I simply remember my favourite things...

It's a "Long time no see" from me!

It's been nearly a month since my last post, so I hope you'll forgive me when I say I've been a little busy! Not only has college work, panto performances and dance exams taken over, but the course of wind and rain has stopped me from getting those precious moments outside (boo!).

For today's post, I thought I'd show you a few of my favourite accessories at the moment! Since my birthday in January, I've been using all my lovely new presents. However, nothing has topped off my vintage ring from mom and dad - it's a beauty!
I love receiving and trying new things, and it was quite a shock when I realised how well my friends knew me when opening my presents.

First on my list, is my little bottle of Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume! It's the perfect handbag size so ideal to take on a night out with the family. I also loved how it came with it's own refill bottle, so you can top up the bottle as you need. I love the whole Marc Jacobs collection (having sampled my friends rather obsessive haul).

Another little gem, that's been rather helpful in the colder months, is my fur headband! It's amazing for 3 reasons: It can conceal the worst bad hair days, it keeps my head warm, and it looks fab too. I brought as a Christmas present (yes, for myself) and it's definitely had it's full wear!

These lovely bottles of Barry M nail paint, were presents for my Birthday. My favourite has to be the metallic teal colour, as it's such a pretty colour, but I've recently liked the matted style of the blue bottle also! Priced around £3 a bottle, these will last me all year - so a great investment!

The Colours are: NP325 (blue) and NP334 (teal). 

This was also a birthday present, from New Look. I'm trying to wear it as much as possible, in hope it'll be a lucky elephant in my exams this year. In truth, I know those A grades aren't going to appear from no where, but hey ho. I loved the decorative touches to the pendent, and the long chain goes lovely with my dresses.

Finally, (and before you ask, no I'm not engaged) I had this beautiful ring from my parents, as a little "dude, your 18" present. It was a vintage engagement ring, purchased from a jewellers on Ebay, and it was sheer luck that it fit! I absolutely love the stone, which happens to be my birthstone Garnette! So although I wont be wearing this accessory piece everyday, it's by far my favourite piece! 

That's all from me today! Thank you for holding up, while I get myself fully sorted (and stop the A Levels from taking over)!

Lots of Love,

Christmas Wishes - Blogger Secret Santa...

Hello!
It's been a little too long, as UCAS applications and life in general has got the better of me recently. Since I last saw you I've had my first offer to study a history degree, (WAHOOO) which has put a huge smile of my face and I now have a desperate need to go celebratory shopping!

Today I received a little parcel in the post, covered in Christmas decoration - and despite knowingly opening it before Christmas day, I was so intrigued to find out what it was! I've taken part in a Secret Santa with a few other fellow bloggers. I won't tell you who mine is, as it will spoil the surprise, but my lovely parcel was from Donna from Polkadot-Pink...

oh and please ignore the photo quality - my cammera is currently on charge :(

 Donna sent me a lovely selection of goodies, including a wonderful scented Christmas Eve 'Yankee Candle,' which I've placed in my bedroom, ready to light at Christmas! It smells heavenly and was a lovely gesture! I also had a beautiful purse, with a camera detailed onto it - so she obviously recognised my love of photography! Inside the purse, was a beautiful pair of owl earrings (also one of my favourite animals) which I'm hoping to wear soon. Finally, my love of sweets has been rewarded with a big pack of EVERLASTING GOBSTOPPERS - so my Christmas is now sorted!

Thanks Donna for a lovely present, and I hope everyone else taking part loves their presents just as much as I do!

Lots of Love,

Stray Decor: Vintage Collection Review...

Hi! Today's post is a little introduction to a new online shop called StrayDecor. The company sell affordable passport, bus pass/Oyster card holders in a variety of lovely designs.

I've chosen a few patterns from the Vintage themed collection to show you. Since recieving the holders, I have realised that they are a necessity to every handbag. 1. because they are always handy and 2. I no longer need to worry about leaving my bus pass at home again (hallelujah)! There's over 200 different designs to choose from, and my personal favourite was the Union Jack design, as it'll be difficult to miss that pattern no matter how stuffed your handbag is! 

The Passport holder is sized; 93mm x 135mm when closed and will fit all UK/most international passports! All the products are weatherproof thanks to the plastic covers, and help you identify which passports which when travelling with friends so there's no last minute dramas.

