Shopping the Sales: Part 6: Topshop

I've just had one of those weeks, well one of those months, I was on a training course last week that included an exam and since I've just been waiting for the results without doing much else apart from work so apologies for my lack of bloggage - it has also been too cold to sit at the computer!

It occurred to me that there was still one more shopping spree I hadn't shared and that it would be best to get it in before the end of January, especially as I ordered these items in December and I'm less than 24 hours from my next pay - which I will not spend one single penny of as I'm due a mini shopping trip near the end of the month. So the final shop is Topshop, here is what I purchased;

Bat Treggings £12.00

 I think I've mentioned before how much I love all the Halloween stuff that comes out, also that I like all year round so the sales are perfect to pick up on goodies for cheap. I love these treggings which I'll wear with either a big jumper or a big sweatshirt - possibly not out until I've lost a bit more weight.

Black Double Layer Tube Skirt £20.00

 I can't really make this skirt very exiting, it's lovely but it is a basic jersey skirt that I've been eyeing up for nearly a year, not in the sale but totally worth it.

Left to right 3 for £8, Halloween socks £2.00

 I'm a bit obsessed with Topshop socks, every purchase I make from Topshop I end up with a pair. I love their slinky range as it means my feet don't squeak while I walk!

Beanie £6.00, Snood £8.00

Well I ordered these not a moment too soon with the recent cold snap. I can't remember if I could have bought a matching pair but I really didn't want that.

Time for a Beastie break, he likes to get in the way on the bed although not too much recently - since going back to work I've been royally snubbed - except when he cuddles up to me in the night or needs to go out.

Knitted Textured Cardi £25.00

Another buy that came at the right time a giant, thick comfy cardigan. It's super warm which is perfect right now. I really was in desperate need of a thick, black cardi.

Grey Marl Sweat £25.00

Another sweatshirt to add to my ever growing sweatshirt collection. This one is a bit more quality than the rest as this is from their boutique range.

Tall linen stripe long sleeve sleeve tee £18.00

I know I buy a lot of striped stuff but it really was necessary, I'm not sure why but it was unfortunately it wasn't in the sale but I have worn it a few times already so surely that counts for something?

Four Row Swirl studs £3.50

Okay I can't justify these, I bought them because I liked the look but also as I haven't bought any jewellery from Topshop in more than a year.

Sequin Nails in green £3.00

 I received another colour in the December birchbox and even though I haven't tried it yet I just had to pick up the green sequins to try.

Velvet wire headband £6.00

 I did really want this and had come close to buying it last year but I was good and I waited although it wasn't any cheaper it isn't available in this colour online any longer.

Panda slipper boots £7.00

Last but not least slippers. Described as panda but I think they look more like a French bulldog. That isn't the point, they are very warm and a bit more structured than normal slipper boots so they don't fall down. I'd already worn them at this point which is why they look a bit worn but they are fantastic.

That's it for my sale shopping although I'm sure it won't be long until I'm shopping again this year I'm trying to save, I do have a shopping trip planned but I'll still try and be good.

P.S. I found out today that I passed the exam so I'm super happy. 

What's In My Glossybox? - January 2014

Well both my regular beauty boxes came within a day of each other but as I've had a busy week I decided to space them out, plus it would give me something to open at the weekend.

Now out of my two boxes I've had my Glossybox the longest, coming up to two years this summer. For me the last few months haven't been the best but I'm persevering with them. The theme of this box is back to basics which it sticks too well.

So what did I get?

balance Me Super Toning Body Wash 50ml (Full Size: £10.25 for 260ml)
Another one to add to my holiday toiletries box. I've been browsing balance Me products in Waitrose for some time, but as I've banned myself from buying any toiletries (at least in the area where I have products stockpiled) I've resisted picking anything up. So this is an excellent product for me to try, I'm due a night away in February that will include a hotel stay and this item already has a space reserved in my toiletry bad. The one thing I can tell you about it now is that it smells lovely, almost tangy like ginger ale.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream 2x3g (Full Size: £19.50 for 70g)

Now when I saw these I was rather excited, a multi-use cream, tiny little bottles and a big page on information. I cant't wait to try these. However, my elderly memory kicked in and I realise these seem familiar, I still can't work out if I've had these before but not tried or have just imagined it. Either way as I can't remember it will still be like trying a new product.

