More car boot bargains!

Hey gals!

I hit up a local car boot recently (reppin Pease Pottage) and picked up some amazing bargains, thanks Mum! You may remember my recent car boot post where I found some gorgeous tan leather boots for a mere £2.50! You can take a peek at my previous boot sale bargain finds here, here and here :) Warning: You may get slightly jealous of my bargain hunting abilities!

Here's what I picked up this time...

Black wool wrap cardigan - £1 (Zara)

I know, what a find huh! I love the shape, colour, design and it's ZARA... for a quid! I dread to think how much the seller paid for it originally! I gave it a wash, and cut off some of the stray threads and it's as good as new, I could even team it with those tan leather biker boots I bought last time at car boot... no shame!

Black patent shoulder bag - 20p (Vintage)

Literally the price of a refresher bar, this little beauty is perfect for nights out on the town. I can just pop it over my shoulder and it will go with EVERYTHING! The clasp even works as well, what a bargain!

Gold embossed hoop earrings - 50p

I must own hundreds of pairs of gold earrings (see my accessories storage post) but none like these :) I plan on wearing them with a bright maxi dress for daytime wear or bodycon dress come night-time. Love them, so summery!

Max Clifford biography - 50p

Not everyone's cup of tea but PR guru Max Clifford is a legend in the media world. And he's minted. Now he's even representing Lauren from TOWIE, wow! (jk) I'm gonna read this before I go to bed when I cba to really think if you know what I mean, and maybe I'll learn a thing or two about the savage media world? Who knows!

Grand total...

£2.20

!!!

Well you can't go wrong with that! It's the same price as as M&S Superfood Shaker Salad that I could devour in minutes! Well these are all still here!

Have you picked up any car boot bargains recently? Or are you a self-proclaimed car boot snob?

Definitely give it a go if you haven't already! It's nice to just have a walk around on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee (and your Mum... aww!)

Love,

Sophia

xo

Rimmel Day 2 Night Mascara review

Hey loves!

Mascara is an item of make-up I wear daily without fail (I look dead otherwise!) so I was delighted when this new Rimmel mascara landed on my doorstep recently.

It's their NEW Glam'Eyes Day 2 Night Mascara and it claims to "create 2 dramatically different lash looks, all with 1 amazing new system. The secret is the magic double cap!" Yep, that right, it features a one of a kind double cap, amaze!

Here's the lengthening wand:

• Use this in the day for exceptionally defined, ultra-lengthened lashes.
• Lashes are stretched to new distances!

and here's the volume wand:

• Use this at night for up to 15X fuller lashes.
• Thickens lashes with oversized volume without a clump in sight!

I love their Lash Accelerator mascara that I reviewed recently so I was really looking forward to trying this as well.

Here's my lashes before (no mascara):

and after using the length wand:

and after using the volume wand (on top of the length):

Face shot...

I'm going to be honest, I wasn't very pleased with this mascara at all! (can you tell from my face lol?) The length wand hardly did anything and the volume wand made my lashes clump together and looked really chavvy, you know what I mean? I'm sorry, Rimmel! I've given this mascara to my mum who actually quite likes it, who knows, maybe it's just not suited to my stumpy little lashes! UPDATE: She has found she doesn't like it either! :/

However on a side note, here's some of my favourite Rimmel products that I use regularly -

• Exaggerate Liquid Eye Liner (Brown for the day, Black for the night)
• Lasting Finish 25 Hour Foundation (read my review here - amazing product, amazing coverage)
• Lycra Pro nail varnish (various shades - easy to apply, lovely and thick, last ages, great colour selection, available for 99p from Fragrance Direct - see blog post here)
• Their lipsticks! Colour Show Off for bold, evening shades (I like Be Bold and Shake Up Pink) and Moisture Renew for summery, daytime shades (I like Summer Angel and Rose Bikini) :)

That's it for now! Have you tried the Day 2 Night Mascara? What are your fave Rimmel products?

Love,

Sophia

xo

NOTD: 17 Lasting Fix in Sweet Kisses

Hey ladies!

Lately I've been sporting this very natural looking nail colour that I bought in my recent 17 haul.

I've been working and attending interviews, etc, so I've wanted to wear more natural looking colours on my nails that blend into the background if you will. This one fits the bill perfectly. It's not bland enough to look like you're not wearing anything but it's not so "out there" that people are shocked by it! It's a very pale pastel pink that requires 2 coats for full opacity but lasts a few days without chipping.

17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish retails for £2.99 in Boots - buy yours online here.

What's your "blend into the background" shade? Are you sporting natural or more daring nail colours at the mo?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Weekend OOTN & FOTN: Porange!

Hey divas!

