Gorgeous Summer Wedges

Yeah, this is just going to be a quick post to demonstrate my love for these wedges. They are summery and gorgeous...I love the shimmer effect on the straps and the details on the flowers.

Sorry to steal DP's photo but I haven't collected them yet and I wanted to get this post up before the offer ended!

I don't really own any wedges so I have an excuse but I spotted these in store and tried them on - they were very comfy and easy to walk in. I resisted getting them for £29 in the shop as Dorothy Perkins do so many offers online and they're currently doing a 'Up to 40% off Summer' offer exclusively online so I snapped these up for £20.30 instead! I have looked but I have no idea when this offer ends I'm afraid.

So if you see something you like in store in Dotty P's then it's always a good idea to double check you can't get it cheaper online. (Of course with sale items it probably wouldn't be worth it because your size may not be in stock on the website.) These wedges have already sold out in some sizes so if you want them too then I'd recommend snapping them up soon! I chose 'collect from store' for free delivery but DP do do free delivery offers fairly often.

I don't even know what outfits I'm going to pair these with yet, all I know is it's love. I would normally never wear heeled shoes during the day but with these I'd imagine I'd be able to wear them for quite a long time before they start to feel uncomfortable. 

PS: I don't know about you but I think it might be a bit hot in the UK at the moment! Hope everyone's keeping cool/making the most of it :)

Sabrina xx

Day to Night Dresses

Hi everyone, so I have another fashion post today as I'd like to talk about some of the day and night time dress I like to go for! I don't get the chance to take full length pictures of my outfits very often as I don't own a full length mirror, but I definitely want to get more of them so I can share Outfit of the Day posts with you all.

These pictures aren't going to be the usual kind you're probably used to seeing in fashion blogs of chic, elegant women posing in front of various interesting backgrounds!

I love how dresses are so easy to wear and basically make an outfit with minimal effort. I always feel slightly awkward posing with my hand on my hip for some reason so I only have one photo here with that pose haha.

For a day dress, I really like this New Look Tall purple dress which I got the very last one in (sorry!) on Asos.com with 20% off, so it was only about £8!

My shoes are from Dorothy Perkins :)

I just wore it for a day at my Grandad's spending time with my family sitting outside under an awning. It was very warm and sunny and this dress was just a nice casual day dress which kept me cool. I know considering it's plain I probably should have paired it with some jewellery but I'm honestly not a big jewellery-wearer. I do quite like the 3D daisy bracelet the model is wearing on the website but I haven't been able to find it or one like it yet. My sunglasses are a freebie pair I got with an issue of Cosmopolitan ages ago. This month's issue actually has free sunglasses as well as a packet of Mentos fruit sweets!

Here are three of my going out dresses:

Click to make this picture bigger!

I think the style of the middle dress works quite well with my smallish boobs and I really like this belt for pairing with different outfits. The midboob dress (lol) is another one of my favourites and is from Topshop over two years ago! The red dress is actually from the Rihanna for River Island collection yonks ago, it's a bit sexier than I usually go for but I like it has a dipped hem flowing at the back - it helps with keeping my modesty whilst bending down! It also has an open back and a culotte style so it's a little bit like a playsuit. Here's Elle Fanning looking gorgeous in the same dress. That picture is from my 21st Birthday night out :) I wear heels on most nights out although sometimes I can't be bothered and I'm tall as it is so I don't like to feel like a giant in them!

Again for night, and on dinner date nights with my boyfriend I like to wear a slightly posh and feminine dress.

Do you like my socks? :D

I love the sweetheart neckline of this floral Dorothy Perkins dress and I have a few other date night dresses from DP; they do great styles which bring you in at the waist and then flare out a little bit which is very flattering. Something about this dress seems slightly wintery and on the DP website the model wears it with thick tights and boots, but I still think it's a good date night dress in the summertime. This dress is completely sold out on the website unfortunately but if you like it you can still find out whether any nearby stores might still have your size!

For cover ups I generally would wear a light jumper over the day dress and a beige leather jacket over the night time dresses, although I do sometimes like to wear my leather jacket during the day.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

How do you take your style from day to night when it comes to dresses? :)

Thanks for reading,

Sabrina xx

An Ode to Miss Selfridge Ponte Blazers

Hi! So when I saw that Miss Selfridge were offering 24% off full priced items for 24 hours my first thought was that I'm going to have to snap up one of their blazers! *This offer has now finished, sorry!*

I noticed them a while ago when I was browsing in store, loved the look of them and was very tempted, but I decided to wait for an offer to come round seeing as though they're normally £39 (and I am a cheap skate, haha.)

I would buy almost every colour of this blazer if I could but I went for the peachy pink one (second on the left of the top row of the picture above) because I am unashamedly girly and know this is the sort of item I'd wear a lot. I love how these sort of items are very wearable and versatile as they can be dressed up or down depending on what you pair them with. My other favourites are the white and light blue ones in the top row, but the orange one is also quite striking.

