Fashion Focus: Neon Brights

I'm always scouring the pages of Elle and Vogue to see what the trends are for the new fashion season. Whilst I'm not always a huge trend follower, I love to give them a go, and sometimes I find you can discover a trend that you end up in love with! The stud/biker chic trend that is everywhere (and appears to be going nowhere) was a huge success when I eventually gave it a go! One of the trends for Spring/Summer '13 appears to be neon brights. I usually only love a neon bright in the heat of the Summer (ie. on holiday!) and as the snow is still melting outside, it's putting me out of my fashion comfort zone pulling out the acid green nails in January! Nonetheless, I love a challenge and I'm going to give it a try. If you are not so brave like me, a flash of neon (as opposed to an entire rainbow-effect outfit) can be the easy way to go, such as a bright pink clutch, a fluorescent yellow hat, or an orange shoe! Inspiration can be found aplenty on the catwalk at the S/S '13 shows. From sixties chequered sunshine yellow at Louis Vuitton, to two-toned coral and aqua blue at DVF, and dip-dyed hot pinks and turquoises at Burberry Prorsom, there's no end to the bright hues the designers have decided we'll be donning this season! My favourite is the hot pink trench - Christopher Bailey has reinvented the Burberry classic in a whole rainbow of different shades to great effect.

Where the high street is concerned, I've already spotted a few neon numbers in the new season collections! H&M have an array of neon jumpers that are all completely affordable; the one I found below comes in at least five different shades - buy a size up and wear it slouchy with statement jewellery. Topshop have a 'Rave New World' collection on their website dedicated to the rave trend, which of course involves fluorescent colours - this is great if you need inspiration. I love the lime green jumper I've featured below, and I think it'll look amazing with a deeply tanned inch of waist on show and some bleached/acid wash skinnies. Zara are always fashion-focused and I struggle to find something I don't like in there! They have a selection of bright trousers on offer for the trend; I've picked two different pairs to show in neon pink and orange which can be made really wearable with a pair of plain ballet flats and a plain, loose fitting shirt, as shown below!

As for accessories, there are plenty of high street offerings. To warm you into a trend, or to see if you enjoy wearing bright colours, these can be a more accessible way of wearing fluorescents! Nails Inc. have a selection of neon-coloured crackle effect nail polishes which will look great over a black or white nail. River Island's satchel just has neon features incorporated into it which is a really subtle way of channeling the trend. However, their heeled buckle shoes a definitely more of a statement for the braver ones amongst the crowd! The Topshop beanie is cute and not too overbearing, and will be great for brightening up those chilly English days I was talking about.

Also worth a mention for the more high-end shopper/day-dreamer is the Selfridges & Co. website which has a 'Bright Now' section; great for a luxurious example of the trend (and also makes for amazing eye candy)! After writing this post, I'm so much more in love with the trend than I ever thought I could be, and I'm definitely going to buy one of those H&M jumpers when pay day finally rolls around! I think neon/bright colours are all about adding a shocking pop of colour, having fun, and being young - and they're a perfect antidote to winter's dominating blacks and plums.

What do you think of neon brights? Will you be brave enough to rock the trend this Spring?!

xo.

