Tuesday 27 March 2012

Ahoy Sailor!

I've always had a love for all this nautical and my wish list over the past few years has been getting longer and long! So I thought I would share a few of my favourites (from clothing to home-ware) with you guys.

This bag would solve a bit of an embarrassing problem for me, you see I need a really strong canvas bag to lug my laptop, notes and about 10 library books around with me, but the only canvas bag I own are Tesco ones! I'm sure you can imagine how cool I look dragging it around uni with me. So basically I need this bag to restore my cool factor!
Etsy Shop- White Apple Threads £12.85

I love a cute little crop top, so that paired with the nautical theme makes for a double whammy of love! I'd deffo pair it with my favourite high-waisted levi shorts.
Missguided £21.99

This necklace is adorable and that it isn't the usual anchor style necklace, I think the lighthouse doesn't get enough respect :P
Not On The Highstreet Shop- Jodie Anna £14.95

This poster would basically make any wall look cool, even a public toilet wall.
Not On The Highstreet Shop- So True Posters £9.75

I can see myself lounging around in these pjs on a lazy Sunday afternoon- perfect!
Topshop £18


And finally how could I not include this mirror?! Just look at how cool it is!
Not On The Highstreet Shop- Surf Mirrors £95

I hope you like my list and it hasn't made you want to buy too many things ;)

love&'ugs
bakes x

P.S. On another note have any of you read The Hunger Games novels? I just finished the first one in preparation for seeing the film. OH-EM-GEE soooo good! I stayed up till half 2 last night just to finish it, please read it if you like reading haha!

Sunday 25 March 2012

Soap & Glory Fab Pore Review

So, I thought I would do a little review of a product that I'm really loving at the moment- Soap & Glory's Fab Pore Facial Peel. It was a gift at Christmas that I found in my stocking :)

The description on the website explains,
"The Fab Pore has an intensive pore refining action with out exclusive PORESHRINK-R COMPLEX. Ideal for greasy, spot prone or problem skin, or for a strategic attack on a misbehaving T-zone."
You take a small dollop and rub in circles till the little green beads disappear, leave on for 5 minutes for a quick cleanse or 15 minutes for a deep clean, then rinse off!

The obligatory photo of me covered in face mask wonderfulness!


My skin felt pretty gross horrible to me after a long week of wearing makeup and some late nights, but I had beautiful skin after 15 mins!

I really love this face mask, I've always felt like the pores on my nose and chin get clogged up easily so I was really interested to see how it tackled this problem and I wasn't disappointed! My pores were left really clean and clear and my skin was super soft! I left it on for the full fifteen minutes as I had time to spare, but in the week when I'm a bit more strapped for time I'd deffo go for the 5 minute quicky! And how can you not love the retro stylings of their products?!

I cannot recommend this product enough, so here's the Soap&Glory website and you can buy it for £8.00 from all good chemists, like Boots!

love&'ugs
bakes x

p.s. I wasn't sponsored to make this post, I just think it's an amazing product!

Thursday 22 March 2012

Happy Bunny

Like I said yesterday here's an outfit post featuring my new favourite shirt :D

Urban Outfitters Shirt, Topshop Leggings, Underground Creepers

Just can't help but love the subtle details on the shirt :D


Here's the earrings I brought too.

So I had a pretty good day today, wrote just under another 1000 words on my dissertation, I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere! And I to leave work an hour early yay :) now the boyf if making me dinner so all is pretty good in the world. Happy bunny day.

And here's a happy bunny face from the outtakes for you ;)
Hope everyone is having a happy bunny day too, it's nearly the weekend!

love&'ugs
bakes x

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Mini Little Haul ;)

Oh shopping why are you so tempting, even when I have NO MONEY WHATSOEVER! You still get me to buy something, even if is only a £1.99 lipliner that I'm not even sure how to use!

This morning after my lecture I came back home to my parcel from Urban Outfitters- Yay! I brought 3 things, a cute little rug for my bedroom (£8 in the sale):

Uber cool earrings! (£8):

And this B-E-A-utiful shirt made by Silence + Noise (£42):
I'll be doing an outfit post with this shirt VERY soon! Tomorrow in fact, I love it sooooo much!

