SALE: House of Fraser High End Beauty Event

It's pay day and I'm at home all day with the online shopping world to try and avoid. It's going to be tough! I just spotted that House of Fraser have a beauty event sale on with some good discounts on high end beauty products. These discounts end TODAY (Friday 20th May 2014) so I thought I'd share my findings with you lovely people...

^Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette WAS £37 NOW £33.30^

^Clinique Moisture Surge CC Cream WAS £28 NOW £20^

^Benefit Rockateur WAS £23.50 NOW £18.50^

^Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Perfectly Nude Make Up SPF 15 WAS £28 NOW £20^

^Laura Mercier Pout Perfection Lip Trio WAS £31 NOW £27.90^

^Yves Saint Laurent Your Eye Must-Haves Gift Set WAS £25 NOW £22.50^

^Yves Saint Laurent Touché Éclat Radiant Touch WAS £25 NOW £19.99^

^Yves Saint Laurent Anti-Cernes Multi Action Concealer WAS £23.50 NOW £21.15^

^Nars Cosmetics Sheer Glow Foundation WAS £31 NOW £27.90^

^Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - Original WAS £16 NOW £14.40^ 

^Guerlain Meteorites WAS £37.50 NOW £33.75^

^Nars Cosmetics Radiant Creamy Concealer WAS £22 NOW £19.80^

^Nars Cosmetics Contour Blush Olympia WAS £30 NOW £27^

^Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick WAS £32 NOW £28.80^

^Nars Cosmetics Illuminator WAS £22.50 NOW £20.25^

^Benefit Watts Up Soft Focus Face Highlighter WAS £24.50 NOW £22.05^

^Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment Palette WAS £38 NOW £30^

^Baylis & Harding Ice Cream Collection Sweet Temptations Trio WAS £6.50 NOW £3.25^

^Dior Miss Dior Eau de Parfum 100ml WAS £96 NOW £77.50^

^Benefit CORALista Blusher WAS £23.50 NOW £18.50^

^Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask 100ml WAS £22 NOW £17^

Righty, I'm off to probably make a purchase I shouldn't....

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

JEWELLERY: Orelia

Very soon Tom and I are going to a Summer Ball, with all of his family, which is very exciting. We haven't been to a 'formal' event since leaving university back in 2011 - the real world we live in doesn't include gowns and posh events. I have been so excited to find the perfect outfit and all of the 'necessary' accessories. After spending almost every evening searching the internet for a dress, I was failing miserably. I had bought some gorgeous heels earlier this month, so I really wanted to wear a midi dress which would show off my new heels (the ones I can barely walk in!) This meant I couldn't look at any maxi dresses and I wouldn't feel comfortable in a mini dress. Although midi length dresses are quite popular at the moment, I found it surprisingly difficult. Long story short - I found a dress! It's white with a textured pattern, which I'm planning on pairing with a coloured blazer, 'those' heels, black skinny belt and a rose gold glittery clutch bag. I have been tempted recently to start wearing 'statement' necklaces, as they are just so effective and an easy way to dress up a simple outfit. The dress I've bought isn't anything too special, so I started another online hunt for a beautiful necklace to wear. Ideally I wanted a rose gold necklace, to match my clutch bag, I started my search on asos.

I came across this beautiful, rose gold necklace that was exactly what I had been looking for. The Orelia Statement Colonial Rose Necklace (RRP £25) had a slight Moroccan feel to it, which I love and the chain wasn't too short. I'm one of those strange people who can't have anything near my neck - tops, necklaces, coats etc. - it makes me feel like I'm suffocating. Casual. As a first 'statement' necklace I really liked how effective yet subtle this necklace was, it's not full of gems or sparkly jewels yet it has enough of a shine and colour to make a statement.

On asos this necklace was reduced to £14, from £25, which *clearly* meant it was to be. But then I decided to google the name of the necklace to see if it was sold anywhere else (as you only get free delivery is your order is over £15 on asos now and the necklace was only £1 away!) I found the Orelia website, which is jammed full of stunning jewellery pieces - you must check it out! I found the Colonial Rose necklace I had fallen in love with on asos and get this....it was reduced to only £6!! It really was meant to be! I hastily added it to the basket, paid the £2.95 delivery charge and waited for this beautiful necklace to arrive.

I received the necklace promptly and it was packaged beautifully. I'm definitely going to consider buying gifts from Orelia and sending them straight to their lucky recipient, it was just look opening a gift to myself. It's those extra details that matter. The necklace was carefully wrapped in beautiful tissue paper, then placed in a tissue paper lined box and then box had branded ribbon around it. £9 very well spent!

Have you come across the Orelia Jewellery brand before?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

FATHERS DAY: Berkeley Square London Dry Gin

It's already almost that time again - Father's Day - how do these events keep coming around so quickly?! Unfortunately this year my Dad will be in Italy for Father's Day but I'm not the kind  of person to use that as an excuse not to get anything. As I've said many times before, I love buying people presents - it's just such a powerful way of making someone happy!

Father's Day is a tricky one, not only is my Dad (and men in general) a nightmare to buy for but I don't live at home anymore so it's hard to get inspiration. Food and drink is usually such a good avenue to go down for gift buying because most people like to eat and drink. It's not as specific as the 19-piece spanner set my Dad asked for at Christmas!

