LK Bennett Spree

Well girls, (and any gents!) I have officially got to the age where my friends are getting married.

I am currently single so talk of weddings is a) not on my radar, and b) getting a little too much sometimes.

A lot of my friends have been very fortunate in that they've got jobs straight out of uni and haven't had to do Masters etc and so as a result are considerably better off than myself.

Because of this weddings and mortgages are a constant topic of conversation, and whilst I love my friends and am happy they are getting everything they want out of life it's difficult when you can just about make ends meet. 

I have 2 friends getting married this year and as I have now got myself a new job I decided it was time to splash out a little and get myself some really nice dresses to wear to the weddings as I really am excited for them and will have the photos forever!

Wedding 1 is a big fancy city affair with lots and lots of guests and she is spending absolute thousands on it, whereas in contrast Wedding 2 is a more home made and country type celebration and done to a budget. This meant it was going to be a challenge to find something that could be worn for both weddings (we all knew I was going to have to buy 2 in the end though don't we!)

I'd been to Swindon's designer outlet many times and never seen anything in my size in LK Bennett, so was absolutely astounded when I went there recently and found not 1, not 2, but 7 dresses all in my size.

It was like I'd won the lottery.

I legged it to the changing room, stripped off and tried on each dress one by one, twirling around in front of the mirror with a borrowed pair of LK Bennett court shoes that the lady kindly lent me.

It was amazing until I whittled my choices down to 3 dresses and had to make the important decision which to buy and which to keep.

Originally I'd planned to get one dress because the weddings are for friends from different groups and I could get away with wearing the same dress, but after this decided it had to be 2.
I thought I'd made my decision until my mum insisted one looked better so i was stuck, until she caved and offered to buy me one THANK YOU SO MUCH MUM. She won't ever read this but all the same, I appreciate it so very much, and keep looking at my purchases every now and then!

Without further waffling on lets get and show you my most prized posessions!!!

This is for wedding 1:







I had to get a bigger size so that it would do up over my boobs but luckily it doesn't look baggy, even though I can hold a considerable amount of the material around my lower half.
I own those magic pants with padding in to make your bum appear more like Beyonce's so I think I'll wear those seeing as no one will be seeing me undressed and I can look more proportional!


The next two are actually the same dress in 2 different colours. This was what I was having trouble choosing between as they're multifunctional and can be worn both ways round.
I absolutely love both colours and was finding it hard to choose!










Love this one as, I'm not afraid to say it, I felt like Kate Middleton in my navy LKB dress!

This one is so comfy and flattering with the ruching it's not hard to see why this was so popular. Especially as it can be reversed as shown below.
The only issue with wearing it with a low back is finding a bra, but I'm sure i can find one that will do.

I love the shape it gives me and this is the one my mum insisted on making me buy so bought it for me herself. It was also the cheapest so she did well there ;)
Her argument was that I could wear this to many things including work if there was an occasion and I'm hoping one day she's right.


This is the same dress in coral.







This one didn't seem as flattering as the navy one the second time, mainly as I could see my underwear through it so I'm going to have to be careful, but I just love coral and can't get enough of it!

These styles are all classic so hopefully as long as I don't gain any weight I'll be ok to keep and wear them for a few years to come! I imagine I'll be going to more and more weddings now as more of my friends get engaged and have another to go to next year already.

Which do you think I should wear to wedding 2? It's in September, so could be wholly dependent on the weather! Also, which way round should I wear them??

What do you think of LK Bennett? Do you shop in the discounted designer outlets?

I'm a huge fan!

L xxx

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

A few months back we both made a trip to Bristol to have our make up done in Harvey Nichols at the Laura Mercier counter. We do have a counter in Cardiff, but at the time of booking an international make up artist was to be visiting Bristol when we booked and it was a great opportunity to learn some new tricks.

Unfortunately the week or so before our appointment the international MUA decided to leave to go to New York a few days earlier than planned and so we couldn't have our make up done. But having booked our trains etc to go we decided to have a wander around Bristol on the way to staying at M's parent's home for the weekend.

Having put a £10 deposit down I was already quite sure what I wanted to spend my money on and stuck with my decision, for once! And also, quite proud, I didn't buy anything extra either!



The MUA from the store itself was lovely and chatty and as we'd both booked for the same time we had different girls and sat opposite each other with a glass of champagne (at 11am too! why not eh)

My MUA went through the options with me and talked about my skin and what look I wanted etc as you would expect. I chose my colours and then she got stuck into it.

I was massively surprised at how well the colours of Silk Creme foundation matched that of my own skin. I had fake tanned for that night out and the colour down from this (think it was Rose something?) blended into my skin leaving absolutely no trace whatsoever but gave a flawless base.
I took a gamble and went for the colour up from that for my purchase knowing that tanning is a fortnightly occurrence in my life and not regular enough to buy that shade.



Luckily for me it was perfect! Medium Ivory blends into my skin colour so perfectly it is quite unbelievable, I still am shocked to find such a good natural colour that doesn't white me out or make me look orange, it doesn't leave my skin looking patchy or even like it's got make up on at all.

With regards to the packaging I think it's really simple, Laura Mercier is a n understated brand and the packaging of everything is quite minimalistic and natural.



The foundation itself is definitely thicker than most I've used before, it lives up to it's 'creme' name but means that you need a minimal amount to cover your face.

You can see it on my hands below. The first shows a small blob of foundation which you can see is really thick and not likely to run on my hand. The second is as I initially started to blend the foundation and it sort of starts to 'melt' for want of a better word.

