Designer Wishlist

Now admittedly, I am not usually particularly interested in owning anything designer. I prefer to buy loads of cheaper items for the same buck than just one item that I might not necessarily get my moneys worth out of.

Having said that, recently I really don't know what's come over me. Whether it be the influence of the blogosphere or far too much window shopping, I have been seriously lusting after a bunch of designer beauties, so I thought I'd put together a cheeky wishlist so I can drool over them all in one place. Well, most of them anyway. My lust list is pretty much double the length of my arm, so here is just a select few...

1. Michael Kors Saffiano Leather Wallet | £125

This is the item that I am undoubtedly at the most risk of investing in. I have been drooling over the white range of Michael Kors handbags and purses for what seems like forever, so unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it), I think this purse may well be mine in the near future. Ooo, my first ever designer item! Fancy.

2. Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette in The Dolce Vita | £38

I have seen this eyeshadow palette crop up on a number of blogs and my God are these shades beautiful. I have never tried anything by Charlotte Tilbury but, as stunning as this is, I really cannot bring myself to spend just short of £40 on an eyeshadow quad. 

3. Burberry Deerskin Handle Walking Umbrella in Light Mint | £295

£295 for a damned umbrella which (if you live in the UK anyway) will probably get blown away on its first use! But boy would I buy this if I had the money... Last summer I was a little bit obsessed with pastel shades and I'm feeling like this summer will be no different.

4. Hunter Huntress Gloss Wellies in Violet | £89

Do I need these? No. Doesn't mean I can't admire them though, right? I was torn between these and the same ones in Pillar Box Red and I'm still not decided which are my favourite, so I guess it's a good job I'm not buying them! 

5. Burberry London Leather iPhone 5/5s case in Pomegranate Pink | £135

Admittedly I've been drooling over more or less everything on the Burberry website, they have some divine pieces in at the minute. I don't even have a damned iPhone 5, but if I had the money I'd just buy one of these and try my damned best to squish my 4s into it. It's very plain but I think that's a running theme for this wishlist; it's just the beauty of designer items I guess!

6. Agent Provocateur Gloria Floral-Embroidered Tulle Contour Bra | £125  &  

7. Agent Provocateur Gloria Floral-Embroidered Tulle Briefs | £110

This underwear set is beyond sexy, I don't think I even need to explain myself for picking these out. For some reason I seem to struggle to wear matching underwear every day (lazy girl problems), but I'm starting to make a conscious effort to do so. So I'd obviously have to purchase both of these if I had the money. Even if £110 for a pair of knickers is pretty damn extortionate.

8. Michael Kors Jet Set Travel Textured-Leather Tote in Black | £260

'More Michael Kors?!' I hear you cry...well yes, more, and don't moan because I know you want this bag too! The classic Michael Kors tote...I again was lusting after this in white (it's stunning in white) until I realised what a ridiculous idea it would be for me to buy a designer white handbag. I think it would last approximately 3 weeks before I dropped it into a muddy puddle or scraped it against a brick wall or twelve. Not like I'm ever going to own one anyway, but a girl can dream, eh?

I really must win the lottery. 

Love, 

Jo xxx

ModCloth | Uniquely You Prom Outfit Challenge

Last week I was contacted by the lovely Amy at Modcloth and challenged to take part in a little blogger competition to create a prom-themed look based around their Classic Stunner Dress. Not one to shy away from a bit of a challenge, I thought it'd be fun to give it a whirl!

Now I'm not sure about anyone else's experiences but for me, picking a prom outfit was like pulling teeth. After hunting high and low for about a month in total, I ended up panic-buying an average dress about a week before prom. 

Word of advice if you're thinking of leaving it late? Please don't. Especially if you know you're a fussy git like me. 

I can promise you, you will regret it. 

