pick of the best: sandals

Welcome to this week's very late (so so sorry!) pick of the best! The gorgeous summer weather we've been having over the weekend got me thinking about footwear, specifically my lack of summer shoes, which is why I have decided to take a look at some of the sandals in the shops at the moment.

As I pretty much live in my DM's, or a pair of boring black Topshop boots, the thought of exposing my feet to the world when the warm weather hits is pretty terrifying, but this lovely selection makes the scary prospect that tiny bit easier!

Hawk Feather T-Bar Sandals, £30, Topshop



Navaho Sandal, £65, Office



FRAN Suede Tassle Sandals, £40, ASOS



Plaited Beaded Sandals, £29.99, New Look



Brown Print Gladiator Sandals, £44.99, River Island



Kalahari Sandals, £55, Carvela (Kurt Geiger)

 I think my favourites have to be the leopard print sandals from River Island as I really like the chunky straps and buckles; I am definitely not one for a dainty sandal that will expose my whole foot! I can imagine wearing them with a lovely black maxi dress on a long summer evening.

I should be back to my regular blogging next week. I started a new part-time job at a bank on friday (I definitely need to get some shopping funds while I pursue my writing career!), and I've been suffering with an ear infection so I've been a bit down. Once I've settled into the job, and visited the doctor, I should be back on track though!

Hope you're all enjoying the lovely weather!

pick of the best: fringing

Welcome to a new item for the blog; pick of the best! Each week I will choose a key trend, or a style that I'm particularly admiring at the moment, and share some of my favourite items with you.

Everybody knows that this summer the 1970's are making a huge comeback; this means bright colours, denim flares and festival chic - which leads me, of course, to fringing! The high street is already going mad for this trend, with plenty of fringed bags, tassled loafers and distressed tees having hit the stores in time for Spring, so here are some of the items I'm currently lusting over.



Leather Fringe Backpac, £60 (Sales), Urban Outfitters



Coral Lace Fringed Crop Vest, £26, Topshop



Sand Fringed Side Denim Shorts by Unique, £70, Topshop



Brown Fringed Flat Loafer Shoes, £39.99, River Island



House of Holland Dress with Fringe Strap, £485, ASOS




Eleven Paris Fringed T-Shirt, £65, ASOS



Okay, the House of Holland dress is slightly expensive but I love it so much that I just had to include it! It's nice to dream anyway.

What do you all think about the fringed trend? Is it the ultimate addition for boho chic, or too try-hard festival fashionista? 

en provence

Last night I enjoyed a lovely evening at the L'Occitane boutique in Islington, courtesy of L'Occitane and YOU magazine. For those of you who aren't aware of the brand, L'Occitane is a French company who use lots of naturally sourced ingredients to create beatifully fragranced and luxurious feeling products. I have had a few bits and pieces in the past, for Christmas and birthdays, and absolutely love everything I've tried in the range.

(Image taken from uk.loccitane.com)

The evening began at 6.30 where we were greeted with champagne and lots of lovely edible goodies, before being offered mini hand massages. The beauty therapist cleansed my hands first, using a lavender hand gel which I made sure to purchase later in the evening, before massaging them using the 20% shea butter hand cream for dry skin. My hands felt amazingly soft afterwards so I would highly reccommend the hand cream! I think the full sized product is quite expensive but you can pick up a handbag sized tube for about £7.

We were then left to wander around the store and try out all the gorgeous products. The staff were incredibly helpful, without being pushy, and had plenty of advice and testers for everybody to try. Although there were heaps of things I wanted to buy, I eventually settled on the lavender fragranced 'Clean Hands Gel', and the 'Rose 4 Reines' eau de toilette; which has a very similar scent to the new Chloe Rose fragrance but with a slightly cheaper price tag.



The products from our lovely free goody bag!

 As we left the store we were all handed a bag packed full of lovely freebies to enjoy! The free products, shown in the picture above, included; Rose 4 Reines Body Milk, Verbena Shower Gel, Very Precious Cream, Verbena Extra-Gentle Soap, 5 Essential Oils Shampoo, 5 Essential Oils Conditioner, Almond Shower Oil, Shea Butter Hand Cream and Shea Butter Foot Cream.

I can't wait to test them all out!

I also treated myself today, although I really shouldn't have been spending anymore money after last night, to a few products from the Topshop make-up range. I have been debating over whether to purcahse the skin tint for a while now, but after doing a bit of research and my friend giving it a rave review I decided to go for it! I have yet to test any of the products out properly, apart from the  pretty useless back-of-the-hand test whilst in Topshop, but will let you all know how I get on!