In addition to these little bits, myself and the boyf went into town as he needed a new bag for work, so it would have been rude of me not to pick up a few bits and bobs for myself ;)

As I said before I brought a lipliner from Collection 2000 (£1.99):
It's called Marshmellow and seems like a lovely soft pink. I decided to get a lipliner as my lipstick has a tendency to fade and feather so hopefully this will help to reduce this! I got a light coloured one as I thought it would be more versatile than a really dark one, so hopefully I can use it with a few of my lippys.

I have been wanting to get a lip-stain for a little while now and decided to get Rimmel 1000 Kisses (£5.99):
It's colour is Perpetual Plum, a really nice purple-y pink colour and has a lip balm on it as well. (I might do a review on this at a later date, see how long it actually lasts on a day :P)

Little Swatch of the colours:

Oh and how could I forgot! Me and the boyf went to a local cheese shop and brought cheeeeeese! NomNomNom! Can't wait to get those bad boys on some crackers with a bit of chutney!

Have any of you been shopping recently? Even when you have less than adequate funds like me? Hehe!

love&'ugs
bakes x

Monday 19 March 2012

Speccy 4-Eyes

So I have a feeling I may have committed a fashion faux pas... I brought some glasses frames when I don't actually wear glasses. But don't worry, I'm not going to use them till I actually need glasses, which I feel could be sometime soon.

I'm part of Achica the members only luxury lifestyle store, basically you just sign up to emails from them and they let you know what exclusive promotions across Home Furnishings, Kitchen, Garden, Fashion Accessories, Art, Food and Drink, Childrenswear, Travel and more. However the sales only last for 48 hours so you have to be quick.


Anyway over the last few months I have brought a few bits and bobs from them and I had a £10 voucher to spend there the other week so I thought I'd have a little look. And thats where I saw the glasses of my dreams ha!





They were originally £175 but £35 in the Achica sale and with my voucher they were a measly £25, so I really couldn't resist. I'm actually really impressed with Achica every time I buy something from them, they sell premium products for amazing prices compared to the original RRP! Has anyone else used them before? 
And don't worry I'm not planning to wear them until I have my next checkup and only if my optician says I need glasses!



Trying to look clever and intellectual...

So have a made a fashion no-no buying glasses before I actually need them? Or just thinking ahead? And do they look any good on me? haha!

love&'ugs
bakes x


P.S. How cool is my mirror? :P
P.P.S I wasn't sponsored to write this post I just really like Achica! (and shopping :P)

Saturday 17 March 2012

Cookies Are My Saviour!

Hello my little blogging friends!
Sorry for the massive lack of blogging this week, but I have been rather snowed under with uni work :( but I finished another essay yesterday yay! (Next up is dissertation work- boo). To celebrate me finishing my essay (it was about lesbian romance novels if you wanted to know!) I decided to indulge in a favourite pastime- baking :D

I decided to make these little beauties, Puffy Peanut Butter Cookies with Choc-chips and I found the amazing recipe here! This blog is absolutely chocoblock full of yummy treats and I'll definitely be going back for more recipes. The only annoying thing was that all the ingredients are measured out in American Cups so I had to convert them all into grams. Seriously why can't Americans just use grams (even ounces would do!) why must they be so difficult!

Anyway once I got over the cup issue, I got to baking and I was super impressed with the results. Easy to bake & yummers.




Mine don't look as good as her ones, but I made 14 BIG cookies from the dough and I know they taste just as good :P

Also last week I decided to buy the Black Milk Elk Swimsuit that I spoke about in a previous post and I was so excited when it came through the post this morning I had to put it on straight away, maybe a little overdressed for a trip to Tescos but who cares! I decided to pair it with my Ragged Priest Studded Levi's, cheap-o cardigan from the local market and my battered Vans.


(Sorry about the goofy face in the second photo.)

Apart from baking, me and the boyf have spent our Saturday zooming in Batman's private parts from the concept art on his PS3 game- very mature!

