The Versatile Blogger Award

Hello everyone, hope you're having a great Easter. Just a little post today as I was kindly nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by Carrie. A big thank you goes out to her for that! She has such a lovely blog so I recommend you all check it out.

Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their blog.

3. Select 15 new blog/bloggers you've recently discovered or follow regularly.

4. Nominate those bloggers for a Versatile Blogger Award, leave a link to their page and a comment on their latest post to let them know they've been nominated.

5. Tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.


My Facts:

1. I am a little bit obsessed with nail polish, on my last count I had nearly 90.

2. I really really really want to go to New York.

3. I love pastel colours.

4. Christmas is my favourite time of year.

5. I love dogs. I think I get on better with them than I do with people.

6. I'm considering starting a youtube channel but I'm too nervous about it.

7. I'm excited that it's April tomorrow because that means my birthday is soon yay!

My nominations:

Vicky: http://northernblush.blogspot.co.uk/

Kirstie: http://kirstie-louise.blogspot.co.uk/

Tasha: http://tashalaurencleary.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Eleanor: http://thelipstickthegirlandherwardrobe.blogspot.co.uk/

Katy: http://katydesu.blogspot.co.uk/

Catherine: http://candyxcosmetics.blogspot.co.uk/

Sanja: http://sparklewithlaughter.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Samantha: http://caperepulchra.blogspot.co.uk/
Nikki: http://fairestsfavorites.blogspot.co.uk/
Andrea: http://www.rosychicc.com
Alessia: http://whispersfromangels.blogspot.co.uk/
Nikki: http://thelunarlights.blogspot.co.uk/
Hannah: http://hannahheartss.blogspot.co.uk/
Laura: http://www.lisforladybird.com/
Amy: http://linerlipsticklemonade.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks again to Carrie for nominating me for this, I hope my nominations all enjoy this as much as I did and I recommend that you take a look at all of their blogs! 

Emily x

Ginger Pickle | Handmade Jewellery

I recently entered a giveaway that Susanne was running in conjunction with Jade at Ginger Pickle to win a couple of items of her handmade jewellery and was lucky enough to win! Today, after a very long day, I was very happy to return home to find that the goodies I had won had been delivered!

Here is what I was sent:

(I couldn't resist taking photo's of the packaging as Jade had obviously put lots of effort into wrapping them up all cute and pretty!)

I thought it was really lovely that she had wrapped them all cute, as this really added to the fact they were homemade items and made it seem so much more unique and personal, rather than when you order something from a bigger chain online and your products just turn up in a plastic bag!

The two items of jewellery that I won were, as pictured above, a pair of pink rose earrings, and a lovely downwards triangle necklace. I love both of these items, they are so pretty and right up my street in terms of the kind of jewellery I would chose for myself!

These items came from the lovely Jade who runs her own website called Ginger Pickle, on which she sells a range of her own homemade jewellery, accessories and homeware. She makes such lovely and cute pieces of jewellery like these, as well as a range of other different items such as homeware, fashion and hair accessories and stationary. I strongly recommend you all to check out her website, you definitely won't be disappointed! See links at the end of the post for more information.

I'd just like to thank Susanne and Jade once again for the opportunity to win these lovely things. I feel very lucky to have won this and really love these pieces of jewellery!

Emily x

Jades information:

Website: www.gingerpickle.co.uk

Blog: www.ginger-pickle.blogspot.co.uk

Twitter: @_GingerPickle_

Facebook: Ginger Pickle

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post, neither was I paid to do so. I simple was lucky enough to win these items and personally made the decision that I wanted to share my experience with Ginger Pickle with you. I feel she deserves this little extra recognition and so made this decision myself to spread the word about her lovely work.

Beauty Haul | Recent Purchases

Before I start, I must apologise for being missing from the blogging scene a little recently. The new job is taking up all my time and I admit I have been neglecting the blog a little bit which I am not happy about. However, I have managed to get a post up finally. This is just a little collective haul of some beauty items I have brought recently. Let's get started..

