High End Gift guide for girls

It's that time of year again where everyone is realising that Christmas is just around the corner and there is shopping yet to be completed! If you are stuck for ideas for gifts, or if you just feel like treating yourself, look right this way!
You will notice that most of the items in my gift guide are high end, this is because I prefer to get one or two nice items that I have been coveting for quite a long time, as opposed to lots of little things! But I understand that not everybody feels the same!

So, my gift guide for you consists of....

1) Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow

2) Ooh La La Leather Cosmetic Bag from Cult Beauty

3) Jimmy Choo Esme 85mm Glitter Heel Pump from Selfridges

4) Victoria's Secret Sleepover Knit Pajamas

5) Olympus Pen E-PL7 Camera from Amazon - I have recently bought this camera in the Cyber Monday sales, it's amazing!! There will be a review post going up about it soon!

6) French Sole Classic Ballet in Nude

7) Aspinal Brook Street Purse Wallet in Deer Saffiano

8) Diptyque Roses Candle - this is probably my favourite candle ever!

9) The Perfect Nude Kiss gift set from Charlotte Tilbury

10) Christian Louboutin Pigalle 100 Patent Calf in Nude from Selfridges

11) Issey Miyake L'Eau D'Issey from The Perfume Shop

If you want to see more of what is on my Christmas Wishlist this year, check out my pinterest board below!

Let me know in the comments section below what you think, and leave me links to your gift guides! Merry Christmas! Lots of love

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

Ended: 1000 Twitter Followers and Christmas Giveaway!

UPDATE: Congratulations Becky Powley! You will get an email requesting your address, I hope you love your prizes!
This giveaway has now ended, keep following for more in the future!
Lots of love and Christmas Wishes!
I'm so excited right now! I have now got just over 1000 followers on twitter and being as it is so close to Christmas I have decided to giveaway some fantastic presents!
As my blog has evolved, I have gradually gained more of an idea about what I like to write about, and I thought that my giveaway should reflect that! Well, good news for you guys is that one prize was never going to manage that, so instead you will get 3:
1) Avene Cicalfate Repair Cream 2) Yankee Candle Christmas Cracker 3) Lonely Planet Best In Travel 2016

You may have remembered a while ago that I reviewed Avene Cicalfate Repair Cream and loved it? Well I have been using it for well over a year now, and it is definitely one of my winter skin care staples, and I am hoping whoever wins this Christmas package loves it too! I added the candles to the mix, because it is never truly Christmas until a lovely scented candle is burning, and as I am doing more home decor type posts I thought it would be cute. Finally the  Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2016, because I love visiting new places, and thought that this would provide you with some inspiration for your next adventure!


Keep an eye out in the future for more giveaways!

Lots of love

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

What essential does every house need? A bar cart of course!

As you may know, I have recently moved into a new house and have been busy planning all of my rooms; when the lovely people over at Chairish asked if I had thought about including a bar cart! Well, my cocktail equipment has to live somewhere, and currently the top of my kitchen cupboard isn't quite working out for me so I think it is a great option! My favourite bar cart that I have seen is the Mid-Century Brass Bar Cart because I like it's sleek look, and it would fit nicely into my living room! Now the best bit... although I have quite a lot of cocktail equipment already, I definitely need to get some new stuff...

For my cocktail equipment, I like a variety of bits, ranging from classic decanters, to modern ice crushers, I get all my bits out when friends or family come over, so it's nice to be able to make a drink for anyone, no matter what their taste! Personally, my favourite drinks are some of the simplest; having just been on holiday I have drank a lot of Tinto De Verano, which is a Spanish drink, very similar to Sangria, but much simpler... 1/2 a glass red wine 1/2 a glass lemon fanta Serve over ice, with a lemon slice To feel truly like you are in Spain, have a side of olives, or tomato bread with it!

Image from www.madridsensations.com

If you want to get your own bar cart, have a look at the selection from Chairish here!
Let me know what you would like to include in your cocktail kit! Lots of love

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

5 Things I would tell my 18 year old self...

Turning 18 is always an interesting period of time in anyone's life, all of a sudden you are no longer a child, but you aren't quite an adult! After looking through some old (and many terrible) photographs, I decided to do a post on 5 things I would tell (or ask) myself if I found a time machine. Warning: Terrible photos to come... 1) When you have dark hair, do not decide you want a big blonde section... it does not look good

Yep, that's me in the middle there, looking like a skunk... What was I thinking? Why did the hairdresser let me do it? Why did my mother not stop me? So many questions..... 2) Why would you ever think that matching a headband to a top was a good idea?