The Vintage Cosmetic Company tweezers (Full Size: £8.00)

Now tweezers are always handy, I think these must be my second from Glossybox, nevertheless still useful as I always lose my tweezers transporting them from one room to the next. Instead my plan is to leave a pair in each room, this will help with this plan and these ones are especially pretty. 

anatomicals puffy the eye bag slayer 2 x 6g sachets (Full Size: £6.00 3 x 6g)

I've tried similar products to this and I do find them very soothing, I haven't tried the anatomicals one before but I've been eyeing (I had to get that in) these up - mainly as I do like a good play on words (plus I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer). I'm planning a spa at home day in the next few weeks, these will come into play once I'm relaxing in the bath. 

Vaseline essential moisture clean feeling lotion 50ml (Full Size: £2.99 for 200ml)
Now I know one of the perks of a beauty box is being able to try luxury samples, sometimes it is easy to get wrapped up in that and feel disappointed when a cheap, everyday brand pops up. A beauty box isn't just for luxuries though, it's about discovering things you may have missed. Now when I think of Vaseline I think petroleum jelly, I sometimes remember to have it in when I do my nails but I rarely make the effort and that is about it when it comes to the Vaseline brand. I would never think of picking up a moisturiser from them but I'm pleasantly surprised, not only is it a clean feeling light lotion but it also smells remarkably fresh. It also dries incredibly quickly and leaves the skin moist but not oily. I'm very impatient when it comes to moisturising, I never really do it as I hate waiting but this product does the job in half the time. I'll be picking this up when I next go shopping.


I've really liked this months Glossybox, I know some people may not find it that exciting but I have products I will get a genuine use out of as well as discovering a new product that is great value and perfect for me.

Stila - After Glow Lip Color - Tangerine Dream & Rave Red

Top right rave red, bottom right tangerine dream

Stila After Glow Lip Color in Tangerine Dream & Rave Red £12.00 each

Yet again I'm trying out more lip crayons, I have to say these days I prefer the crayon to a lipstick. I love being able to colour in my wonky lips in a much more precise way as I sometimes go over the top, over compensating for my odd lips - with a pencil I just make the best of what I've got.

I've tried many lip pencils/crayons that I love but I had to try the Stila one out and a couple of weeks back they had a sale on taking them to close to half price (now back up in price unfortunately), a very good reason to finally give them a go.

The Stila lip color applies easily, smoothly it's also incredibly rich and hydrating - like a lip balm. Fortunately it isn't too similar to a lip balm, the colour does last and also slightly stains the lip - something I love as I'm a bit slack when it comes to topping up my lips. I really love both the colours, the rave red is a rich red with a hint of pink a slightly stronger colour than the tangerine dream which is a lovely soft orange.

At £12 you can't go far wrong, on top of the two colours above there are 4 other shades taking it to 6 in total. The other shades are electric pink, festive fuchsia, vivid violet and party pink. So quite a bit of pink, hopefully in the future there will be more shades. I'd love to see a dark brown/red or a lovely brick red. 

Benefit - Rockateur

Benefit - Rockateur - £23.50

I'm a bit slack when it comes to blusher, until recently I've rarely branched out and tend to use Benefit's Dandelion on a day to day basis without much thought. Fortunately after one of the girls at the Benefit sales counter in Debenhams convinced me to try it out and although I didn't buy it there and then I've been desperate to get my hands on it since. Thankfully I received it at Christmas!

If it wasn't for trying it out I would have never bothered as when I first looked at the product online what I saw was a blusher best suited to those with darker skin tone, as it really looks like a super dark, bronze pink. Trying it out made me realise that even though I am rather pale I should try and make the effort to give myself a healthy glow without going too over the top which this product is great for.

To the left is just a small amount, I couldn't help taking a photo of The Beast! and on the right is a hefty amount on - not too over the top but a bit too obvious.

It lasts rather well, usually half the day and works perfectly on the eyes too. I also love the smell for some strange reason. My only issue is the size, it isn't obvious unless you always check the weight but unlike some of the other boxes there is less in it, 5g rather than 7g. If it was slightly cheaper it wouldn't be a problem but it is exactly the same price as the others so if you already find this product expensive this difference might put you off even more. I don't mind too much, although I use it a lot I don't get through my Dandelion that easily and for the overall effect for me this is really worth it.

Sunday Weigh In - Without an Official Weigh In - nor on Sunday

I mentioned in my previous post that I don't tend to weigh in so frequently but I do like to reflect on the week before, what I did right, what I did wrong, what just went wrong, etc.

It an in-between week. I love my fitbit, it has really encouraged me to move about more and on Monday 13th I managed to hit my highest number of steps since getting it, I was feeling motivated to push for more the next day, everything would be fine.

