July 2014 Edit - Day 212

The Lion King @ Covent Garden, London

I am absolutely loving that for once we are actually having a proper summer!

Literally all of my purchases this month have been mainly focused on summer beauty stuff. I tend to find I spend alot less in the summer on make up and stuff as I have fairly sensitive skin and prefer to spend out on creams and scrubs that keep my skin happy in the heat, as well as I like rocking a looking more natural look in the summer. I do wear the same foundation though all year round which is Bourjois Healthy Mix in Vanilla - you will probably hear me rave about this stuff alot because its one of very few beauty products I swear by and will never change. Its perfect for the summer as it keeps your skin hydrated and moisturised - alot of foundations dry out your skin like crazy but not this one!

Summer Holiday Skin - Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, Neutrogena Pore & Shine Scrub, Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub & Garnier Summer Body Moisturising Sunkissed Lotion

 Earlier this month I took the plunge and bleached my fringe from the roots down and in doing so have found out how really high maintenance it is to keep bleached hair looking at its best - especially in hot weather! I bought a couple of different brassy/yellow toners for platinum hair as I wasn't sure which was best. I bought Scott Cornwalls colour restore iced platinum hair toner and the whole set of Pro:vokes - A Touch Of Silver, they are both a scary looking blue colour - but this is nothing to be scared of , these toners are full of violet pigments that make your hair a brighter and purer blonde which reflects in the colour of the products. This will rinse off and wont make your hair blue!

Scott Cornwall was the bluest toner, which seemed to work well on my hair but has a higher price tag at £12, it doesn't condition the hair as well as hoped, so this may be better used in the case of yellow - almost orange hair emergencies. I wouldn't rule this toner out as it has got rave reviews on the Boots website but I reckon its probably better used on darker tones of yellow or if you have bleached all your hair rather than just strands, tips or fringe.

A Touch Of Silver Conditioner, Shampoo & Brassiness Toner

I prefer A Touch Of Silver which firstly is cheaper (yay!) so you can buy the whole set of products for less than the price of Scott Cornwalls. It's less scary looking - more of a lilac colour than electric blue. You can leave it on for anything around 20 mins and then rinse with the shampoo and conditioner which actually smells really nice and leave your hair super soft afterwards..bargain!

Eastbourne Steampunk Craft Fair - Next time I'll actually check I've put my memory card in my camera..doh!

As for stuff I've been doing this month, I went to see the Lion King earlier this month in London's which was amazing - well worth getting downstairs centre seats - book and go and see - you'l see why! :) and then I've been making the most of the weather and popping along to a couple of local little festivals. I went to a Steampunk fair a couple of week ago and went to see one of my sisters mates stools which had fab brooches and jewellery she had made out of lace and feathers. Hopefully there will be another one next year and I'll make sure I pop more monies aside, saw so many pretty things!

Love, Sarah x

Steampunk fair image c/o The Henna & Hat Lady - Emma Morton

OOTD: Motel Rainbow Shiva Dress

Zena Bodycon rainbow Shiva dress - Motel - http://www.motelrocks.com/

Resorting to doing OOTD (outfit of the day!) posts until payday - am still mega skint after booking flights!

This is gotta be one of my favourite dresses from last years Motels SS13 collection - and one of Motels best ever prints, and that's saying something cus all there prints are amazing! I'm a huge fan of Hindu gods and goddesses having collected hindu god statues whilst living at home (I have a Ganesh statue and baby Krishna!) and still have them in my kitchen in our flat years and years later!

I also like the nod to the 90's that Motel have added with the scuba neckline of the dress and it looks great with bright coloured jewellery and shoes. I've cut my feet out of the shoot because I managed to walk in to a load of stinging nettles in my flipflops earlier whilst trying to reach over a fence to feed a shetland pony. not clever! Otherwise I'd of definitely worn my studded boots or sandals when taking these pics after lol :)

Love, Sarah x

Paradox

Cloud Print Shorts -Pretty Little Thing http://www.prettylittlething.com/xena-cloud-print-loose-fit-mini-shorts.html

Cloud Print Long Sleeve Crop Top - Missguided http://www.missguided.co.uk/shreya-cloud-print-sleeve-crop-top/
White Cleated Sandals - Ebay
Black 90's choker - Ebay

First thing you've probably noticed straight away is that I'm shooting outside - don't get too excited though, I'm cat-sitting my sisters two kitty cats this weekend so I thought I'd steal her garden for a couple of days too whilst she's away! Pics come out so much better outside, wish wish wish I had a garden! *sigh*

These were taken a couple of hours before we had a pretty cool thunder storm as it's been so hot recently. me and rich were watching it out the window as we missed last nights storm action... didn't hear a thing and must of slept through it all!

