Instagram Week #29

New (to me) Chanel // Perfume Empties // Fave hand cream // Outfit // New Uniform // Sunset // GIVEAWAY! // Prepping blog posts // Credit Crunch find of the week!

Finally, an Instagram round up that doesn't include too many pairs of shoes! I had to share this vintage pair I bought from eBay; after all, they are Chanel, and also amazing! My vintage Chanel shoe collection is looking quite good now but these are definitely my favourite pair!

I am also hosting a giveaway on behalf of Ipanema flip flops this week with the prize of a pair of flip flops to the value of £50! Check out the post below for full details and how to enter; the prize is ideal for the heatwave week of weather Britain is currently enjoying!

I got some new work uniform this week in the form of this silver foil skirt. It's so pretty and also great at reflecting the heat! I love the way it moves and catches the light. I think metallics are a really easy way to add interest to your look, especially for someone like me who doesn't wear much colour. Metallics can really lift a neutral look and make it more edgy.

I've talked a bit about beauty on the blog this week, too, with a post around my favourite Body Shop perfumes (which I've used up!) and another absolute favourite, the Hemp hand cream. I'm on the look out for some new perfumes now!

XO Amie

Giveaway with Ipanema!

You might remember a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Ipanema flip flops. They have very kindly offered to giveaway a prize to my readers of a pair of flip flops up to the value of £50! Enter using the widget below and good luck!

 XO Amie

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Current Favourites

Current Favourites: Wax Burner , Topshop 'Hayden' Boyfriend Jeans , Chanel Shoes , Kindle , Straw Hat

I think I had plans to write a 'favourites' series on the blog and keep it regularly updated with latest greatest finds, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside as when I checked back I had last blogged a 'favourite' based post in July 2013! I featured a pair of shoes (see here) which I did indeed almost wear out over the summer, they were certainly a favourite.

It stands to reason that any favourites would include a pair of shoes, and my current faves are these Chanel loafers I picked up from eBay. They weren't cheap (well, not too bad for Chanel) but I couldn't resist them. No one had bid on them so I put a bid on and forgot about it, then promptly won them! I love the colour, the leather is super soft and the punchout interlocking C logo on the top cap is amazing. They are very comfy, and I know they will be an 'all year round' shoe that I will keep forever. If my Chanel ballerinas are anything to go by, these will just get better with wear. Love!

I am really crushing on ripped denim at the moment. I'm loving cut off hems, raw edges and rips, and these Hayden boyfriend jeans were on my list of pairs to get hold of. They went into the sale in Topshop but sold out in my size; however last weekend Adrian and I went back to Devon for a quick visit to see his mum and dad, and on the Sunday we had to go into the local town, and of course it was worth looking in the Topshop there and I found a pair in my size for £15, which is great!

The final fashion-related favourite is my straw hat. Every summer without fail, out comes this hat and I wear it pretty much daily, it's looking a bit tired now but I couldn't bare to get rid of it. I am sure you'll have seen it many times on the blog so apologies if you can't stand the sight of it!

Two un-fashion-related favourites are my wax burner, which is a good alternative to scented candles. I was given some wax melters in different scents which you can mix together or burn separately to create bespoke fragrances. I love these because there is a huge choice of scents, that you don't often find with scented candles; such as bergamot, champagne, the scent of the beach, and so on. Also they work out much cheaper, each melt burns for several hours and you can normally burn it twice before the scent depletes, and a box of melts costs £6 (you fill the box with melts that you'd like) My local supplier of these is an amazing bathing and cosmetics shop in Weston aptly named 'Stinx' but you can buy them online here.

Finally, I am also really enjoying reading on my Kindle at the minute. I don't really like Kindles; I'll take a proper book over an electronic one any day; but they are useful in that I can spend my lunch hour reading without having to drag a huge tome to work and back each day, so I can sort of see where the appeal lies. If I was to go on a beach holiday I can imagine this would be something I would use; when Adrian and I went to Portugal last year I got through 4 books in the week we were there so if you do enjoy reading it would definitely take up less space in a suitcase!