 As for the Oyster card holders, I'm always running out of room to put bus, student and rail cards. Rather than bulk up purses, the card holders are a great idea to keep your cards handy and easy to identify! 

I particularly liked the great quality for an even better price moto, which makes Stray Decor such an appealing website. With 3 for 2 currently running on all holders, you can treat yourself on a student sized budget. One of the annoying facts of being a teenager is loosing everything and never remembering where I've left them. Well at least loosing my bus pass will be one less problem on a very long list...

Lots of Love,

Guest Post: DollySnowFlake is taking over Blondie's Style Fix...

Hey Grace's viewers!

From reading the title you may be slightly confused of who/what dollysnowflake is. Well firstly let us just say hi, we're dollysnowflake (Olivia and Poppy) and we write our own fashion and beauty blog just like Graces! We are writing a post on Graces blog as she on holiday but wanted her lovely viewers to still have a post to read, so that is where we come in. If you would like to check out our blog click here and to read more about dollysnowflake go on the 'about us' section of our blog.

 So after that slightly rambly start we are going to write about back to school survival kit. I'm sure some of you have just gone back to school or some of you are going back some time soon (boo!) so we thought this would be the perfect post to write for you. For you who don't know what a survival kit is its basically items that you keep in your bag to keep you prepared for all possible situations. So to find out whats in our back to school survival kit stay tuned.

 

1. My first tip for what to put in your survival kit would be a hand sanitiser. You can get these for as cheap as £1 which would be £1 very well spend as hand sanitisers can come in handy a lot at school. Think about how many germs there is on school keyboards, or the banisters on the stairs? Its always good to be the friend who everyone asks to borrow their hand sanitiser!

2. The next thing I would recommend is gum/mints. Some of my favourites would be Polos or Wrigleys which you can get basically anywhere. A lot of teachers won't let you eat/chew in class but it is always good to have in your school bag for in-between classes. You never know when the school cafeteria could be serving garlic bread and you don't want your breath to be smelling horrid. Also I think that gum and mints wake me up on a morning but I don't know about you!?

3.The next essential is a lip balm or some sort of lip product that we keep your lips looking nice and feeling hydrated through out the day. Two of our personal favourite lip products for school are the 'Revlon lip butters' we think these lipsticks are so nice and glossy but have just the right amount of colour for school, although some are a lot more pigmented than the others; Our other favourite lip product for school are the 'Maybelline baby lips' we adore these products as they are better for your lips than any lipstick and make them feel silky smooth too! They come in a range of sheer colours like pink, cherry and peach or you could choose one with no colour at all.

4. The last essential we are going to talk about today is for us the most important, its a snack of some
sort. Having something to eat at school is vital as it's very unhealthy to go 5-6 hours without anything to munch on. So we think having a cereal bar in your packed lunch box is key because they are healthy as well as filling and they will also give you lots of energy ( which everyone needs at school! ) We love nutri-grain bars because they are so tasty and come in a range of different flavors.

So, that was our top 4 things to keep in your survival kit! Here is a list of other things you could keep in your survival kit-

• plasters/bandaids
• bobbles and clips
• face wipes
• spare essential makeup
• spare pen/stationary for if you leave your pencil case at home
• tweezers
• compact mirror
• tissues
• paracetamol (check if your school allows it first though)

So that was our back to school survival kit essentials, we hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to click here to check out more of our posts on dollysnowflake. We'd also like to say thanks to Grace for letting us take over blondiestylefix!

Drop a comment to tell us whats in your survival kit, as we'd love to know!

Lots of love,

Poppy and Olivia x

dollysnowflake.blogspot.com

What's in your handbag? - Money Supermarket...

I've got something a little bit different, for today's post - courtesy of Money Supermarket! Basically, I was set the challenge to post the contents of my handbag after a typical day in 'Blondie's Shoes' (so, I obviously chose the day I'd been shopping..)

The aim of this challenge was to calculate how much an average handbag is REALLY worth. As a savvy student (who has no money what-so-ever) I was like 'maybe this isn't for me', but I was surprised to find out, after a quick 'market research,' a.k.a referring to Google, that an average woman's handbag is worth around £200 -300!!!! So, I thought it would be interesting to see how my handbag matched up to these figures. 

