With winter fast approaching it's about time we all updated our wardrobes. If we are honest though, it's that time of year where we are all saving for the most expensive holiday; Christmas. To keep costs down I've devised a list of just 5 things I think you need to tide you over until spring!
-- Thick Knit Jumper --
         

I think this is an obvious choice really, who doesn't love snuggling up in a super cosy jumper when it's freezing outside? I stock up on jumpers in the winter as I practically live in them; the thicker the better.

-- Black Boots --

Let's be honest, you can wear a good pair of black boots all year round but when it's cold and wet you definitely need something study to protect your toes. I wear Converse pretty much all the time but they aren't great when you have to wade through muddy puddles.

-- Cosy Parka --

Another obvious one really. I love a snuggly parka coat; if I get a good quality one it can easily last me a few years so I definitely think they are worth investing in.

-- Snuggly Pyjamas --

I spend half of my life in pjs so I don't mind spending a bit of moola on them. I'm not one of those people that sits in their normal clothes at home (Sean on the other hand...), the second I get in I swap straight into my pyjamas and relax.

-- Versatile Party dress --

You'll probably be going to a few parties during the festive season so it's a good idea to invest in a dress that you can wear a lot. If you are lucky you might even find something you can dress down to wear to work after all of the fun is over.

If I'm honest I could have added 100 more things to this list but I think these are the necessities you could get away with buying. Is there anything you guys run out to buy every winter?

Thanks for reading!


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Birmingham, UK

5 ITEMS YOU NEED IN YOUR WINTER WARDROBE

Last weekend Sean and I took a fairly spontaneous trip up to Lichfield. It's roughly an hour from my house by train and as we'd just invested in a rail card we thought why not? Earlier that week I'd also really been craving an afternoon tea so after doing a bit of research I convinced Sean to take me to McKensies, a lovely little restaurant in the heart of Lichfield City.


We arrived without a booking which we thought might have been an issue on a busy Saturday afternoon however they were able to fit us in and we were soon seated. After placing our order we were told there might be a small wait on food however this wasn't the case and our delicious afternoon meal arrived promptly.

The top tier of our afternoon tea stand consisted of; Homemade Scotch Egg sprinkled with Cheese, which tasted to me like a posh Sausage and Egg McMuffin, and two slices of Pork Pie - straight from the Butchers. I've had quite a few Afternoon Tea's and this was the first one to provide savoury treats instead of small cakes and macaroons. Although this is not what I'm used to I can honestly say it made a nice change and I will look out for this again in other Afternoon Tea menus.


The second tier held two fresh scones with plenty of cream and Jam - something I can be really fussy about, two slices of lemon cake, and the most beautiful buttery shortbread biscuit I've had in a long time. The biscuit was also branded with the McKensie's logo witch I thought added a really nice touch.

On the bottom tier were our finger sandwiches. The fillings we had on the day were; Cucumber & Cream Cheese, Ham & Cheddar, and Tuna. The menu does state that the Afternoon Tea comes with Salmon & Cream Cheese however I assume ours were substituted for tuna this time. I don't eat fish so that didn't bother me at all however if you really have your heart set on Salmon it might be worth calling ahead to double check the fillings for that day.


Service wise I couldn't complain at all really. All of the staff were very helpful and friendly. We spoke to several members of staff during our visit and none of them gave off the vibe that they were too busy to chat. That being said they were quick to clear our table when we were done and even wrapped up a slice of our leftover cake to take home. 

The overall decor and atmosphere of the place was also lovely. There was a fairly high end feel to the whole building which had a strong Stag theme throughout. Its not very often that I take notice of a restaurants playlist however the background music that played during our sitting was a mixture of cover songs changed up so that they had a smooth jazz feel to them which only added to the ambience.

So would I eat here again? Definitely. The location was good, the food was tasty and the staff were friendly, what more could you want when dining out?

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Lichfield, UK

AFTERNOON TEA AT MCKENZIE'S

So let's be honest; when payday rolls around its all too easy to add a few unnecessary beauty bits to your basket. I'm super guilty of this which means I often end up with products that I haven't researched all too well and just aren't compatible with me or my skin. Well I've decided I would round them all up today and tell you why I thought they were a pile of shite!



Benefit Air Patrol Eyelid Primer - So you may remember I posted a full review of this pricey little primer quite a while back. If you fancy reading that you can find it here, if not I'll give you a run down of why this was a waste of time and money. Okay so firstly, the mechanics of the packaging is a nightmare. You have to twist the product which pushes it down the tube and out of the applicator, in theory. In practise this didn't always work. Secondly, when it did work the product often just got stuck inside the tube or sometimes came out on its own. I also didn't think it did much to really prime my eyelids, it just felt a bit like I was putting think concealer on them which definitely didn't help to keep my eyeshadow in place.

