Louise Loves #11

H&M Necklace

I bought this necklace a couple of weeks ago from H&M for £7.99.  Now, I am the sort of person who wear the same 2 costume necklaces on rotation so I thought I would mix it up a bit and get some new ones.  I am on the look out for longer ones as the ones I usually wear are short chunky pieces.  I got a lovely one from Topshop but it broke the day I got it so I took it back and didn't bother getting a new one.  This H&M one caught my eye because it looks much fancier than it is.  You can't see in the photo but chains are actually beads which are multi-facetted which makes them really sparkle in certain lights.  I love that I can just wear a plain top and throw this on and it looks like I've made more of an effort!

Gosh Nougat Crisp Lip Liner & Make up Revolution The One Lipstick

I wanted to find a product which would give me the sort of nude/brown 90s style lips that are all over the place at the moment but I have quite strongly coloured lips so I wasn't sure if it would suit me.  I found this combination in Superdrug for a total of about £5 so I could try it out without spending too much money!  The liner is really nice, it's a softer version of the colour of my lips and it applies easily.  The lipstick is a semi-matte nude and works well on top of the liner in the middle to lighten my lips slightly.  I will do a separate post on this with photos of them together on my lips.  I also got another lipstick which is more nude and true matte but I haven't tried this properly yet as I loved the first one I tried so much! 

Illamasqua Precision Brow Gel

I've had this for a while now but I'm going to be honest, it scared me a bit!  I was really excited when it first arrived in the post but when I tried it out I realised you can't just paint it on as you would with a pencil or eyeshadow, so I took to youtube and found some gel brow tutorials and now I am loving it!  I am going to do a post soon to show you how I use it, what tools and other products I use it with.

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Fossil Riley Mini Watch in Rose Gold

This post is long overdue as I actually bought the watch in January... BUT I am still loving it and wanted to share it with you.

I decided a few months ago (before January obviously) that I wanted to treat myself to a nice watch because I've never had a particularly fancy one before.  I think I used some Christmas money towards it although I do remember being decidedly skint for the rest of the month.... January really isn't the month for treats to yourself, is it Louise?

I knew I wanted a rose gold metal one what with all the Michael Kors ones going around, I'm not a big fan of silver at the moment, and yellow gold can look a bit too gold if you know what I mean??  I also didn't want to spent a huge amount on it as rose gold will probably go out of fashion in a few years time anyway!  Another requirement was the size of the face, I have really small wrists so anything with a big face or chunky strap just looks ridiculous on me.

I did some shopping around online and decided I was probably going to go for a Fossil watch but wanted to try on a few different styles first just to see if they suited me (and my annoying skinny wrists).  So on one of my days off I went up to Glasgow and visited House of Fraser then the Fossil shop to have a look.  I ended up going for the Riley Mini Three Hand Stainless Steel watch in Rose, which is absolutely perfect!  I love the diamantes going round the face which balance out the masculinity of the strap, also the feature that tells you the date - so handy! 

This watch it still available and the link for it on the Fossil site is here.

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Rose Gold Skull Necklace

I recently purchased this gorgeous little necklace from Etsy and I am totally in love with it!  The story behind how I discovered it is actually a little bit creepy but I'll share it with you anyway!  I was serving this lady in work and she was just stunning; her make up, hair, jewellery, Hermés bag, huge rock on her finger...  I wanted to be her!  But anyway I'd noticed she was wearing this necklace which was really pretty and unusual: a tiny gold skull on quite a short chain.  So when I got home I decided to google 'tiny gold skull necklace' - as you do - expecting it to come up as some sort of designer make, but no, the only ones I found were on Etsy for less than a tenner!  I then found it in rose gold and preferred it in that metal, which also makes it slightly less stalkery...

To show how tiny this pendant really is I've put it beside a 5p coin for comparison, it's only 6x6mm!  The pendant is on a 16" chain but is also available on 18".  I would have preferred it slightly shorter although is does sit quite close to my neck already.

This is the link to where I got it, also available in gold and silver.

January Shopping Purchases!

