January Glossybox - 'Valentines edition'

I'd seen this months bright pink Glossybox all over twitter and instagram and so couldn't wait to get mine! I had also caught sight of a few previews of this Glossybox and was So excited to see that some boxes contained the Clarins moisturisers as I had wanted to try these for ages!

December's box was a hard box to follow, but I think I actually prefer this one. I love almost everything in this box, the only thing I'm not sure about is the body moisturiser.

I wasn't sure whether I was going to continue to subscribe to Glossybox this year, but after this box I'm definitely keeping my subscription and I can't wait to get my next box!

Has anyone else got theirs yet? I love reading Glossybox posts!

xx

Topshop Cream Blush - Flush

L - Partially blended out R Heavily swatched

Flush - Topshop £6

'Flush' is a gorgeous shade of pink with a slight touch of peach. As a cream to powder blush, it blends really well and gives a natural flush of colour.

I absolutely love Topshop cream blushes and have built up quite a collection! This is my favourite shade at the moment, it really brightens your complexion making you look fresh faced and also works really well with the Topshop sunbeam highlighter. 

The application is so easy, I use a blush brush but you can always use your fingers to dab on the product and to blend. I find that towards the end of the day it does get a little patchy however its easy to touch up during the day using any excess product thats left on your brush to blend as you need so little.

Overall I really recommend this blush, the price is really reasonable for the quality, pigmentation and formula. It will also work well for the spring make up trends.

Hunger Games Nail Polish Collection

A Hunger Games-inspired nail polish collection? By China Glaze? Um, awesome. When I first heard the news, I thought it was too good to be true - and it almost was, as a lawsuit almost killed this dream collaboration before it even reached stores. Fortunately, it IS indeed happening and was even promoted on Capitol Couture, the official Hunger Games style blog. Here’s part of the official Lionsgate press release talking about the inspiration for the collection:

In keeping with the powerful themes and messages of the story, the collection of nail polish will be inspired exclusively by one of the book’s distinct settings—the Capitol of the nation of Panem. Awash in lavish fashion, food, and entertainment, Capitol citizens enjoy extreme cosmetics and body modifications, bold wigs, and outlandish costumes.

I cannot express how excited I am for this collection, which is entitled “Colours From the Capitol.” There are 12 colors total, each cleverly inspired by one of the 12 districts of Panem. 

District 1 (Luxury) - Luxe and Lush

District 2 (Masonry) - Stone Cold

District 3 (Technology) - Riveting

District 4 (Fishing) - Hook and Line

District 5 (Power) - Electrify

District 6 (Transportation) - Fast Track

District 7 (Lumber) - Mahogany Magic

District 8 (Textiles) - Dress Me Up

District 9 (Grain) - Harvest Moon

District 10 (Livestock) - Foie Gras

District 11 (Agriculture) - Agro

District 12 (Coal Mining) - Smoke and Ashes

I really like the color palette (save for maybe the brown) and will be buying all 12 polishes to show off my Hunger Games pride. Simply judging from this promo picture, my favorites are Fast Track, Stone Cold, Riveting, and Electrify.

The collection launches March 1st, but if you’re impatient like me, you can preorder the entire collection online for $39.95 at Amazing Beauty Supply.

Are you as excited as I am for this collection? What are your favorite "colours"?

Dragonfly

Dragonfly necklace: Accessorize £5, Top: Primark £6
 
I wore this along with some Black skinnies, cardi and a snood for a casual day shopping on Friday. Me and my boyfriend picked up some necessities and then went to Yo sushi and to see Sherlock Holmes 2 at the cinema. Sherlock was really good - very action filled but still, Robert Downey Jr is hilarious in it!

I love the aubergine colour of this t-shirt. The neckline and sleeves are more feminine than a normal shirt which I love and for £6, its a bargain!  

2012 Golden Globes: Best Dressed

I know this post is about a week overdue, but refer to my Laptop Situation post to understand the delay. As stated in my Critics' Choice Awards: Best Dressed post, I loved the fashion at the Golden Globes, and I'm eagerly awaiting the Oscars to see what these lovely ladies will do next. The gowns were gorgeous and varied (although nude was definitely the trend of the night); the hair and makeup flawless; and the accessories perfectly complimentary. Like the CCAs, I had a hard time putting the looks in order (it was difficult enough narrowing down the list to just 12 to begin with). What I basically ended up doing was sitting back and asking myself, "Who would I want to look like and which gown would I want to wear if I was on the red carpet?" and here's the resulting list. 

