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I’ve noticed a lot of traffic coming my way from people searching for Ciate’s Mini Mani Month. So, here is a sneak peek of every single bottle inside the advent calendar, for those of you (like me!) who just can’t wait until December! Just click above to be taken to my Flickr photostream.
I had a blast visiting Highclere Castle in the summer – and now the home of Downton Abbey has opened ticket sales for a very limited number of dates in December! Or rather, they will do today – I (hopefully) bagged mine when the system was working earlier this morning, but due to overwhelming demand the sales are on temporary hold until later today. Get your finger ready for a refresh session!
Head on over to the website here to bag yourself tickets for the Christmas fair on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th December. They cost £20 each and will give you a chance to do a little Christmas shopping while you’re serenaded by carol singers! And, you can upgrade your ticket to visit the bedrooms for an extra £2 or the Egyptian exhibition for £5 on the day.
Or, you can visit the house itself during the weekend in December – again, limited dates – and tickets will be available here for £18.
Visit the website at https://highclerecastleshop.co.uk/home.
If you followed my blog last year you’ll know I had a blast with the 2012 Ciate Mini Mani Month – an advent calender with a new Ciate shade every day! Not only is it great fun to try out new colours, but it’s also a great no-calorie alternative to choccies.
Ciate have relaunched the calendar for 2013, and it is available for £42 (plus p&p) from Selfridges here.
From the looks of their sneaky preview that was uploaded to Facebook today, we’ll see the return of the micro-pearls (it looks like there are at least a couple!), and the glitter/confetti topping (perhaps the fourth bottle from the left on the front row…) plus some shimmers, metallics and some lovely pastels, as well as more neutral and classic shades. Is that a full size bottle I see on the far left at the back? Maybe for Christmas day? Last year there were some exclusive glitter formulas for the calendar, so hopefully we’ll get the same this year! Ciate have confirmed that the line-up this year will be brand new with no repeats, so I’ll definitely be loading this into my virtual shopping basket come tomorrow…
Way back on Christmas Day last year, I was a tiny bit bored with all the rubbish TV, so I decided to download issue 25 of Vintage Life. Scrolling through, I found the Christmas Wishlist feature and immediately fell in love with the Collectif Gretel Coat.
Page from Vintage Life magazine.
Well, who wouldn’t? It’s an amazingly extravagant coat, straight out of Little Red Riding Hood – and a beautiful colour to boot. Unfortunately, at £160 it was definitely out of my price range – but then, a Christmas miracle happened. I checked out Collectif’s Facebook page and discovered that the company was running a 40% off discount… And they had one Gretel coat left, in my size. It was certainly fate, and who am I to fly in the face of the cosmos’ mysterious ways?
I ordered immediately, and when the coat arrived I fell in love all over again – but to be honest, I’ve chickened out of wearing it until last weekend. This is not a coat for the faint hearted. I was originally going to wear it last weekend, but with all the snow and ice I figured it would be just my luck to skid on the ice and fall over – embarrassing enough, but even worse when you’re dolled up to the nines. So when I was invited to the launch of The Powder Room on tour (more on that later!) I knew this was the perfect opportunity to wear my coat!
Coat: Gretel by Collectif. Hair: The Powder Room @ Paper Dress*
As you can see, you certainly wouldn’t be lost in the crowd wearing this beauty! Sometimes, I wish I’d gone for the more subtle black version (but there weren’t any in stock, so it’s a moot point!), which would be more wearable, but then again, if you want to make an impact, this is certainly the go-to coat! Check out those beautiful pleats on the skirt, and the pretty pom-poms! The fabric has a gorgeous texture to it, and although the coat is very heavy, that makes it all the more snug for cold weather.
I thought I’d give you some behind the scenes info on taking this photo too. I employed a technique called ‘faith in humanity’, which involves setting your very expensive DSLR camera on timer mode in the middle of central London on a Saturday, and then running off so you can get as much of your body in shot without risking a heart attack. I also used another technique called ‘looking casually at buttons pretending to be doing important stuff’ which is useful when someone starts hanging around near you and looking suspiciously like they’ve mastered the art of ‘nicking someone’s camera when they’re taking photos of themselves in public by leaving their camera on the side’. Just a little insight there, in case you guys were students of photography like myself. (Please note, I have no idea what to do with my camera yet other than timer mode and no flash mode… But I am learning many techniques, which I am happy to humbly share with you!)
* My hair styling session at The Powder Room was complimentary for the purposes of revew on my blog – I’ll be posting a proper write-up later this week!
I was recently sent a complimentary box of Alibi pretox drinks to review on the blog, so I thought I’d follow up from my health kick on the 1953 vintage diet to review them!