The last picture you can see is after it's all been blended in. My hand looks flawless and glowing and you can't really see the make up on the skin as you can with others.

But enough of my hand, here it is on the face!

First off here's a close up, my skin looks pretty blemish free, no scars yet the foundation has blended in without leaving much of a residue or coating as others do.





There are no visible lines of colour change around my hair line in the photo above and it hasn't settled into any of my 'laughter lines' around my eyes. (I'm 25 so can't possibly have wrinkles yet....)



Overall I am a big fan of this foundation. It blends quite easily after working it for a while, as I mentioned before it seems to warm up on the face and 'melt' which gets it to that flawless finish.
Retailing at £33 this foundation isn't cheap. I do begrudge paying that amount on a foundation knowing that I still need to apply a load of other products to my face which cost as well.

I'm hoping that cost per wear will bring this higher up in my list of foundations, to be honest its pretty high up there the more I use it as I know it will give me a great base that lasts and also photographs beautifully.
But if it was a little cheaper I'd be more inclined to purchase it again. Maybe in the future when i don't have 15 foundations it will seem a better investment!

What do you think of Silk Creme foundation? What other Laura Mercier products have you tried? Would you spend £33 on a foundation?


I was actually really disappointed with the make over that I was given. Being quite pale with dark hair I was surprised when I looked in the mirror at the end and found ginger coloured eye shadows, no eyebrow products at all and really awful eye shadow blending looking back at me.
I have no doubt that the base was perfect, and the lipstick she used on me was outstanding and it's firmly on my wishlist due to the colour and consistency. But the general look was awful and I ended up wiping off the eyeshadow as soon as I could get to a bathroom and as the make over was supposed to be for a night out later that day it was really disappointing to have to remove it all and start again.

Have you had a makeover by them before? What did you think?

I'd go back again as some of their products were great but I'd probably make sure I didn't get the same make up artist again.

L xxx

OOTD Tie Dye Side Split Maxi Dress

I'm always on the look out for new maxi dresses or midi dresses that flatter my figure. I'm 5ft 10 so finding a maxi dress long enough isn't always that easy. I've found with midi dresses the normal t shirt shape doesn't flatter my pear shaped body.

When I was in Swansea visiting the Benefit Boutique at the weekend I saw this dress in the window of Quiz I had to go and try it on. I love that the shape of it is a bit different and not something I've seen too much of. Quiz isn't usually a shop I'd think to go in as it's always a bit tacky prom looking in the window for my tastes.

Tie dye is definitely not a trend I thought I'd be sporting this summer. It looks great on some people but I didn't expect it to on me. I love the bright colours of this dress. It also comes in Black and Stone combination and Mint and Neon Green. It retails for £24.99 and can be purchased from Quiz.

I love that the dress has a rouched area around the stomach. Perfect for hiding any lumps and bumps and making everything appear smooth. It also means you aren't limited with underwear. Some maxi dresses due to colour and cut can mean you have to be careful not to show the dreaded VPL.

The dress isn't quite floor length on me but due to the split and the cut I don't think it matters. It's a soft stretchy material and so comfortable.

The split on the dress sit's quite high on me. I am tall though and think it would sit lower on most people. I find that even though the split is quite high it doesn't blow up in the wind and the high neckline on it still leave it not looking over the top.

You can pull the dress so the split either sits at the front or the side of it. It means the dress is comfy and easy to walk in and stops it being too tight.

I also love that it can be styled so many ways. I've been pairing it with my fake vans (Featured in this OOTD) and cropped demin blazer for a laid back look.

It also looks great paired with flip flops and would be a great beach cover up. The little capped sleeves would be perfect for holidays when the shoulders have been burnt. I always seem to do this.

Lastly it could easily be paired with sky high heels and you're ready for a night out!!

I love it when I find something unexpected. I'll definitely be picking up the black and stone version and checking out more of Quiz's maxi dresses.

Love M

xxx

Don't forget to check out our giveaway here

La Roche-Posay Effaclar H Compensating Soothing Moisturizer

This was something I recently found in my sample stash box. I'm trying not to buy new things at the moment until I've used up some of my huge collection. I was lucky enough to win a competition Escentual.com hosted when Bioderma came to the UK to win a sample size of it. Escentual generously sent out a huge bag full of samples and goodies and this was one of them.

I didn't pay too much attention to it at first and forgot about it. I've never tried anything from La Roche-Posay. My skin lately has been feeling dry but still getting oily so I decided to root through my sample box to see if I could find anything. Then I saw this and it sounded like everything I was looking for in a moisturiser. 

The moisturiser is paraben free which is always a good thing and non comedogenic. I like that the product has been tested on ache prone skin so you know that it's going to provide the mositure without breaking you out. 

It's packaging I like. Hello tube and not having to stick my fingers into a pot. I find I need just over a pea sized amount to cover my face and neck. I

It's a light moisturiser that sits well on the skin and easily sinks in. I was worried about using something that was going to give my skin back some moisture during that day as I was worried it would make me oilier quicker. The light formula makes a great base for my make up and doesn't make me face oiler quicker.

As you can see blended in there is no shine on my hand. It leaves my skin soft and well moisturised. I'm really loving this. Best of all 40ml retails for only £9.50. I'm always on the look out for more reasonably prices skincare.

I'll definitely be trying more from La Roche-Posay. Any recommendations? Fancy trying this. If you're quick it's on offer at Escentual for only £6.37 here. They currently have 1/3 off all french skincare.

Love M

xxx

Don't forget to check out our giveaway here