Outfit of the Day: Aztec

smock dress: asos, kate moss for rimmel lipstick in 107: boots, sunglasses: primark

Firstly, I apologise for the dodgey photos, they were the best from a bad bunch! Secondly, how cute is this smock dress?! I really wanted the elephant smock dress from ASOS that the lovely Tor was wearing at the FABB Bloggers Event in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not the biggest dress wearer and wasn't too sure if the smock style would suit me. As everyone knows, ASOS have the most amazing sales so I had a look in the sale section for some smock style dresses and I found this little beauty! It was only £15 so I thought I'd give it a whirl and if I didn't like it, it wasn't the end of the world. Luckily, I adore it! I got in from the petite section in a size 4 as most size 6/8 dresses are always too long and make me look shorter than I actually I am, I was a bit worried it would be too small but it isn't at all and it is a bit longer than I hoped but I still love it! It's so comfortable, airy and light; perfect for this hot and humid weather we seem to be having! The photos don't give the dress any justice (again, sorry!) and you can't really see the shape of it unfortunately! Also from ASOS, I bought the Kate Moss for Rimmel Lipstick in 107, a gorgeous dark pinky berry shade (not very summery - I know) it was also in the sale for only £3.50 which is amazing! Not that they are expensive at full price either! Because the UK is currently experiencing a heatwave I have been wearing these tortoise shell wayfarer type style sunglasses from primark.

Hope you have a fab weekend, thank you for reading!

Olivia

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Outfit of the Day: Levis

 

 

vest - h&m, shorts - levis via ebay, belt - h&m, shoes - charles clinkard

So if you live in Britain you will know that it has been so hot recently and for once we are having an actual summer! I hope it stays like this for a while because I don't feel as though I've been able to make the most of the sun whilst being at school. We had sports day on Friday and whilst we were sitting on the field for 2 hours watching the track events, I burnt my arms and legs and have some crazy tan burn lines from where I was sat cross legged, haha. Yesterday I went on a bike ride with my home dogs friends which was great until some insect started attacking us - a negative of the hot weather! Tomorrow I have got a week of work experience which I am quite nervous for but also a bit excited! I am certainly not looking forward to having to wear trousers in this heat, I am wearing my mum's and all of them are flares haha!

Anyway, onto the outfit, I bought these shorts from ebay last year but I didn't get much wear out of them as they were (and still are) bloody huge on me, but I've paired them with a belt so that they will fit round my waist. The vest & sunglasses were featured in my recent haul and I have been wearing them both to death during the hot weather! I blogged about my shoes all the way back in February!! They are from Charles Clinkard and you can read about them here.

I hope you're all enjoying the hot weather!

Olivia

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summer's in the air, baby heaven's in your eyes

Hello lovelies!

You may remember the other week when the sun finally came out to play! I didn't expect it to be sunny so I actually hadn't made any plans so I spent the day in the garden which was surprisingly nice! In the evening my sister and I decided to go on a bike ride! Although living in a town, behind our house we have the trans penine trail which is really nice to walk through in the summer! I thought I'd take some pictures because I thought it looked quite pretty with the sun shining through the leaves on the trees! I thought I'd do a few more lifestyle posts on here because I love having a little nosey into what people have been getting up to and I think posts like these are a great way to get to know a bit more about the person behind the blog too!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you like posts like these so I can do more/less of them!

Olivia

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fotd#5

Hey guys!

I hope you're enjoying the bank holiday, I know I am! Today's post is a face of the day. I haven't done many of these and I can't even remember when the last one was, so it's about time I do another one! I don't know about you, but I love face of the day type posts- I love seeing what make up people are using (or am I just a bit nosey?) Anyway, let's get on with the post, because the sun is finally shining and the skies are blue, I've decided to change round a few bits and pieces in my make up routine to look a bit more natural and fresh faced in the sun! I have also been experimenting with my hair a bit more because I want to try out some more styles, although in the picture my hair is just sort of straight (I straightened it a couple of days ago so it isn't as straight as it was) with this gorgeous head band in! I can't remember where I got this headband from but there is a similar version here. I know primark are doing the Lana Del Rey type which I am dying to get! I usually don't do much with my hair and it's usually wavy and frizzy so I like these types of headbands to give my hair a bit of something different!

Products used:

collection lasting perfection concealer - 1 fair

elf eyebrow kit - ash blonde

bourjois fan-tastic mascara

rimmel stay matte powder

sleek contour kit

Although a rarity, when it's hot and sunny where I live, I like to go foundation free and just wear concealer, which was a complete NO before I found the collection lasting perfection concealer! There is so much buzz surrounding it on the blogosphere, and I for one have also been hyping it up since I got it last autumn. I put it mainly in the center of my face and then blend it out, and then put a little extra on blemishes. I find this is such a good colour match for my skin, better than any foundation I've tried, and covers so well! For my eyebrows, I didn't want to go too heavy so I used the powder in my ELF eyebrow kit in ash blonde (a supposed dupe for omega by mac) and just lightly filled in my brows. I then used the bourjois fan-tastic mascara (review here) for a bit of definition for my poor blonde eyelashes. Then my rimmel stay matte powder which is AMAZING. It's amazing for summer especially because it prevents my skin from becoming shiny all day! Then to finish, my sleek contour kit to add a bit of shape and warmth to my face, which i lack terribly.

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

Olivia

ps. I changed my blog header the other day, what are your thoughts on it?

