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Goodies from the Clothes Show- what did I buy?

The Clothes Show can be more than a little overwhelming and the urge to buy as many things as you can possibly get your hands on can be difficult to resist! Luckily, I have been before and so I had an idea of the kind of things I wanted to pick up. Beauty stuff is always much cheaper there and luckily I had my wing-woman Selina with me to help hunt down the bargains! A lot of the magazines offer 'goody bags' but it is definitely worth looking around before you buy anything as some are much better than others and you have to be realistic about what you will actually use/read! I hadn't bought any magazines for a while so I was pleased when I saw this Cosmopolitan and Company goody bag. I paid a grand total of £3 for this, including two magazines, which definitely makes it worth it. Especially for the train journey home!


Models Own make some of the best nail varnishes around and I love the range of colours and finishes that they have - their stall was INSANE and even had a giant glittery nail varnish in the middle of it. Definitely my favourite stall! They usually have all kinds of good deals on and this year was no different - you could choose 3 polishes for £10 (usually £5 each) and then you got given a goody bag with £65 worth of products including the official Clothes Show nail varnish 'Show Stopper'. 


This gorgeous chunky bluey-green glitter polish was designed to match the dress worn by the CSL ambassador Jade Thompson and it is a really lovely shade, even if it is impossible to photograph! I can't wait to try this properly and I imagine it will breathe a new lease of life into my pastel coloured polishes...


Can you tell that I am a bit of a magpie?! As you can see, I honed in on ALL THE SHINY POLISHES and picked up some of the 'Velvet Goth' range to try too. I was really tempted by the navy and I would have loved the Absinthe green but I went for shades I knew I would get the most wear from (how boring!) The Hedkandki one is a lot less yellowy in the bottle but I just could not get it to photograph properly!


Velvet Goth Amethyst, Velvet Goth Sardonyx (which would be an amazing name for an Asterix character!) and Hedkandi Disco Heaven


This was the contents of the goody bag (along with a silvery eye shadow which I have already lost in the depths of my bag!) I haven't tried much of their make-up but I have high hopes for the chunky kohl! I was really pleased to see the 'shape it buffit' too, I got one about 18 months ago but I broke it recently and hadn't got round to buying a new one so this couldn't have come at a better time!


I have always had fairly problematic skin and although I don't tend to have as many flare ups any more (now I've done it!) my skin still needs a lot of TLC and I am always looking for the holy grail products that will give me glowing, spot free skin. Clarins are renowned for their skincare and I was super excited to try out their Multi Active Collection. I paid £15 for this which is amazing considering the amount of product you get! 


Inside you get a 50 ml pot of the Multi Active Day cream, 15 ml of the Multi Active Night cream and 10 ml of the Multi Active Skin Renewal serum, more than enough to try it all out properly!


I love the pot it comes in, the frosted glass feels very luxe and it is surprisingly heavy, definitely one to take care with! 


The cream is relatively thick but it absorbs quickly and even after just a couple of days, I swear my skin feels plumper! The smell initially reminded me of baby lotion but once applied it reminded me of the perfume/make -up that my mum used to use when I was younger. It's not unpleasant but it may not be to everyone's taste...

Did you pick up any bargains from the Clothes Show? Which beauty products can you not live without? 
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Orange, leopard print and faux fur...

For me, Autumn is all about cosy textures and warm colours and I am always really pleased when I can dig out all of my darker coloured accessories- I love wearing the colour brown but it just doesn't look right in the summer! This beautiful orange/red dress is from Tesco (where else could it be from?!) and I bought it at the same time as my lovely tweed skirt. Unlike the skirt, it is still available on the website although it looks much shorter on me than it does on the model, I was planning on wearing the dress with nude tights and some ankle boots but I think it would have looked a bit indecent!

Dress: Tesco, tights: Tesco, faux fur gilet: charity shop (unbranded), belt: New Look, shoes: New Look
I picked up this gilet in the charity shop at the beginning of the year despite having my own D.I.Y. gilet this one is a lot more streamlined and is much less of a 'statement', it definitely raises less eyebrows when I wear it out! I have been wearing a lot of vampy nail colours recently and recently had to repurchase my favourite dark nail varnish, Max Factor's Ruby Fruit is my Rouge Noir dupe of choice!


I have been a lot more confident with wearing darker lipsticks this year and I really love the pared back look with the really dramatic lips. Unfortunately my skin has now gone completely mental so it will be a while before I wear this little foundation/concealer!


How are you easing yourself into Autumn?
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Oh beehive!

Cheesy puns ahoy! I hate to say it but I felt more than a little bit like Adele in this outfit. I have never been a fan of hers but I can't help but feel that the shape of the dress with the beehive make this something she might wear, even if it is a little brighter than her usual LBDs.  This whole outfit was quite 60s inspired and I actually love how it came out- perhaps a bit 'fancy dress' for New Year's Day but oh well!

