Accessorize collar necklace

For a long while now I've always been a fan of Accessorize's jewellery, you may call me biased as I am currently working there but personally love the variety of pieces. The new spring summer collection, that is pretty much now all in, incorporates all the bright neon colours, pretty floral and statement necklaces that are all perfect for the new season. I honestly think you'd be able to find a necklace, or other piece of jewellery, to suit any outfit for the coming summer months.

I find chunky collar necklaces the perfect way to jazz up a so called "boring" outfit. I have teamed this collar with a plain white tee (from Primark) and love the look. It's so effortless but the necklace makes all the statement it needs. I'm not going to lie, when this collar came into the store I work within, I hated it. Then more and more started coming in and this one kept catching my eye so I gave in and purchased it as a payday treat. I love the colour combination including the pearlescent flowers which glisten different colours in the light. Once added to a boring outfit it totally changes the look and makes it much more interesting!

Have you purchased any new jewellery from Accessorize lately?

Shop Dixi: New Launch

 

Hello ladies! I've got something exciting for you today and I'm so excited to be able to share this with you. I first discovered the Dixi website through Twitter, it's a gorgeous online store for both vintage and modern jewellery. As soon as I scowered their website I found so many jewels which instantly took my fancy. Since working with accessories I've become totally obsessed with them, especially necklaces and rings, and they're always the first things I look for on any jewellery website. Statement necklaces are my favourite piece to jazz up what could be classed as a 'boring' outfit and I'm loving stacking rings and above the knuckle rings.

The Dixi website is currently closed and shall be re-launching on Sunday 28th April bringing along with it loads of new jewellery pieces. Dixi incorporates modern and vintage jewellery to bring together individual and unique pieces. The pictures featured above, sent to me via Dixi, are some of the new pieces that will be arriving soon. They are from two of their new collections called "Woodstock" and "Luxe Bohemia". I was so excited when I received the email and got to look at these new pieces and there are quite a few pictured above that I definitely want to get my hands on. The rings look retro and simple, the necklaces look statementing and in fashion and the other accessories look funky and ready for the summer months.

There are going to be over 100 new items launching on Sunday and those pictured above are just a select few. Not only have Dixi changed their website but they have also changed their packaging, as you can see pictured. This I think will make the jewels delivered seem much more special and I personally always find jewellery boxes handy to use again and to store certain pieces in over and over. I also find the jewellery pieces at Dixi very affordable for the quality, it's high quality pieces for cheap affordable prices. I can definitely see some staple pieces in this collection which are going to be perfect for the coming summer months.

Now I have a lovely surprise for you, the lovely people at Dixi are offering all bloggers a introductory offer for the launch of their new website. They are offering 10% off any purchase for 7 days as of Sunday 28th April, meaning this offer ends on 6th May. Using the code 'BLOGGER10' you will get 10% discount on the items in your basket. I definitely recommend checking Dixi jewellery out if you haven't before, or even if you have then checking out their all new website launch featuring all new products.

You can find Dixi here:

Website - www.shopdixi.com

Twitter - @shopdixi

Facebook - www.facebook.com/shopdixidotcom

Instagram - www.instagram.com/shopdixi#

Don't forget to check out their new launch THIS Sunday! And don't forget to use the code 'BLOGGER10' for your discount :)

Floral Swing Dress

 

Dress: Asos

Watch: Michael Kors

Tights: Primark

Lipstick: MUA Shade 2

It feels like forever ago since I last did a post, it's been one of those weeks where I feel like I've got loads of new bits and bobs to blog about but literally just haven't got round to photographing anything. So here I am on my day off finally getting around to it! And I also apologise for the quality of the last picture, my camera decided to give up on me half way through taking these pictures so had to turn to my trusty iPhone but I only tried to use one of the pictures from there.

The weather is finally starting to look a bit more spring like out there *fingers crossed* and in this outfit post I have a long sleeved dress and tights on, error. If you follow me on twitter (@natalieellis23) then you may know that I sneakily did a bit of shopping on Asos the other night, but I couldn't resist they currently have a 70% off sale which is pretty darn amazing! I literally had to narrow my shopping bag right down before I even allowed myself to check out. 