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review // topshop blush in head over heels

 

hey guys! so you may have seen in my recent haul that i had bought my first ever topshop make up product! i had a tough time deciding which product i was going to get because i had heard so many good things about pretty much anything, but for me it was between the lipsticks and the cream blushes, and also the 'glow' highlighter which i have been wanted for SO long but I already have benefit's high beam so I thought that I'd buy the topshop highlighter after I've used up all of the benefit one! so in the end i went for the cream blush in head over heels because I don't own many cream blushes and I think they look a bit more natural than the traditional powder blushes, and i also like the dewy look, especially in summer, and i think cream blushes make my skin look really dewy and glowy!

I took the picture and swatch when i first bought it as my other cream blushes have gotten pretty messy, and it's kind of embarrassing haha. i've been using this blush for a couple of weeks now and have been wearing it pretty much everyday! it's a gorgeous coral colour - perfect for spring/summer! It's almost a cream-to-powder finish but more creamy, if that makes sense? i know many people like to use the real techniques stippling brush with cream blushes, but unfortunately i don't have it (is this an excuse to buy it? i think so) so i just dot it on and blend it out with my fingers which gives a gorgeous glow and flush of colour! I dot in quite high up and not too close to the center of my face, so it gives it a bit of shape and structure, otherwise i look a tad like a clown, which I'm sure you all know is not a good look! When I first used this blush I used a bit too much but it blended in so easily which is really helpful when getting used to how much to use! I'm really surprised about how much I like this blush as i've never been a big blush gal but i love this one, and although being a cream product, it lasts pretty well on my combo skin, almost all day! 

Overall, i love this blush and will definitely buying some more of Topshop's make up when I'm next there, anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Olivia

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favourite flats from barratts

hey guys!

hope you're all well and  having a fab weekend so far! today i thought i'd share a new favourite fashion piece with you all! now, i'm not sure if this is just me but i always think that winter means boots and cosy clothes, and spring and summer mean flats and cute sandals with shorts and dresses. not sure why haha. if you live in the UK, especially manchester, you will know it hasn't been the best spring we have ever seen - snow one day then sun the next (?!). but, i'm being prepared and i've already found the shoes i know i'm going to be wearing to death this spring summer!

if you can excuse my awful legs/feet and feast your eyes on these gorgeous brown leather-look flats are from barratts* and are so comfy! these are great for casual outfits, which is what i've been wearing them with (when we've had good weather). they can be worn with literally anything; from high waisted jeans to a summer dress! they are very minimalistic and i think i may have to get them in black as well, being such good quality and only 15 a pop from barratts (and i think they may be in the sale!) it's an absolute steal!

so that is the end of my little rave - be prepared to see these in a lot of outfit posts when the weather gets warmer!

thank you for reading, and i would love to know what your staple shoe is at the mo!

Olivia

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notd

hey guys!

hope you're all well and have a good week! the weekend is finally here, it feels like the weeks just keep getting longer and longer! anyway, this is just going to be a quick post showing you my nails today!

 

you may recognise this nail polish from my february favourites! if not it is rimmel's lasting finish nail polish from boots for only £2.99. it's a gorgeous baby blue perfect for spring/summer! please ignore how badly my nails are painted, i am absolutely awful! also, please ignore the cuts on my hands haha! 

thank you for reading! hope you all have a good weekend! i would love to know what are you wearing on your nails today!

Olivia 

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barry m gelly hi shine nail paint

hey guys!

i recently went into my local boots hoping to get model's own utopia nail polish after lily from llymlrs had raved about it on her blog/youtube, however with my local boots only being a tiny one, unfortunately they didn't have a model's own counter so i went to the barry m stall bit to look for the next nail polish on my list: barry m gelly hi shine nail paint in prickly pear (cor, that's a name and half isn't it?)






as you can see, prickly pear is a lovely lilac colour which has a lovely shine to it, even without a top coat. i love barry m polishes, and this is no exception. the only downside to this would be that the brush is a bit small, which doesn't help those whose forte is definitely not painting their nails (a.k.a me). negatives aside, i think this is a gorgeous colour especially for spring/summer!
i am not entirely sure about the 'gelly hi shine' range as i don't see a difference between it and the normal barry m nail polishes! nevertheless, i would definitely recommend and i'm hoping to get more from the range in the future!
have you tried any of the gelly hi shine nail paints from barry m?
thank you for reading and i shall see you in the next post!

Olivia x

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fake tanning essentials

Hello everyone!

Seeing as it is getting closer to Spring/Summer (yeah, i know saying it's near summer is a bit ambitious and that January is nowhere near summer but i am sick of all the rain and just want it to be summer!) I thought i'd do my personal fake tan essentials!

St Moriz Tanning Lotion
Dirty Works Body Scrub
Garnier Summer Body
Piz Buin Summer Sensation
Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter
Soap & Glory Flake Away

These are what i'd use for pre/post tanning. The Dirty Works Body Scrub is a not a harsh body scrub as the Soap & Glory one, so if I want exfoliate more often i would use this one instead of the Soap & Glory one, which is really good but can be a bit too harsh if used too often.

The Soap & Glory Righteous Butter is a really moisturising butter which sinks in quite quickly and smells delicious! I would use this the night before tanning, as it could be quite oily if you used it just before.

I like to use instant fake tans like the St Moriz (which retails for around £2.99) mousse or lotion on my body, and gradual tan like Garnier Summer body (around £5) and Piz Buin (£2.99) on my face, as i think it isn't as drying and looks more natural!

So I know it's a bit early to start talking about fake tanning regimes and essentials etc. but i thought i'd do it a bit early! ha ha!

Hope you enjoyed reading - comment your fave fake tan products down below!

Olivia x