Wednesday 31 October 2012

Mallzee!

Hello 

So i'm sure you've probably heard about this through other blogs or via twitter as all of the blogging community are talking about it, and it is Mallzee!

However, if you don't know and you haven't heard, Mallzee is a new way of shopping online and their aim is to make shopping online more fun & social!

Basically you create your own 'Mallzee' by picking your favourite stores and brands from the site then, based on this, Mallzee's software picks out items that match your own personal style and showcases them in your own personal Mallzee. You can also connect with your friends via facebook, polls etc and browse other people's Mallzee!

Even more, if you, or any of your friends purchase any item which is part of your own Mallzee, you earn money to spend with Mallzee partners or donate to charity! 
What? Money for shopping? YES please!
AND..if you sign up to Mallzee now and spread the word to your friends you could be in with a chance to win £100.

Drop and drag stores into your Mallzee
(Image from Mallzee.com)

Lots of big retailers are going to be pairing up with Mallzee including Urban Outfitters, New Look, St Tropez and Feel Unique so I was very excited to be contacted by them offering me a pre-launch invitation to the site!
To get your own pre-launch invitation click HERE and start sharing the site with your friends!

What do you think about this type of online shopping?
Are you going to be signing up and get your pre-launch invitation?

Monday 29 October 2012

Style Me!

Hello 

This weekend started as a bit of a let down which i'll quickly explain, so basically i was supposed to go out for Halloween with my friends, but due to illness and lack of money we decided just to not bother! So, needless to say, Saturday was a total bore until my boyfriend got back from a football game and we decided to go out for some strawberry margaritas and fajitas! I didn't get a picture of my outfit but i did get a picture of my posing mug:

Major cheesing..

Anyway, on Sunday, we went shopping in Glasgow. I didn't take too much money with me as i knew i would just spend it all so i just picked up a few pieces and decided to do a style me with one of them!

Basically, i'm going to show you a dress i bought from H&M and i'm going to pick pieces i own that i would wear with it to dress it up for a night look, and down for a day look.. Then i want you to tell me how you would style it!

I am unable to find the dress on the H&M website so i'm just going to use my own pictures and hope it portrays it as beautiful as it actually is!






Lighting again was not on my side so the photos show the dress a blueish colour up close when in reality it is more of a foresty, emerald green. I never go for green, in fact i hardly own any but i loved this dress!

So, onto styling it. For a day look, i decided that i would style it like this:


I've added a brown belt (New Look) to make the dress more casual, a brown handbag (vintage) and black studded flats (Primark). Since it is winter now in the UK i would probably throw my leather jacket or black blazer on over and maybe a scarf or snood and some black tights!

Now for night!


So for a night look i decided to pair the dress with my glittery stiletto heeled shoes (Schuh), matching clutch bag (Matalan) and diamante studded belt (River Island). I would probably throw my black blazer on too just to get to where ever i was going :).

Hope you like this type of post because i really enjoy doing them.
What did you do this weekend?
How would you style this green dress?
Would you like an OOTD with these outfits?

A 

Liebster Award!

Hello 

So the lovely Lucy Rose has nominated me for a Liebster Award!


The Rules!

 You must post 11 random facts about yourself. 
You must answer 11 questions from the person who chose you. 
You must create a new set of 11 questions for who you tag. 

You must tag 11 blogs with under 200 followers and let them know. You can not tag back.



My Facts.
I am petrified of swans.
I hate my nails not being painted.
My favorite film is Dirty Dancing and i probably know all of the words!
I have a degree in Social Science.
I want to go to Hawaii.
I hate being in massive crowds.
I am in love with Newcastle and i want to live there one day.
I want to marry Johnny Depp.
I love Irish accents.
I love dolphins, i want to swim with one one day.
I can't sing.



My answers to Lucy's Questions:

What made you start your blog? 
I started my blog after reading other people's for the past few years and realising that i could relate to them and thought that by writing my own blog i could share my experiences with others and hopefully inspire someone else to do the same.



Favourite high end brand?
Obviously MAC but i also love Dior and Chanel when i can afford it, but i'll say MAC.

Favourite drugstore brand?
Hmm.. probably MUA. It can be a hit or miss but usually i love their products and it's to inexpensive!