Now, I’ve never been on a detox in my life – I only occasionally eat rubbish with any regularity (usually during the party season) and I rarely drink, so detoxing doesn’t quite have the urgency to me that it might have to someone who really parties hard (but I am definitely up for trying a detox at some point!). So, the idea of a ‘pretox’ sounded great – prevention is better than a cure, right? And, if all you have to do is sip delicious drinks, then I’m up for it!
Alibi comes in two flavours, Sparkling Citrus and Sparkling Pomegranate – which, as you might have guessed, are both fizzy. The citrus flavour is heavy on grapefruit and lime, and very fresh, whereas the pomegranate flavour is a little sweeter. I have to admit, I much preferred the pomegranate when I first tried them, but the citrus has really grown on me. I guess I associate the flavour of grapefruit with health, so that added mental boost gives it a bit of an edge!
Of coure, there’s more to these drinks than just a nice flavour. They contain 11 vitamins (including 100% of your RDA of vitamin K), three minerals, five herbal extracts and beta glucan (to boost your immunity), making them a great supplement whether you’re dieting or not. The sweet taste comes from stevia – which is sweeter than sugar but contains less calories. I know that artificial sweetners are a bit controversial – I use them a lot, but I am always looking into alternatives, and stevia is definitely something I’ll be trying more of in future.
The whole concept of Alibi is that it’ll boost your body’s defences with its healthy supplements – and I’m definitely a supporter of the idea that dietary supplementation is wise, especially given that the average diet is fairly low on fruit and veg. Even when you’re actively trying to lose weight, it’s always good for your peace of mind to know that you’re still getting some vitamins and minerals from somewhere. Of course, you can’t just drink this instead of following a healthy diet, but it’s great to have an extra safeguard in place.
Unlike many other health or diet drinks, this isn’t low calorie, because it doesn’t contain anything artificial. Coming in at 99 calories, though, it’s hardly going to break your calorie allowance, and you can drink it without worrying about putting weird chemicals into your body!
I’ve been drinking Alibi daily for just under two weeks now, and definitely enjoy my daily dose! As for results, I can’t claim anything earth shattering has happened – but then, I’ve also not been feeling as run down after Christmas as I thought I’d be, either. It was definitely nice to be able to drink something ‘healthy’ that felt like a treat following the Great Christmas Binge, and if you already enjoy fizzy drinks (don’t we all?!) but feel guilty every time you pop a can, substituting Alibi for your normal soda mught be a good way to supplement your diet!
Alibi is available from many stockists in the UK (list here) including Waitrose, Holland and Barrett, GNC and more. You can buy online from Ocado for £1.59 a can, or in packs of 12 from Amazon for £11.99.
The much anticipated Hush sale went online last night at midnight, and there were loads of bargains on offer! I thought I’d share my picks for the best items on the site…
Hush harem trousers
Here are those ever-controversial harem trousers, now reduced from £49.50 to £25! I now own a pair of Hush harem trousers in the same style (charcoal colour) and they truly are the comfiest things I own. Forget jogging bottoms, leggings and yoga pants. These are the bomb. The charcoal colour is really best suited to lounging around at home in, because the grey is very casual, so I can’t wait to see whether these burgundy ones will look stylish enough to be worn out and about.
Hush Big Sloppy Jumper
Reduced by £25 down to £40, this is a great price for this lovely, comfy jumper – a mix of cotton, silk and cashmere. Although it does crease when you’re sitting down for a long time, it’s great to slob around in. If you get a cold throat like me, you’ll need a scarf to keep yourself covered, though, because the v-neck is pretty low. And, it’s supposedly hand wash only – I’ve not had the guts to try it in a washing machine yet! However, £40 is definitely a bargain – and the red is beautiful. It also comes in grey marl, charcoal marl and dark navy. (Read my review here.)
Cardigown from Hush
On my wist-list before Christmas was the amazing cardigown, so when I saw it was reduced to £50, I snapped one up. Can’t wait to try it out!
Cable Knit Cardi Coat from Hush
One thing I didn’t get which I would have loved was the Cable Knit Cardi Coat, which is £70 off at £100. Even with the reduction, it’s still a little pricey for me, but it looks amazing and I’ve heard very good things about it!
Cashmere Madeleine Jumper from Hush
If you’re looking to seriously treat yourself, though, it surely has to be with something from Hush’s amazing cashmere range. I’ve picked out the cashmere Madeleine jumper, which is on sale for £80 (reduced from £150), but there are so many styles to choose from it’ll be hard to narrow it down!
