The Great Gatsby

I admit it does seem as though I'm trying to cover ever decade with a post, but that's only because it's all coming back into fashion constantly! So, on to the 20's...
The Great Gatsby is an amazing book and I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I'm studying it at A level at the moment and despite my teacher's efforts to drain all the magic from the book, I still love it and I am even more excited for the new Gatsby film which is being released this Summer starring Carey Mulligan and the beautiful Leonardo DiCaprio .It is a tale of love, lust, tragedy, a journey and most importantly- secrets and I bring this up now as it has very recently been announced that The Great Gatsby shall be opening the Cannes Film Festival this year!

I was confirmed late last year that Prada would be designing 40 of the outfits for the film and 4 of these designs can be seen above. It's all sequins, stones and Swarovski! LOVE They truly stick to the 20's trends and the flapper style in which The Great Gatsby is and should be set in. 

Totally recommend the read,

Thanks, Emily X

Trilogy rosehip oil antioxidant+

For the past week, everyone has been asking me if i'm ok, apparently i've been looking extremely pale. Don't worry, i'm not ill! I'm just sun deprived and need to go on holiday ASAP! In an attempt to look a little less zombie-like i picked up a few products, started testing them out and i stumbled upon an absolute gem.

This product has turned my skin, in three days, from dull and lifeless to bright and radiant. Trilogy says: 'Potent super antioxidants Lycopene from Tomato and Phytosterol from Acai help protect from premature ageing caused by environmental free radical damage. Nourishing Essential Fatty Acids (omegas 3 and 6) from Cranberry and Rosehip moisturise and renew. Mineral and vitamin rich Oat  extract provides a soothing and luxurious feel that glides on the skin.'

I've purchased a lot of face oils in the past but this one really tops them all. The product moisturises whilst adding a glow, makes your skin unbelievably soft and the cherry on top is that it doesn't clog your pores! An oil, that doesn't clog your pores? Is this real life? Am i dreaming? No wonder it's a celeb fav to the likes of Miranda Kerr and Victoria Beckham!

I feel this product works best when used at night, allowing time for it to sink in and when paired with a moisturiser to further nourish the skin. This product for is ideal people with scars, birth marks, dull or dry skin. Although it's pricy the product lasts a long time as you only need to use 2-3 drops per use and the full size product is 20ml. I use it on just my face and neck but it can be used all over the upper body too. Buy (here)

The Swinging Sixties

So, I was a little stuck on what to post about today so I was searching around the internet for some inspiration and although my set topic is fashion I've decided upon a more beauty- themed topic. The make up/ beauty side is mainly done in a more couture fashion style than prêt- a- porter. Therefore I feel it still falls under fashion. Just to ensure there's no confusion!

As I mentioned in my "Time to spring clean your wardrobe!" article, sixties fashion is very much on trend this Spring/Summer therefore I have attempted to create some sixties style make up looks for you, inspired by
the Autumn/Winter catwalk shows over the last few weeks.

Note: Excuse my dotty dressing gown!

Firstly, remove all your make up and begin by using a moisturiser such as Simple moisturise so ensure that foundation will smooth over with a satin-like feel. Then add a little powder to matte the foundation. Try to match the foundation and power well, which is why the Fit Me Maybelline foundation and powder matching system works so well!

 Add a little bronzer on the cheeks under the cheekbone to emphasise them! Then use a white/ very light cream eyeshadow in the arch of the eyebrow and create a gradient of creams and browns down to the edge of the eyelid with a palette such as by Revlon. Then begin to use gel liner to line the crease of the eye and flick it out. Emphasise by adding a little white eyeliner under the line. Flick the stereotypical eyelashes out with the gel liner on the bottom corners. Then use the white eyeliner to brighten the eyes.

Finish with a Chanel Rouge lip stick and accessorise with sixties style hoops and boat- neck, monochrome dress.

Et Voila! A sixties make-up look!