Berkeley Square London Dry Gin* (£33.20 from Master of Malt) is an ideal Father's Day gift for those hard to buy for Dad's - or ones that like gin! I just love the design of the bottle, it's so elegant and timeless. It looks very smart sitting on our kitchen counter, next to the many mixers we're making our way through with it.

On the Master of Malt website you can order a 30ml sample bottle of the Berkeley Square London Dry Gin for £4.04. This is perfect if you're not sure if you, or the person you're buying the gift for, likes this gin. You can make a drink using the sample sized bottle of gin and give it a try. I didn't know if I was a 'gin person' or not and I actually really like it!

The Berkeley Square London Dry Gin is so smooth and you can really taste the different flavours. This is what the Berkeley Square website say's about it's gin...

'Berkeley Square London Dry Gin is the ‘single malt’ of the gin world. Two hundred and fifty years of dedication, expertise and craftsmanship have gone into the making of Berkeley Square to craft a complex and refined gin of exceptional quality. Distilled in in a traditional pot still and infused using our ‘bouquet garni’ distillation method, with a blend of hand-picked botanicals, including basil, lavender and kaffir lime leaves, Berkeley Square is the ultimate gin for the discerning drinker.'

Have you thought about gifts for Father's Day yet?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

BEAUTY: By Terry Ombre Blackstar from Space.NK

There's one high end beauty shops you constantly hear beauty bloggers talking about - Space.NK Apothecary. There's one in the town I grew up in but it was always a shop I didn't really understand what it sold and therefore never ventured in. However since becoming a blogger it's been one of those shops I've wanted to visit, not only to experience the wonders of NARS Sheer Glow Foundation and Laura Mercier Radiance Primer but also to see which new products it had to offer. My make up bag is a mixture of high end and drugstore products, recently I've been moving towards high end products (mainly because I got some for birthday/Christmas) as I love the finish and longevity. As our wedding is quickly approaching I've been searching for beauty products for eye's that would last all day (and the inevitable tears!) After a fair amount of searching I kept coming across the ByTerry Ombre Blackstar Cream Eyeshadow. It's a cream eyeshadow, with a slight shimmer and a range of shades.

Your eyelids are smoothed, restructured and enhanced - in a single stroke - with silky, luminous colour from this luxurious soft and creamy eye shadow. In six light-catching, buildable shades, it's perfect for creating a natural or smokey look. The waterproof formula won't smudge or smear, and the narrowed, precise pencil tip glides on smoothly for perfect day-long colour - that's also extremely comfortable to wear.


(from the Space.NK website)

After swatching all of the Ombre Blackstar eyeshadows (about 20 times) I settled on the No. 6 Frozen Quartz shade. It's a  lovely pink, shimmery colour. The other shades available are: Black Pearl, Silver Granit, Blond Opal, Bronze Moon, Misty Rock, Fizzy Jade, Paradise Island, Black Matte, Brown Perfection, Blue Obsession, Ombre Mercure, Velvet Orchid, Midnight Forest, Beyond Gold.   

I love that you can blend the eyeshadow out to achieve a lighter coverage or really build it up. I've been wearing this at the weekends, applied all over my eyelid and then putting a purple eyeliner just in the crease and then blending it out. It's such an easy, fuss free look and really effect.

These are £28 each, which is expensive, but they will last a long time and the quality is just outstanding. I'm yet to find a drugstore/cheaper cream eyeshadow that is anywhere near as good as this one!

I applied this in the morning and by the evening it looked exactly the same - there was no creasing, no rubbing off or loss of colour pigment! Ideal for wedding make up - I'm now eyeing up the No. 5 Misty Rock (a more purple/darker shade) and No. 3 Blond Opal (a lighter/pearly shade). I think this trio would create the most beautiful wedding make up look.

(in shadow)

(in the light)

Have you tried any of the ByTerry Ombre Blackstar Cream Eyeshadows?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

PHOTO A DAY: Day 145

^As I failed to find an evening dress yesterday we went shopping again today - to Leicester this time. This trip was a lot more successful, I found a dress and about 3 other summer outfits!^

PHOTO A DAY: Day 144

^We went to Lincoln shopping today - it's always dangerous. I needed to find an evening dress for a Summer Ball we're going to at the end of this week. Did I find one? Nope. Was I stressed? Yes. So I just had to spend some money in Primark to make myself feel better!^

PHOTO A DAY: Day 143

^We went to Tom's families today to celebrate his Mum's birthday. It's always lovely to catch up with everyone and seeing our niece walk for the first time was incredibly special!^

PHOTO A DAY: Day 142

^It's been one of 'those' weeks at work, so I decided to bake everyone some mini Victoria sponges (recipe on my blog here) and they went down a treat. Shame I couldn't have one, as I'm trying to eat more healthily.^

PHOTO A DAY: Day 141

^I was so excited to come home from work today, just so I could wear these gorgeous new heels all evening. I love them but they are hard to walk in!^

PHOTO A DAY: Day 140

^Fitting into clothes I haven't been able to wear in over two years it's just the best feeling!^