THE CHRISTMAS DAY DOG WALK

Hat: Primark
Coat: Zara
Scarf: Zara
Dress: Zara
Gloves: ASOS
Wellies: Hunter

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and you're all looking forward to New Year's Eve! This is what I decided to wear on Christmas day, we stayed at my aunty's house in Manchester for a couple of days with her, my cousins and my grandparents and their labradors. We always go for a walk on Christmas day and this is a couple of photos from this years walk! I was probably a bit overdressed for a muddy welly walk, but as the saying goes - it's better to be overdressed than underdressed and I like to stick to that!

I'm going to London for four days over New Year with my friend Megan, and then I'm meeting up with Ellie and then FINALLY meeting Laura (guys it's been over two years that I've been waiting for this moment to happen!!!!) this is going to be such a good week! I'm of course taking my camera along, so look out for a blog post from me on that!

THE DOGTOOTH SKIRT

Floppy hat: Primark
Shirt: Primark
Jumper: Mango
Skirt: Zara
Loafers: Russell and Bromley
Watch: Ali Express
Lipstick: MAC 'Darkside'

Somehow I can't stop wearing this colour scheme, add in a bit of grey and that seems to be my wardrobe recently and I'm totally fine with that. Neutral colours are so much easier to wear as it all pretty much matches, and anything that lets me have an extra five minutes in bed is good with me. I bought this skirt in the Westfield Zara when I went to visit Ellie from Ellie's Favourite Things and I'm so glad I did! I've been wearing it quite a lot recently, especially with tops like this and my forever expanding turtle neck collection. It's a subtle way to add a bit of pattern to your outfit without it being too in your face.

Oh and I cut my hair (again) and I haven't been happier with it in a long time, it's so much easier to look after now and the messier it gets, the better it looks - fabulous.

THE STRIPED TURTLE NECK

Stripy turtle neck: Monki (via ASOS)
Jeans: ASOS
Booties: Whistles
Clutch: Whistles
Lipstick: Chanel 'La Desiree'

I've seen so many people wearing the whole turtle neck thing recently, that I decided I needed to get in on it myself and buy a couple (okay, five). I think this one has to be my favourite and I have found myself wearing it maybe a bit too much recently. If you want more turtle neck inspiration, check out Pinterest as there are no shortages of photos on there! I think they help to add to the 'I didn't actually make an effort this morning, bit I want to look like I did' look which is what I tend to go for on a day to day basis.

MY MAKEUP BAG ESSENTIALS

Mascara: L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes 
Foundation: Becca Radiant Skin Satin Finish
Lipstick: Tom Ford 'Cherry Lush'

Under eye concealer: YSL Touche Eclat

Eyeshaddow: MAC Cool Neutral Palette 

Makeup bag: Whistles


These products are a few of my makeup bag essentials - ones that I reach for on a daily basis and use time and time again. I chose ones for this post that can give you a bit of a pick me up, and you can rely on in the morning to take you from looking fresh faced, to feeling able to take on the world. A good mascara makes your eyes look a lot wider and can help you fake the appearance of having bigger and more awake eyes. A radiant foundation can make you appear as if you have actually been eating all your greens and drinking plenty of water, instead of the unhealthy ready meals and alcohol that I'm sure is a lot more realistic representation of most people's diets! A bright lipstick is my favourite way to make you look as if you have actually put in a lot more effort in the morning than you really have - when it really only takes two minutes to apply. A radiant under eye concealer is a great way to fake a good nights sleep and will cover up those dark circles by bringing light to that area instead of the natural dark shadow. I will never forgive myself for not getting into eyeshaddow earlier than I did - a couple of neutral colours blended together can really help to wing out your eye shape and draw more attention to your eyes, especially if you haven't had time to do the whole contour, blush and highlight thing. If I am in a rush, I will simply pat one one colour all over the lid and blend it out - faking the fact that it only took you 30 seconds to actually do.

SO, I CUT MY HAIR

Black turtle neck top: ASOS
Lipstick: Chanel 'La Desirée'

So the other night, I had a slight yolo moment and decided to get a pair of scissors and started chopping away at my hair. Before September it had been down to my belly button and I had got absolutely sick of it and chopped a load of it off, but after seeing so many people with their hair around my new length I decided I wanted to go even shorter. Being the impatient person I am, I decided just to grab some nearby scissors and start cutting, and you know - I think I did an alright job. Okay, there are the occasional pieces that are quite a bit longer/shorter than the rest but I like to go for a quite messy style and I think that just adds to it.

