Christmas & sales shopping haul

HAPPY 2014!!

I hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I came home to the Lake District to spend the festive period with my family, where I have spent the majority of my time eating copious amounts of Quality Street chocolates and guzzling glasses of Bucks Fizz (January detox is definitely on the cards). I had a very merry Christmas and Santa was good to me this year (no doubt due to my impeccable behaviour ;)). I hope you were all spoilt rotten too :) .. Here's a few of my fave gifts
Viktor & Rolf, Flower Bomb; my all time favourite perfume; such a sweet and feminine scent.

Topshop, jumper; boyfriend fit and sports chic, everything I need in a jumper right now!

Topshop, Chelsea boots; in love with these beauties. New favourite boots :)

iPhone case and jewels; to decorate the iPhone case (seen the amazing Skinny Dip iPhone cases, and told my mum I want to have a go at making my own)! Also in desperate need of a phone case... Screen cracked front AND back...

With Christmas over and done with, there is only one thing January is good for: JANUARY SALES!! So I've had a mooch about town and online and got some pretty good bargains if I do say so myself..

Glamorous skinny jeans. Were £30, bought for £15

Vero Moda parker. Was £65, bought for £35.50

ASOS fur biker coat. Was £85, bought for £42.50

... So I went a little crazy buying coats, but I live in England and it's cold!! Plus, they were both half price and it would be rude not to really! I will post up an outfit of the day soon, combining my Christmas presents and sales purchases :)

Danielle x

Glitter wonderland- DIY: glitter ombré nails

With the festive season upon us there's no better time to get glittery! Sparkle and jewels have been seen all over the catwalk from Dolce & Gabbana, NO21 to Chanel - it's a big party trend! And when it comes to nails, Essie and Dior's glittery nail polishes have received a lot of attention from the fashion and beauty world.my recent issue of vogue featured ombré glitter nails:





But why pay premium prices for glitter nail polish when you can do it yourself?
Back in September I wrote a post on 'DIY nails', demonstrating how I do my signature glitter nails. I have since been experimenting further and wanted to do a post on how I get an ombré glitter effect. It's a little bit tricker then covering the whole nail in glitter... But still pretty easy to do!!

You will need some clear nail varnish and two pots of craft shop glitter in the same colour (one finer then the other). I've pictured the pots I have used below so you can get an idea of the difference in the glitter size (if that makes sence?!)



To begin, I mix both glitters together in an old pot (I use an old jewellery box), make sure the glitter is well mixed and in a small, but kind of deep pile. I then put a small pile of just the finer glitter on the other side of the box.

(pile of mixed glitter)

(pile of fine glitter)

I then paint my first nail with clear nail varnish. Straight after, I slide the tip of my nail in to the mixed pile of glitter. Using the pad of my first finger, I pat down the glitter so it's flatter on my nail. Using the pad of my finger again, I press it in to the pile of finer glitter (so it sticks to my finger) and then very carefully press it down on to my nail, to give a gradual, ombré effect with the glitter. I usually bring the glitter half way down the nail. I then repeat this on all my nails, doing one at a time.
I've taken a picture with the flash on of my nail.. The colour of my hand looks quite weird!!  - but the glitter stands out more, so you can get an idea how to press it onto the nail.





Once the nail varnish is completely dry, I then seal the glitter in by painting two top coats of clear polish over...









You don't have to use clear nail varnish as the base coat either; baby blue would look really nice against silver glitter or gold glitter on top of black nail polish would look lovely and festive too. You could even mix two colours of glitter together. If you try this out let me know what colours you use! Hope you have found this demonstration useful and will give it a go!!!

Danielle x

The Christmas jumper..

Hello!! I haven't blogged for a while, and I'm feeling extremely guilty about it :( so I am sorry!! I've been very busy with uni, but I now feel settled into a routine.

Halloween is officially over.. And bonfire night has passed.. So, I guess that means it's now acceptable to talk about Christmas, right? And with Christmas comes Christmas fashion..
Ahhh.... The Christmas jumper. It's somewhat a novelty.. An item of clothing traditionally, (I thought) that your dad, your uncle, or your aunty brought out to wear just one day a year. But apparently not. In my recent issue of drapers, I read an article that said retailers are backing the Christmas jumper for the festive season, pinning it to be this years number one.
I didn't think much to the the festive jumper last year... But the more styles I see, the more open minded I am becoming to the trend. I've had a browse around to see what the shops have to offer. I've pictured a few that caught my eye below!

New Look, £27.99, www.newlook.com (image from new look website)



New Look, £29.99, www.newlook.com (image from new look website)



Topshop, £44, www.topshop.com (image from topshop website)



Urban Outfitters, £50, www.urbanoutfitters.co.uk (image from urban outfitters website)



ASOS, £38, www.asos.com (image from asos website)



ASOS, £35, www.asos.com (image from asos website)



The reindeer jumper from New Look is so cute.. But I don't think its one I would wear. My favourites have got to be he mint green one from New Look and the navy and red one from Urban Outfitters. I like how subtle the designs are, it makes them more wearable and versatile. I had stereotypical views on the Christmas jumper before hand, but I'm actually quite fond of them now. I'll post up anything I do buy, and how I style it.
I think the high street have done a pretty good job of demonstrating it is possible to turn an un-cool, novelty jumper to something actually quite cool! Let me know your opinions on this trend. Will you be wearing it? And how?

Danielle x