The most interesting thing thats happened to you?
This is a hard one! Nothing interesting has really happened to me? Emm.. i got my tonsils taken out? haha!

Your style icon?
Another hard one.  I'm going to say Kate Moss. She's always gorgeous.

Naked vs Naked2?
Well if you follow me on twitter you will know that i recently dropped and smashed most of my Naked2 palette but, i like Naked original the most so i'm glad it wasn't that one!

Your go to beauty product?
It would either be foundation or mascara, but i'm going to pick mascara. I hate my eyes without it!

Your inspirations?
Lots of people inspire me in different ways, but picking one person i'm going to say my mum. She helps me through anything and even if i'm wrong she'll always stick by me. She is the strongest person i know.

Your best beauty tip?
Just a simple one but always remove makeup before sleeping. I've lived by this since my gran told me if i didn't i would get wrinkles. I don't know if it's true but it's stuck with me! 

Your stuck on a desert Island where you could take 5 things, what would they be?
Mascara, food(haha!), insect repellent, a notebook and a pen!

Something that makes you happy?
Shopping. Retail therapy solves everything right?


The 11 lovely girls i nominate for this award are:



My Questions for them are:

Why do you enjoy blogging?
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
What is your favourite fashion trend right now?
Which one beauty product would you live without if you had to?
Your happiest day?
Favourite season for fashion?
High street or high end makeup?
Long hair or short hair?
What is your favourite lipstick?
Your favourite high street fashion shop?
Who is your idol?


Hope you don't mind that i nominated you girls and hope you enjoy answering the questions!

Let me know if you do the award tag so i can take a look at your answers :)

Even if I've not tagged you, you can still use my questions and take part if you want to :)!
Thanks again Lucy for nominating me!
A 

Friday 26 October 2012

Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte Lipstick by Kate Moss - First Impressions Review

Hello 

Since i bought these lipsticks i have been asked a few questions about how long they last, how matte the appearance is, the colour's etc, so i thought i would review them today for you! 

I bought two of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte collection by Kate Moss for £4 each on promotion in ASDA, i'm not sure if this is ongoing but you can pick them up from Boots, Superdrug etc for around £5.49 each.


I picked up the lipsticks in shade 107 and 110. 


I'll start on 110! So this lipstick is a bight red colour despite it looking quite orange in the picture (it's definitely red!). I loved this as soon as i seen it as i love love love matte lips and i love red lipstick on anyone! It's a simple colour and can really add a pop to a plain outfit. 


Here's a swatch of the colour on a lovely close up of my hand! It was hard to get a picture of this on myself as the lighting today is really awful but i tried, so here are a couple (excusing my minimal 'work appropriate' makeup look!)..


Doesn't really match the dress does it? It looks a bit brighter in the pictures due to my flash i had to use because of the lighting, but i think they show how more red it is than orange. I love the colour and having worn it yesterday for around 5/6 hours baring in mind i had drank coffee, been outside all day and eaten lunch, i would say it's staying power is pretty good! 

Anyway, i also love it in shade 107!


This one is more of a winey sort of reddish purple (great description skills Ash!) colour. I picked this shade up before shade 110 and decided that i have enough reds and just to get this one instead.. but nope, i just got both! I decided to swatch and put this one on for you guys to see too :)..


As you can see it is more of a wine colour sort of in-between a red and a purple. I also took some pretty rubbish photos of it on the lips and me doing crazy faces..


Matches the dress much better! I have to say, despite me being an avid red fan, this is quickly becoming my new favorite lipstick. It takes a while to dry into the lips and become a bit more smudge proof but it is a really pretty matte colour and really looks lovely on. Obviously in the middle picture i don't have the lipstick on.. i was mid-application but thought it would be a good picture to show contrast between my actual lips and the lipstick.

Overall, i love the Matte collection by Kate Moss and i probably will buy one or more of the other available colours. I plan to compare these to the original Lasting Finish by Kate Moss lipsticks but, i already know i prefer the Matte ones just because i really love the finish. I know matte lips are not every one's cup of tea though! I will say that i feel they are a tiny bit drying on the lips but not excessively so and you can use a balm under them, it will just mean they may not look as matte.