Right so from left to right:
Brush- W7
White eyeliner- Gosh
Nail gems and silver liner- No7
Moisturiser- Simple (here)
Eyebrow pencil- Rimmel (here)
Gel eyeliner- Maybelline (here)
Eyeliner kohl- Benefit (here)
Eyeliner kohl- Elizabeth Arden (here)
Liquid liners (Black and metallic black)- Barry M
Lipstick- Chanel Allure Rouge (Rebelle) (here)
Eyeshadows- Revlon (here)
Smoky eye mascara- Maybelline (here)
Foundation-  Maybelline Fit Me (here)
Matching foundation powder-   Maybelline Fit Me (here)
Eyeshadow- Bourjois

Thanks, Emily! X

Eggvocado

Mornings, bleurgh. I am not a morning person. I hate having to crawl out of my warm, snuggly, bed every morning to spend ages making a warm breakfast then shoved out the door into the cold to make my way to an even colder place to work. So when i stumbled across the eggvocado a little light shone down from heaven and i swear i heard angels sing (ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a little but it definitely felt like that!).

You will need:
1 egg
1 half of an avocado
foil
chilli flakes
golden syrup

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees. Halve your avocado, take out the seed then grab a spoon and hollow out the avocado a little.

Place your avocado on piece of foil, crack an egg and put it in the hollowed out bit of your avocado. Drizzle with golden syrup and sprinkle a few chilli flakes. Carefully wrap it all up and pop in your oven for 14-15 minutes. (I like my yolk really runny, if you want it done a little more pop it back in for a few 2 more minutes.) (NOTE: if you put the syrup on before it will be running and may look like egg whites so don't be fooled. Test the yolk instead or just add syrup after.)

Take it out of the oven and enjoy the gooey goodness that requires minimal effort- what more could you ask for?

My fav's for the minute.

This is just going to be a brief post consisting of a selection of my current favourite things. If I were to make a whole list of favourite items, I wouldn't stop.

To begin with, these 5 scents of Yankee Candle. I can't handle having anything other than nice smells in my bedroom, I don't know how my brother copes. And after discovering Yankee a few years ago I'm constantly setting alight different smells. But these 5 have to be 5 of the best by Yankee.

1. Pink Sands- smells of a place I could only dream of, that's it really.

2. Strawberry buttercream- my all time fav even those who lack a sweet tooth will love. The sweetness just permeates my bedroom, bliss.

3. Beach flowers- an ooze of fresh elegance which lasts even after the candle gets blown out.

4. Bahama Breeze- tropical shores and cocktails, it smells like a holiday.

5. Pink Lady Slipper- beautifully fresh and clean with a pure undertone of a rose muskiness.

My second favourite at the moment is the addictive, time consuming overly aggravating I-phone game, Candy Crush. Each level more tricky than the last, and unlike games which are easily completed, amounting to rubishness, (eg, 4pics1word) I can spend days at a time on one level. It's a challengingly clever, vibrant and FREE app, which as much as I should probably be advising you not to try (due to it's addictive nature) am. So give it a go. Oh and then send me some lives please?

And my last favourite item at the moment, is a Nails inc polish. Sweets Way Sprinkles is beautiful pale baby blue in colour polish, infused with matte like sprinkles in the colours of blue, white and pink along with glitter. It covers your nails completely in just a few coats and honestly is perfect for any occasion. I love nails inc as a brand and find their naming of polishes after places in London brilliant, (not including sweets way unfortunately..) the price is affordable for that of catwalk worthy products. Pastels are in at the moment and the milky complexion is dreamy. Your missing out otherwise.

Buy here 

Xoxo Becky

Time to spring clean your wardrobe!

After the Spring/ Summer '13 Fashion weeks last year, it's safe to say that we all should have seen at least one article in a magazine on the trends that were seen. However, I've put together a list of the top six just to condense them to an easy- peasy shopping list for you!

1. ORIENTAL
Ok, so basically I love Asians, I think they're amazing at pretty much everything and not so secretly wish that I was Asian. JUST TO PUT IT OUT THERE. But anyway, there is a definite oriental feel coming from the catwalks and shops even at the moment, I myself bought a blue oriental- style blouse from Topshop last month, so it has slyly been creeping in. Love the trend, I think the patterns really spice up Spring/Summer more than usual. So I've found you a couple of examples below from Topshop that you might like.

Oversize Porcelain Bird Shirt- £40.00
Buy it here  at Topshop

Premium bird embroidered shirt- £65.00
Buy it here at Topshop

2. CROPPED
Sometimes we all feel like having a lazy day, off from waxing and shaving and just want to wear jeans in Summer! So to give yourself that cheeky little edge to a pair of jeans, crop! Avoid rolling them up, it does not always look as good as you think. But there should be plenty of fab options soon as the Spring/Summer trends hit the stores. Also, cropped tees are back and as long as they're not inappropriately small, they can make the best casual Summer item.
NOTE: The Seamed Ankle Cigarette Jeans by Urban Outfitters below- LOVE.

