One Afternoon in Camden

A couple of weeks ago I went with my parents to visit my eldest brother where he lives in London. He's only lived there for around 6 months now and this is the first time (and definitely not the last) we actually visited him. One thing about my family is we love food, especially my dad, brother, and I who love to try out different types of food from varies countries.  

So where do  you go for food? My brother and I go no other than Camden. Now I have been to Camden many times and love it more each time I go. For my parent this was their first time in around 20 years and they really enjoyed it! First we headed straight for the food markets, now anyone that has been will know there are a couple of markets in Camden, but my absolute favourite is on the left just in front of the Camden lock.

Here there was a large range of food from, Spanish, Russian, Jamaican , Polish, British, American, Argentinian, Indian, even Coffies, wine, desert, and so so many more

When it came to choosing food I was tempted by the amazing smell of the Jerk chicken wrap, but ended up going for a pulled pork burger in Jack Daniels sauce. My, oh my, I can't even describe how amazingly delicious the food is here. I know there are other food stalls the other side of this building in the back consisting of Chinese, Italian, and Mexican food, but I always seem to find the best gems in this part of the woods. 

Just before leaving this area I notices this little Dutch Pancake stand and if you ever go to Camden please make sure you visit this little booth. I can even describe how amazing these mini pancakes were, and I find myself even now constantly craving them (though I am hoping this is an easy thing to do.) you can choose from 4 different sauces lemon, Nutella, chocolate, and syrup and aS for toppings you can choose strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream. 

By the time our mini pancakes were done there was a steadily growing que behind us and also onlookers. I ended up splitting 15 of these bad boys with my brother which was no challenge. 

After leaving Camden we headed back to my brothers place to pick up his car and drive 5 minutes down the road of the Alexander Palace instead of walking now it was raining. I had no idea this place even existed and because of its beautiful view I have made a promise to myself to go back in the summer when the weather is bright and the view is clear. 

Alexander palace sits on top of a hill with a breathtaking view of London. Sadly as it was raining and extremely cloudy we couldn't see too much, and also pictures weren't as clear. None the less this was a memory I wouldn't forget, seeing London from this view created a peaceful twist on the busy, hectic reality. Though  my view wasn't completely clear you could see most of London. 

Amy x

Purchase Of The Month

 I have been seeing the Zara Black City Bag all over Blogs and it sold out everywhere immediately! I have been waiting months for them to come back in stock and finally it happened, but by the looks of it they have changed some parts of the bag along with the price tag which has increased after the hype.

Well I was finally going to purchase the bag when I saw this little baby. Its the exact same bag but just miniature! I have been lugging around big bags now for the past year and wanted a bit of a change, partly to give my shoulder a bit of a break but also to force myself to carry less unnecessary stuff around with me. There are three colours for this bag, Black, Grey, and Blue.  I wanted something that was a bit more grown up if you could say that, plus I thought grey would be a nice change to all the black bags that I seem to drift towards.

Zara Bag

The bag is a lot bigger than I thought it would be but its still small. It fits quite a bit with enough space for an iPad to sit comfortably in the zip compartment. The bag comes with a long strap and also two smaller handles,  I will properly use the strap just because its more easier for me and tones down some of the smartness of the bag and can changing up an outfit. 

The bag was only £30 which is a complete steal! I would recommend it to anyone who wants a smaller easier bag with good structure and timeless design. 

Amy x

Favourite Things - Necklaces

One of my favourite things about outfits are necklaces. I can't stand when my outfit doesn't have one, I feel incomplete. I thought I would share my top 6 (yes I couldn't cut it down to 5) that I reach for the most on a daily bases. 

 Chain and moon - Kukee//Stone is from a shop in Burley, New Forest

 ASOS - [Similar and the one I actually wanted]

 This is actually my second one of these, I wore my first one too much that it broke. This one is from the Topshop sale for £8! Though I have still seen them in store. [Similar]

 I completely wasn't sure about this one, but lately Ive wanted some more statement necklaces and more larger longer necklaces. I thought I would take a chance with this one and I got it in the Urban Outfitters sale.

