Lifestyle | A/W Blogger Event - Part Two

Hi!

Today's post is about the second part of the intuMK challenge. Lush has become so well known in the past few years, but if you haven't heard much about them and you want to know more just take a look at their website.

 

Lush produce various products such as creams, shower gels, hair care and of course their infamous bath bombs. 100% vegetarian, cruelty free, affordable and handmade, not only good for your skin but also your bank balance!

 

I'm a huge fan of their hair masks, solid shampoos and foot scrub but, I am yet to try a bath bomb. I know, a bit late to the party. However, I was lucky enough to receive a Creamy Candy bubble bar and a Melting Marshmallow Moment bath oil in my goody bag. I can't wait to try these out one weekend, leave the housework in Mr Cs capable hands and have an extra long pamper session!

 

 

 

Once I had a quick break after doing task one, I headed into the Lush store. I had to find the perfect berry lip colour and a hair mask to combat the cold weather. As soon as I saw the task I knew straight away that I would be able to rave about my favourite Lush product.



I started using this hair mask last year and it has become a firm favourite of mine. If you have dry, frizzy, uncooperative hair like mine, you really need this in your life. I use this every two weeks in the summer and then once a week in the winter, leaving it for the recommended amount of time (20mins) with a shower cap on to really let it warm up and nourish my hair. I then use the solid shampoo bar, Jason and the Argan Oil, another favourite of mine and I'm left with soft, frizz free hair.

I chose this lip tint, It started with a kiss. I've never tried the lip tints from Lush before but this colour really stood out for me. To be honest, its only recently that I've started wearing a red lip. One swipe gives a subtle wash of colour and a couple of extra swipes give the perfect winter red berry colour.

 

It feels very different from your normal lip balm/tint. The texture is slightly thick, crumbly and solid, almost like their body butter bars. One of the main ingredients is Shea butter along with extra virgin coconut oil, so not only are you getting a nice pop of colour but your lips are also getting a treatment and protection from the cold weather.

 

One other thing I tried was using this under a matte red lipstick, no more dry lips and that extra bit of staying power!

 

These lip scrubs are next on my list to try, got to keep my lips smooth for date night!

 



Thank you to intu Milton Keynes for a fantastic evening! You can read the first part of my task here and don't forget to follow intuMK on twitter and #intuMKBloggers.

 

Much Love

 

Natalie

 

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Lifestyle - A/W Blogger Event

Hi!

Last week I was kindly invited to a blogger event held at Intu Shopping Centre in Milton Keynes, I can't even say how excited I was to attend a local event. A quick 20 minute drive, an outfit change and I was ready to start the evening!

 

We all met up in the Waterstones café, I had to resist the urge to have a look at the books AND the stationery, if I buy one more notebook I will be opening my own shop, seriously, why does one person need so much stationery! I would highly recommend the small café that's inside, the hot chocolate was super tasty and the staff were friendly.

Intu MK is home to lots of great shops such as Debenhams, Topshop, New Look and of one my current favourites, Lush. There is also an array of restaurants, places to relax in between bouts of shopping and the famous frog clock! There are plans to extend the centre with more dining, a 5 screen cinema, and yes, more shops. This is all music to my ears.

Style Blogger Megan Ellaby is the fashion ambassador for intu, you can watch her showcasing five of the biggest A/W trends here. You can also shop the trends directly from the Intu site.

Now back to the event. We were all given tasks to do that evening, I've included a picture of my task sheet, there were two so I'm going to do the first task in this post and the second task in a another post later this week.

So, my first stop was New Look to find a bag. Of course I was immediately drawn there, this perhaps had something to do with the fact that about 50% of my wardrobe is from New Look. A good bag is my favourite accessory so that was the first thing that I decided to look for. The MK store has a fantastic range of accessories and shoes! They also had a really good selection of animal print bags  so I did spend a bit longer than necessary choosing one, but eventually I decided on this. I felt it would work well with an evening outfit or during the day.

Black leopard print panel clutch - £12.99

Next stop was H&M. If you saw my twitter post from the night you will have seen the shirt I posted, that was some serious animal print, not what I had in mind for a date night outfit, but something that I would wear for a day of shopping dressed down with some nice converse trainers.

I found this gorgeous shirt that I thought would work well for an evening look paired with either a pencil skirt or some black skinny jeans along with the bag (above) and some heels or, if you have old achy feet like me, some cute flats!

 

H&M Animal Print Blouse - £19.99

And last of all shoes, I always tell Mr C I'm not really into shoes, then he pointed out that I have over 20 pairs, hmmm - I either need to get some new glasses, sort out my shoe collection or sharpen up my maths skills because I did not realise I had that many.

