Blouses blouses blouses....

Are EVERYWHERE at the moment. I love them so much but I'm really fussy about the style pattern and print. However with me needing a new work wardrobe what with the new PR assistant job kicking off in three weeks, blouses seem to be the perfect solution to go with my black ankle length peg leg style trousers. Although saying this, being the fussy cow I am, I struggled with workwear today I won't lie. Here's a few of the bits I purchased today....

Topshop: £22

Fits really well, a t-shirt material but extra soft. Will be nice for work with my grey ankle length trousers from zara and brown brogues, or even with a black stretchy skirt and brown wedges for drinks. They had it in lots of other colours too, so may see how much wear I get out of this one and possibly expand my collection. 

Republic (Crafted): £30 (but I had a £15 voucher so that halved the price).

For anyone who knows me, they know that the majority of my winter wardrobe has come from Crafted at Republic, and this looks set to carry on into spring. Never been a fan of green, but the army inspired design with my brown ankle boots from Office and Chino style drop crotch trousers should look sound :) I'm off to Lincoln for a friends birthday on Saturday night, so this could be a good outfit for travelling then a bit of lunch. 

Topshop: £36

My absolute favourite buy of the day. Just the right length to wear with leggings, then can be dressed down with brown brogues or ankle boots, or up with my brown wooden River Island Heels. I really cannot wait to wear this!

Also purchased some Vans (but more on this later with another post), a black boyfriend blazer to go over a lot of the dresses I have for work, an absolute bargain at £14.99 from H&M, hair dye, and stocked up on some new lipsticks. All in all, good day :) 

Payday....

Has finally arrived. I celebrated this with a (smallish) shopping trip today, but more on that later. Firstly, I need to address the issue of the Backcomb in a Bottle by Umberto Giannini. The. Best. Thing. Ever. I don;t know why I didn't jump on the bandwagon sooner, its a mix between hairspray (without making your hair sticky and solid) and dry shampoo (without the powdery feeling). I had matt, big, volumised hair all day, so I certainly was not complaining. I may take a trip back to Boots with my fingers crossed that the 3 for £10 offer is still on so I can stock up.

Today I wore....
sunglasses from Primark last year (making the most of the sunny weather!)
cardigan £50 from Topshop but sold out now as far as I'm aware.
Top £5 in the River Island sale after Christmas, and furry handbag also River Island, a 22nd Birthday Present from the girls.
Boots, as seen before.

And, as you can see, nice big hair; stayed like this allll day! Beaut :)

Check the hype....

There's been so much blogger and media hype about this Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle and with me being a massive hair fan, I thought I had to sample it for myself. So on today's shopping trip I took advantage of the 3 for £10 offer in Boots (mum wanted mousse and heat protector spray so I made up her third product) and got myself some.

It will go some way to beat my trusty Lee Stafford Spray Wax. Now THAT deserves some hype....

Today I wore....

Went shopping (with no money because payday isn't until TOMORROW!) with mum and dad today, then out for a meal afterwards. It's not very often we all go out together on a weekend, as I'm usually working, so it made a nice change. Me and mum wandered round Matalan looking for bargains, then popped into next. I'm not usually keen on Next, I can give or take their stuff usually, but I've walked away a very excited girl. Saw a jumpsuit and a dress I'm absolutely lusting over, and as soon as I get time I'm going back to Next to try them on. Got a few events coming up that I need outfits for so these could cover it.... I'd love to post some pictures from the Next website but I don't get on well with their site and I can't find them, but I'll hopefully be bringing them home with me as new purchases soon and you can see them :)

So anyway....today I wore.....

Cardigan from Primark ages ago.
Leggings primark.
Necklace h&m.
Boots from some random shop in Birmingham and an absolute bargain at £30!

Purist at heart....

I love nothing more than taking my makeup off at the end of the day (Simple waterproof makeup remover), cleansing (Pond's cold cream cleanser) and a nice thick layer of (Ponds) moisturiser; I'm not keen on the idea of being covered in wrinkles when I'm older, or wakeup with red, blood-shot eyes in the morning. And because of this, it was eyelashes off earlier. I just couldn't get my mascara off properly, it got clogged up in the glue and made my eyes sore, so I decided to not risk sleeping another night in them and get them off. Actually very easy to get off which was a nice surprise; as long as you use the eyelash remover included in the packet.

So I'm still on my quest for amazingly long, thick eyelashes. I heard someone mention once that applying vaseline on eyelashes before you go to bed makes them stronger so grow thicker (making them look fuller) whilst moisturising the roots and making them less prone to falling out. SO here goes, I'm giving it two weeks to see how it goes. I'll keep you posted (I'll do before and after pictures). If all else fails, I'll buy the £40 growth enhancing mascara I spotted in Boots last week......beauty clearly has no price!

Pass me the remover....