Dress: H&M, shoes: Carvela from John Lewis, ribbon: Hobbycraft
I picked up this dress in H&M the other day, when it was reduced to a mere £10 in the sale and I absolutely love it. The length makes it perfect for work and I love the bright floral/tie dye explosion of colour too... I can see this working with a lot of  my favourite accessories, how amazing would this look with my pink shoes?!


The gorgeous burgundy shade on my nails is the 'Die Another Day' shade from the Opi 'Get Bonded collection' which I treated myself to over Christmas and I absolutely love. The shades are fab and I found them really easy to apply. I have always been pleased with Opi products although I know that some people don't get on with them so well. You can see me wearing the gorgeous pale gold 'Golden Eye' shade in my Christmas post and I am sure that 'The Spy Who Loved Me' shade will be making an appearance soon!


THE SHOES OF DREAMS ™ I bought these shoes a few years ago in the John Lewis sale and I really don't wear them enough. They are pale pink velvet with sparkly encrusted bows and although fairly rigid, the perfect shoes to wear if you are having a bit of a rubbish day, these babies are guaranteed to put a smile on your face!


My beehive in close up! I am not one for experimenting with my hair but after I managed to unravel my hair doughnut, I decided that I would use it as a DIY Bump-it and pin my hair into a beehive and I think it worked quite well. I don't like backcombing my hair but I think this worked well as a cheat's way to a beehive, what do you think?

How do you beehive? What are your shoes of dreams?

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This week has been...

I know I say this every week but man doesn't time fly by! I think it's because of looming deadlines and the fact that I have been missing home but I have been spending a LOT of time  on the BBC food website, seriously, I swear it's porn for foodies! So far I have made blueberry muffins, lemon muffins and a slightly adapted version of these spicy potatoes this week... 



I made ginger cookies the other week and I swear they were perfect, slightly crunchy but chewy in the middle, I used this recipe by Jamie Oliver but added some crystallised ginger to give them a bit of a kick :) Being a girl guide, I was prepared and froze some to eat when essay despair kicked in and boy am I glad I did! 




I swear the only thing that gets me through essays is coffee... flat white from Costa is my tipple of choice, I just wish you could get them in the BIG cups, I love the little ears :P



...reading for my essay and my dissertation. I always find my essays really interesting but they can be such a pain to research, I have to try really hard not to go off on a tangent and waffle too much...oops!



Luckily I have some books to keep me occupied; I have the original How to walk in high heels and loved reading it so when I saw this in the charity shop, I snapped it up! The New York Trilogy is on loan from my friend George and I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cup of tea and getting stuck into it...




Dainty Doll blusher in Gold Finger, lipstick in Saucy Sailor and Nails Inc. for Diet Coke in Milan
ASOS next day delivery is very difficult to resist ;) After my last post asking if anyone had tried the Dainty Doll range, I saw that it was reduced on ASOS and decided to try the lipstick and blusher. So far I have been super impressed, the lipstick colour is lovely and super moisturising and the blusher has a lovely colour pay-off. I paired my new make up with my gorgeous Falke fishnet tights and my lovely dress to go to the pub yesterday. 



And finally, not a glamourous addition, but a necessary one! I have been under the weather for ages now and need some T.L.C and a hug from my Dad I think :) Luckily I have Danni and Lisa's birthdays to look forward to and we are going out tomorrow so that should be AMAZING! :D 

What have you done this week? Got anything fun planned?
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Press pass? Yes please!

As you may already be aware, Danni and I went to the Clothes Show in Birmingham on Wednesday and it was our first event where we had press passes and our excitement was palpable. We managed to navigate our way to the press lounge (!) and helped ourselves to the complimentary tea and biscuits... This was a bit of a change from last year's event when we both went...on separate days and ended up buying the same nail varnish... I get great minds think alike?! :P


After refuelling and grabbing our press passes, we were escorted to the 'press pit' with our cameras- shamefully, mine was only a teeny tiny Panasonic one and I felt very inferior next to the pros. Nevertheless, we were super excited for the show to begin. Most of the photos are Danni's as mine came out absolutely rubbish...time to invest in a better camera?




Exciting times! The theme for this years dance show was 'A night at the movies' and they didn't disappoint with male and female models dazzling in a variety of (themed) outfits.

AMAZING
My favourite part of the event though was the gorgeous George Lamb- SWOON. Does anyone else find him totally attractive? I don't know whether it's the height and/or his dapper sense of style but man he is YUM ;) 

Swoon
I must admit, I was completely in awe of the models and dancers, especially considering their gruelling schedule. I think they perform up to 10 times a day! They also had the art of walking in heels mastered... something I desperately need to practice! Anyone who has ever seen me in heels will readily acknowledge that I am like Bambi on ice... I think I will be sticking to my block heels and sparkly flats over Christmas :) 





I especially loved their take on fairytale glamour and the dress on the left in the last picture is very Alexander McQueen non? I love the muted colours and the unexpected burst of colour with the shoes- my love of purple is well documented so this comes as no real surprise! I found all of the themes inspiring though and I will definitely be trying to shake up my wardrobe a little and avoid getting stuck into a rut... 




