Barratts Shoes / Hello Terri Lowe Competition Entry

Hello lovelies. Today I am writing a post sharing my competition Entry with you all, which is with the ever so lovely Terri from Hello, Terri Lowe, in partner with Barratts shoes. It is a pretty awesome competition, where you pick out a few items you would buy if you won the £70 prize from Barratts. You should definitely go and enter this competition, I am now green with envy though as I am sat here drooling over these gorgeous shoes!

I tried to stick to the £70 prize, to show that you can get a good few pairs of some gorgeous shoes on a limit, as Barratts is known for its reasonable prices. I also found a pair of shoes later on which goes over the prize limit... I loved them that much (borderline obsession) I thought I would include them at the end of this post just for fun anyway. 

Hope you enjoy and dont forget to check out Terri Lowes blog!

Odeon Stud Trim Casual Slipper Shoes £12.75

I picked these, as those that know me know I adore the studded trend, and comfortable flat shoes are a must for me. I would purchase these as I like to wear comfortable shoes, but these look a little more edgy and unique I think. I go to quite a lot of gigs, and find it difficult to find a comfortable shoe which looks like I have made a bit of an effort. These would be ideal! They look super comfortable and the best part - the price. These were £15 reduced to £12.75, great little saving for a gorgeous pair of beauties I would literally live in.

Barratts Stud Trim Casual Creeper Style Shoes £30

Keeping with the stud theme, I saw these studded creepers and caved. They are so beautiful. I know creepers aren't for everyone, but I really love them. My dad wore them in the 70's and 80's, so I have had a little thing for them before they became back in trend, in fact, I have worn his vintage creepers out and was given lots of compliments! So definitely a shoe that you can keep for life :) and these are just beautiful as they can be worn casual or dressed up. Creepers are very comfortable shoes, and I think I would be a pair of creepers if I was alive in she form: Very casual, laid back, effortless and unique.

Sherbert Riding Boots With Cleated Soles £22

From reading the above you have probably gathered I enjoy a comfortable shoe in my life. I am not one of those girls who can hack a high heel every day to work; that will unfortunately never be me. I really wanted to choose a pair of boots, and came across these riding boots and knew instantly I wanted them on my feet. Like. Now. They look comfortable, and would look amazing I am sure with leggings, thick tights or jeans. Even with a maxi dress I think! I love the buckle detailing, they look as if they have good grip on the bottom, and general seem a very versatile pair of shoes that would look nice with anything you threw on! I think riding boots are a very practical yet classic shoe which last for years, so definitely a good investment, although these are only £22 they are a tiny price of what most riding boots cost!

Just for Fun....

Dr Martens Lace Up Boot £75

These are just so damn gorgeous I can't even express in words to you how much I adore these. I adore the lilac colour, I really do think they could go really well with thick tights, midi skirt and woolly jumper. Alternatively I would wear these with skinny jeans, a baggy t-shirt and a statement necklace. They look so , dare I say the word, 'effortlessly cool'. I have tried some Dr Martens on in the past and they felt super comfy. I am in actual love with this pair of shoes, you may see me on the News for UK's craziest lady marrying a pair of Dr Martens Boots in the near future.

What do you think of the shoes I picked?

Are you taking part in this competition?

xxx

Fantastic Fashion Gifts for £35 or Less?

Fantastic Fashion Gifts for £35 or under!

Hello lovelies, today I am writing a post of some gorgeous gift ideas I have found on the interwebs, and as it only *drum roll please*.... 61 days until Christmas, I thought it was very fitting and could be a little useful to any of you who has an eye for a cute and original gift. 

This is a bloggers competition held by  http://www.giftsvouchers.co.uk - do check them out! They review different gift vouchers from just about anything you can imagine; so brilliant for finding gift idea inspiration or to even just see what is out there. If you write a blog and love finding lovely gift ideas, you should definitely go and enter too :-)

With the limit of £35 per gift, I did a little research in store and on the net for lovely, fashionable and quirky gifts and here is what I found!.

Mini Chocolate Fountain -£20. Matalan

As soon as I saw this I knew I wanted it. I knew it was something pretty much everyone in my life would want to receive as a gift. Its so adorable, and would be brilliant for parties, sleepovers, or to just share with the family! Most chocolate fountains are so expensive to buy or rent, so this mini version is ideal. I actually think it looks really sleek and fashionable, and would look gorgeous in any kitchen.

Benefit:  Confessions of a Concealaholic Kit, £28.50. Debenhams.

