Fashion Week Favourites: Erdem's Lesson in Monochrome

Another post with my personal highlights of Fashion Week: next up, Erdem.

Erdem is a brand which is classically beautiful every season, with a tendency towards floaty, feminine shapes in beautiful floral prints. This summer, however, we saw a different side to the Erdem woman. 

This collection didn't need colour, flashy accessories or overly groomed hair. The clothes speak for themselves. Inspired by a girl wearing a boy's school uniform and traditional sporty touches with a twist of gothic romance, this is fashion to fall in love with. It's a perfect balance between masculine and feminine, edgy and girly, black and white. There's lacy florals over seductive mesh panels, crisp white shirts whose collars and tails poke out from under delicate dresses and skirts, and a definite element of couture to textured statement gowns juxtaposed with androgynous details and grungy leather shoes.
I'm getting excited just typing about it.

Enough talk, more fashion:

One of my favourite collections in a looong time. I <3 Erdem.

All images from the Vogue website, see the full show and their catwalk report here.

What do you think? Are you as big a fan of this collection as I am?

Let me know!

Fashion Week Favourites: Burberry Prorsum is Pastel Perfect

As you may have gathered, Fashion Week is upon us. New York has recently finished and London started, and my Instagram has been close to implosion with the amount of runway and front row pictures, not to mention backstage beauty shots. There's nothing like the thrill of the new, and even though autumn has just started, these shows are good enough to get you excited for spring again!

So I thought I'd do a couple of posts on my favourite SS14 shows, and first up is Burberry Prorsum. You might find it interesting (then again you might not...) to know that Burberry's AW12 collection was actually my first proper blog post! Check it out here.

There was everything you'd expect from a Burberry show; Cara Delevingne, Edie Campbell and Jourdan Dunn on the catwalk, a front row full of British icons and the latest twist on the classic trench coat. With a colour palette of dreamy pastels and muted greys/nudes, delicate lace teamed with sheer panels, art deco embellishment and relaxed but ladylike shapes, this is Burberry at its most feminine, plus a hint of androgyny from boxy coats and laid-back knitwear. Topping it off with a rainfall of petals in the finale? Just, beautiful.

Here's some of my favourite looks from the show:

I'll be sitting next to Sienna Miller in that front row one day!!

All images from the Vogue website, check out the full show and their report here.

Do you like the Burberry SS14 collection?

Who have you been loving at Fashion Week??

Beauty Bargain // Too Faced Eyeshadow Duo in 'Beauty Mark'

Hello there internet!

Today I'm reviewing an eyeshadow duo from Too Faced, which I actually picked up from work (which is Debenhams, by the way) a couple of weeks ago but only just got round to blogging about. I was buying a birthday present for someone, and as I got to the cosmetics till I spotted some reduced Too Faced products. I had never tried the brand before, and the stuff was HEAVILY discounted so thought I'd give it a go. Most of it was glittery eyeliners and crazy colours, which I wasn't a fan of, so I went for the 'Beauty Mark' Eyeshadow Duo.

It was originally £14.50, and was reduced to a teeny £2.18! THEN I got my 20% staff discount, such a wonderful thing, so it was a real bargain!

After trying the product, I am seriously glad I didn't buy it at full price. I like the whimsical packaging but it is preeettty flimsy. The colours in the pan are gorgeous; a peachy rose-gold and dark purpley brown, but sadly the pigmentation in these is pretty poor. You have to push a load on your lids to get a good colour payoff, and they look really lovely on but only last a couple of hours at best and definitely not all day. An eye primer is essential, but I wouldn't advise using a cream eyeshadow as the Too Faced one then loses it's pigment when put over the top. It's such a shame, because I absolutely love the peachy colour! Booo.

In the look above I put the lighter colour all over the lid and into the corners of the eye, and used the darker colour all around the lash lines to create a smokey flick. The mascara I'm wearing is the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless.

I can't find Too Faced on the Debenhams website, and I think they may be being discontinued or we are not stocking them any more, however you can find it at Boots here and Look Fantastic here. 

I'm not wowed by this product, and though I can't complain, and am actually pretty pleased with it for the price I got it at, I definitely wouldn't have paid £14.50!

Have you tried Too Faced eyeshadow?

Is there any of their products you'd recommend?

(All images are my own, and must be credited if shared. Though I got this product at a discounted price, it was purchased by myself and reviewed honestly.)

Inspiration from Illamasqua: 'The Sacred Hour' Collection

Hello lovely people!

A little beauty inspiration for you all today. I recently Liked the Illamasqua Facebook page, and my newsfeed has since been filled with some beautiful images of incredible makeup, so I thought I'd share it! Today's post will be the Sacred Hour collection, and I might do another one on the Paranormal collection next week, because I am just loving Illamasqua at the moment! Shame I can't afford any of it... -skint student problems-

As the poem above suggests, this collection is dreamy, spiritual, ethereal, a fairytale; inspired by fantasy. Here's some images:

"I am the Dawn spirit..."

"I am the Dusk warrior..."

"I am the Magic..."

...and the promotional film for the collection:



I love the emphasis on brows, the metallic eyes, the dramatic contouring and dark, berry hued lips. This is basically my dream makeup in one collection!

Here's some of my favourite products from The Sacred Hour:

Reflection Palette £34
Four dreamy, creamy eyeshadows with a hint of shimmer. All such beautiful colours, perfect for creating a smokey eye!

Nail Varnish in 'Hemlock' £14.50
A gorgeous, iridescent pinky-greeny colour.

Lipstick in 'Shard' £16.50
A gothic red-violet with a matte finish. The lip colour for autumn/winter.

