The man who stole a leopard.

Happy New Year!

It's officially 2015!

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and a lovely New Year, and that there weren't too many sore heads on the first of January!

I was spoilt by everyone I know for Christmas, as per usual! 

I might do a quick post on what I got, but then again it's not really what I want to do!

I'm 22 now, and Christmas really isn't about what I got anymore, it's about spending time with your family, eating so much that you resemble a potato and basically getting drunk as much as possible during the day!

So we'll see how inspired I feel for a post like that over the next few weeks!

I haven't done any New Years Resolutions, because basically they don't last!

But one thing I have thought about is that I'd like to do a few more outfit based posts on here!

I love shopping/clothes/fashion and I think I have good style and know how to dress myself relatively well, so I'd like to document it a bit more!

It will be difficult to get regular 'outfit' shots when it's not a mirror reflection because I basically live alone and I don't have a proper camera! But when I do, I'll try and bully friends and family into taking a few pictures for me!

So here we go, first outfit of the day post of 2015!

My brother wasn't the happiest about taking these pictures so excuse the potential poor quality!

This was an easy look for running my brother around town and doing errands and doing family visits! It's an mix of Christmas presents, Christmas sale shopping and things that have been in my wardrobe for a long time!

Leather jacket - Dorothy Perkins - £49.00 - £39.20

Leopard Print Top - Zara - £29.99 - £19.99

Skirt - River Island - Old stock (not online anymore! sob - I want a new one)

Tights - Primark - (probably about 3 years old lets be honest who buys new tights)

Ankle boots - Dorothy Perkins - £35.00 - £25.00

Handbag - Jaeger - £59.00 (mine is last year's version of the one in the link, hence why it's a different price than what's online! I got mine at a Jaeger Outlet!)

Rings - August Woods at Argento - £15.00

Do you like outfit posts?

What would you like to see more/less of?

Let me know and I can try my best to satisfy your needs!

Until next time!

Rachel

xxx

Basics Wishlist.

Hello!

OMG CHRISTMAS IS SO SOON.

Okay, that's out of the way.. Needed to get that off my chest.

So, basically I am a shopping fiend (just incase anyone is new here and didn't know that)... But I'm obsessed with it. I'm not particularly skinny, but I do love clothes. And regardless of what people think, I think I dress myself 'quite' well for my shape.

I'm going to do 2 wishlists of things that I would like - a basics and a 'going out'/glitzy as it is the season afterall.

Let's go.

1. Animal Print Top - £25.99. 2. Nike Cuffed Beanie - £25.00 £17.50. 3. FOMO T-Shirt - £12.99.

4. Black Snake Print Pom Pom Shoes - £28.00. 5. Turtle Neck Sweater - £12.99.

6. Mix Knit Ankle Socks - £4.00. 7. Bibi Knitted Cardigan - £40.00 £18.00.

What do you think of these basics?

I'm ALL about a monochrome wardrobe at the minute.

I want all of my clothes to be black/white/grey at the minute.

WARDROBE GOALS.

Stay tuned for my Glitzy/Glamour wishlist.

xxx

Birthday Clothes Choices!

Hiiii.

Do you remember who I am? I apologize for my absence!

I've been away a lot mostly because of work (being a grown up is HARD) but also.. It was my birthday last week so I was at home visiting family and friends..

I'm now 22.. 

I've been out galvanting around the country (both England and Northern Ireland) and I thought I would do a quick post to show what I've been wearing as I've been celebrating/drowning my sorrows.

My first night out was in Brighton with my besties from Uni.. It was messy!!

We (read I) took too long to get ready so outfit pictures weren't a priority as we jumped into the hotel lift and went downstairs to jump in the taxi but I did manage to grab a quick lift pic!

My playsuit was from Primark and was £13! Really comfortable and effective! I paired it with old nude Topshop heels and a nude studded clutch bag from Primark! Easy outfit but it worked really well! Alice's (in the middle) dress is from Miss Selfridge but from a while ago! And Lizzies playsuit is from Topshop but I don't know when!!

I went home a few days later and on the actual day of my birthday had a lovely pamper spa day and lunch with my mum! We kept it casual but I did use it as an excuse to stick on some false eyelashes!

Jumper is from Primark (£8) - I'm a little bit obsessed with these eyelash style jumpers, they're everywhere! I have this bright yellow one from Primark, and a fuschia one from Matalan! So comfortable and cosy! I layered the jumper over this dress from Monki (£25) and paired it with black tights, black Chelsea boots and this feather scarf from Accessorize that my landlady bought me for my birthday :) The eyelashes I'm wearing are Red Cherrys and it's MAC's 'Whirl' on my lips!

