NOTD | A Classy Ciate Duo

Hello ladies! I recently painted my nails in a completely different style to what I usually go for. OK..not COMPLETLY because yes that is glitter you see on my ring finger -  but hey I did try to refrain ._.

As soon as I opened up my fragrance direct package and saw how beautiful the shade Golden Sands was I needed to pop it on. Its a beautiful ‘dusty pink’ nude shade, but not just any old nude...a 90s nude, and we all know how classy that shade is! I’ve gotta admit, despite being someone who is not usually compelled to follow the trend, I am digging this whole 90s vibe ^_^

The colour ‘Antique Brooch’ which was a mini from one of the various gift sets from FD again, is SO beautiful! I wore this to my uncles wedding, three layers and I wish I had taken a clearer photo because those looks fabulous. To remove them was an experience I wouldn’t like to relive, so instead of layering it up, I just added one coat of Antique brooch onto my ring finger and voila! That little sparkle that I just can’t seem to get enough of was there!

I adore these two shades together, and I’m thinking of picking up the full size of Antique brooch which is gold glitter with flecks of pink. Ciate is a highend nail brand, with paint pots (full size) costing you £9 a bottle. However I only paid £2 for Golden Sands and although I adore the shade and the mini paint pots from previous gifts, I don’t understand why they charge double that of a highstreet polish. There was nothing special about the formula, after two and a half days (with a top coat on of course) the polish chipped....so I think its 100% worth the two quid, but I would hesitate to spent £9 on a basic bottle of the stuff when Barry M and Rimmel do just as good a job, if not better.

P.S The Gorgeous necklace is from the Instagram account: @LUSH_BOWTIQUE or find them on facebook here

Thanks for reading!

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NOTD | A Classy Ciate Duo

Haul | Primark! June 2014

Hello! Ahhhh another good ol’ Primark haul! I visited Primark twice in June, once specifically for shoes as I hadn’t gone to London prepared, and the second time as a general shop :)

These shoes cost only £6 each, and are perfect for the summertime. They are extremely flat, and so aren’t super comfortable for a lot of walking but for a few hours out they’re lovely and go well with skirts, dresses and jeans. Unfortunately for me I am a 5.5 in Primark….and yes there is no five and a half so I have to go up to a size 6 which can be a little uncomfy as they do rub a little.. but for the price I can’t complain. I also love how the strap goes diagonally across the feet, just the little details ^_^

I also picked these up for a tenner, which oddly fit me better than the ones above.  I like the gold strap detailing, and the zip at the back. The point is classy and the colour makes them super versatile. I wore these to a wedding the other day and loved how comfortable I was the whole evening! I’m normally balancing in heels, a good 3 or 4 inches taller than everyone else and so feeling uncomfortable and awkward, these are perfect for any occasion ^_^

Finally from the shoe department I picked up a pair of heels, they’re not super tall and they’re fairly comfortable. I won’t get a lot of use out of these, but I did need a pair for my shoe wardrobe,on those odd occasions where one does need heels x)

The bracelets at Primark right now are so pretty! You get 6 or £2 and there are three different packs to choose from. Sorry I couldn’t get a better photo of the second set, but  check these out for sure next time you’re in a Primark. I’d expect to see these in an accessorize, the quality is great and I love how there is gold detailing mixed among the coloured threads.

A pair of super cheap and cheerful sunnies, ones that I can just chuck into my handbag and not worry about them being broken. These were only a quid, and even came with a cute little fabric case for it!

One of my favourite purchases have to be this bag. Its a pretty huge, leather look spacious bag which will be brilliant for Uni. The only thing I’m a tad worried about is that it won’t be strong enough to hold folders, a laptop etc. but I’ll try and get an extra lining sewn in which should hopefully help the thing straps!

The small gold detailing makes the bag look more expensive (only £9 by the way) and I was pretty shocked to see a VERY similar bag in Lily Pebble’s latest haul from Zara! They even included a small tablet pouch in which will be very useful for keeping things like lipbalm, a pen, keys etc. in as the depth of the bag means it could be easy for small things to get lost – and now they don’t have too!

Can you tell I love bags? I’m defo a bags over shoes kinda girl haha.

Finally I picked up this really cute bed cover, for only £12 and I adore the neutral colours and the cute Aztec elephant print. It’s one of those reversible types, so you can switch it up by flipping the duvet over ^_^

And that is about it aside from basics like leggings, socks and other things that are standard! Have you bought anything from Primarni recently?  