First up are a few bits from The Body Shop.If any of you saw my recent empties post, you would have seen me mention that I had used a small sample of the Rainforest Moisture shampoo & conditioner. From what I could tell with the samples, I really enjoyed these products, so they were straight in my basket. Also when I was in The Body Shop, I saw that all Body Butters were reduced from £13 to £5 so I couldn't resist picking a couple of those up too! I picked up two, one in Raspberry and one in Vinyard Peach. Both of which smell amazing!

Next up are something I've had for a while now but thought I would include anyway. These are my first Real Techniques brushes, the Core Collection and the Starter Set. As you can probably tell, they have been used, and I am really enjoying using them. I really hope to get some more of these brushes at some point in the near future.

Another beauty purchase I made recently was a few Essie nail polishes on a Fragrance Direct order. I'm sure you've all heard of this website by now, but if you haven't you need to check it out as they sell Essie for only £1.99 which is ridiculously cheap! 

I placed an order for these three colours, (left to right) Bikini So Teeny, Fear & Desire and Cascade Cool. I am happy with all these colours and do love them all, but I must admit I found it very annoying that when I placed this order, I only had the choice of 5 colours, and the very next day they decided to add loads more lovely colours to the website once I had made my order! So very tempted to place another order now.

The final purchase in this haul is a couple more nail polishes! They are, of course, more Barry M Gelly nail paints from Boots. I love these and I have actually got a post about them coming up, so keep an eye out for that! I loved the ones I already had and so just couldn't resist picking up another couple, especially when they came in such lovely colours as these two! I picked these up in Greenberry and Papaya, which just make for the perfect Spring shades.

So those are my recent beauty buys! I think I definitely need to go on a spending ban now until my birthday next month so I can save for shopping in Brighton!

Emily x

Styling Challenge | Studded Boots

I was recently tagged by Katy to take part in a styling challenge. She provided me and the other bloggers that were tagged with a starting point which was a pair of studded boots from New Look, which you will see in the outfit below, and asked us to respond with a post showing how we each would choose to style them. Here is my response!

Links: Boots | Top | Jeans | Jacket | Bracelet | Ring

These boots could be styled in so many different ways. I love to wear shoes like this with both dresses and skirts as well, but for this I thought I would show more of an everyday look that I would typically wear on a day out shopping or something like that.

The outfit I chose to pair the boots with includes this monochrome floral printed top from Topshop which I have had my eye on for a while and really love. On top of this I would wear a black leather jacket probably similar to this one I have shown from H&M. I would wear it open so you can see the top, but would still keep me warm. 

On the bottom half I would wear this pair of high waisted skinny jeans also from Topshop, because I love the colour and they look very comfy too! To complete the outfit, I have chosen just a couple of pieces of jewellery. I haven't chosen a necklace because I don't want to distract from the pattern on the top, so instead I chose this spiked bracelet and cream coloured ring from Dorothy Perkins. I love them both and thought the colours matched really well with the outfit. 

Thanks again to Katy for tagging me in this post! I thought it was a great idea and I'm considering setting a similar challenge to others in the future! Don't forget to check out her blog by clicking here.

Emily x

Empties | Products I Have Used Up #2

If I'm honest, I never really end up with many empties besides the basics such as my simple skincare products, deodorant, hairspray and shampoo and conditioner. This is because I just hate running out of things, and like to have lots of different things so as soon as I get near the end of something, I will just buy another different one. This is especially true of make up. However, I have managed to use up just a couple of things, so I thought I'd do a little post anyway! 

 L'Oreal Elnett Very Volume Hairspray-

This is my all time favourite hairspray that I tend to go to everyday. Its great at helping to volumise the hair if you spray it at the roots, and also has great hold without leaving that horrible crunchy feeling! I have repurchased this countless times and will continue to do so.

Pantene Repair & Protect - Shampoo & Conditioner

I'm yet to find a shampoo and conditioner that I love and will repurchase so I'm just trialing new ones each time at the moment. These do the job but I'm not mad about them. I am currently using Herbal Essences and prefer those, but as I said, until I find the one, I will just continue to try new products.