Also, the smell of these is really really nice for a lipstick. I don't really know how to describe it but they smell almost fruity? Not sure, but it's really nice in my opinion!

I am going to wear one of these over the weekend for a whole day and see how long they last without  any reapplication. I will take photos (better ones in natural light!) and keep you updated! 

Do you own any of the Rimmel Lasting Finish Matte collection?
Do you love them as much as me, or am i the only fan?


Wednesday 24 October 2012

Small(ish) Fashion & Beauty Haul!

Hello 

I have been shopping, again, for some basics for layering this winter and a few cheap and cheerful make-up pieces! The shops have some really nice bits and pieces in just now but (although this may just be me) i'm finding that everything seems to have the same patterns or same colours, and frankly, i just find them a bit boring now! So rather than go all out on clothing i just popped to Primark, Boots, Superdrug, Matalan and Asda and picked up a few cheapy bits :).



So this is what i picked up! Grey sequined snood from Primark (£5), Polka dot bra from Matalan (£3 in sale), Two plain basic tees in Plum and Red from Primark (£3 each), Two MUA eye shadow palettes from Superdrug ('Undressed' £3 & 'Poptastic' £4), Sparkly Clutch from Matalan (£4), Light Pink coloured skinny jeans from Primark (£5 from £11), Animal print faux fur ear muffs from Primark (£3), Penguin mitts also from Primark (£2), two Kate Moss Matte Lipsticks for Rimmel from Asda (£4 each on offer) and Cherry Carmex from Superdrug (£1.95, half price for a limited time).

Although i didn't pick up much i really like all of the pieces i got and have been using the (childish yet amazing!) penguin gloves and the ear muffs all weekend! The tee-shirts are just plain and simple and are easy to layer with different coats and jeans, leggings, disco pants etc! And, the glittery clutch (which is much more glittery than the pics make out!) was a real bargain at only £4 and will be lovely with a simple LBD and my perfectly matched glittery shoes from Schuh on Christmas nights out!

I had wanted the Matte Kate Moss for Rimmel lipstick in shade 110 since i had seen it as i love red lips and think they suit anyone and any skin tone!


However, when i went to buy this shade, i fell in love with shade 107 of the collection:


Since Asda had them for £4 each i just bought both, and i absolutely love them both! I will get onto showing you these on the lips and swatching both in another post if you want to see a review on them?

While i was in Superdrug, i picked up two lip liners as i don't really have many and the ones i do own are mostly pinks and nudes.


I bought these two in "Red Drama" and "Brooding Plum" from MUA as i thought they went really really well with the Kate Moss lipsticks and they look lovely on the lips despite their really cheap price tag at only £1 each.

Still on make-up but moving away from lips, I have been thinking about my eyebrows lately. I hardly have any 'real' eyebrows and they just refuse to grow, they have no shape and are just really really thin and rubbish! So every day i fill in and extend my eyebrows and have used many different kits from HD Brows, Gosh's Brow Kit and Gel to Benefits Browzing's and have found the best product for me to actually be a brow pencil by Tesco's make-up range 'Vivo' which costs me £1.50! However, drawing and shaping my eyebrows every single day, although essential, takes up a bit of time! Therefore, i though i would try a new (for me anyway) product which i seen on twitter from InstantEyes.co.uk.


These are eyebrow tattoos! (£3.99 for set of three). I am however, unable to tell you how good or bad these are as i haven't used them yet because i'm waiting for a day when i am actually doing something to try them out! I am excited to see how they work out for me and i shall keep you updated on how i get on!

Annnnd, i am going to stop rambling on about my exciting (or not so!) weeks purchases now! 
Have you been buying any wintry essentials lately?
Or have any new make-up products you recommend?

Thanks for reading lovelies! 

Thursday 18 October 2012

Current Top 10 Dress Picks!