Most of these jackets, including the one I bought, are actually in the Petites range but I'm pretty sure it won't be too short, and if it is I can always exchange it in store. I think these make a great cover up for Spring/Summer on those days where it's warm but you still need a light jacket, especially in the UK where it might rain at any moment!

What's your favourite cover up for Spring?

Sabrina xx

PS: I hope this post doesn't sound too much like an advertisement for Miss Selfridge, but don't worry they haven't sponsored me!

Mini Boots Haul

I swear it's practically impossible for a beauty-obsessed person such as myself to go into Boots intending to buy an essential such as toothpaste, without ending up with that and some other items that were...well, slightly less essential. That's what happened with this haul. To be fair, I didn't get that much - I really wanted to pick up a Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick as they all look gorgeous and are getting a lot of hype right now in the beauty world, but I resisted. (I know, go me! Haha.)

I've pictured the Nivea Daily Essentials Night Cream, £2.24, which I actually bought the previous week and mentioned in my last post. So far I'm really liking this product, it calms my skin down overnight when it's being a bit temperamental. The other night I was breaking out, used this product anyway (which I thought was a bit risky as it's quite a thick lotion) and obviously it didn't make the spot go away, but it did definitely help with redness and made my skin a bit happier. It's also very cheap especially as it's still half price at Boots so I'd definitely recommend trying it!

I also repurchased the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair which is one I've repurchased a lot. I've raved about this so much on my blog before so I won't go on about it except to say that it's absolutely worth the hype if you ask me! I am still using the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer on dark circles and this one is for using on spots and blemishes. I did a post reviewing the Nars concealer and comparing it to Collection here.

I had my hair done on the same day I bought these items and I decided to try a new hair treatment seeing as though the ends of my hair get very dry. I've also just had it coloured again so it's now definitely in need of some TLC. I deliberated between the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Deep Treatment (I've tried the normal version and loved it, it smells so good) or the Garnier Ultimate Blends Colour Illuminator 1-Minute Treatment but got the latter because it was cheaper on offer for £2.99. I have the shampoo version of it as well which I quite like, especially for the smell (Argon Oil and Cranberry). I rarely use hair treatments because my hair gets greasy quite quickly but I'm excited to try this!

The last thing I got was Soap and Glory's Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk which was also on offer for £6 instead of £8 and was the main impulse buy of the bunch seeing as though I might not have noticed it at all if it hadn't been on offer. However I'm looking forward to giving this a go, I was on the lookout for a new cleanser and this one gets very positive reviews on both Boots.com and Makeupalley. Also Khila (Miss Budget Beauty) raves about it a lot!

I just hope my sensitive skin gets on with this as it contains active ingredients/'glycols' (I know - blank face) and interestingly although Soap and Glory describe it as gentle and able to remove waterproof mascara, they also say not to use it on the eye area. I've used it a few times and so far, so good. It tingles a bit but other than that there are no signs of it irritating my skin. It had a very unusual minty yet peachy smell which I'm not sure what to make of yet. Also as usual with Soap and Glory the packaging is gorgeous.

Do you have any thoughts on these products? Have you made any drugstore purchases lately? :)

PS: This is obviously very unrelated to the rest of this post, but I saw this kimono over on Heather at Of Beauty & Nothingness' Summer Clothing Wish List and wanted to mention it as I'm in love with it as well as the whole outfit below...which adds up to £133! (Not including the necklace or sandals! I don't own a single kimono in my wardrobe as it's just not an item I would usually wear but I think this one is so beautiful:

Sabrina xx

My Spring Fashion and Beauty Wish List

Hello! Spring has well and truly sprung here in the UK - we've been having some beautiful weather in the past week! It's strange how the week before that I was still wearing my coat as it was quite cold, but now I'm bringing back my summery clothes and also being tempted to refresh my wardrobe a bit.

I still have some great basics for my spring/summer wardrobe - my New Look denim skater skirt being one of them because it goes with so many things. I am much more likely to be seen wearing skirts as opposed to shorts because I just find them a lot more flattering, particularly A-line shapes! I also love wearing dresses and occasionally playsuits.

So here are my picks for spring/summer clothing, makeup and a new perfume that I have my eye on (despite not really needing any more perfume.)

High Street Haul: Boots, New Look and Superdrug!

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great Easter! Today I have a haul post to share, because I went to Boots, New Look and Superdrug, and stuff just happened...

I actually only got a few things from Superdrug so I'll start with those. I got two Barry M nail polishes from Superdrug as the £3.99 ones are currently on offer for 2 for £6 and I wanted to get a more expensive product for free when I took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer in Boots.

As I've said before, I do have too many nail polishes - but in my defence these two are both very unique in my collection, as I don't think I had any yellows at all before I bought this one!

I picked up one of the new Quick Dry polishes in Stop the Clock, which is a really pretty and summery pastel yellow. I'm not sure if this will go that well with my skin tone but I love the colour so it's worth the risk. I'm also looking forward to seeing if it does dry quickly as it promises!

