City Trip | What I Bought

Popped into town yesterday with my mum for spot of lunch and just to have a browse around, obviously this ended up with me buying more clothes, typical, and also a gorgeous purse I've had my eye on for a while, which was well needed since mine was on its last legs.

This lovely lightweight green knit  sweater was picked up from Zara, which has this see through shoulder design. Was originally £35.99, bought for £9.99- BARGAIN. 

Flattering white pattern front jumper - H&M, £14.99

Cream Deco clip top purse - River Island, £17

Can't wait to get some use out of these jumpers when the cold weather sets in!

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OOTD: Keeping it caj

          

Just a causal outfit. Simply wearing my favourite casual tee which has this pretty all over print on the front and turn up sleeves which I bought back in the Easter in London. Paired with acid wash jeans, these cute butterfly sandals and a bit of jewellery to jazz it up I'm good to go. Simple yet fresh. 

Not overwhelmingly exciting for a non eventful summer day - well not quite non eventful, I actually found out my place at University was confirmed today, yay - But that aside a relaxed day with not much on apart from a driving lesson haha. The rest of the day was mine to chill.

Oversized printed t-shirt - Pull & Bear 

Acid wash jeans - Topshop

Necklace - (picked up for £2 might I add because the packaging was removed - bargain ). Primark 

Sandals - F&F

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ZARA AW13 - Top Picks

Zara have released their new lookbook campaign for AW13! Eek!

The sleek and stylish campaign features plenty of luxury pieces with a heavy focus on the dark and black colours that feature throughout the new collection. As expected we are seeing some of the top trends emerge such as the Rebel theme with lots of tartan and leathers, there's also a lot of stunning tailored pieces in the collection, as well as bold florals and metallic.

I have picked out a few of my favorite pieces from the new collection to see below:

Embroidered Blouse - £39.99

Jacquard Trousers - £29.99

Combined Faux Leather Coat - £89.99

Contrast Sweater - £25.99 

Tote Bag - £39.99

Leather Ankle Boot - £79.00

To see the full campaign follow this link

Zara Women AW13

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The 5:2 Diet

Hello readers!

Since breaking up from college I've not been as active as I used to be. Sitting home eating junk really had caught up with me so I decided I wanted to get back in shape over the summer.

After hearing about the crazily popular 5:2 Diet, which all the celebrities had been doing I decided to give it a go. 

If your not aware of the 5:2 Diet, basically it's this 'new' way to lose weight reasonably fast, and all that's involved is eating normally for 5 days, and by normally I mean within the daily calorie limit, which is 2000 for women and 2500 for men. Then for the other 2 days in the week you have to eat just 500 calories (600 for men).  That's it!

Now as a woman this means on one of the days you eat 500 calories you are effectively eating 1500 less. So in a week you should have totaled a loss of 3000 calories . 

3500 calories equals a pound of body weight, so theoretically  you should nearly be losing a pound a week if you stick to the plan and keep active.

With all this in mind I thought, great! sounds easy! - I mean getting to eat what you like within the limit for 5 days a week seemed brilliant. 

So let me explain how it all went for me.

My first week was really difficult. I didn't think it would be so hard to stick to 500 calories in a day, but it really was. I didn't worry though, as according to all the articles and stories I read on this diet getting used to eating this little was the hard part, but in time it got easier, apparently!

With a goal in mind, I didn't give in and I stuck to the plan and didn't eat over the 500. I spread the 2 days over the week so I could 'recover' kind of thing and it was great knowing the next day you could eat normally again. BUT, and this is a big one. This is where everything went wrong for me. 

After about 2 weeks of strictly following the diet I started to flag. After the days I was eating 500 I was feeling so hungry, not to mention moody, and I basically made up for what I hadn't eaten the day before, therefore defeating the object! Maybe I have no will power but I just felt like I needed to eat and eat. 

I think that maybe given time I would really have adjusted to the plan but for the first attempt, I didn't succeed. 

Nevertheless this doesn't mean it won't work for others - As I said there are many celebrities praising this diet and I have read many success stories; but it just wasn't for me. I think in future I will just stick to shaving a few hundred calories off my diet each day, instead of starving myself twice a week! 

For those wanting information on the 5:2 diet click here

Please leave a comment If you've tried this diet, or have any thoughts. 

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Beauty Haul - Recent Buys

So then, just a small collection of some recent purchases I've made to show. More essentials (ahem) rather than beauty treats here today! Nevertheless I will talk you through.

- Diesel Fuel for Life Unlimited Perfume 50ml -

I purchased this for my mum not so long ago as a gift and I loved it so much I had to get myself some (cheeky) I love perfumes so much and when I can afford to I always have to buy some. I tend to go for perfumes which aren't overly sweet and are long lasting. DKNY, Lacoste and Hugo Boss are what I have always stuck by but since trying this perfume by Diesel I have loved it ever since.
It's quite a subtle smell, unlike some perfumes which are quite overpowering, however it lasts a long time. It has quite a floral smell to it and is said to be spicy and woody at the same time, which is a good way to describe it.  Bought on sale in Boots at the time at the price of £30. Not bad for the 50ml bottle. Defiantly recommend.

- Bourjois Little Round Pot Rose Pompon Blush -
Love this little pot of blusher. It's really nice and compact with a mirror inside and a brush (not the greatest but it's okay for when you're on the move) I bought this blusher because it's one of the only colours I could find which goes well on my very pale skin. It's such a light colour and gives my cheekbones this soft and subtle warm look. In terms of staying power, it lasts quite long and blends onto the skin really well.
This particular colour gives me a nice natural warmth, but depending on your skin tone or look you want to achieve there's a huge variety of shades available from light pinks, reds, and peaches to deeper shades with tones of brown.
Price paid? - £7.99 at Superdrug. I will certainly buy this brand again, maybe next time I'll try the cream blush.

- No 7 Protect & Perfect Serum - 
Okay, previous to buying this product I had read a lot of good reviews and heard so much hype about how great this serum was. Bearing this in mind and after doing a little research into it I decided to buy it to see if I could improve my skin tone and minimize any pores, which is what it claims to achieve. What with having sensitive skin I have to be careful what products I use on my face however with this serum which is designed for sensitive skin there should be no problem.

 The serum itself is not greasy nor heavy on the skin and it glides on really nicely and soaks in fast.  I've only just began using the product so can't comment on any long term results, however for the few days I have been using it I can defiantly say that my skin is much smoother and a little more luminous, which is great.  After longer use I hope to see more results (i'll keep you posted) but as yet the product is having some nice results and hasn't caused my skin any problems like some serums and creams do if they are too rich or heavy! 

Just to comment on the value for money, I think the price of £22 is a little steep considering the size of the tube, however if I see any amazing results in the near future I will take this comment back haha!

- Tea Tree Intense Spot Cream -

I've been troubled with a few breakouts recently, *sigh* probably due to stress or my bad diet, so I have needed something to sort it out (or try to). Staying clear from all the usual brands such as Clearisil and Neutrogena etc as they do nothing for my skin in the slightest, I purchased this tea tree cream. I've never used any tee tree products for poor skin before so decided to give this cream a whirl after a reccomendation and replace the old scrubs and masks which I have endless amounts of. 

All I can pretty much say is that it does a pretty good job of reducing redness and speeding the healing  process. Put on overnight and within a few days my skin was near enough clear. Where has this product been all my teenage life? No but honestly, this cream not only smells great and you can feel it working it really helped reduce breakouts and any redness with constant use. 

Tea tree is my saviour! 

So there go, a few of the beauty products I've bought recently.

 Have you tried any of these items? What are your thoughts? 

Love

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