Wednesday Wish List

Here's a few things I've got my beady little eyes on this week...

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As usual, I'm crushing on approximately 532198 new pieces from Lindy Bop, and have particularly fallen in love with these eight beautiful frocks. I'm particularly smitten with the Molly Anne blue leopards party dress (#1), Audrey blue tropical leopard print swing dress (#3), and the Bambi turquoise lobster print swing dress (#4); those prints are incredible!

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Lindy's new bodysuits are so damn cute! I love these fruity designs.

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Joanie Clothing has stolen my heart with their gorgeous gingham and rose print dresses, picnic tee, and rose print skirt, and I don't want them to give it back. I just need these pretty clothes to magically appear in my wardrobe! They're perfect.

Lady Vintage Tutti Fruity Tea Dress

I love this tutti fruity tea dress from Lady Vintage. The print is fantastic.

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I also have eyes for these two Lady Vintage Josie dresses. I just can't decide if I like the flamingo or polka dot version better. Maybe I just need both?

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How cute are Skinny Dip's new seahorse print iPhone case, and make up bag?

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These Kate Spade novelty bags are fantastic! I'd especially love to get my hands on that pinata cross body bag.

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I need these pink grapefruit South Beach bags in my collection. I actually bought the watermelon version of the beach bag while I was on holiday (pic on my Instagram here), and it's a pretty great bag for such a reasonable price tag.

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And last but not least, I adore this black rose print batwing kimono and black embellished army jacket from River Island Plus. It's all in the detail.

If you'd like to see more of the fashion pieces on my wish list, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. You can also find all previous Wednesday Wish List posts here.

What's on your wish list this week?

Sunday Favourites #281

It's that time of the week again...

Look how cute this cereal bowl candle DIY from Aww Sam is!

I adore this DIY colourful ombre wall designed by Studio DIY. I so want to recreate it in my bedroom.

A prettified giant version of the popular 'candygram' from The House That Lars Built.

This giant cake slice cake from Aww Sam looks amazing.

I love these DIY cactus oven mitts from A Beautiful Mess.

These DIY pompom and acrylic place cards from Lovely Indeed are too cute.

Oh Happy Day's patriotic flower cupcake toppers are so lovely.

How cool are these DIY frosted cactus cupcakes from Best Friends For Frosting?! 

These colourful embroideries by Elizabeth Pawle are all so beautiful.

I'm loving this rainbow honeycomb arch from Oh Happy Day.

Artist Dogacan Onaran creates the most amazing hand carvings and prints inspired by nature, culinary, travel, and the beauties of life. I'd love to be able to do stuff like this.

This gorgeous peony tattoo by Sasha Unisex.

Artist Anne Marie Price creates mosaics out of beach trash to raise awareness of how much plastic is in the ocean, and the effect it has on animals and the environment.

Speaking of beach trash, Kaylah has used photos of her own beach trash designs, and turned them in to a range of awesome new pouches!

I don't care what this post says, baby aardvarks are the cutest!

Fairytales beautifully painted as mirrors of adulthood by artist Vivien Szaniszlo.

Lovely Links

♥ This ferret determined to show a human her babies is the most adorable thing you will see today. Too cute for words!

♥ Mayor cuts down man's 30-year-old tree, he revenges him in the best way possible.

♥ 1000 dogs suffering in cramped wire cages were rescued from a truck on its way to a slaughter house in China by brave locals and animal rights activists. The photos of the dogs in such awful cramped conditions have broken my heart, so if you're an animal lover and against animal cruelty, be warned the photos are tough to see. Fuck the dog meat trade. Thank God there was a happy ending for these poor puppies.

♥ Ellen caught one of her audience members stealing, and it was almost too awkward to watch.

♥ Rejecting the roles of the fat friend and comedy side kick.

♥ 18-year-old guy advertises for a wife in 1865, and his newspaper ad will make you want to marry him now. He had me at 'potatoes'.

♥ Every day this dog rides the bus all by herself to go to the park! 

♥ Edson Da Costa, a young black man, has died after being stopped by the police in East London.

♥ How the Grenfell Tower community helped themselves- because no one else would.

♥ A 5-year-old girl has donated over $750 to charity by painting galaxies. Her artwork is amazing!

♥ This programmer was asked to do 40 hours work for free, and his brilliant response went viral. Newsflash, people: exposure does not put food on the table! On Earth we pay people in money.