1. Classic Summer Dress in Floral | $99.99

So voila, this is the dress I was challenged to style! One of the things I regret the most about my prom dress was the fact that I chose one that was so prommy (yes, I've decided that's a word) that I would never be able to wear it again. This makes me like the classic style of this dress even more; it is simple and timeless, so you can definitely wear this again and again once prom has been and gone. I love the volume in the skirt too; I can imagine it being flattering on more or less all body shapes.

2. Cool, Clear Night Clutch | $42.99

The dress is very pretty, so teaming it with this clutch bag just gives it that little hint of a sultry edge. I absolutely adore the on-trend transparency and sexy lace pattern of this bag!

3. Cinquain Necklace | $15.99

I chose this just to break up the block beige of the dress, whilst sticking to the colour theme with the gold coloured trim of the necklace.

4. Nine to Jive Jacket | $77.99

Okay, now to give the outfit a bit more of an edge. Leather jackets are the perfect accompaniment for more or less any outfit, they are ridiculously versatile! This one is no different, and I absolutely adore the detail along the hem.

5. Shoe of Hearts Heel | $74.99

Now for a bit of colour! These heels are absolutely adorable, and add that perfect little eye-catching piece to an otherwise relatively understated look. 

Remember that it's your prom, not your wedding day, so don't forget to add a little fun to your outfit!

6. Lime Crime Lipstick in Glamour | $17.99

The whole outfit has a very vintage vibe so sticking with that, I'm definitely thinking a nice bold red lip will bring the look together perfectly...

7. TheBalm Precisely! Liquid Eyeliner | $16.99

...add some winged liquid eyeliner and you're laughing!

8. Duck, Duck, Umbrella in Red | $17.99

If you live in the UK, you'll understand that this is final outfit addition isn't as ridiculous as it might initially look. What good is it getting all glammed up to step one foot outside and end up looking like you swam to prom? Exactly. Take one for goodness sake!

If you're be hunting for a prom dress this year, I wish you the best of luck and like I say, please start looking now! Why not check out the rest of Modcloth's dresses here. They have a nice selection to give you a few ideas!

Love, 

Jo xxx

Bargain Steals Haul!

Steals is one of those shops that is completely hit or miss. You either go in and wade through a load of tosh, or you go in and buy half the store. I wouldn't say I quite bought half the shop, but luckily for me yesterday there was a hell of a lot of goodies in there.

If you don't already know what Steals (or Next2Nowt, as it's know online) is, I did give a brief lowdown in my previous Steals haul here if you're interested.

Anyhow, onto the goodies!

Dress (originally Topshop), £13 |  Playsuit, £15  |  Leather jacket (originally Topshop), £25

Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past 6 months, you will more than likely recognise the red dress as a Topshop one, except I got mine for a mere £13 (cue smug grin!). The colour isn't represented well in the photo at all; it is actually a bright red colour rather than orange.

I'm not sure where the playsuit is from originally, but it's perfectly tailored, flattering and too versatile to leave behind. I bought the leather jacket to replace my cheap Primark faux leather jacket (which you can have a nosy at in this outfit post)...couldn't go wrong for 25 quid!

Skirt, £6  |  Beaded cami, £10  |  Corduroy shirt, £6

This floral skirt is so cute and flattering. The boyfriend and I are thinking of having a sunny getaway together in March so I thought I'd better invest in some summer clothes (any excuse). The beaded camisole top was simply too cute to leave behind. Usually, the beaded tops in Steals are falling apart at the seams with about three embellishments left, however I got lucky with this one as it looks in pretty perfect nick to me!

The floral corduroy shirt isn't something I'd usually go for, however when I tried it on it was slightly oversized and I liked the laid back look of it. I thought it'd look cute over summer dresses or with a cute cami top and jeans, and for £6 I couldn't really say no!

Boots (originally Miss Selfridge), £6

I've been looking for some more winter boots and again, I love the laid-back vibe of these ones. The fluffy fleece lining is a massive bonus for my permanently-ice-cold toes!

What have you guys been buying recently?

Link me to your hauls if you like, I'd love to have a nosy!!