Images from http://www.topshop.com/

I purchased; Skin Tint in Fair (£10), Lip Stick in Coy (£7) and Blush in Nutmeg (£6). I particularly love the coral colour of the lip stick which will look lovely in this sunny weather we have been having! I just hope that the creamy consistency transfers well to lips.

I'm off to the Country Living Show tomorrow so fingers crossed I should have some lovely snaps to share with you all later in the week!

forward thinking

I managed to survive my first week back at work, after a lovely break at the start of the new year, and I've actually had a pretty positive few days! Somebody from You magazine (a supplement that comes free in the Daily Mail on weekends) got in touch with me to offer me some work experience later in the year which I'm really excited about; as a weekly publication it will be great to see how a magazine is produced from start to finish. I also have an interview on Monday for an internship at an events website based in Islington. I will fill you in on the details next week, as I don't want to jinx it! I have already had to submit a music review and some examples of my writing, so I'm hoping its just a case of whether they like me or not on the day! Fingers crossed.

My number one piece of good news, though, has to be the purchase of these BEAUTIFUL shoes!

I snapped these up in the Topshop sale for a bargainous £10, reduced from an original price of £70!!I have to admit that I am definitely not a natural in high heels, but these have a really chunky block heel which should help keep me upright! The suede finish and gold trim gives them a slightly retro look too, while the scalloped front means they will look great with thick opaque tights in the cold weather.

A quick heads up for anyone interested in fashion journalism, although I'm sure those of you with your finger on the fashion pulse will already be aware of this; ELLE.com have launched a competition looking for a fashion intern to join their team for six months! It sounds like a great opportunity, and I'm planning to spend the rest of the weekend working on my entry. You can find all the details on the website here; http://intern.elleuk.com/.

domestic goddess

Okay, so my baking skills might not exactly be up to Nigella's standards but I happen to think that my mince pies look pretty good! (Nothing that a bit of strategically sprinkled icing sugar couldn't hide anyway!) They went down a treat last night with the family; a perfect snack for a cosy night in front of the telly.

With only twelve days left until Christmas, and despite a tonne of present shopping left to do, I've had my eye on all things sparkly in the shops. I'm looking forward to spending some time with my friends this weekend, and I want something pretty to wear while dancing the night away in Camden on Saturday.

This cream knitted sequin cardigan, from Topshop, is perfect for going from day to night and I love the soft nude colour. However, I've got my fingers crossed that this beauty will hit the January sales as my bank account certainly doesn't have £85 to spare at the moment!

I'm also searching for the perfect pair of black flats as I am fed up of living in boots. I have no stylistic preferences, but I want them to be comfortable enough to work in all day and dance in all night!

I have fallen in love with the 'Dale' suede shoe from Office; a quirky blend of brogue and loafer with cute fringing detail across the front. (Also available in tan, and a lovely green colour). These shoes would look great with my daily uniform of opaque black tights and vintage playsuits.

I am also besotted with these Topshop Premium velvet platform sandal), which are perfect for the party season! (Although they are most certainly not flat!) Unfortunately, as the name suggests, these shoes carry a premium price tag.

Would £100 be too much to spend on an early Christmas present for myself...?

black velvet

I have discovered that the perfect way to spend time recovering from a cold is to take to bed with hot water and lemon, and waste countless hours browsing fashion websites and glossy magazines for 'grunge glam' inspiration. I will upload my own take on the trend later; when my nose is less red and streaming, and my hair less frizzy (although the latter is a constant problem in my life, and therefore not directly related to sickness).

The resurrection of the 1990's grunge trend is, of course, nothing new for this season. We have seen high street hysteria over leather, velvet and lace in previous year's autumn/winter collections. However, this year's grunge is different; it is chic, it is effortless, it is chiffon and fine knits, it is less teen angst and more grown up playfulness.

Topshop, as always, were spot on with their take on the trend; 'Dark Nouveau' has plenty of leather and lace, alongside softer layers, chiffon and sparkles.

Their 'Heavy Duty' make-up collection, launched recently, also nods a head to the trend. Being a sucker for a new beauty product, I was quick to snap up the kohl dust and lip marker in an attempt to pull off the morning-after look that only the offspring of rockstars can truly achieve.

(Note: Okay, so this isn't exactly a 'morning after' look, especially not for the Geldof sisters, but I love Pixie's dark eyes and berry stained lips here.)