This dress is one of the bits I ordered, I instantly fell in love with it. Although the black isn't so spring/summery I love the pastel lilac and mint flowers that cover the dress entirely. It's a gorgeous swing dress which I think is so versatile, in the pictures above I've literally just chucked it on but I think this could also be worn with a belt around the waist to give it a bit more shape. It also has a cute peter pan collar and I love collars so that's a winner with me. Although I've paired it with tights it's a nice length so can also be worn without them in the summer months to come. I've just made this look extra casual and when I popped out this morning I simply paired it with my converse. But the versatility of this dress is amazing so I think it can be totally dolled up for a night out with heels too.

Now I'll tell you the best part about this dress.. it was in the sale for £10!!! I'll give you a moment to compose yourselves... I know, I couldn't believe the price when I saw it and the fact that it was still in stock in my size was a total surprise. It was reduced from £28 so it was a huge bargain and who doesn't love a bargain hey! I also got another bargain whilst shopping from Asos that I will feature in another outfit post soon, if I decided to keep it, I'm humming about it at the moment! But also with free postage from Asos it's a total bargain so I'd head down there asap ladies :)

Are you a fan of the swing dresses? Hope you're making the most of the sunshine that has finally appeared xo

Review: Revlon Nail Art Moon Candy in Moon Dust

Another new nail product, yes when I see a glittery nail product I cannot go past without picking it up and then, more times than not, purchasing it. It's a bad habit for my bank balance but unresistable. Since purchasing this particular nail art duo I have seen a few other brands starting bringing out pretty much the same product. So I believe this kind of duo, from whatever brand, to be very popular in the near future.

I picked this up from my latest haul and was part of my 3 for 2 in Boots. I had never seen these before but was instantly intrigued. I also don't think I own a nail varnish from Revlon, which I don't really understand ha, but after using this duo I think that fact might change. The idea of this product is to first paint your nails with the plain colour (in this particular colour, black) and then to use the glitter side as a top coat. I love the idea of this and in the same range within Revlon there were literally so many different colour combinations to choose from! They were all so gorgeous and the only reason I went for this one is because my current black nail varnish is running out. The colours ranged from green and blue to purple and burgundy to which had the corresponding glitter on the other end.

The application was super duper easy and although I did two coats of the black nail polish, just to prolong the wear, I honestly don't think it needed two coats. I then applied one coat of the glitter top coat which I found amazingly full. Sometimes I find glitter top coats needs way more than one coat to get the 'full' look but this one was amazing and literally in one coat my nail was full of the iridescent glitter flakes. The glitter flakes shine so many different colours in the light which I love such as greens, yellows and blues. The drying time of this product was great, I can only talk for the plain black colour as on the top coat I did use my quick drying spray, on the plain black and dried super quickly which is always a massive plus point within a nail varnish.

I absolutely adore everything about this nail varnish duo and definitely will be heading back to Boots on payday and investing in a new colour! I think this is a great deal for the price you pay, £7.99 at Boots, as you're getting two colours. Obviously the plain black could be worn on it's own and the glitter top coat could be worn over the top of any other nail varnish you own so really it's a bargain that can be used again and again. If you've been deciding whether to get this product or not then I 100% recommend it, you will not be disappointed :)

Have you tried one of these nail art duos? What did you think of them? I'd love to know!

Review: Barry M Gelly Nail Varnish in Lychee

Just earlier this morning I put together a couple of sentences in my head which were going to be the start of this blog post, and guess what? I didn't write them down and sitting here now my head is completely blank.. bad blogger alert, not to self: write it down!!

Ha ha, anyway if you've seen my latest haul post then you'll know I finally picked up one of the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine nail polishes. I'm like a nail polish fanatic so for me to not have picked this up earlier is crazy and now after using it I wish I had. I opted for this colour called 'Lychee' I swear when looking for new nail varnishes I am just drawn to bright colours and glitters polishes, hence why my nude colour varnishes are pretty much non existent. Hence why I picked up this particular colour, as I have pretty much every shade of bright colour so this one really appealed to me.

