September Favourites 2016

It's been a while since my last monthly favourites post because I'm just that useless, so I've combined my favourite things from over the last few months for today's post.

These are some of the things I've been enjoying lately...

I have a real weakness for fun novelty brooches, so I couldn't resist treating myself to this cute resin owl brooch from Cath Kidston a month or two back. In fact, I had to buy it the moment I first saw it. In all honesty, I got bored of the owl trend a few years ago, but I think this little guy is adorable, and it's the perfect finishing touch for Autumn outfits. He's really study and well made, and the best part is he was only £8! (Psst! I blogged about him in more detail here).

I know I've not blogged any outfit photos in forever (sadly, I've not been physically up to it in forever), but that doesn't mean I haven't acquired a new dress or two lately. One of my favourite new additions has to be the Brittany blue lipstick and lips print swing dress from Lindy Bop; it's one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen or owned. Along with that amazing print it has the sweetest little love heart pockets (yes, it has pockets!), short sleeves, a heart cut-out to the back, and a big flared skirt. Every last detail is perfect. The fit is quite generous, so I'd recommend sizing down if you choose to buy one, but I can promise you, it's well worth a purchase.

Being unable to leave the house much this year, I haven't had much opportunity to wear make up (it seems pointless putting on my face for bed rest), so I've only recently started trying out the Urban Decay Vice 4 eyeshadow palette I got last Christmas... and I adore it! I'm not sure why I'm including this set since it was a limited edition set and it's no longer available to buy, but the colours are so pretty and the shadows so high-quality that I felt it deserved a quick mention. It has an amazing variety of colours, and I love that it has a mixture of brights and neutrals. Of course, the bright shadows are my favourites- especially that amazing emerald green shade 'grasshopper', which I'm rather obsessed with. (Green eye make up is my favourite). I personally think these are some of the best colourful eyeshadows out there. The colour pay off is incredible, they're long lasting, blendable, and feel velvety-soft on my skin. They're perfect in my eyes. Step aside from the Naked range, and try some of Urban Decay's colourful make up, too- I promise you won't regret it!

I've been working my way through the new nail polishes I gained over the Summer, and I've already managed to wear each polish more than once. I have to say, I bloody love all of them! Both brands of nail polish are fast-drying, glide on wonderfully, and remain chip-free for at least a couple of days. The Mavala nail colours tend to be chip-resistant for a little longer than the Sally Hansen polishes, but they're both great quality formulas. Every shade is beautiful, too. The Sally Hansen Salon Manicure polishes featured above are Frutti Petutie, Aria Red-y?, and New Flame, and the Mavala polishes were all from the Shades Of Summer set, which includes Madrid, Sunset Orange, Nice, Osaka, and Bangkok. As I'm sure you can tell, I love wearing reds, oranges, corals, and dark pinks on my nails! 

As usual, I've been busy cross-stitching away, and after finishing my Home Sweet Home sampler in August, I began working on this very colourful patchwork Christmas kit from Riverdrift House. It's been really fun to work on so far, and it's so easy to follow as the entire design is colour-blocked in simple patterns. It's bigger than it looks, though, and the largest I've attempted, but I'm hoping I'll manage to get it finished in time for Christmas. Fingers crossed! 5/8ths down, 3/8ths to go!

I haven't watched a huge amount of new films or TV shows lately, but I've been enjoying Containment, and loved watching The 5th Wave, 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Giver, and The Longest Ride for the first time. All such great films. I was most surprised by 10 Cloverfield Lane; it was so different to what I was expecting, and nothing like the first film at all, but I loved it. Although I'll never look at John Goodman in the same way again; dear God, he's terrifying in that movie!

I've read several books over the last month or so, although I'm ashamed to admit that three of them were Nicholas Sparks novels. I'm not usually one for soppy romance / chick-lit novels, and would generally rather stick pins in my eyes, but for some reason during an August heatwave, I had an urge to read something easy I could read in a day without thinking... and ended up reading three. I must have had heatstroke. Ahem. As romance novels go, The Lucky One, and The Rescue weren't too bad, but The Choice read like a sloppy teenage fan fic. Not necessarily a bad thing if you like that sort of thing, but his books really aren't for me. I did however thoroughly enjoy The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge, and The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton- both great books I would highly recommend. I'm hoping to review them properly as soon as I get a spare second.