I swooned and slightly dribbled over this when I first spotted it online. Any girl that loves beauty and make-up would love a gift like this I am sure. Benefit is quite a high end brand, too, so it is lovely they have put together a gift set with a few different products so people can try them out at a smaller price. This set includes That Gal Primer, Boi-ing Concealer in 01 and 02, erase paste, brightening camouflage for eyes and face, lemon aid eyelid primer, eye bright eye brightener and even two concealer brushes! I imagine a flawless complexion with this little beauty kit! I think for just under £30 this is a complete steal and I will definitely be purchasing this and another Benefit set for Xmas gifts.

Ralph Lauren Big Pony Collection Purple Gift Set, 

£35. Boots.

This perfume is described as edgy, with oriental and exotic floral notes in it. I had a sniff of it in Boots last week (along with the other Big Pony Collection scents) and this one was by far my favourite. It smells gorgeous and as it self-describes, exotic. It comes just at the limit of the price range of £35, this gift set includes 50ml perfume and a 200ml body lotion, which I think personally is a great deal for a Ralph Lauren perfume, let alone for a 50ml bottle AND the body lotion included too. I think this would make a gorgeous gift for any lady in your life, as it in my opinion has a very beautiful scent I think everyone would love to wear. I absolutely adore the packaging of the bottle of all of the Big Pony perfumes, I think they have been designed beautifully. 

 Black Fold Over Satchel,
£35. River Island
With the  'fold over' handbags being right on trend this season, I thought this was a classic take on a very fashionable piece to an outfit. It has a zip front and a buckle detail. Every girl loves a classic LBH (little black handbag) right?! I just fell in love with it the moment I saw it and had visions of me giving this my little sister on Christmas day, seeing sights of her gleefully throwing in all her junk and walking around town wearing it with price and joy. I just adore it. I know a lot of ladies will too. Its a beauty. I think it worth way more than £35, I would pay more for this as it is a little stunner.

Maveriq Heavy Stud Slippers, 

£32. Topshop.

I would be lying if I said I didn't absolutely adore the 'skulls and studs' fashion trend which everyone is wearing at the minute. I am not usually one for trends, but think these look so quirky and original.  I especially love this pair which are heavily studded, making them a statement piece to any outfit. I know any fashion lover/trend setter would love to receive these bad boys as a gift for Christmas  any time!

What do you think of my gift ideas for a fashionable and unique individual?

Would you like to receive any of these as a gift?

Have you entered The Gift Vouchers Bloggers Challenge? Let me know if you do!

xxx

Product Rave: Stila Fiber Optics Mascara

Product Rave!

Stila 'Fiber Optics' Mascara in Brown

You know when sometimes you come across a make-up product that is so fabulous you cannot express how much you love it?

This is it. This Stila mascara is probably the best mascara I have ever purchased. I have had this a long while now, I do believe it is now discontinued but I have found a couple on eBay which I plan to buy once this has run out.

As you can see from the photographs, the brush is quite thick and large. It applies well, thickens and lengthens the lashes, separates the lashes and does not clump your eyelashes together when building it up.

The formula is truly great, it lasts on my lashes ALL DAY. 

I don't usually tend to go for brown mascaras, but I got this on a whim and am really impressed, as I never even thought how more natural it looks for me! 

(Hopefully you can tell by the quality of the photographs that I now have a new camera! Its a Nikon camera. I can't remember the actual name of the model but I will find the box out later and fill it in here. It is amazing how much better quality a DSLR camera is compared to my old and battered digital camera - although that is in the process of being fixed so I shall be using both!)

What is your go-to mascara?

xxxx

Guest Post: Confidence

Hello lovelies! Today I bring you another brilliant guest post written by the gorgeous Bethan from All About Bethan. She writes here about great ways to encourage confidence! I think confidence is something a lot of us girls struggle with, read more to find some great ways to boost yours!

"What makes someone naturally beautiful?" This was the question that I had going around in my head after I decided to write a guest post for Zoe... I sat at work thinking about women who to me are just naturally beautiful, (Zooey Deschanel, Cameron Diaz, Mia Kunis...) and I realised one thing that they had in common- confidence. Lots and lots of confidence.  Especially the Jess character in New Girl, she is so quirky and I have such a girl crush on her. So I decided that I wanted to write about ways that we can become more confident about ourselves and this will then make us all feel more naturally beautiful. Afterall, everyone looks better with a big grin on their face!