This was super easy to apply, I have always loved Barry M nail varnishes and this one is no different. The consistency of this polish is pretty thick and just needs two coats for complete opacity. Like this says on the bottle it is 'Hi-Shine' so no need for a top coat unless you want it super glossy and slightly more long lasting. In the pictures above I did use a top coat as knowing I was going to work the next day I wanted it to last slightly longer. I can't really comment on the lasting of this varnish as I swear whenever I go to work it just kills my nails and ruins all nail varnish.

I absolutely love this varnish and think the colour is totally wearable for all, with the price tag of just £3.99 it's totally affordable as well. Have you tried any of these polishes? I'd love to know you're other colour recommendations are within this range?

Beauty Haul

A couple of days ago I went into Boots knowingly that they had a 3 for 2 offer on make up and also knowingly which three make up items I wanted to pick up. I arrived early to work so thought it would be easier to go in the morning, it was around 8:30am, rather than on my lunch as it's the dreaded Easter holidays meaning little kids galore. It was lovely and peaceful BUT two of the three items I wanted to collect were out of stock BUT I somehow still managed to do a 3 for 2 (us beauty bloggers seem to have that knack) so I thought I would show you the bits I picked up.

Firstly I was stood staring at the Revlon stand at these gorgeous nail art duos. I picked up the one called 'Moon Candy'. Now the idea of these nail varnishes are you use the solid colour, in my case black, as the under coat and then apply the glitter top coat. So I needed a new black nail varnish and I love glitter polishes, they are my two reasons for picking this item up, oh and the fact that it's totally awesome. There were so many different colour combinations to choose from I could have gone crazy! Also I had never seen these before so I was totally intrigued to try one myself.

I jumped on the lip butter bandwagon. I'm never usually a girl who wears lipstick in any form but since reading sooo many reviews and hearing people rave about these lip butters I just thought I had to try one. I swatched so many on my hand it was covered but I went for the shade 'Pink Lemonade'. It's a lovely pink shade and relatively sheer, to be honest when I swatched it, it seemed more pigmented than it is on the lips but I didn't want a fully pigmented colour as like I said I never wear lipstick so need to get used to myself wearing it. With that in mind I thought this colour would do the job, only time will tell.

In the same trip I think I also jumped on a different bandwagon, the Barry M gelly nail varnishes. Now I'm a lover of nail varnishes so I couldn't believe I hadn't already picked one of these up but whenever I went to the Barry M counter there only ever seemed to be the colours left that I didn't want to try. Now when I went this time there still were barely any on the shelves but I managed to find myself this colour, which I love. It's in the colour 'Lychee' which is a lovely beige nude and I simply wanted this colour because I don't have any others like it in my collection (that I can remember)

Finally from Boots, just as a small additional product, I picked up the Witch blemish stick. The night before I read a really good review on this product and I'm always on the look out for a new blemish treatment to fight pesky spots so when I read that this one was only £2 odd then I definitely wanted to try it myself. The packaging is rather sweet and easy to carry around for applications throughout the day, I've already started using this so fingers crossed for good results!

Whoops....So after going to Boots the next day I then went into Superdrug and ended up with another bag full. So I thought it might be nice to make this post slightly larger and do more of a beauty haul.  I only really went into Superdrug for one thing but ended up with four and I just want to express how many different offers they had on in there!! Omg literally nearly everything had money off and all the things I got were £3 and under! I definitely suggest you head down if you're interested in anything.

Anyway literally for the past week or so every now and then I've popped into my local Superdrug to see if they have the MUA Undress Me Too palette in stock and every time until yesterday they hadn't. But yesterday they were fully restocked and I couldn't have been happier. The colours in it look amazing and it's only really recently that I've been getting into eyeshadow and the real way to apply it, thank god for Pinterest! Ha ha, the colours in this palette just seemed like your everyday favourites but then a few added in for more going out colours which I love. I honestly cannot wait to try this out :)

I then got the Superdrug brightening hot cloth cleanser, I have never tried a hot cloth cleanser but have always seen raves about the Liz Earle one so instead of taking the plunge with that one I thought this one would be a great starting point to see if I get on well with it. It comes with it's own muslin cloth and the cleanser is actually a pretty large sized bottle.

Then I picked up the Clearasil rapid action pads which I have reviewed fully here. Before I picked them up for around £4 which I thought was good then as they were still on offer from around £5 but then I saw them in Superdrug for only around £2.50 which I thought was a steal so just had to have them. I think they're really handy for those pesky spots so can't wait to start using these again.