I posted about Pretty Little Thing a couple of months ago (leather jacket) and the shorts I'm wearing here are from their Paradox collection which has some amazing really modern and cool pieces!  I'm amazed that cloud print hasn't been as big a hit on the high street as it has been really popular online, its so pretty!  The crop top is actually from Missguided yet is the same print and matches perfectly <3 Think this is my new fave outfit in my wardrobe, partly cus it matches the angry summer storm clouds outside :)

Love, Sarah x

A summer evening in Covent Garden

Hair - Ministry of Hair - Eastbourne - http://www.ministryofhair.com
Embellished Maxi Dress - Little Mistress - http://www.little-mistress.co.uk/orange-pink-contrast-embellished-mesh-maxi-dress

Lots of newness going on at the mo! New blog, new name, new hair & obvs new dress!

I enlisted some help in the way of Maria from Rainy Day Blog Designs to build up a new template as I can't code to save my life! she's really lovely and really helpful, if your looking for blog help and a new design she's great :) you can purchase the templates you want through her shop on Etsy.

Today, I spent the morning at Ministry of Hair getting my fringe sorted. I haven't had a hair cut in two years due to moneys wanting to see how long I could grow it and become a proper mermaid with dip dyed hair n stuff. Turns out my hair struggles to grow much past my shoulders. boo.

This time we bleached the front a la Rogue x-men stylee as its something I've been wanting to do for ages but been to chicken to do so thought I'd go to my fave salon in Eastbourne, Ministry of Hair, to give it abit of a long overdue makeover! Again going on about lovely people and good service, I couldn't recommend Ministry more highly and will continue to go there as I have for the last 5 years.

Then me and zee boy headed off to Covent Garden where we went to Fire and Stone Pizza for dinner and then off the the Lyceum Theatre to see the Lion King which was amazing. Costumes are beautiful and we were lucky to get pretty good seats, will def go and see it again!.

On to this Little Mistress dress, I featured it in my top maxi summer shortlist and I said I would get it as I loved it - and I did! I have had to return the size 8 as it was really long and get a 6 instead, its still abit long but I'll get it adjusted, it fits better up top as well as a size 6. Perfect for a summer wedding or evening do as its fully lined and heavy. maybe not for holiday as I planned due to its heavyness but I will def keep it for a formal occasion.

love, Sarah x

Urban Grunge

Shirt Dress in Coal - Mango - http://shop.mango.com/coal-shirt-dress
Net Top - Nicole x Missguided - http://www.missguided.co.uk/Nicole-fishnet-crop
Thigh High Socks - Forever 21 - http://www.forever21.com
Studded Cut-Out Chunky Buckle Boots - Ebay
Choker - Ebay

This is prob the most sensible purchase I've made in a while - a simple black shirt dress. I spotted it in Mango last week and thought it would be fab for work and due to the sleeveless style, I can easily layer tops underneath for colder days such as the Nicole x Misguided fishnet crop I'm wearing here - mesh and fishnet always looks amazing when layered! I really like the rope belt too - maybe good for a nautical look if we can grab some matching accessories lol!

Love , Sarah x

Tiger Smock Dress

Asos - Smock dress with leaping tiger print - http://www.asos.com/asos-dress-with-leaping-tiger
Tiger ear socks - River Island - http://www.riverisland.com/Orange-tiger-ears-socks
Studded Cut out Boots - Ebay
Orange Tassel Bracelets - Primark

This dress is probably the most comfiest thing I now own, I love the fact that its totally shapeless, its perfect for work and concealing food babies after pigging out on summer snackage! The leaping tiger print is so cute <3 I'm a sucker for anything with animal prints, with already a wardrobe full of sausage dog dresses, fox dresses, cat dresses, bunny dresses - I just can't get enough!

I saw this dress a while ago on the Asos website and had it in my wish list but have waited whilst the site re-opened after some MORON set fire to there warehouse in Barnsley last month. Hope they find at catch the culprit, some people don't deserve oxygen. One thing almost as bad are the whiney emails they received from girls moaning about their orders being delayed. erm.. hello? people could have died!

I also bought a pair of cute tiger socks from River Island.  I was hoping were gonna match with the dress so I could have a wear socks with sandals option but the orange of the socks if different to the tigers on the dress and doesn't really match. They are sweet though and I'll still keep them anyway :)

love, Sarah x

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Hakuna Matata!

Leopard Print Crop Top - Boohoo
Tropical Print Cigarette Trousers - Primark
Neon Blue Velvet Pointy Courts - H&M
Gold Circular Necklace - Freedom @ Topshop
Blue Hibiscus Hawaiian Style Flower Hair Clip - Beyonce (Mrs Carter) @ H&M

This post has kinda been waiting a while as you can see I still have my purple dip dye here, but better late than never!