The Body Shop Rainforest Moisture Shampoo & Conditioner (Samples)

Sticking with the shampoo and conditioner theme, I have used these sample sachets of The Rainforest Moisture shampoo and conditioner from the Body Shop. These small samples didn't give me much to really test it out, but I did quite like the results when I used them, so I'm thinking of buying the full size to try out next. I'd love to know your thoughts if you've tried these.

Simple Products

If you are regular readers of my blog, you will have seen a post I did previously about my skincare regime, in which you would have saw it is pretty much all Simple products. I won't go into too much detail, but you can see that post by clicking here. I love how these are so gentle on my sensitive skin and since collecting empties I have finished two packets of the Cleansing Facial Wipes, one bottle of the Soothing Facial Toner and one bottle of the Facial Wash Gel.

Kate Moss Perfume

Perfume is one thing that I literally never empty and have a whole box full of ones that just have the smallest amount left it but I don't want to finish. This is one of those, so I suppose technically it isn't an 'empty', but I am probably now finished using this. I am terrible at describing scents so I won't even try but I did love this one!

Emily x

What I'm Loving | Cath Kidston Homeware

Today's post is a bit of a different one to what I what you would usually see from me. This isn't one that would really fall under the fashion or beauty categories, but I was feeling inspired to post about another love of mine today, so hopefully it will still go down well!

This love of mine I am talking about is of course Cath Kidston designs. You may have already gathered I am a fan of her patterns from my blog background, but I will elaborate further! I'm sure most of you have heard of her, but for those that haven't, she is a designer that has a lovely range of distinctive vintage floral patterns, which feature on all sorts of homeware designs, as well as clothing and bags. 

In the collage, I have shown a few of my favourite homeware pieces that I have found featuring these beautiful patterns. There are range of items I've selected, from kitchenware, which include the mugs, bowls, a cake stand, oven gloves and a teapot.. to accessories which would brighten up the rest of the house, such as the clock, cushions, lamp and photo frames. 

I would love for the design of my home to be inspired by these patterns, and for it to include a lot of items similar to these. When looking at all these lovely homeware pieces, I seem to associate them with comfort and homeliness. I definitely think things like this are what makes a house, a home and I hope that one day I will be the proud owner of a beautiful Cath Kidston inspired home.

Are you a fan of Cath Kidstons designs?

Also on an unrelated note, I have just set up both a twitter account for blogging purposes and a bloglovin' account, so if you want to follow me on those, here are my links:

Bloglovin': http://www.bloglovin.com/sunbeamsanddaisydreams
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sunbeamsdd

Emily x

A Little Clothing Haul | ASOS & Next

When I ran a poll recently to find out what type of posts you most wanted to see, along with OOTD's, I found that hauls came out on top. I haven't actually done many haul posts so I thought I would do a little one for you today. This is only a very short one as I thought it would be nice to do them shorter and more regularly. 

Anyway onto the few things I have to show you. I picked up two things in the ASOS sale which I will show first.

 

I picked up this black and white playsuit by Rare London. I actually expected it to be a thicker material because that’s what the photo on the ASOS website portrayed, but none the less I love it! The fabric of this still feels of very good quality and it would be lovely and light for summer, but can also be worn with black tights and a jacket for any time of year. I love the pattern on this and the shape of the back which I have shown in the photo. I got this for £25 down from £45.

The next thing I brought seems like a bit of a crazy purchase considering it is snowing outside as I write this post, but I picked up this pair of high waisted shorts. I love the blue/lilac pattern on them and the scalloped edge around the legs. These would be perfect for holidays and if we ever get a summer here, but with the weather at the moment I’m not sure I’ll ever get to wear them in this country! These are from the brand 18 and East, and were also on sale on ASOS for £15 down from £28.

The final thing I am going to show you in this little haul is just this pair of plain black slipper shoes from Next. These aren’t anything too interesting, I just needed a new pair of black flat shoes as they are a good staple item to have and my last pair had probably seen their last days. I just love this slipper style to them and think they would go with almost anything.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Have you brought any new clothes recently?