#1 - Kate Beckinsale – Roberto Cavalli

Simply flawless in every way. In my opinion, Kate is one of, if not THE most beautiful women on the planet (AND she's hilarious) which might give her an unfair advantage since she would probably look good in a trash bag, but she has fantastic style to boot. Some may complain that this look is boring or nothing special, but I love it. The gown's silhouette is very flattering, and the beading detail is incredible. I LOVE that she left her neck bare but accessorized with huge, eye-catching earrings and bracelets. Her hair is pulled back in an updo, showing off her criminally gorgeous face.

#2 - Shailene Woodley - Marchesa

The more I looked at this gown, the more I fell in love with it. The detail of the bodice is simply amazing, and the color works so well with her skin tone. She made the right choice in letting this ultra-feminine gown be the center of attention by wearing light, fresh makeup and no jewelry but for some small earrings. She may be young, but Shailene has demonstrated great red carpet style this awards season so far, managing to look both classy and age appropriate - props!

#3 - Charlize Theron – Dior Couture

This look seemed to be the favorite of the night and for good reason! People were eagerly anticipating Charlize's red carpet comeback, and she did not disappoint. With her light pink Dior gown, she looked like an ethereal princess among the sea of attendees. On anyone else, someone might say there is too much going on in this outfit with the plunging neckline, high slit, big side bow, headband...but Charlize wears everything with such elegance and confidence, and she makes it look effortless. Just gorgeous.

#4 - Felicity Huffman – Romona Keveza 

Why, oh why weren't there any red carpet pictures of this GORGEOUS gown?? The moment Felicity stepped on stage to present, I thought to myself, "Wow, she has never looked better!" She looked downright stunning with her soft, wavy updo and natural makeup in this beautiful gold Romona Keveza gown. And how cute was her little ditty with her husband and fellow presenter William H. Macy?

#5 - Sarah Hyland – Dolce & Gabbana

I love, love, LOVE all the lace here. It gives the dress such an interesting texture and romantic look. I also love her wavy updo and smokey eye makeup with nude lips. Sarah is another young star who has a knack for choosing sophisticated yet youthful looks for the red carpet.

 #6 - Emma Stone - Lanvin

Speaking of young stars with great red carpet style... it's always exciting to see what Emma will be wearing because you never know what she's going to do next. She keeps it young and fresh, fashion-forward and always sophisticated, and the Golden Globes were no different. The two-tone plum and fuschia coloring is just fantastic and oh-so-flattering against her fair skin. The embroidered shoulders are an interesting touch as is the awesome eagle belt. Love the hair and makeup, as well.

#7 - Sophia Vergara – Vera Wang

This woman has such an amazing body! How can you be that curvy and have such skinny arms? It's just not fair. But back to the dress...the deep blue mermaid gown definitely showed off her incredible figure, and I love the texture at the bottom. Her sleek straight hair, red lipstick, and big bold earrings were pretty standard Sophia, but hey, if it works...

#8 - Jessica Alba – Gucci

Jessica looks so girly and romantic here. The lavender gown with beading detail is so pretty, and her skin (and smile) is just radiant. It's not a very daring look, and she's definitely done this same hair and makeup combo before (it's fabulous, nonetheless), but l love its softness.

 #9 - Salma Hayek – Gucci Premiere

Now to go from girly and romantic to womanly and fierce. Salma looked stunning in her beaded Gucci gown. I especially liked the design of the bodice. The only negative is her hair. While I liked her long wavy hair, and I'm usually a fan of ombre, the color change here is a little too abrupt for my taste. 

 #10 - Nicole Kidman - Versace

Nicole looked positively glowing in this grey column gown with intricate gold stud detailing. She's had some questionable choices in the past, but totally redeems herself here. I could just stare at this gown with all its details for hours - it's amazing. The hair, makeup, and accessories - all quite simple - come together to compliment the stunning look.

#11 - Reese Witherspoon - Zac Posen

Reese looked red hot in this Jessica Rabbit-esque, figure-hugging bustier gown. You can't go wrong with a sweetheart necklines, in my opinion, and I'm really loving her beachy, tousled waves and natural makeup.

#12 - Evan Rachel Wood - Gucci

Such an interesting, modern take on an Old Hollywood-style gown! I love the emerald ombre-like coloring and the different textures of the sequins and peacock feathers. Don't know how many people could pull such an exquisite gown off, but Evan looks sophisticated and confident as ever (check out that posture!).

Which is your favorite? Who are you most looking forward to see at the Oscars?

Instagram Diaries #3

It's been a while since I've done an Instagram update so these photos come from over a period of several weeks from before Christmas break, during, and after.