If you want to take part in this competition too, head over to Money Supermarket and you could win a handbag prize worth £1,000! And 6 runners up prize's of £25 vouchers for Asos, thanks to Fashion Perks- Yes PLEASE! (it's about time I treated myself)...

Here's my little handbag that I'm usually carrying with me wherever I go. It's small, because I end up filling large tote bag's with endless junk, when I'm shopping. So sometimes smaller really is better! However, It doesn't stop me from obsessing over tote bags when I'm shopping! As you can see, I don't really hold my bag at much value, but this could still be interesting..

(p.s. my phone is ollllllllllllllllld. and yes, I wish I had the I Phone...)

 I'm very optimistic when it comes to UK weather, so my Primark £1 sunnies are always packed and ready for wearing.

I this little make up bag my 'first aid kit'. That's because it has everything you could possibly need (and fit) into a bag of this size for a beauty emergency. It's got: nail file (50p), mirror (£2), lip balm (£2*), bare minerals concealer (£16),  plasters, tweezers, and obviously a small packet of sweets for when lunch isn't soon enough! I also carry around £10 worth of additional makeup (whoopsie).

 Then there's even more essentials. I don't know what I'd do without my diary. I take is EVERYWHERE, and although my phone has a calender, I always refer back to my little book of notes! My purse was a vintage charity shop purchase and my phone is well... old, but still in working order. Diary (£2) + phone (£32) + earphones (£7) + purse (£5) = £46

 Some more of my handbag favourites... A bottle of impulse (£1) goes with me everywhere - it's lightweight, well priced and smells lovely! Also my ted backer body souffle (£2), is great for summer days and Jack Wills hand cream (£5) was a little treat - but has lasted me ages!

Finally, my bag, was £8 from a local charity shop!

Getting the Maths right...
An average woman's estimated handbag value = £200-£300
My handbag value (excluding cash etc) = £93.50

This is a great experiment, to see how much your actually carrying around with you! Just because It's not a shinny new I Phone, it's worth considering the value of your other items in your bag, and whether getting insurance is wise. Even if you don't fancy entering the competition I'd advise heading over to Money Supermarket, for more tips on insuring your handbag!

That's all from me, I'm going to spend my evening planning outfits around the Mulberry Bag prize (did I say that..) and wishing I had more money!
You can enter by writing your own "What's in my bag post" (see all the details and Ts&Cs here) and emailing competitions@moneysupermarket.com with "What's in your Handbag" in the subject line. You can also check out other entries and plug your own on twitter with the hashtag #whatsinyourhandbag! GOOD LUCK!
 
Lots of Love,
 

P.S. If you do enter, drop me your link in a comment, as I'd love to see some other entry's too!
P.P.S. I promise not to hate you if you win, hehe ;)

The sun came out to say, hello...

It's my 100th post - hiphiphoray!
I am pleased to say to sun finally made a appearance yesterday!
The UK weather has been a real disappointment so far this year, but fingers crossed, things may be looking brighter! (and now I sound like something off the BBC weather report)... As I couldn't resist the opportunity to finally wear my new sunglasses, I grabbed my camera and a bottle of bubbles for today's outfit post!

Today's outfit, is a purchase from one of my recent high street hauls. I was slightly disappointed with the Top Shop sale! So, in desperation, I followed a few sale signs and drifted in and out of endless shops. I found this paisley dress is Warehouse. I wasn't keen on the shape to begin with, but it looked far better on and I fell in love with the pattern...and the price tag of £12 (whoops). I'm hoping to dress it up for collage and down for sunny days this spring, as it's so pretty!

My sun glasses were also a recent steal from Primark. Every girl needs a few pairs of fun glasses for summer and the cheep and cheerful price tag of £1, has got me hooked on them! Problem is my sister now has her eye's on them... oh no!

The bag was yet another thrifted purchase  I persuaded my sister to buy in a local charity shop. Lydia hates charity shops, so it was my way of showing her that you can find loads of in season accessories for half the price. This pastel blue satchel (a colour I'm obsessed with right now) was initially from TU at Tesco, but was only £3 in the charity shop - Bargain? I think so...