 This is properly my favourite and my most worn necklaces. I don't normally shop in New Looks [Similar] jewellery section, but seeing it around of other blogs just encourages me to pick it up. But recently New Look have been coming out with variations of this deign.

This was from a brand on ASOS called Pieces. It was round £22 but I waited until it was 20% off for students and I grabbed this one.  

Amy x

January's Collective Haul

Hauls are properly one of my favourite things, whether its me buying, friends, blogs, or Youtube. I absolutely love them! This is a collective haul of things brought over the last two months. Some things I have already tried, but as you can properly tell I have a thing for lip products. I have 2 lipstick stands which can hold 24 each, and with the exception of one being used for my Tweezers they are both completely full.

 L-R 

Dior Addict Lip Glow//Rimmel Apocalips in Stella (replacement)//Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive//Dior Show Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum//Benefit The POREfessional Powder.

L-R

Whitening Lightening Zero White Whitening Pen//Moroccanoil Restorative Hair Mask//Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express//MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in More To Love//Rimmel Moisture Renew in As you want Victoria//Maybelline Baby Skin//Louise Young brush in LY24B//This Works Deep Sleep Stress Less//Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream//Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Colour in 7 Soft Coral//Moroccanoil hydrating styling Cream

Amy x

Current Favorites

I don't normally go down the beauty side of my blog. But beauty is a one of my favourite topics, and maybe more interesting to me than fashion is. Im still on the fence. I have a  couple of items that I wanted to share with you that I've been loving this month.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink in the Afternoon - I've had this lipstick in my collection for a while now, and I pushed it aside as soon as I got it. But while packing for a trip I wanted to take a lipstick that I didn't mind loosing if it happened. To my surprised I absolutely loved this lipstick and ever since Its one of the only ones I reach for. Its such a natural colour which would suit any skin tones. No matter what state I look, it always seems to brighten up my face and soften it at the same time. 

I'm not one for smokey eyes. Any sort of darkness around my eyes seems to just close them up and make me look like I have been in a really bad fight. Despite knowing this I picked up Cliniques Brush on Cream Liner (in Smoke Grey 03), to try one last time to find a smokey eye product that would compliment my eye colour. And this hands down is the product! It leaves the most beautiful matte light brown colour that makes my eyes pop. I use a Sigma Eye Shading (E55) to apply this and Sigma Tapered Blending Brush (E35) to blend it out. Ps. A really good dupe for this is the Maybelline 24 hour Color Tattoo in Permanent Taupe. 

Of course my Pai Rosehip BioRegenerate oil is one of my favourites for getting rid of my lingering dark marks on my face. I wish I knew about this sooner, as this product completely changed my skin. I know that is a bit dramatic, but it honestly did. Now I feel more comfortable knowing throughout the day my red marks aren't going to start making an appearance through my make up. 

One of my favourite parts of the last month is getting my monthly Subscription box. Currently I am subscribed to GlossyBox and BirchBox. BirchBox being another of my favourites at the moment, I recently got a sample of Darphin Uplifting Eye Serum a couple of months ago. Like any other anti-wrinkle cream I get I just threw this aside until I was packing for Dublin, Knowing I could only take carry on items I was searching for all of my sample/travel side items. This eye serum was one that made the cut. I am known to stay up late and also have trouble sleeping, but with this serum you would never know. When I woke up from my very short 23 hours in Dublin, I was extremely tired. I had only had a total of 5 hours sleep in two days, and knowing my under eyes would take the toll I carried on using this serum at night. Within 3 days I looked like I was sleeping beauty! No bags and well rested. Although I am put off by anti aging creams, this one is one I am going to have to keep in my raceme for a little while longer.

When it comes to pores I am all about covering them suckers up and going for that natural but flawless look. I haven't yet delved into the word of pore treatment products and didn't even think to, until I came across the NARS Oil-Free Pro-Prime Pore Refining Primer. I was currently using Benefits POREfessional and although is good, it kept going to a bitty consistency when applying it when using most moisturisers. When using the Pore refining primer, it covers all of your pore leaving a smooth surface ready for your foundation. 

