Sunday 31 July 2016

#ootd - Office Attire #2

I really enjoyed putting together my Matilda Wormwood inspired outfit of the day, so I thought I'd put together another, slightly more formal, summery office outfit. 

Every single item in this ootd was an impulse buy. I'm not afraid to admit that I have a pretty shocking shopping habit and I'm fairly confident my need to own lots of clothes probably comes down to the fact that during my high school and college years I really struggled with my 'style identity' so rarely bought clothes (or at least rarely bought clothes I loved). Now I'm a lot more critical before buying an item - I have to really love it - but I'm also a lot more open to different styles and patterns. I like that my wardrobe is fun and allows me to mix up my outfit choices each day - long gone are the days of wearing a different white patterned t-shirt with the same pair of jeans!

Dress - Topshop, Jacket - H&M (similar here), Shoes - Topshop (similar here), Sunglasses - Quay Australia (similar here)

I adore the fit of this dress and I love the crossover strap on the back.
I really like the look of these Quay Australia sunglasses but I haven't been bowled over by the quality - for an RRP of £30 I would expect more and I'm glad I got these on sale.
These Topshop shoes have to be my ultimate sale find. I love how pointy they are and they have a velvet finish which gives them a touch of class.
Hopefully if the weather stays nice I'll be able to put together a few more of these before the summer is over!

Tuesday 12 July 2016

#reviewsdaytuesday: First Impressions - Arbonne It's A Long Story Mascara

I was sent this mascara to review by the lovely Nicole, who's an ambassador for Arbonne. It's a completely cruelty free and vegan  brand, so I was very excited when this sample came through the post.


First things first: the wand. This mascara has a plastic brush with spaced bristles. Now, I'm usually a fan of a fluffier brush, as I tend to lean towards a volumising mascara rather than a lengthening one. However, this does mean that the brush spreads the product over the lashes evenly and as you can see I haven't had any problems with clumping!


The formula is fairly fluid, which I like in a mascara as it means you get a really good coat with the first brush through. The downside is that it's not super buildable (although I'd imagine that by letting the mascara dry properly you could get additional length from extra coats).


The above image shows my right eye with mascara on and my left eye natural (for you viewing that means my left side has mascara on). Full disclosure - I did curl my eyelashes first. As you can see it is a fairly subtle difference, so if you're looking for 'in your face' makeup this might not be for you. Personally I like a subtle look for work wear, so this is fab for me!


This is how it looked on both eyes first thing...


... And this is how it looked at the end of the day! I was pleasantly surprised how well this stayed on - unlike most of my other mascaras it hasn't smudged underneath into my concealer at all! 

All in all I'm rather impressed!

This is the It's A Long Story from Arbonne, which you can get here: https://www.arbonne.com/discover/products/eyes.shtml