Oh look, there I am, red top, red hair band, red faced... get.your.shit.together. 3) Flavoured vodka shots are a terrible plan

I remember when I first started going out in town (legally) and was so excited to go drinking and dancing in revolution. At some point in the night, my best friend and I would have to get shots, and it was always a stick of brightly coloured, dubiously flavoured vodka shots! Why?!!!! All that resulted from drinking these, was feeling sick, and thinking what was that meant to be? If you insist on doing shots, make it nice Tequila!

4) Denim mini skirts are not your friend

What can I say about this outfit... tacky top, denim mini skirt with a studded belt over the top, low opacity black tights and fake converse. Wow. And don't ask me what I was doing in this picture, I have no idea!

5) When you are on holiday in Lloret de Mar, don't drink in a biker bar, and if you do - don't ask for a picture with a couple of bikers...

It seemed like a good idea at the time... now I look back and go wtf? Seriously, who did I think I was, with my pink top and hoop earrings... Although one of the guys did smile, so I must have been a little charming?

Oh well, I guess we all live and learn! One thing I wouldn't change about being 18 though, was having fun with my best friend, we've been friends for 15 years now, from bad hair, to bad decisions in bars and some hilarious fancy dress.

She was super woman, I was cat woman, don't ask why I had fluffy ears... I was 18! Also, clear plastic bra straps? Bleurgh.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing and researching (going through old Facebook albums) it! Leave me a comment or hilarious picture of you at 18 in the comments below! Lots of love

Made in Chelsea LA Storylines and Spoilers

I am one of those really sad people who gets genuinely excited every time a new season of Made in Chelsea is announced, and season after season I stalk a few cast members online, and see if I can work out some storylines. Sometimes I'm right, and sometimes I'm wrong. However, this time I have decided to share my lunacy with you! Aren't you glad I started a blog.... 1) Stephanie Pratt
I think by now we all know about the Steph and Josh breakup, primarily because it is featured on the promo, but also because she deleted every photo of him from her Instagram. However, what hasn't been shown on Made in Chelsea promos is that she seems to be cosying up to a new guy!

   

And apparently from the comments on some of the new guy's pictures Steph's brother Spencer approves of this match, as does her mom. What do we think then, is this going to be Steph's last season on Made in Chelsea? Is she going to follow Mr Dreamy back to LA? 2) Ollie Locke and Gabriella Ellis
If you have only recently started watching Made in Chelsea, you may not know the long haired lothario that is Ollie Locke, short version - had a pretty girlfriend (one was Gabriella), sexuality questions, broke up with girlfriend, repeat. Eventually went on Celeb Big Brother. However, he seems to have been in LA at about the same time that the rest of the cast were.... coincidence? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

 

3) Spencer Matthews
Writing this makes me sad, but Spencer isn't in this season of Made in Chelsea 😢 I've looked through so many social network feeds, and I can't see any pics of him anywhere! Also he isn't in the promotional photos. I'm wondering if he is gone for good? All I could see about him on social media was that he is still completely loved up with Lauren Hutton (let's hope he has reformed from his bad-boy behaviour) and has been spending time with former Made in Chelsea star Hugo Taylor! I guess we will have to wait for season 11 to find out if he will return when the cast is back in London!

Let me know in the comments below if you have any predictions for this season of Made in Chelsea, or if you think mine will be right! Lots of love

Twitter | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Tumblr

Having a House Rabbit

A couple of months ago, Adam and I gained a new addition to our little household - a very cute bunny rabbit called Sky. This has come with a very steep learning curve for me, as the only pets I have had previously were hamsters, gerbils and fish. All of which are very different to a house rabbit!

Sky is very cute when she's sleepy!