XO Amie

Products I've used up #6: The Fragrance Edition

Body Shop Moroccan Rose , White Musk Sun Glow , White Musk Smoky Rose

It's not often I blog about fragrances I've finished, because I have a few which I usually rotate to ensure maximum longevity; perfume is so expensive, after all! However, I've got a few from The Body Shop which I have recently used up so it seemed a good idea to share my thoughts on them.

The best thing about The Body Shop perfume is the price point. From my point of view, I'm yet to find a fragrance I love enough to commit to spending a substantial wedge of cash on; I was almost on board with YSL Elle which is definitely one of my top faves but at around £90 for 100ml it's not a cheapy. Similarly, the Chloe by Chloe fragrance which smells amazing is also another favourite but again, it's around £60/£70 for the full size.

The Body Shop offers gorgeous fragrances at totally affordable price points. I can't remember the prices of the Musk fragrances (one was a gift anyway) but the Moroccan Rose was £7.50. I bought it almost exactly a year ago, and blogged a review here. I haven't used it every day, but I've used it several times a week since I bought it and it's only just run out, representing brilliant value for money as well as smelling amazing! I'm not sure if this one has now been discontinued (this is the downside to The Body Shop; many fragrances are limited runs or seasonal and disappear, never to be found again!) However, on a recent visit I did find 'Atlas Mountain Rose' which is of a similar scent to the Moroccan Rose one I so loved.

I love floral, rose based scents so I was thrilled to be given the White Musk Smoky Rose perfume by Adrians mum for Christmas, which dispels all previous ideas of The Body Shop's 'White Musk' being suitable only for teens (it definitely reminds me of my schooldays via the name alone!) as it's a heady and quite evening appropriate scent. I wore this a lot in the winter months as it was a very easy wear and smelled great. This is still available and I'm definitely going to re-purchase it.

The White Musk Sun Glow was an impulse purchase which I didn't expect to like as much as I did, it's a lighter, more summery fragrance which I wear as soon as the sun shines. It's very wearable and perfect for daytime, sadly I think this one has also been discontinued (WHY!) but hopefully I'll be able to find something similar!

What do you think of The Body Shop products and fragrances?

XO Amie

Bargain of the day

Toast Basket Weave Bangles Was £25 Now £1

Sometimes, I spot a bargain too good to pass up. Like, for example, these basket weave bangles by artisan brand Toast.  What can you buy for £1? A lottery ticket? Half a cup of tea in a coffee shop? A newspaper? Or, a fabulous bit of sale arm candy? Talk about a good reduction...was £25, now £1. Snap them up here! Definitely sale bargain of the day!

XO Amie

All my favourite colours

Wearing: Gap chino's QSW blouse Chanel shoes Pieces bag Marc Jacobs watch Daniella Draper rings ASOS sunglasses

I used to think I wore quite a lot of colour, but looking back (even looking at my wardrobe!) I can see that's not the case. I had a look back through my blog to last year when these trousers were my fave pair ever and both times I featured them in an outfit post they were pretty much a base for neutral tones; see here and here. It's not that I'm afraid to wear colour, and I accept that it's pretty boring to just stick to neutrals all the time, but I just tend to gravitate towards these; any times I attempt to introduce colour into my wardrobe it just doesn't stick, perhaps given that there is no other colour in there to give it a fair go at becoming a staple part of my everyday edit.

I suppose on reflection there is some colour in there, but it's at the very furthest end of the scale of a neutral; for example; a mustard yellow dress which is so dark it's almost umber, and a khaki green cashmere knit which I adore. But predominately you will find only a selection of white, black, nude, grey, and all the shades across those spectrums in there. Taupe I can do. Mushroom I like. Cream is also a favourite. Bubblegum pink? Not so much.

What I do like, however, is print and fabric. I can go after metallics all day long, and leopard print; why, that's another neutral to me. Perhaps that was why I was drawn to this Quiksilver blouse (found in TK Maxx for £12) the interest comes from the quirky print and luxe fabric which makes this look like the best t shirt ever. I love the style and the way it sits so nicely with the more fitted bottoms. 

