2013 here we are...

So, it had been a couple of week since we also toasted our flutes and cheered in the new year, and so far its been quite a positive one for me. Not an immense amount has happened but more than anything I'm feeling quite excited and positive about the year ahead, here's hoping it's a good one!
I've had a few nice events to start of my new year happily. (apologies for the grainy photos, as they were all taken out I had to rely on my phone camera)

It feels like forever ago now but I celebrate New Years Eve with a delicious curry and a couple of glasses of wine with a few friends down the local pub. I've been out the past few years and just find it ridiculously overrated, expensive and a bit of a let down (I always feel really anxious building up to midnight, who knows why?!) is this just me? It was a nice relaxed night and I shall definitely be doing something similar next time. I wore a gold sequined open back top from Asos, which I absolutely love as it combines glitz and comfort.

                                       

I also had my work's staff party to look forward. I only work part time as a waitress when I'm not at Uni but everyone's so lovely and get's on so well so it's really nice to all get together outside of work. We had a meal (Christmas style of course, even though it was January - turkey overload) then all got our dancing shoes on and hit Birmingham. Fun night had by all. I wore a black midi dress from Topshop, such a good buy for only £28!

And finally, more recently I made a weekend trip to visit my chum Lottie in my favourite city,
London. We went to Koko in Camden on friday night which was fun. Really good music, and plenty of dancing, followed by an interesting bus journey home involving guitars and plenty of singing. On Saturday I made Lottie join me in being a tourist before crashing out watching a film on the evening (party animals!) The weekend definitely made me fall in love with London even more, although we definitely annoyed people on our journeys by singing renditions of Queen's bohemian rhapsody out loud. Anyone else sing a song they've got in their head out loud in a very out of tune manner and forget they're in public? No? I may need help.

Just a snippet round up as I always love seeing what other have been upto and seeing a few snaps. What have you been doing in the first couple weeks of New Year?

Lavender locks

Now this is a product I have been road testing for the past for weeks, and I must say, it has been a little life saver for my tresses.

For the life of me, I can't decide what colour I want my hair dyed, and whilst I continue to fret about this, Fudge purple shampoo has been keeping my hair fresh.

 I have bog standard highlighted hair that has a massive tendency to go extremely brassy and dull 4-6 weeks after having my roots done. Unfortunately my student funds don't stretch to me having it done this often - and let's face it my hair would become even more dried out. I love being blonde, but the upkeep is a pain in the...well just a pain!


For a while I used this shampoo, which I was quite disappointing by. It took a good few weeks of use for results to start showing, and even them my hair looked less brightened and more dark/dull, albeit quite ash toned. So I started the hunt for something better and came across Fudge, which had some cracking reviews, and was quite affordable I must say. My Mother actually kindly found me some in a beauty store near us, but plenty of online sites carry it.

         





































Fudge violet toning shampoo 300ML - varying from £8-12

After following simple directions, I have interchanged using it with my regular shampoo, leaving on for 3-5 minutes at a time, and the results are great.

As a WARNING: Do not leave on for too long. You may end up with sections of the hair looking slightly purple tinted, you don't want to look like you copied your grandma and had a blue rinse now do you!
 Taking head of this precaution, if you want an affordable product that will last a while (I've had this for six weeks now and still going strong) and help condition your dry hair as well as restore ash toned brightness, give it a whirl. I haven't looked back, and have even had compliments on my hair looking a good colour. Pah, who needs dye!

Affordable find #1

Recently, I have been oohing and ahhing over numerous beauty products that right now my budget doesn't seem to stretch to as I'm trying to be good and save for ONCE in my life in preparation for travelling next year.
So because of this I've been on the hunt for products on the cheaper sides of things, whether new out or old, that are good enough replacements until I find that money trees do exist. I'm going to come up with a list of my favourite affordable range of products. My knowledge on beauty and skincare isn't top notch, but as a student who likes to dabble in the area I thought, why not!
To start of with is my favourite body moisturisers, and this definitely wasn't a hard one for me, as I absolutely love and have been using for a good while now the Body Shop body butters. They've been around for years, and have certainly been mentioned before, but I adore them as a reliable go to, and they really do last forever.

  I've tried other body butters, but always seem to go back to the Body Shop's range, possibly because of the bright colourful packaging and the fact they smelt so yummy, but for my skin they seem to do the trick.
They smell gorgeous and although at first feel quite thick, really do sink into the skin and feel really moisturising.

