Glittery NOTN & FOTN - Christmas party...

Hey guys!

Hope you've all had wonderful weekends!! Hasn't it just flown by? I went to the cinema to see New Year's Eve with the fam earlier, I have to say I really enjoyed it :) stellar cast as well! Definitely worth a watch!

Anyways, in the week I attended The Resident's staff Christmas party which I really enjoyed! It's one of our local newspapers here in Horsham so it was really nice to meet all the other staff & freelancers at the paper! I felt like injecting a bit of festive glam into my outfit so I went for glittery nails AND eyes! What can I say, I love a bit of glitz, me!

Here's what I rocked on my nails...

Ooh hello gold glittery nails!!

Here's how I achieved this very festive look...

3 coats of Love & Beauty nail polish in Gold

+

3 coats of Saffron nail polish in Gold

=

Gold glittery nails!

(without flash)

(with flash)

I have to admit, I can't believe both polishes took THREE coats to reach their full effect!! I mean, come on!! I wore the plain Saffron gold colour on its own for a while before I found it too 'blah' and had to add the Saffron glitter one! But I was really disappointed with the Saffron nail polish - I didn't like the fact there were MASSIVE chunks of glitter in it, and it took ages to try! Oh well, it was only £2 or so so I'm not complaining :)

My friend Claire bought me the Love & Beauty gold colour from the States for me for my birthday and I bought the Saffron gold glitter one from eBay for £2 :)

Do you have a fave gold glittery nail colour that you'd recommend?

Now onto my make-up...I went quite glam with my make-up as it's the first time I've been out in a while... LOL. In all honesty, though, I did my make-up at about 9am in the morning and literally just re-did my eyeliner and added a touch of lipgloss to go out in the evening, I didn't touch up my face AT ALL and this pic was taken at about 8pm... Love live MAC Pro Longwear that's all I can say!

I wore...

No7 Colour Calming Primer

Mac Pro Longwear Foundation applied with MAC 180 Brush

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer (02 Medium)

NARS Laguna bronzer + Orgasm blusher

Urban Decay e/s Primer Potion

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye-Liner (Black)

Avon Color Trend Kajal Stick (Black end)

Collection 2000 Glitter eye liner in Black/Gold (you can't really see this in the pic above but I covered my lids in it, love it!)

Cover Girl LashBlast Volume Mascara (Black)

Benefit The Gloss in Clear (discontinued I think)

Have you rocked glittery nails/eyes/lips(!!) yet? What's your fail safe glitter make-up product?

Love,

Sophia

xo

Bargain winter clutch bags from Dorothy Perkins!

Hey Lilt ladies!

Now you guys know, I love me a bargain! There is NOTHING better than finding something you like, then going to the till to find it's reduced/in the sale/there's some crazy offer going on that you didn't know about! Well that's exactly what happened to me recently in Dotty P's...

I spotted these 3 gorgeous clutches in there, and me being me (ie shopaholic to the extreme) could not resist getting all 3... lol. HOWEVER I was overjoyed to discover upon payment that they were ALL in the sale, and they were also offering 20% student discount at the time! SCORE!!!

Let's have a look at what I picked up...

Burgundy faux leather clutch - £11 (£9.80 w/ student discount)

Now this beauty caught my eye instantly - I am OBSESSED with burgundy/port/wine/aubergine shades at the mo! They're just so lovely and wintery, you wouldn't catch me wearing it in the summer! Nonono. I love how this clutch can add a pop of colour to an all-black outfit. Love the gold clasp detail as well, v. snazzy!

Black patent & suede clutch - £10 (£8 w/ student discount)

I am a firm believer that you can never have too many clutch bags! Black clutch bags in particular. They very simply turn a daytime outfit into a glam party outfit! I already have a black patent clutch... and a black suede clutch... but I don't have a black patent AND black suede clutch! So now I've ticked that box :) it's lovely and roomy, too!

Leopard print faux suede clutch - £5 (£4 w/ student discount)

I know!!! Seriously, I know!!! What a bargain, right? I am ALL OVER leopard print at the mo, it's just so 'Kardashian' & oozes chic! Here's me rocking the leopard print clutch below...

Next on my wishlist is a pair of leopard print heels! HELLO!

I also picked up...

... this statement necklace for £1! What a bargain!

Have you picked up any bargains in DP's recently? If not, where's your place to bargain hunt?

I have to know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

My Christmas wishlist as seen in this week's The Resident!

Hey peoples!