Emily x

My Top 5 Hair Tools!

 Hello everyone. I have recently realised that I have never done a post surrounding the topic of hair, so for this post I thought I would show you my Top 5 Hair Tools. This isn't going to show any products I use in my hair, but just the top tools that I like to use with my hair. Here goes:

First up is the Remington Curling Wand. I love using this to curl my hair and I usually use this tool when I want the curls to be tighter and more defined, rather than a wavy style. It's very simple to use, you just separate the hair into sections, wrap each piece around the wand and hold it there for the desired time. You can adjust how the curls turn out depending the length of time you hold the hair around the wand, and the size of the chunks you separate the hair into.

Sticking with the electrical heat styling kind of tools, next up are a pair of straighteners. I use FHI Heat Platform straighteners. I know most people tend to love GHD's but I have used these for years and I personally find these do the job well enough for me so I have no reason to buy a new pair! I don't actually use this tool to straighten my hair, as I don't like to wear my hair straight. Usually I use this tool when I want to create more of a wavy style to my hair, which is usually my everyday look. I just use the straighteners like you would if you were curling your hair with them, but only briefly hold the hair to the heat.

Here are the next two tools. Of course I have included my Tangle Teezer (The Compact Styler). To be quite honest I would be very surprised if any beauty blogger did this post and didn't include the Tangle Teezer! You all know how I feel about this, it is the best hairbrush I have ever used! I use it all the time on my hair when it's both dry and wet and it is pretty much the only hairbrush I use now! 

The next tool I have chosen is this Hair Tinting Brush. If any of you dye your hair lighter than your natural colour, then you will know what a pain roots can be! I just find this tool very useful when I am colouring my roots using a home dye so I can apply the dye to the roots and not splash too much on the rest of my hair where it isn't needed. I think I got this from a hair specialist shop called Sally's, but I'm sure you can pick one up just like it in any Boots or Superdrug too.

My final choice is a hair doughnut. This is a rediscovery for me. I used this a lot back in the summer when my hair was much longer, but when I had it cut shorter, I began to wear it down every day so it got pushed to one side. This is a great tool for people with thin and quite straight hair like myself. My hair does not have a lot of volume naturally so I struggle to get it up in a nice bun, however using one of these gives me a big and full hair bun that I just love! I'm so glad I have rediscovered it again recently because it's just such a handy tool for me. I also think this would be a great hairstyle for me to wear to work.

What are your must have hair tools?

Also, please let me know if you like this kind of post, if you do I was considering doing a Top 5 Beauty Tools one too, so a similar post but including tools for make up, skincare and nails etc. Is that something you'd be interested in?

Emily x

Outfit Of The Day | Interview!

Dress: Cameo Rose

Blazer: Topshop

Belt: Topshop

Chelsea Boots: Dorothy Perkins 

The other day I had an interview for an apprenticeship job (which I got offered  yay!) and I know that my OOTD's are among the most popular of my posts, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do another for you!

I wore this lace black and white dress which is from the brand 'Cameo Rose'. I love this dress as it can be dressed up or down to wear for different occasions. For the interview, I paired it with my black blazer from Topshop to make it look much smarter and more suitable for the situation I was in. I also wore my new Chelsea Boots which you would have also seen in my last OOTD post. I am wearing these boots loads at the moment.

I will be starting the new job next Thursday the 14th, so I will be much busier from then onwards, but of course I will still be making time for the blog. I'm also thinking I may do a post on some of the outfits I put together to wear to the office, would that be something you'd like to see? Please let me know if it is and I will be more than happy to do that.

Emily x

Review | Revlon ColorStay Foundation

If any of you are regular readers of my blog, you will have seen a make up haul post fairly recently in which this foundation featured. I have now got round to using it quite a lot and testing it out and thought I would do a review of my thoughts!

