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Saturday, 22 June 2013

Struck by Tara Starlet

Hiyaaa,

Floral Knot Top, Vamp Cape, Lucia Skirt with the Lucia Bralet

So a new clothing line has just shot straight to the top of my lust list!

Tara Starlet is a vintage inspired line which uses screen icons like Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe as muses. The pieces are based on classic patterns so it's all traditional, ridiculously flattering cuts. Sometimes I'm a bit wary of such retro designs because, unless you have a whole wardrobe full of them, they can look a bit out of place with more everyday items. But I think, after giving the website a thorough going through, a lot of these things would look really good with just a simple pair of jeans.

I stumbled across their website a few days ago and just can't get enough of it, I want literally everything on there. I've picked out a few of my favourites to give you a taste of what Tara Starlet is about but there's loads more to look at.

I think my favourite piece is the 'Vamp Cape' - I just want one for winter. Unfortunately the price tag is a liiiiiittle out of my range at the moment but when I'm rollin' in dollar these will be first on my list!

So do you like Tara Starlet? Have you heard of them before? What's your fave clothing line?

Honolulu Dress, Seaside Playsuit, Honolulu Shorts

Thursday, 20 June 2013

Caramel Apple Muffins | Recipe

Hello there,

So my relationship with my dad is basically a life long episode of Great British Bake Off! We are constantly trying to out-bake eachother with our amazing creations. So what better occasion to show off my baking prowess than Father's Day? I concocted a recipe for Caramel Apple Muffins using an Edd Kimber recipe for Apple Pie Cake and a basic muffin recipe and the results were awesome...so here ya go

On my bookshelf - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Helloooo,
I am notoriously crap at finishing books. Honestly, name any classic book ever written and my reply will always be "I read the first half...". I don't know what it is, maybe I just have a really short attention span. Whatever the reason, working in a book shop for two years sure was embarrassing when you haven't read any of the 'must-reads...'

Anyway, for my birthday a lovely friend bought me a copy of "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" by Mohsin Hamid. He claimed it was his favourite book and so he wanted me to read it (also I think my indignant 'I never finish books' stance was getting a bit annoying.) Well I finished this one! So here's a lil ol' review like thing

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - buy it online here (not reluctantly at all...)

The Plot
This was one of those nice wishy washy books that doesn't really have a plot - which I quite like. The story revolves around a Pakistani man named Changez. He moves to America for college and ends up working for a huge corporation. Whilst still in his youth, he falls in love with a girl called Erica who's battling her own demons. The book culminates at the 9/11 attacks, at which time Changez feels increasingly isolated from everyone especially Erica. All the big things he used to love about America seem stale and he becomes really disenchanted.

What I liked
The book is written as one half of a conversation. I'd never read a book like this before and it was a cool style to read in - made it feel like the author was guessing all the questions you might have. It also raised loads of really interesting questions for me about how we treat outsiders...

What I didn't like
Sometimes I felt like Changez was bit wallowy and it almost made it difficult to like him...but he does go through some tough stuff so it's justified!

Recommended?
By me - Absolutely, espesh to anyone interested in politics and America...
By Waterstone's - 3.9/5
By Amazon - 4/5

Have you read this book? Or any others recently? Recommend me something below...

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Quote Me On It #2

Welcome back to my weekly cheesey fest!

Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Review | Planet Spa Indulgence Mini Kit

Hiyaaaa,

So a little package arrived through my door a few days ago. It was a birthday present from my Auntie over in Portugal. Presents from her are often from Avon because she's one of their representatives. I'm more than happy about this because I lurrrrve Avon products - especially their make up range. I hadn't used many of their bath products or moisturisers before but I was pretty sure I was going to like it...

The kit included; Dead Sea Mineral & Caviar Refining Facial Treatment, African Shea Butter & Chocolate Truffle Silky Body Soufflé, Thailand Lotus Flower & Champagne Velvety Smooth Bath Elixir and Mediterranean Olive Oil Reviving Facial Gold Glow Gel. Very la di dah!

So by far my favourite product in the kit is the Refining Facial Treatment. It's a really thick and creamy moisturiser. I've been using it at night just before I go to bed because it's a bit to heavy to use as a day cream. I've been using it for about a week now and when I wake up my skin does feel really soft.

The next product in the box definitely fulfils my chocolate addiction. It smells just so amazing I can't even! I have to actually stop myself from eating it. I'm not 100% sure what a 'Body Soufflé' is but I've put some on my arms and legs and it made my skin really silky. Also the smell stays really well so you smell like chocolatey goodness all day.

When I first opened the kit I wasn't so sure about this 'Bath Elixir'. I'm not really a bath kind of person so I didn't think I'd really use it. But recently I've been a bit under the weather so suddenly a bath sounded like a lovely idea...Anyway ramble over, I poured a load of this in it and it smelled delicious! I thought this was going to be like a bubble bath but it only made a few bubbles which didn't last very long so I think it's more of an in-bath moisturiser. I used it with a SexBomb Bath Bomb from Lush for a lovely bathey combination!

The final little bottle in the box had 'Reviving Facial Gold Glow Gel'. I'm always soooo skeptical of facial glowing things because I always find they're just glittery and I end up looking like a fairy. This stuff is basically the same and is really glittery. It's nice and moisturising again but I don't really like the glittery-ness of it. Also, I'm not sure if it's meant to go on top of my make up or under it which confuses me too.

Overall, I really like the kit! It smells lovely (especially the chocolate one) and each of the products leaves your skin so soft and so refreshed. Really nice and definitely a good gift set idea!

Sunday, 9 June 2013

Quote Me On It #1

Hiyaaaa,
So I don't know why but I'm a real sucker for a good quote. All over my house I find scraps of paper with random quotes written on them ranging from Shakespeare to Oprah. Sometimes they might seem a bit melancholy but most of them are just things I find inspiring, interesting or funny. So I wanted to start a little series on here called 'Quote Me On It'.

Every Sunday (if I remember) I want to post a quote I like or that relates to the week just passed...pretty simple stuff. I hope you like it.

If you like the quotes I pick out you can follow my quote board on Pinterest (that's where I'll be getting most of these things from)

Monday, 3 June 2013

That is SO punk rock

Hiyaaa,

Don't know about anyone but my eyes are still reeling from some of the catastrophes that occurred at the MET Ball. I know it's not fair to target a woman who's with child and I hate to jump on a bandwagon but Kim K's dress was just the biggest disaster in upholstery I'd ever seen!

Despite this there were some pretty rocking dresses going on. Ma faaave lady Anne Hathaway looked stunning with her newly bleacher hair, Cara Delevingne looked as punk as she always does and even Sienna Miller left boho behind for the night.

Hot weather and leather are not two things that usually go together but I think this punky, studded, black leather look is gonna stay around for a bit longer and the best thing is it's totes easy to replicate on a budget...

Happy Punking...