Honey, I'm home!

I'm back from my little French trip down the canal and I can safely say this week has been heaven. The perfect end to the summer with the most beautiful people. I've seen more places and little towns in the last week than I have in the past who knows how long. It's been so refreshing to have a week away from the internet and real life in general. Dad put it into perspective on Wednesday; someone could have dropped a nuclear bomb and started a world war and we would have been completely oblivious to it. We just spent our days cruising down the canal shouting 'Bonjour!' and waving at every bugger that came past, French or no French!

Week #34

Smoothie making (on reflection I didn't like it | ASOS orders on a Tuesday morning | Barry M Shocking Pink lips | Magic moments - make a wish! | Lists galore | The monochrome selection

Just a quick one this Sunday. I'm saving all my Insta holiday snaps for a separate post next Sunday just to make me feel a little better when I'm home. I've even created my own hashtag ( #chaosinfrance ) for all our french fun which I'm trying to rope everyone else into hashtagging too. Have a lovely week guys!

What I bought: August

H&M striped dress

H&M spotted skater skirt

H&M shirt dress

Asos pink cardigan

H&M chain necklace

River Island pointed shoes (sale)

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush body scrub

Soap & Glory Pulp Friction body scrub

Soap & Glory Breakfast scrub

I've been sat in a little cafe in France by the canal for the last two hours with my two sisters and Dan whilst we wait for our boat to be prepared. I thought I'd spent loads of money on clothes this month but I guess looking at it I haven't got as much as I thought. My excuse has been 'well I'm going on holiday' and have pretty much spent the whole of August in holiday mode. I have put links down below, or I guess just above this rambling, but for some reason my links don't seem to work. I'll have that sorted when I'm home though, as I'm looking at buying a nice simple blog layout which will hopefully sort everything out.

I finally repurchased my striped dress from ebay, I know it would have been cheaper in store but hey I was desperate. I've also bought the little spotted skirt that screams Minnie Mouse and the checked shirt dress from H&M. The necklace I bought specifically to wear with the dress but I've worn it so much with everything. The Asos cardigan has been my best friend on the 14 hour journey here but the pointed River Island shoes got left behind - we can't bring everything on holiday now can we! Excuse the major stash of Soap & Glory scrubs, I went in Boots just looking for the Breakfast Scrub but they were on 3 for 2. How is a girl supposed to resist that kind of offer?!

Stay tuned for my arrival home for a Holiday haul. I may have got slightly overexcited in duty free, and I'd already made a French pharmacy purchase before I'd even arrived via Mum.

Barry M lip paint in 52 Shocking pink

Barry M Lip Paint in shade 52, Shocking Pink: £4.49

This colour is definitely not for the faint hearted. It's the first lip paint from Barry M that I've tried and it's a little drying, which is apparently quite common for the Barry M lip paints. I do find that matte lipsticks have more staying power and ended up just topping this up with a clear gloss later on in the day (that snap can be seen on my instagram: elegantcha0s). It's a bright blue toned neon pink that would definitely not suit all skin tones, but if your daring enough the colour is spot on for summer and the price is perfect too. 

Week #33

Baby in a bowler | Tartan and gold | Clock obsessed | Croissants for breakfast | Sunday afternoon cocktails

What a quiet week on Instagram it's been. It's not even like I've been super busy at work this week, I guess I've just been a bit MIA on the whole social networking front. I'm trying to sort out a proper schedule for posts when I get back from my holiday so posts aren't quite so sporadic. I've got a few posts planned for this week, my monthly haul, a beauty post and maybe a few outfit posts thrown in for good measures. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Autumn shades

H&M dress

Ebay jacket

Ebay boots

Topshop socks

H&M necklace

Oh I'm so in love with this little dress. And just for the record it's definitely not just an oversized shirt. I did get asked more than once when I wore it if it was. It's one of those things that has been in H&M for a good few weeks now and didn't jump out at me until last week. I bought the gold necklace, (which may I just share is ridiculously heavy) to wear with it. It makes a change from some of the cheap plastic wannabe necklaces.

It's a week today until I go on holiday and spend a week on a boat travelling down the Canal du Midi. I've decided not to schedule posts whilst I'm away. There may be one or two but I'm not going to stress myself out over the next week worrying about getting up to date. I just want to enjoy some well earned time off with Daniel and my family.

Holiday wishlist

1. A Clash of Kings - Tesco Direct - £6.99

2. Marc Jacobs Honey - Boots - £68

3. L wash bag - Alphabet bags - £20

4. Big pocket cardigan - ASOS - £36

I'm heading down to the south of France for a little boat trip down the Canal du Midi next Friday so I wanted to put together a little wishlist but I only wanted to include products I still need. I couldn't see the point in including bikinis when I'm happy with the ones I've already got. 