1. Holding one of my Big's bunnies - his name is Percy (:
2. Outside my mom's house - growing up, there used to be flocks of peacocks all over, now there is usually just the one who comes out waiting for my mom to feed him.
3. My sister and I painted each other's nails. She made mine a nice pale pink.
4. Nom nom nom! My friend Sonja and I made a vegan funky monkey pie (blog post and baking video coming soon!)
5. Playing the Adele vinyl my boyfriend gave me on the record player I got for Christmas :D
6. My dad's dream is to build his own airplane - he started several years ago and now has less than a year left!

Mainly Mac

MAC - pro longwear foundation in nc30, studio finish concealer in nw25, Ladyblush, e/s in goldmine (all over lid) and sable (crease), lipstick - please me, pigment in melon (to highlight) and MSF natural in medium.

Loreal carbon gloss liquid liner, clinique brow pencil deep brown, prestige white eyeliner, maybelline the one mascara. Ardell demi wispies lashes, bourjois bronzer.

I've built up quite a good lil mac collection and so wanted to do a look mainly based with MAC make up. I've got a few amazing staples that are MAC, one of which is Ladyblush which I got for christmas - its fast becoming my new favourite blush! 

For this look I was inspired by Kim Kardashian. I know she likes MAC's Goldmine eyeshadow and her make up is always so perfect! She has amazing lashes and I think these Demi wispies by Ardell help my somewhat lacking lashes to look a bit more striking.

 

I'm So excited for MAC's naturally collection to come out in the UK but I can't find the exact release date - does anyone know when it comes out here? Theres at least 4 pieces that I want from the collection - the redhead msf looks amazing and some of the mineralized eyeshows look so pretty!

Trendspotting: Headbands & Chignons

In my opinion, you can't go wrong with glamorous loose waves, sleek long hair, or a sassy high ponytail on the red carpet, and while there were plenty of these looks at the awards event, two other hair trends were quite prominent and the talk of the town at the Golden Globes.

First, were the headbands worn by not one, not two, but three attendees...and three's a trend, right? Especially when the wearees include Charlize Theron and Michelle Williams. These controversial hair pieces sparked debate across the Internet. Most people either loved them or hate them. I, myself,  am a fan, although I believe they work better for some outfits than others. Charlize and Busy Phillips' headbands were nice additions to their outfits, but I think Michelle could have done without it.

Want to jump on the trend? Here are some Etsy stores that sell super cute headbands: Vivienne Paris, Ruffles and Fringe, and My Lavaliere.

Second, which really aren't all that uncommon on the red carpet, were the multitude of romantic, messy chignons. Charlize, always a fashion-forward trendsetter, actually wore both a chignon and a headband - and pulled it off effortlessly! Stars also on the chignon train were Claire Danes, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Kate Winslet, and Jessica Alba.

What were your favorite hair trends at the Golden Globes?

Laptop Situation :(

Alright, I'm going to start off with the positive stuff: THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the comments and to my new followers!! You guys are awesome, and I really appreciate every one of you! (:

Now the negative: I'm so sorry for the lack of posts recently, especially during the Globes craze. Believe me, I have a lot of things I want to post about, but I've been having a lot of problems with my laptop. It's sooooo slow - it takes nearly an hour to start up, it constantly shuts down or freezes, and it won't let me on the Internet or open applications like Photoshop or Word. :( It's a 3-year old Macbook that has given me issues before, but it's always come around eventually. This time, however...I don't know, it's been like this for about a month now. I wish there was an Apple store I could take it to, but I am so close to just breaking down and getting a new computer. Anyone ever had similar problems with their Macbook Pro? Any tips on what I can do? Right now I'm planning on taking it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to see what they can come up.

I'm writing this from a computer at my university library. Until I figure out my laptop situation, I'll try to come here as much as I can to make posts. Thank you all for your patience <3

2012 Critics' Choice Awards: Best Dressed

Thanks to my apartment's horrible Internet connection (I finally had to relocate to my boyfriend's), I am just now posting this as I watch the Golden Globes. I'll post my thoughts about the Globes fashion in the near future, but I'll just say that I am IMPRESSED! I think I've got my work cut out for me compiling a Best Dressed list. The Critics' Choice Awards showed that the stars were already stepping up their game from their initial showing at the People's Choice Awards in preparation for tonight's big show. Overall, the looks were much more fashion-forward than the PCAs, but nothing particularly took my breath away. If anything, this is a very loosely numbered list since I kept changing the order. Three trends of the night that I liked were the bursts of colors, sleek silhouettes, and casual hair.

 #1 - Diane Kruger - Prada

#2 - Stacy Keibler - Giorgio Armani

#3 - Wendi McLendon-Covey

 #4 - Evan Rachel Wood - Valentino

 #5 - Shailene Woodley - Calvin Klein

 #6 - Elisabeth Olsen - Emilio Pucci

#7 - Emma Stone - Jason Wu

 #8 - Michelle Williams - Chanel

#9 - Anna O'Reilly - Honor

#10 - Viola Davis - Raoul

What's your favorite Critic's Choice look?