Next was a shopping trip to Belfast to basically splurge all of my birthday money.. Charcoal biker jeans from Next Outlet (£24), White wrapover blouse from Select (£11.99) and this aaaamaazing fur stole from Topshop (£28)! I would never justify that kinda money generally, but I had gift vouchers from Alice and frankly I'm 100% in love with the stole and it's worth it!!

This was from my main birthday night out in Belfast, where we stayed at the etap hotel which was super cheap and amazing! Such a good location as well! We were going for a 'grown-up' night, where we dressed responsibly and behaved ourselves.. We behaved but only because we couldn't get drunk! Top is £12 from Dorothy Perkins, trousers (I am obsessed with these) are from River Island and were £15 in the sale (not online - go have a ruffle around in the sale section in store)! Shoes are my new favourite things in da world from Dorothy Perkins (£29), mules!! Never thought I'd appreciate this style but I am in love with them! Be careful though, I did get the heel stuck in a drain!! Typical Rach night out dramaaaa haha.

Final selfie before I left to go back to London.. Kind of show casing my new amaaaazing coat that I literally spent most of my birthday cash on.. From Marks and Spencers, which is somewhere I never usually shop in, but I walked through the door, seen this and it was love at first sight!! It was £89 which was super steep compared to my usual Primarni special winter coats.. But it's absolutely worth the money, such good quality and it will last!! 

Hope you enjoyed this quick post on what I wore over the last few weeks!

I hope to get a quick post done on what I got for my birthday beauty wise etc before I go away to Switzerland with work next week! Keep an eye out for a post soon!

Mucho loves!!

xxx

What I bought.. Haul!

Evening you lovely lot!

Last Sunday I decided I needed to treat myself, so I popped off into Crawley and visited the County Mall. Now, when you're used to the Arndale and the Trafford Centre this is a bit of a downgrade! I would even say that the Buttercrane at home in Newry is better, but I couldn't be bothered going to London so it was my only choice! I'm trying to pick up a few more 'exciting' things for work now I've settled in and seen what other people are wearing! At the start I was playing it very safe with pencil skirts and blouses, but I've kind of learnt it's okay to have a little bit of fun with what I wear!

So, let's get on with the fashion show then!

Primark

'Hang In There' 10 Non-Slip Hangers - £4.00

These are my favourite hangers ever (how sad do I sound?!) but honestly, I love the furry material on these! They keep all my clothes actually on the hanger rather than at the bottom of my wardrobe! Definitely worth the pricetag! I chose the mint green & grey option this time! I already have about 20 pink ones of these so I thought I should switch it up a little bit!

Angel Sleeve Dress - £13.00

I love the print of this dress! That's what attracted me to it! The colours are so bright as well! It's actually got split sleeves as well so you can flash a little bit of skin without flashing a whole bingo wing! It's a decent length, about an inch and a half above the knee so still appropriate to wear to work without tights! Result in this heatwave we're experiencing at the minute!

Weave Peeptoe Pumps - £8.00

I desperately needed a shoe update, all of my pumps are falling to pieces! How cute are these both? The brown ones are perfect for wearing with the above dress, really cute! You needa make sure your toes are in tip top condition with that peeptoe though! ;-)

Chain Moccasin Loafers - £8.00

I've seen a lot of people rocking a good moccasin lately and I wanted to join in, they are super expensive though so when I seen these I was all over it! These are from the Wide Fit section, but they're really not Wide Fit! I'd be fearful of the normal version! They're a suedey type material so keep away from any puddles that might appear after a midnight storm!

3 Chain Necklace - £4.00 - £2.00

I haven't bought any jewellery in a while, which has been tough for me I can't lie. I'm like a magpie I LOVE SHINY THINGS. I do have a cheeky order coming from Blacktied that you'll see soon though I hope! But anyway I thought this necklace was pretty edgy but still understated 'coz all the chains are so small! So I'll still be able to wear it into work without looking like 2 Chainz. Plus it was in the sale for £2.00!! That's like basically free. 

River Island

Floral Peplum Top - £30.00 - £15.00

Another little sale purchase! This was reduced to £15.00 in River Island and I had to nab it! The floral design is gorgeous, white background, navy detailing and then really black bordering (which doesn't show up very well on camera!)! Everyone says don't mix navy and black but I love it! This will be getting worn with my black pencil skirt for work, and a black mini and leather jacket at night!

Debenhams

Red Herring Floral Print Dress - £30.00 - £9.00

Now I know this isn't gonna be everyones cup of tea, but let me firstly justify it as it was £9.00, you don't even get dresses in Primark for that price, never mind a decent quality dress from Debs! This isn't your typical 21 year old style dress, but they actually suit me so well, little bit of cleavage, in at the waist and a nice length! It's perfect for work, it'll probably never get worn anywhere else other than work but that's fine.. for £9.00 I don't blinkin' care! 

