Fashion blog! Recent buys!

Fashion blog: my recent purchases!


I thought I'd share with you some of the clothes I've bought recently! (some really good bargains!)


I'm really liking all the paler neutral colours at the moment, such as beige and dark pink. After christmas I splashed out on some stuff from Topshop and managed to pull a nice outfit together! It was a bit pricey but hey, we have to treat ourselves sometimes! Here's the outfit:

PUTTY ROSE SHRUNKEN 3/4 SLEEVE BLAZER

I bought this blazer for £55 with a voucher I got for christmas. Quite pricey I know, but so cute! I really like it because you can dress it up or dress it down. Recently I went for drinks and a meal and it looked really good teamed with a peach ruffled top and black skinny jeans! I could also dress it down with brogues & skinny jeans for Uni!

  TALL RED STRIPE TANK TOP

I wear this under my blazer as it adds some colour as the blazer is quite plain. This top was £14 and I would try this on before you buy it, as the arm holes are quite big and if it's slightly big on you then you'll end up showing your bra! (I know this from experience...haha)

 KAMILLE SOFT LEATHER BROGUES

 I got these brogues in the sale (actually in cream not black...) and they were reduced from £52 to £30! They are fully leather which makes it a great price! I wear this whole outfit during the day with some blue skinny jeans & a brown leather belt and it goes really nicely :)

Today's bargains! (28/1/2011)

I don't usually shop in H&M too often... as I never seem to see anything I like! However, I went in today and seemed to love the entire shop!

Blazer

£24.99 H&M

I'm loving blazer's at the moment and this one caught my eye as soon as I stepped in to H&M! Really good price too, half the price of my Topshop one!

I can't find pictures of the other things I bought, but here's a list:

Black leggings                            £5.99

Black bodycon skirt                  £3.99

Flower hair slides                     £1.99

Suede style dolly shoes            £14.99

Floral scarf/shawl                     £6.99

I was really impressed with today's shopping, and if you think that you can sometimes spend £60 on one item, such as a pair of shoes, then this shopping was a bargain!!

Just wanted to share with you my bargains, hopefully you'll like some and go and check them out :)

You can see most of these items online at;

www.topshop.com

www.hm.com

I hope you found this post vaguely interesting! It's nice to find bargains :D

feel free to leave a comment below this post, and do tell me if you've found a blazer that's worth checking out! Really loving them at the minute!

Lucy x

Clinique review

How good is Clinique? Do their products actually work?

I have been using Clinique on and off for about three years now, and I have to say their products really do work for me. The trick is, to be persistent with your Clinique products, and give them at least a few weeks (perhaps 2) to start working properly! The main thing you should notice straight away using Clinique products is the really clean feeling your skin will have, even from the first time you use them!

I have acne prone skin. In terms of Clinique products, I have combination-dry skin which needs acne fighting products, whilst giving me the moisture I need! This can be problematic with other products, as they either give me too much oil for the moisture, leading to acne.... or strip my skin of all the oils to fight the acne, leading to drier skin! Luckily Clinique seem to have found that balance so that I can have the best of both worlds! :)


I have to admit, I get nervous going to any cosmetics counter, as I just know the sales assistants are going to pressure me, and in the end I'll end up buying nothing or the entire shop. This frustrates me! I took a trip to Boots in Manchester, and my aim was to get some Clarifying Lotion and some Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion. Success! I came out with these two products, regardless of the sales assistant's attempt to try and get me to buy the Anti-Blemish moisturiser & Moisture surge!


I'm not doubting that the moisture surge is good, but on my student budget I'm just not prepared to fork out! She was suggesting these because I told her my skin concerns were dryness but also acne. She suggested using the clearing moisturiser, and then moisture surge on top if my skin is feeling a bit dry. I honestly don't believe you can't mix and match thr 3-step systems. Find something that works for you, and for me that is Anti blemish cleanser/clarifying lotion & dramatically different moisturising lotion (not the anti blemish one). I really find it annoying when you're telling the sales assistants what works for you, and they're just arguing that this isn't how you use their products! They seem very 'by the book'!


My perfect 3-step system is as follows:

Anti-Blemish solutions cleansing foam £13.00 125ml 

Anti-Blemish solutions clarifying lotion £16.50 200ml

Dramatically Different moisturizing lotion (around £15/tube)

I don't see the need to buy an additional moisturiser, the dramatically different moisturising lotion is great! I make sure that I buy the lotion, rather than the gel, as it's better for dry skin.

Clinique products can be pricey, but if you want to invest in some great skincare, which should make your skin feel and look amazing (with continued use) then I would really suggest trying Clinique! Sometimes if I'm away, or I run out of my clinique products, I can really feel my skin getting drier, especially around the nose area, and this makes make up look terrible (& therefore I feel terrible throughout the day!) It is definitely something I've bought, stopped using, tried to find a cheaper alternative, but always gone back to! The price is nothing considering I've battled with my skin since the age of 12, if this expensive stuff works, then why not! :)

Feel free to let me know of your experiences with Clinique! Have you had a bad experience? A good one you'd like to share? Please leave comments below, or tweet me! :) @thebeautylink

Lucy x

tips for glossy manageable hair!