Thanks so much for reading!

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Haul | Primark! June 2014

Hello! Ahhhh another good ol’ Primark haul! I visited Primark twice in June, once specifically for shoes as I hadn’t gone to London prepared, and the second time as a general shop :)

Review | Dusty Diamonds

Hello lovely people!

Today I want to share a lovely online shop with you, run by a wonderful lady and it sells a variety of unique, on trend and vintage necklaces, phone cases, rings, watches and more. With the name DUSTY DIAMONDS the pieces are all really classy, stunning and finish off any outfit effortlessly. What really separated this particular online store from the others for me, was the fact that with each purchase you make, a certain percentage of that money is donated to charity (a different one each month) I was so impressed and humbled by that because charity is very important to me (and most people with a conscious usually!) and for this shop to be giving away part of their profit, and allowing me to feel satisfied that I’ve contributed to a good cause WHILE treating myself, it just made the whole shopping experience a lot more satisfying!

First off lets start with the packaging. Now I don’t know about you but I think when a company has put that extra little bit of effort into how they’ve presented their goods, I feel happier with my purchase and overall experience with them and more inclined to shop with them again next time! I mean your lovely new item shoved in a brown paper envelope with a printed message asking for good feedback is hardly very inspiring is it?? (im looking at CHU certain e-bay sellers!) Dusty Diamonds package all their products in adorable stripy paper bags and the cute little touches really made my day when opening them

My first order was some lovely plain and simple, yet extremely affordable gold midi rings. They came in that stripy bag, in their own little red envelope with my name written across, and in that envelope were the cutest little heart shaped confetti! Now if that isn’t the cutest thing ever I don’t know what is! Adored the personal touches, it added so much more value and genuine satisfaction ^.^

A set of five midi rings cost £3 which I thought was extremely reasonable as many places are selling similar rings for a lot more money! I was a simple gold band, not twisted or textured or with charms dangling off, I just wanted a set of midi rings that could be paired with some of my simple gold rings from ASOS and these do the job perfectly! Here are some photos of what they look like on my far from delicate hands:

I popped a thin coat of clear nail polish over the rings as all artificial jewellery tends to lose colour eventually and am thoroughly satisfied with the quality and how they look too!

A few weeks later, there was a sale on dusty diamonds and I had had my eyes on this lovely Chanel case for a while. It is by far the most expensive phone case I have, but I don't regret this little treat in the slightest, it's basically a cute little Chanel purse case which fits the phone and two cards perfectly

It is magnetic, keeping the case shut and the phone protected at all times. I just adore the quilted ‘oh-so-Chanel’ look it has, and though of course it isn’t real Chanel it looks very classy to me! Also I’ve never seen this case anywhere else before, you find so many of the same type copied over and over, but none like these, and with a 10% discount code I had to snatch it up! (Watch out for the amazing sales on the Instagram page @dustydiamonds)

AND LOOK HOW PERFECT THAT GOLD CHAIN HANDLE IS ASNWAKFJEDK I LOVE IT

The phone fits snuggle inside, and it’s easy to use headphones and charge it with the case on. It is made of high quality, and though it is pretty lavish, I couldn’t be happier with it! I have saved this for special occasions as I don’t want to ruin in with my day-to-day rushing about! But thanks Dusty Diamonds ^_^

Overall I just cannot express how impressed I am with this online store: www.dustydiamonds.co.uk, the quality of the products and the level of detail and amount of care with the packaging and making everything look absolutely delightful to receive has made my day and I will continue to buy from this site time and time again. 

Furthermore their ‘slogan’ if you like is: The Goal: To provide you with ornate contemporary jewellery and provide relief for countries in crisis which says a lot about them as a company, and I honestly feel so satisfied that someone out there in the world has gained some happiness, or at least relief at the same time as I have, through Dusty Diamonds. They ship to the UK and US but if you want to purchase something and are from elsewhere, you can easily e-mail them asking for an invoice of the shipping costs :)

Make sure you check out their Instagram page @dustydiamonds and/or check out the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dustydiamondsjewellery and let me know what you think of their beautiful, unique pieces! (Whilst you’re on instagram be sure to follow me too @theblushinggiraffe ^_^)

P.S This was in no way sponsored, nor am I affiliated with Dusty Diamonds, I just wanted to share with you guys her brilliant site and hopefully it’ll be useful for when you want to treat yourself/choose a beautiful gift ^_^

Review | Dusty Diamonds

Hello lovely people!