Tuesday was not fine, I was not fine, I came down with an awful tummy bug and the room began to spin. It remained spinning until after lunch the next day. I was off work and everything was rubbish. It kind of felt like I had put in the effort and was rewarded with illness. Although that thought didn't last long, it was silly to let the odd couple of days ruin everything and Thursday I tried even harder and Friday even more so.

It reminded me how we really can't help set backs, weight fluctuates, one day you might not even feel up to moving let alone exercising but that doesn't cancel it all out. Blips should be unpreventable expectations. We aren't going from 0-60 instead we need to take it up a notch one step at a time.

This week although I've not been hitting my target of 10,000 I am doing better mentally which is more important. I'm on a course for most of the week, travelling 75 minutes each way, I also have homework. In my head I'd decided that I can't really do much, just concentrate on the course (there is an exam!) and nothing else. Today was my first day, I was up at 6am but by the afternoon I had decided it was finally time to open that fitness wear drawer, put something on and actually do some exercise, which I did. 30 minutes on the cross trainer, 10 minutes free weights.

So have I lost weight this week? I've not checked. Have I made some progress into getting back into a healthy lifestyle? Absolutely.

Shopping the Sales: Part 5: ASOS

Good old (although not that old) ASOS or as I sometimes still mistakenly refer to it, As Seen On Screen, which is what it was known as when I first started shopping with them. A lot has changed since, it is now gargantuan online super store for all your clothing needs. It's almost a one stop shop with their wonderful own brand clothes, numerous brands and marketplace - you can pretty much get whatever you want and I always get myself a lot from there, I should ban myself really.

I actually did two orders from their sale (possibly not all sale items), the first on the 31st and the second on the 1st January, you really can't visit that site without finding something to buy. Now a number of items in the first order were for James, not that he was a happy shopper, like a stroppy teenager being forced to shop with their mum I had to battle through yes or no questions to find a few items for him.

Bourjois Express Eye Make Up Remover 200ml - £5.00 ;  Paul & Joe ASOS Exclusive Creamy Facial Cleansing Foam 110ml & FREE Cat Make Up Bag - £10.00 - sold out!;  Models Own Lip Crayon - Coral Kiss - £5.00;  Carmex Moisture Plus SPF 15 Hydrating Lip Balm in plum - £4.50; NIP + FAB Glycolic Fix facial pads - £12.95

Another thing I love about ASOS is being able to pick up the odd beauty it too. Now I was in need of new make-up remover so that was me being sensible. The Paul & Joe creamy facial cleansing foam - I didn't need, nor was a I buying it, really I was after another Paul & Joe make-up bag which you could say I collect. I wanted one for in my handbag to be exact although I'll enjoy using the cleansing foam too it just wasn't my reason for the purchase. The Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix facial pads are new to me, this year I want to sort out my rubbish skin before I have to start worrying about wrinkles. I've been using them for a week and I already love them and have gone on to order a couple of the Glycolic Fix kits direct from Nip + Fab which I might have to feature another time. 

Then two lip products, Carmex moisture plum lip balm with a sheer tint perfect for dry lips in the winter months, I seriously suffer at this time when the rest of the year I don't need to worry. Finally another models own lip crayon in coral kiss - these have to be my favourite lip crayons, they are fabulous quality without being costly, all the colours are stunning and strong.

Now these products were just the extras to what turned out to be two pretty large orders, I won't feature James clothes instead I'll just show what I ordered - you'll have to excuse my messiness!

ASOS Chevron Textured Parka £45.00 

After years of going without a coat I finally decided it was time I bought a new one, especially as it gets very cold where I live. I found the perfect one in Debenhams last year, a few months later I have found yet another perfect one at ASOS but can two coats really considered excessive? I don't think so.

Monki Stripe Long Sleeve Dress - £18.00

I'm sure I could dedicate a whole wardrobe to striped items of clothing I own but I just can't stop. I found this beautiful, casual, slouchy dress by Monki very hard to resist especially at such a very reasonable, none sale price of £18.00.

ASOS Baseball Top in Olive - £12.00

Another none sale item that I just had to get. I love baseball tops, I love the casual shape and I have them in many different colours, some just for wearing around the house and also smarter ones. Now I don't like paying too much for them, you can see some priced in such a silly manner, I have to say £12.00 is my limit for plain ones - amazing patterns, weird colours then I could take it up a bit higher but basic ones? well, £12.00 is my limit. Even then it has to be an amazing colour like this one in olive, well it's described as olive I think it would be best described as olive oil, still a gorgeous colour.

