Having been a good girl for the past month or so I decided to give myself a slight break.

I hopped in the car with mum and dad (they are off to Barbados today so needed some holiday bits)

And off to Swindon outlet we went!

Swindon outlet is packed with shops like Hobbs, Super dry, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Ted baker

To name just a few, it’s a real mix and they have just had a refurb. So if you had ever been before you will notice a bit of a change,

The first shop we went into was Jigsaw, now I have never really considered jigsaw my style at all!

I always thought it was an older shop and I wouldn’t find anything I really liked that suited me.

Keeping to a tight budget as it easy to get excited by price cuts I mooched through the racks and saw so much that I desperately wanted.

But ultimately the biggest steal I have ever gotten was hidden in between two jumpers on the "sold as seen" rack.

"Sold as seen" means that the items are faulty whether it be a rip or a tiny hole, my dress had a rip under the left arm (hardly noticeable as its lace.) 

Original price £150 

Sale price £40

I am in love with this dress, I wore it to my staff party but unfortunately only got one grainy mirror snap.

Meet my new Handbag!

 Now I tend to keep things till they are broke, after 5 years of me tossing my old old old Paul’s boutique handbag around it was time to let go.

I popped into Kurt Geiger thinking of getting some shoes to go with the dress and this beauty called to me like a siren!

  Now I restrained myself from buying it there and then and went for one more lap before I caved and bought it!

Hey it was either that or popping into ted baker and spending a small fortune!

 I couldn’t afford to shop too much and was running late for my staff party so had to dash home before I broke the bank and turned up embarrassingly late.

Thought I would share what I’m reading at the moment

Diana Gabaldon-Cross stich (in America its called Outlander)

Revlon photo ready and collection lasting perfection review

I found a new foundation and concealer I’m in love with!

I used to idolize benefits foundation, and it was all I really wanted in a foundation, it gave me a dewy look and it worked well with my wake me up concealer but oh how things have changed!

It has started drying out my skin and making it flake (err not what you want!) originally I thought I wasn't drinking enough water or moisturizing enough, so I heavily involved more of this into my daily routine.

This still didn't work though, so I went out on the hunt for a new foundation at a reasonable price that wasn't going to break the bank as January can get a bit tough for the old purse.

I hit boots and decided to give the Revlon photo ready a go as I have heard good things and have never used a Revlon anything before.

Normally I’m not very good at matching foundations to my skin tone and always end up going to light or too dark, this time however I hit the nail on the head it’s a perfect match!

Thanks to the high coverage, my winter spots (I have a bit of sweet tooth) get covered without concealer and any that sneak out get covered by my new concealer.

I can’t stand cakey foundation it just feels way to heavy but this just so natural.

At the moment my sleeping pattern is really all over the place and just generally sucks, so I have heavy bags under my eyes most days which always makes me self-conscious as I love makeup and doing my eyes is one of my favorite things to do.

I look tired and haggard and I just hate it.

Thanks to the collection lasting perfection concealer I’m much happier as it covers everything

It’s just a tad lighter than my foundation so acts as a bit of a highlighter as well.

I highly recommend giving both of these a go!

I’m off to my work staff party tomorrow so I may do a get ready with me post

Thanks for reading

Ellen

xxx

Windy walks with an old friend.

Having been feeling a little down recently I decided the only thing for it was a dog walk!

I hopped in the car (wellies safely stowed in the back as it has been very windy and wet recently.) and headed to my parents to pick up this little scally wag!

This is Harley, we got Harley when I was 8 and I honestly could not imagine life without this little man.

Harley isn’t like most dogs he doesn’t get overly excitable and is just happy to lie down and have a cuddle instead of chasing a ball.

Going for walks with him is like going for a walk with an old friend, he takes his time and likes to take in all the different smells.

At thirteen years old he has had a pretty good life including moving to Portugal for five of those years.

It’s a good age for a Labrador so obviously we are all thinking of the next year or so being his last,  it makes me want to savour every last bit of his presence before he's too tired to rise from his little doggy bed for more than a minute.

In his old age long walks are now a thing of the past so I lassoed him with a lead and off we trotted round the block quickly, which was enough to make his doggy chops draw back in a smile.

Visiting my parents is now a bit different from popping round for a cuppa as about 8 months ago they decided that they were going to run a pub.

So going to see my mum and dad also means a nice hearty pub lunch as well as a nice cuppa, I wasn’t to hungry today so I just went for creamy basil mushrooms on toasted bread (with a naughty side of chips shhhh!)

 I will do a proper review on the pub and food on a later date but although you may think I’m biased as they are family I wouldn’t bother blogging about the food if I didn’t actually love it!

I mean why waste the time and space?

The Royal Oak in Burford has got an amazing atmosphere thanks to its regular local drinkers and also good home style food, so go give them a visit trust me it’s worth it!

Outfit

Wellies – Hunters

Jeans- Topshop

Jumper- Crew

Jacket- Crew

 Dont you just love a good walk?