BDG Seamed Ankle Cigarette Jeans- £50
Buy here at Urban Outfitters

Poppy 'Eye See Everything' Stud Crop Tee-  £10.00
Buy here at Boohoo

3. WHITE/ MINIMALISM
White is a trend that reappears EVERY Spring/Summer purely because it is the colour that is most associated with a Summer's evening- for example Daisy in the Great Gatsby in her flowing white gown- to get a bit nerdy. There are UNLIMITED options for this trend, everywhere you go. But I managed to find this absolutely cute, cute, cute dress at New Look for the amazing price of £27.99 so I thought it HAD to be shared. It's sweet and simple, a perfect quick Summer buy.

White crotchet lace 3/4 sleeve skater dress- £27.99
Buy here at New Look

Casual Seam Detail Tee- £32.00
Buy here at Topshop

4. SIXTIES

So, Cara is wearing Moschino which I wouldn't call particularly affordable, but it's Cara and I love her, so it had to be done.

Cara Delevingne - VOGUE

5. SHEER/ MESH
Again to link with the trend of Summer WHITE would be sheer, mesh and chiffon fabrics as I believe we've really had enough of black this Autumn/ Winter and personally I need to get out of the comfort zone of black twenty- four/ seven! So this cute, white sheer blouse would be a good start if you're like me and are seeking a slightly cheeky alternative to the conservative den of your black clothing.

Sparkle & Fade plain long sleeve chiffon shirt- £32.00
Buy here at Urban Outfitters

Leanne Cropped Crotchet Metallic Foil Top- £10
Buy here at Boohoo

6. FLORAL
Floral- another Summer repeat. I will be scavenging amongst my wardrobe very soon to pull out all the floral gear from previous years, but here's a couple of examples to help if you haven't been the most flowery person in the past and fancy a change.
NOTE:Whilst searching for floral examples I came across this River Island dress and it is ONLY £10 on reduction. One of the best buys I've seen for a long time, so GET SHOPPING?!?!

Black floral print structured dress- £10.00
Buy here at River Island

Floral Pleat Front A-line Skirt- £38.00
Buy here at Topshop

Little White Lies flower child floral print - £85.00
Buy here at Urban Outfitters

Voila! Hope this helps!
Happy shopping, 
Love Emily X

Origins face masks

Origins is one of the most established and best brands for skincare. A majority of their products are highly commended and rightly so. After reading so many rave reviews online i had to get my paws on the three most popular masks and having testing them out for a little over two months i thought i'd share my thoughts.

Origins Drink Up mask £20 (buy here)
Having dry skin this product suits me extremely well. It has a cream, almost gel-like, formula which is easy to distribute evenly around the face so you only need the tiniest amount to cover your face and neck resulting in the regular 100ml tubes lasting a while. (I've had mine since early january, use a it twice a week and reckon i've only used a quarter of the tube.) The mask is extremely rich and tackles those nasty dry patches during those cold months. A must-have for all those with dry skin.

Origins Clear Improvement £20 (buy here)
Probably my favourite face mask out of the three, don't get me wrong i'm a big fan of all of them but this one is something special. During the colder months my skin suffers terribly, it gets dry and boy, does it breakout! I tried this at a time when i was particularly spotty, it did nothing for the spots already there but as the spots there began to fade over time i noticed no fresh ones were arising- what is this witchcraft?! The only thing i had changed in my routine was my mask and ever since i have used it religiously. Although this mask is designed for oily skin it works wonders on my dry skin, i just slather on some face cream half an hour after using it. If you were to buy just one of the masks out of the three i would recommend this one the most, especially if you suffer from active breakouts or congested pores.

Origins Out of Trouble £20 (buy here)
This mask is designed for oily skins so i thought it'd be best to use one of my friends with more oily skin as a guinea pig so i could give better feedback. It mattified her skin without drying it out, in fact it left it soft and visibly brighter. Personally i've found this mask to work best on painful spots, it reduces the redness and dries the spot out thus reducing the pain. A holy grail product for all those who suffer from oily skin.