Autumn/Winter wishlist (and black Friday deals)

This post has been in the works for a while. I tried to write it last month but wasn’t feeling inspired enough by fall trends to find enough items that I liked. This week however, all the talk of holidays and sales has speared e into action and I have actually discovered that I have a bit of a thing for marble print, apparently! autumnwinter16 wishlist

 

  1. Marble print sunglasses by Quay @topshop £24 in the sale! These are the perfect pair of statement sunglasses to shield the winter sun from your eyes.
  2. Hourglass Surreal light palette, £69 SpaceNK  Yes, this is pricey but I loved last year’s version and I would use this all the time too.
  3. Spectrum “marbelous” 7 piece brush set, £24 in the Beautybay sale.  Beautiful affordable brushes with great reviews.
  4. Spectrum marble print bag £16.99, spectrum (I had to update the link as it has sold out on beautybay).
  5. Embellished cold shoulder jumper £46, topshop
  6. Miista Uma shoes £129 but there are various black Friday discount codes available.
  7. Swell marble print water bottle, £25 urban outfitters This appears quite pricey for the size, but as someone who as carried a plastic bottle around in my handbag since I can remember, I think I would be glad to swap it for a non cancer-causing stainless steel version.
  8. Poison moon ring by Dixi, £32 but will be discounted by up to 50% throughout black Friday weekend.

 

I hope you find some things you love in the sales this year!

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Early summer Wishlist

I’ve started to change up my wardrobe a bit for summer and decided to feature some of the items I’ve had my eye on.

summer wisklist1.Gaby Mercury Half Metal Rim Sunglasses from House of Fraser. Half metal frame sunglasses with smoky gradient lenses, UV protection and only £15!

2. Oversized dress £39.99 by H&M. At first glance, this doesn’t seem like an overly flattering item but I think it could be a useful and versatile piece. its dramatic silhouette could really benefit from some accessories.

3. Natalie Shau “Teardrop” sweatshirt 54.95$ from Live heroes, with I think worked out around £35. I don’t normally go for such obvious prints but I loved the fact that she had recreated the look from the Givenchy AW 15/16 show, in her own signature style. The only downside to buying of this site (which is not the artist’s own) is that the item took around 8 weeks to arrive. I’m not sure if this is always the case but it was for me.

4. Ruby lace applique bralette $122 and thong $77 by For love and lemons. I love wearing sheer shirts and dresses in the summer and detailed bralettes are perfect for wearing underneath them. I love this set because the bottoms also look comfortable and interesting without being too fussy.

5. Andromeda V-neck £158 by Demobaza. I’ve known about this site for a while but never actually bought anything before. I wanted to try out a basic item first to see what I thought of the quality, before investing in a more elaborate piece.

6. Ash Absolute black £159 from Daniel footwear. I love wedge trainers all year round but I wanted to get a new pair for summer as my nike’s are a bit warm. These look perfect as they combine durable leather with breathable mesh and also have a white sole, which makes them look a bit more summery to me.

If you’re thinking that these don’t look all that summery, it’s because it isn’t quite sandals and short shorts weather here in the UK yet. but I’m hoping to do a midsummer wishlist next month with some holiday style stuff.

Let me know if you’re thinking of purchasing any of these items, I’d love to know what you think of them!

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Dark layers for spring

Yesterday I went into town with my mum to choose a new fashion book for my collection.

I wanted something that actually had the potential to inspire me, as well as featuring beautiful imagery. We looked through a variety of book at both Magma and Waterstones and I ended up choosing the Alexander McQueen book that accompanied the V&A exhibition, edited by their senior curator, Claire Wilcox.

On the way back to the car, we spotted a nice, white corredor, ideal for taking outfit pictures in.

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Images by Janet Ratchford

OUTFIT:

Jacket: Christopher Kane for TOPSHOP (no longer available)

Cardigan: H&M (similar)

Shirt-dress H&M (sold out)

Biker leggings H&M

Boots: ASOS

Bag: Givenchy pumpkin bag

Sunglasses H&M

Necklace: B3

The book I chose

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New year beauty must-haves

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My most coveted product of the last couple of months has to be the Hourglass Ambient lighting edit palette.

I love the finely-milled shimmery powders, they sit beautifully on the skin and don’t cause the flaky or dusty effects I have noticed when using some others.

The palette contains 3 powers in different shades, 2 blushers and a bronzer. This makes it perfect to travel with as all the powders you need are beautifully arranged in a gold case. The mirror is also quite large which eliminates the need for a travel mirror.