Boots

No 7 Beautiful Skin Quick Thinking Wipes - £7.00

My holy grail wipes! Worth every penny, but I always wait until Boots do the £5 off vouchers, so they only cost me £2.00! Bargain!

Nivea Invisible Anti-Perspirant - £1.07

The only deodorant I've ever used that actually doesn't stain any clothes. The best I've ever used. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo 'Blush' - £2.99

I always seem to buy this when it's NOT on offer, but I don't even care it's so worth it. The best out there. Holy grail!

Collection Eye Brow Definer - £2.79 

I wanted to buy Soap & Glory's Triumph but it was all sold out! This was the best I could find! Let's see how it goes :) 

Boots Essential Toothbrush - £0.79

So that's all I bought on my little adventure to Crawley's County Mall! 

What do you think of my purchases?

Has anyone tried the Collection Eye Brow Definer? If so, what did you think of it?

Let me know! 

mwah xxx

Wishlist Series #2

Heyaaaaa.

It's week 2 of my Wishlist Series, and today it's my top 10 from River Island.

Everythings under £50 as per usual!

So lets get started :-)

1. Dark Red Stripe Trim Oversized Top- £32.00

2. Fluro Orange Floral Racer Front Top - £20.00

3. Black Splash Print Cold Shoulder Dress - £25.00

4. Light Pink Pineapple Print Mini Skirt - £25.00

  

5. White Cut Out Sling Back Sandals - £22.00 

6.  Light Brown Suede Worker Boots - £45.00

7. Lime Chevron Embellished Clutch Bag - £20.00

8. Gold Tone Encrusted Double Hoop Earrings - £8.00

9. Dark Grey Cat Eye Retro Sunglasses - £13.00

10. Black and White Spliced Print Joggers - £20.00

What do you think of my choices?

Have you bought any of them?

Let me know if you have!

Rachel

xx

"Shopping Is My Cardio" - Pt. 2.

I'm back with Part 2 of my rather large Christmas Sales haul!

I'll get stuck straight in, and once again I'll try and post links to anything that's still available online!

New Look Blue Platform Shoes, No7 'The Eyes Collection', Origins 'Make A Difference Rejuvenating Set', Soap & Glory 'Powder Trip', Muse Neon Green Chain Necklace & New Look Blue Double Ankle Strap Heels.

The loveliest, most beautiful thing that has EVER touched my skin. I tell no lies, this is amazing!! I stumbled upon this in Boots the sale section, not expecting it to BE in the sale, but it WAS! £19.33 for ALL of this!! That is a FULL SIZE moisturiser that costs £34.00 alone!! It smells beautiful and refreshing on your face! It contains the 'Make A Difference Plus + Rejuvenating Moisturiser', 'Make A Difference Plus + Rejuvenating Treatment Lotion', 'Make A Difference Rejuvanting Hand Treatment' and the 'Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask'.  I'm just head over heels in love with it all. The overnight mask is my favourite, I just want to use it everyday, my face is loving it! If you can, go to Boots, nosey about and I hope you will stumble across this beauty. :) 

This little lovely kit was £6, I really couldn't leave it behind! It has 3 Limited Edition No7 eyeshadows, a No7 eye colour brush (A MAC 217 BRUSH DUPE - HOLY SHMOKES) and a No7 smokey eye brush! The shadows don't have names but check out the swatches below :) The eye colour brush  and the smokey eye brush are £7.25 each so the full kit with 3 additional eyeshadows for £6 is a steaaaaal. 

I told myself I didn't need this palette, I reassured myself when I got home that I didn't need this palette.. A few days later I turned off a motorway on the way home from a shopping excursion at 7pm at night to get this palette. Some may say I have issues, I just say I'm dedicated. 

The Soap & Glory 'Powder Trip' was £10 down from £20, and contained 3 of their legendary face products, 'Solar Powder' (bottom left), 'Glow All Out' (top left) and 'Love at First Blush'  (top right) alongside a half-moon powder brush. Solar Powder was my FIRST ever bronzer and I adored it, even when I was a makeup virgin.. So I wanted it back in my life whenever I seen this kit! I was worried that it would be bulky but compared to having 3 individual powders it's actually a lot easier! The three individuals also have a hefty £33 price tag, so all three for £10 is a steal. It's still online, buy it now. You won't regret it. ;-)

This was my New Years Eve outfit! All sale bargains (except the shoes but that's okay!) 

Top - River Island Black Abstract Floral Turtle Neck Body - £5

Skirt - F&F Leather Mini Skirt - £5

Necklace - Muse Neon Green Chain Necklace - £5

Earrings - Topshop Chunky Chain Hoops - £4

Shoes - Blue Cross Strap Chunky Platform Shoes - £27.99

I'm pretty chuffed with this outfit, considering the top and skirt only cost me £10! The accessories are more expensive than I would generally buy but the shoes are so comfy I know I will get SO much wear out of them.