I was in need of a new foundation and had heard great things about this one, so I thought I would give this a go. I went into Boots to pick it up and found myself already impressed with it before I had even brought it. This was because I went up to the stand and saw they had different versions of this foundation for the different skin types, so there was one for combination/oily skin, and one for normal/dry skin. I just thought it was great that skin type had really been considered by Revlon and that they had specially formulated different versions of this foundation to suit all. I picked up the one suitable for my skin type, the normal-dry one in the lightest shade Ivory.

When I came around to using this, one thing unfortunately disappointed me straight away and that was the packaging. It is in a glass bottle just with a normal screw on lid and no pump. This makes it quite challenging to get the foundation out of the bottle without pouring out more than you need and it going to waste. 

Other than that though, I have no complaints about this foundation at all! It claims to stay on the skin for 24 hours, now I'm not sure if that is true because I have never needed my make up to stay on for that long, but I have had no problems with it rubbing off and have found it stays on my skin all day. It is quite a lightweight foundation so it feels nice and comfortable on the skin and leaves a nice flawless finish with a medium-full coverage.

This comes in at the fairly affordable price of £12.49. I can see how this may seem a little much for a drugstore foundation but I personally don't think it is too bad considering the high quality of it as it is probably as good as some of the higher end foundations I have tried.

I am very impressed with this product overall and would be happy to repurchase it and recommend it to others, I just really wish they would re-design the bottle to include a pump!

Have you tried this foundation? What are your thoughts?

Emily x

Next Mothers Day Competition!

Blouse | Skirt | Bag | Boots | Necklace | Earrings

It's competition time! The Style Rawr are hosting a Mothers Day competition in association with Next. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning an outfit from Next up to the value of £200, is to create an outfit you would dress your mum in. This is the outfit I have chosen for mine.

I have chosen this Waterfall blouse. My mum loves to wear blouses, particularly ones from Next, and I thought this one was perfect. It is quite understated but I thought this would be best to match with the skirt.

I chose this pencil skirt with an odd black and white pattern on. I thought this livened up the outfit and looks like the kind of smart skirt that my mum would like to wear.

For footwear, I picked this pair of ankle boots as I know my mum loves shoes like this and has a few similar pairs. For the bag, I chose this patent black bag, which looks just like the right style and size that my mum loves. I also wanted the shoes and bag to just be black and simple to compliment the outfit, which is why I chose these two!

For jewellery I selected these earrings and necklace from the Alan Hannah range. I knew as soon as I saw them that they had to be part of this outfit as they are right up my mum's street! I think this necklace would look lovely with the plain coloured blouse to glam it up a little, and just had to have the matching earrings too!

So that is my outfit post for the competition, I love this outfit. It looks smart yet sophisticated, definitely the sort of thing my mum would like to wear! My mum and I both love the monochrome trend too so this outfit is perfect for that.

I hope you all enjoyed this post. Why don't you enter too?

Emily x

Monthly Favourites | February

So we've come to the end of another month! February felt like a very short month and flew by so I haven't brought much this month and I feel I still need to get some more use out of the things I have brought to call them a favourite, but here's a mini favourites post of some things I have been enjoying anyway!

Topshop Cream Blush in 'Head Over Heels' - 

I have had this for about a month now and it is my go-to everyday blush. This is one of the few items of Topshop make up I own and if you saw my last post you'll see there are so many more things I want to try!

Soap & Glory Clean On Me - 

I only have a travel size of this but am really enjoying it. I love the smell of this and would love to purchase the full size!

Benefit High Beam - 

This is a sample size I got in the Benefit Finding Mr Bright kit and I am loving it. I have done a full review on the kit here. This is another product I really want to purchase in the full size!

China Glaze No-Chip Top Coat - 

This is an amazing top coat. It keeps my nail polish from chipping for much longer than any other top coats have done and I will definitely be sticking to this one.

Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner - 

This is another thing I have brought fairly recently and worn everyday since. It comes out very black and lasts all day. The best part is it comes in at only £2.99!

Tangle Teezer Compact Styler - 

I got this for Christmas so I've had it a while now, but I'm still really loving it! This is by far the best hairbrush I have ever used and will be sticking to using this for a long time I think.

What have you been loving this month?

Emily x