Kat Von D Studded Lipstick in Shade Gothica - Now I'm suuuuuper disappointed in this lippy. I was really excited to finally buy it, you may even remember it featuring in my Birthday Treat Collective Haul back in August. Well I've had chance to really put it to the test since then and basically I just think it's a bit crap. When I apply the product I feel like it just smudges around my lips instead of actually staying in place and after 20 minutes of wearing the lippy it's basically none existant on the centre of my lips. If anyone has any tips or tricks on how to keep glittery lipstick in place I am all ears!



Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Shade Birthday Suit - I kind of feel like I was mis-sold this eyeshadow if I'm honest. I always knew it was a cream eyeshadow, but in the store I bought it from the display products were quite dried out which meant they were basically completely different to the products you can buy. Because the display eyeshadows were fairly dry, they applied a lot easier and the colours were super vivid when I tried them out on the back of my hand. I didn't know they were dried out at the time, I just assumed that wass how the products came, so when I applied the real thing to my eyelids a few days later I was very disappointed that it just slid around my eyelids without much colour really showing. It's also not creaseless at all. Lies.

MAC Frost Lipstick in shade All I Want - Maybe frosted/ glittery lipsticks just aren't for me, that certainly seems to be the case. I was really happy when I picked this beauty of a shade up in Bicester Village for just £11 a few years back. Little did I know I would make me look pale as shit. I also didn't know just how much the product would slide around my lips and be gone within half an hour.



Benefit They're Real Mascara - Oh look, another Benefit product. I usually get on with Benefit; Roller Lash was my go to mascara for ages. I loved the brush and the solution itself was great too, so I thought I would try out Benefit's other best seller. Well They're Real could not be further away from the quality of Roller Lash. The solution is so thick and clumpy I end up looking like I have about 3 really chunky eyelashes on each side. Its not a great look and however I try to use the brush I get the same result. Save your money, and your energy, just buy false lashes.

So those were the products I wish I'd left on the shelf. The annoying thing is that they were all high end and in total I spent £84 on just the 5 of them. Almost makes me sick to think about!

Do you have any products you really regret buying? I'd love to hear about them so I don't make the same mistake again!

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Birmingham, UK

BEAUTY PRODUCTS I REGRET BUYING


Shop The Look
         

So I am finally back with another outfit post! It feels like forever since I posted an OOTD which is a shame really because I really love dressing up and prancing around in front of the camera. I still find it super awkward to pose in public though, not going to lie.

I've actually used my new camera for these photos which is why the quality isn't as good as usual but if I'm honest I was out for the day and I just couldn't be bothered to lug my big DSLR around with me. I know the photographs will never be as good using this new little camera but my old lady back just can't handle the weight of my other camera anymore. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I will try my best to create them more often!

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Lichfield, UK

OOTD | BELL SLEEVES AND BOOTS

So Halloween is coming up, and while every other blogger is publishing really amazing makeup tutorials I thought I would keep it simple. As Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year, most people won't actually be able recreate these wild makeup looks on the day as they will be hard at work. If you are one of those people, don't worry, I got you covered! Today I thought I'd show you a fairly easy Halloween inspired makeup look that you can get away with wherever you work!

Grace is standing in front of the camera. Her eyes have vivid orange and purple eyeshadow and her lips have a coat of orange lipstick

This look is quite straightforward, it's a simple smokey eye consisting of two colours with a fairly thick eyeliner flick. In theory you only need to buy 3 products to recreate my face here; an orange eyeshadow, a deep purple eyeshadow, and an orange lipstick. Like me you might be lucky enough to have some of the eyeshadow shades in palettes you already own so check those out before you run off to buy new makeup! The orange shade I used here is actually from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette which I know a lot of people in the blogging community ran out to get when it came out a couple of years ago! If you do have that Urban Decay palette you have the ideal colour selection for halloween as it's filled with bright vibrant colours which are perfect for spooky season.

a close up shot of the easy halloween makeup
a close up shot of an eye with vivid orange and purple eyeshadow.

If you don't fancy the colours I've chosen for this look you could easily change it up for other Halloween themed shades. My look was meant to be quite autumnal and pumpkin inspired however you could go for more witchy vibes using dark greens or even black. 

So what products have I actually used on my face? 

My everyday products are:

An image of a deep purple eyeshadow.
An image of an orange lipstick

I'm clearly a big fan of Collection products; they are just so cheap and I find the quality to be really good for the price if I'm honest. I think they are definitely one of the better budget cosmetics brands out there. I always purchase high end mascaras and eyeshadows, but for the majority of my other makeup products I turn to Collection almost every time.

My "Halloween Products"

So that was my easy peasy Halloween makeup that you can wear to work! I'd love to see some of the more out there makeup tutorials that you guys have been making/ loving! Send them over to me on Twitter!

Thanks for reading!


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Birmingham, UK

HALLOWEEN MAKEUP YOU CAN WEAR TO WORK

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