We got Sky from the adoption center at Pets at Home, we were told she was about 14 weeks, and unfortunately her owners had to give her up as they had developed allergies. To be completely honest, I don't think that was the problem, as they would have had her for at least a month before giving her up - I think the problem they had was because she is so hyper. I don't know if all rabbits are like Sky, but with her it's like having a toddler around! She is into absolutely everything, and if she's quite, she's probably doing something wrong!
However, she is also the sweetest, most loving little girl when she's not running around at a million miles an hour. Because we wanted Sky to be a house bunny, we knew it was important to train Sky straight away, we have done this with a combination on treats when she is well behaved, and a water spray for when she is naughty. This has been quite effective, and after a couple of days, we got her to stop chewing a carpet. Also one of the first priorities was litter box training. This has been quite successful - she still poos sometimes, but all her wee's are in the tray - which makes keeping her cage clean so much easier.

She has quite a large cage, but also if we go out for longer than a few hours for work then we also attach a big run, where we put a load of toys and hide treats for her. This area means that she has enough space to bounce about if she wants to, which is important if she is alone for a longer period of time.

To put this into perspective, her cage is 120cm wide! She has a nice big area!

When she is running around the living room (which is pretty much all the time we're in the flat) we always ensure all cables are out of reach, and block off areas like the back of the television etc so she can't hurt herself on anything.
Another thing which is worth mentioning about keeping a rabbit, is that you have to make sure they have a vets trip when you first get your bunny, they need a Myxomatosis and Rabbit (Viral) Haemorrhagic Disease (R(V)HD) vaccination if they are going to be outside. Also while they are getting their vaccinations, the vet will give your bunny a check up, and advise if they need any preventative treatments. One thing which your rabbit will need whether they are going to live inside or outside, is a fly strike preventative deodorant. My vet advised using Rearguard, and after reading a few rabbit forums (yes, I do that now) that seems like the most popular. Overall, having Sky in our lives is brilliant, I spend all my evenings in the living room with her, and although sometimes when she is going mental running around the room at a million miles an hour I may despair, its all forgotten when she comes and jumps on my knee, or decides to snuggle up next to my foot. However, I have to say that I definitely think the best route to having a happy bunny and happy bunny parents is training. Also we provide lots of mentally stimulating toys to keep her entertained, and ensure that she chews the things she is allowed to as opposed to my carpet and/or furniture!

Hi everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed this post, if you would like to see some more of Sky in the future, let me know!
Lots of love

July My Little Box: Road Trip

I have been a fan of My Little Box for several months - I reviewed their box in January, and always look forward to it turning up on my desk, to see what goodies they put inside, and what theme it is. The past couple have been slightly summer themed, which is great, and they are continuing with this with the July "My Little Road Trip Box".

The front of the box always has a cute image drawn by their artist Kanako

Contents (L-R) Notebook, Micellar Water, Essie Nail Polish, After Sun, Magazine, Travel Organiser, Pen, Box, Picture

Every box comes with a pretty picture/ quote

I love this travel organiser - its really cute and quirky

A notebook which can be sent as mail

Essie Nail Polish, Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and After Sun

On thing that I really like about the My Little Box's is that although they usually only contain three beauty items, they are usually high quality. One of the products is always from their My Little Beauty range, and it's usually quite good, and then in this month there is a full sized Essie nail polish, and a 125ml bottle of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - which although I am a Bioderma fan, I have been looking forward to trying! Do you get any subscription boxes? Let me know what you think of the My Little Box if you have received it this month. Lots of love

Juice to U 3 Day Detox: Day 3

Day 3
Hurrah! I'm coming to the end of this detox, and it's Friday! However it is definitely doing me good, I am feeling perky, all the residual sicky feeling from taking so much medication while I was ill has gone, and I have lost 3lbs so far! This is a good result!

Also I am definitely not having hunger pangs at all any more, they have completely vanished (which is a serious relief)
Today is testing my willpower slightly though, all my colleagues for Wok and Go (Amazing Thai noodles) for lunch, and they delighted in wafting the smell over my desk! Also I am going to give a miss going over to a friends house this evening - they are going to be eating pizza, and as good as my willpower is, I don't think I could handle watching everyone else did into a large dominoes, while I'm there chilling with my juice!