Due to work, seeing family and generally just wanting to avoid January sales chaos, I didn't go shopping until the 9th of January.  I'm not a big fan of sales and would quite happily just look at all the new things instead of trying to hunt down a bargain.  However I do work in a shop which makes it much easier to pick out bargains and the first few two are as such!

I needed a new lunch bag to take to work as I'd had my other one for years and it was getting really tatty.  This is one of Ted Baker's mini shoppers which are £29 RRP but I ended up getting it for about £15 due to various discounts.  £15 is still a ridiculous amount to pay for a lunch bag but I really like it and it's very sturdy so it should last a long time hopefully!

I'm long overdue sorting out all my jewellery and having a big clear out so I bought some Stackers which are really handy jewellery boxes.  They come in different layouts so you just buy whatever you need.  These 3 would have cost £52 but in the sale with discounts it was only about £18!  As you can see I've already started sorting my earrings in the 2nd section, I can't wait to have everything organised.

These items I got using various gift cards I'd accumulated since my birthday and Christmas:

New Look - £12.99

New Look - £9.99 (edit: I actually had to return this as the back isn't lined!)

Topshop Joni Jeans - £36

New Look Necklace - sale £4

Topshop Nail Varnish in Venus Flytrap - £5

Topshop Nail Varnish in Blank - sale £3

I love La Senza pants but I only buy them in sale when they go down to £2, such a bargain!  Although they had a pretty rubbish selection this time sadly :(

I also went into Lush because between my boyfriend and his dad I have £30 to spend in there!  I'm hoping to make it last as long as possible!  I got 2 new items I've never tried before.  They are both vegan.

Blackberry Bath Bomb - £2.95

Figs and Leaves Soap - £3.40/100g

Finally I went into Paperchase as I was really needing a new diary and picked up this cute little one for £5 which I think is pretty good!

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Hamsa Necklace

I bought this cute little Hamsa necklace a few weeks ago from the lovely Karris via eBay.  I'm not a huge wearer of jewellery but I've really enjoyed wearing this most days.  The Hamsa is a sign of luck and protection dating back from ancient times predating Islam and Christianity.  Hamsa means 'five' in Arabic and refers to the number of digits on the hand - notice there are 3 fingers and 2 thumbs!  

They were available with turquoise or cream stones but unfortunately Karris has sold out but this is the link anyway in case she does restock at some point.  Such a bargain!  I think it's just a really pretty and delicate addition to an outfit when you're not wanting anything too big or OTT.  I like how it also has an ancient meaning behind it too.

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My Wee Etsy Shop!

I seem to be starting a lot of new projects recently instead of studying but never mind!  I'd like to share my Etsy shop with you that I made the other day.  It all started when we cleared out the loft and ended up having to organise loads of my gran's jewellery, some we kept, some are going to auction, and some we didn't really know what to do with.  She had such a big collection of costume jewellery which isn't particularly valuable but the brooches really quite pretty, so I decided to hold onto them along with some other earrings and necklaces.  They are lovely but unfortunately they're just not my style and I'd want someone to get joy out of wearing them.

I took about 20 of the brooches to a local antique shop where he offered me an absolute pitance for the lot, disgusted, I left and wondered what would be the best way to sell them.  I was thinking eBay but it's not the best place for selling things like this, then I suddenly remembered about Etsy and wondered if you could sell vintage items on there, and hey ho, you can!  I opened up my account and created a shop - which is so easy by the way!  I only put 11 items to begin with so not to overwhelm it and to gauge the reaction, and 5 sold within the first hour which is great!  I will probably put another few up next week, I might even introduce some of the other items such as clip-on earrings.

If you are into vintage jewellery or know someone who is then please check it out and pass it on :)

[Link]

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A Small Earring Haul!

I said I wasn’t going to blog over the weekend, but here’s just a wee quick one!

 
I got a £15 voucher for Warehouse for my Christmas but it’s really not a shop I use… ever!  So I’ve been trying get rid of it for ages but to no avail.  I was near one yesterday and had a look, all the clothes were too expensive - I am so poor right now so couldn’t afford to go over the 15 by much!  I just ended up getting 3 pairs of earrings which isn’t too bad for free basically, they are quite pretty :)

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