They usually retail at around £12.50 for the big tubs, which yes isn't THAT cheap but they last for ages and often have sales on where they retail for half the price, and if I'm correct, theres one on now! Go to http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/

TRESemme Haircare

A couple of days ago, I touched back down on the British Isles to the view of beautiful torrential rain and storms, oh the joys living on our small island brings us. Luckily I had been able to escape the weather on a break to Spain for the week with my family, with was indeed lovely and relaxing. Even the hotel my mum picked which just so happened to cater of an age range between 60-80 didn't put a dampener on the week (don't we all love bingo around the pool and cheesy Rod Stewart impersonators for the evening entertainment).
Unfortunately, my hair tends to channel Monica off Friends in the humidity,and until I can muster up the courage to try corn-rows, I was determined to find some miracle to save my hair from the extra heat I usually have to put on to style.
I have tried a lot of Aussie products, mainly the 3-minute wonder treatment, and as good as I think it is, when I last took it away it just didn't seem to do the trick on my hair. So, I looked else where and found myself looking in the way of keratin products. Having tried other products, including Kerastase, I know the intense protein works on my hair. However, on a budget I found myself in boots purchasing the new TRESemme Keratin Smooth range on 3 for 2, the restoring shampoo and conditioner and deep treatment mask.

The products promise to restore the natural Keratin in your hair and create a soft and silky finish.
Unfortunately I discovered after purchasing that the products only contained hydrolyzed keratin, which is far from the real stuff. I suppose it's the price you pay when buying on a whim and into some new advertising scheme, but then again I definitely didn't expect it to turn out to be some wonder treatment (these use Replicine Functional Keratin technology) Regardless of this after using the products my hair did look shinier which is unusual for my bleached hair, and the mask really created a softer feeling to my hair. For now it's staying in my hair care regime, and as a budget substitute product it has done the trick for me. 


Has anyone else tried the TRESemme products?

Blanco

As the sun in the sky dissappears for now (bleugh), I'm still determined to dress as summery as I can my sporting my new favourite nails. Simple white with glitter over the top. I really want to get my hands on a multicoloured one (looking at OPI) but for now this pretty silver is keeping the look how I want.

Models Own - Juicy Jules    Number 17 - Mini Skirt, both from Boots.

That big yellow thing in the sky

Alas I have finished my second year at Uni and the crazy stressful period of getting all my work done is over for a few months. At the moment we are having a heat wave and I think it's fair to say the whole of the country is in a more sun-induced happy mood. It was my birthday last week so it was great to be able to have a few drinks in the sun with friends, I always seem to be lucky with the weather on my birthday!
I personally always find summer fashion a bit more challenging then in winter, as I just generally prefer what's out there in the shops in the colder months, and I don't always feel comfortable flashing loads of pale skin (woes of not tanning in the sun). So I found it was time to reach for one of my favourite pieces to wear in the sun; the maxi. 
I have seen them worn in so many different ways that I love, such as layering and colour blocking. I personally don't love my legs so I find them quite easy and comfortable to throw on but still quite versatile at the same time. I decided to layer this old Topshop t-shirt over the top of my plain black racer back maxi and quite like how the look turned out. 

Top-Topshop(old)   Dress- H&M   Sandals-H&M   Watch-Michael Kors

Lets hope the sun stays this way! (definitely going to be wearing boots and a jumper this time next week) 

Spring lovin'

So, it's been a while since I last posted but my bloggers inspiration seemed to lacked a little over winter unfortunately! But, the weathers warming up and I'm desperate to get back writing about things I love, and new trends that I am definitely going to be investing in this spring!
After spotting 3.1 Phillip Lim's Spring/summer pastel collection I can safely say I adore this look! Now I'm not a typical girly girl when it comes to dressing, and woe and behold 70% of my wardrobe is black, but I think pastels are look so god when they're worn right, and just the right amount of girly colour, si?
Topshop and ASOS have come up with some crackers for this look, and I couldn't resist added some stuff to my pretend 'I'm definitely going to be able to afford all this' basket.

ASOS cropped lilac shirt £24 (sale)

ASOS Pastel skinny belt - £6

ASOS lace mint skater dress  - £36 (sale)

TOPSHOP moto hot pant shorts - £32

TOPSHOP mint green frill ankle socks - £3.50

 I don't personally own anything in these lovely shades yet but something in mint green and pastel lilac is definitely on my next shopping agenda. Oh, summer 2012, hurrrrrry!