A knit romance...

Recently H&M has been amazing me with its collection of knitwear for summer. It's so cheap the most expensive item I have recently bought was only £12.99 a great price for a long sleeved jumper. Other knitwear products that I am loving are the knitted vests, they come in a whole range of colours from dark's to lights to neon. The knitwear is all thin knit making them great transitional pieces to be brought into summer. They won't be too warm, the long sleeved jumper has already proved to be nice and cool when worn for a night out. I have no doubt that it will be a great piece in my European wardrobe for the summer evenings. The same applies for the knitted vests but for the day. Team them with shorts and sandals to tour the cities of Europe.

I also love the adaptability of the pieces. I have already said that the jumper I wore on a night out and whilst I have dressed the vests down a black skirt or shorts would create a great evening style. My style is quite bohemian and I do often go for comfort so these tops are perfect for me and so interchangeable. I'm sure I will feature them many more times styled in different ways.

Whilst I am on the subject of H&M I am so impressed with there recent collections. Whether it be the accessories, the shoes or the clothes. They offer all kinds of alternatives from the relaxed to the going out. There are so many pieces that I wish my bank balance could stretch to. Especially have so many pairs of printed trousers. Another step forward for the brand is their Eco range. Whilst I am not impressed with the pallet of colours the basic designs they have brought to the table with ethical methods are great. The floral shorts are my favourite piece.

I am looking forward to seeing the next move from H&M. After all they have had some amazing collaborations in the past and I am sure there are so many more to come.

Farming Girl...

De-Ja-Vu

Top- H&M £7.99

Jeans- Topshop Jamies £42

Necklaces- Accsesorize

So after forcing my housemate to come home to Yorkshire with me I dragged her all the way to Barnsley's top attraction, Cannon Hall Farm. Its a little farm just down the road from where I live where they have plenty of baby and fully grown animals. You even get the opportunity to pet some. The Goats were especially soft. As it's the Easter holiday's there were plenty of activities planned, sheep and ferret racing were by far the highlights of the day. Who knew that sheep could jump hurdles? Of course I backed the winning contenders claiming my allegence to the green team each time. Considering we were off to the farm, a place where children run riot, today's outfit was pretty casual. I just wore my comfy jeans and a knitted vest. Probably could of used something with longer sleeves in hindsight as it was freezing. I forget that Manchester is usually a million degrees warmer. The vest top is only £7.99 from H&M and yes I had the navy one on yesterday. I love the colour it's a vivid lime green and really goes well with my pale skin and blonde hair. I feel these tops were my bargain of the week purely because you can dress them up and down. Just team them with a skirt or shorts if your going out. I also think they are a great transitional piece into the summer as although they are knitted they are still vests. this means that they are not too hot for those sunny days, which I am sure are just around the corner. The Jeans are from Topshop. They are the Jamie jeans, skinny and high waisted. My favorite combination. The material is stretch so they are really comfortable jeans and so practical for any situation.

Soaking in the Fresh air in Yorkshire with my housemate Hannah.

Channeling the Emperors New Groove with the Llamas. 

Closure....

So without wanting to turn this into a lame blog about all my personal feelings and torment, I thought I would tell you guys a little about tonight. So over the summer I fell out with my oldest and dearest friends there was a trigger but basically I went away to university and grew as a person. I became someone different, older and defiantly more mature. I just didn't fit with my old group anymore. There was nothing wrong with what happened, it was just hard to get used to. Without a doubt it led to some of my darkest days so much so that I felt the need to move back to Manchester. However there are still things connecting me to this group. Out of my darkest days, I have seen who my true friends are. One of the girls messaged me to meet up, I went why not. I am glad I did, it was nice to properly put to bed that chapter of my life. I talked to her about how I was made to feel. We both apologised for the things that had happened. Whilst I will always care about the people I used to love, it doesn't change my feelings on that they were not the right friends for me. I am glad I got the opportunity to talk and in the end we had a nice catch up about our lives. Now almost a year on we are completely different group of people, there is no way the damage done can be repaired and I know I don't want it to be. I know in the past year I have become a whole new person, a better one and someone for the first time in my life I can be proud of. I spent my life trying to please people who didn't appreciate the person I was and made me want to change myself. Now the friends I have love me for me and that's all I could ever asked for.

So my advice for everyone who reads this is that if anyone ever feels trapped or like they are pleasing others rather than themselves then you just need to let go. Even if your scared, you never know where life will take you. I needed a push to do this but I have never regretted that it happened and I doubt I ever will. I also think that closure is important, moving on comes easier and the past becomes a happy memory rather than a haunting dream.

So to old friends and new friends, I raise my glass and send out a toast. May the life you want be the life you lead.

Home...

Top- H&M £7.99

Jeans- Topshop

Boots- Topshop £40

Hat- Topshop £25

So today I am off home for a few days. Finally hot a while off work so figured I would get myself back to the countryside for a little r and r. Not going to lie my home town is anything but high fashion but I'm the type of person that likes to make a statement. Along with taking new friends home I'm meeting up with old ones that in the past have really hurt me. Therefor today I am doing as I always do and hiding behind my clothes. Without a doubt they are comforting and shopping always does cheer me up.