My Random favourite is Nicholas Sparks book, The Lucky One Book. I wasn't too enthusiastic going into this book, but I absolutely love his style of writing. I've never not liked one of his books, and this one is no exception. I never put this book down, even spending over three hours in Starbucks just to finish to book. I couldn't help but find myself attached to the characters, wanting the best for them. I the end I found myself feeling the hurt, love, and loss that the characters felt. If you don't know who Nicholas Sparks is, he wrote books such as The Notebook, The Last Song, Dear John, and Message in a Bottle which have all now be turned into movies. Please check him out if you haven't already.

My Un-favourite 

Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips - I  have wanted to try this product for a long time now after hearing all of the hype around it. Just as I was about to purchase it I got a sample in my Birchbox. I'm not going to go too much into detail with this product, but one thing I didn't like was how hard it was to squeeze out of the tube. Once on the lips for a little while its staying power was good, but it left my lips feeling worse than they was before. I have very dry cracked lips, especially in the winter and I want my lip products to help my lips in the long run and not just make feel nice while this is on there. It doesn't beat my Bioderma Atoderm Stick which is properly the best proudct I have ever used.

Amy x 

Not Autumn Appropriate

Top - ASOS//Shorts - American Apparel//Necklace and hand bracelet- Kukee//Lipstick - Soap & Glory - Replumzle

I am aware this is not winter appropriate. Nor is it something I would really wear nowadays. My style is starting to change a bit lately. Winter is my favourite season for layering, and part of that style I have to be comfortable and warm. To me anything high waisted at the moment isn't comfortable and isn't something I will be wearing in the next couple of months. Although I am not a very colourful person when it comes to my style, I do extremely enjoy mixing up my textures and patterns. 

One thing I do know is when summer starts to make an appearances and its actually warm in England, I will be pulling out theses shorts as they are the best high waisted shorts I have come across and the cut and comfort is like nothing I have experiences even with none jean shorts. It sucks you in, Flatters all figures, and looks stylish. For the price of £52, this is a little much but with the amount of times I have already worn them I'm getting my moneys worth.

Amy x

Winter Lips - Get The Courage To Wear It

If you want to make an outfit pop, or add something extra try a bold lip. Not everyone likes bold lips, I for one love them! Theres no better way to complete an outfit or take it to the next level than to wear a striking bold lip. 

If you like the look of bold lips but don't feel like you could brave it out and wear it I have a couple of tips for you. 

First the neutral lip, you need to be comfortable with the concept of wearing lipstick. If you are, great move on, if not try and wear it as many places as you can, even at home, or just to the shop. Getting yourself comfortable with lipstick is going to help your confidence when wearing a bold lip, and to be able to pull off bold lips you need to feel confident in it.

Onces you are used to wearing lipstick just bite the bullet and buy a bold lip. Any sort of bold lipstick will do. Whether is one you've seen on blogs, one you've been eyeing up, or just one to try out. 

With the bold lip its about building. 

Start by dabbing the lipstick to your lips and smooth it out with your finger. You wont get much pigmentation with this but you will start to get comfortable with wearing it. 

Once you have worn this for a while take it up a notch and pack more colour onto your lips building up the look.

One way for doing this is putting the lipstick onto your lips and using some tissue paper and blot the colour. This will instantly take the colour down and become a more wearable, softer colour.

Now its time to brave it and just wear the colour in its full pigmentation. The best time to wear this would be on a night out. If I want to try something new out I normally tend to do it on a night out. This is because I feel in the daytime I have nowhere to hide from daylight. I feel like everyone is looking at me more and I tend not to want to try it again. When on a night you have the confidence boost to attempt it. 

Amy x

Bargin Buys - Zara Edition

I have been struggling for the perfect winter coat since September now. I know exactly what I want. A long coat that hits the right point, doesn't swallow me, and is warm. I have searched everywhere to try and find one that hits all of the above, but no luck.

