Off for a chat with Company Editor Victoria White...

Today at UCLan the editor of the amazing Company magazine, Victoria White, came to visit us and give a chat about working within fashion journalism and the future of print magazines. I was a little bit in awe as I love Company magazine, and especially after Victoria tweeted me back after the chat, I was like I just want to work at Company now!

Victoria was great, she was brilliantly honest about her opinions on print and online magazines, telling us how Company have tried to maintain their readership and ultimately make money when there really isn't much around anymore, and how she feels about the craze of the blogger. With some great hints and tips for interviews, internships and getting your foot in the door of the industry, whilst also giving us an insight in what it is like to work at Company magazine HQ,  making me want to be apart of the Company team, it sounds like my idea of heaven and so much fun!

And here is what I wore to today's talk...

Fringe Skirt (can't really tell in the picture) Zara, Grey Speckle Jumper Newlook, Khaki Military Jacket with contrast Leather Sleeves (again, you will struggle to find me without it at the minute) Topshop, Bowler Hat Topshop, Selection of Silver Rings Topshop and Statement Necklace New Limited Edition!

Blue is the new black!

Now winter is officially here I would normally reach straight for the black nail polish, I just think there's something so effortlessly cool about black nail varnish! But I'm afraid I have been converted for the time being by the new, must have nail shade of the season, bright electric/cobalt blue! 

After spending a good twenty minutes examining the shelves in boots, and ending up with about ten different shades of blue nail varnish in my basket, I settled for the Nails Inc Baker Street blue! 

I was not disappointed in my choice in the slightest, it is the most gorgeous colour ever! And there's nothing like a brand new nail varnish that just goes on perfectly, dries quickly, no bubbles or bumps... made me a very happy girly! At £11 a bottle Nails Inc aren't the cheapest nail colours but with no other shade I found coming close to this amazing colour, I would definitely be willing to splash out on this again! 

My next nail purchase I think will be some black glitter! I've started seeing it all over pinterest and in magazines, and it will be perfect for the winter party season!

Bargain beauty buy!

Ultimate disaster the weekend, was just about to begin getting ready to go out and realised I'd run out of foundation... and Asda was my only option. What the hell was I supposed to find in Asda? Well, only the most amazing bargain beauty buy ever! 

If I said to you £6 for a foundation, you'd laugh or say whatever foundation costs that much isn't worth wearing, right? Well desperate times called for desperate measures so I went for it and brought the Maybelline Drean Satin Liquid Foundation. I have another major problem when it comes to foundation as I have the most sensitive eyes (even some Clinique foundations irritate my eyes) and the last thing I wanted was watering, sore eyes for a Saturday night out... but this foundation was amazing. From application it gave a silky, smooth, almost airbrush like coverage that was easy to build up without becoming thick or discoloured. It was also so light on my skin, which was another plus for me as I hate feeling like my face is plastered in makeup and like my skin can't breathe. Seriously this foundation was a beauty revelation to me. It went on well, gave great coverage and lasted all night... all for £6! No complaints what so ever! At least I know if I'm ever really strapped for cash I have a bargain foundation I can turn to!

And here's me wearing the amazing £6 foundation...

Casual Saturday...

Zara Tiger Tee. Topshop Military Jacket with Leather Sleeves. Topshop Gold Statement Necklace. Topshop Supersoft Leigh Jeans Black. H&M Flat Black Pointy Shoes.

Cocktails, Canapes & LBD's

On Thursday I attended the Little Black Dress cocktail party in Manchester. As my first, official invite to a blogger event I was very excited and the Little Black Dress launch party did not leave me disappointed!

After being greeted with the gorgeous, official Little Black Dress cocktail created exclusively for London Cocktail Week 2012 (thanks for the recipe by the way guys will definitely be trying that one at home), I was met the lovely Gemma and had a browse around the amazing dresses on display exclusively for us!

The team at Little Black Dress have hit the nail on the head with The Ulitmate LBD, with a simple yet effective and extremely flattering design, reaching out to women of all shapes and sizes, the classic dress is perfect for any wardrobe this winter. For me, I would 'edge' the short style up with some chunky shoe boots, statement necklace and an oversized, super sparkly or metallic clutch! As for the elegant floor length number, I just wish I had an event looming to give me an excuse to purchase this beauty. A messy, low bun teamed with some eye catching, dangly earrings and maybe electric blue clutch or shoes to add a pop of colour is how I'd love to wear this gorgeous gown.

The Ultimate LBD's were not the only dresses I fell in love with on Thursday night (I knew this would end up potentially fatally dangerous for my bank balance), there were some amazingly sparkly party dresses that were just perfect for those Christmas parties that are looming.

This beautiful, floor length, metallic ombre number was sequins and sparkles galore in a chic and sophisticated manner that would barely need accessorising at all, this is one of those dresses that you just leave to speak for itself! There was also a shorter version with tshirt sleeves on show that I literally had to drag myself away from. The short version I was adoring in the silver, metallic tones and one of the Little Black Dress team were wearing it themselves, teamed with chunky ankle boots, no jewellery needed, leaving me with ultimate outfit envy!

After managing to drag myself away from the rails of gorgeous dresses I went to check out the MAC team who were creating some fierce makeup looks that would make the perfect accessory to any LBD. The Marilyn look was my favourite, as to me she has to be the most glamorously feminine woman the world has ever seen!

Thanks to the Little Black Dress team for a fabulous evening and goody bag including the yummy cocktail recipe that I will be trying to recreate in the very near future!

Monday night playlist...

Tonight is supposed to be an extremely productive night of uni work which is of course turning into completing many other much more important jobs such as painting my nails, planning Wednesday's fancy dress outfit, shopping for ski clothes for my new years skiing holiday & even putting washing away, that is how serious the level of procrastination has got right now!