Selected Rikka Long Sleeved Sweat Top in red syrah - £11.50 down from £45.00

Okay I know I have a lot of casual clothes, I like casual, but it doesn't mean sloppy, I just like my comforts. I kind of see myself as sticking to being a bit casual until I lose the rest of the weight I need to, but still I try not to be a mess. One of my favourite outfits is a smart (usually pencil) skirt with a casual sweatshirt, I have quite a few gorgeous black and grey sweats from Topshop and I usually wear a colourful skirt with them but I wanted to turn the tables around and go with a brightly coloured sweatshirt with a darker skirt which is where the above fits in. Casual, gorgeous, comfortable, plus look at the discount!

ASOS full midi skirt in burgundy £10.00 down from £20.00

 I don't really like showing off my legs at the moment so I'm either wearing long skirts or black tights, I'm conscious that a lot of the skirts I wear day to day are dark and that wearing black tights with a black skirt is really quite dull so I decided to inject a bit of colour but in a informal, loose way with this burgundy skirt. Super comfy and a perfect length for myself.

New Look Hiss Cat T-Shirt - £6.50 down from £9.99

I love the odd novelty t-shirt especially when involving cats (or Totoro) but one thing I hate is when people wear t-shirts of a band they don't like or worse still haven't even heard of. Now this is a bit of a weird one, it isn't really a KISS t-shirt, more of a play on KISS so I was a bit on the fence about this but I decided to go for it, I only bought this with the intention of wearing it in bed anyway so what's the harm there? Plus even though I'm not really into KISS (apart from the odd tune at parties) I'm a huge fan of their merchandise so I think I can get away with it.

ASOS Super Soft Long Gloves £4.50 down from £7.00

 Now I know these are pretty plain gloves but one thing I want to brag about is the length. I really don't know what I did before long gloves, this sounds a bit over the top but I'm sure I'm not the only one to have suffered from cold wrists, these are the solution.

Monki socks - the pair on the left were £5.00 and on the right £3.00 - both are sold out now though

Socks should never be dull, even dark plain ones should be slinky. Even if you have to be smart wearing a pair of awesome socks under some boots can easily make you happy. Although I usually go to Topshop I think I'll have to keep an eye out for more socks from Monki from now on.

Monki Remi Simple Foldover Bag £12.00

Another none sale item that I had to get, it's such a bargain. I know few people will specifically look for polyurethane bags but I do, I'm the same with shoes. I was actually purposefully looking for a new bag, slightly larger than my old one, I thought I might even spend up to £100 if  I could find a good quality PU bag that I liked, lucky for me I found this one at only £12.00. It's really a great size, I love how it folds overs too, simple but gorgeous.

ASOS LUPO Slippers £16.50 down from £28.00

One of my favourite items from my shopping spree. I'd loved them at Halloween but as I didn't have the money I wasn't able to buy them. I was sure I'd never have them and that they'd sell out soon after they went down in price after Halloween, I could have sworn that they did sell out so I'd put them to the back of my mind. When I was doing my sale shopping I decided to use the search term Halloween as I love that kind of stuff all year round. These popped up, I told myself that they wouldn't have my size, but they did, so now you have one very happy bunny. They are not only incredibly amazing but also very comfortable.


That's it from my ASOS haul, only one more shop to go through!

Shopping the Sales: Part 4: Cosmetic Buys - Illamasqua and Stila

I figure as we're more than half way through January it's about time I finish showing off my purchases from the sales. It's not that I'm just being lazy here, I've barely had the time to go through them myself so it's about time I start to play with my new goodies.

I'll start with my Illamasqua purchases totalling £32.50. I've not taken photos of the products individually as the majority of my purchases were fairly boring/standard base make-up. I say they're boring but I'm still excited to try Illamasqua base make-up as I tend to buy the more exciting nail varnishes and lipsticks - or whatever the sales girl convinces me to buy when I'm at the Debenhams counter! Never foundation though and as I've just about run out of my usual it's a great time to try something new. I know choosing shades online isn't ideal but I've actually done okay. Both are slightly different but I don't think I could describe my own skin colour as pale, I think I could do with a proper consultation to find my perfect foundation.

So here is what I bought, in all its glory, most of the items have gone down in price even further so listed below are the, even more of a bargain, current prices.

Cream Foundation in 150 -£5.00 // Light Liquid Foundation in 140 - £5.00 // Concealer in 210 - £5.00 // Nail Varnish in Harsh - £5.00

I just can't decide whether to stock up, I suppose I really need to test everything out properly first and hope everything is still in stock and on sale! 