Also, my hair looks bright ginger in this photo - I've never dyed my hair and it just tends to change colour as and when it wants to, I guess today it decided it was a ginger day!

Have you ever cut your own hair or have you ever been tempted to?

THE STRIPED TSHIRT DRESS

Dress: H&M

Shirt: Jack Wills

Bag: Zara

Shoes: Russell and Bromley

Lipstick: Chanel 'La Desirée' 

Scarf: New Look

I had been after a striped t-shirt dress for a while, after repetitively seeing photos on Pinterest and loving the way it looks. I bought this one for an absolute bargain of £5 in H&M recently (and I also may of gone back and bought the same one in grey, burgundy and blue...) I love how they are so simple to wear and will go with any accessories, whilst getting a ten out of ten for comfort. I wore this with my new favourite New Look scarf which is a houndstooth print on one side and a blue/green tartan on the other - they do it in a few different colour combinations and I feel like every other person I see in the street is wearing it!

MOROCCO VIDEO DIARY

I've been meaning to put together this video for months, but the editing software on my old laptop was just so slow that it would just crash every time I came to try and edit it! I finally upgraded to a Macbook Pro, so I thought was finally time to edit together this video from mine and Carissa's trip to Morocco. I posted a Morocco photo diary a while ago too, which has lots more photos from our trip!

BATTERSEA FIREWORKS

Last week, Carissa took me on a surprise birthday trip to London! We went to a sample sale from The Kooples in Shoreditch, had lunch in The Book Club, went on a London tour, went shopping, went for dinner in The Diner on Carnaby Street and then went to the Battersea Park Fireworks. I took my camera along with me, and forgot to photograph most of it, but here are some of the photos I got from the fireworks. I used a longer shutter speed on the flame thrower photographs and I love how they ended up turning out, it's amazing the effects you can get on your camera just with changing a few simple settings!

Thank you Carissa for such a good day out!!!

STRIPES

Outfit details:

Lipstick: MAC 'Ruby Woo'

Tshirt: Zara present from Laura (check out her blog!)

Jacket: Jaeger

Jeans: ASOS

Wellies: Hunter

I wore this outfit when myself and my mum went on a long walk along the beach last week, I haven't been on a long walk like that in ages and I forgot how much I enjoy going on them! I got her to test out my new camera shoulder mount which I recently bought and you can see how well it works in the outfit video below! Please let me know what you think!

BY THE SEA

Dress: Poppy Lux Emmaline Fit and Flare Daisy Dress
Boots: Russell and Bromley
Lipstick: MAC 'Please Me'

First off, Mum wanted a shoutout for taking these photos for me, so thanks Mum for being my camera lady!

I was sent this dress from Poppy Lux a couple of days ago, and naturally I put it on as soon as it arrived at my house - and so when mum said she was popping out into the village to do some errands I thought I would take the chance to get some outfit photos, hence the change of scenery! I always seem to forget that I live in such a pretty area, despite the sea being a ten minute walk away. I'm going to try and take some more photos in my local area, instead of having them in front of a boring brick wall in my garden!

* I was sent the Emmaline Fit and Flare Dress from Poppy Lux,

however I am not being paid for this post, and all opinions are my own

AUTUMNAL BURGUNDY OUTFIT

Dress: Zara
Coat: Zara
Boots: Russell and Bromley
Hat: Primark
Lipstick: MAC 'Darkside'

I would have to say this is probably one of my favourite autumnal outfits, I love how all the colours are matched with each other and I just love autumn clothes in general - especially burgundy, there is something about that colour that I just cannot get enough of at this time of year!

I have surprised myself as I have actually worn this floppy hat quite a few times now - I just bought a cheap one from Primark as I thought it would just end up sitting in my bedroom collecting dust, but I really feel it pulls a whole outfit together! A quick tip if you have one and it always flies off in the wind, use the clips you use for hair extensions (I bought mine on eBay for 1p!!) and sew a couple to the ribbon on the inside of the hat. My sister gave me the idea and I'm so glad she did as it works so well! I'm not sure if Primark do any other colours of this hat, I bought mine in the Cardiff shop and I only saw the burgundy ones in there. It is actually pretty good quality, and it is 100% wool so it's extra warm - plus I always seem to get a lot of compliments from people when I wear it too!

OUTFIT WISHLIST

OUTFIT WISHLIST

I used Polyvore to create this outfit wishlist for some pieces I would love to own (especially the earrings, but costing £1,600 I'm not sure that's likely!) I'm really liking simple monochrome outfits recently, and if I could revamp my wardrobe to include a lot of staple chic pieces like the ones I have included above then I definitely would.