By Royal Appointment...

If you read yesterday's post then you'll know I was late to come down with Royal Wedding fever, but it has definitely hit hard and when the beyond lovely Sarah emailed me last week and asked if I'd be up for putting together an outfit in order to attend the wedding as her plus-1, after a few minutes of being shell shocked and under the impression that she had, for real, received an invite to the wedding, I was quick to accept.

The idea is that myself, Sarah (City Girl's Fashion Box), Sarah (My Sentimental Heart), Michelle (Daisybutter), Lucy (Miss Lucy Loves...), Hannah (Bow Dream Nation), Emma (Oh Really?), Hannah (Away With The Fairies) and Gem (From Gem, With Love) were to put together two outfits that we'd wear to the wedding - one designer and one high street. How exciting! I've had SO MUCH FUN traipsing Net-a-Porter and various other designer websites trying to find the perfect outfit. If money were no object, heels were no issue and every single gorgeous dress in the world suited me, then this is what I would (probably) wear. Please bare in mind that I've never been very good at dressing myself for weddings! Everyone knows how the issues that ensued for the last wedding I attended back in March!

DESIGNER:

1/2/3/4/5/6

Picking this was so much harder than first anticipated! I narrowed down my choice of dress to this one quite easily, I had various tabs open with ones that took my eye but as soon as I saw this one, I loved it. The colour is so nice and summery but not too much and still quite classy and understated. It wasn't until I went snooping for shoes, bags and accessories that I realised I'd probably screwed myself over; black would be too heavy and white would look stupid. Obviously, classic nude Louboutins would be PERFECT if the colour of the belt was the same shade. I still included them, but should the worse scenario occur, these YSL shoes could potentially save the day. Picking a bag was definitely the hardest though, again, neither black or white would look right and finding a bag the right shade of beige/nude and that looked right seemingly proved to be an impossible task. Instead, I went for this bright Mulberry clutch, the colour clashes but I feel like it compliments well somehow. I think the jewellery speaks for itself too, a necklace would be totally unnecessary so instead I opted for a simple Tiffany bracelet and this Marc Jacobs ring that makes a little bit more of a statement without being too much.


HIGHSTREET:

Topshop Double Wrap Leaf Finger Ring, £10 | ASOS PACE Suede Double Strap Platform High Shoes, £65 | Topshop Tall Tuck Shift Dress, £46 | French Connection Stone Metal Ring Bangle, £15 | French Connection Thick Metal Bangles, £20 | Topshop Black Suede Ruched Clutch, £32

Surprisingly, I found this outfit more difficult to put together than the designer one. The amount of dresses that I deem suitable for weddings is poor, maybe that's why I struggled so much earlier in the year? Anyway, I chose a similar dress to the one above - I absolutely love this dusky pink colour that's around at the moment, it's so nice. It took me a while to try and decide what colour to pair with it, I thought about grey just for a bit of a twist but settled on classic black in the end. I decided that the dusky pink colour of the dress could deal with a bold black to compliment it and I think it looks alright! Again, I wouldn't wear a necklace and instead would accessorise with chunky bangles and just the one statement ring. I chose the Topshop suede bag and then found these absolutely STUNNING shoes on ASOS, and obviously suede bag means suede shoes! I think the gold buckle detail brings everything together too.

I mean, obviously I'm no stylist but, here we have my two potential Royal Wedding outfits. Now, I just need to find a man and his credit card...

Red, white and blue

I'm a bit late on the ol' Royal Wedding bandwagon, but better late than never, right? It wasn't until I went into John Lewis the other week and saw just how tacky all the memorbilia was that I realised how much I loved it. In celebration, I bought some horrible bunting and a vile cushion from the 99p shop, both of which I am so in love with. The bunting has pride of place in the front room and the faces of Kate and Wills sit proudly on the sofa loving life!

I was racking my brains earlier trying to think of other ways I could show my appreciation when I realised I could do some NAIL ART. I've tried to draw a Union Jack on my nails before but it didn't quite work out, this time it's loads better and I'm actually quite proud with myself despite the red stripes not being quite perfect!

I used Barry M Colbalt Blue as the base, Wah Nails x Models Own white nail art pen and Nails Inc Wilton Crescent for the red. I was contemplating having 'W ♥ K' on three seperate nails but decided that was perhaps a little bit too far...

Is anybody else really excited to watch the wedding on Friday? I mostly just want to see what everybody is wearing but I'm looking forward to seeing it all the same!