Like I said, this shoot consisted of me mainly blowing bubbles at my camera lens - NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS! Not only did my sister face get covered in bubbles (I may post a photo on twitter later - @blondiegrace), but I soon ran out of breath; so it's time I hit the gym! However, it was lots of fun! As I see it, I have a year and a half before I got to university to cram in lots of childish fun - though I doubt I will stop there..
Follow @blondiegrace

In case you didn't notice, I've also finally got my hair cut.. (drama I know). I've never been a fan of hairdressers, I love styling my own hair and always feel no-one can ever do it, like I want it. However, my local hairdresser knows me well, and knows when I ask for a dramatic hair cut, I'm only asking for a trim! They also provide you with lots of UP-TO-DATE magazines to read; saving my poor piggy bank, and I love the hot chocolate machines - forget coffee shops, just go to the hairdresser and get a hair cut thrown in too! And as Forest Gump says 'that is all I have to say about that'...

What I'm Wearing: Dress £12 - Warehouse, Jacket/Pumps - Primark, Necklace £3 - New Look, Shoes £4- Primark, Belt - H&M, Braclet/Bag/Socks - Charity Shop.

Well that's all from me!
Anyone else spotted the sun yet in the UK? Let's hope it keeps on shinning!

Make sure you keep up with me on: Bloglovin, GFC, Twitter or Facebook...

Lots of Love,

D is for Dungaree's... #OOTD

I hope you've all had a lovely Easter!
I haven't yet had a chance to breathe, as Easter is always a busy time singing in a choral choir! (trust me). It was 5:00 am, on Easter morning I braved the frosty winds to sing in the 'dawn service' at my local church - I should have saved my mom the petrol, and camped out at the church!

I had the money from my family and friends this year for Easter, so I was limited to 1 cadburys Easter egg! A shock considering the mahoosive 13 eggs last year... (just call me a chocoholic). Your never too old to have Easter eggs, right?

Daisy Head Band - Primark

Today's outfit of the day post, is a little spring number I threw together. The wind is freezing outside so my spring purchases are all dressed with my warm legging's at the moment (or I may turn into an ice sculpture). I love the whole 'naughty schoolgirl' look, that's trending on the high street, but it's not a style I'd usually go for - but hey ho!

You may have seen my rucksack before - it was my number one companion on my visit to Oxford last month, I just love how much I can cram into it!

 My 'DORK' top, which my sister hates, was a little joke to drive her crazy (also brought it Oxford.. supprise supprise). But now I love the colour of it; as I'm currently obsessed with pastels at the moment!

What Blondie's Wearing: Top, Jumper, Boots - Primark, Dungaree's - New Look, Belt - H&M, Bag - Ebay, Socks - T.K MAXX


Well that's all from me, I'm about to start a covering a mannequin head with tissue paper as part of my art project, and I want my laptop as far away as possible!

Enjoy the rest of your bank holiday's! Anyone been shopping yet? I have... ;)

Love

A little day trip to Shrewsbury...

Long time no speak!!!  This was supposed to be a weekend post - so I apologise in advance, but it's been difficult with the madness of the last few days! I've been off all round the Midlands over the weekend -  the highlight being a visit to Birmingham, leading the singing at the MFY (music for youth) Primary schools proms. The young children were so cute! 

On Saturday, I jumped on the train with Charlotte, for a lovely day, mooching through rails of charity and vintage shops in Shrewsbury! It's such a lovely town and despite being inefficiently dressed for the chilly weather, it was a lovely day...

I managed to find a vintage shop that sold satchels from THE CAMBRIDGE SATCHEL COMPANY (please someone buy me one!). I must have spent a good 10 minutes picking up the variety of satchels on display... this mustard colour was my favourite, as it's a little bit different from the 'typical' satchel.

We went passed a lovely florists in the town - the flowers put me in the mood for spring! I love looking at flowers, but I'm not so good at keeping them alive... any tips, please drop me a comment!!!! 

The highlight of my day, has to be finding 'Mollies Sweet Shop'... basically, it was candy heaven! I spoiled myself with a bag of sweeties from the pick-a-mix, and a slush puppy - which was probably a bit stupid, considering it was -2 outside!

Well, that's all! I'd definitely recommend a day trip to Shrewsbury - there's so much to do, and it's all so cute! I've got lots of posts planned, to catch up with you all over the weekend! I'll make sure I find time to get blogging (I'm having withdrawal symptoms!).

Lots of Love,