Love, 

Jo xxx

Collective Haul | ASOS, Primark, Steals and Charity Shops

So after throwing my 21st birthday party, I was left with a lot of money which has been burning a hole in my pocket. This means I've been doing quite a bit of shopping recently, but the majority of stuff I've bought have been absolute bargains which means I've not actually spent much of it at all... 

...so I went mad and booked a last minute holiday to Alicante with the bestie.

We're going on Monday and I am too excited for words. We've been talking about going on holiday for a good while now, but just never had the time to look or could never find a good enough deal. 

But we finally did it! 

Cue last minute panics about...well, everything. 

Anyhow, onto the haul!

Chain necklace | asos | £8 £4

T-shirt | Mango via asos | £19.99 £11

Jeggings | Pieces via asos | £22 £8

The asos sale is always worth a look as soon as any new items are added, as all the goodies disappear far too quickly. The necklace is sadly now sold out but I absolutely adore it; it was a bargain at just £4. 

The t-shirt is also really cute. It's boxy in shape, which I've never really taken a second glance at before as I never thought it would suit me, but it does! I didn't actually notice the little diamante anchor in the middle but it's not too obvious so I don't mind it. 

The jeggings just look like jeans, but are ridiculously comfy because they're so stretchy. I bought them in a size S/M, which is the perfect fit for a size 8/10. 

I actually tweeted @ASOS_HeretoHelp to ask which size I should order, as the whole S/M thing in something like jeans really puts me off buying them; if they weren't so cheap I wouldn't have bothered risking it.

It is such a fantastic Twitter account; any issues or queries regarding an ASOS order and they're on it within minutes. Customer service at it's absolute best!

Bag | Steals | £6

Cami top | Steals | £2

Shirt | Steals | £8

Steals is a store that stocks items from brands such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge and BooHoo which have been either returned or worn on the catwalk and cannot be resold. This means that you can get current season, high street stuff for ridiculously low prices. 

The shop labels are always cut out so if you recognise where any of these three items are from originally, I'd love to know! I have a feeling the bag and camisole might originally be Topshop pieces (it's not actually a great picture of the cami; it looks so much better on). 

The bag is huge and it feels so soft! Bargain.

Dress | Charity Shop | £5.99

Shorts | F&F via Charity Shop | £1.50

Jumper | H&M via Charity Shop | £3.50

As always, I couldn't resist a cheeky trip to the charity shops.

This dress, although I'm unsure as to where it was originally from, is the perfect fit and I love the cut out side detail. 

I've been looking for some cute shorts to wear to bed and for £1.50, I couldn't resist these cute floral ones. I was totally drawn to the jumper purely because of the colour. It's such a gorgeous bright blue, and I don't actually own a jumper with a v-neck; it makes quite a nice change to my standard round-neck jumpers.

 Monochrome cami | Primark | £5

As you can probably tell, I love these camisole tops just because they are so darned easy to wear. I couldn't resist this one; the Primark one's are just as good as the Topshop version, at less than a third of the price too!

 Travel bottle set | Primark | £1

Bikini bottoms | Primark | £3 £1

Seeing as I'm only taking hand luggage to Alicante, I needed to buy some travel bottles. I am ridiculously worked up about what I'm going to prioritise to take with me (sad I know). I'm actually thinking I might have to leave my foundation behind.

The thought of that makes me feel physically sick.

As expected, when we went bikini shopping yesterday we discovered that nowhere is stocking swimwear any more, and it's too late to risk ordering anything online. So i ended up just buying some bikini bottoms in the Primark sale which I can match with the black bikini top I already have.

So that's everything I've been buying recently! 

With the rest of my birthday money I'm seriously contemplating buying a tablet, but I'm a bit of a technological Dumbo and already having a laptop, I'm so unsure as to whether or not it would be worth the money.

What are people's opinions on tablets? Are they worth it?

What do you think of my haul?

Love,

Jo xx

Collective Haul | Primark and eBay

My word, has it really been 3 weeks since my last post?! *slaps wrists*

Boy have I missed you guys!