Zara is one of my favourite places to window shop. Although most of the time I never find much I like, I know what good quality their items are, and how well they last. I was browsing Zara and came across a new section called Special Prices, here I found my coat! I have seen this coat about, and was going to purchase a similar one until someone said, 'A winter coat should be easy to wear with anything. This is a big commitment for a everyday.' So I decided against It but still longed for a checked coat.

This coat was originally £70, but I got it for £40! To me that is a huge bargain for such a nice, well made coat. Even knowing this would be a hard coat to wear on an everyday basis, at this price you cant complain. Plus if I see another coat that takes my eye I won't feel too guilty purchasing another.

Grab one while you can!

Amy x 

Style Envy

Top- Miss Guided//Jeans - American Appareal//Jacket- H&M

I see so many style  blogs and vlogs of outfits to die for, but would never actually have the confidence to try myself. Well I'm choosing september as my new start month. Back to uni in a whole new campus, and I have to try new outfits that I would have never thought I could pull off. 

So  I thought that I would start with something small and go for a patterned blazer. I've always loved them on other people, and Im very  picky when it comes to blazers hence why I only own two. But this one from H&M I cut perfectly. My next step maybe is the get the matching pencil skirt and wear it out.

Amy x

Simplicity

Dress - ASOS// Necklace - ASOS// Lipstick - Topshop in Charmed

Well I know this has been a long time.. but I've promised myself to keep up with this from now on, and not get lazy like I have been lately. But thats partly because I've been working a lot covering people who are lucky enough to go on holiday. I'm not going abroad this year due to going to Paris. But I am going to London for a couple of day in August. 

This outfit was worn out of pure heat. I was too hot to wear anything clingy, so I grabbed my Navy smock which due to not being fitted let through a lovely breeze. Also I was just too hot to even attempt any sort of accessories, so I just stuck to one of my favourite necklaces to add something to the look. Lately I have been too lazy to do anything with my hair so I just keep putting it in a side braid. This gets it all out of my face, but still leaves a bit of felinity. So this hair style will be featured in a few upcoming posts. 

Amy x

Got the Tropical Blues

Crop Top- River Island//Shorts - Monki//Necklace & Cardigan - H&M//Lipstick - Topshop in Charmed

I know this is a little bit of a sloppy post butI just came in from dinner with friends and realised I really liked my comfortable outfit today, perfect for this sunny weather were are actually getting. Because I couldn't use natural night, you couldn't see the colours in the top and the shorts, hence the last picture with flash. When I first put this outfit on I didn't think it really went well, but after leaving it on for a while it started to grow on me and I loved how mismatched it was.

Amy x 

New Hair

Top-eBay//Shorts- New Look//Necklace- H&M//Lipstick- Maybelline Colour Sensation in 910 Shocking Coral

Amy x

Top- Topshop//Trousers- H&M//Shoe- Fashion Union//Necklace- New Look//Lips- Maybelline Colour Sensation in 910 Shocking Coral

This is my new favourite outfit! I am in LOVE with these trouser and the shoes! Don't get me started on them. They just scream elegance to me.

Amy x

Spring/Summer Wishlist - Harrods Edition

Spring and Summer are two of the best season for Fashion. One thing I love is bringing some bright fun colours into my wardrobe for a bit of life and freshness. After wrapping up all winter, Spring is what I call the transition stage for summer. Its the stage where you come out of hibernation, you gradually start to strip back them layers, start exposing your scary pasty legs and start slapping on the tan. For spring I like to bring both my winter and summer clothes together by wearing a colourful dress, but keep my tights on and adding a thinner Spring friendly cardigan. 

One of favourite things to do for Spring is shop! I bet that didn't surprise you. But Spring is the best times to pick up them new pieces to add to your wardrobe. Just by changing up your accessories you can completely change up your wardrobe making yourself Spring/Summer ready. 