I thought you might be interested in reading how I achieved my "going out" look from over the weekend when me and a few friends hit Brighton town. I was actually in a mad rush to get ready as I started getting ready late (no surprise there) and my fake tan went pretty dodgy at the last minute but who cares, right?! I still had a good time.

MAKE-UP & HAIR

I didn't go OTT with my make-up, sometimes I go for a really intense smoky eye or diva-esque red lip but it was lovely and summery in the evening so I fancied something a little more "low-key." Make-up is the same as I always wear on a night out really, no falsies this time either (I told you I was in a rush!) FACE Benefit That Gal face primer Benefit Some Kinda Gorgeous Foundation Faker (Original) Benefit Boi-ing Concealer (02 Medium) Benefit Dallas bronzer Benefit Coralista blush Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator (02 Peach)
EYES Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Original) Urban Decay Baked e/s (Buck) all over lid Urban Decay Baked e/s (Smog) on outer corners Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid eye-liner (Black) along top lid Avon Color Trend Double Ended Kajal Stick (Black) along lower waterline Benefit Bad Gal mascara (Black) CoverGirl Lash Blast Mascara (Black - Volume) Mac Eye Brows (Lingering)
LIPS Avon Plump Pout Honey Shades lip gloss (Pink Nectar)
HAIR Curled using standards GHD's and set using L'Oreal's Very Volume Supreme Hold hairspray, love that stuff :) OUTFIT

Lilac bodycon dress (worn as top) - Oasis

Orange bodycon skirt - H&M (see below!)

Nude patent pumps - Barratts

Nude leather clutch - DP's

Hoop earrings (just seen) - Primarni

I picked up the skirt for £3 in the H&M sale... how amazing is that!!! It fits like a glove, I wonder if they do it in any other colours?

Not gonna lie, I took inspiration from the following celebs in the planning stages of my outfit LOL but I didn't coin the term "porange" in fact it was my friend Hannah who first introduced me to the term!

From L-R: Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba, Nicole Scherzinger
We'll just swiftly ignore the most infamous porange rocker now, shall we? FYI it's Cheryl Cole at the X Factor USA auditions. Oh dear girl.
I love this trend but I don't think it's something you can wear more than once really, it's a bit "samey" but I am LOVING colour blocking at the mo, give me colours and I will clash them lol, just think it's a really bold, summery trend :) Know what I mean? NAILS

I stuck with my trusty Nails Inc nail colour in Candy Orange. It was the orange that best matched my skirt colour, can't be having too much clashing in one outfit now, can we girls?

What do you think of colour blocking and "porange"? What summer trends are you loving at the mo?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

btw porange stands for purple-orange for those that hadn't worked that out yet, don't worry it took me a while too!

xo

Sleek Pout Polish in Scandal review!

Hey gals!

How have you all been? I feel like I've been away from the blogosphere for an AGE! I haven't been up to much, just working, spending, going out, you know, the usual!

One of the more recent beauty products I have bought includes the limited edition Sleek Pout Polish in Scandal. Sadly it's not sold in shops anymore (I've bought my other ones - Pink Cadillac and LE Sugar May in Superdrug) so I bought this on eBay instead for about four quid. I loves it so far :)

Sleek say...

"A tinted lip conditioning balm formulated with natural oils such as Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Avocado Extract and Vitamin A, C and E to help condition the lips and lock in moisture. It also includes SPF15 to help protect the lips from sun exposure."

Scandal is a vibrant, sexy tomato red!

Here's my lips before...

and after...

I freaking love these Pout Polishes! They're so colourful but super moisturising and taste delicious. Oh, and did I mention they're SPF15? Perfect for summer! Scandal is definitely more pigmented than the other shades I've tried, but it's a good thing because it looks like you've just smothered strawberries across your lips, really schmexy :)

What do you think? Is this something you'd buy? Do you know of something similar that I should try e.g. the MAC tinted lip conditioners or the ELF studio conditioning lip balm?

Let me know your thoughts!

Thanks for reading...

Love

Sophia

xo

Avon skincare and nails haul!

Hey lovely ladies!

OMG I have not blogged properly for SO long. What's wrong with me? You know when you have a huge list of posts to complete that you can't even bear to start the mammoth task, yup, it's been like that!

Anyway - back to blog. Before I left uni (which feels like ages ago now) I ordered a few bits from my local Avon lady :) Some of them were products I'd bought before and others were new purchases but overall I'm really happy with it all... here's what I got!

