a couple of OOTDs

jacket by Rinascimento, 2nd last winter collection
top from Dunnes Stores, €12, also second last winter collection
jeggings, Miss Selfridge from 3 years ago
wedge zip up lined boots, € 35 from a little shop in Florence

3/4 pleat dress from Boohoo, €20, they currently only have it in orange though
knitted leggings also from Boohoo, but they are no longer in stock
boots, I've had them for about four years

a little haul

This was a €14 TK Maxx bargain I just couldn't resist! The actual colour is a slight colder hue than what it looks like on the photo.
On closer inspection I was even more satisfied with how inexpensive it was because of the pannelling and structure .
I think this will easily be an all year round item, dressed up or down according to the weather and occasion.

I couldn't resist these pj's from Penneys/Primark either!
These are a size 12/14 and were €12. I will never understand their sizes as long as I live, the trousers are a little too large around the waist/hips, and the t-shirt is a little too tight.
Dear Primark: how about you start making clothes in a 10/12 too? ...Just a suggestion...

POTD: sparkles flyin' high

China Glaze Flyin' High & Angelica multi coloured sparkly polish

outdoors

indoors, without flash

I wish the photos did justice to the Angelica multi coloured sparkles. I tried in a million ways to picture them but to no avail.
You can find the Angelica range in Penneys/Primark

I think that you should let it burn

Nope, we're not talking about (the super fit!) Usher today...well we can actually, love the dude, have for YEARS!

But I digress...
I know I'm not the only candle lover around so I was just curious to know what everyone is currently burning.
For the last year or so me and the boyfriend have been making(and using) our own vanilla candles, HOWEVER I couldn't let this chance pass right before Christmas when I saw these two wonders on for €20 for the two of them!!!

Christmas Cookie and Blueberry Muffin

I've been alternating them since and there's still half of them to go through!

So which one do you reach for right now?

Lil

The Versatile Blogger Award

I rarely get nominated for ANYTHING so I'm always surprised, flattered and extremely grateful when I do, especially by someone I don't know on a friends basis.
So you can imagine my utter surprise when the gorgeous Hannah from Love, Life and Make Up nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.


The process behind the award is:
- thank the person that nominated you with a link back - Cheers Hun and here's your link back
- tell 7 things about yourself.
- pass this on to 11 newly discovered blogs and let them know they received the award.

So...7 things:
1) in my teenage I was a regional athletics champion for 3 years running.
2) I haven't been able to wear any make up for 3 weeks because my right eye has been more sensitive than usual :-(
3) I ALWAYS have to wear something colourful
4) when I was a kid I wanted to become a fire fighter
5) I despise hot, sticky weather
6) I love jazz music
7) I used to volunteer at a horse riding centre in exchange with the possibility of riding their horses around, because I couldn't afford a horse or lessons

And here, in no particular order, are the 10 blogs:
Away with the fairies
Behind green eyes
Big Fashionista
CherrySue, Doin' the do
CornflakeGirl's musings
May loves make up
Nicoletta's beauty space
Chic beauty blog
Benebelle
Le petit jardin de Liloo
Lipglossiping


Thank you for bringing me hours of fun reading and pretty colourful pictures in my day.

Lil

Claire's nail wraps review

Because my eyes don't allow me working on/drawing very small details like nail art making would be, for the past few weeks I have been scanning shops of all sorts for nail wraps.
I have to be honest, 90% looked SUPER tacky and definitely not what I'd like to see my nails wear.
Note to the companies that design and commercialise these wraps: not every woman or girl is into pink and/or tacky.
In the end these Claire's butterflies covered silver wraps were the only ones I fancied and I thought at €7.95 they would be REALLY good...... Man was I wrong!!!!!

If I was not impressed with the Essence ones I tried a while back (check the review here ) I have to be honest and say these disappointed me beyond any low expectation!
To start with they're a NIGHTMARE to peel off, the edge you use to pick them off is inevitably going to get damaged. Secondly, no matter how much you try, you can NEVER get them completely ironed out, you'll always get some creases or air pockets somewhere.
Then it comes to filing off the excess: instructions suggest a couple of strokes...you wanna multiple that by 50. They're really "stretchy" and thick you end up having to rip off the excess.
They might have looked appealing in the packaging but once on they really do look super cheap.
I don't have any photos to show you because after I tried them on my pinkies I decided I disliked them so much I didn't even attempt to complete one hand.

8 euros I'll never get back. Stay well away if you don't like tacky nails.

Has anyone else tried them or the glittery ones? Just interested if it was just me that was utterly disappointed. Let me know!

Lil

Please GQ hire me!

I must start this post by saying that I personally like lads' mags. They can rustle up really good articles as far as journalistic quality is concerned.
And they also do a good photo shoot or two...
I love photography, it's always interested me. in all its different aspects. I know it's not every one's taste but I REALLY appreciate a good (not too cheap) glamour photo shoot, which is basically the main component of this type of mag.

When I heard the gorgeous Michelle Williams was going to do a spread with GQ riding the Marilyn wave, following her role in "My Week With Marilyn". I was really looking forward to seeing the photos. And boy was I disappointed!

The photos(you can easily google them) are really cold and impersonal and don't really capture the essence the whole shoot should have had. To be honest I personally could have taken better, nicer photos.
Although I appreciated the general effort to not over airbrush the images, the cover was just a complete and utter disaster!
If you're going to leave the shape and shadows of one side of her tummy and abs, why completely erase the other side?! And don't get me started on the fact they've "copied and pasted" someone else's chest on her, I'm blind as a bat but even I can see it;s just totally wrong!!!
I would have done a million light years more efficient retouching job!

What do you guys think of the cover ? How about the rest of the photos?