Polish your buns!

Tehheh, I just had to with that title. Of course I am talking about the buns you have on your head!
So I've found an awesome trick to give your buns a more polished look. Without doing this, you can get ends that stick out awkwardly and can ruin the look, and date it back to the nineties.
When you are prepping your hair, heat yourself up your curling iron and curl the very ends of your hair, for the sake of ease it's good to take a wide barrel with the wider bar to hold in the ends. Otherwise use your straightening iron to flick the ends.
What you'll find this does is help your hair shape itself back into your your bun a sleeker bun or topknot. Giving you a more polished and perfect look.
Give it a try next time you put your hair up!

Mix your Foundation and Primer

I have issues with Foundation, major issues. While the fact remains that I still haven't found anything that will get me through an entire day without sliding off my oily nose, there are still tricks I regularly hunt down to try and improve the durability. One of the goodies being Primer.
Primer creates a barrier between your skin and your make-up and gives the make-up something to adhere to. I've been using it for a few years now, but it was only recently that I've started mixing it with my mousse foundation, as well as applying a layer beforehand.
The benefits I'm finding with this technique is that my foundation doesn't cake, and it's lasting longer. I'm still applying it with a damp sponge because of the coverage it gives me over my nose, it melts over my skin without making my pores obvious to everyone.
It also doesn't take anything away from the coverage, which is also important for my skin, of course this depends on the ratios you use, you can up the amount of primer you mix with foundation to create a more sheer coverage too.

Loving this week: Review and Nail Art

Review is always a tempting place to spend all my money, I used to find I automatically hated them because of those awful mannequins they used to use, they were so unrealistic it was almost Barbie like in how ridiculous they were compared to any female body, but that's another matter.
Their new collection Carnaby St is a gorgeous interpretation of the Mod trend. Glamming up some of the signature styles of the 60's and popping on a cardigan for a lovely feminine look. I'm especially loving the girly coats. but the fairy floss blouse is at the top of my list to buy.

I'm giving in to the new art trend as well, but I am le lazy! What do I do? Thankfully they've come up with the awesome strip polishes that you just peel, stick and file the edges off. They last for up to ten days if taken care of and there are some awesomely cute designs. My personal favourites are Aflorable by Sally Hansen and Kiss Nail Dress in Mini.

Or there's always the traditionalist, I'm in love with the glittery explosion that is Sally Hansen's Gem Crush Range, I'll be showing you a tutorial on how I've used it later this week!

Sources:  Review, Sally Hansen & Kiss

How to style a Sweater

Bunny Jumper available from ASOS

The big fear I had when I spotted that sweaters were coming into fashion is that I kept wondering, how do I make it look like it isn't completely swamping me? It's easy to dismiss it as a trend only flattering those with the bodies of models, I almost did until I figured out a few styling tips.
The best trick is to wear it with a pencil skirt, yes it will still suit certain better body types more then other but give it a try. This is probably the most 'in' way to wear it this season as well.

To make it work better better and come out more flattering there are other tricks you can try too.
-Though baggier sweaters are what's in, shop around to find a length that flatters you, shorter girls can benefit from finding a longer slimmer style they can wear as a tunic with tights.
-Another thing you may want to consider are the body hugging styles, I find these work to flatter bustier girls because they nip in at the waist instead of hiding it.
-Think about the colours as well, if you wear lighter colours, it will look bigger, while darker colours will look smaller, the great jewel tones that are in are wonderful as they will make things appear smaller!
-Don't forget about hair. a loose high bun will add height (not too smooth or it may make you look a little odd). While leaving long hair down is a slimming look.
-Also you can add heels, Sky high and chunky are still having a moment and aren't as hard to walk in as other styles.

I think the best make-up you can wear with this is a slick of bright lipstick, perfect to polish it off and finish your look.

Ultimately the trick is to counterbalance, if you wear something baggy on top, be sure to bring your look back to flattering with something slim fitting on the bottom!

I hope I've given you some help on how to navigate this trend! Let me know how you style it.

Sources: ASOS, Wildfox Couture & Lipsy

Bought! Dotti Dress and Shirt

My birthday present to myself, on a bit of a budget unfortunately, but I still took myself out for a day of shopping, can't stop me from enjoying myself on that day of the year!
So I went for the cute mod dress in black and white, it also came in yellow but I'm not terribly fond of mustard as it doesn't work well with my skin tone. Great shape, and awesomely in right now. I plan on wearing it with pop bright tights and sweet flat shoes, and with a cute print cardi when the weather cools down for winter.

Madeline Peter Pan Dress by Dotti

I also felt the need to buy myself some burgundy for my wardrobe, for winter it is starting to run the risk of being the shade of the season, but the shape is a great staple that I know I'll have in my wardrobe for many years to come. It has a lovely sheen to the fabric as well, without being see through. I'm very over so many blouses being see through lately. I don't wear them outside of work, and I'm not comfortable wearing them to my office. I love sleeves I can roll up too, much more flattering them full sleeves. It looks great half tucked into jeans!

Chelsea Shirt by Dotti

Source: Dotti