(prices are what I paid for them at the time, not necessarily what they are now)

SKINCARE
Clearskin Professional Deep Pore Cleansing Scrub - £2.75
This is a re-purchase, in fact you may recall it from my Top 10 Avon Products post! It's one of the best, most effective face scrubs I've found on the market, as it contains salicylic acid which helps to clear blemishes. Often I leave it on for 5 minutes or so (when it begins to tingle) and use it as a mask as you can really feel it working. I try and use this 2-3 times a week :)

Planet Spa Dead Sea Minerals Mud Mask - £3.30
I first used this product when it came in a box of Planet Spa mini face masks that I bought in a haul at Christmas :) This was the only one that stood out for me, the others didn't really do much for my skin! But this one was great and really suited to my oily, blemished skin. I love the smell and feel of the mud, it just feels so natural, and I really feel like how it works to draw out all the dirt and grime beneath my skin! I use this as a special treat once a week (usually on a Sunday!) but I'm on the hunt for some good clay masks to add to my collection as I've heard they're good for my skin type too. Let me know if you know of any :)

Clearskin Professional Clear Pore Thermal Mask - £3.50
I've not used this product before but as it was on offer, and I've been impressed with the Clearskin Professional range in the past, I figured it was worth a try for a few quid. I love a good thermal face mask (the No7 Purifying Sauna Mask is one of my all-time faves) as you can really feel them working when they hit your skin. This one from Avon got a lot hotter than the No7 one, which I think is a good thing! I need to get some more use out of it really as I've been favouring the mud one a little too much!

NAILS
Liquid Freeze Quick Dry Spray - £6.00

This is the first time I've bought this after I saw my manicurist using it on me a couple of months ago! Well if it's good enough for a professional, I thought...! It definitely works to reduce nail drying time, but the spray is essentially a dry oil spray so you have to be careful not to spray it everywhere as you're left with a rather greasy residue which needs to be wiped away with a tissue. Anything to reduce nail drying time gets a thumbs up from me, waiting for my nails to dry is the bane of my life, seriously!

Vitamin C Cuticle Gel - £5.00
Another first time purchase, I use this to soften my cuticles before I press them with a cuticle stick. It's got a lovely, refreshing Vitamin C scent but I'm not sure it's an "essential" product if you know what I mean, I've already got cuticle balm but apparently you use that AFTER you've done all your nail work? Who knows!

Overall I'm hugely impressed with this Avon haul, the products were so cheap for what they're worth! If you've not tried Avon before you should DEFINITELY give it a go - you can shop online or find your local rep and your purchases may help a woman somewhere earn a few extra dollar :)

Have you tried Avon before? What are your favourite products?

Let me know!

Love,

Sophia

xo

NOTD: Nails Inc in Baker Street

Hey gals!

Lately I've been rocking this shade from Nails Inc that I bought from the lovely Gem's blog sale :)

I know what you're thinking, "have you seen the weather?" but I don't care, summery nails put me in a summery mood despite the gloomy weather! Which, by the way, I am HATING!!! Also I had to cut my nails as one of them chipped :(

This shade from Nails Inc is a lovely, creamy tomato red which is right up my street! The consistency is amazing as well, it only required one coat which I couldn't believe. However to me the jar doesn't seem to be very big at all compared to OPI, which seems never ending... The only other Nails Inc I own is the Candy Orange shade I picked up for free with InStyle magazine and to be honest with you I won't be buying any Nails Inc full price any time soon, not when you can get them for free/discounted everywhere else!

What are you wearing on your nails? Would you pay full price for Nails Inc?

Let me know! :)

Love,

Sophia

xo

Sussex Bootcamps: Week 3!

Hey guys!

Here are my blog posts from my Sussex Bootcamps sessions so far this week. I've had quite a mixed week so far - Monday's was really challenging as I ran to the class beforehand, whereas today's wasn't as successful as I made the mistake of eating my dinner just before the class, whoops! You can read my full Sussex Bootcamps blog on my special Sussex Bootcamps page on the tab along the top of this blog or by clicking here :)

Session 7 (06/06/11 - 7.15pm)

Today was REALLY hard! I went for a run earlier in the day and then ran to my bootcamp class, so I really had to work for it in the session, I was knackered! I was a little late as I ran (obviously overestimated my speed!) so got straight into warm-up stretches. We did a lot of core stability exercises today, which I'm not very good at because I have zero balance! Often I find myself having to just stay static else I'll wobble over! We then moved onto skipping, which may sound easy, bu t when you're knackered as it is, are actually really difficult! We also did squats, mixing it up between narrow and wide to really make our legs work. Mine definitely did, my thighs were aching! We also ran around the park which I find one of the hardest things because you really have to push yourself and give it all you've got. I worked really hard today, I definitely think running to bootcamp helps because it really gets you in the mood. I've also been working on my diet - I have yet to curb my sweet tooth (one day!) but I have made a conscious effort to try and add protein to every meal. Over the weekend I forced my other half to boil me an egg with the soup we were eating, and I ensure I have a yoghurt every breakfast-time if I'm not having a protein-based breakfast e.g. eggs. Can't believe I'm almost at the end now, I definitely didn't realise how unfit I was!