Have your cake and eat it

I've definitely been starting all my recent blog posts with this sentence but, sorry for the lack of blogs this week. I went out in London on Friday, ended up in Punk just off Oxford Street and had the messiest night ever with some of my favourites but it was so much fun! Definitely haven't laughed so much in ages. I then, hungover to the max, travelled back to Leicester, packed some more stuff and went back home to Grimsby until Monday evening. Had a lovely Easter-filled weekend with my family, I hadn't been home since the beginning of March so that was so nice. The rest of the time has been spent doing my dissertation - I'm so close to the finish line now I cannot wait, eight days and counting!

Anyway, just to forewarn you, this is going to be a picture based post. It's my 21st birthday at the end of June (blame my mum for all this mega early planning!) and I'm having a cake made and I've been asked to look at designs so Mum can show the picture to the lady so she can recreate. Last year I had Chanel cupcakes and this is the cake I had for my 18th annnd my big sister had this one for her 21st so I want something different to that too. I've been trawling the internet looking at designs and I've found the following few that I love but can't decide which I like best.

I absolutely LOVE the rainbow cake, the colours are amazing although I know it's probably been edited! I like the idea of having a Red Velvet cake because it's a little bit different, although the last leopard print one is amazing in all it's tacky glory! Which do you all like best? I'm definitely open to suggestions so feel free to leave links or any other ideas that you think would make a good 21st cake!

My giveaway is open for another fortnight or so too so go and enter if you haven't already :)

Every day I'm shuffling

Just a mega quick post today to update you all on my current hair situation! I inevitably got bored of being ginger and it was making my hair look really rubbish and dry so I decided to get rid and dye it back dark. The brown dye I use always makes it look black when I first do it, which I kind of love, and then it fades into a more natural shade. I use XXL in Bitter Sweet Chocolate and the coverage of it is amazing, it even covered my red hair back in September and I've found it hard to find dyes that do that in the past! I promise this will be the last time for a while that I dye it because my hair is definitely not thanking me for all this colour changing that's been going on recently!

I also put a little 400 followers giveaway up yesterday so go and enter that if you fancy it! Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend whatever you're up to :)

CLOSED! A (mini) 400 followers giveaway

I've been talking about this giveaway for quite a while now but I have had no idea what to have as prizes and I've had the following stuff for about a week or so now and I've been racking my brains about what else I could add. I had the intention of picking up a couple more bits and pieces when I went into town but I haven't actually managed to get to town because of this dissertation hell I am currently drowning in. So, because of that I've made the executive decision to post this now as a mini giveaway and then I'll have another one in May sometime that will (hopefully) be more interesting!

So yeah, this is just to say a massive thank you to you all for reading and commenting my blog, it's seriously my pride and joy and I never dreamed I'd ever get this much support. I know people say this all the time but that's because IT IS TRUE. :)

So desperately obvious, so obviously desperate

Tall Apricot Lace Hem Blouson Tunic | Blue Gingham Shirt Dress | Drape Front Dress | Topshop Nails in Summit | Matthias Woven Booties | Turquoise Stone Snake Ring | Neptune Embellished Boots | Turquoise Caged Jelly Sandles | MAC Quite Cute Lipstick

I've been eyeing all these dresses up for a few weeks now, I tried on the first Topshop dress a few months ago but it wasn't from the Tall range, it fitted weird round my waist so I'm hoping that the this one might fit a bit better, chances are it won't though but where's the harm in trying. No explaination for the gingham dress required - it's so nice! The drape dress is actually the same style as the one I ordered from ASOS for during my wedding outfit trauma but I was sent the wrong one so I don't actually know what it'll fit like. A|Wear have since got it in this colour which is much nicer and more summery than the black I was originally going to get.

I adore the colour of this nail varnish, I saw it in store on Friday and I don't know why I didn't buy it then, it's so, so lovely! Has anybody got it?

All three pairs of these shoes are amazing too, both pairs of boots are currently in the Topshop sale and I've been umm-ing and arr-ing over them but I haven't yet been able to justify the purchase. The silver and black ones also came in gold and brown which were amazing but I can't find them online now, gutted! I have no idea when I'd wear them but er, does that really matter?!

I am also totally loving all this turquoise that's around at the moment, it's such a lovely summery colour and it makes me so happy. I love this snake ring, although I'm not usually a fan of rings, because it's a little bit different to all the similar stone rings that are around at the minute. The sandles are beauts too, they're available in a couple of other colours and I want the whole collection! I definitely love a good jelly sandle, despite not owning any since about 1995! One day I will own these Jimmy Choo bad boys.

MAC's Quite Cute collection speaks for itself too, these lipsticks are such fantastic colours. I'm aware that none of them will suit me but I don't care, I want to own purple lipstick even if I'll never look good!

Dainty Roses hair accessories

So it seems I'm finding more and more time to blog, perhaps not the best sign but I'm entitled to a break once every so often, right? Well, actually, today has been one big break because I've successfully spent the day doing nothing apart from washing my hair, painting my nails and putting make-up on. Days like today are the best.