Also something very exciting has happened to me today: we exchanged contracts on the house! EEEEEKKK! We currently have a completion date of 21st September, which is amazing! I'm so excited it's unreal!
Day 4
Well my detox is now finished, and I have to admit I was very excited for my porridge this morning, however it has definitely been worthwhile doing, before I started the detox I felt sluggish, bloated and sick from all the medicines.
The best part of this is that in 3 days I have lost a total of 5lbs! Which is fantastic! I am definitely going to be doing this detox again, seeing as I still have a lot of weight to lose, I think I'll aim to do it once a month, to keep me motivated and my weightloss on track! As is quite clear from part 1 and part 2 this is not an easy detox, although it definitely gets better after the day 1 settling in phase!
Have you tried the 3 Day Detox? What were your experiences? Let me know!
Lots of love

Juice to U 3 Day Detox: Day 2

So not going to lie, day 1 of this juice detox was hard. I can't decide if my biggest low point was when someone in my office ate a McDonalds, or when I was curled up in bed with a book and my boyfriend ate chocolate digestives next to me; which leads me to:

This is so true. My will power is pretty good, but I definitely wanted to scream a few times yesterday!

Day 2

However, onwards and upwards, yet again I started my day with a pint of icy water, which was no more welcoming than yesterday, got to work, and drank my juice while helping a student with her software. So far so good, I have to say the hunger pangs today are no where near as bad as yesterday, and I am making sure I drink water regularly throughout the day, even though it does mean I need to pee every hour or so! The lunchtime juice is definitely becoming my favourite, I really enjoy it! And today I didn't get hunger pangs anything like as bad as yesterday, in fact I'm not angry either. This is good! 3.30pm juice come at me!

The last two juices of the day were nice, and the only time I actually felt hungry was when I went to bed, but I had another pint of icy water and felt a bit better! However I did nearly kill my boyfriend (again) because this time he was sat next to me eating banana sweets. This is doing wonders for my will power!

As a side note, my delightful boss decided to play a little prank on me today, as I went to go and get my final juice of the day, I was met with this:

The buggers had decided to wrap up my nice healthy juices in pictures of junk food. Thanks guys!

Check back tomorrow for day 3! If you didn't read the highly entertaining, if slightly angry day 1 entry you can find it here.

Lots of love

Juice to U 3 Day Detox: Day 1

After being ill recently, and putting on some weight this year, I decided that a detox is required. I have heard so many good things about doing juice cleanses, that I thought it was about time I gave it a go, and naturally I decided to blog my way through it!
I ordered the 3 Day Detox on Sunday night, and the juices were delivered to work on Tuesday lunchtime, so I popped them in the fridge all excited to start on Wednesday morning!

The guide which arrives with all the juices

Day 1
I woke up, not so bright or early, and went to let my Rabbit have a run around the living room, at this point I would usually make a cup of tea, however as no caffeine is allowed while detoxing, I had a pint of water. Good start, although not quite the same to be honest - although it is only for 3 days so I'm sure I can cope!
I was also given a lemon when I received my juices, which I cut in half and put into the bottom of one of my fruit water bottles, to sip through the morning! My boyfriend looked very entertained at this.

Morning juice

I got to work rather peckish, and took out my first juice, which is very green although it actually doesn't taste bad at all! Result. By 12 I was hungry again, and had my lunchtime juice, which helped with the hunger for about an hour. Then I was hungry again, and I had a slight headache. This was been compounded by one of my delightful colleagues bringing a McDonalds into the office. That was not good. I'm officially Hangry, Bring on the 3.30 juice.
I would describe the last couple of juices for the day as blah. The 3.30pm juice was the same as the 9am juice, and although it did help me to not want to kill anyone, it wasn't ideal. The 6pm juice however, was really lovely - nice and sweet with berries, unfortunately I was still hungry afterwards! A little tip for these times, drink ice cold water. It seemed to help! Also to keep myself entertained I read a new book:

This book is hilarious, and brilliant to read when you are dieting! Basically the gist of it is the author, Rebecca Harrington tries lots of crazy celebrity diets to see which ones worked, which ones don't, and which ones leave you wanting to climb a wall. It's hilarious, and makes you feel a lot better about having to drink nice tasting juices!
On the plus side, I weighed myself on the morning of Day 2, and I've lost 2lbs! Result!
Look out for days 2 and 3!
Lots of love

New Home Planning

As previously mentioned, the most exciting event in my life at the moment is buying a new house. EEEEEEKK! However, along with all the boring paperwork (not gunna lie, I've given all of that to Adam to deal with) there is so much fun stuff to do when buying a new house... hello decor planning!

This is hopefully what my house will look like when it's finished! Ours would be on the right.