This is what I'm planning to wear to The Lion King next week, something colourful and fun but as it will be evening and and I'll be coming home late, these tropical  print cigarette trousers will be a perfect option to keep covered up yet stylish! These beauties were from Primark, I remember picking these up on a sale rail last year down from £13 to £5..bargain!

The leopard print crop top is from Boohoo.com and will look great with anything high-waisted for the summer, maybe a retro style outfit with a pencil skirt...hmmm!

For an alternative tropical style look, I've added my neon blue shoes, rather than teaming up with usual flats or sandals, these court shoes take this outfit from chilling by the beach to summer night out in an instant. Neon accessories are a great idea if you want to add more zing to an outfit but don't feel brave enough to go for a full outfit of colour.

Love, Sarah x

June 2014 Edit - Day 181

Blue Orchid £12.00 Tesco

Rik (Mayall!) the Mollie - one of my lovely birthday fishes!

Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex

Bit more of a lifey post this time as haven't really bought any cosmetics/ hair products this month to review! Since I've got in to my new job I've been determined to make sure I no longer live to work & to enjoy myself and get out there and do things I've been wanting to do for ages, and I've been doing just that!

I had a day out with my family at Herstmonceux for father's day which was good, as its a extremely rare occasion nowadays that all 5 of us are able to get together and go out and about, so that was lovely.

I've also - like my mum n sisters - bought myself an Orchid. My indoor kitchen garden which is mainly made up of artificial flowers from The Secret Garden Shop in Eastbourne but I do like to buy the odd bouquet now n again for the kitchen table! I've never seen a blue orchid anywhere to buy before and as its my favourite colour it had to be miiiine :D Its the most amazing blue colour! This one (pictured) is from Tesco for £12.

Last weekend I had my first ever trip up to Essex for my mates 30th birthday in Tilbury - near Grays. My first party in forever so was great to go out for an evening and mingle with lots of peeps,.Have decided that Essex peoples are def alot more friendlier then southerners (sorry fellow southerners!) Next morning, we went to Lakeside and had a quick look around before heading back home as was exhausted, will be coming back to Lakeside for sure in the future, only with £££ next time.

Lastly Rich surprised me with my bday present when I got back from the Katy Perry tour in London, a 64L tropical fish tank! <3 So far we have bought 8 fish including 3 Neons, a male Dwarf Gourmini, 2 Guppies and two Mollies, one (pictured) we've named after Rik Mayall and the other orange coloured one is Ade! gotta get coming up with names for the others yet, name suggestions would be appreciated (no obvious boring ones like Mr. Bubbles tho please!) Love my birthday fishies! :) :) x

I'm really a mermaid...

Forever 21 burn out logo tee- http://www.forever21.com/Imreallyamermaid
Blue metallic scale print shorts - TopShop
Silver sequin hotpants - Asos
White Sandals - Ebay
Necklace - Primark
Blue Hexagon Bag- H&M

My love of logo tees continues with this cute super soft burnout t-shirt from Forever 21, perfect for a beach cover up, I'm already starting to crave my dip dyed turquoise locks that would match the back after only three weeks of cutting off my ends...uh oh, so much for trying to keep my hair healthy and split end free!

The shiny blue metallic scale print shorts are from Topshop. I've had these in my wardrobe for a while since spotting them in a past gone Topshop sale and I've needed to fix the clasp on the waist put have never got round to it till now. The teal of the t-shirt doesn't really go with it but I wanted to feel as mermaidy as possible! :)

The sequin hotpants from Asos are another treasure of mine that are a couple of years old, I spotted in a Look Magazine beach style photoshoot and desperately wanted them! they make alot of noise when you walk about in them and are pretty heavy but I still love them!

In the meantime in the life of Sarah, I have become a World Cup widow (anyone else lost their other half's to  the football?!) and finally managed to bag tix to Clothes Show live @ The NEC Birmingham in December later this year, will be my first time going and surely won't be the last! :) excited..much! :D

Love, Sarah x

The Holiday Shop Edit

Summer is finally here! Here's to (hopefully!) a good couple of months of long evenings, the beach, BBQ's and of course, gorgeous sunshine! 

Despite things being lurvely and warm here in the UK, I'm still dreaming away about going abroad and soaking up the rays in the med! Here's a selection of fab holiday buys on the high street and online now, including an amazing collection from Julian Mcdonald @ Matalan - Seriously, I want everything in it!, tribal prints, pom pom fringing, and lots of gorgeous summer coloured jewellery. Whether your going abroad or staying in the UK, all of these beach accessories are bound to get you holiday ready...I'm gonna need a bigger suitcase..!