I also received the headband I ordered on Monday (might have been Tuesday? I can't remember) from Lisa's little shop, Dainty Roses. It's not often I order stuff from online shops like this but I definitely prefer doing so because of how they arrive, it's always so much more lovely getting a package like this than buying from highstreet shops, plus things that are handmade are usually better quality and cheaper!

As you can probably tell, I've not quite mastered how to wear it yet but I'm sure I will! I'm thinking it'll be good to wear at this years V Festival to try and make my hair look half nice instead accentuating the fact it'll be a big greasy mess that is in desperate need of washing (this phase usually happens about two hours after arrival, so as you can imagine I look FIT while I'm at festivals!).

There's so many other lovely hair bits and bobs available at a good price so definitely go and check it out, and Lisa included a 10% off code for me too, just enter 'thanks314' at the checkout :)

Nails of the week #4

Dissertation Hell is going well so far, I hate to speak too soon but I passed the halfway mark and I think I'm back on track with it, even after the minor meltdown I had yesterday. It wasn't a pleasant experience, it's probably a good job I was home alone actually!

Anyway, I missed this post on Sunday but I thought I'd upload the pictures today of the nails I sported last week. How's everyone liking this little feature by the way? I know my nail art talents don't extend very far and for that I apologise, maybe one day I'll dare to branch out into something new! My nails were actually quite neglected last week and they looked awful for a few days, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself for leaving the house with such horrible looking nails!

001. Nails Inc Chelsea Park Gardens & Seche Vite top coat. I wasn't impressed with the longevity of this to be fair, it's the first time I'd properly worn it, although it did er, peel off quite easily which is always enjoyable!
002. No7 Poolside Blue & Seche Vite top coat. I finally managed to apply this and wear it for a few days without it going everywhere, it was also a lot easier to remove than the last time I tried. I absolutely LOVE this colour.
003. Models Own Coral Reef & Seche Vite top coat. I love this colour too, it'd been a while since I'd worn it but it's definitely going to get cracked out more now we're heading towards summer!
004. Models Own Coral Reef, Grey Day & Pure Purple, Seche Vite top coat. My poor attempt at 'patchwork nails', as you can tell I got bored half way through! It's a lot easier than it looks actually and I'm definitely going to try this again soon. I didn't do a very good job at colour matching though so next time I'll choose better ones!
005. Barry M Matte White, Turquoise & Mint Green, Models Own Fuzzy Peach, Coral Reef & Pink Blush, Seche Vite top coat. Probably my favourite leopard print to date! I've been thinking of doing this for a while but never got around to it until now, I think it looks so good and is so effective yet ridiculously easy to do!

I need to update my nail polish collection, it's been a while since I bought any new ones. I'm thinking of trying out Essie and China Glaze, anybody got any recommendations as to what colours I should get first? Oh, and has anyone tried the new Models Own Smash Up range yet? I don't know whether to invest!

Salvation was just a passing thought

This last week has been a weird one, it saw the end of more than just university but also friendships that I thought were going to last forever. I'm not going to dwell because, although I am upset about it, it's probably pointless and it has made me realise. It just seems a shame that these 'friends' didn't even have the decency to tell me exactly what it was I'd supposed to have done, instead I was deleted off Twitter and Facebook - clearly indicating that friendship is over. Three years straight down the pan, just like that.

So, I'm still in Leicester and am staying here until the end of June. I have my dissertation to write (if you er, weren't already aware!) and as I'll be home alone during the daytime Monday-Friday I have no excuse not to get on with it! No doubt Tumblr will be more active than usual.

I'm currently crippled too so that adds to the list of excuses-I-can't-make-to-get-out-of-doing-work! I had a comical drunken fall on Saturday night which, ironically, resulted in grazed knees (hahaha) and swollen knees and I am in absolute agony. I have an actual limp and walking from one room to another is a painful task in itself so I'm not even going to bother to attempt going to the shop or anything like that! Hopefully they'll get better in a few days, but until then I will continue to feel sorry for myself like a pro.

I've also planned to go to London for a couple of nights with my friend from home, Chelsea, and we're staying at The Goring so that's something for us both to look forward to! Chelsea's dad is a manager at the hotel so we get to stay for a discounted price, oh how I wish I could afford the full amount! I'm then interning in the beauty department at Psychologies from May 23rd for four weeks which I am so looking forward to, although not so much the commute from Leicester to London EVERY SINGLE DAY, but no doubt it'll be worth it.