Goldie Snood from Hush
One of the items that really stuck in my mind when I first stumbled across Hush was the gorgeous Goldie snood, which is now on sale for £25 (reduced from £45). I bought a similar item from Oasis but was never really happy with it, so I’ll be very excited to get this through. There are a range of snoods available in the sale here.
There were a couple of things that I was after that haven’t been reduced (namely the felted wool dress and the Charlene dress), so I’ll be stalking those to see if they get added. But, there are loads of amazing bargains available at the moment, so head to www.hush-uk.com while the sale is still on to bag yours!
Being an enthusiastic fan of OPI’s Bond collection, I had naturally been hankering after the amazing Man With The Golden Gun topcoat; a clear base with real 18k gold flecks. At £24.99 it was beyond my price range for a single bottle of nail varnish, so I was over the moon when I got it for my secret Santa gift this Christmas – thank you, Omar! *
Having seen some amazing combos for Skyfall and The Man With The Golden Gun, I decided to break it out yesterday for a trip to the Balmer Lawn hotel for a carvery lunch with my husband! We had our wedding reception here so it’s nice to come back – and I wore my new Amelia Check Doll Dress from Collectif too – you can see the gorgeous fabric in these photos:
I love this top coat! It’s so opulent and beautiful – although I do feel a bit rotten when I have to take it off… It’s like throwing money away!
(Delicious post-carvery Christmas pudding…)
I also had a trial run with my ’20s outfit for New Year – we’re doing a murder mystery and I’m going to be an AMERICAN FLAPPER. Very imaginative, I know… I’m wearing a navy Principles beaded dress with purple and gold Streamlined shoes from Miss L Fire (Christmas pressie from my hubbie), and I shall be wrapped in a dishevelled stole as per my character instructions. Here’s a bit of a preview:
What are you guys doing to celebrate tonight? Let me know what you’re planning to wear – and have a Happy New Year!
* Yep, we always have a post-present reveal to work out who gave who what!
Bit late with this one, but I thought I’d post it, if only to show off my new Miss L Fire Monaco shoes! Although, it’s a bit hard to show them when the cat keeps wandering into the shot…
We went to the Coriander Lounge in Southampton, which is a great Indian restaurant (so great that Matt Le Tissier was there at the same time as us) that does amazing buffets. It wasn’t my office party (I work from home and the company is based in Dorset), it was actually for my husband’s work, but I know a lot of his colleagues fairly well and get on really well with them so I always look forward to it. And, I don’t have many reasons to dress up, so I have to take my chances when I can!
I wore an L.K. Bennett Mimi Dress that I bought from eBay that has a shortened skirt (great LBD), Whistles Black Spot Tights (as worn by Kate Middleton – what do you think?), a red skinny waist belt from ASOS and a gold pendant from Peacocks. Oh, and those amazing Monaco shoes from Miss L Fire!
I seriously don’t think I’ve loved a pair of shoes this much in years. They are AMAZING, and another leopard print item for me! They’re black suede though, so I’ve been too scared to wear them out most of the time, thanks to the disgustingly rainy weather we’ve been having. I love rain, but not on my shoes…
I also wore the eyeshadow from my Clarins Odyssey set, which I’ve been using pretty much every day during the holidays – the gold colour is amazing, and you can layer up as much as you like – either a really heavy coating, or a light sparkle all over the lids.
Not pictured is a Christmas pudding hair clip I bought from Sainsbury’s that my husband requested I wear at the last minute – which everyone loved! Sadly, my shoes were under the table most of the evening, but I knew they were amazing, so that was enough for me…
This is a flashback post that some of you might have already seen at Thanksgiving – but I thought it was worth a repeat for all the UK-based readers who will be up to their eyeballs in turkey this Christmas! Here are some great recipes using leftover turkey that taste so delicious you’ll want to cook extra next year!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Day! I’ve been with my husband’s family near Coventry, and we’ve been doing all kinds of great Christmas activities. We have a Boxing Day panto to go to today, and we went to sing carols in Coventry Cathedral on Christmas Eve!
It was great to belt out some classics in good company! My mother in law is a great singer in the choir (very often featured on Songs of Praise!) so we got the best seats in the house, right at the front near the singers and orchestra. The empty seats are where they were sitting, but they nipped off to sing the final song from the edges of the seating area at the end.
I have to admit, I’m not a fan of the rebuilt cathedral, but it is very dramatic inside…
And, at the end, we were all given candles to hold – I honestly can’t remember what the significance of that was, but it was festive all the same! Plus, we got to blow them out in unison after a countdown, which was weirdly fun. And a bit smelly – but I love the smell of candle smoke, so I thought it was great!
Merry Christmas everyone! Let me know seasonal activities you’ve been taking part in during the holidays!
Food, Fashion and Fitness 