I hope you're all enjoying yourselves on this bladdy freezing day!! I've just been getting along with a load of overdue jobs and planning some imminent blog posts! I had a really lovely Christmassy day yesterday - I went to my sister's Christmas dinner at her school with my mum (reppin' Greenway!) and then went to The Resident's Christmas party at the Med Cafe. It was really nice to finally put faces to names... and let's just say something very exciting is happening with me there soon, will give you all the low down soon! :D

Speaking of The Resident, my column for them this month featured my Christmas wish list! I had to cut it down slightly (!!!) as it has about 30 items on it and I was only allowed 600 words. Lol. You can read the article in full by clicking on the image below or reading it on The Resident's website here - I'm on page 29! Alternatively you can pick up a copy in Horsham town, but be quick, their new issue comes out tomorrow!!

(please click on image to enlarge)

You can view my Christmas wishlist in its entirety on Amazon here.

What's on your Christmas wishlist this year?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

TOPSHOP make-up reviews inc. swatches & FOTD!

Hey guys!

I hope you're all well today :) I expect most of you are at work or studying, boo! :( I'm just getting ready to go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with the bf! Have any of you been? I can't wait, I have no idea what to wear though!

So anyway, you may remember, back in August I blogged about a few TOPSHOP make up purchases and, well, I realised... I'd never actually got around to reviewing them! So here they are... :) Enjoy!

(Clockwise from left: LE Gloss Stick in Ablaze, Cream Blush in Pinch, LE Eyeshadow Crayon in Equinox & LE Eyeshadow Mousse in Glint)

TOPSHOP Cream Blush in Pinch

First up is this cream blush in the shade Pinch. Now I had my eyes on the cult Neon Rose and Flush shades but unfortunately these were both sold out in Topshop Oxford Circus at the time :( Noo!

So I settled for this raspberry pink shade instead - I just couldn't resist buying one of their renowned cream blushes! For £6 as well, you can't go wrong really!

It looks REALLY striking in the pan, and I have to admit it's pretty striking when applied straight to the cheeks as well!

Here's a cheeky swatch...

It does appear to glisten in this photo but it doesn't have that texture when you apply it to the skin, in fact it's very matte looking - it does require a lot of rubbing in though to make you not look like a doll!

I'm giving it a solid 4*. The texture is 5* but the shade is just a bit too daring for my taste! You can see how it appears on my face in my FOTD at the end of this post :)

TOPSHOP LE Eyeshadow Mousse in Glint

Next up is this eyeshadow mousse in the shade Glint - a product I'd been coveting for aaages!

It's a lovely glistening taupe shade in the pot that would be absolutely perfect for a daytime smokey eye. The texture is a little lighter than I was expecting - I guess I've never tried an eyeshadow 'mousse' before and was just expecting it to be like Benefit's Creaseless Cream Shadows, etc! ... It's not!

Here's a swatch...

It looks very similar here to Urban Decay's baked e/s in Smog which I use on an almost daily basis!

So here's my eye make-up after applying Glint...

You can just about see it on the edges of my lid...

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with this product. Despite it looking absolutely divine in the pot, the colour pay off on the eyes is pretty poor. The consistency is just so thin that you can barely see it. I will try and see how I get on if I apply LOADS of the product, but again I'll give it just 3*s. The colour is spot on but the consistency is a little 'off'. Sorry, Toppers...

TOPSHOP LE Eyeshadow Crayon in Equinox

Next up is this eyeshadow crayon that I received as a present. I'd seen it doing the rounds on a couple of my favourite blogs, so my lovely friend Flo treated me to it.

It's a very faint, shimmery gold eyeshadow 'crayon' that you can apply to your eyelids.

Here's a swatch...

The colour on the swatch is so lovely, but sadly (again) the pay off on the lids is pretty poor. It's a VERY faint gold shade that you really need to apply a couple of layers of to even be able to see it. I think, instead, I will use it as a cheek highlighter cos I reckon it would be perfect for that! In fact I might even pop it in my handbag now :) So just 3 *'s from me...

TOPSHOP LE Gloss Stick in Ablaze

Don't worry, I'm (unintentionally) saving the best 'til last! Last up is this gloss stick in the shade Ablaze that was part of the LE Sandstorm collection.

It's a striking peach shade that has tiny little bits of glitter shot through it.

So here are my lips before:

and after:

It's really hard to describe the consistency of it, but basically when you apply it to your lips it turns into this uber glossy, ultra shiny lip colour! I absolutely am in love with it! Granted it's not the ideal shade for A/W11, but I will definitely be making good use of it in S/S12! 5*s :D

FOTD featuring all the above products...

I'm wearing...

17 Photo Flawless Primer

Benefit Boi-ing Concealer (02 Medium)

Mac Pro Longwear Foundation (NC15) applied with MAC 190 Foundation Brush

TOPSHOP Cream Blush in Pinch

Mac Fix+

Mac Painterly Paint Pot as base

Urban Decay Baked e/s in Buck all over lid

TOPSHOP e/s crayon in Equinox in inner corners

TOPSHOP e/s mousse in Glint in outer corners

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye Liner (Black) on top lid

Avon Color Trend Kajal Stick (Brown) in lower waterline

No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara (Brown/Black)

TOPSHOP Gloss Stick in Ablaze

Have you tried TOPSHOP make up before? What are your favourite products?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Weekend OOTN, FOTN & NOTN!