Next up Stila, another brand I keep meaning to try out more but never get round to it, here my purchases totalled £33.75. I'm a big fan of their lip glaze, beforehand I'd always avoided glossy lips but now nothing beats them in summer - I have quite a collection of these along with their travel palettes which are fantastic value and fabulous quality. I've got quite a few of these which I still heavily use.

Now this sale really pleased me, all sales please me but there were a couple of items I'd been desperate to try that went down in price (they've since gone up so I'll include current prices, if still available), so I can consider them to be proper bargains as they were actually items I wanted rather than something I picked up just from browsing.

So what did I get?

Seeing stars smudge stick waterproof eye liner set - £6.25 - set not available but individual liners retail at £13.00 each.

I was considering asking for this set at Christmas but in the end I was undecided so left it. At £6.25 I really couldn't resist, the liners work out at £1.25 each! Included in this set are stargazer - a glittery black; angelfish - packaging looks beige but the liner itself is more of a gold; tetra -a sparkly purple; moray - like a sparkly moss green; oscar fish - a sparkly brown.

After glow lip color - tangerine dream and rave red - £6.00 each, current price £12.00

 I was desperate to try the after glow lip colors, one of the items I've been tempted with for a while so I decided if I was trying them I had to pick up two different colours. I'll be discussing these in more detail in another post but for now I'll just say I bought rave red, a proper red-red and tangerine dream a rather orange red colour.

Stay all day 3D wet-to-set eyeshadow trio in desert sun £8.50 - currently sold out, others available usual price £17.00

Countless color pigments in groupie - £7.00 currently sold out others available, usual price £14.00

Now the last two were others I wanted to try in my go-to brown shades. I plan to get a lot of use out of these as and although brown is my usual daytime look as these are rather glamorous I'll be looking at using these as a way to update my daytime look to night time!

Now this is pretty much it for separate cosmetic orders I did get a couple of pieces from ASOS and Topshop, Time to get on top of those purchases! 

Winter Pastel Nails

Now in recent years I've developed a fondness for pastel colours, not something I delved into in my early twenties but now I love a soft green, purple, blue or dare I say it, pink. Usually I wait for a bit of sunshine and crack out the pastels once spring comes around but I couldn't wait!

Having had a busy week of work and being ill I wanted to cheer myself up with some nail colour, especially after having broken most of my nails at some point this week. Now I didn't want one colour,  instead I decided I wanted to do alternate nail, half and half on each.Only I wanted it done in a totally no stress, plenty of mess way - although it shows as messy in the photos nobody would really notice.

So that's what I did,  I took my Essie Nice is Nice and my nails inc Royal Botanical Gardens and literally slopped them on - neatness is not my forte. I have to say the Essie Nice is Nice is possibly one of my favourite nail varnishes at the moment, well it has been since I received it. It's such a nice pretty but subtle shade that I need to get more wear out of.

Now I know the skin around my nails is messy as well but I'll tell you why. I tend to do my nails a few hours or the day before I shower, I like to give them plenty of time to dry but then I find when I'm shampooing my hair the bits of nail varnish on my skin comes off with no hassle - whenever I do use a cotton bud and nail varnish (or even a corrector pen) I tend to slip and take a chunk from my nail too!

So that's it, nothing complicated but plenty of fun. 

Liebster Award #2

Now I'm sure most people know that the Liebster Award is a nice, friendly way to get to know fellow bloggers. This is the second time I've done this, which is no bad thing. This time I was nominated by Ginger And The Blonde a fabulous beauty, fashion lifestyle blog run by two sisters - Ellie and Brooke. 

Here are the rules:

• Make a post about the Liebster Award and thank the blogger who nominated you

• Write 11 interesting things about yourself

• Answer the 11 questions created by the blogger who nominated you

• Nominate 11 (or ish in my case) other bloggers (who have less than 200 followers) and notify them about the nomination

• Write 11 new questions for your nominees

11 Interesting Things About Myself (which might be a struggle)

1. I'm double jointed
2. At lunch (when having this combination) I tend to eat my yoghurt before my sandwich.
3. I used to have both my nose and lip pierced - I wish I still did
4. I have hypersensitivity 
5. I also have PCOS
6. I have 1 and a half kidneys, half of my right kidney was removed last year along with a lump
7. I have over 1000 dvds (technically because of box sets I have 1383 titles and 1772 discs) - I keep a list here but I do need to update it.  
8. Music wise I've always swayed to the alternative side, I'm getting weirder and more ambient, jazz, electronic in age but old school punk, hardcore and grunge will always be my passion along with novelty bands and records. I used to go to the Holidays in the Sun/Wasted festivals but haven't been in years.
9. I'm a bit of a tycoon/sims game addict. Starting with Theme Park and Theme Hospital in the early years, I had The Sims when it was first out and I still love the game (hate the bugs). 
10. I love to collect figures/bobbleheads/anything to do with my favourite films/TV. 
11. I've been a vegetarian for over a decade which means you'll never see leather in my posts although I do follow a different strokes mentality.

