfridge, Boots - Primark, Blazer - H&M)

(Rose gold watch, as mentioned in this post)

(I couldn't be bothered to wash my hair so tried my hand at Zoella's Katniss plait tutorial, which can be found here)

(FOTN - Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in Soft Beige (200), Bourjois Maxi Delight Bronzer for tanned skin (02), Tropic Sculpting Palette in Blushing (used highlight only), Maybelline the Falsies waterproof mascara in black, Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold (65), Barry M eyeshadow pencil Brown/Black (05), Hema kohl eyeliner pencil in black (21), Sleek blush in Pixie Pink (936), Lasting Finish Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in Rosetto (107) and 17 Lip Stain in Berry Crush)

Until next time :)

Outfit of the Night(s!) - Majorca Edition

I've just come back from a lovely break in Majorca... sun, sea and sand! Although the weather wasn't the absolute greatest which was disappointing but it's always good to get away and relax so I'm not complaining!!

Anyway, since I had time aplenty and a make shift photographer in the form of Nick I managed to snap a few outfit shots. I will try and link the bits I can but as a lot was from Primark and various summer sales I don't think I'll have much luck!

1. Nirvana tank - Primark (in stores now as far as I'm aware); striped skater skirt - Miss Selfridge; black fakenstocks - Primark; heart bracelet - H&M (in store now, no link available); aaaand vintage leather bag.

2. Yellow smock dress - BooHoo (here); cream and gold snake print clutch - Primark; white fakenstocks - Primark; woven necklace - Accessorize.

3. Purple cropped vest - H&M (in store now, no link available); sheer maxi skirt - H&M; aaaaand leather kitty bag from a Florence market.

4. Floral spaghetti strap dress (ARK); black crochet cardigan - Zara (from years ago - excuse the hole...); black clutch (TKMaxx).

5. Striped crop top - H&M (in store now, no link available); white chiffon midi skirt - Primark; rose gold clutch - Accessorize (years ago).

6. Cream crochet crop top - H&M (last year, similar ones are in store now though); embroidered skirt - Topshop (no longer available); brown sandals - Matalan; aaaand brown leather bag from a cutesy pie shop in Alcudia Old Town.

On reflection, I think my favourite outfit is number 5. I absolutely LOVE the Primark skirt. It's so effortlessly chic and looks far more expensive than Primark so thumbs up all round!

Until next time :)

OOTN : Girly Drinks

(The details: Matalan plain black swing dress, H&M tuxedo style blazer, H&M rose gold bar necklace, New Look rose gold watch, Primark nude sandals, Primark nude clutch, Models Own Hedkandi 'Hedonist' nail varnish)

A thousand apologies for my first outfit post featuring pictures from some grotty bar toilets - I tried in vain to take a decent picture of this outfit before I went out and it just was NOT happening. I promise, the bar I was in was actually quite nice but it was York Races yesterday so town was not looking its best!

As you can see, the general theme to last night's out was "black" (as many of my outfits are), but I thought I would get a quick a snap because I think it was actually a perfect balance of smart/casual which I sometimes find hard to nail.

The dress itself was from Matalan, and this is it close up:

Such a simple dress but mega diverse which is wonderful for me! And for £12 you really can't complain. I love a good bargain, and always like to go and have a  peruse in Matalan. Sure you sometimes have to wade through a hell of a lot of crap stuff, and strangely sometimes their stuff is pretty pricey but when you find gems like this it's worth it! (Also, their home ware is amazing).

What do you think, Matalan - yay or nay?

Until next time :)