Finally I got some coconut oil, I again only saw this reviewed the other day but they said they loved it and I had also seen it in a magazine so I thought it would be worth a try. As much as I try not to put any heat on my hair other than hair drying these days the ends of my hair still feel dry and I've heard that coconut oil can help that. I believe there are many different ways in which coconut oil can be used so I may just have to have a little more of an in depth read but I'm excited to see the outcome!

So my 'small' beauty haul turned into a rather large one and I apologise for the pictures not being taken together, I had originally taken the pictures just from Boots and uploaded those then thought I'd add on Superdrug as well! I hope you enjoy reading and I'm sure I will do some more in depth reviews as time goes on and I've fully used the products. Hope you're all having a good week! xp

My top 3 mascaras: L'Oreal, Benefit and Maybelline

Oh it's been a long day, completely dragged and as the day went on I slowly deteriorated with tiredness. But alas I am determined to finish this post tonight! I would also just like to mention that I recently just reached 300 followers on my blog!! Eeee, I was so excited and as cringe as it may sound, I am very happy about this so thank you to you all who follow and read my ramblings! :) Also this week I set up a facebook page for my blog so I would love if you would take the time to like it! https://www.facebook.com/SimplyjustnatalieBlog

Onto the post, basically I love mascara and unless I'm having a really bad day, I don't go a day without it. So what a better post for me to write than one all about mascaras! These are my 3 most favourite mascaras of all time and like I've said before it's very hard for a mascara to impress me so these bad boys have done extra well, round of applause. So without furthur ado...

1. L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes - I first purchased this mascara many moons ago and this is the only mascara that I've ever repurchased more than once! This means it has definitely served me well and well it has. The brush is plastic and super easy to apply. I love the formula of this mascara, it's completely clump free which I love. I know some mascara's which can be clumpy but can be managed to be brushed out when you apply more coats of mascara, but this one they just don't exist. It also completely volumises my lashes, as the name of the mascara would suggest, it covers all my lashes and makes them look thick and lengthened which I love. Basically I would say this mascara is an all rounder, it does pretty much everything you would want your perfect mascara to do! Hence why I've repurchased this so many times and it's definitely my go to mascara. It retails at £9.99 I believe so can be considered at the higher end of the drug store prices but I would 100% recommend this and it's totally worth the price tag.

2. Benefit They're Real - I received this mascara for Christmas and have been using it since then. It was one of those products that you apply and instantly love. This brush is also plastic but also has a rounded end of which you can use for your bottom lashes and/or your slightly smaller lashes on the inner and outer eye. I personally don't apply mascara to my bottom lashes but I used the rounded end on my normal lashes and thought it was a rather nice touch to the brush. It was easy to use and I also used it to separate some of my lashes if they ever got stuck together or to just reposition them. The straight part of the brush is also just as good, it gives you tips on the box to wiggle the brush from side to side to get extra volume and length and I really agree and think this works a treat! If there's ever a knack for a product then this is the one, it's brilliant! Slightly more clumpy but as I said can be worked out when more layers are applied. I have found that since using it from Christmas it is slightly drying out already which is a slight downside as I believe they're meant to last 6 months at least. The price tag on this one is slightly pricey at £18.50 but there's always time to treat yourself right?

3. Maybelline The Rocket Volum' Express - I recently reviewed this mascara in full on my blog (you can read that here) This is a rather recent purchase but already has made it's way into my favourites! I absolutely love it, the brush rather scared me at first but it really is simple to use and extremely voluminous! It makes my lashes look super full at the roots and then flare out which is a look I personally love. It's super easy to work with and you barely need two coats, although this product is still relatively new which may be why I don't need so many coats! But nonetheless it's brilliant. This one is the cheapest of the lot retailing at £7.99 although when I purchased it it was on offer for £5.99 which is super worth the price tag.

I hope you enjoy this post and it gives you a little insight to my 3 favourite mascaras! And I hope it inspires you to spend some wonga and purchase one of these beauties, trust me you won't regret it :) I'd love to know if you've tried any of these mascaras and what you think and also what your favourite mascaras are! Have a lovely weekend xo