Benefit 'Ultra Plush' Lip Gloss Review / Swatches

This post is about Benefit's 'Ultra Plush' lip gloss range. I received a gift set with all six glosses in for Christmas, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a post about them! I think Benefit have a reputation for doing amazing lip glosses so I was excited to try these as soon as I opened them! Benefit have matched the colours of the glosses to their famous 'Box o' Powders' which I think is a great idea as people love Benefit's powders and the different colours/textures of each one, so now they can buy the gloss to match their favourite! There's 'Dandelion' (soft pearly pink), 'Dallas' (dusty rose), 'Sugarbomb' (shimmering pinky nude), 'Coralista' (sheer coral), 'Bella Bamba' (sheer bright watermelon), and 'Hoola' (shimmering golden nude). I've tried all the powders previously and my favourite is either 'Coralista' or 'Sugarbomb', so I was interested to see how well the glosses matched and how they came out. I'm not sure this specific gift set is available anymore as it may just have been for Christmas, but the glosses are all available to buy individually for £13.50/15ml online and at counters. I love the size of the miniatures as it makes them perfect for fitting in my everyday makeup bag or in a clutch on a night out! First impressions were that they apply well, aren't too sticky or heavy, and are a good match for their powder counterparts! I'm most impressed by 'Coralista' for being true to the powder, however I was surprised by how pink 'Dallas' was as I expected it to be far more of a dark bronze, but I actually love the colour itself! My favourite turned out to be 'Dandelion' as it was just such a gorgeous shimmery nude colour with amazing shine that I thought would be so versatile. The application isn't by a wand but straight from the squeezable tubes by the custom applicator which makes it less precise than a wand, but I love how the applicator is angled which makes them less fussy and easy to apply. Overall, I was very impressed as I expected to be with Benefit and love that I have a few new shades of lip gloss I didn't already own! Definitely pick one up if you were thinking of buying one - 'Sugarbomb' is a great light pink for spring! 

Have you tried any of the 'Ultra Plush' glosses? Which is your favourite?!

xo.

Perfume Collection | My Favourite Scents

Perfume is one of my favourite beauty products. I love how fragrance has the power to take you back to a place or a memory, or remind you of a certain person or time of year. I worked on a perfume counter when I was eighteen as a Saturday job, and that's when I really noticed perfume properly and fell in love with it forever! My earliest memory of perfume is of my Mum, as she always wears Jean Paul Gaultier's 'Classique' - it holds such a strong connection to her that whenever I smell it that I can't disassociate her from it in my mind! This post is about my favourite scents that I've discovered in the past few years.

1. The first one is 'Chloé' by Chloé. I received this from my boyfriend a few years ago for my birthday. Chloé has been my favourite fashion house since I've been about fifteen so I was really excited to try their original scent when it came out. As soon as I smelled it, I loved it. I'd hinted about it before my birthday, and luckily it was picked up on! It reminds me of visiting him at university as I always used to pack it in my weekend bag. It's a quite distinctive, feminine, floral fragrance with a base note of honey; rose heart notes; and top notes of lychee. 

2. My next favourite in my collection is 'Stella' by Stella McCartney. Similarly to Chloé, Stella McCartney was one of my favourite designers and so I was very keen to try the signature scent. I got this one for a Christmas present a couple of years before 'Chloé'. I've had it for so long now, but I've made it last because I love it so much that I don't want it to run out! It's such a unique fragrance and I think it's one of those ones that I'll always have to have a supply of! It is also floral, with amber base notes; rose absolute heart notes; and rose, peony and mandarin essence top notes. This one reminds me of winter time, and is my favourite winter scent.  

3. Next up is 'Le Parfum' by Elie Saab. This is another fragrance I asked my boyfriend for and he got me it as a present! It's quite a feminine, sensual, sweet, floral scent that lasts all day long. I love this perfume so much and it reminds me of my birthday/Autumn time. This one has base notes of rose and honey; gardenia heart notes; and top notes of mandarin blossom. One woman even stopped me at work when I was wearing this and asked what fragrance I was wearing since she liked it that much! 

4. 'Golden Delicious' by DKNY is my most recent fragrance, which I got for the Christmas just gone. I got the eau de parfum version (which almost all of my perfumes are) and it's so long lasting from just one spray which I think is excellent value for money! It's fruity and more floral than the original 'Be Delicious'. It has base notes of musk, sandalwood and beachwood; heart notes of white rose, casablanca lily and vanilla orchid; and top notes of orange flower water and golden apple. I haven't had time to see what this one brings up memories of yet but I'm sure it'll be winter/Christmas time (maybe spring) seeing as I'm wearing it all the time lately!