Today I am wearing a relaxed outfit after all I do have to sit in a car for the journey home. It consists of black skinny jeans my favourites from Topshop, I swear I do wash them. I have a new jumper vest on from H&M it was a bargain at £7.99 so I got the lime green version too. I love H&M at the moment so may have to do an entry on that in the near future. I love the basic items you can get there with their cheap price tags. I also brought the big guns out by investing in a hat. I am not usually a hat type of person unless its the Woolley variety. But this time I thought why not ill give it a go. Still not sure wether it suits me or not so opinions would be great. The hat is £25 from Topshop it's navy with an orange strip around it. The orange was the part that drew me to it really. I'm like a magpie but instead of being drawn in shine its bright colours that do it for me.

I'll keep you all updated of my little trip home.

Sun?...

Dress- American Apparel

Boots- ASOS

Belt- Vintage

Cardigan- Knitted by Mum

For some reason the good old English Weather is going absolutely crazy. Last week we had blizzard conditions now its summer sunshine all round. Luckily living in Manchester I missed the snow. The sun however is here, as it's becoming rare I have to make the most of it as I can. This means the legs are out and the pastel colours are on. The cream dress which is the base of my outfit came from the outlet section of American Apparel. I'm not going to tell a fib, it deserved to be there, at the end of the day it was only £5. It looks more like a hospital gown than a dress. Never one to miss a styling opportunity I stuck a chunky belt round it to make it actually look like there was some shape to the sheet of material. It kind of worked, But I would not reccomend wearing such a shapeless item without a jacket. Sticking to the cream hue and considering were not in Cannes I wore my thick knitted cardigan. I'm sorry guys you can't get this from your local shops. My mum knitted it for me, its huge but really warm and cosy. The best bet for anything thick knitted is a vintage shop or second hand. They simply no longer make them like they used to. Finally we move onto the footwear. I am a lover of shoes, I think I must own well over a hundred expensive and cheap. These ones are from ASOS. They are a kind of cream/green suede. Therefore don't really match up with a lot of things. They have a bit of a heel so always make your legs look good. The best thing is they are fur lined so great to keep the toes warm.

And that's my outfit for today, a bit of spring styling.

The Best...

Tonight seen as my outfit today was purely unimaginative, I thought I would give you all a little insight into one of my favorite beauty products.

Tonight I am going to let you all into my secret of perfect foundation. Like most girls I have spots and oily skin. I struggled for years to find a good base that fits my skin. I have used products from high end such as Chanel Vault Lumiere and low end Maybeline dream matte mouse. I moved onto Mac for quite a while which whilst being great coverage I always felt a little submissive when handing over the £20. The finish of Mac was at times just a bit blotchy and orange. So I thought I would give Illamasqua a try. Reccomended by a friend after she shot their recent campaign I went for it. The £27 price tag being hefty I did it with gritted teeth. The same applies for the powder and lipstick, still gritted teeth. I went for medium coverage, thinking the intense would be too thick for everyday. This is one of the best foundations I have ever tried. Without a doubt it does everything it's meant to. It covers and stays in place all day. It gives a mate complexion and is a great base for the other makeup I wear on top, bronzer and blusher. It makes my skin look good and covers my spots. As the makeup is famous for being a go to of photo shoots I expected no less. It delivered just what it says on the packet and was a perfect purchase. 

However it may be perfect for my skin everyone is different. There are plenty of great products on the market and it is key to test them and find the perfect one for you. A good foundation can make all the difference.

Happy Easter...

Sorry about Yesterdays absence but you all really would not have been impressed with my outfit as it involved rollers and jeans...

Playsuit-Topshop £42

Shoes- Topshop £11

Belt- Vintage

So yesterday was Easter Sunday, it was also in England a bank holiday, that means most of the population go for a night out and get a little drunk. I was no exception. It was also a friends birthday so me and my housemate took a little road trip to Wales to enjoy the festivities. It was in Oswestry a small town just within the Welsh border. It was an alright night, I got to dance to 90's classics so I was pretty contented. i had no clue what to wear as I'm adverse to wearing the same outfit twice. I borrowed my friends playsuit, I kind of forced her to buy it for this reason. It was a size 6 so I was pretty shocked that it fitted me comfortably. However today I reckon I have expanded to a size 14 after my sausage roll and brownie binge. The shoes are mine, they were an absolute bargain and are in no doubt the most comfortable heels I have ever worn.They were in the Topshop sale and being staff I got an extra 25% off them. In all they worked out as being just £11. I absolutely love printed shoes, I prefer wearing plain dresses but my shoes always have to be a little more interesting. These are leopard print and therefore no exception.

As for the small town of Oswestry, well I would not reccomend it for a night out. It's one of those places you love it if it's home. Originally I am from Barnsley I love the place, I understand though my cosmopolitan friends from the city will not share these feelings. Oswestry was the type of place you drink Smirnoff Ice and dance till you drop, but not the type of place you have a great night out. I think I may feel differently if the reason why we were there hadn't vomited on herself and passed out. She even surpassed my efforts.

Happy Easter!

To cure our hangovers after a pretty eggless but legless Easter weekend me and Hannah made Cream Egg Brownies. Yum. They were not as gooey as I would have liked and a little cake like but they were still utterly amazing. They are really simple too, just Google the recipe and whack them in the oven for a sweet treat.