Hands down, the best tool I have found so far when planning rooms and decoration idea has to be Pinterest. I have been pinning lots of different things for the past couple of months, and have a different board for each room.
The overall theme which will be running through the house is country casual. This is partially because I love the country slightly shabby look, and also because I have a young bunny rabbit who causes chaos. If I tried to make a place look all refined and perfectly finished she would destroy it in minutes! Lived in works for me.
We already have quite a lot of furniture as the flat we are currently living in came unfurnished, however we still have some planning to do. The living room will be light as it doesn't get a lot of sun, however it is a nice sized room. Our sofas are light beige as well which is perfect!
Follow Briony Crew's board Living Room Inspiration on Pinterest.


I think the room that I am most excited about is the Kitchen/ Diner... I absolutely love cooking so being able to plan my kitchen from scratch is my dream! Also the back of the house (where the Kitchen/ Diner is) is south facing, so it gets lots of sun and with lovely french windows it will be warm and bright. The back wall is going to be a dove grey, the cabinets are cream shaker style, with a wood block effect (I can't afford the real thing!) worktop, and white glossy brick style tiles! I'm so excited.
Follow Briony Crew's board Kitchen Inspiration on Pinterest.
I'm also quite excited about getting the bathrooms perfect, as I love having a soak, and creating the right environment is definitely part of that, although I did compromise on the tiles I wanted when I got my rabbit Sky!
Follow Briony Crew's board Bathroom Inspiration on Pinterest.
I haven't really decided on the bedrooms yet, I have a while though, as it isn't going to be finished until October!

What do you think? Let me know if you are in a similar situation, and if you know of any other tools as great for interior design ideas as Pinterest!

Lots of Love

A bit of an update!

It's all rather exciting at the moment in my life, I stopped blogging a while ago as between January and March I was rather ill with Glandular fever and then a nasty post viral infection, and to be honest - writing about beauty and fashion was the last thing on my mind! However, I have now mostly recovered, and I have been back in work full time for a few weeks, so I have decided it's time to delve back into my blog - as I do rather miss it!

However I think it needs a couple of minor changes - so you will be seeing less beauty and fashion posts, and more recipes, craft ideas, crochet and knitting patterns as well as some interior decor stuff and garden planning because... my boyfriend and I are buying a house! Which is awesome! It's a new build, and it will be ready around October/ November time, so we will be in it for Christmas which I am so excited about!

So, yep a few changes are a foot, and bare with me - I am aiming to do 3/4 posts a fortnight, as long as I don't get too tired!

As always, feedback is always appreciated, let me know what you think of the new stuff!

Ours is the right hand side!

Lots of Love

Top 5 Tuesday: Lumia 735 Apps

As I have always been a bit of a technology geek, I was quite excited when the lovely people from Conncects got in touch with me to see if I wanted to trial a Lumia 735, naturally I jumped at the chance! So this week's Top 5 Tuesday are Lumia Apps! 1) Calendar This may sound like an odd one to pick, but one of the first things I noticed about the Lumia was how easy the Calendar was to look at and get an overview of the week, but also see exactly what was happening that day.

 2) People

This is definitely one of my favourite features of the Lumia, the way it collates all of the information across social networks, and combines it with what is already there is fantastic.

3) Sport
I really enjoy watching sport - my football team is Wolverhampton Wanderers and I'm also an NFL fan, supporting the Miami Dolphins! The Sport app has everything I need to know about these teams in one place, I can find out when the next match is, what the current top stories are, how the players are doing... literally I can find out everything!

4) Food & Drink
As a keen cook I was quite excited to find the Food & Drink app - it is a great addition to the phone, it has a huge number of recipes, for all sorts of meals, as well as a large cocktail menu. It has also got a shopping list feature, which can be updated as you are browsing the recipes!

5) HERE Drive+
I am constantly getting lost and rely on my satnav to get me most places, so I was interested to see how to system worked on the Lumia. The first thing which I found was that you downloaded the map to the phone, this is a brilliant idea, because a problem I have had using the satnav on my iPhone was that if I was in an area with no signal I had no idea where I was going! I also really liked that you could download the map for any country in the world, which is fab if you are going on holiday. Another brilliant feature was find my car - it will give you walking directions to the last place you navigated to!

Have you used a Lumia? What do you think of it? Let me know!

Lots of love