5. I discovered Burberry's 'The Beat' when I was eighteen working on that fragrance department, and I don't think it's a very well known fragrance and doesn't have the recognition I think it deserves! It's very rich and fruity/floral again, and is quite young. Along with 'Stella', it's one of the more heavier fragrances in my collection. It has base notes of light musk, vetiver and cedar; heart notes of cardamom, pink pepper and mandarin; and top notes of ceylon tea, bergamot, iris and bluebell. Complex! This is my second bottle of this one as I had to replace it because I love it so much, so I asked my mum for another 50ml for my birthday. It reminds me of spring/easter time as that's when it came out and I wore it constantly when I first bought it!

6. 'Dior Addict 2' by Christian Dior is my party fragrance! I've had this once since I was about seventeen and I think this is my third bottle. It reminds me of going on holiday and nights out, as I went on a clubbing holiday in 2007 and wore this every night! It has apparently been relaunched as 'Dior Addict Eau Fresh' (but I still have the '2' version) and instead of grapefruit as a top note, there's bergamot instead. This is a fresh, fruity kind of fragrance and is quite seductive and girly. It has white musk base notes, heart notes of grenadine and freesia, and citrus top notes as I've just mentioned!

7. Calvin Klein's 'CKIN2U For Her' is such a light-hearted, fun fragrance. This is my summer fragrance and reminds me of the heat - I've taken this on holiday with me the last few years. I find a lot of girls love this scent and it's a very popular one! It's perfect for those hot summer nights and those days when you don't want something too overwhelming but you want to smell amazing. It has neon amber base notes, sugar orchid heart notes and pink grapefruit top notes. I find this perfume is always great value for money so is a great everyday fragrance. 

8. Lastly, I have Hollister's 'So Cal' perfume, which I'm not sure if they directly make anymore, but it's available on a lot of websites still. I couldn't find specific product information for this one, but I think the base notes are amber, and the rest is quite floral. It really smells amazing! It's very beachy (as you'd expect) and very girly and sensual. This reminds me of visiting my boyfriend again, but slightly more recently! He bought me this one, too, for my 20th birthday.

So there you have it! There are a lot of perfumes from my collection - it's not all the ones I own but most of them. I've enjoyed doing this post as I've learnt a lot about what kinds of fragrance I like and what their ingredients are! Apparently I go for the fruity/floral combination haha. What are your favourite perfumes? Do you rate any of my favourites? 

xo.

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Goodbye winter & a cheeky hello to spring!

I have tried in vain to access my old blog from about eight years ago now, to no avail. Why I used a completely random email address and password I'll never know, and now I'll never know what they are! After making this blog six years ago, it's my new year's resolution to use it properly!

So...we are heavily into winter chic now, to the point where summer can really not come quick enough! What's a girl to do when it's 0 degrees outside, yet short sleeves are calling?! The sales are coming to a close, the panic bargain buying is almost at an end, and you can smell the spring high street collections coming! Of course in high fashion land they are well into the swing of summer, and will no doubt have wrapped up next year's A/W '13 lines which is a depressing thought. Fashion is so ahead of itself now more than ever, it'll end up doing a complete 360 degrees and we'll soon be in next summer's clothes, this summer! So, the dilemma is, what to wear when you need a flash of pillar box red instead of burgundy, and you need a jacket instead of your heavy duty (but chic, of course) puffer jacket? Well look no further, I am also keen for a change! This week I scrubbed off my Revlon 'Vixen' nail varnish for a coat of Barry M's 'Berry Ice Cream' to brighten up my finger tips. I got out my white and cream jumpers for a fresh flash of brightness (whilst keeping warmth) instead of my black and grey ones, and I started accessorising more with warmer-looking gold necklaces and bracelets - I had become so involved in the practicalities of being warm in this dreadful cold, looking good was starting to take a major hit! A flash of bright pink lip was also kept me on-trend, but contrasted against the plums and deep reds that had taken over, proving that bright lipstick is an instant pick-me-up for the winter blues! Are you starting to get sick of the sales and the cold now? What are your seasonal transition pieces and tricks?

xo.