Hello 

I am in love with every single dress in every shop i see these days (as usual) so i thought i would pick my current top 10 and share them with you!
I picked my top 10 from high street shops current season collections. I tried to pick from different retailers, differing styles and different price ranges so, these are the beautiful dresses i eventually decided on:


Top Row, from Left to Right:
Mini PU Peplum Dress £39.00; Miss Selfridge
Kloudin Sequin Detail Skater Dress £33.99; Missguided
Limited Edition Embellished Bodycon Dress £180; Topshop
Bottom Row, from Left to Right:
Karen Millen Draped Front Jersey Dress £140; ASOS
Ax Paris Aubergine Peplum £25; New Look
Motel Pearl Strapless Skater Dress in Rosa Print £42; Motelrocks.com

Top Three Runners Up:
Lipsy Flock Effect Bodycon Dress £60; ASOS
Swing Dress with Dipped Hem in Red £45; ASOS
Black Flocked Mesh Bodycon Dress £35; River Island

And, my personal winner!:

Lipsy Peplum £65.

 I picked Lipsy peplum dress as my No 1 because red is currently my favorite clothing colour for A/W and i think it goes well with my skin tone and dark hair. This dress would go perfectly with a pair of plain black heels as the dress is bright enough, and enough of a statement, that understated shoes would really compliment it. 

I am absolutely in love with all of these dresses and would buy every single one of them if i had the money to! Also if you can't tell already, i am completely obsessed with peplum, mesh and sequins..... i can't help myself!

Do you like or have any of these?
What are your current favorite dress styles?
A 

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Dress Me!

Hello
I thought i would do a bit of an outfit post today but since i am only going to work later i thought rather than show you my beautiful work attire, i would ask you to help with what i should wear this weekend! The pictures are not very clear as the weather has been awful all day so trying to get good lighting was an absolute nightmare, sorry! Anyway, here's the first outfit choice:
This outfit consists of Pink Jeans £14, Black Peplum Vest £4, Black Wedge Shoes £19.99, Black Military Style Jacket £22, Necklace £7.99 and DKNY Watch (gift).

It's a simple but girly and structured look and keeps it a bit dressed up with the wedges and fitted jacket.

This is the second choice:
This outfit consists of Red Lace Peplum Top £14.99, Jeans £11, Links of London Bracelet (gift), Studded Ballet Flats £8, Black Boyfriend Fit Blazer £19.99.

This outfit is a bit more casual than the first outfit but is still girly and dressed up a bit by the red, long-sleeved peplum top and black blazer.

So now it's your choice to help me with what to wear this weekend!
Which would you pick?

A


Friday 12 October 2012

MUA Nail Constellations!

Hello 

Today i had to pop to the bank and while i was in town i decided to drop into superdrug to pick up MUA's 'Undressed' palette. While i was there i wanted to check if they had any of the Nail Constellations as recently every time i have looked they have been out of stock!

I'm really after Leo and Gemini however as expected, none in stock! For once though, they did have a very limited stock of both Libra and Pisces, and so obviously i couldn't resist picking one up to give it a try!

In the end, i picked Libra, which only cost me £2.50! This is a real bargain when you consider similar products such as Ciate's Nail Caviar, although beautiful, retail at £18 each! Also, while i'm on the subject of MUA, superdrug currently have some offers on which you can save yourself £1 with the 'undressed' palette as well as 50p off their new Pro Brow Kit, just thought i'd share that for those who want to pick those up soon!

Anyway, despite not getting the one i wanted, i still picked up Libra and decided to give it a go! Here's what happened:
First off, i painted my nails using MUA's new 'Bright Pink' shade (£1). I own quite a few MUA nail polishes now and i genuinely love them, particularly the newer ones, they are so glossy and dry really quickly and for the price i don't think i could ask for more from them!
Then, when painting my second coat of polish i simply sprinkled the Nail Constellations on using the funnel on the bottle while the polish was still wet!
On parts of my nails which i though didn't have enough beads i just rolled my nail in the excess fall out from when i had been sprinkling them. I really recommend putting down paper or a sheet to catch the fall out otherwise you will be cleaning up constellation beads for the next week! It also allows you to save the beads by folding the paper and sliding the dropped beads back into the bottle.
This is what i created:


Personally, i really love the look and will most definitely be purchasing Gemini when i can find it in stock (if ever!!!). I am keen to see how these wear so i will give you all an update when i have had them on longer than half an hour!

Have you been trying out any of MUA's Nail Constellations? How have you found them?

A 

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Mini Studs & Spikes Haul!