Session 8 (08/06/11 - 7.15pm)

I made a HUGE mistake tonight. I had a curry about half an hour before bootcamp started and I felt sick the whole way through. It didn't help that I was already suffering from hayfever/runny rose etc, and I really let myself down today as I couldn't give it my all for fear of being sick. I have definitely learnt my lesson, and if my mum is cooking a massive dinner before bootcamp I will have to have a banana or something instead and re-heat my dinner after bootcamp, it's just not worth it, I wasn't sweating half as much as I was after Monday's session. However some of the exercises in today's session were REALLY challenging. Again I struggled with some of the core stability exercises because I suffer from a distinct lack of balance, so I often had to remain still and try and complete the exercise that way. We also did bear crawls today and mountain climbers which I find really difficult, I'm so slow compared to everyone else! But I suppose most of them have been doing it much longer than me. We finished the session by running around the park so hopefully next week I can extend my route by a little further. I asked Katie, our bootcamp instructor, if we could do some more ab exercises as I feel that is the area I need most work on, but she encouraged me that all the exercises we do are working our core area. I think I need to lay off the curries really if I want rock-hard Diaz-esque abs! A girl can dream...

Hope you enjoyed this little snippet!

Love,

Sophia

xo

Recent going out looks ft ASOS! (FOTN & OOTN)

Hey gals!

Hope you're all good!

I thought I'd do a massive combined post of all my recent going-out outfits as my make-up, hair and accessories were all pretty similar and my dresses were all from ASOS! :)

LOOK 1

This was for my end of degree ball :) It was fabulouso and the food was delish! You may recall on Twitter I couldn't decide if I should wear red lips with my red dress or not!

OUTFIT:

Dress - ASOS Petite (now O/S)

Nude clutch - New Look

Nude heels - Barratts (see blog post)

Belt - ASOS

Earrings - New Look

MAKE-UP:

So I decided on the red lips as well, what a rebel!

FACE

Benefit That Gal face primer

Benefit Some Kinda Gorgeous Foundation Faker (Original)

Benefit Boi-ing concealer (02 Medium) (see blog post)

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat (1 Luminous Radiance)

Benefit Dallas bronzer (applied with a random bronzing brush!)

Benefit Coralista blusher (applied using Avon's angled brush - see blog post)

Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator (02 Peach)

EYES

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (see blog post)

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow (RSVP) all over lid (see blog post)

Urban Decay baked e/s (Hustle) on outer corners (see blog post)

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye-Liner (Black) on top lid

Avon Color Trend Double Ended Kajal Stick (Black) on lower waterline

Benefit Bad Gal mascara

CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume mascara (see blog post)

MAC Eye Brows in Lingering (see blog post)

LIPS

Rimmel 1000 Kisses lip liner in 021 Red Dynamite

Revlon Matte Lipstick in Strawberry Suede (see blog post)

(both products applied using The Body Shop's lip brush)

NAILS:

Rimmel Lycra Pro Nail Varnish in 365 Beige Style (see blog post)

(available for 99p from Fragrance Direct here)

Would you rock double red?

LOOK 2

I wore this outfit for one of my best friend's 21st night out :) I rolled up the sleeves on the dress as they were too big but how much do you love the colour! Orange obsessive atm!

OUTFIT:

Dress - ASOS Petite (available here)

Nude clutch - Dorothy Perkins (see blog post)

Nude heels - Barratts

Belt - ASOS

Earrings - New Look

MAKE-UP:

All the same as LOOK 1 except I wore Avon's Plump Pout Lip Gloss in Pink Nectar on my lips (read my thoughts on it here) and I added Eyelure's Naturalite 101 false lashes.

NAILS:

Yeah I know, double orange, breaking all the rules, who cares!

Would you rock double orange?

LOOK 3

I wore this outfit to my boyfriend's summer ball at the University of Kent in Canterbury. It was an amazing night (we saw McFly - woop!)

Here's a pic of us together... aww!

OUTFIT:

Dress - ASOS (available here)

Nude clutch - New Look

Nude heels - Barratts

Belt - ASOS

Necklace - Topshop

MAKE-UP:

Same as LOOK 2 except I'm not wearing false lashes here :)

NAILS:

Nails Inc in Baker Street that I bought from Gem's blog sale - stupidly forgot to take a pic but it's a fiery tomato red!

HAIR (ALL):

Curled using standard GHD's and sprayed with L'Oréal's Elnett Very Volume Supreme Hold Hairspray - amazing :)

TAN (ALL):

St Tropez wash off :)

Woah, super long post! This has taken me hours lol! Hope you guys find it helpful :)

What looks are you rocking on nights out?

Love,

Sophia

xo