ESSENTIALS

There are many items that I swap & change constantly, they become my 'essentials' for a short period of time. The above items are things that are my essentials, I re-buy them religiously and haven't found any better substitutes.

Firstly, my Clarasonic. I am wholly obsessed with this little gadget. Being in my late 20s I shouldn't still be suffering bad skin, but I am. I feel if I'd have had this issue in my teens I would have been able to deal with it, but in my 20s, it's not great. This gadget cleans my skin 6 times better than a manual cleanse would & makes my skin glow. I know many people talk about their skin glowing & it's something I didn't really 'get' until I bought this beauty. The price is expensive so it is something you need to consider before committing but it is very worth the price. I bought mine from Harvey Nichols and it was about £100, mine is the Mia model.

Another of my essentials is my Eve Lom cleanser, it perfectly combines with my Clarasonic to clean my face & I use it alone also. It's an oil based cleanser which helps draw out impurities in the skin, when I don't use my Clarasonic I use the muslin cloth that comes with the cleanser. This doesn't create that dry pulling feeling that makes me cringe with other cleansers. Again, this is pricey at £55 for 100ml but you only need a pea side amount to wash your hole face & it's gentle enough to rub on your eyes and gets rid of even the most stubborn waterproof eyeliner. Available at Space.nk.

Next up is my super serum obsession, Caudalie Vinosource. This is great for parched dehydrated skin that needs some TLC. I use it under a multitude of moisturisers to deal with whatever I have decided is my problem that month. It eliminates any dry skin I have and naked ny skin touchable smooth. I have recommended this item to so many people and they all thank me. I go through a bottle of this every 3 months or so as I do slap it on. It's £29 for 30ml, again from Space.nk.

Next up is my Algenist Complete Eye Renewal Balm, this balm de puffs my eyes in a morning, deals with fine lines and moisturises my eyes when they're feeling dry & crepey. It used Alguronic Acid derived from Algae which is even more moisturising than Hyaluronic Acid. I haven't found one I prefer an think this one is perfectly suitable for my age group. It's £49 for 15ml from Space.nk.

Last, but not least, Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter from Lush. It smells like a dream, pure lemon delight, which entices you to bash more on your hands, however. With this butter less really is more and it goes a long way. As someone who religiously gets their nails manicured they can often dry out & flake, this butter stops that completely. I use this nightly and rub it into my nails and on any dry areas that are bothering me (currently my heels, getting them ready for summer sandals). This is a bargain at £6.50 from Lush.

This brings to an end my essentials post. Have you tried any of these items or know of any great alternatives I should try? 

ALL BLACK EVERYTHING

Another of my sale bargains, the item I originally went to find when I stumbled upon the Kate Bosworth jacket, is the above dress. 

The dress is a Topshop Boutique number reduced from £90 to £50 & I had my eye at full price, it's 100% silk with buttons down the front. It is a tad too big so maybe I should shorten the stapes to stop (another) nip-slip, however, I love it. I did plan on wearing my Moschino belt but I couldn't make an extra hole in it.

Here I've paired it with Topshop boots, my Twenty8twelve leather jacket from Harvey Nichols, a Beyond Retro super soft leather clutch, Vintage belt & oodles of jewellery.

MONOCHROME MAGIC

I'm going through a monochrome phase at the moment. Well, maybe I have been going through one for the past 10 years. You'll rarely find anything in my wardrobe that isn't black, white or grey. It's not that I'm scared of wearing colour, I just don't like it, my yellow skin doesn't like it & it's just far too 'cheerful' for my personality.

I'm loving the polyvore app on my iPhone for planning outfits & it helps me visualise what I have in my wardrobe and new ways to wear my favourite pieces. I have variations of the above items & I'm excited to wear them at the weekend.

KATE BOSWORTH FOR TOPSHOP

                     

The Kate Bosworth collection for Topshop is something I had my eye on for a good long while, however, the price put me off massively. I spent 5 years of my life grafting at Topshop/Topman so when I see the prices they charge now & not being able to get discount anymore I reluctantly walked away.

I don't really 'do' sales these days, I don't have the patience. But, after the Topshop website locked me out when trying to buy a beaut silk Boutique dress for £55, I ventured into their Leeds store, found the dress & noticed this next to it. After navigating the throng of teenagers running amok in amongst the sale rails I asked a sales assistant where the Boutique items were located (which saved me hours…) and found most of the Kate Bosworth collection in the sale. 

The above jacket was reduced from £195 to £95, so a complete bargain really!! The leather is so soft, it's kind of a milky white in real life and is worn oversized. Not sure what to wear it with yet, but it is beaut & I'm in love.