I know I wanted "longer, fuller, more beautiful lashes" and all that, but I'm not sure I want them at the expense of my comfort. I'm so conscious of them, I can feel them tickling my eyebrows 24/7, and I'm deeply concerned that I'm going to rub my eyes and dislodge them/pull most of my own eyelashes out.

Also, I've heard horrible rumours that even with the eyelash remover provided in the pack, many own eyelashes get sacrificed during the removal. I'm just not sure I can handle them any longer, but the fear of being lash-less after their removal is a little bit too much to face just yet. I'll shower and wield my makeup remover at them and see how well they hold up, but don't be surprised if I'm not blogging after work tomorrow saying "GOODBYE LASHES".....

The result...

Not bad for a first attempt. Being right handed, my right eye was such a pain but I got the hang of it eventually. Will look better with full makeup (mascara/eyeliner etc) They should apparently last up to three weeks but I don't hold out much hope for them going beyond 5 days.

About these eyelashes....

I've got to admit, I've spent so much money on mascara since I started wearing it at the tender age of 14 (sneaking it on in the mirror in the school toilets....just enough for the boys to notice....just subtle enough for the teachers to not notice) trying to find the perfect one. And as I already said, I've yet to find the ultimate mascara that offers thickness, fullness, length, blackness etc. but have yet to manage it. That is until a lovely "TWO FOR £10" offer on borjois in Superdrug last week. Saddening that it's taken me this long to find their clubbing ultimate black mascara.....

Sometimes, however, mascara doesn't quite cut it, so I've gone and spent my last £3.00 on some individual eyelash extensions...watch this space because I'll me giving them a go later tonight and you can expect pictures (unless it's a disaster!) 

Hats.....

are now finally back on the menu. Soon as I purchased me new furry number (above) the weather went from dry and icy to wet and warm....100% NOT furry hat weather. So now we've got the cold and dry weather back, my hat is too. Warm ears...sound :)

The Game....

Amuses me and my mum a bit too much really. Magazine day....buy a nice little collection (Look, Company, Glamour etc), purchase cake from Tesco/ Bakers Oven etc, get home, make tea (green, for me) and coffee (white no sugar, for mum). Sit side-by-side on the sofa and find pages with loads of items on (see above) and take turns in picking our favourite on the page/ row/ section. Then we see who chose the cheapest/ most expensive.
Small pleasures.

Lashes.....

If only mine looked like this. Well maybe not this big; I do fancy being able to see my eyebrows every now and again. But I would like a bit more volume and length, as I'm sure every girl out there would. The ones pictured above are from the e-mail advert for the new Mac false lash mascara (but as we can all see, with a few false lashes thrown in for good measure) and let me tell you, if this or any mascara made me lashes look like this, I'd be buying it in extreme bulk. Seriously, it will be stashed in my knicker/sock/belt draw! So from now on, my aim is to find the perfect solution to my lash problem.

Eyelure lashes are my absolute fave for a quick fix in the evening, but I am against paying £5 minimum for a set that
(a) will only last one night because I will no doubt get drunk and loose them, and
(b) I can't be bothered to take them off properly so I just rip them off as I climb, bleary eyed into bed at 4am, and loose 5/6 of my real eyelashes per eye, thus setting me back on my quest for amazing eyelashes to square one.

Eyelash extensions, lengthening mascara, salon extensions, lash growth accelerator etc. etc. etc. One way or another, I'm going to nail it.

How long....

is it suitable to wear festive knitwear for? Seriously, I wore my favourite winter cardigan today at work in Office and the amount of funny looks I had was insane. I can understand that Santa and Christmas Puddings knitted into a red pull-over is only allowed one day a year, but mine (see below) only exhibits snowflakes (and as we ALL know they are not only confined to Christmas in this country) and a raindeer or two, and I'm sure they're not purely seasonal, my guess is they're around all year but only get the recognition during the festive months. So what's the big deal?

It's not a heavy knit, not red and green, no pom-poms attached to it, and most definitely no fat santa's tucking into a mince pie under the Christmas tree. For the money (£39.99: River Island) I'll be wearing it until at least the end of January, and if I can get away with it, into February too......

Step into Spring....

Admittedly the weather isn't brilliant, but I'm getting SO BORED of winter clothes. So today I took advantage of the (half) decent weather....

Flossy: £20 from Office. Worn with grey rolled up trousers and a cropped navy jumper. I'm sure I'll have the Ugg boots and fur coat back on tomorrow but ahh wellll.....

Root Boost...?

Babyliss Root Boost. I'd seen the fancy advertising campaign with the typically pretty model with the already volumised hair (before she starts). I'd though "hmmmm I wonder if it works, I don't think I'm convinced".

http://www.babyliss.co.uk/stylers

The best way to do it is 'try before you buy' so when I happened to find out my friend had some for Christmas, I was in there like a shot. The one thing that upsets me most is....WHY DIDN'T I DISCOVER THESE EARLIER. Best hair I've ever had. 