Hey lovelies!

How are you all on this chilly Monday evening? I hope you are all tucked up in bed watching Desperate Scousewives like me lol. I have to say at first I thought it was a load of trash but now I am addicted! I really want to visit Liverpool now, it looks uber glam!

I have spent the day waiting for the courier to deliver my new iPhone 4S. Anyone that knows me will know that I have held out for a number of years to upgrade to a smartphone, and with my knocked up Sony Ericsson on its last legs (the keypad had literally fallen off and it kept turning off randomly) I decided to fork out for a "proper" phone lol. Maybe I will even use it to blog... who knows, at the moment I am just trying to figure out how to make a call! Lol.

Meanwhile, over the weekend I went into town with some of my best friends. Here's what went down... :)

OUTFIT

I went for a look inspired by Maria Fowler from TOWIE, who recently wore a black beaded vest with a mocha bodycon skirt and black tights. I swapped the vest with a body instead because I'm not overly confident with my arms!

Black lace body - ASOS (new)

Mocha bandage skirt - eBay (new)

Tights - Topshop

Heels - Priceless Shoes (see blog post)

I also wore a small vintage black patent bag (not seen).

MAKE-UP

I went for a bold lip and more understated eyes...

Face: Benefit That Gal primer, Some Kind-a Gorgeous Foundation Faker [Medium], Benefit Boi-ing Concealer [02 Medium], Benefit Dallas bronzer, Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator [02 Peach].

Eyes: Urban Decay Original Primer Potion, Urban Decay Baked e/s in Buck all over lid; Smog & Hustle on outer corners, Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye Liner [Black] on top lid, Avon Color Trend Kajal Stick [Brown] in lower waterline, Benefit Bad Girl mascara & Avon Supershock mascara [both Black].

Lips: LUSH Bubblegum lip scrub, Rimmel lip liner [Red Dynamite], MAC Matte Lipstick [Russian Red], No7 clear gloss to finish.

What do you guys think?

HAIR

I washed my hair using L'Oreal Elvive Colour Protect shampoo + conditioner and then spritzed Vo5 Miracle Mist onto towel dried hair. I then blow dried my hair and curled it using standard GHD's, spraying it with Bed Head Masterpiece hairspray to set the curls.

NAILS

I went with blood red nails to match the lips, I'm wearing ASOS paint in Victoria :)

Did you hit the town on Saturday night? What did you wear??

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Bargain of the Week: £20 Matalan biker boots!

Hey loves! (wow I'm on a roll today!!!)

Now, I love nothing more than bringing you my 'bargain of the week' posts! In the past we've had a £2 manicure set, a £1 purse & a £5 dressing gown to name but a few! I know that this item is slightly more expensive than the others, but I just had to show you guys anyway as it's such a bargain IMO!!! Here we go...

It's these absolutely amazing short biker boots from Matalan! I have been searching for a pair like these literally since the end of summer! They're just perfect for throwing on when you want to be comfy but still stylish. I've been roaming all the fashion websites and they're all so expensive - Next have an almost identical pair for £60. Ridic!

Here they are in all their glory...

FYI, if you're thinking of getting these, I would say that the sizing is a bit off. I'm a standard size 4. I could barely get the size 4's onto my feet. So I bought the size 5's, but they're a bit loose. They're OK with a pair of thick socks on but they still kind of flip off at the back! Oh well... I'll be wearing mine with a Barbour jacket and skinny cords :)

You can pick them up in your local Matalan store or online here for £22. They also come in tan.

What boots are you rocking this winter? Will you be having a look in Matalan for a pair?

Love,

Sophia

xo

H&M winter '11 haul!

Hey ladies!

If you enjoyed my Primark winter haul then you will loooove this :) I haven't bought anything in H&M for months so I went a bit mad as you can imagine!!

Here's what I picked up...

Black leather look bag - £14.99

I was on the hunt for a black leather bag that I can wear on a day-to-day basis. At the moment, I'm using a black patent one that I purchased in the Next sale, but it's getting a bit knocked up from work tbh! This bag however is perfect! It's soo spacious, it fits all my essentials in (mag, filofax, make-up, notepad, water etc!) with room for more. It's also really simple and chic and so goes with ANYTHING! & it's a steal at £15! They had it in Mink as well which I very nearly bought... before I remembered that I always end up with biro on cream/mink leather bags! Boo! :(

Black skinny cords - £19.99

I tried on these cords in H&M Westfield Stratford City a couple of months ago when me and the boy went to see Snow Patrol in London. I really loved them, but I couldn't really carry them around with me to the gig etc! So I was overjoyed when I spotted them in Crawley in Saturday - I was worried they might have sold out! Now let me tell you something, they are sooo tight! Seriously. I hope they get a bit looser after a few wears lol. Also when I was trying them on, my mum decided that she wanted a pair too! What can I say, like mother, like daughter...