JEWELS

I admit to being a magpie, any shiny jewels and I am drawn to them straight away. I adore my fingers being bejewelled and feel sad when I have naked fingers. I do not adhere to the adage 'less is more', for me, it's always more. You may have seen my post about my obsession with Delilah Dust and their beautiful neck ornaments? So now I thought I would create a blog post about my large collection of rings.

My mother bought me the above tin for Christmas & I think it's perfect for storing them all in, here is a few of my personal favourites. 

Left to right:

A vintage thimble turned into a ring with an opal (I think) bought from a Vintage shop in Haworth.

A silver ring with a black stone, bought for my birthday from a great friend.

A gold and blue glass ring from the 1950s, bought from Salts Mill.

A silver and marble ring bought from Camden Market the day I moved my sister down to her new home.

Left to right:

An emerald and diamond ring that belongs to my mother.

A Claddagh ring bought from Aflecks Palace in Manchester on a day out with a good friend.

My mother's engagement ring, ruby & diamonds.

A Hayeon Lee ring bought from Harvey Nichols, it has a chain on the back to hold it like 3 mini rings. It used to be rose gold, turned gold & now I think it's going silver. Not cool when it cost £150, but I still love it.

The final ring won't fit on my finger, it's a silver ring from my mother that I received for passing my GCSEs many moons ago.

Left to right:

A man's ring from the 1970s with black Onyx stone.

A turquoise ring, my birth stone, also from Salts Mill in Saltaire.

Another Camden Market, a tigers eye ring. Tigers are cats & I'm a cat lady.

And finally, all I wanted when my Gran passed away was a ring of hers, I didn't get one. So my Mum bought me this from Aladdin's Cave in Leeds to symbolise my Grans life. It's a moon stone with a hint of purple, gold setting & silver ring.

Any other fellow magpies out there?

FOUNDATION REVIEW

                  

Foundation is a tricky basic to get right, I am forever looking at peoples faces and questioning the beauty professional that sold them the foundation in the first place.

I used to work at Space.nk & like to think of myself as a professional beauty junkie, I'm also a bit of a snob when it comes to skincare and make-up & truly believe you get what you pay for.

I thought I would talk you through my basics when it comes to foundation.

First step, a great layer of skincare under your foundation. I religiously use my Clarasonic (but that deserves a whole other blog post later) which creates a smooth and clean base for my skin. I shall write a blog post with my daily skincare routine soon as it's quite extensive and varies depending on how my skin feels that day. Oh & never forget to use primer!!! Anyway, back to my favourite foundations.

As a basic, day to day foundation I am currently using Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat. (my colour is BD 20, bought from Harvey Nichols for £32) This foundation goes on smooth and clean and offers light to medium coverage, I do have to powder my face after application and once or twice during the day to reduce the shine. I love the smell of this foundation and being nearly 28 (gasp!) I feel I need to wear a foundation that is kinder to my skin. Brands such as YSL, Chanel, Lancome, Hourglass and others use high levels of skincare in their foundations, of course this is reflected in their prices, but like I said earlier, you get what you pay for. I had a sample of YSL's new Forever foundation before settling on the Touche Eclat one but I didn't like it on my skin.

Prior to my using the YSL Touche Eclat I used By Terry Cover Expert in Number 3, Cream Beige & LOVED it! This foundation is a dream with a painful price tag. It's £44, again from Space.nk. By Terry is a lovely range from Terry De Gunzburg, Terry is a great make-up artist who invented YSL's Touch Eclat. Terry worked very closely with Yves personally and moved on to create her own company when he passed away, taking her expertise with her. I still have some of this foundation left & I am trying to save it for a rainy day. I would buy this foundation again, however the price tag puts me off.

My foundation of choice for an evening is Illamasqua's Skin Base in SB 6.5. This foundation is brilliant, I have previously used Nars Sheer Glow in Deauville which I liked greatly until I discovered the Illamasqua one. The coverage is brilliant, blemishes are covered, it glides on without rolling and lasts all evening. I struggle with foundation colour matches as my skin is yellow tinged, this colour matches my skin perfectly and, as it doesn't contain any SPF, it looks great in pictures (no ghostly white pallor) I wouldn't use this during the day as the coverage is too heavy and it's not too great for my skin in terms of blemishes.

Have you any opinions on the products I use or any alternatives you'd recommend?

BLOGGER CRUSH

I've been an avid blog reader for the past 5 years or so, starting with The Blonde Salad, and I get style crushes on bloggers all the time.

I thought I would make this Blogger Crush post a series thing. 

My first crush post is dedicated to Zina Charkoplia of http://www.fashionvibe.net 

Zina's look is very eclectic, she has a great edge of mixing high street with high end. Take for example the amazing Zara tartan coat, which has sold out everywhere, she wears it so well and add in the Balenciaga boots. I'd love to have the time to take photos like these, they are beautiful, it helps that Zina is also beautiful. 

So here is my first blogger crush post, dedicated to Zina Fashionvibe.