Hope you have been having a lovely Saturday/Weekend :)

love&'ugs
bakes x

Monday 12 March 2012

Weekend Seaside Funsies

As I said me and the boyf travelled down to his hometown of Hastings for the weekend to have some fun by the sea :D
It actually turned out to be perfect weather and it didn't rain like our iPhones predicted! Yet again I was a bit rubbish on the photo taking front, I was either having too much fun or a little hungover hehe!

Here we are on the fun train ride down:

Lovely sunny beach :D I love how people just head down to the beach for the day to hangout.

Hastings Pier, in October 2010 it was set alight by vandals and 95% of its structure was destroyed, which is really sad :( Regeneration programmes are being discussed and hopefully it can be saved. I do love a good pier!

Me and the boyf having our traditional Hastings Swirly Ice-Cream- so yummy!


As you can see I am terribly un-photogenic when the sun is shining in my eye and I'm holding an ice-cream! (I had to wear my bobble hat as my hair wouldn't behave and was sticking up all over the place). While in Hastings the boyf had a standup comedy gig which are always funny, we saw lots of his friends and got a little bit drunk ;) We wandered around the old town looking at lovely vintage things and cute and kitsch bits and bobs. We ate SO much food too! We had chinese takeaway, a delicious Saturday night roast made the boy's old flatmate and had lunch at Pizza Express with his Mum and Sister. Oh, and those ice creams ;)

While there I did manage to buy some much needed face powder, I decided on the new Bourjois Healthy Balance Unifying Powder in 52 Vanille. I was pretty loyal to my old powder (Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder) but I was lured in by the exotic fruit therapy! Yuzu fruit providing anti shine and Sharon fruit providing hydration. I have been really happy with it so far, it's really lightweight so is super easy to apply and it smells like yummy fruit which was a unexpected and nice surprise! It's slim compact bright pink casing (so I won't lose it in the depths of my handbag!) and has a large mirror on the inside too. The only qualm I have is that it doesn't come with a puff applicator like most other Bourjois compacts do, but I just brought a pack of three from Boots for less than £2, so it's not really that bad!
I also bit the bullet and brought the Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Eyeliner, I thought it would be best to get the cheaper one to see how I got on with a gel liner. I had a little go this morning and it seemed to go ok, no crazy lines all over my face :P

Hope you have enjoyed reading about my weekend away, how were your weekends? Full of fun too I hope!

love&'ugs
bakes x

Sunday 11 March 2012

Mummy Dearest

Next Sunday it will be every mummy's favourite day- Mother's Day! Well in the UK that is. I realise around the rest of the world celebrate it on the second Sunday of May, not sure why we have decided it was in March, can anyone enlighten me?

Anyway I thought I would share with you what I brought my mum for Mother's Day and her birthday as it's only a week later on. Hopefully she won't discover this blog anytime soon and see what I have got her, I doubt she will as I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know what a blog is ;)
I'm not feeling too flush with my cash at the mo, so I was hoping to find something affordable but meaningful for her and I think I have done just that!

For Mother's Day I have got her this super-cute cross stitch kit from the shop Onneke which is on Not On The High Street. It sums up my Mum so well, she definitely does always know best and it's a reasonable £14.



For her birthday she requested this bath and shower set from VIE at £20, hey I know it says Mother's Day Gift on the site but she wanted it for her birthday instead and who am I do deny her that?! :P

(Also ignore the massive Save £14 sign making me look like a cheapskate!)

I also think I'm going to get her this adorable Cup Cake from The Cake Nest (also on Not On The High Street). It costs £9.99, which I don't think is too bad, but I was thinking what if I found my own teacup and saucer and made my own version. The only downside could be the cake wouldn't be as nice! What do you guys think?



I absolutely ADORE Not On The High Street and have brought so many good presents from the shops on there. If you are stuck for a really good gift I'd definitely check them out, everything is so individual and different.

What are you treating your mother's to on the 18th? Lots of presents and a slap up meal? Or some flowers and afternoon tea?

love&'ugs
bakes x

Thursday 8 March 2012

Weekend Adventures

I can't wait for this weekend! And it starts tonight, wooooo! I have been uber busy with university work recently I feel like I haven't stopped. But this weekend myself and the boyf are travelling down to my home in Hertfordshire and then to his home in Hastings.