The other colour I got was Almond in the 'Gelly Hi-shine' range which Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup said was an amazing dupe for Nails Inc's Porchester Square in this blog post. I don't normally go for this kind of taupe shade but I thought this would be a great work-appropriate neutral which is something a bit different from the light, natural pinks I usually go for when I think of more formal nail looks. I've tried a few shades from the Gelly range and they've all been great, and I love Barry M polishes in general!

Moving on to Boots, I went in knowing I was going to get the L'oreal Brow Artist Plumper, as Renata from Speaking Beauty wrote that it was a great dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow, which I've tried at a Benefit counter - it looked great, but it's too overpriced for me at £18.50. L'oreal's offering is £5.99, but I got it free with the 3 for 2 offer and it's the first eyebrow product I've ever bought! They had no tester for the darker shade but I tested the lighter one and knew it would be too light so I got the darker one - I have dark blonde hair so I just hope my eyebrows don't clash too much with my hair colour.

'Dark Brunette' swatched

I quite like it so far! It's a welcome new addition to my everyday makeup as it definitely makes my eyebrows look more polished. I had a look at the even cheaper (£3.99) Rimmel version of the eyebrow mascara type product (Brow This Way) but the brush was shorter and larger so I wasn't sure about it. I like the brush of the L'oreal one, it's quite long yet small and it makes me feel like I know what I'm doing when I do my brows haha.

Before and After

But seriously, this kind of brow product did seem best for me as an eyebrow product beginner because I just don't know how to fill in my brows with products like Benefit's Brow Zings and the mascara-like brush does it all in one go so it's pretty effortless. I also wasn't sure if my eyebrows even need much filling in as they're quite thick already!

I also went in thinking I was probably going to buy the No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation - I had a sample of it and quite liked it, but I also noticed that L'oreal had a new foundation aimed at oily skin - Infallible Matte Foundation, which at the time of posting is on offer for £6.99.
It looked intriguing - it promises to stay on for 24 hours which is a slightly pointless claim considering that no one keeps their foundation on for 24 hours! In the end I went for the No7 Foundation as it has SPF which is great for daytime wear (I can use my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation for night time wear to avoid flashback in any flash photography) and looking on Makeupalley on my phone I could see that the No7 foundation had a higher rating/more positive reviews than the L'oreal one. I would still love to try that L'oreal foundation sometime though! I have never tried a foundation from either L'oreal or No7.

Side note: am I the only one who checks the overall rating of a product on Boots.com and Makeupalley whilst browsing in Boots or Superdrug?! I just don't want to take the risk of blindly buying a product without checking any reviews or ratings first, and I might even return a product unused if I did buy it blindly and then find that it has extremely negative reviews!

The final product I got in the 3 for 2 was the Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, £7.99, which I've heard great things about on blogs. I've used it a few times now and I like it so far apart from that it's a little clumpy, but I'll let you know how I get on and probably do a full review soon!

I went to New Look just to see if they had any nice work appropriate pieces other than the usual white shirts and black trousers. I bought this dress with a contrast collar. It is a little short (I'm 5'9) so I'd probably wear it with tights. The only size 8 they had in this had foundation marks around the collar so I got 10% off and it's non-returnable. It is £19.99 normally and looking online it's currently on offer for £14.99 which is slightly annoying, but nevermind.

They also had a black version but no size 8s, I tried on the 6 and it was way too tight, so that made the decision for me on which colour to get!

Lastly I didn't intend to buy a bag and I haven't bought a new one in ages, but I fell in love with this one - it is such a classic style but in a gorgeous, unique colour, which I couldn't help but notice is very similar to the nail polish I bought earlier that day, Barry M's Almond.

The rose quilted design is very pretty and it's a good size - not too large or small, and I really like the adjustable strap. It was also very reasonably priced at £12.99!  I'm not sure if it goes that well with my new grey dress, but it doesn't clash either. Overall, everything about this bag is gorgeous, and I think it's suitable for finishing off both formal and casual outfits.

Thanks for reading!
Sabrina xx

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Fashion Looks I Love

Hi! I thought I'd do a fashion post, as since it's awards season there have been a lot of gorgeous dresses! It was also London Fashion Week recently, and I was particularly interested in watching the video of the Topshop Unique show, since Topshop Unique is actually easily available to me and girls like me, although it's still quite expensive so I would probably only buy something if I really loved it. I saw a lot of fur in the Topshop Unique show, which was gorgeous but I really hope it's faux!

So firstly I was randomly watching the Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2015 show and saw some really beautiful pieces. I also thought the models looked stunning, a lot of them actually smiled and they also weren't too skinny. I saw this dress and was quite surprised at how similar it is to one I spotted when I was browsing in Peacocks the other day:

I mean obviously the style is very different but the print is almost identical! I know the High Street shops are influenced by high end designers but I haven't seen a similarity like this lately. The Peacocks dress is £16 here. I quite like it but I probably won't buy it because I already have enough summer dresses, and I don't really love it enough if that makes sense. However this dress is definitely a cheerful, summery piece and it makes me quite happy just looking at it - it's almost Spring so hopefully it's not that long to go now until it will hopefully be warm enough to wear dresses like this!

Some Exciting New Purchases

...or at least exciting for me!

So - oh dear. I caved.