'Smile Like You Mean It'

These are a few beauty related items I picked up recently. I had heard so much about the Collection Extreme Felt Tip Liner so for £2.99 I thought I would give it a whirl. It's fair to say I really love it. I always make sure I'm careful when it comes to eyeliners (especially cheaper ones) as I have a tendency to get sore eyes if they are hard to remove or not a good formula, but this comes off very easily with a make-up remover which is perfect for me.

 

 

 

I've never really been in to 'pen' eyeliners but this one is so easy to use; I'm not sure how long it will last but for £2.99 it is worth it to replace them - it might last a good few months anyway!

As usual, I can't trust a '24 hour' formula, seeing as I never wear it for this long, but it did not smudge or budge all day - and with the ridiculous windy cold days we are having in the UK it even survived my eyes watering - the sign of a good eyeliner in my opinion! It even comes in 3 other colours; Purple, Blue and Teal - I can't say personally I will be purchasing one of those colours, but for me the black will suffice :) I cannot sing the praises of this felt tip liner more - if you've tried it let me know in the comments how you've been getting on with it :)

 

Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner

 

 

Of course, a TIBS beauty post would not be complete without a lipstick or 2 would it! I of course had to pick up two Lip Butters because Boots are offering them 2 for £10 - sadly this excited me a bit too much!

 

 

This is a new shade I picked up called Sorbet, and it is a lovely, quite natural darkish pink colour. I saw this just before Christmas but couldn't face spending £7.99 at the time, but once I could get it on offer it was my first choice. As I always say about the Lip Butters, they are my favourite lip product of all time - a big statement; but for me they last a long time, the colours are beautiful, they are moisturising and they can even stay put after eating and drinking - oh and they last for a long time.

This is my favourite colour that I have ever puchased from the line so I had to re-purchase it. It is the most beautiful, and not too 'in your face', pinky shade and is really lovely if you stick to just reds and natural colours for lipsticks - it really is lovely.

Revlon Lip Butters

 

I hope you enjoyed this quick post, this is just a mid-week one before I show you the stuff I picked up in the Topshop sale.

Oh and I've just set up Google+ / Friend Connect and Pinterest accounts so if you would like to please follow me on those!

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Love

Sarah

'Don't Dream It's Over'

So Christmas has gone for another year, and 2013 is over and done with, but a New Year brings new clothes :) This particular outfit is one I wore over Christmas though, and I thought I would show you my winter coat that I literally wear everytime I leave the house. (A little disclaimer too; some of the pictures look a bit blurry - I have no idea why they look fine on the camera :/)
 

 

 

 

 

PRIMARK JUMPER

H&M SKIRT (VERY OLD)

PRIMARK TIGHTS

ARABEL2 BOOTS (POST HERE)

 

 

 

I like this oufit because (a) it is extremely comfortable, (b) I feel like I have made an effort when I seriously haven't and (c) and everything was a bargain to buy. Slightly worrying too that I brought this skirt when I was about 13, and yes I can still fit into it ... I honestly have looked for similar versions but can't at a reasonable price. I think it cost me £14.99 back in the day, maybe even cheaper, so it has lasted ridiculously well. Naturally I am wearing the Cosy Tights from Primark which again have lasted so well (I believe this particular pair I've had for at least 3 months and has only gone 'bobbly' around the toe area so shoes cover it). This jumper is actually a size 6 which I would not have chosen if there was anymore sizes but I needed this jumper - I love the colour the shorter sleeves and the collar - but actually the size isn't too bad, even though I'm not a huge fan of 'tight' pieces of clothing.

 

THE FINER DETAILS

 

The coat I'm wearing not just with this but literally EVERYTHING is this Miss Selfridge Navy Shearling Jacket (£89) which is so warm and is the perfect length for me as I can wear it both with trousers and skirts. The navy colour I thought might be a problem but it is a much softer colour than black and the extra details like the buckles make it look much more expensive. At £89 it is not cheap, but from having this mid November I have worn it literally everyday, so well worth the price tag.

 

 

 

 

Here I was wearing my new watch from Michael Kors which I reviewed last week (read here) and is my favourite thing to wear instead of jewellery at the moment. I don't think a necklace looks right at all with this sort of neck detail, so a watch is perfect to make it look complete.

 

 

On my nails I'm wearing the Essie Nail Polish in 'Pink Diamond' (review here)  I love the colour and I think it works so well with the watch and the pink of the jumper.

 

 

My make-up today was very simple; just Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold, Maybelline Eyeliner and Maybelline Color Sensational Vivids Collection Lipstick in 'Fuchsia Flash' all reviewed on my blog (click on the names to read)

 

 

 

Finally I thought I might add a little section about my hair. I always curl my hair as I do not like my hair straight, but I do try new stuff every now and again with it and thought I might show you what I tried today :

 



 

I suppose the pictures don't really show much but if you guys are interested I might do some hair stuff in the future - let me know in the comments :)

 

Hope you enjoyed this new style of post - a new year, a new start and all that :)

 

Love

Sarah

'Pink Diamond'

So I've never owned an Essie Nail Polish ... okay I said it, glad I got that out of the way. Unbelievably this is true; my resolution for this year may be to try more of their products, I think that's one even I can definitely stick to.

So, for Christmas I was given my first Essie Nail Polish in the beautiful colour 'Pink Diamond' (the name really doesn't express how lovely this colour is though). It's only really been the last year I have started to enjoy wearing pink again (I've always thought it looked a bit babyish) but I think it really suits a pale skin tone like mine.