Life has been pretty darn hectic lately, leaving me with little energy for anything else other than work. I have my last day in placement coming up this Wednesday which I am genuinely going to be so sad about; the radiographers I have been lucky enough to work with over the past 3 years are amazing people and I'll miss them so much!

But the end of placement also brings essay and dissertation deadlines, plus a cheeky VIVA exam so my luck is in this month, I tell thee!

Anyway, during the Easter break (gosh, doesn't that just seem like yesterday?) I managed to fit in a spot of shopping...standard. My friend Laura and I popped down to Newcastle to visit our friend there at uni for a couple of days, and we spent our time having lots of giggles, food, cocktails and doing lots shopping of course! It was a lovely (and seriously needed) break. So here are the few bits I picked up from Primark whilst I was there.

Grey cardigan | £8

Grey and cream contrast dipped hem top | £8

I love the colour of this cardigan and admittedly, I only bought the shirt because I liked the contrast of colours and materials. My original plan was to remove the chain as I couldn't decide whether or not it looks a bit cheap. However now I'm unsure whether or not to take it off!

What are your thoughts, do you think the chains look cheap?

 Bronze spike statement necklace | £4

Stack of 6 rings | £2

I've been lusting after a statement necklace for a while now and this spiked one fits the bill perfectly. At that price I couldn't really leave it behind. I only bought this stack of rings as I instantly fell in love with the gold triangle one...I'm not even a size small in rings, but they didn't have a medium stack left and I loved it so much I bought it planning to wear it on my pinky instead.

Finally, I have also recently bought a couple of bargains off eBay.

Bright blue H&M dress/top (definitely a better top length, trust me on that one!) | £5.51 incl p&p

Red bodycon Aztec midi dress | £9.99 including p&p | this eBay store

I loved the colour of the H&M dress (it was sold as a dress but unless I want to spend my time with my bum fully on show, I think I'd better stick to wearing it as a top), and the lace detail down the side is really lovely. Great bargain if I say so myself!

I found the Aztec midi dress and it reminded me of one I'd seen either in Topshop or Miss Selfridge, I can't remember which one! I will probably be doing an OOTD to give you a better look at it, let me know if this is something you'd like to see?

So there we have it, my recent purchases. Hope you are all well, I'll try my best not to be absent for so long next time!

What do you think of my purchases?

Should I remove the chains from the Primark shirt?

Jo xx

How I Spent my Daxon Voucher (plus Easter Nail Art!)

Hello strangers, hope you all had a lovely long Easter weekend and ate double your body weight in chocolate! Before we start with the intended post I'd like to show you the nail art I did over the Easter weekend, which was inspired by Make-Up Savvy's (much neater) version here.

Not going to lie, I'm quite proud of how they turned out! Granted they're not as good as Fee's, but still...

Anyway, I have a relatively overdue post for you lovely lot today. I apologise for my lack of blogging recently, I am midway through tackling my dissertation and other assignments so as you can imagine I am in fact dying a little inside.

You may remember me blogging about the fabulous opportunity to become a part of the Daxon Blogger Network a few months ago (you can find said blog post here).

Well today I am going to show you a couple of things I purchased with my £50 Amazon voucher!

Wooden peep toe platform heels* | Amazon | £17.99 £15.99

I was desperate for some comfortable new black heels, as every pair I own rubs my poor toes to death. Admittedly, these do rub a little but I forgive them just because they are that damned pretty. Love.

Grey Converse All Stars* | Amazon | £34.99 £22.74

I have also been lusting after a pair of converse for so long it's unreal, and I am well and truly in love with these beauties. Although I was originally swooning over a burgundy pair, I am so glad I got these dark grey ones, as the colour is just perfect and goes with more or less everything in my wardrobe. Now I've just been left wondering why it's taken me so damned long to invest in a pair.

I did actually pay around £32.99 for these, but as you can see they have now been reduced by a significant amount so I would snap them up while you can if I were you, bit of a bargain there!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Daxon for my amazingly generous £50 Amazon voucher. As you can see I did have a little bit of fun spending it, even if it did disappear rather too quickly for my liking.