Tips for glossy manageable hair! 

& Hair products I'm loving at the minute

Recently a few people have commented on how shiny and bright my hair has been looking, and I put it down to my current hair care routine and the wonderful products I've been using! I stumbled quite by accident on each of these items, mainly due to them being on offer I have to say! Always looking to save the £'s :) But they are really good products! Here is a recent picture of my hair after using these products. I really like how it looks on pictures and in real life, it's not just the flash that's making it so shiny, promise (although it does accentuate it!)

First of all, I try not to wash my hair too much. Washing your hair every day strips it of it's natural oils and can leave it greasy! You may think that you're washing the grease away, but by getting rid of the oils, your hair has to work over time to keep it replenished, and you end up with too much oil!

I have fine wavy hair, which tends to be flyaway (wind is the bane of my life!!) too many products weigh my hair down and leave it looking dull, so I try to steer clear of these and just use the essentials, shampoo, conditioner and occasionally hairspray (hairspray used in the picture above to set my loose curls!).

Products I'm using currently 

Tresemme Moisture Rich Shampoo
This shampoo is great, and is great even when used without conditioner! It's really moisturising and I actually noticed that my hair was looking more glossy even when using this alone as I'd run out of conditioner. I bought this from Superdrug and it was a real bargain! It's a large bottle, and was £2 I think at the time, which is really good for a large Tresemme! It's lasted ages and I'll definitely be buying it again! It really seems to moisturise the hair, and makes dead ends less visible as it helps with the dryness associated with split ends!

L'Oreal Elvive Nutri-Gloss Light
I don't use too much conditioner, as my hair is fine and it either makes it greasy or weighs it down. I have tried Elvive colour protect shampoo and conditioner (I sometimes colour my hair) and I found that it's TOO moisturising for my hair, and leaves it feeling like product is still in my hair after i've rinsed it! Nutri-gloss Light is great though! I decided to use light, as it's for hair that gets greasy or weighed down easily, and it really works! It works so well along side my Tresemme moisture rich shampoo, they are the perfect team for my hair! It washes out really easily and leaves my hair feeling super soft and looking shiny!

V05 Strong hold weather resistant hairspray
I have to admit first of all, that I don't buy hairspray often at all, and my absolute favourite is actually Asda's own brand hairspray. It's super light and smells AMAZING! It's perfect for holding my fine hair in place on a night out :)
This V05 stuff however, was on offer and me and my friend bought it to try it out (we were most probably in need of some hairspray for that night...) I have to say I do not care for the smell at all, it doesn't smell good! However, it holds curls, or loose curls all night long and provides the extra shine! I find that hairspray can often be too wet for my hair, making it look greasy and dark. This however goes on lightly and you can build it up to get the desired hold! Really good stuff minus the smell, it's not too overpowering though, and I just spritz some perfume around my hair and the smell is gone :)

These are the products I'm using at the moment to make sure that my hair is always shiny and manageable :) hopefully the picture shows this for you! I'd really recommend these products, especially the shampoo and conditioner! Please feel free to comment below, thanks for reading!

Clinique 7 day scrub cream REVIEW

Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream

I had been looking for a decent exfoliator for a while, the dry weather has been wreaking havoc with my skin. Make up goes on blotchy and my nose area has visible dryness! A couple of people suggested using the 7 day scrub cream, and I was willing to try it, and pay the £16.50 price for something which was going to work. THIS STUFF WORKS! :D


What is it like?


This product is quite thick, and you don't need much at all! So even if you think £16.50 is a lot, it will last you a while so it's well worth it! I often end up with excess on my palm (I really need to take my own advice and use less!!)


It's a thick cream with fine grains which doesn't lather. The directions don't suggest that you wet the face before you use the product, but personally I do as it feels like the product can go further and really buff the skin! It can take a little while to rinse the product off as it's so thick, but it's worth the wait! As I dry my skin, it feels so soft!


I thought that with persistent use of this product I would feel the effects decrease with use, but this isn't the case! It's like I'm using it for the first time every time I use it (I use this product up to twice a week to freshen up my skin!) I use it in conjunction with my 3 Step skincare and have found no problems, just great glowing skin! My make up goes on really smoothly and stays put without drying that you can get with other scrubs such as Clean & Clear blackhead daily scrub. I find that this is too harsh for my skin, and being combination/dry, it strips my skin of the moisture I need for the day, making my make up dry up on my nose/chin areas!


Alternatives?

I really like St Ive's apricot scrub, but I would use this less, as it can be quite harsh on the skin! It does the job, but it's not as gentle and nourishing as the Clinique 7 Day scrub




I'm still on the lookout for more scrubs so please if you know of any that might be suitable for my combination/dry acne prone skin then just leave a comment below!


I hope this review was helpful :) thank you for reading!