♥ Gay couple who was told their love was "just a phase" recreated their Pride photo 25 years later.

♥ How accusing a powerful man of rape drove a college student to suicide. This is heartbreaking.

♥ Boss sends guy home for violating the male dress code, so he decides to follow the female one instead. Love this!

For more content like this, check out my Pinterest and Tumblr. You can also find all previous Sunday Favourites posts here.

Thanks for reading! Have a good one!

What's In My Wash Bag?

When I was packing for my recent holiday to Cornwall and filling my wash bag with as many miniature beauty products as I could cram in, I thought it would be fun to show you guys what I packed in the wash bag for my week away. I hurriedly took a few photos of all the little lotions and potions, and then completely forgot all about them, until yesterday, when I was going through the photos I took on holiday. Apparently I have a memory like a sieve.

The photos aren't the best, as I was in such a rush and didn't have time to create a pretty flatlay, but hey, I'm just a normal girl with a normal life that's freckled with imperfections, so I'm just going to roll with the imperfections today, and blog the photos anyway.

I was excited to pack my wash bag because I finally had a chance to use some of the miniatures in my stash which I had saved for just such an occasion. The only problem was deciding which products to take because I've amassed quite a hoard of mini beauty products over the last few years, mostly built up from beauty Advent calendars and gift sets that I haven't got around to using yet.

In the end, the vast majority of the miniatures I packed were products from L'Occitane and The Body Shop, and of course, I also packed a few full size products I just couldn't live without for the week, including my Aussie Miracle Hair Insurance Conditioning Spray, and Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream. Most of the products I packed aren't the products I actually use every day and consider my essentials, especially when it comes to skincare, but I wasn't going to pack a suitcase full of full-sized bottles when I had dozens of travel sized alternatives waiting to be used. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to mix things up, and use some different products for a change. So that is what I did.

Here's a list of everything that made it in to the wash bag:

1. Lush Happy Soap.

2. Macleans White & Shine Toothpaste.

3. The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream.

4. The Body Shop Shea Butter Body Butter

5. Sure Motionsense Invisible Aqua Compressed Anti Perspirant.

6. Aussie Miracle Hair Insurance Lightweight Conditioning Spray.

7. Magicool Hot Weather Cooler.

8. The Body Shop Wild Argan Oil Body Lotion.

9. The Body Shop Moringa Shower Gel.

10. The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Shower Gel.

11. Superdrug Nail Polish Remover Acetone Formula.

12. L'Occitane En Provence Essential Oils Shampoo.

13. L'Occitane En Provence Essential Oils Conditioner.

14. Sainsbury's Basics Cotton Wool Pads.

15. L'Occitane En Provence Cherry Blossom Bath & Shower Gel.

16. L'Occitane En Provence Cherry Blossom Shimmering Lotion.

17. L'Occitane En Provence Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette.

18. L'Occitane En Provence Shea Dry Skin Foot Cream.

19. L'Occitane En Provence Refreshing Cloth With Organic Verbena Extract.

20. L'Occitane En Provence Essential Water.

21. L'Occitane En Provence Gentle Toner Enriched With Shea.

22. The Body Shop Glazed Apple Hand Cream.

I also packed my toothbrush, a Venus Gillette razor, and some Boots Cucumber Cleansing Wipes, but I couldn't fit them in the washbag, and forgot to grab them for the photos.

I never actually ended up using everything I brought with me on holiday, but I had everything I needed, and enjoyed trying the products I'd never tried before, like the L'Occitane Essential Water, Gentle Toner. and Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette. I've been obsessed with the cherry blossom range for years, but I'd never sampled the eau de toilette before, and oh my God, it's to die for! If you love cherry blossom scents, you need it in your life! I'm going to need a full-sized bottle of it once I've used the miniature up.

As for the wash bag, my gorgeous heart print case was from Cath Kidston, but I'm afraid it's an old design from a couple of years ago that they no longer stock in that print. If you have your heart set on it, perhaps try your local Cath Kidston outlet shop or eBay; you never know, you could get lucky and find one. They also sell plenty of other lovely designs on their website, which you can find here.

I managed to cram almost everything I needed in to the case, so it served me well, but next time I'll either need to pack a little lighter- which, let's face it, is never going to happen- or buy myself a larger wash bag to cater to my hoarding needs.

What would you pack in your wash bag for a week's holiday? 