1. What is your favourite kind of blog post to write?I actually prefer just general stuff with photos and shopping spree type posts.

2. Favourite fragrance?Modern Chypre by Esteban. I love the scent but the fact that I can't get it in town any longer makes it extra special. 

3. Are you an early bird or a night owl?If I could I would be a night owl staying up until the early hours but I have to go to work meaning I have no choice but to be in bed at a reasonable hour.

4. Which actress/actor would you like to play you in a film about your life?A tricky one, I honestly don't know who I would say. 

5. Do you have any hobbies? If so what are they?I collect films, I collect a whole load of films but don't ask me about modern blockbusters, most of them I'll pass on. I also like to read. Collect records - listen to music. I love to exercise but haven't been doing much do to my surgery last year. Finding bargains in charity shops and car boot sale. I also love to cross stitch, do jigsaws and last but not least play video games. 

6. What is your favourite quote or motto?I'm not really one for a motto or even quotes, my memory isn't so great, however there is one end line in the film King of Hearts (1966) (one of my favourite films) that always sticks in my mind, "The most beautiful journeys are taken through the window". 

7. Do you prefer summer or winter?Winter all the way, well really the autumn to winter part, I love the darker nights. I would prefer to live somewhere with little sunlight and lots of snow. I do appreciate a bit of summer but where I live summer usually means warm rain rather than glorious sunshine. 

8. What is your favourite film?
A tough question, I have lots. I recently worked out my favourite 50 horror films from the 80's, a real tough thing to work out. I have loads of favourite films, horror is my genre - big favourite is generally Italian horror. I have a couple of pintrest boards with my all-time favourite films and one for horror. To name a few, Wings of Desire (1987), King of Hearts (1966), Clerks (1994), Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987), Tenebre (1982), Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Slacker (1991), Dead of Night (1945), Opera (1987) - actually just say all Dario Argento, Santa Sangre (1989), Les Diaboliques (1955), School for Scoundrels (1960), The Carry on films, Wild Zero (2000), The Third Man (1949), The Toxic Avenger (1984), Psychomania (1973), The Devil Rides Out (1968), And Soon the Darkness (1970), Carnival of Souls (1962), Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), The Tenant (1976), Hairspray (1988), Spring and Port Wine (1970), Loulou (1980), Bedazzled (1967), Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968), Strictly Ballroom (1992), My Neighbour Totoro (1988), Singin' In the Rain (1952), West Side Story (1961), Half a Sixpence (1967), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Cry Baby (1990), The Warriors (1979) ---- I will stop there as I could list a couple hundred more.

9. Do you have any pets?

Yes, very new recently adopted elderly street cat we've named The Beast. Incredibly affectionate, sweet but a bit skinny with dodgy back legs. We love him so much and hopefully he'll stick with us, well he hasn't wandered away in the last 5 weeks so fingers crossed!

Tucked in bed

With Mr Bunny

10. What is your favourite beauty brand?
I really don't have a full on favourite, there are products I love and lots of brands I love but there are no brands that I stick to. 

11. Pintrest or Tumblr? Pintrest, I honestly feel too old for Tumblr. 


My questions to others are;

1. Favourite vintage trend that you wish would make a comeback?
2. Biggest fashion mistake you've made? 
3. Favourite nail varnish brand? 
4. Most overused word? 
5. Favourite book? 
6. Favourite sport/exercise? 
7. Favourite flavour of crisps (potato chips)?
8. Item of jewellery you can't live without?
9. Are you brand loyal or do you swap around a lot? 
10. Favourite film? 
11. If you had a choice would you prefer to live in the city or the country? 

This is a bit I find hard, nominating, the below are a few of the blogs I love, whether new to me or I've followed for a while,  however I love everyone that I follow, not many have below 200 so I struggle and have cheated slightly but only a little!   