 

Right - J by Jasper Conran Leopard print 'Jamie' High Heel - £59

 

Top - J by Jasper Conran Yellow 'Jenna' high ankle boot -£75

 

My final piece to complete the outfit are these beautiful flats from Jasper Conran at Debenhams. The heels and boots are also gorgeous but I'm a flats girl so my eyes were immediately drawn to these. I can see these being purchased once payday arrives next Friday!

 

 

 J by Jasper Conran Light tan leopard print flat - £45

 

One last thing, not for the date night outfit, but I saw this coat in Debenhams and I feel like it could be a potential addition to my wardrobe (as long as Mr C doesn't see the price!).

 

I'll be back Thursday with task two! Check out #intuMKblogger on Twitter to keep up date with my posts and see what the others got up to as well!

 

Much Love

 

Natalie

 

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Style | New in my wardrobe

Hi,

I seem to have gone a little shopping crazy recently, despite telling myself 2 months ago that I would cut down on shopping and start using items from wardrobe more. So, I may have failed slightly but I've assured Mr C from October I'm putting myself on a clothing and TK Maxx (I love that shop) ban until November (ish) time. Lets see how I get on!

I recently placed a rather large ASOS order, in an attempt to prepare myself for autumn, which, by the look of things is taking its time to arrive! Boooo

The first thing I got was this pinafore dress, I wanted something that would be versatile enough for both work and casual wear and this fits the bill perfectly.

I went for a size 24, probably could have got away with a 22 but I wanted it slightly roomier for layering when the weather is cooler. It does come up a little shorter than I originally thought but that's ok, I think I will mostly be wearing it with tights or leggings. My only gripe with the dress is that the pockets are sewn up, so annoying! I think they can be unstitched but will leave that in the capable hands of my lovely mother!

The pictures are a bit fuzzy, the dark nights have crept up on me quickly but, I didn't want to give up!

Dress -ASOS

T-Shirt - New Look (Old)

Leggings - Sainsburys

Shoes - Converse

 

Much Love

 

Natalie

 

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Style | The one thing I love

Hi,

Do you ever have one item of clothing that makes you feel so good you want to wear it everyday!? I can honestly say I feel like that when I wear this dress, it ticks three of my most important clothing boxes; comfortable, versatile and cute! I know that I am going to be wearing this until it is threadbare!

 

Dress - Sainburys (Wearing a 22 and its generous in size)

Leggings - Sainburys

Bag- Kate Spade

Shoes - George at Asda

Necklace - Independent Boutique

 

I'm not being sponsored by Sainsbury in any way at all, I just bought a ton of their clothing and loved it all so I wanted to share it!

 

 

 

Much Love

 

Natalie

 

x

Style | Pleat on repeat

 



 

Its safe to say that I'm a little bit obsessed with pleats at the moment! This new addition to my wardrobe is another Sainsburys item, yes, I have purchased a lot of stuff from there but everything was too nice to resist!

 

The skirt is a size 22 but is quite generous in size, the waistband is really stretchy so it doesn't feel uncomfortable at anytime. My Dorothy Perkins pleated skirt can only be worn if I'm not bloated, otherwise it gets a little snug.

 

The length is perfect, coming to just below my knees (I'm 5ft 3). There is a slip sewn into this which is good as its quite see through at the bottom, another issue that I had with the DP skirt. I really wish that they had this skirt in other colours, I'm quite drawn to a gold pleated skirt for the winter/Christmas party season, what do you think?!!

 

 T-Shirt - Sainsburys Basic

Skirt - Not online - Available in store

Shoes -Carvela - TK Maxx

 



Much Love

 

Natalie

 

x

Style | Durham Summer Blues

Hi!

Ever since I purchased the two dresses from ASOS for the wedding I've become a little bit obsessed with the site again. Daily lunchtime browsing of the ASOS website has suddenly become like a second hobby for me. Two large orders placed but unfortunately most of it was sent back, there were however one or two gems including this dress!

Since we are experiencing some lovely weather in the UK I decided to add another dress to my collection, I wanted something lightweight but could add layers to once the autumn arrives.

 

This dress from ASOS is a nice lightweight cotton, perfect for the warm weather now and will also work under layers later on in the year. I'm wearing a size 24 which fits true to size, there is a little pulling over the bust but nothing major, I have yet to find a shirt or shirt dress that doesn't do this!

 

The dress comes to my knees and I'm 5ft 3, it does show my knees (without the leggings), one part of my body that I'm still not confident with, but I'm still going to wear it anyway!

 

Dress - ASOS

Leggings - Sainsburys

Shoes - Asda

 

 

A very windswept me in Durham! I had to put on a cardigan as it was a bit chilly in the wind.

 

A few pictures of Durham, it was such a lovely place, we are already to planning to go back sometime next year!

 

 

 Much Love

 

Natalie

 

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