I'm now reading Wool by Hugh Howey, which has been on my to be read pile for years, and although I'm only a couple of chapters in, I'm loving it so far.

And last but by no means least, I've been enjoying working my way through the latest book in the Listography series; Spirit Listography: My Inner Self In Lists. Like the other Listography books, it's a fun creative writing book, packed full of listing prompts, with a full page beneath each one for compiling the list, and a pretty watercolour illustration on the adjacent page. As the name of the book suggests, the lists focus on topics about our inner selves; our minds, bodies, and souls; our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and what have you. The lists featured include: 'little things I love in life' to 'what I've learned from my mistakes', 'values that are most important to me' to 'what I would tell my teenage self'' and so many more. It has a really interesting range of prompts, that help to get you thinking about topics that are important to you, and ones you may never have given much thought to, and if you enjoy writing lists as much as I do, I think you'll love this book. I personally think it's fantastic. It's actually the seventh Listography book in my collection, but it's definitely one of my favourites, and I'll be reviewing it in more detail with plenty of photos really soon.

What have you been loving lately?

Fashion and Beauty Favourites | August and September 2015

I can't believe I'm putting my August and September favourites together today. How is it already October?? I've got no idea where the last couple of months have gone, and something tells me the next two are going to go really fast, too. It'll be Christmas before we know it, which is insane!

Before I start looking ahead, I'd better look back and share some of my fashion and beauty favourites from August and September. I usually share other things I've been loving in these favourite posts, like books and crafty things, but this month I'm going to blog about them separately, because I fancy a change.

I didn't buy many clothes during the Summer because I spent 99% of it living in my pyjamas, not feeling up to dressing like a proper human being. but I did treat myself to a gorgeous blue and red lip print swing dress from Lady Vintage in August. I had coveted the dress for months, and when I saw it on sale for about £25, I just couldn't resist. It's an absolute beauty! The print is gorgeous, the fabric is fantastic quality, and it fits like a glove. It's sadly no longer available to buy, but the dress comes in loads of other patterns, and there are a couple of other dresses in this fabric that are still available on sale.

In August, I also added a new novelty bag to my ever-growing collection- a studded cat-ears cross body bag by Yoki Fashion. I'd wanted a cat ears bag for years, so when I found this one on sale for £15, I had to snap it up. I love the studded ears and the fact it has a polka dot lining; my only bug-bear is that it's a little shorter than I'd like. The bag is no longer available in black, but a pink version is available here for just £12, down from £30!

I've been loving all the new season Cath Kidston things and made a few cheeky purchases over the last couple of months. I adore my new resin sausage dog and squirrel brooches. Aren't they adorable? They remind me of the Erstwilder designs, but they're far more purse friendly at just £6 each. I also picked up the resin rose bracelet in a gorgeous raspberry colour. I already had the bracelet in red and cream, but I couldn't resist buying it in another colour because I wear them to death. And they're just so pretty!

Another new addition to my CK collection is a pink and blue Provence rose print camera case. I've been searching high and low for a new camera case since I got my camera for Christmas last year; finding one to fit it has been a nightmare. It's taken me nine months, but I've finally found the one! It's a brand new design for AW, and a little wider than their old ones. so it even fits chunky little compact cameras like my little Canon. Now I can actually take the camera out of the house without worrying about breaking it. Yay!

My current beauty favourites have to be my new Inglot eyeshadows. I added a four pan palette and four shadows to my existing collection of twenty-two back in August, and I'm completely smitten with them. The shades are all so beautiful, and I've had so much fun wearing them, and combining them with some of my other Inglot shadows to create lots of different looks. What I love about these eyeshadows is that they're highly pigmented, blendable, and long-lasting, and very reasonably priced, too. The single eyeshadows are just £5.00, the rainbow trios are £6.50, and the palettes, which are sold separately, start from around £5.00. The four-pan is £7.00. Since each shadow and palette is sold separately, you have the freedom to create your own perfect palettes with the shades you love best, which is a brilliant concept. There are dozens if not hundreds of colours to choose from, and something for every taste. I'm going to dedicate a whole post to my Inglot eyeshadow palettes very soon, so if you'd like to know more about them and see swatches, keep an eye on Polka Spots over the next couple of weeks.

So, those were my fashion and beauty favourites from August and September. What were yours? Tell me in the comments below!