Gemma - Duggydimples

Ashleigh - Ashleighailsa

Stephanie - Face in Fashion

Completely over 200 but I have to mention these:

Hannah - Hannah Heartss
Laura-Faerie - Petit Moi - Big World

Patrícia M. - Zazzish 

Kelly - Creme de la Chic

What's In My Birchbox? - January 2014

Apologies for the absence this week, new year, new illness. Nothing serious, just a bug that has made me ill and lazy, but I'm starting to feel perkier. Even on the day I was really drained (Wednesday) this Birchbox cheered me up a hell of a lot. Even my new, furry, family member couldn't help but get in (the way) on the act. The theme itself is New Year, looking at making tiny tweaks rather than large, sweeping changes, that I like. I always think even with the big changes the beginning of the year is only the start so you should never feel disheartened if you fall off the wagon early on.

Anyway, what did I get? See after the cut!

Sunday Weigh In - Without an Official* Weigh In

Well I'm feeling very positive. I haven't lost weight over Christmas, so obviously that isn't making me feel positive but lets start by talking about my weight over Christmas anyway. It wasn't too bad. I fluctuated but I didn't properly gain weight - by properly I mean I didn't stay at a certain weight for a few days. I never log small fluctuations like this, not only if I've gone up but also if I've gone down, I wait for my weight to be the same for a few days in a row before logging it.

This is how much I've lost so far, it's taken a couple of years but at least I haven't gained.

Now Christmas was fine, this year instead of having a vegetarian alternative dish on the plate we just stuck to vegetables - I did overdose on sprouts and felt bloated for the following 24 hours but that's a small price to pay for lovely sprout goodness. What actually did the damage was New Years Eve - this wasn't down to celebrating too hard, this was the night that our boiler stopped working. For the following week we were without central heating and I made up for this by scoffing whatever was in easy reach of the bed, i.e. chocolates. This didn't lead to any real weight gain as I was back to my normal routine pretty much straight after and have just hit my pre-Christmas weight.

I'm fully back on board the bloggers weekly weigh-in, although I try not to focus too heavily on weight, especially after a week but boy do I like to reflect on how my week has gone. This week I'm not just looking back to my Christmas eating habits, instead I'm mainly looking forward to the future and like I said at the beginning of the post I'm feeling positive, very positive.

Over Christmas I also took the time to adjust my medication when I could, some days were busy, stressful and played havoc on my body, my newly adopted elderly cat also tends to lie on my bad side. I swear one day he'll end up paw deep in the wound where my surgical drain was but I can deal with pain if it means I get his warmth and his purrs helping me to drift off to sleep. I am starting to feel better now, it had been a while since I've noticed a positive change but on Thursday I really started to feel slightly more normal again. I'm starting to feel ready to get back to my old work-out routine somewhat and also ready for a new challenge, boxing.

Another motivation has been my recent decision to get a fitbit one. I know I bought a pedometer just before Christmas but the lure of being able to track how well I sleep was just too much. It has made me realise how competitive I am, just with myself, as I've sent myself a goal of being able to get 8 hours sleep! I'm still getting to grips with how it works, remembering to wear it. I've also only been wearing it at the weekend as I only received it Friday, these have been my rest days recently so I'm trying to force myself to be energetic 7 days a week.

I can't wait to get back to losing weight but as ever I'm doing it the sensible way. I've seen so many magazines that have suggested ridiculous new year diets. Eating as little as 900 calories a day - it really isn't healthy for anyone to eat this little, your body needs more just to function. These extreme diets are there to do one thing, make you lose weight quickly but not to keep it off otherwise you wouldn't need them any longer. I think the most sensible thing I read was by Paul Mckenna in Now magazine, one thing he mentioned that I also truly believe is thin people eat what they like, they can just control the portion size, it isn't really what you eat just how much, eat sensibly, don't restrict, move a little more and the weight will come off, it just takes a little longer but what do you expect, it didn't get put on over night!

I truly believe in only cutting a small amount and moving a little more, eating back most of your exercise calories if you work out your calories without already including exercise. Doing it that way meant I lost around 45lbs in 2012, it also meant when I became ill again and was unable to move, bed-bound apart from some light shuffling around the house, I was able to up my calories to maintenance level and not gain a lb - I actually lost a couple more.

*By official I mean I haven't updated it on myfitnesspal.

OPI Nail Lacquer - Silent Stars Go By

OPI Nail Lacquer - Silent Stars Go By

Now I never get excited by celebrity releases, there aren't many celebrities I'm that interested in and the ones I am interested in won't be releasing any collaborations with cosmetic companies. I do sometimes get a little snobby about this but last years OPI/Mariah Carey nail lacquers I just couldn't resist. I even found myself yet again going "I'm not a pink person but I have to have this", starting with Silent Stars Go By.