Hello
Lately I have been hitting the shops a lot and spending money that I don't have!

As I said within my Winter Wishlist post, I have been really obsessive with spiked or studded things recently and so I have been buying a few bits and pieces which I wanted to share with you all:


First off, are these ankle boots from Primark. I have been looking for a studded pair of ankle boots for literally ages and eventually found this pair for only £18! I really love the studs on the back of these as all of the other boots I looked at tended to be either really stupidly expensive, or had studs all over the toe and sides of the boots, which is not really what I was looking for. Overall, I really love these boots and would recommend them to anyone!



I also picked up this spiked and studded bag which was another total bargain at £16 from Matalan! I have looked at a few similar handbags, none of which had enough studs for what I wanted or only had studs on the bottom, so when I seen this in Matalan I couldn't turn it down. I love handbags generally and already have far too many but this one is my new fave!



Following the stud obsession I also purchased these ballet flats from from Primark for £8. As you can see, I have worn these to death since I bought them. They are really comfortable and are just typical Primark flats! I mainly bought these because I wanted an alternative to the Topshop spiked flats & these were perfect with studs rather than spikes and are a soft quilted material rather than the leather material of Topshops.

So thats all of the spiked/studded things I have bought recently but will have another fashion haul up really soon if you are interested in more of these type posts?


Are you into spikes and studs this season?

A


Tuesday 9 October 2012

Winter Wishlist!


Hello

With the weather being absolutely freezing here in Scotland right now I am in serious need of updating my wardrobe to more wintery clothing! So, I thought i'd share with you my winter wishlist!

White Sequin Jumper
White Sequin Top: Miss Selfridge £39:00

2 in 1 Stud Detail Playsuit
2 in 1 Stud Detail Play-suit: Miss Selfridge £45.00

Lacey Trench Coat With Leather Sleeves In Beige
Lacey Trench Coat with Leather Sleeves: Missguided £58:99



Ox Blood Gold Studded Peplum Top: InLoveWithFashion £34:00



 
Black Studded Shoulder Blazer: InLoveWithFashion £38:00


Image 5
Heart Knit 3/4 Sleeve Jumper: AX Paris £23:00


These are just a few bits of many that I have been spying lately. I am really loving the spikes and studs trend currently! Are there any trends you are loving at the moment?


Thanks for reading!


A

Monday 8 October 2012

Nailed It!

Hello 


So today I decided to try magazine nails.

I have tried this before but usually I use false nails and a newspaper. So today, since I have just removed my false nails from the weekend and don't have any occasion to put new ones on for, I decided to try with a magazine on my natural nails! Here's what happened:


Basically, if you don't already know how to do this, I simply chose a magazine, cut a part out and using vodka (yes, vodka - but water works too! I just wanted to test if using alcohol made any difference) and a cotton bud, I rubbed the cut-out onto my already painted white nails, then quickly put a top-coat over to seal it all on!

Some Tips: 
  • Look for clippings with small shapes or different colour writing etc for different effects.
  • Only use clippings with text on a white background (unless of course your base colour is not white like mine). I only figured this out when I used some text which was on a black background and the black just transfers along with the text (obvious to most but, clearly not to me!) and the writing comes out faded.
  • Always use a top-coat, it makes the writing look so much bolder and seals all the font onto the nail.
Have you tired this before?
If not, are you going to?

Hope you enjoyed.

A




Sunday 7 October 2012

Hello!

Hello Everyone


And welcome to La Bella Vida!

My name is Ashley, i'm 22 and I am addicted to all things hair, nails, make-up, fashion etc! I decided to make this blog as I have read other people's blogs for over two years now and finally plucked up the courage to make my own! 

Without telling you all my whole life story in my first blog post, here are a few things I love:

Chocolate, high heels, watching soaps (i'm addicted), sparkly things, shopping, shopping some more, watching you-tube videos, reading blogs, cocktails, cinema trips, nights out, pretty dresses, the gym, watching videos (i must be the only one to still own these!), sponges (yes..), Irn-Bru, Johnny Depp, PJ days, the smell of rain, handbags.....

The list goes on, but those are my main life loves!
Are yours similar, or completely different?

Thank-you for reading!

Ashley
 @Labellavida2