Did you manage to get your hands on one of the £50 vouchers?

What did you spend it on? I'd love some links so I can have a nosy!

Jo xx

Small Haul | Boxing Day Sales

Mega quickie from me today seeing as I have a few minutes to spare before I start getting ready for a 21st tonight!

First off, hope you've all had as much of a lovely Christmas as I have. My auntie, uncle and cousins managed to visit us on Christmas day which was lovely, as they never get chance living a few hours drive away. It was lovely to see them on the actual day; we have such a small family that it is usually just 6 of us having Christmas together so it was nice having a slightly busier and noisier day!

So we had lots of wine, food and laughs playing our very 'artistic' game of Pictionary!

Anyway, seeing as all the good stuff in the sales usually disappears within the first day or two, I though I would nip into town on Boxing day to see what I could pick up...

...and boy was it busy.

I am so glad I went first thing in the morning, otherwise I doubt I'd have been able to move very far! It. Was. Heaving.

Anyway I only picked up a couple of things but I am quite glad I went in the end.

Jumper | River Island | £22 £10

Shirt | New Look | £22 £8

I know it's a lame haul but by the time it got to midday we'd had enough and were ready to scream!

The shirt is gorgeous it is just very sheer so needs a top underneath and a good iron! But other than that I love it, especially the dipped hem at the back, it will be really easy to dress up or down.

What do you think of my buys?

If you've done a sale haul post please link it in the comments below, I'd love to have a nosey!

Hope you all have an amazing New Year!

Jo xx



Everything 5 Pounds Heels

Just a quickie today as a little break from my blogging absence (excluding my fab guest posts, obv!), I wanted to show you my bargain heels from everything5pounds!

Now as the title suggest, everything on this website is a fiver (duh) so I can't really say I had high hopes for these shoes.

But I ordered them anyway, seeing I was desperate to replace my other very painful black heels over the Christmas period.

So here they are, and boy am I pleasantly surprised!

Yes they're pretty plain but hey, they were a fiver...I think I can be let off for that one! They are a really snug fit, and came really well packaged in little individual shoe socks, n'aww!

These wedges can be bought here for a mere fiver, and they also come in red, brown, blue, green and beige. Phew!

I'd definitely recommend picking some up for the party season!

Jo xx

DIY Beaded Bracelet

A few weeks back, a few of my friends and I had a bit of a shopping trip to Manchester. For a while we had been talking about buying some beads so that we could make our own little bracelets...not rocket science I know, but being a bracelet-oholic I was so excited about this!

We popped into The Bead Shop in Afflecks Palace, which is like a dream for anyone with a crafty side to them! It has every different type and colour of beads and charms you could ever imagine, all in one cosy jam-packed room. We literally spent so long in there swooning over all of the pretty beads! I really wish I had some pictures of it so I could show you, I got so excited when I walked in...it's a bit sad really!

Anyway, all of the different beads and charms are individually priced excluding the plain coloured beads, which are priced at something like 10 for 25p.

My beads came to about £4.30 altogether, which may sound a little pricey for a bunch of beads but I think it is still pretty reasonable for a bracelet that I will wear to death!

L-R: Gift* | DIY bracelet | Matalan | H&M | market in Rome

What do you think of my design?

 Do you have a similar crafty type of shop near you? 

Thanks for reading,

Jo xx

Collective Haul | Boots, Superdrug and Bodycare

So I planned on going into Boots just to stock up on the essentials.

Did I stick to my plan? Did I heck.

I then continued on into Bodycare and Superdrug to buy a couple more not-so-essentials.

As is life, eh?

Not the most exciting of hauls, but I'm a student, what can I say.

First up, the goodies from Boots and Superdrug:

Good Things Face the Day moisturiser, £7.99, and Fresh Start creamy cleanser, £4.99

I'm a bit confused seeing as when I bought these they were both discounted (can't remember how much I paid exactly) rather than on 3 for 2 offer as listed on the website?