Topshop Highlighter 'Sunbeam'

I am absolutely in love with Topshops make up, especially their blushes, lipsticks and highlighters.

I actually went into Topshop to see if I could stock up on 'Glow' which was a lovely highlighter from their smoke and mirrors A/W collection. Glow is hands down my favourite highlighter so I was soo disapointed when it wasn't there anymore! 
I was drawn to the packaging on this, and as I wanted a new highlighter I swatched it in Topshop to see what the colour was like. I normally go for cream highlighters however this blends really well and is Such a gorgeous golden highlighter which would be so suited for summer!

Sunbeam is £9 which I think is quite reasonable for the amount you get, the photos don't do it much justice so if you can, swatch and blend it into the back of your hand in topshop - its soo pretty! x

Topshop Sunbeam

2012 People’s Choice Awards: Best Dressed

Can you believe it's already awards season? The People’s Choice Awards kicked things off Wednesday, followed by Thursday's Critic’s Choice Awards, culminating in tomorrow's Golden Globes ceremony– phew! The celebrity stylists must be going crazy this week! I wasn't incredibly wowed at the People's Choice Awards, but I do feel like the stars stepped up this year compared to last so I'm optimistic. What I really loved at the People's Choice Awards were the variety of looks. We saw long gowns and knee-length cocktail dresses, long sleeves and strapless, sparkles and lace, sleek hair and waves, up-dos and down, natural and intense makeup, even a tuxedo was thrown in. Let's hope the stars only continue to top themselves this season. Here are my top 5 favorite looks of the night. 

#1 – Jennifer Lawrence – Viktor & Rolf

Jennifer, or as a friend of mine likes to call her, J.Law, looked absolutely stunning in her structured, cobalt Viktor and Rolf dress. When she walked onto the stage with co-star Liam Hemsworth, I literally cheered and was taken aback by just how incredibly gorgeous she really is. I do find it slightly humorous that “the girl on fire” was wearing what appears to be a water-inspired dress – perhaps this is how Cinna would have dressed Katniss while she and Peeta were visiting Distict 4 (speaking of which, were there seriously no pictures of her and Josh Hutcherson together??)? Okay, sorry, enough Hunger Games talk. Back to the dress - she paired it with black Sergio Rossi shoes and Jack Vartanian jewelry. Topping off her striking look, was a simple but sleek ponytail, intense smokey eyes and light peachy lips.

#2 – Nina Dobrev – Elie Saab

As usual, the red carpet star and People's Choice award winner looked effortlessly flawless in her emerald Elie Saab cocktail dress and shoes. Nina was one of several celebs who were rocking the ulta-flattering color of the night, green, as well as the recently Trendspotted lace long sleeves. She accessorized her look with a Lauren Merkin clutch and J. Mademe jewelry, and kept her hair and makeup simple with sleek, straight hair and natural makeup.

#3 - Miley Cyrus – David Koma

I will admit, I’m not a big fan of Miley or the majority of her style choices, but she really killed it that night. With her simple and chic ivory David Koma dress, she looked like a classy young lady instead of a rebellious teen trying too hard. Even with it’s sheer paneling and plunging V-neckline, the dress exuded sophistication, especially when paired with minimumal accessories (Jimmy Choo shoes, Neil Lane jewels and a Marchesa clutch), sideswept waves, and fresh makeup. Love the pleated detailing on the dress too. Keep this up, Miley!

#4 – Emma Stone – Gucci

Always a fashion frontrunner, Emma paired a stylish kelly green, black lapel Gucci tuxedo jacket with a white blouse and perfectly tailored black trousers. I don't know how many people could've pulled it off, but she totally owned it, never looking more confident. I love how she kept it casual but classy and that color is simply amazing on her against her red hair. Thanks, Emma, for mixing things up a bit and your win, as well. 

#5 - Demi Lovato - Marchesa

Demi looked very grown up (maybe a little too much) in this gorgeous peach strapless Marchesa gown.  It certainly showed off all her curves, and I love the embellished bodice that brings attentions to her slim waist. She paired the gown with Christian Louboutin heels, a Marchesa clutch, and Roseark jewels. I especially adore her hair and makeup - her hair is pulled back into an exquisite bun and her makeup is simply flawless. Despite all these good things, I do think her and the dress, while both lovely, are a little miss-matched for each other, and I would have preferred her in another gown and the dress on someone else.

What did you guys think of the People's Choice Awards? What were your favorite looks?