We will be only staying at mine for the night for a charity event to raise money for a photography exhibition of my dear friend Tom Swain's work who sadly died this summer. The event is a fashion show showcasing some of the local shops clothing, the shop I'm most excited to see is a local vintage and pre-loved clothing shop called Flutterbys Boutique and I know All Our Yesterdays will have loads of goodies to buy!


On Friday we will be travelling down to Hastings and staying with the boyf's old flatmate right by the seaside, I love it so much! I haven't been to Hastings for about a year and a half so I'm really excited to go! Here's a photo from when I was last there, so long a go I had longer redder hair!


When I get back to Northampton on Monday I should have lots of fun stories and photos to share with you!

love&'ugs
bakes x

P.S I have scheduled a little post on Sunday about Mother's Day until I have my post about my fulfilled weekend :P

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Review- Impress Press-on Manicure


On Monday I decided to try out the Impress Press-on Manicure I got in February's Glossybox and see how good they were and how long they lasted! Well what can I saw by this morning I had pulled the remaining ones off my fingernails in disappointment. I'll give you a little timeline of how things went down:

Monday

8pm- Nails stuck on.

12am- My pointing finger nail on both hands fall off after I have washed my hands and then attempted to pull my socks off. I stuck them back on just about.

Tuesday

9am- Leaving the flat and I notice my right pointing finger nail has fallen off never to be seen again!
3.30pm- Left pointing finger nail falls off while at work (luckily I'm not serving anyone food!)
4.30pm- I have pulled off both thumb nails as they were starting to unstick and annoy me!
8pm- Right middle finger nail has fallen off after eating dinner (maybe due to finger getting fatter after huge din dins?!)

Wednesday


10am- Pull off remaining nails as I look completely ridiculous with only 5 intact nails.


So you can see these nails didn't "last up to 7 days" as stated (surprise surprise!) and did not "impress" me at all (haha! Sorry for that terrible pun, I couldn't resist!). There are some good points though- the nails are really shiny and come in lots of colours. So I guess they would be good for a night out or would last longer for someone who isn't as fiddly as me, as soon as I saw the nail coming up a bit I would pick it until to fell off! Oh and someone who doesn't do too much washing up...

Not a very good review (Sorry Impress Press-on Manicure! I really wanted you to work too!) I think I'm more of a bog-standard nail varnish girl, so I'm going to paint them bright orange tonight :D

love&'ugs
bakes x

Monday 5 March 2012

Forever Wishing Wishlist

Thought I would share my top 5 items on my Wishlist at the moment, most of them are way out of my price range, but maybe if I try and save I can get one of them :P

1. Irregular Choice Thank You Very Much Handbag - £89
I have always loved how different Irregular Choice is (I already own a pair of the Dance The Night Away heels) and this bag just looks the perfect size for my all my bits and bob, and I do love a bit of hassle detail!

2. Your Eyes Lie Solar Pencil Dress - £40

I feel like I could wear this dress casually with creepers in the day and then spice it up with shedloads of jewellery for a night out, and I love a dress that's versatile and has a uber cool design.

3. Black Milk Elk Swimsuit - £60.95

How could I not mention almost bloggers favourite brand- Black Milk! I already own a pair of their Galaxy Blue Leggings and I can honestly say there are some of the best leggings I have ever owned! So obviously my next purchase from them has to be a swimsuit and this beautiful elk one has been calling out to me for weeks now...

4. Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - £5.99
I currently use the Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Liner but find that after a few hours it leaves a smudgy print above my eye, so I'm desperately looking for an eyeliner with more staying power! Has anyone used this eyeliner before and would you say it is a good investment or should I go for a more expensive brand like MAC?

And Finally Number 5! Lotus Speculoos Spread - £5.28
What can I say? This stuff just looks AMAZING! Having this caramely-biscuity spread on toast just sounds like a dream (oh and it's high in Omega 3 so if I eat a whole tub in one sitting I won't feel too guilty :P).

Hope you have enjoyed reading my Wishlist as much as I enjoyed writing it! And if anyone has any advice on my eyeliner predicament I will be super grateful :)

love&'ugs
bakes x