In order to chill myself out & try to tame the urge to go out to Squires, my Monday night playlist is my two favourite albums of the moment; The Vaccines - Come of Age & of course Mumford & Sons - Babel!

Absolutely adoring these two albums at the minute! I think I've mentioned before that my music taste is very diverse & totally random but I am definitely going through an indie phase at the minute with The Maccabees also being played a lot recently.

So, favourites off the albums... Well obviously No Hope is a no brainer, perfect song to open the Come of Age album with as far as I'm concerned it always makes me happy & want to dance when I hear it! Weirdo has to be another one of my favourites & All in Vain, to be honest I love them all, the whole album just plays through so easily, I love it!

Mumford & Sons has to be my favourite out of the two though, I think it's just because I never thought I could love the second album as much as the first, but I actually love it even more! It's one of those amazing albums where there isn't a single song you have to skip! I particularly love Babel, Whispers in the Dark, I Will Wait, Lover of the Light, Reminder, Broken Crown, Where Are You Now... Yeah ok, all of them! I have, & will continue to, play this album over & over because it will just never get old! Plus it just makes me even more excited about going to seem them in real life, in the flesh in December! Ahhh, so excited! If you don't have this album, get it, NOW!

Makeup Treats!

During my recent splurges (another asos parcel arrived for me this morning... whoops) I have treated myself to a few new additions to my makeup bag & I could not be happier with them! I have a confession, although I occasionally indulge in a 'designer' mascara or bronzer my makeup bag is generally made up of higstreet brands Bourjous & Rimmel, & I am not ashamed in the slightest. I'm fussy with makeup, particularly mascara, & I like to stick to what I know & love, with designer brands tending to be twice or three times the price & of a quality that, I feel, generally doesn't justify it, investing in makeup from higher brands just seems un necessary to me! However some of my new makeup purchases have seriously changed my mind on this!

Now one product I tend to always go designer for is concealer as I get quite dark circles under my eyes, & they do always perform much better than any highstreet ones I've tried. This is not a first time purchase as I've tried this Clinique product before & I think this is going to remain a staple of my makeup bag for a very long time!  The Clinique 'all about eyes' concealer is £16 but lasts so long it's unreal as a little bit goes a really long way. It's nice & light, as I hate heavy makeup, particularly around the eyes & stays well on the skin particularly with bronzer or powder worn over the top as I do. I struggle when it comes to finding makeup, particularly for around my eyes, as I have really sensitive skin/eyes that water constantly if they don't agree with the product I'm wearing, this Clinique concealer is amazing as it's totally fragrance free so doesn't irritate my eyes whatsoever! I cannot recommend this concealer enough, it really is brilliant, & at £16 its hardly a bank breaking splurge especially when it can last like over two months!

My second 'designer' splurge was the Chanel 'inimitable intense mascara', £23. Anyone who knows me in the slightest knows how particular I am with my mascara & OCD I am about my eyelashes. Firstly I am lucky to have really long, curly eyelashes normally, (I've never used an eyelash curler in my life & have wore fake eyelashes one time for about five minutes!) but... they are blonde, so without my makeup on they just disappear! Now as I don't wear falseys, I like to make sure my eyelashes are perfect when I go out, I like them all separated, if they clump together it drives me insane (I have been known to use the back of an earring, bank card, corner of the concealer tube, hair grip etc as tools to separate any lashes that don't co-operate), & I literally spend easy 10/15 minutes perfecting them for a night out, they take longer than the rest of my makeup all together. Now this means I am extremely particular when it comes to mascara & there brushes! I hate the bristle brushes, opting only for the stiff, plastic ones that separate your eyelashes. My absolute favourite mascara (until I met this beauty) is Bourjous 'elastic mascara', I'm sure I've tried almost every mascara on the highstreet & this one is the best by far in my books! As I'm super fussy with mascara I don't tend to try new ones out unless they've been recommended & when I saw how this Chanel mascara transformed my brothers girlfriends eyelashes, AND it had a plastic brush especially for lash separation, it was a no brainer! I was expecting to be disappointed as I normally am with the more expensive mascaras, thinking it would end up in the bottom of my makeup bag & I go back to the trusty Bourjous, but this mascara is not overrated in the slightest! First time I used it was in the day & in one brush my lashes were perfectly separated with perfect amount of coverage meaning I didn't have to reapply a few times & avoiding ending up getting clumpy & OTT thick mascara for the day time. When it does come to the night time I like to go for more mascara so my eyelashes don't look inferior next to my friends who can pull off false lashes perfectly. This mascara lets you build up a few more layers without going bitty, clumping eyelashes together & looking too thick, it's just perfect! I would recommend this mascara to anyone, no matter what your natural lashes are like, this amazing product can transform them completely!

 My final new addition to my makeup collection was a lipstick from the Topshop makeup range in 'mischief' red. I'm going through a red lisptick phase at the minute so thought I'd give the  Topshop one ago as they've got a massive range of colours with at least five shades of red to choose from, & at only £8 it was very tempting to just by them all. I settled on the mischief shade however as its a nice bright but deep red that you can wear with almost everything, & I have, wearing it nearly everyday since I brought it! The lipstick gives great coverage without having to apply layer after layer, & lasts really well without bleeding along the edges, mess free! One of the massive bonus' though is the lipstick is amazingly moisturising at the same time, stopping the dry, flaky lip look that is not a good one. I've only really recently ventured into the lipstick world (no false eyelashes, no lipstick, what a rubbish girl I am) so don't exactly have much lipstick experience to compare it to but I think this Topshop product is amazing & definitely one I'll be trying out in other shades again!

Here i am sporting my new concealer, mascara & lipstick ready for a night out in Liverpool on Thursday!...