As I am going to London next month, I recently went onto Harrods online accessories department to brows a little and see what Spring/Summer accessories they had. This resulted in a little wishlist which we all know ends in us getting overly excited and wanting everything our eyes lay upon. 

1- Marc by Marc Jacob Watch//2 - Alexander McQueen Round Skull Sunglasses//3- Alexander McQueen Sandals//4- Vivienne Westwood Neon Purse//5- Mulberry Bayswater in Pistachio//6- Alexander McQueen Scarf

Now I must say, when looking through the accessory section each item I chose here have not only been chosen because I like them and they are spring appropriate. But also because I loved these items in many different colours. For example the Marc by Marc Jacobs watch came in three colours and I could not choose between this lovely Red or a neon pink. Neons are huge around the Spring/Summer time, and if you aren't daring enough to walk out in a neon dress or trousers, a watch it's the perfect place to start and still pull the trend into your outfit. 

Next are the sunglasses, one of the most important items to when when the weather warms up and the sun wants to make an appearance. Not only are they protecting your eyes, but they look good too and come in all different shapes and colours. I was instantly drawn to these because of the shape. Although they are a more rounded frame;which happens to be very on trend this season. But because they are a very subtle rounded shape they are easier to pull off and not feel like a bug. Also as they are a softer shade and shape, I think these would compliment most people.

Ah sandals, my go to shoe in the summer. If you ever see me out I can guarantee I will have a pair of sandals strapped to my feet. I prefer to go for black sandals due to how versatile they are. Especially with a pair like these Alexander McQueen sandals, at £395 black is your best option. You could practically wear them with everything! Guarenteing you your moneys worth. And as I will be wearing sandals all summer so why not do it in style. I am debating saving up the money and buying these lovely shoes.

One thing I love to do when I'm running a quick errand is just take my purse with me. I find this so much easier as I'm not rummaging round my bag known to my friends as the Mary Poppins bag; this also gives me a good excuse to have an extremely gorgeous purse, and purse shop more than a normal amount. This Vivienne Westwood purse  is THE purse for spring/summer. Once again going back to the trend of neon but this would also make a lovely clutch for a night out if you were daring enough to take it out. As soon as I saw it i absolutely fell in love with it. Its the perfect size, colour, and its so simple yet so stunning. 

Now every girl has one item she always has in the back of her mind. And item that that she compares every bag she sees to and wants every bag she sees to be. This for me is a Mulberry Bayswater. These bags are so timeless and sophisticated. One thing I had with bags is when they are too big that everything just falls to the bottom and you struggle to find anything (which I am guilty of too.) When I went onto Harrods I have to admit handbags were the first section I went to, and when I saw that they were in no shortage of Mulberry bags I got excited. Mulberry just seem to know how to get it right for me, not only is this a classic bag but the range of colours would set any bag lover jumping. I found a couple of spring bags by Mulberry I couldn't choose between but decided this pistachio colour is nothing like I own or have seen. Its the perfect bag to add a big of spring to your wardrobe, even if you're like me and still wearing your monochrome colours. This is bag screams Spring perfection to me. And one day hopefully I will own one.

Last is this amazing Alexander McQueen scarf. Two years ago McQueen came out with the extremely well known and popular skull scarves. As much as I do love them, I wanted to step away from it a bit and when I found this Dragonfly scarf I instantly wanted it. It still has some subtle skulls around the boarder of the scarf but its full with some beautiful pastel Dragonflies; not only is it a delicate piece but what makes me love it so much is the way it seems to drape and fall so effortlessly. 

Amy x

*Sponsored Post*

Top & Necklace- ASOS//Skirt- Topshop//Bra- Urban Outfitters//Lipstick- Barry M in 151

For some reason trying to shoot this really wasn't working, but these are the best I can do.

I absolutely love this top and once discovering it was very low on each side I decided why not play it up and have some fun with the top. So I added a crazy bright bra to the mix. 

Amy x

I've Got that Mono

Top-River Island//Shorts- Boohoo//Necklace- ASOS//Lipstick- Revlon 040 Rendezous

Amy x