Friday night also saw me hit the 400 readers mark which is incredible, thank you so so much. I'm planning a giveaway but I haven't found anything that's quite right yet, but I promise there is one in the pipeline just to say thank you to you all. You're so good to me, even though I am a proven to be the most rubbish blogger! Big love to you all :)

That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight

This week, which has typically had the warmest days of the year so far, has seen me cooped up in my room, sat on this very chair and typing away on this very laptop, window wide open, Yankee Candle burning and music blaring out. It's Spotify that has kept me going thus far and so I am being solely dependent on it to get me through the next few weeks.

I love Spotify because I can search for songs that remind me of happy times, be reminded of songs that I forgot existed as well as being introduced to new stuff that I instantly fall in love with. My playlist this week has included a lot of stuff from way back when and I've had songs on repeat for hours at a time so I thought I'd share it with you all. Be warned, there is some stuff that I should probably be embarrassed about but I AM NOT! I love cheesy music more than anything so I'll wave goodbye to any sort of street cred I have now, shall I?!

(I've linked each song to YouTube so you can have a listen if you like, how kind of me!)

001. Life - Des'ree
002. Up Here - Terra Naomi
003. Say it's Possible - Terra Naomi I love this girl so, so much. I saw her back in 2007 when she supported The Fray and she is so incredible, her lyrics are so fantastic too. Definitely have a listen if you get a chance.
004. This Time - John Legend
005. PDA (We Just Don't Care) - John Legend
006. If You're Out There - John Legend
007. Everytime - Britney Spears
008. Goodnight Girl - Wet Wet Wet YESSSS!
009. History - Funeral For a Friend
010. Cute Without the E - Taking Back Sunday
011. Numb/Encore - Linkin' Park & Jay Z
012. Here Without You - Three Doors Down
013. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
014. Crazy - Seal
015. Babylon - David Gray
016. We Get On - Kate Nash
017. Navy Taxi - Kate Nash
018. Save Tonight - Eagle Eye Cherry
019. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
020. Losing My Religion - REM

...and loads more! What are your favourite songs from way back? Tell me and remind me of songs I might have otherwise forgotten about! Or if anyone fancies making me a motivational playlist on Spotify just er, let me know ;)

In other, completely unrelated news, my hair really needs cutting.

Nails of the week #3

Sorry I missed this post last week, I hadn't done anything remotely interesting with my nails so I decided against posting. I have kind of rectified that this week though...

001. Model's Own Pure Purple, Grey Day & black nail art pen. Seche Vite top coat. I wasn't sure about these at first but looking at them now they do look quite good and I think the colours just about work together!
002. Model's Own Mushroom. Seche Vite top coat. Boring but I think this might be one of my favourite colours Model's Own do
003. 17 Forever, Model's Own Pastel Pink. Seche Vite top coat. This was my attempt at kirby grip polka dots ala Gem but they didn't work very well. What am I doing wrong?!
004. 17 Forever, Model's Own Peach Puff tips, Models Own Pastel Pink & black nail art pen. Seche Vite top coat. I love these! You can really see the base colour of the tips very well though so next time I might just not do a base and have leopard on just the tip, if that even makes any sense. I always find leopard print tips get loads of compliments too but they're so easy to do!

How has everyone's weekends been? I've not been back from London long, I stayed at a friend's last night which was nice, we got Pizza Hut delivery, drank wine, sat in our pyjamas and watched shit telly. Best night! Next week is my final week at uni forever and my only deadline after Friday will be my dissertation on May 4th - SCARY.

Lovely's Vintage Emporium

Hello April, how did you get here so quickly?! This year has practically flown by so far, scary stuff.

For a while I've been in touch with Lynnette Bateman (I say 'in touch', I mean she's answered masses of beauty journalism questions I've had and nothing I've asked has ever been too much trouble!) and in the time that I've known of her, she and her husband Nick Bateman (of Big Brother fame!) have been working on Lovely's Vintage Emporium.

"Lovely's Vintage Emporium - the ultimate online destination for trend-led vintage fashion

Lovely's Vintage Emporium is a fashion paradise full of beautiful pieces and is the inspiration of UK magazine journalist and stylist Lynnette Peck - nicknamed 'Lovely' by her friends for her taste in covetable clothes..."

I know a lot of bloggers love vintage stuff so I thought I'd share the shop with you if you hadn't already heard of it. I've been browsing the website most days since it's launch (and I've never really taken an interest in vintage stuff!) and I'm seriously loving the following bits:

001. 1980S leather multi-coloured clutch handbag
002. 1970s Chanel handbag
003. 1970s floaty baby pink/red day dress
004. 1970s cream dress with crochet neckline
005. 1980s red polka dot sleeveless dress
006. John Galliano designer cream shirt

There is some such lovely stuff available so if you get a chance, definitely go and have a browse and see if anything takes your fancy!