50 Thoughts I Had During The Heatwave

I can't believe how hot it's been this last week! Yesterday it was 35'C here in Oxfordshire, and the four days before it weren't much cooler. This heatwave has been like hell on Earth! I've hated every moment of it.

I'm not a fan of the heat at the best of times, but this heatwave has been something else. The heat and humidity have been suffocating. I've been lazing around the house under the fan in as little clothes as possible trying not to move while drinking all the cold drinks, but I've still been melting in to a puddle of goo, and praying for death. I am not built for this heat!

Those of you in hotter climates are probably thinking: 35 degrees?! That's nothing! What are all of you English people complaining about? Well, our Summers aren't usually this hot; a hot Summer's day for us is about ten degrees less, if we're lucky, with maybe a few days over 30'c a year. We're not used to the heat and most of us don't have air conditioning in our homes, so when we get it, our delight usually turns in to despair after five minutes, and we turn in to a nation of over-heated, flustered, sun-burnt whiners. Most of us just do not know how to cope when the mercury rises. We're still figuring these things out.

I'm probably the worst when it comes to complaining about the heat, and I couldn't even guess how many times I've moaned about it over the past few days. I'm sure many of you will be able to relate, so I thought I'd share a list of some of the things I thought and said during the heatwave to give you guys a giggle. How many of them can you relate to?

1. Why is it so damn hot? It's waaay too hot. Did I mention it's too hot??

2. I think I'm just going to go live in the (cold) shower and send out change of address cards.

3. What can I wear that covers my upper arms, and my legs that won't cause me to die of heatstroke?? Answer: nothing. #HeatwaveDilemmasOfASelfConsciousFatGirl

4. I literally just showered; how can I be sweaty again already?

5. I need ice cream. Why is there no ice cream?

6. Okay, I literally have nothing suitable to wear in this weather. Why isn't it acceptable to be naked in public?

7. I wish I lived alone so I could just lounge around the house naked.

8. This house feels like a fucking furnace!

9. If I stay still and don't move a muscle, maybe, just maybe, I'll survive this.

10. Ow, my legs are stuck to the seat. That's okay; I didn't need those six layers of skin, anyway.

11. My clothes are stuck to me. And the bed sheets / pillows / sofa / chair. Gross gross gross!

12. Eighteen ice creams isn't too many ice creams to eat in one day, right?

13. I wonder if the staff at Sainsburys would mind if I crawled in to their freezer and lived there until the end of the Summer?

14. (During the night): There's no air! I feel like I'm suffocating. I'm seriously going to die of suffocation. 

15. *Just drank 75 litres of cold water.* I really need a cold drink.

16. That breeze is aaaamazzzing. Okay, I'm gonna stay here. Oh, it's gone.

17. How many cold showers can I have a day before it starts to get weird??

18. Ice. I need ice. There will never be enough ice.

19. The last half of my drink is too watered down from all the ice. Maybe that was too much ice.

20. Is it obvious how much I'm sweating right now? *Hides in a corner.*

21. I'm sweating so much I'm gonna die of dehydration.

22. Damn you, dehydration headache! Where the fuck is the Paracetamol when you need it?

23. Under-boob and back of the knee sweat is the worst.

24. I hate this. I really fucking hating this.

25. I think my make up has totally slipped off my face. *Checks reflection, looks like The Joker.*

26. No amount of powder is going to fix this shiny, sweaty face.

27. I wish I was on the beach and in the sea right now. Why don't I live near the seaside?

28. I wish we had air conditioning. We need air conditioning. Why don't we have air conditioning in our homes in England? Oh, right; our weather sucks. *Makes mental note to have air conditioning installed in every room of the house for those two weeks of Summer a year, anyway.*

29. Where can I go that has air conditioning that's free?

30. I wish I could go back to childhood and enjoy those carefree Summer days playing in the paddling pool and having water-pistol fights. Why are these not acceptable ways for an adult to spend the Summer?

31. Would it be sad if I bought a paddling pool so I can sit in a deckchair with my feet in the water?

32. Next door's barbecue smells soooo good. Why don't we own a barbecue anymore? I want a barbecue!

33. Ice cream for breakfast is totally acceptable, right?

34. Why am I fanning the dog to cool her down instead of fanning myself? I must be a crazy dog lady!

35. Best go shave my legs again... Why must leg hair grow so fast?

36. Yay, I have silky smooth pins again! 

37. Did I remember to shave my arm pits? No? *Keeps arms down in public.*

38. All the factor 50+ in the world is not enough to stop me from burning under this sun.

39. How is that guy wearing a jumper / coat in this weather? Is he fucking insane??

40. *After thirty seconds outside." Best go back inside or I'm gonna die of heatstroke.