When they announced that there was a high school theme, I literally squealed (yes, I'm that cool) and proceeded to swoon at the hunky basketball players, cute nerds and the long swishy legs hair of the female models. 






The show was indeed fabulous. I seriously can't fathom how those dancers do that five or six times A DAY. It's ridiculous. I mean, look at them!


It was weird to be in the press pit. I kind of felt like a bit of a cheat, I mean we're by no means a big blog, and we're certainly not journalists, but the opportunity was absolutely amazing and I'm so grateful they gave us passes - I wasn't expecting it at all.

We saw cowboys,



Rocky,


and double-oh-seven,


I couldn't believe how moody the model on the left was- if I had legs up to my armpits, I'd be grinning from ear to ear!  

oh, and some antler adorned Deer-man. Naturally.


The show, as always was incredible. But I've gotta say that I think the novelty of the exhibition itself has worn off a little for me [SACRILEGE!]. I know I know, fashion bloggers should love a room the size of a small country filled to the brim with clothes, but honestly the only part I was interested in was the vintage section. And sadly I was a bit too poor to buy anything [and even if I'd had the money I would've definitely left poor as it was all incredible stuff].



The rest of the clothes stalls were a bit...meh. Although they did have an adorable new section devoted to all things knitted, sewn and crafted so it's awesome that they're mixing it up a little bit.

The make-up area is definitely the place to head if you ever plan on going. There's bargain after bargain after bargain, and Wednesday is the best day for deals as they're all trying to get rid of stock! 
So basically, some top tips if you're going to brave The Clothes Show next year...
  1. Go with money
  2. Don't spend said money on something you wouldn't ordinarily buy
  3. Expect a lot of stalls to sell the same stuff
  4. Don't go on a make-up haul the week beforehand; you'll find some fab deals there
  5. Go on the last day if you can!
I think one thing we can both agree on though, is the fact that this blog has taken us to some brilliant places and we have met some amazing people through it.... yes I am getting super soppy, but it's Christmas! :P If there is anything you particularly like or dislike about Frills 'n' Spills or you have any ideas for things you would like us to feature (more outfit posts for instance) then let us know :) 

Did you go to the Clothes Show? What is inspiring you this Christmas?

 & 

P.S. Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year from both of us! X X 

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Pull the other one

Earlier this week, I decided to go an impromptu shopping trip [when I say impromptu, I mean of course completely planned in order to buy supplies for a certain bloggers birthday...Happy Birthday Maria!]. Somewhat awkwardly, Miss Fallon decided she'd like to join and although it led to a not-so-subtle splitting up for half an hour, she also managed to seek out the perfect jumper for me! Y'see, after getting over-excited about finally getting a job, I went on another unplanned shopping spree [oops] and bought a lovely maxi skirt from Dorothy Perkins. Lovely Jubbly. Although, of course I had nothing to wear with it and, despite knowing exactly what I was looking for, I couldn't see anything anywhere - even cybershopping failed this time!

Luckily, Maria kept an eye out while she was gliding through H&M and voila, found this beauty alone on the sale rack.


Behold. The perfect cropped, cream jumper. Behold, the not so perfect pulls on the material.


Part of me was ready to put it back, after all £24.99 was steep for a jumper anyway...snags or not and as there was no sale tag I presumed someone had put it there by accident. Nevertheless, I wanted it. BAD. So when I got to the till I asked, in as nice and un-cheeky a way as possible if I could possibly have a reduction on it. Please? And just like that, it was mine for a mere £5. Considering I was going to be happy with half price, this was a real bargain. And it looks perfect with my maxi skirt...yay!

It got me wondering though, am I a really cheeky shopper? I've asked for reductions on a few things lately as they're the last in my size, and perfect except for some annoying pulls or small rips. I know so many people who would just buy it anyway, or wait for new stock...what do you guys think? Am I rude to ask for money off?!

Oh, and I've finally jumped on the Barry-M bandwagon with my cracked nails. I actually bought the stuff weeks ago, but have suffered from manky-hand syndrome after shoving boxes around and unstapling labels. Nice. I've gotta say I love the stuff, although it took two coats of clear over the top to make it look glossy and even - I think I was expecting the crackle effect to be less dense. Either way, it's amazing, and next time I'll definitely try it over a brighter colour!



Also, it's Halloween this weekend!! I never normally get excited... one bad experience of trick or treating was enough to put me off for life. It involved me, a gate, and a hungry dog. Go figure. Anyway, this year we're planning to make a bit of an effort, I can almost feel myself getting in the spooky mood already...



anyone else planning some spooktastic partys?!


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