Blog Archives

Styling a ruffled jumper – Weekly WArdrobe

I’ll be honest, I had such a difficulty finding something that went with this jumper – I tried on so many bottoms! It would be fine with jeans or trousers, but as I explained in this post, I don’t own any winter trousers, and it isn’t quite long enough for me to be comfortable with jeggings….

Boots No 7 LIFT & luminate Day cream review

For me there’s a fine line between looking young and dewy, and looking fat and sweaty. This is the problem of having a round chubby face, and I’ve always gone as matte as possible with my make-up to avoid the second scenario as much as possible. However, as Boots no7 changed the formula of their Protect and Perfect Day cream, and I wasn’t as impressed as I was with their older version, I thought I would try out this one, which is part of their new Lift & Luminate range…..

Styling a pixie-hem waterfall cardigan – Weekly Wardrobe

I went out on a week night! It felt quite rebellious and naughty! Although we had a small meet-up in the pub at Christmas, our community choir had a proper social evening last week with a meal and a quiz, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (I also got quite merry on two glasses of wine as it was my first alcohol of the year!) So after much thought, I decided to wear the deep berry velvet dress Chris bought me for Christmas Day’s outfit. I’d worn it then with a pink wrap-around cardigan, but it was quite fluffy and shed all over the velvet; so this time I wore this long black waterfall cardigan instead…..

Styling velvet trousers – Weekly Wardrobe

February 27, 2017

I’ll be clinging onto the velvet trend until the heatwave that usually comes the week after Glastonbury Festival! These velvet trousers were from the Joe Browns January sale, and I wore them for the first time last week when we popped into Wells to book our summer holiday. This is how I styled them….

Muchelney Abbey, Somerset – the story of the photographs

February 26, 2017

Last July my parents came to stay for a few days and as they are recent members of English Heritage, we looked around for local attractions near me in Somerset. Muchleney Abbey is (unsurprisingly) in the village of Muchelney on the Somerset levels with the nearest town being Langport. It’s in a beautiful peaceful spot, and the perfect location for a picnic, but as we didn’t come prepared, we bought ice creams from the little shop there, and then found a cute place for afternoon tea further down the road afterwards. Although the south cloister is still intact, sadly as usual, Henry VIII is to blame for the ruined state of the rest of the abbey. It is the Tudor Abbott’s house that can be explored properly….

Fantastic Pleats and Where to Find Them

February 20, 2017

The pleat trend is not going away any time soon. I love it as long as I don’t have to iron it! Anyway, I thought I’d give a round-up of some of my favourite pleated items I could find that take us from winter to spring fashion. And yes, I am only writing this blog post because I thought of this amazingly witty title! ….

Review of the L’Oreal Voluminous Superstar Mascara

February 15, 2017

On holiday in America in 2015 I bought the L’Oreal Beauty Tubes mascara. This was amazing, but when I went back last year, I couldn’t find it again. Instead, L’Oreal had this mascara, called Voluminous Superstar. It is one of those mascaras with two ends – a white coat first to lengthen your lashes and then the actual mascara to go over the top. This was just what I was looking for as I’ve liked those kind ever since I bought the Maybelline XXL volume mascara. (See my review here from 2005)……

Weekly Wardrobe – My first jeggings!

February 13, 2017

Yes, that’s right. I have never owned a pair of skinny jeans or jeggings before; however I have been so desperate for comfy trousers for winter, I have succumbed! I have short legs and chunky thighs, but I’ve been working on my squats and lunges, and have decided fu*k it, who cares anyway if they don’t look brilliant – I need to keep my legs warm! So I bought these in the Next sale and have decided they actually look alright with a long jumper. By the way, snow was gently falling outside when these photos were taken and I was too chicken to brave the cold. So I’m afraid these photos are not up our usual quality as we’re inside on a dark winter day…..

Late January Sales shopping – Next, New Look, Joe Browns, Joules & Weird Fish

February 6, 2017

I don’t like crowds; particularly in the shops when the January sales start. However, I absolutely LOVE a bargain! So, if I have the funds, I would sometimes go shopping the first week the kids had gone back to school, so at least I wouldn’t be fighting with them along the sales rails! Lately though, I haven’t specifically gone out of my way to go shopping in the sales, but I passed by New Look the other day and bought a couple of things. Then I was seduced by the Joe Browns catalogue that appeared on my doorstep, so I bought a couple of things from there online. Then, I was at Clark’s Village in Street to look for boots for Chris, when I ended up buying a few things there. Ooops!….

Weekly Wardrobe – floppy hat & maxi skirt

January 30, 2017

Hello everyone! There’s one good thing about all this crappy weather: it’s great for portrait photography! The misty dreary drizzle diffuses the light beautifully and makes me look amazing (even if I do say so myself) haha! Seriously though, if you’d like a nice outdoor photo of yourself, now’s the time to do it. I love it when you remember something in your wardrobe that you’ve forgotten about for a while. I can’t believe I haven’t worn this floppy hat all winter, but I thought it would go perfectly with the rest of the outfit and also add some much needed colour…..

Matte eye shadow palette comparisons and reviews – Boots No. 7, Ulta, e.l.f. & Hard Candy

January 22, 2017

I don’t know whether it’s my age or personal preference, but although I think shimmery eye shadow looks great on other people; I don’t feel it suits me, so I’m always on the look-out for eye shadow palettes in matte – particularly if they’re not nude colours. As make-up is usually a bit cheaper in America , when we were there on holiday in summer, I bought a few to try …..

Weekly Wardrobe – Tweed steampunk

January 16, 2017

We were invited to visit the home of the Gibbs family at Tyntesfield Manor in the year 1891. (It was a National Trust event.) Of course, we took the opportunity to go for a theme with our outfits that day! I didn’t have much in the way of late Victorian clothing, so I decided to go for a bit of a steampunk look instead. It was an early start to ensure we could get tickets into the house, so in the hour we had to wait our turn, it was the perfect opportunity to wonder the grounds and take photos….