Now this isn't quite as pink as I had expected if you look at the contents of the bottle it looks a lot pinker, a proper baby pink. However the liquid sand takes the cuteness off and instead leaves with a gorgeously stunning textured rose gold mixed with silver. The particles really catch the light and I find the liquid sand effect is a lot more exciting than your basic glitter.

I love this colour, the effect is beautiful and it also dries relatively quickly - the perfect nail varnish. As with most effect nail varnishes chips are easy to touch up without looking uneven. The only issue is, like all these type of effect nail varnishes, a little more concentration is needed to remove them. Now it isn't too bad, as I've mentioned in a previous post it's best not to scrub just soak a cotton wool ball in nail varnish remover, hold it on the nail for around 30 seconds before trying to remove. A bit of a pain but worth it for this stunningly gorgeous nail varnish.

Thank Flip it's Saturday

Now as much as I like a Friday evening nothing beats the refreshing feeling of having a lie in on Saturday morning. The first weekend after going back to work after the new year is always very welcome and I plan to do bugger all. Well not quite bugger all, I've got too much stuff to try out but I wanted my first post of the weekend to be a relaxed one as that's how I'm feeling. I also got a nice amount of sleep, as I'll mention later I got myself a fitbit one which also tracks my sleep - I will be obsessed with the amount of sleep I get. Here is what it looked like last night:

I just wish we could afford another one as I'm desperate to track James sleep, I swear he over exaggerates how little sleep he gets as he is usually snoring 2 minutes after his head has hit the pillow keeping me awake for longer!

Now I also plan to finally go though my other bargain buys from the sales including a couple of batches of make-up, one from Stila the other from Illamasqua I also have my fitbit to play with. I'm also feeling remarkably energetic and plan to take on some form of exercise today - I have no one at home to spar with so I might slip on my boxing gloves and take on the wall AND do some skipping about like an idiot.

I was also nominated for another Liebster award by Ginger & The Blonde, which is a nice way to get to know other bloggers, now although I'm frequently late you can also guarantee that I will get it done and this weekend I will also be getting on with this.

Now the last thing to mention, the thing keeping me away from my computer this week is that darn cat. That lovely, adorable cat that adopted us is a bit fussy, he gets lonely and this week has been the first week that I've been away for a long time whilst at work. The poor thing was annoyed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday getting better Friday. He has become king of the snubs as he's been missing his mummy. Even ignoring the deli chews he loves, although unable to resist a saucer of cat milk brought to him in bed. I usually have to help him get off to sleep and watch over him, he then does the same for me. I know how daft this sounds, I had to help him settle before I came to do this but I took a photo after I tucked him in.

So although I have a weekend of nothing but relaxation I also have a pussy cat desperately in need of attention. Better go check on him right now! 

Shopping the Sales: Part 3: Rock 'N Rose

Well I hope everyone else is having a more relaxing week than I am. Work is busy and I have a cat in a strop due to me being at work all week, I even brought him a saucer of cat milk in bed and he is still giving me the evils. So while parcels have arrived, not all of them have been opened. I have a huge parcel from Topshop and all my ASOS items to sort but that will have to wait until the weekend.

Now although I like quantity just as much as I like quality picking up a few perfect pieces is just as good, I also have more time to unwrap them so for me a little package containing two items of jewellery really made my day. Now I'm happy to admit I predominantly go for costume jewellery, I have no need for diamonds nor would I wear natural pearls so I tend to pick up little bits of cheap pieces preferring to have variety, an item for every outfit I could imagine. Apart from clothes shops and department stores there are only two jewellery places that I truly love, both manage to offer quality pieces at a reasonable price. I can also guarantee there will always be something I love. The first shop is Astrid & Miyu, James buys me a piece from them every Christmas and birthday, if he ever stops this then he will be scolded, although I am tempted to pick myself up a couple of items as March feels like a lifetime away. Now the second place is really what the post is about, Rock 'N Rose, I have numerous pieces from them, I love their vintage collection, everything is a good price and interesting. Jewellery should always be interesting, items that blend into the background bore me.

At the time of ordering there wasn't a sale but I was emailed a discount code, for the life of me I can't remember why, but one of these items is on sale now and neither are that expensive.

RAMONA Vintage Chain Bracelet £12.00

ANISE Vintage Chain Necklace £21.00

I love the look of these items as they truly look 70's. I love brass, I think it looks a lot nicer than some gold plated type jewellery which in my opinion can sometimes look cheap. Now I have quite of stock of brass jewellery from Rock 'N Rose and they all look amazing.

I don't know about anyone else but I always have the urge to buy more items even after a good shop!