41. Ah, Magicool, you wonderful magical can of relief, you. Praise be to Magicool!

42. How the hell do people in hot climates cope with this heat all the time??

43. All the fans in the world aren't enough right now.

44. I'm never going to be able to sleep in this heat.

45. Why isn't it Winter already? I wish it was Winter.

46. That's it; I'm going to go live in the Arctic.

47. Why is it acceptable for skinny people to walk around in next to nothing, but not us fat people?

48. This mugginess is horrible! We need a good thunderstorm to break it RIGHT NOW.

49. I died and now I'm in the fiery furnace of hell. There's no other explanation. I'm burning in hell for my bad life choices.

50. When will this heatwave end?

Did you think or say any of these things during the heatwave?

Birthday Wish List

In eleven days I'll be turning another year older (don't remind me...), so I thought it was about time I put together my annual birthday wish list in place of my usual Wednesday Wish List post.

This is a list of the things I would loooove to receive or treat myself to for my birthday- y'know, if I was rich and could afford to spoil myself rotten, which sadly, I am not. I won't be showing it to my family and friends, and demanding they buy me things from the list, but I might point them in this direction should they ask for ideas, or buy things from it should I be given any money for my birthday. It's essentially my 'most wanted' list and along with the usual fashion and beauty favourites, it features a few homeware and entertainment things, too. Here it is:

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1. I'm in love with this cheerful yellow Audrey skyline dress from Lindy Bop, and the skyline is even of NYC, one of my favourite places!

2. The Tarte Magic Wands unicorn make up brushes are to die for. I mean, they're colourful and unicorn horns; what's not to love?! (Currently sold out online at Sephora and QVC, but will hopefully come back in to stock soon).

3. I love the look of the Urban Decay After Dark eyeshadow palette. So many pretty shades.

4. I convinced my Mum to get me this gorgeous Cath Kidston sewing box house for my birthday because I've wanted it for months for my sewing things, and it's finally on sale. It's a beauty.

5. The Lindy Bop Audrey light blue waterpark dress is the loveliest Summer dress.

6. I really want one of these Sunjellies retro basket bags for my Summer outfits, but still can't decide which colour I like best.

7. The Lady Vintage banana print Phoebe dress has the cutest tropical print ever. I need a dress with a banana print in my collection.

8. I adore this axolotl brooch from Sugar & Vice; because... do I really need to explain why? It's an axolotl brooch!

9. My little sister recently gave me her old iPhone, so I want this Skinnydip turtle phone case to dress it in.

10. I need this Skinnydip flamingo pool float cross body bag in my life so badly.

11. This pink hedgehog brooch from Whistleburg is all kinds of adorable.

12. Scarlett & Jo's Lollidot heart print dress is a stunner in raspberry.

13. I also love the Lollidot dress in purple.

14. The Spectrum Mermaid Dreams The Glam Clam make up brushes set is a thing of dreams. Mermaid dreams.

15. La Vidriola's wildlife statement necklace is incredible. Now that is what I call a statement necklace!

16. I'm still dying to get my hands on the Too Faced Sweet Peach eyeshadow palette. Who isn't? 

17. I'd love to add this peach cross body bag from Skinny Dip to my novelty bag collection.

18. How cute is this running fox brooch from Layla Amber. It reminds me of The Animals of Farthing Wood.

19. The Vendula London sewing shop bag a so beautiful. I love all of the little details.

20. I love the look of the Barry M Sunset Nail polish set. So many pretty colours.

21. Sunflowers are some of my favourite flowers, and this purple sunflower print Audrey dress from Lindy Bop is bloomin' beautiful.

22. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of Beauty and the Beast on DVD; it was so good!

23. I really want to see La La Land.

24. I'm enjoying the TV series, so I really want to read the book of The Handmaid's Tale, too.

25. The Too Faced Natural Love eyeshadow palette looks divine.

26. I want to add the Real Techniques Core Collection of make up brushes to my collection. I recently bought a set of the eyeshadow brushes and they're amazing.

For more of the fashion, beauty, and homeware pieces on my wish list, check out my wish list boards on Pinterest.

What's on your wish list this week?