The other New Look shoes I bought aren't in the sale online but they were £8! I didn't think I could wear the strappy style shoes but they're so comfy. Perfect interview or night out shoes.. You'll last all day no matter what you're doing!

I also treated myself to my first online Illamasqua purchase! I bought the Light Liquid Foundation in Shade LF140. I did struggle to find the shade I should buy but I recommend googling swatches in comparison to other foundations you own, there's enough beauty bloggers out there someone will have what you're looking for! The foundation is so lovely!! And it smells like vanilla, I'm in love! Really good coverage for a light foundation and turned out it was the exact match for my skin! It's a bank breaker at £27 usually for 30ml, but for a tenner in the sale its great! Free p&p as well! Brilliant! 

Finally, just a pic of my nails that I rocked on New Years Eve, for approximately 1 hour because I'm pretty sure by the time it hit midnight I only had 3 left...

Hope you enjoyed my splurges!

I'm seriously considering cutting up my bank card.

NO MORE SHOPPING.

Everyone, say it with me!!!

Have a lovely week guys and I'll talk to you sooooon! :)

xxxx

Radio 1's Big Weekend - Londonderry/Derry

Hiiiiiiiiii!! 

I've had the most amazing weekend, I've been at Radio 1's Big Weekend ... Wooo!!

Me and my best friend Becca were lucky enough to get tickets for the Friday and the Saturday and it was amazinnnng! Friday was more dancey and R'n'B focused, which are my favourite types of music so it was perfect for me :)

Saturday was more poppy and rocky, not my fave's but there were still some amazing acts on!

On Friday we seen... Katy B, Maverick Sabre, J. Cole, Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris! All of them were amazing, and Calvin Harris was an amazing headliner! He played such a good set and the atmosphere was unbelievable!! Everyone was so hyped up to see him! Dizzee Rascal was great as well, he even brought Robbie Williams with him to play his new song.. SO GOOD! :)

You can see a little bit of Calvin Harris's set in this video on my facebook... Calvin Harris - I Need Your Love ... Apologies for the crap quality!

The acts we managed to catch on Saturday were ... Kodaline, The 1975, Kendrick Lamar, The Saturdays, Ellie Goulding, Labrinth.. And my favourite act of the two days.. IGGY AZALEA! I am bordering on obsessed with her, she's got the most beautiful body and she's just perfection to me! 

The picture quality is terrible and I apologise for that! I was dancing too much to get a decent picture! She's got such an amazing body! And her outfit was unbelievable!!

The weekend was amazing and we stayed in the most gorgeous hotel.. Such a comfy bed to relax in after such a packed Friday!! Here's a few photos of my outfit choices for the weekend :)

• Dress - River Island - This dress was £20 when I bought it down from £35.. Now it's £10! Bargain :) Especially as it comes with an attached necklace! 

• Bagpack - Primark - This was £9.. So much handier than having to carry a handbag, this little beauty was going nowhere!

• Denim Shirt - New Look - I got this for Christmas so it's gone off the website and I can't remember how much it was :( 

• Rings - A mix of Primark rings and River Island midi wishbone rings!

• Playsuit - Primark - This was £5! Such a cheapie and such a pretty pattern!

• Denim Shirt - Same as before!

• Belt - Primark - £3! Another cheapie and so similar to the style being sold in Urban Outfitters for a hell of a lot more!

• Necklace - Topshop - Sale bargain at a fiver! As you can tell I'm a big fan of the cheapies haha.

• Bracelets - Internacionale - £1 each! 

• Shoes - Primark - Converse style high tops for £7! I don't see the point of paying £42 for the real things when I'm gonna wear them out and ruin them! I can have 6 pairs of these for the price of 1 real pair!!

• Tights & Frilly Socks - Primark - Socks were £1.50, and they're identical to Topshops version! Tights are £3 for 3 pairs!

The weather stayed dry on Friday thankfully but the heavens opened on Saturday evening... At exactly the same time as Labrinth was singing 'Let the sun shine'!! Too ironic! We were well prepared with our raincoats and hats, nothing was ruining our weekend :) We danced in the rain and just enjoyed it!! My hats from eBay and was super cosy and warm :)

One last picture, we were lucky enough to bump into the lovely guys from Kodaline in the crowd when we were watching the 1975! They were so nice and more than happy to pose for a photo! They chatted away to us, and we walked past them a few more times during the night and they always gave us a wave!! Hopefully we'll see them in concert again soon because they were sooooo nice!!

We were filmed by the BBC dancing into the crowd for a montage going out on Friday (31st May) ... Keep an eye out, you might see Becca and I on TV! One step closer to being famous ;-)

Chat soon guys!

Rachel, x