My Chanel shoes are certainly earning their place in my shoedrobe, as I barely seem to be able to take them off from one day to the next. I have a few pairs of sandals but I just love these ballet pumps, and I am getting close to wearing them out (ahh!) they just seem to add the right amount of polish to a look which sometimes a sandal can't deliver (I know they did with this look because I tried sandals on first and then switched them out!)

This is my favourite sort of summer dressing, easy and effortless. Which I think is a possible reason I don't wear that much colour; it means everything goes with everything else!

Do you wear much colour in the summer? 

XO Amie

Products I regret buying #2

Products I regret buying: Benefit Lip Plush // Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Glosses // Botanics BB Cream // Dior Caputre Mains // Burts Bees handcream // Botanics superbalm // Collection Mascara // MUA Mascara

So, the last time I wrote a 'products I regret buying' post was just over a year ago (here) and I think the fact that these posts are so few is that I am quite careful about buying random products that I'm not sure will work for me. I usually YouTube some reviews, maybe try it out in store, etc, before committing to buy, so I am almost always happy with my purchase.

Of course there are some exceptions, so I thought I'd put together a post of clangers that I haven't enjoyed using at all! Of course this is all my own opinion, so please don't be offended if you have these products and love them; maybe you can help educate me on how to use them a little better!

Benefit Lip Plush: This is less about the brand and the product, and more about what it is; undeniably, a lip gloss, which is a product I don't really rate. It's quite moisturising, but not totally sticky-free, and as soon as I apply it I just want to wipe it off. The colour is ok, it's nothing special, but it's more the fact that it's a lipgloss and I don't really like those on me!

Clinique Superbalm Moisturizing Glosses: Remember when Lancome Juicy Tubes were the cult product to own? I think I tried to get on that bandwagon with these. Again, lipglosses, sticky, don't make me want to wear them without immediately wiping them off, and neither has any discernible colour despite claiming to tint your lips. Definitely, not for me!

Botanics BB Cream: This one is hard for me because, as regular readers will know, I love love LOVE Botanics. I buy a lot of products from the range and have never had any issues with any of them, and when I went through my 'BB Cream' obsession a few months ago I thought this one would be a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, it wasn't as great as I had hoped; the lightest shade was too dark for my skintone, and the coverage was ok but not as good as others I'd used previously. It also made my skin very shiny which is never a good look, and didn't really seem to last the day. Sorry Botanics, but this is one product I won't be repurchasing!

Dior Capture Mains: An example of expensive not always being the best. This was in the sale when I bought it, but it doesn't even begin to stand up to my £7 Body Shop hemp handcream. It feels greasy to apply and didn't absorb very well, it also smells very 'old lady' so I've hardly used it, a shame as it wasn't cheap, even in the sale!

Burts Bees handcream: Another item that pains me to write a bad review of, as I love the Burts Bees range and have several products from it. However this handcream just didn't work for me, it was hard to apply as it's a very thick consistency, it did smell amazing but if you don't like the scent of banana you'll struggle to like it, and it really didn't overwhelm me at all.

Botanics Superbalm: Another multi-use product that I thought I'd love but from the start this one was on a hiding to nothing; touted as a multi-usage balm, it could be used for anything from taming stray brows to mixing with a lipstick to create a stain, etc. I thought this would be a handbag saviour but unfortunately it never really got started; the texture was almost a bit gritty which made it impossible to use as a good base for anything, and the scent wasn't great either so I struggled to find any use for it at all. 

Finally, two cheap mascaras, neither of which I particularly enjoyed using, the Collection one was far too clumpy right from the start, the brush was huge and therefore impossible for me to control, and I did find it flaked off with wear which is not a good look. Ever. Likewise the MUA one was also a howler, this had the opposite problem in that it was very thin and this made it difficult to get any sort of lash build up going on. About 8 coats later it looked ok but after a day of wear, it had transferred from my lashes to the top of my lid, leaving an unsightly smudge. Definitely not something I was trying to achieve! Both these mascaras were relatively inexpensive so I'm not too worried about them being no good, I am using a Maybelline one at the minute which I am really enjoying so I will probably re-buy that one when I've used it up.

So that's my 'poor products' round up! Have you used any of these products, and how did you find them? Which products haven't worked for you? 

XO Amie