Next payday couldn't come sooner...these badboys are going to be alllll mine!! 

"I'm skint, but...."

....I manage to go shopping. But only for things I need of course. Just the 'essentials'. And of course THE shoes (a 45% discount from Office was obviously a deciding factor in these). Latest treats:

River Island: £26.99

Needed some tan brogues, and for this price I couldn't say no. I actually wanted them in every colour but that might have been a bit extreme. These will be worn out to lunch with the girls on Saturday with rolled up green trousers and braces, a grey and black checked shirt and leather jacket.

New Look: £19.99 (apologies about the carpet)

Awful lighting on this one sorry, but basically, pale grey long cotton-y floaty shirt. Going to be worn with leggings and grey over the knee suede flat boots. New Look has really disappointed me recently, but not only is their new collection VERY impressive, but I also think they've gone for a decrease in their prices. Can't complain about this. In fact, I may very well go back for a hot pink chiffon shirt I spotted in their today!

New Look: £16.99

Again, blurry picture! I'd probably go as far as to day two of my wardrobe staples are a little black dress and leopard print accessories. Two looks for the price of one with this beauty! Going to look great with thick black tights and my brogues, or even my leopard print shoes for a night out!

Vera Moda: £32.00 (second apology for the carpet)

I have a serious trouser obsession, and this was about the only colour missing from my wardrobe. These are going to be turned up and worn with vans and a chunky grey cardigan, or a white cropped shirt and my new shoes (see below). 

And now for the grand finale: working in Office is really bad for my bank balance, especially with all the new season shoes coming in. These came in yesterday and I've had my eye on them constantly ever since, so finally bit the bullet and went for them (with discount of course).

Office: £82.00 (before discount)

Literally going to wear these day in-day out. Thick black tights, skirts, dresses, coloured tights, rolled up trousers, skinny ripped jeans, grey skinny jeans etc etc etc. New favourite thing EVER!

So that's me not spending anything for a while!

Addict....

I can honestly say that this has NOT left my ipod since someone suggested it to me yesterday. An hour on the bus, browsing the new handbag collection in River Island, and lying in bed painting my nails before bed last night....it has accompanied me everywhere and probably will do for the remainder of the week...

Ed Sheeran and JME: Radio

I guess we've all got to start somewhere....

...but look where it might get us.....

http://fashionista.com/2011/01/hm-to-launch-next-collaboration-with-a-fashion-blogger/

It's a sad, sad day....

I won't lie, it has been known that people describe me as a bit OCD. Anything from stationary (I find it physically impossible to use a pen that has lost its lid) to books (lined up on my bookshelf in size and thickness order, and then colour coded), it needs to be ORGANISED. My wardrobe is no different. All cardigans together, hung in order of longest to shortest. T-shirts in colour order, then long to short sleeve, then plain to motif. There's even a section within each colour for 'cropped'. As you can imagine : a LOT of upkeep, which mean's I'm on of these people who throws things away on a regular basis; "yes I know I've only just bought this top and worn it once but now I'm not sure I like it and I can't have it cluttering up valuable space" and all that.

There's very very few things in my wardrobe over two years old, with the exception of one pair of jeans:

Five years old. £10. Primark. Bought as a size 8, stretched through sheer wear and tear to around a 12. No elastic left in them, colour faded from grey to near white, rips, stains, and need pulling up/adjusting to avoid any builders bum embarrassments at least once every 12 minutes. Mum's exact words were "well they don't owe you anything". She's not wrong, but it is a bit like loosing a pet or something.

It's probably about time to let you go old friend. We've shared some good times (falling off the swings down Claredon park and out on the town with the girls to name but a few) and I will always have the memories. RIP.

Hello

Yes, yes OK I claim to love fashion. And style. Doesn't mean I'm not opposed to lying on my sofa with my two favourite men (Ben and Jerry) in my £3 Primark Joggers and my University of Lincoln Hoody (red). But come on, it's Sunday night and it's the first Dancing on Ice, so I can claim I'm being "influenced" by the outfits. Don't worry I won't be going to work dressed in lycra and sequins tomorrow, the people of Leicester can rest easy.

So I'm 22, from Leicester (well, Hinckley but the less said about that the better) work in Office in the Highcross, graduated from University Last year with a 2:1 in BA(Hons) Advertising and Marketing, and still live with my parents. I can count the good things about living back home on one hand; one of them being the walk in wardrobe.

"Walking in Heels" is my little online sanctuary to talk about all the things I love: fashion, people, advertising, music, the media, and the new found love: photography. I'm probably not very good but I'm going to steal/borrow dad's fancy camera (perk number two of living back with the parents) and see how that goes.