When you are confident and happy, other people will soak this up from you... This is why blokes who aren't necessarilly the most handsome can be so attractive, let's take James Corden as an example. His cheeky grin and confident manner really make him someone I could fancy, even though I don't exactly think his body is as good as other men in the spotlight at the moment (lets all just take a moment to think about Channing Tatum...)

So here are my top 5 tips for getting your confidence up, and creating a more beautiful person all round :-)

Find what works for you, and use this to your advantage...

One surefire way of feeling confident is to be happy with how you look. I know we all have our hangups, I'm sure even the most amazingly stunning models do too, but that's life. So find something that you do like about yourself, and focus on that :-) I'm not keen on my hips and bum, but I know that I have a small waist, so I always try to wear something that shows off my waist and flatters my hips. Thank God for skater dresses, that's all I can say!  So if you are constantly worrying about your chunky thighs, or your big nose? Well look past it, find something to love instead, and then everyone else will love that too!

Be unique. If you have something different about you, show it off...

Who wants to be the same as everyone else? Noone. Who wants to stand out and be interesting? We all do! If you play an instrument, let people know that you are proud of it. If you can speak another language, let people know.  Whatever it is, embrace it, don't hide it away.  If you don't like your quirky features, how can you expect anyone else to as well? And you never know, you admitting to something may encourage other people to admit they do something similar!

If you don't feel it, fake it...
When I'm feeling ill, I'm a great believer in putting on appearances.  If I don't feel 100% I will stand up taller, put on a smile, and face the world.  It is only with my closest friends that I will allow the fact that I feel poorly to show.  This can be used in making yourself more confident and beautiful too. Imagine you are heading out with your girlfriends on a night out, but you don't feel as amazing as them for whatever reason (we all have a girlfriend who would look good in a binliner dont we) then hold your head up high, smile, walk taller, and think to yourself "i look great" -other people will think so too! :)

Don't try to please other people...
I loved reading this post (here at scaredtoast). Wear your makeup, or the clothes you choose, because that's what you enjoy wearing and because that's what makes you feel good.  Just because someone else thinks one thing, doesn't mean you have to as well.

Admit to, and learn from, your mistakes...
So something didn't work? You can either mope about it, get annoyed, or be stubborn and keep going... Or you could admit that you made a mistake, and move on. Not only will other people admire you more for being able to say "i was wrong", but you will be more confident in the future about your decisions.  This is a tough one, afterall noone wants to admit to being a failure, but actually it's not so hard and people will love you all the more for it.

So basically what I am trying to say is that when you add all these things together, have a bit of self belief, and play to your strengths, you will be a lot more of a happy confident person, and other people will see this too :-)



Thanks so much Bethan for writing this beautiful piece for me! You hit the nail on the head!
Do check out her blog, it is a brilliant read and she is a completely lovely girl who deserves much more recognition for what she does! I adore her blog and definitely believe you should go and subscribe to it now! :-)

If you are interested in writing a guest post for me around the topic of confidence, self - belief and true beauty like Bethan did, do not hesitate to contact me :-)
xxx

Guest Post: What True Beauty Is To Me

Hello lovelies, today I bring you a beautifully written guest post from the very beautiful Gill from Gillian, Etc. She kindly offered to write a post related to a subject I am very passionate about, and feel it needs to be given much more awareness. I think we all often forget the true beauty that is life, we sometimes have to sit and think about everything we are so lucky to have and the people in our lives we are lucky to spend time with. 

When Zoe said she was looking for guest bloggers on the subject of 'True Beauty', I signed up straight away thinking it would be an easy subject to write about.

Well, guys, a week on, and I'm only just now managing to type this post. It's not going to be particularly long, as I've kept Zoe waiting far too long now.

True beauty... surely, I thought, I could write something quickly about that? And then I started thinking, what is true beauty? Well, my answer finally came to me this week, and, cheesy as it may be, true beauty, to me, is a key part of this lovely blogging community I've found myself a part of.

When I started my blog, I had not a clue about beauty blogging. I fell into the world of cosmetics completely by accident, but I've landed on my feet with a pretty successful (if I do say so myself) blog, and with that, I've met some amazing people.

 image from Vanezza at WeHeartIt.com

How does this relate to true beauty, you ask?

There's just something about people who put so much effort into and have so much passion for their blogs, that just earns my respect. To give a true opinion on an item, to post photos, news, videos, and even (shock horror) photos of yourself without makeup on a website for the world to see, is, to me, just an amazing thing. And that's why I fell into beauty blogging. I wanted to do that.