I would love to be able to take this to fashion week with me next month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A second product I have loved this month is the lipstick queen “Ice queen story” set.

I wish I had found out about this before Christmas as it would have made the perfect stocking UK200016145_LIPSTICK_Qfiller. The “wine sinner” is my perfect red and “Ice queen” would have been perfect for my “winter wonderland” shoot and fashion show. I also have a couple more lipsticks in my collection it would look great layered with.

Lipstick queen is fast becoming my favourite lipstick brand. I have 6 of their lipsticks in my current collection and love the cleverness of their products. As well as producing a variety of formulas and finishes (often indicated by the colour of the packaging), their ranges are also conceptual and often include an unexpected property to spark your interest.

This is currently in the sale at SPACE NK. I hope someone buys something off my website so I can treat myself before it sells out.

Lipstick queen, Ice queen story £17.50, SPACE NK

 

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For the past couple of months, I have also been obsessing over the Nars makeup brushes.

They are on the pricey side but I have never come across “good” brushes that I find so aesthetically appealing before so I just have to have them. When I first got the Real techinques brushes, I remember complaining about them ruining my dressing-table colour-scheme, whereas these fit in perfectly. I have 3 so far, trying to buy one every time I have some spare cash.

Nars “Yachiyo” kabuki brush £43, SPACE NK

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This next product is a bit of a surprise. I have never really been that “into” nail polish and the chemicals that Iwork with on a day to day basis ruin it so I don’t wear it often. I ended up picking up a one from “Rococo”, a brand I have never tried before in the SPACE NK sale (it was only £1.50!) and was impressed by both the packaging and the quality of the polish. 

At this price, it’s definitely worth trying out. I really love the box as it goes with my decor and it looks like a lot of the colours have a beautiful iridescence to them.

The shade I like best out of the ones left in the sale is SNO BABY £1.50, SPACE NK

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Next we have another hourglass product. I need a new tinted moisturiser and I’ve heard so many good things about this one.

From the description, it sounds like exactly what I’m looking for but I haven’t tried it yet so I hope I can get my hands on it soon and that it lives up to my expectations.

Hourglass illusion Hyaluronic skin tint, £45, SPACE NK 

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The final product is a hairspray, which might seem a bit odd, but I am featuring it for quite a pointful reason. If you read my “2016 goals” post, you may have noted that I’m trying to turn all of my beauty and household products cruelty-free.

Hairspray is quite a tricky one so I was pleased to come across this Argan oil infused one by Moroccanoil. I featured it in case anyone was also on the lookout for something similar.

Like all Moroccanoil products, it isn’t cheap, but I think it might be worth it as I don’t really use hairspray that often.

Morrocanoil luminous hairspray, £17.25 www.lookfantastic.com

 

 

 

 

I hope you found this post useful! Feel free to share your new-year beauty must-haves, I always love checking out new products! And let me know if you have tried any of the ones I’ve listed here today and what you thought.

 

 

Eustratia Halloween Favourites and SALE!

Every year, I notice it’s coming up to Halloween on about the 10th of October and decide to schedule an appropriate photoshoot and a “top picks” collage from designs for Eustratia.

This year, I decided to be a bit more pro-active and post my selections early. This gives you guys more time to think about your outfit and also coincides with the mini SALE I’ve just put on for the remainder of the week! (but obviously you’d have to make up your mind quick for that, end midnight on Saturday GMT).

I’m not really into items that I see as tacky, or anything that is specific to a particular character, though I do love dressing up. I prefer to choose items that can make an impressive addition to a costume, but are versatile and can also be used in other situations.

eustratia halloween favourites

Here we have a few examples of items I have incorporated into past costumes but continue to come in useful today.

The Elizabethan Ruff

The latexlace mask

The bunny hood, bunny mask fascinator and bunny ear fascinator

The antler headband

The miniruff trim collar

and the kitty ears.

These are just some easy options I picked to save you looking through the whole website, if you have some spare time though, there are plenty more wonders in the sale section. Harnesses of any type are also a great choice in my opinion. They give a distinctive “tough” look that can also be toned down enough to wear every day, with the right outfit.

If you have something extra special planned and nothing on the site will quite do, I’m always happy to take on custom commissions and I will offer 20% off those until Saturday. That includes crowns, horns and hair covered, sculptured head pieces that you may have noticed in some of my work.

To give you some inspiration, here are some of my costumes from previous years that I’ve been photographed in:

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Dark

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Jamie Mahon-5418a

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A few of these are a bit old now, but I hope you enjoy looking at them all the same.

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