Olivia Burton Rose Gold Watch

Just a short and sweet one today, I'm afraid, as I'm off to London this morning to spend a few days visiting friends and soaking up the sights and sounds, as you do. Judging by the weather forecast, we would have been hard pushed to choose a worse weekend to go, as there are severe weather warnings all over London for the next few days. But hey - we'll make the best of it. I'm really looking forward to some tapas and drinks with some of my best girls, and a couple of nights in a plush hotel (you really can find some great deals if you don't mind spending hours shopping around!), and it's our anniversary over the weekend too, so we will be celebrating that. I'm taking my new camera with me in the hope that I'll manage to get lots of lovely snaps, but I'm still getting to grips with it - take this image, for example, which is not nearly as in focus as it looked on the screen itself before I uploaded it onto the computer. Sigh.

Anyway, getting to the point of this post, which is to introduce you to my favourite new accessory..

I received this beautiful rose gold Olivia Burton watch for Christmas after having pined after the entire collection for longer than I care to remember. The thing about Olivia Burton watches is that every single design is beautiful, so choosing the right one is no easy task. The one thing I was always sure of,however, is that I definitely wanted a large, rose gold face, and in the end I plumped for this one, which has a navy blue leather strap. My thinking was that this one is perfect for the current season, as I do tend to wear darker hues in the Winter. Come summertime, however, I'll probably want to change things up a bit, so it's the ideal excuse for starting a collection! I have already spotted a mint pastel strap that, when paired with the rose gold face, will pretty much make up my perfect warm weather watch, and after that? Who knows.

If you'd like to have a look at the selection of Olivia Burton watches, then ASOS have some great ones. Most are only £95, which I think is a fantastic price for such a good quality, attractive timepiece.

I'm not sure that I'll have the chance to post again before Tuesday, so until then.

Have a great weekend.

xx

The Weekly Selection

I always enjoy doing my monthly favourites, but as time has gone on I've found myself leaning more and more towards making videos about them, and once I have done that I always think twice about posting about them as well, as I feel it might be a bit much. However, I do know that some of you would much rather see a post on the topic, as a lot of people do tend to do their catching up via mobile phone on the go, and nobody wants to be blasting out a video on the tube or the train for all to hear.

So, The Weekly Selection is born. In this series of posts, I'll be sharing with you whatever has made it onto my most-loved list this week, so expect to sometimes see a few old favourites making their way in amongst my newest finds, as often I will have a bit of a root around in my collection and come across a little gem I had forgotten all about (I will always mention if this is the case).

This week, it's been all about the Elemental Herbology Bio-Cellular Super Cleanse*,  a creamy cleanser containing apple AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) to boost cell turn over and gently exfoliate the skin. I've been wanting to add some regular acid exfoliants to my routine for some while now, as I wanted to see whether doing so would help me out in the war against hormonal breakouts, and being able to work this in daily in the form of a cleanser is handy when it comes to both time and money. I've been using this as my evening cleanser, as it's great at removing every last trace of makeup, as well as giving my skin a good, deep-down clean, leaving it feeling soft, nourished and comfortable.

Continuing with the theme of acid exfoliants, I've been trialling this mini size of the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner,  a light  lotion which again this uses AHAs to break down any debris and dead skin that might block the pores. I swipe this liberally across the skin every evening, after double cleansing, and by morning my skin is baby soft and smooth. I have to say, this really seems to be doing the job when it comes to keeping blemishes to a minimum, and as an added bonus, will help to strengthen the skin's resistance to wrinkles when used regularly. I have already ordered the full-size bottle of this, as it has definitely made it to 'can't live without' status in a short space of time.

Makeup wise, my biggest obsession of the week has undoubtedly been my new Sleek Face Form Contour Kit. I went for the 'light' version, which contains a flattering matte contour powder, highlighting powder and the infamous Rose Gold blush. The bronzey contour shade is great for sculpting the face and adding a subtle wash of colour, and definitely isn't too over-powering or obvious on pale skin. The Rose Gold blush is just beautiful - a shimmery, peachy pink that is not dissimilar to Nar's cult Orgasm blush. This won't leave you looking like a glitter ball, but it will leave you with glowing cheeks - in fact, I don't really find that I need a highlighter when using this, as it does the job just fine on its own. My only gripe is that it doesn't blend as well as some of my other powder blushes, but the shade is such that I can let that slide. The highlighting powder is a pretty, subtle, champagne shade, and looks lovely dotted on top of the cheekbones on top of a more pared-down blush. Again, the effect is really natural, without a hint of overkill in sight.

Last but not least, I have fallen in love with Revlon 'Fearless' Nail Enamel, a zingy, vibrant orange-toned red that just screams summer. This goes perfectly with the Mac Lady Danger lipstick, for any of you who like to match your nail polish to your lips, and is sure to make a repeat appearance on my nails over the coming months, again and again.

What have your most loved products been this week?

xx

Desire of the Day #5: ASOS Spiked Bracelet

Well. I wouldn't mind having me this little spiked delight. We all love a bit of arm candy, and I am all over the spiked jewellery trend at the moment. This beaut is just £8 from ASOS too, so what's not to love? For those of us on a spending ban, this is an affordable (ahem!) treat (clearly I haven't understood the rules very well!).

ASOS are always a gem when it comes to jewels, and I could spend an absolute fortune decking myself out in their gorgeous attire, so I wouldn't be surprised if a rose gold collar necklace or two make it onto my Desire of the Day post in the not too distant future. But who knows. Tomorrow is another day, and I am a fickle shopper.

Just a short one today, but I will be back later on with a post about - gasp! - FAKE Mac products. How to spot them and how to avoid them is key in this day and Ebay-ing age.

Hope everyone is out enjoying the sunshine while it lasts and having a lovely time. I could certainly tell you weren't at home with your heads buried in the blogosphere last night, but then who would be, unless they were ill? Anyway, sob stories aside, I am feeling much better now, thank you very much. Bit of sunbathing for me today, I think.

xx