Left to right

Bikini's & Swimsuits

1) Julian Mcdonald for Matalan - £20 http://www.matalan.co.uk/julien-macdonald-floral-print-swimsuit
2) River Island Blue abstract print monokini - £28 http://www.riverisland.comBlue-abstract-print-monokini
3) TopShop Tile Tassel long-line bikini - £36 http://www.topshop.com/tasselbikini
4)  Boohoo Caicos snake print cut out bikini - £14 http://www.boohoo.com/caicos-snake-print-cut-out-bikini
5) Geek-La-Chic Little Mermaid Inspired bikini £50 http://www.geeklachic.co.uk/little-mermaid-inspired-bikini

from top left to bottom right

Sandals

1) Beaded Tribal Sandals - Accessorize £37 http://uk.accessorize.com/tribalsandal
2. New Look Rainbow Print Strappy Sandals £24.99 http://www.newlook.com//orange-rainbow-print-strappy-sandal
3) River Island White Gemstone sandals £35 http://www.riverisland.com/White-gem-stone-embellished-T-bar-sandals
4) Office Hawaii Cobalt Blue Sandals £28 http://www.office.co.uk/cobaltsandals
5) Irregular Choice - Pretty Pony Sandals £70 http://www2.schuh.co.uk/irregular-choice-pretty-pony-sandal

from left to right

Beach Bags

1) H&M banana shaped shoulder woven bag - £12.99 http://www.hm.com/gb/yellowshoulderbag
2) WildFox Sail On reversible beach bag - £124.00 http://wildfoxcouture.co.uk/sail-on-reversible-beach-bag.html
3) Next Printed canvas bag - £24 http://www.next.co.uk
4) Asos Woven pom pom bag - £35 http://www.asos.com/asos/asos-woven-bag
5) River Island curved beaded bag -£30 http://www.riverisland.com/Red-embellished-curved-tote-bag

from top left clockwise

Summer Jewellery

1) Pull & Bear Turquoise parrot necklace - £12.99 http://www.pullandbear.com/parrotnecklace
2) Accessorize Cleopatra statement necklace £25.00 http://uk.accessorize.com/cleopatranecklace
3) Select Chevron feather bead earings £6.00 http://www.selectfashion.co.uk/featherearings
4) Diva @ Miss Selfridge Pink stone headchain - £8.50 http://www.missselfridge.com/pinkstoneheadchain
5) H&M Aztec print bangles 2 pack - £7.99 http://www.hm.com/aztecbangles

From top left clockwise

Sunglasses

1) Elsie & Fred Lana ombre shades £18 - http://www.elsieandfred.com/lana-ombre-shades
2) Debenhams Purple diamante visor sunglasses £30 http://www.debenhams.com/diamantesunglasses
3) Jeepers Peepers Cloud Yellow sunglasses £18 - http://www.topshop.com/Jeeperspeepers
4) Forever 21 Island Girl sunglasses £4.50 - http://www.forever21.com/islandgirlsunglasses
5) Topshop Simone catseye sunglasses £16 - http://www.topshop.com/cats-eyes-sunglasses

From top left clockwise

Hats

1) Floozie by Frost French Natural Striped Trim Hat - £18.00 http://www.debenhams.com/flooziehat
2) Asos Polka-Dot Turban Hat £12 - http://www.asos.com/polka-dot-turban-hat
3) Missguided Romona Floral Print Cap £9.99 - http://www.missguided.co.uk/romona-floral-print-cap
4) Matalan Floral Corsage Hat £6.00 - http://www.matalan.co.uk/floral-corsage-straw-hat
5) New Look Contast Trim Aztec Trilby Hat £9.99 -http://www.newlook.com/black-contrast-trim-aztec-straw-trilby

Best Summer Holiday Shops:

Best collection - Julian Mcdonald @ Matalan
Best Brand Selection - Debenhams
Beach Party Range - Pascha @ River Island
Best for Value - H&M / Forever 21

Love, Sarah x

Tropical Layered Crop Dress

Tropical Crop Dress - Fashion Union -http://www.fashionunion.com/signe-cut-out-layered-tee-dress
White Chunky Sandals - Ebay
Necklace - Primark

Since seeing Rihanna in an amazing Chanel lilac quilted crop style dress at Paris Fashion Week earlier this year, I've been obsessed with finding a similar dress as Chanel-esk copies have gradually made there way on to the high street, no lilac or quilted ones though. Boo.

TopShop & New Look have had plenty of cropped/layered dresses in white in recently, however as I wanted something that was more colourful, I opted for this summery tropical number from Fashion Union. The layered top panel creates a perfect silhouette without compromising on comfort. Its a nice to to have a dress that's not body-con tight but can be just a figure flattering at the same time and perfect for daywear!

I've been thinking of sewing on a white pom-pom trim to the layered hem as pom-pom trim is having abit of an on-trend moment, and to give the dress even more of a summery vibe!
I'll post pics once I've managed to track some trim down and done some customising, got plenty of time to sew now whilst the boy is busy watching the World Cup!

Love, Sarah x