I guess a woolly cardigan isn't exactly something you'd expect me to take to the south of France but it's more for the flight. I hate how cold it gets on planes so this time I'm going prepared. This ASOS number has been in my saved item for ages, and surprise surprise two days after I bought it it's now gone down in price. So frustrating! I guess being on a boat it will come in handy at night too since no doubt I'll be cold, I always am.

The book is self explanatory, you can't go on holiday and not take a book. I'm currently working my way through the Game of Thrones series and this is the second in that series. I'd definitely recommend them.

The other two are beauty bits. A make up bag is something I strangely don't own, but this little L wash bag from Alphabet bags will be perfect for all my essentials. I'm also hoping to pick up a new perfume in the airport. I'm definitely a Marc Jacobs kinda girl when it comes to perfume, so seeing Honey plastered all over the blogging world has made me want it even more. I've had a few cheeky sniffs in Boots on my way to work!

Week #32

Cola with my name on it | The replacement striped dress | Interrupting blogging time | Lady Gaga looking stunning | Butterfly on my window | Sleeping puss cat | New pointed shoes | Me and Boo | 3 for 2 in Boots | Curled up after work

Apricot shades

H&M blazer (other colours)

Topshop tee

Topshop jeans

Primark shoes

Topshop bowler (similar here)

Primark necklace

I think I fell in love with this jacket a little more than I already did since I wore it. I'm so glad I snapped it up and know it will be one of those pieces that will sit well in my wardrobe for a long time. It's the perfect piece to brighten up a monochrome outfit.

I've not done a lot else today other than shop for boring things like a cat travel box and cat litter. Oh the joys of a kitten. I did get sucked in by 3 for 2 on Soap & Glory products in Boots and ended up picking up three different exfoliators. One being Breakfast Scrub which smells like maple syrup. Oh my god it smells heavenly! If there's any other products you'd recommend let me know since I was really spoilt for choice. 

I'm off to bed since I'm facing a full weekend at work. Surprisingly I'm okay with that since I've figured out what I want to aim towards lately. I feel so much better knowing it's all for a purpose and after I've finished my degree I can really focus on that. Have a lovely weekend!

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A bright, a dark and a natural.

When it comes to lipsticks, for me there's three essentials. I don't really have a comfort zone when it comes to lipsticks, I own bright reds, bright pinks, oranges, peaches. I just think the right shade lipstick can complete an outfit. I'm by no means a MAC snob, in fact some of my favourite lipsticks are from the high street but for the purpose of this post I've featured only MAC. Let's call it the bright, dark and natural MAC edition. 

My 'bright' is Morange which is an amplified creme finish. When I bought this is Bloomingdales the girl on the counter said it was such a good choice since the colour suited everyone. I was too scared to wear it for so long but once I did I loved it. It's very pigmented and it's usually opaque in a few swipes and so so bright! If this were a person it would be a party animal.

A dark vampy colour is my go to during winter for any parties or nights out. Mine is Dark Side which again is amplified creme finish. I don't favour this finish over the others but I do like an opaque finish which you can guarantee from the amplified creme lipsticks. 

Pink Plaid has quickly become a shade I'm reaching for quite a lot since I've been doing overtime. It's a perfect natural shade that's so easy to wear everyday. I find that the matte finish drys on the lips giving it good staying power and when it does fade half way through my shift I just top it with a bit of gloss.

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Giving love to the world

Topshop cami

H&M Kimono

H&M skirt (similar here)

Ebay boots
Topshop socks

River Island necklace

H&M and Primark rings

I've been preparing this post since about 5 o'clock this afternoon, but I faced the distraction of painting all twenty of my nails (a couple had to be done twice due to smudging). Dan decided he wanted to take a quick trip to Outfit and then we went swimming. I think we can write swimming off as a potential fitness...thing. I'm struggling to find something that I really enjoy, so for now I'm going to stick to doing the 30 day shred every so often and the Blogilates workouts.

I didn't actually wear this today since I haven't left the house and didn't even put trousers on until our quick shopping trip. I wore it last Monday for a meal out with Dan for dinner. I wanted to take my new cami for a whirl and nothing goes better with yellow than a bit of grey. Paired with silver accessories and my Chelsea boots and I was all set.

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Week #31

Sleeping cat | Good mail day | Monday's outfit | Gold nails | Another sleeping cat | Light patterns | Christmas cards | Lusting after new boots | Yellow sky | Face mask Friday

Another busy week working, and this week has well and truly seen the start of the Autumn season at H&M. There's so many pieces I've fallen in love with and all I want to do is spend all my wages is one go. So far I've resisted since I'm off on holiday in a few weeks.

Hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your summer. 

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