Black faux leather crop top - £14.99

I know, very daring! I love this top - It's so edgy & chic! I generally just love leather - trousers, skirts, bags, the lot!! I plan on wearing it with a bodycon skirt or a pair of cord shorts. Yum...

Black lace bodycon dress - £12.99

WooHOO, I know... £13!!! Such a bargain. I have a thing where I only wear 'going out' dresses once (I know!) so I was pleased that this dress came without a hefty price tag. OMG it's so tight though. I literally can't breathe in it lol. I see a pattern starting here... Lol. Maybe I need to stop eating all the pies!

Hair grips - £1.99

These are a staple of mine! I ONLY buy H&M hair clips - they're so cheap and last for years. Woop woop!

So that's it for my 'series' of haul posts. I ran out of money after that lol. The only money I will be spending in December is on Christmas presents! I just love spending money in general, so shopping for other people helps me to curb my spending cravings. I'm being serious!! Oh btw, my sister bought THE most stunning gold sequin bodycon skirt in H&M that I absolutely plan on stealing!! Love you Steph!! ;)

Have you picked up anything in H&M recently?? What do you think of my purchases?

Let me know!!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Primark winter '11 haul!

Hey gals!

How are you all?? I've been reading everyone's blogs this morning about Urban Decay's new Naked 2 palette (namely Anna & Holly's) - I have to say it looks delectable but I won't be adding it to my Xmas list as I've hardly even hit the pan on my Naked palette that I got last Christmas yet! I don't need 2! Esp not at £35!

Anyway, more to the point - over the weekend, I hit Primarni Crawley baby!!!

You might have seen my tweet on Saturday praising Primark - I guess I wasn't really expecting much from Primark as the last time I visited I hardly got ANYTHING! But this Saturday I was REALLY impressed! :D
Here are the bargains I picked up...

Wool glitter skater dress - £15

OK I was on the fence about this at first! By the time I'd been round the whole shop, I had two whole baskets full of stuff to try on. This was just one of those dresses I happened to throw in my basket lol! My sister & I tried these on together (she tried on the white) and I was actually quite impressed with it. Now I don't usually show my arms (don't know why, just have a thing about them) so I was a bit sceptical. But they looked OK in this :) But let me just say, this dress is not made for people with boobs!! I might have to tape them in! Lol... We plan on wearing these dresses on Xmas day :)

Camel cardi - £12

Ahh a lovely warm, comfy cardi! I don't like to spend much on knitwear because I always find I buy new cardigans/jumpers every year anyway lol so I was really happy when I found this. I would've preferred a cardi with buttons but I bought this anyway! It's one of my fave colours and really is soo warm :) FYI I bought the size 8 as it was longer in the body than the size 10... weird!!

White peter pan collar blouse - £10

Woop woop! I've been looking for a blouse like this for aaaaages! I had my eye on Pixie Lott's version for Lipsy but it was like £35+ and I couldn't afford that! The sleeves are slightly too long on this (damn being petite!/dwarf like) but it's still a bargain for a tenner. I can dress it up for a night out or dress it down for work. Yay! :D

Black tassel loafers - £10

These were just an essential that I needed to pick up for work! I decided that I'm just gonna buy cheap shoes for work cos they only get ruined anyway, so I picked up a pair of these for a tenner! They're actually really comfy and I haven't needed to break them in either. Result!

Black chain detail belt - £2.50

OK I am REALLLY gutted about this. I spotted this beautiful belt from the corner of my eye and figured it would be perfect for nights out! Look at the chic chain detail...

HOWEVER the chain detail is sewn into the belt, and some of the stitching has come undone!!! :( I'm gutted. Im'a need to buy some superglue and stick the chain back on! Oh well, I only lost £3 I suppose!

Black patent bag - £3 (was £7)

Can you believe this bag was in the SALE??? Primark is so cheap as it is, when things go in the sale they're dirt cheap!!! This bag was down from £7 to a bargain £3. It has a long shoulder strap so it can go across your body or... no surprise here... over your shoulder. Lol. I'm a big fan of black patent & the gold clasp detail is just divine! It's roomy as well... YAY!

Now I think you'll agree with me when I say I had a very successful trip to Primani!!

Have you picked up any bargains recently??

Love,

Sophia

xo