Ellen 

xxx

Berry Sparkle Nail Look

Now i'm not a massive fan of painting my nails, it takes time and in my line of work they are inadvertently going to chip.
so I just don't bother much unless it a special occasion.
That being said, recently I have started painting my nails more and more (as I apparently love buying them but never put them on!)
So here is my current nail look i'm obsessed with!

Step 1
File down your nails if needed.

Step 2
Grab your varnishes(/polishes), you can go for any colour you like with this look but i wanted a bit of a berry/black tone to mine so I chose, China glazes "Evening seduction".

Step 3
Paint all nails with your first coat ,wait to dry then do a second coat if they are too opaque)

Step 4
After your second coat is dry go over your ring finger with your sparkly polish, mine is a barry m limited edition sparkle that i got many moons ago.(I think they are quite easy to find, so just have a hunt)

Step 5
go over all nails except your ring with barry m's matte top coat.
(before this discovery i used to do the old school holding your wet nails over a pot of boiling water trick, fun but painful if you hold your hand wrong!)

And Voila your done!

Let me know your favourite go to nail looks!

Thanks for reading

Ellen
xxx

Lanza Colour Care Review

I have a review of a product I am now obsessed with today!

Nourishing, refreshing, purifying and luxurious this product really is a cut above the rest.

It’s the Lanza colour care Shampoo and conditioner!!

The Lanza range is pretty extensive, spoilt for choice I was kindly given a 2 free bottles of the colour -preserving shampoo and conditioner.

I was lucky enough to do a training session on their products which really opened my eyes up, not being a hairdresser I didn’t really know much about how to treat my hair, and was constantly getting annoyed about the dryness and split ends.

But whilst in training I was given a lot more information that I soaked up as much as possible (lots of big words and percentages were thrown about) and have blended into my routine when washing my hair.

"When using Lanza on your hair it becomes 90% protein and 10% moisture, so your hair will stretch 25% and bounce back 30%"

When given the products I was told the classic golden words that I have now learnt you really should listen to

"Less is always more"

Before Wash

After wash (not a crazy difference, but its more the feel of it)

I was told to lather a pea sized amount in my hands before applying and then lather in my hair all over ( now I have fairly long hair so I used two pea sized amounts and that was just about enough to do my hair)

Same for the conditioner but just run is through the ends instead of all over.

I have honestly noticed such a difference to my hair, it feels bouncier and not dry at all!

Now I think this goes for just about anything (with a few rare exceptions) for good quality you need to spend the money.

You’re looking at £17-£35 and up for the products individually, but they are worth the money and your hair will thank you I promise!

 Having personally put my hair through a lot over the years I can honestly say it has never felt this good!

I will be purchasing more of the range for sure.

If you’re not up for spending that much have a look at the kb2 range they do, it’s a lot cheaper and they double up as body wash as well (handy)

£10-£25

Now for the scientific bit...

All lanza products are parabens, wheat/gluten, and sodium chloride free.

They contain antioxidants and sunscreen protection agent’s uva, uvb and uvc.

They also sub out sulphates for coconut and palm oil from Hawaii and gugo bark from the Philippines, making it a hell of a lot better for your hair. 

All of the products are unisex so even your partner can have nice hair to! Bonus

Let me know your favourite product indulgences

And would you break the bank for beauty?

Thanks for reading

Ellen 

Xxx

How to save money through January!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I am kicking off my new year with one simple resolution, and that is this year I’m not making one!

I always make them and then I always break them, so this year is all about me and just taking it as it comes one step at a time.

(And if I take at least one of those steps towards a gym that my friends is a small victory.)

My Christmas and New Year was filled with friends and family and it was lovely, but it has made my purse considerably lighter!

Here are some of my tactics to surviving the January pinch.

No More takeaways!

I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m not a foodie, I love food and I also love the odd night in with a nice takeaway!

But all of those takeaways add up over the month and you end up with less money and the scales will be tipping the wrong way.

So take it as an opportunity to get healthy get a bit fitter

Charity shops

You can find some great finds in charity shops now days, Christmas Eve I went to Oxfam books to pick up some last minute presents that weren’t going to cost me a bomb.

Now I know what you’re thinking "go to a bookshop get a brand new one" but the books I picked up were practically brand new! Instead of spending over £10 on one book I got 3 plus 3 Movies for £10.

Check list

1. Start with your bank balance write down the amount
2. Write down you outgoings and money going into savings
3. Write down how much you have left after that all goes out 
4. And then divide that by how many weeks you have till pay day
5. Write down all your minuses and pluses by week as you go alon
6. You can then budget your way through January easily

Money pots

These things are amazing!

Now you are supposed to fill them all the way up with your pennies and pounds but if you are aiming for a specific date then you can always break them open early.

Now they are costly depending on which ones you get, but you save so much more than you do with a money box you can easily get into.

 

Now these are just a few tips that have worked for me but at the end of the day it all down to self-control and just stopping and thinking "do I need this?"

If you absolutely need something why not walk away and look online for the cheaper option?

Small things like this go a long way 

I hope you had an amazing New Year and what are you New Year resolutions?

Thanks for reading 

Ellen 

Xxx