 

You can't fault how easy the application is and how long lasting it is; I painted my nails 4 days ago from the images and I've not got one chip - but I suppose paying £7.99 for a nail polish you should expect a long lasting product. I also am not a fan of painting my nails, so having a nail polish that makes it easier and quicker to do makes me much more inclined to re-do my nails / purchase more of Essie's products.

 

 

I love the shine this particular colour gives; it makes it look like they've been professionally done and resembles that of nail foils. This particular nail polish actually makes my hands and nails feel 'pretty', something that dark polishes sometimes can't do.

 

 

As I said above, £7.99 for a nail polish is in no way cheap, and I can't say that I would have purchased this myself, purely because I would rather have 3/4 cheaper ones, but I'm actually very happy I got this one; everything about it is perfect, the packaging, the brush, the colour, the wearability (I have no idea if that is a word, but it sounds good)... the list is endless. So I suppose you do get what you pay for. Let me know what other Essie colours you have that are just as beautiful - it's definitely not a brand you can impulse buy from!

 

 

 

Oh and finally TIBS (This Is Blog Standard) entered the 21st century and joined Google+ so please follow on Google Friend Connect if you are interested (please bear with me I have no idea how to use the thing - any tips would be much appreciated!)

 

Happy New Year and expect more outfits in 2014 from TIBS!

 

Love

Sarah

 

Essie Nail Polish 'Pink Diamond'

'These Things Take Time' - Michael Kors MK-5128 Rose Gold Watch

Hi everyone,

So I hope you all had a lovely Christmas; I just can't believe how quickly it has come and gone this year, and how the new year is nearly here. I love being nosey and seeing what people got for Christmas on blogs and on YouTube, and although I don't think I will do a whole blog post on what I got (the majority was food related anyway - usually of the sweet variety :) ) I thought I would just show you the lovely watch I received as I thought you might like to see it before it appears in new year's outfit posts.

So just to start by saying I am not normally a watch person. I have ridiculously tiny wrists and I hate when watches move around your arm and you end up scratching them on tables etc etc. I'm also not really into small, dainty watches; just like my jewellery I much prefer statement pieces, but I suppose that is just personal preference.

So you have probably seen similar watches like this floating around blogs for what feels like years now, and of course I am probably the last one on the bandwagon, but in all honesty it was never the watch itself that stopped me from buying, it was, as I said above, the fact I am not a watch person. This particular style is the MK-5128 Rose Gold Plated Chronograph Watch.

 

What I love about it is the Rose Gold. I'm not a fan of gold jewellery and I do like silver, but I just think the rose colour is so lovely and versatile and a little bit different; it also makes it much more of a feminine style as the watch itself is very chunky.
 

 

I mean, most sensible people would probably go for a smaller watch if they had tiny wrists like me, but no, I decide to go for nearly the biggest (I actually nearly chose a larger one thinking this one would be too small, but luckily I looked at someone elses blog and the bigger watch looked a little 'too' big).
 

Now, I know what you're all thinking, this is a very expensive gift, and yes you would be right, but I actually spent a few weeks looking for the best deal, and of course Asos saved the day and decided to give 25% off for students, which considerably reduced the price - Asos is always there when you need them and they even sent me a huge bar of Maltesers chocolate for free - at least some big companies have a little Christmas spirit left!
 

I hope you enjoyed this little review of the watch, it's quite hard to talk about sizing as everyone's wrist are different, but I had mine shortened at my local jeweller free of charge, so that was very easy. I will leave the link to the watch on Asos if you want to have a little look at some different pictures and other 'boring' details about the watch.

 

Thanks for reading and let's hope I can train myself not to check my phone but check my wrist when someone asks me for time!

Happy New Year if I don't speak to you before then - and don't forget to comment!

 

Love

Sarah

 

Michael Kors Rose Gold Plated Chronograph Watch (MK-5128)

"I Put Some New Shoes On, And Suddenly Everything Is Right"

Hi everyone,

So I've been on the search for a pair of really nice flats the past few weeks as I've been living in my Topshop Arabel2 boots and my Primark Grey suede heels as they are my most comfortable shoes at the moment. I decided that I needed to get some really nice flats though to wear with skirts or trousers, and I thought I would look for a pair of loafers, which I didn't even realise were everywhere in stores at the moment.

So, when I went shopping yesterday I had a little look at every single pair of 'loafer-style' shoes and just couldn't find one the right colour, the right style, the right anything really. But then Primark surprised me once again and I found the perfect pair of loafers that were exactly how I had pictured the pair I wanted in my head.

 

At £12, they were a bargain of course, and they are a lovely maroon colour which will be perfect for all seasons; I just hope they last that long! I love the little tassels on the front as they just make them a little bit different, and honestly this was the best shape and style of loafer I had seen all day, even online.

 

 

I did have to size up on these just because they are quite thin and I have pretty wide feet, but the size 6 was a perfect fit. I also think the soles of the shoe are perfect for this ridiculously wet weather we have been having in England, and being rubber I think they will definitely last for quite a long time.

 

 

I also think they look pretty expensive for what they were; I've seen similar styles online but for a lot more money. I suppose they might not be everyone's 'cup of tea' but I think they work well as an alternative to boots in the winter as they seem pretty sturdy shoes that will last through the colder months.

 

For the sake of this post, I decided to pair them with my Topshop Mom Jeans and I think this will probably be an outfit I will wear quite regularly in the next few months. I also think they will look good with tights as the colour pretty much goes with anything.

 

 

 

 

I hope you liked this post and if I don't post before then, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. I would have loved to have done some Christmassy posts as it's my favourite time of year but uni only finished last week and by then I'd already missed the majority of the countdown - but maybe next year!

 

Thanks for reading!

Love

Sarah

 

P.S I also hit 300 followers of my blog last night - thank you to everyone who follows my blog!