Anyway, these have worked absolute wonders on my skin since I started using them so these are my back ups - I don't want another mascara incident!

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in Nude, £7.99, Dream Smooth primer, £8.99 and Dream Touch Lumi concealer, £6.99 free!

I actually only needed the foundation, but seeing as they were on 3 for 2 I thought I'd also give the primer and concealer a go. I must say, so far I'm impressed!

MUA lipstick in shade 8, £1, and Undressed pallette, £3

Neither of these were necessary. But I am a bit of a lipstick phobic and can never figure out which colours and shades would suit my skin tone, and which would look ridiculous. The price tag of these lippys means I can have a play around with different colours for next to nothing!

And with not being able to justify the price tag of the beautiful Urban Decay Naked pallette, it is kind of necessary that I own MUA undressed instead.

My teeny tiny Bodycare haul:

Facial wipes, £1 per packet, Osiris exfoliating facial scrub, £1, and Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation in soft beige, £5.99

Pretty boring stuff, but I have been after adding a facial scrub to my weekly routine to see if it makes much difference to my skin, so I thought I'd try this one out for starters and see how it goes.

After seeing the Wake Me Up hype sweep across the blogosphere, I literally could not resist picking it up at such a bargain price.

Am I converted?

I have used it twice and I can already safely say that my brand spanking new bottle of Dream Satin Liquid is going straight down the drain. Well, straight on eBay.

I love this stuff!

So there we have it. I've got to say, writing this post up has made me feel a lot less guilty about my unnecessary little haul. It doesn't look as much on paper. Phew!

Thanks for reading,

Jo xo



Collective Haul | Including Matalan, eBay and The Range

So last weekend I popped into Matalan to have a little mooch around, and believe it or not they actually have some lovely stuff in there at the minute!

I thought I would show you lovely lot what I bought.

 (I have shoved a few other recent purchases on the end too, seeing as there wasn't really enough of them to do a separate post for!)

So here's the Matalan lot to start off with:

 

Navy blue and brown quilted jacket £30
Apologies for the awful picture but I've wanted one of these for ages, and this one is perfect!

Chunky knit contrast sleeve cardigan, £20
Now this looks a lot better in real life than it does in the picture, and it is so cosy it's unreal.
 Also comes in grey and black

Pack of 3 stud earrings, was £4 now £2
I only really bought these for the turquoise crosses which I love

Pack of 4 bracelets, was £6 now £3
Pastel colours...enough said

Double layer peace pendant necklace, was £5 now £2.50
I've been looking for a really long necklace for ages now, and this fits the bill perfectly

Floral paper bin, £4
Boringness made cute, yay

Matalan have some fab jewellery at the minute. Definitely worth a peek.

Aaaannnddd the rest...

Red superdry hoodie , £25 from a private eBay seller
Okay don't judge me on this one!!
I play a lot of badminton (and have a lot of lazy-arse sundays) and have been after a red Superdry hoodie for so long because of their amazing fit and I love this gorgeous red colour. I just couldn't justify the £45 price tag, so when I saw this one for £25 I snapped it up... and boy am I glad I did, it's the comfiest hoodie ever!
Please say I'm forgiven?

Ecotools set of 6 makeup brushes, £3.98 from this eBay seller
Fab seller, review coming soon

Urban Thirst pineapple and raspberry vodka flavouring, was £5.99 now £4, TK Maxx
Dislike the taste of vodka, enjoy its effect... this could be the solution.
And what a fab bottle!

Cardigan, £5.50, charity shop (initially M&S)
Very granny-esque

2012 diary, £1.99, the Range
Preparation at its best. Only 2 months 'til Christmas guys!!

2 sheets of pretty paper, 49p each, the Range
I have plans for these, expect a DIY post in the near future :)


And that's the lot!


Have you made any purchases recently? I'd love to see your posts if you would like to link them below!


Thanks for reading,
Jo xo