THE BEST OF CHRISTMAS - BEAUTY

When going to events, I sometimes find that many people forget that it isn't just about what you're wearing that counts; it is also about your make-up as well. Christmas always reminds me of red or berry lips, with a classic eye and a hint of gold. Whilst looking for inspiration- this image alongside the video are very season appropriate and work well for any event this time of year, as they can easily be played down or glammed up:

I love trying out new things and looks this time of year as many brands put together mini collections that can be used for gifts! It's an excuse to buy yourself a gift, that may be a bit besides the point but any excuse is a good enough excuse to treat yourself! To try out some of the looks featured above, I have put together a variety of items that are suitable and versatile enough to be used daily- for daytime wear alongside a night-time look. These are some of the items that I am currently lusting over from my favourite cosmetics brands:

   Urban Decay                                                  Charlotte Tilbury                                        Sleek Highlighter

 27/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set                   Six Shades of Love-Ecstacy                     Eye Palette in Solstice

 £25.00                                                              £49.00                                                           £9.99

  

Nars Cosmetics                                             Benefit                                                        Bobbi Brown  

One Shocking Moment Palette                'Get Your Party On Set'                          Secret to Stand Out Eyes

£49.00                                                              £39.50                                                        £69.00

  Mac Cosmetics                                               Hourglass                                                     Nars Cosmetics

  Enchanted Eve: Face Palette                    Ambient Lighting Edit                             Killer Heels

  £42.00                                                              £65.00                                                            £29.00

I hope you enjoyed my beauty gift guide edit! There's plenty of options here for all ages ranges and budgets; and they all make great Christmas gifts too (...for yourself!)

THE BEST OF CHRISTMAS - SHOES & ACCESSORIES

Following on from the previous post, I am now doing a post about all of my favourite shoes and accessories that I'm loving at the moment, that you can bring into the party season!

Zara £22.99                                   Zara £29.99                                    Zara £29.99                                 Zara £12.99

Missguided £15.00                   Missguided £8.00                    Topshop £29.00                      Missguided £15.00

Topshop £22.00                           Missguided £45.00                 River Island £10.00            Topshop £22.00

Reiss £50.00                               River Island £20.00               Reiss £85.00                             New Look £24.99

THE BEST OF CHRISTMAS - DRESSES

With the Christmas party season starting any time now, it's always nice to have something new and sparkly to wear to any event you have coming up. I am going to be doing a series called 'The Best Of Christmas' over the next week, in which I will be sharing my favourite finds of dresses, accessories and shoes, and make-up and hair. To kick start, I am starting with the main item- the dress. With a few alternatives if a dress isn't for you.

Whether its a staff party or New Year's Eve, all of these dresses are appropriate and add a little Christmas sparkle to any occasion. These dresses range round £25.00 to £220.00- so there is something here for everyone. Hope you enjoy looking through some of my favourite dresses in store right now.

         Topshop £80.00                                           Topshop £60.00                                    Topshop £55.00

 French Connection £110.00                                 Zara £39.99                                 French Connection £165.00

       Missguided £28.00                                    Whistles £220.00                                   Missguided £25.00

ROUSTEING ON THE PARIS ATTACKS

After the shocking and terrible news of the attacks in Paris last Friday; I came across this article on Vogue, which talks about the scene in the perspective of Olivier Rousteing. I feel that it is so lovely for such an inspirational person to keep up the moral of those around them both in and out of Paris. Rousteing himself lives in Paris, so can relate to the scenes happening. But for him to be able to spread the message and send his love worldwide is encouraging as it allows us as a community to be able to come together and support those amongst the tragedy.

Read more about what Rousteing had to say here

AW15 MATERIAL TRENDS

Following on from last weeks post about AW15 outwear trends- For the past week or so, I have been researching alongside my group into material, key pieces and pattern trends. The PowerPoint presentation we had to create had to include information about market levels (Value- Primark/F&F etc, Mass-Topshop, Zara, New Look etc, Middle- Reiss, Whistles etc and High-luxury brands such as Tom Ford and YSL) as well as looking at the '7 Ps'. The 7 P's is something that we refer to on our course: They mean product, price, promotion, place, process, people and physical evidence. I chose to look into the material trends. Below are some screenshots of the work I did for the PowerPoint-

This is a slide reiterating the key trend categories-

This slide talks about where we found inspiration and how we noticed the trend-

This slide is full of examples online at middle and mass market level. 

The first store that we went into to find examples of fur was Primark. This is a value market level, alongside the other store we went into, Select. Underneath shows our findings using the 7 P's-

These are examples of the clothing at a middle market level

When going into a middle market level store, such as Reiss, we only found one example of the fur coat. It appears that it is much more popular online, compared to in store. 

Shearling is another key trend. Here, we can see examples of a shearing texture at high, middle and mass market levels. 

In store, this trend translated at a value market level also. 

At mass market level also, there were examples of this trend. They were all similar in colour, yet varied in styles depending on the store.

I found doing the task and putting together the PowerPoint really fun. It was interesting to see how the different market levels portray the garments and trends online and in store. I found that for fur, all of the market levels had at least one item of fur instore and more online. This suggests that this trend is popular at all levels and is available to everybody. Whereas with shearling, there was more available online with high-end retailers such as Acne. In stores, it was much harder to find this exact material, yet instead it was more a variation of shearling at both value and mass levels.. At middle market, we didn't find any shearling material coats in store at all. This shows how the demand for this trend is not as high as others, and is only something that would be available online, instead of in store.

AW15 WOMENSWEAR TRENDS - OUTERWEAR

At the end of last week, we were put into groups and we started a new trend project. We were given the task to look at the AW15 trends for womenswear. We chose to look at the sub category of outerwear. Through research and looking at a selection of different images, we had to find evidence of at least four of the following trends within outwear- colour, material, trims, print/pattern, graphic, silouhettes/cut and key styles/pieces to then be able to collate our findings as a group and piece the key trends together. In the seminar we put together our images on the wall and sectioned off each sub trend:

One of our silhouette trends included the trench coat. We noticed that brands were beginning to have a new take on the classic double breasted style trench. As instead of keeping it classic in simple colours such as camel, navy and beige. Brands were beginning to use more innovative materials such as a snake print coated effect and metallic finishes.

After looking at some of the trends, we were asked to quickly come up with a potential story for our sub trend. Due to new take on the classic trench coat, we decided that 'mac gone mad' would be an appropriate way to describe our trend story, as the classic has taken a drastic turn into something much more wild and crazy, hence the use of the adjective 'mad'. 

Our next challenge is to do a retail analysis of our findings. We are going to go into stores and find examples of how the trends we have found have been adopted and communicated to the consumers, as well as looking at how this has been done online.

£2 MANICURE

I have always been into nails and making sure mine look clean and tidy. For me, there is nothing worse than unkempt nails. I have tried and testing so many different brands of nail polish from cheap to expensive. One of my favourite brands is Nails Inc. - They offer a wide variety of colours and formulas which last for days before chipping. Every now and then, Nails Inc collaborate with various magazines, in particular Glamour; offering their readers a free nail polish with the magazine.

In this months Glamour magazine (November 2015 edition), you get a free nail varnish by Nails Inc in a choice of four colours. I chose this pale colour in the shade 'Colville Mews'. I find a nude colour is perfect for every occasion. It is simple yet elegant and matches everything. For the cost of the magazine, which is £2- you can't go wrong as these polishes retail price starts at £11!

Find more shades from Nails Inc here

Get a copy of Glamour now, before the next edition comes out on November 6.