The people I've met through blogging have proven to me that it doesn't matter where you're from, or what you look like - anyone can have that passion, and if having something, like a blog, or a hobby or even a car, that you're so enthusiastic about, is what makes you happy, then it doesn't matter where you're from, or if you're cruelty free, or if you have never tried a MAC lipstick or the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser. As long as you're happy, then you're beautiful.

And that's my cheesy post finished now.

Thank you for reading :D

Gill

xxx

Thank you so much again Gill! What a beautful post, so very honest and as she states, whatever makes you happy...it makes you beautiful. Very inspiring words, right?! If you are wondering where this lovely lady on the interwebs is, do check her blog out here. In fact you should all go check her blog out now and tell her I sent you, as shes a lovely lady and writes a brilliant blog! :) 

If you are interested in reading more blog posts around this subject, I will be writing posts about confidence, self belief and true beauty regularly on my blog. I will also be featuring other guest bloggers to discuss this subject in their own words here too - keep a look out! Do check out my page above which is a little overview of what the subject means to me! 

xx

The Xmas Shopping Guide: The Parent Edition

I think parents are ever so fussy and difficult to buy for at Christmas time. At least mine are. I find my Dad particularly hard to buy for, as he isn't interested in Golf, Football or anything like that, which is what most 'men' presents are aimed at. I try not to buy 'bath and body gift sets' either because, quite frankly, the body butters and body creams will rarely be used. Most dads I know receive about 6 packs of socks every Christmas and off course lots of Lynx sets. I try to steer clear of these sort of gifts as I know he will get tonnes anyway! My mum is one of those people who has everything, and is ever so picky with the perfume she wears and clothes she wears, so it can be so frustrating trying to find her something she will like! 

I try to put a little effort into making my parents Christmas extra special, as they have done such a lot for me all my life, I like to make them feel appreciated and show them that a lot of thought, time, effort has gone into the gifts I have given them. 

A lovely idea if your parents live together would be to buy them joint presents, perhaps gather them together in a wicker basket, filled with things they both love. Say a bottle of wine, a DVD, box of chocolates, a few pretty candles for around the home, a new year calendar, small home décor pieces, that kind of thing. 

Here are my top picks for Dads Christmas gifts this year:

Babyliss 10 In 1 Grooming Kit 7235U, £29.99, Superdrug

Calm Down Mug, £1.75, ASDA

Old Spice Original After Shave 150ml, £8.99, Superdrug

Stanley Tool Tray, £5.98, B & Q

Apple iPod Shuffle Silver 2GB, £37, ASDA

Me To You Chocolate, £2.49, Clintons

And here are my top picks for Mums Christmas Gifts this year: 

Dove Shea Butter Washbag, £8.66, Superdrug

Mum A Friend Cushion, £4.99, Clintons

HOMEDICS FAC-2B-MY-GB Facial Sauna - White, £16.91, Currys

Snugg Boots, £5.99, B&M Stores

Celine Dion Pure Brilliance Gift Set, £6.99, Home Bargains

Yankee Candle Fruit Fusion Regular Tumbler, £9.95, Clintons

What do you think of these gift ideas?

What are you planning on buying your parents this year?

xxx

Review: MaxFactor Lipstick Colour Elixir in 610 Angel Pink

A while back I wanted to try out one of Max factor's Colour Elixir Lipsticks. I decided on this one - 610 Angel Pink. I was actually after English Rose but they didn't stock it in my local store so I picked this one instead. It is a very lilac-toned pink, as its name suggests it is a very 'angelic' pink, very soft and light. It is a much more frosted lipstick, a few people have compared it to Mac's Angel (I personally don't agree) but I do really adore this colour. Pictures and a photograph of it on the lips are below.

The packaging of the product is very sleek and pretty, the gold bullet sets it apart from other standard black bullets and makes it that little more luxurious. The little square block on the end of the lipstick gives a great swatch of the colour which is very accurate to the actual lipstick colour.

The colour does have to be very built up for the colour to truly show on the lips, but the colour is gorgeous. The lipstick seems to last well on the lips, does have to be reapplied at least once during the day but believe this is great for a 'drugstore' lipstick. 

I adore this lipstick, and have since repurchased this and bought it for a Christmas present for my sister as she often comments on how lovely it looks!

This lipstick retails at £7.99 and can be bought at Boots and Superdrug, as well as online.

What do you think of this lipstick?

Have you tried any of the Maxfactor Colour Elixir Lipsticks?

xx