Check out the whole Sacred Hour collection here. Sadly I haven't tried any of these, so can't tell you how good they are! Let me know if you have though.

Will you be buying any pieces from this collection?

Have you tried Illamasqua makeup before? Anything you'd recommend?

(All images/videos from the Illamasqua website)

Liebster Award #2

Hello everyone!

I was recently nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Olivia Jayne!

I'm sure you're aware of the process so I won't bore you with the rules but basically you answer a set of questions, then carry on the chain by choosing people to ask another set of questions to. I actually was nominated for this fairly recently, so rather than nominating another lot of bloggers I thought I would link my previous post, then just answer the new set of questions from Olivia. Still with me?? Good.

Here is my previous Liebster Award post, and the bloggers I nominated.

And here are my answers to Olivia's questions!

1.How long have you been blogging?

I actually started this blog back in February 2012, only my blog was called Thursday's Child then, and went through very erratic periods of blogging either LOADS, or not at all. To be honest, I still do that now, but hopefully have significantly improved!

2.Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I am a Media student, and after learning about the impact of the internet on media today, I thought it was a good idea to get involved in it! Also I love writing, and especially about the stuff on my blog, so thought it was a good outlet/hobby for doing that!

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world & money was no object, where would you go?

This is a tricky one, but I'd have to say North America. I've been looking into Trek America lately, something I would LOVE to do, and if money was no object then it would definitely be my first choice!

4.What is the one beauty product that you think every girl should have?

Hmm, well I'm not exactly a beauty expert, and am still learning myself, but I'm probably gonna say moisturiser!

5.What is the one item you think every girl should have in their wardrobe?

A leather jacket. Effortlessly cool, and goes with literally everything!

6.What is your favourite drugstore beauty brand?

This is really difficult! I use different brands for different things; Rimmel for mascara and lips, Maybelline for eyes and Bourjois for base stuff. That's as narrowed down as I can go ha.

7.What is your favourite beauty buy under £5?

I think these are under £5, correct me if I'm wrong? It's the Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo; the best cream eyeshadow I've tried, and something I use pretty much every day.

8.  What do you do in the 'real world'?

Haha I love how that implies blogging isn't real! I am, as I said, a Media student at Teesside University, about to go into my third year, and also work part time as a sales assistant at Debenhams on the Shoe & Handbag department!

9. What is your guilty pleasure? 

My guilty pleasure is definitely getting addicted to slightly cheesy TV shows that the snobby media student within me knows that I probably shouldn't like; for example The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl...you know the type.

10. What is your greatest achievement? 

This is hard, because I'm not really sure I've achieved anything great haha! Probably something boring like doing well in my GCSE's, cause I worked really hard for them. Or maybe learning to play piano, if that even counts?

11.What is the best advice you've ever been given?

This is weird because I was literally just sent this by my best friend!

So there you go! Hopefully you know me a little better :) 

And do please check out Olivia's blog, and my previous post with the bloggers I nominated.

If you read this and like the sound of my lil' blog, please follow me on bloglovin' here.

Trend Alert // Mesh at Wasteland

Hello lovely people!

Today I thought I'd highlight one of the trends I am absolutely LOVING at the moment and that's mesh.

It's been appearing all over the place lately, whether it's lace crop tops, sporty basketball jerseys (see: Rihanna x River Island here), or gothic femininity, as seen on Vanessa Hudgens above in the image that inspired this post. I cannot get enough of this darkly bohemian look; girly dresses with mesh panelling and intricate, almost art-deco embroidery patterns, teamed with a vintage-style kimono and shoe boots, as Vanessa has done. Too. Cool. 

Whilst checking out the ridiculously awesome Wasteland, I came across a few interpretations of this style, and thought I'd share them. This site is out of my reach in terms of a) price (cars are expensive, people!) and b) sizing (the diet ain't going that well!), so I can't see myself owning these any time soon, but that doesn't stop me drooling over them anyway.

(Pictures are a wee bit blurry, but the best I could do!)

Lulu Dress $178

This little burgundy number may just be the most incredible dress I've ever seen. A bold statement, but I have major love for this. The baroque lace pattern, the plunging mesh section, the high neckline, the gorgeous back design that shows skin without being too much... this is the dream dress. And my dreams is probably where it'll stay, sigh.

Vienna Dress $225

This one is obviously kinda similar to the Lulu dress, but with an edgy, on trend cold shoulder detail and in the white colour. This would look seriously cool dressed down, really grungy and 90s style, with some Levi's denim and ankle boots, or even some well-worn Converse. 

Near Dark Dress $182

This dress incorporates several trends in one: mesh? Check. Velvet? Check. Fringing? You guessed it. The perfect going out dress; all you need is a slick of dark red lipstick and some black boots and you're good to go.

Mesh Peep Toe Shoe Boots in Black or White £55

Okay, so these are actually from River Island and not Wasteland, but they just went with the vibe so well that I thought I'd include them anyways. The shape of the stylish barely-there heel but with mesh panels covering the foot, they're the perfect accompaniment to the aforementioned dresses, or just about any other dress, come to think of it. They come in black or white, adhering to the monochrome look that is still so popular at the moment, so take your pick.

So there you have it, enough mesh to last you through the new season. I would really recommend checking out the Wasteland site and signing up to the email newsletter; it may be expensive, but the trends and collections are just gorgeous and is full of style inspiration and imagery. I'll be a Wasteland customer one day!

A little music to end with today: one of my favourite bands You Me At Six  just released their new single 'Lived A Lie', and it's a good'un. Can't wait to see them again in November! Here's the brand new video:

Will you be wearing mesh this season?

What's on your playlist at the moment?