La Dauphine Bracelets by HRH Collection

Howdy,

 La Dauphine bracelet in the colour Who's the fairest

 

Here is my La Dauphine Swarovski crystal bracelet. Pictures do not do this beautiful bracelet justice, it is hand made by Alex of HRH collection. Alex is known for her YouTube channel plus running her own business full time.

I have never seen anything like this, it reflects the light and just sparkles away. It is a rare and vintage stone, I'm not sure of the year though.  I love that it’s not widely available making it unlikely I’m going to bump into someone with the same. That is the beauty of buying from this collection and that they are made in the US.

The chain feels like a good quality metal, it is not sterling silver but still looks great next to my silver and white gold bracelets. It has a good weight to it  and is comfortable to wear, the stone always remains upright on my wrist.



I have really enjoyed this bracelet and you do catch people having a glance at it, it last happened whilst on the tube in London.

I have had this bracelet for a few years now, I still love and do wear it. I am not usually one to go for costume jewellery but this collection is different, my wrist is not going to turn green and the stones used are honestly so pretty.

To understand just how pretty they really are you need to see these bracelets in real life. They change colour with the light. Even my husband was impressed with them and he is not into jewellery like I am at all. The other thing that sets these bracelets apart from your usual costume jewellery is the fact that they are made with Swarovski crystals. Some very rare and vintage.


La Dauphine bracelet in the colour Acid Zelda

Well... I purchased another one, here is bracelet No.2, this bracelet is called HRH Acid Zelda and this one changes colours more than the last. In some lights it looks purple and then blue, then you see red, it honestly is a mixture of many colours. This is what I love about them, they are comfortable to wear,  no need to be careful with it either. It is a sturdy little bracelet, I wouldn't go wearing it in the shower but normal everyday wear is fine, I've never had a problem with them. One thing I do avoid is spraying perfume on them, just because of the chemicals found in perfume can tarnish jewellery.

This bracelet is from the 1940's and you really need to see it in person to see how the colour changes all the time. I can't wait to wear this, it will sparkle so much in the sun (if it wants to come out anytime soon).

If you are into crystal jewellery, leather bracelets, long necklaces or chokers then go check out the range Alex has. She makes everything to order so you have to wait  a couple of weeks to receive it, which is fine by me.  By having everything made to order it also give you the chance to change anything if you need to. Some people might want an item made larger or smaller. You can have it made to suit you. Also she ships world wide YAY, I did have my order shipped to a friend's house in the US to save on postage and I could track it the whole way.

Alex has also just launched a new line called Privé, if you if you are into rings, maybe check them out too. I am really happy with the pieces I have and will continue to enjoy them. If you fancy a look at what Alex makes then click here and don't blame me if you make a purchase. I follow her online and love looking at her new pieces but she's right, until you have it in front of you you will never know how truly pretty and colourful the jewellery is.

Does anyone else wear decent costume jewellery? I mean the kind that lasts not a £4 bracelet from Topshop! I'd love to know where you buy it from.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx

Products not worth the hype or money

Howdy,

Have you ever tried a product that has just been so bloody awful from the first use? Well, a couple of these products have been like that for me! Here are a few things I don't recommend trying. These products have caused something horrible to happen to my skin or have just done nothing and are really not worth the money or the hype that they have.

1. Bioré, Blemish clearing scrub. 

 

Awful AWFUL product, it is meant to clean your pores deep down and remove any dirt. It is meant to help to keep your skin blemish free too. I tried this just the once, followed the directions and after I came out of the shower and got dressed my skin was so incredible dry. My forehead had gone white, honestly white, with how dry my skin had gone. Never will I be using this again, I had good hopes for this product as I love the nose strips this brand makes. RRP £5.24



 

2. Living Proof, Full shampoo & conditioner. 

Now for me this product was not awful, it just didn't do a whole lot for my hair apart from making it clean, which to some is the desired effect of shampoo. But, when your hair is fine, curly and dry like mine, I need a little more in a shampoo and conditioner. The smell was clean and reminded me of a spa, the shampoo was clear and took a little bit of effort to make it foam up. As I do use products in my hair I want something that will foam up and help remove them (I always shampoo twice, once to rinse everything out and again to then clean my hair). The conditioner was ok but I really did need to give an extra spritz of Its a 10 after, as my hair still needed more moisture. Also, the really big reason for these being mentioned is the price... Are you ready?... The shampoo and conditioner cost £22.00 EACH for just 236ml. Just so you don't think I have money to burn, which I do not, I got these in a set with one other item for a lot less than this. I don't even think they were worth the price I paid for them, overall not worth the hype at all.

3. Garnier BB Cream, in the colour medium.

OOOOO this is horrendous, there was nothing about this I liked at all. I took a risk with the colour but when you don't get a tester, you have no choice but to guess your colour. I washed and prepped my face for this BB cream, as soon as I put it on it felt almost grainy and very thick, like a horrible sun cream. It did not soak in very well just smeared colour round and round my face, the colour did not blend in very well and was orange. Horrible! Who has this skin colour orange? It would have been perfect for a part in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I would have made the perfect oompa loompa! Even though I only used a small amount, it felt cakey on my skin and I had to get it off straight away. I will just stick to what I know and love which for sure is not this! Yuck! RRP £9.99

4. Swisse women's multivitamin. 

I have tried quite a few vitamins over the years and felt like I wanted a change, so I opted for this brand. My specialist told me to take certain vitamins every day. Shop own brands don't seem to do an all in one, which I need, so I have to spend a bit more and get a brand name! I am REALLY not a fan of the way they smell and taste. Yes, I do chuck it in my mouth and swallow but, eww, you can still taste it. Foul is a word that describes it well, also not that I have trouble swallowing tablets but these are like bullets, see pic, I'm not joking. So if you are put off by horrible smells and can't swallow a tablet the size of a suppository then don't buy this brand. I know I won't be buying anymore from this brand. I have a box of 30 and I think I'm on day 4, Boo! RRP £9.99

It is the size of a pound coin, just fatter.

 

5. Unani, il-luminate milk cleanser. 

I tried this a couple of times to really test it out, but after every use my skin felt tight and very dry. It was like I had taken my make up off and taken any moisture my skin had too. I didn't find it to be gentle in any way and I would not recommend this at all. You can get much better results from a £3 L'oreal miceller water. My skin was not happy with it and I was scared it would break my skin out as it would turn greasy trying to find that moisture that had been taken away.  This product contains Linalool, which if you didn't know is found in flea and cockroach insecticide, WTF I put this shit on my face! Never again! RRP £13.60




Luckily with all these products I got them all on offer and didn't pay full price.

Do you have any products you have had high hopes for, or any bad experiences? Let me know, I'd love to hear.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx

Yves Saint Laurent, volupté Tint-in-oil

Howdy,

This product has been out for a very long time (at least a couple of years). I picked mine up last year, but as of late I have been reaching for it most days and I will tell you why.

I have the oil in No.8, it's a really pretty pink/purple.

Firstly, have you seen the packaging? If there is one thing YSL know how to do, its how to do lovely packaging. It is totally eye catching and I like the fact that the colour round the tube reflects on the colour that is inside. So if you were to own a few you wouldn't have to go opening them or picking them up to see what colour they were.
I very much love the doe foot applicator as it is easy to give a precise application of this product and with the water melon scent it has it doesn't give you a funny taste in your mouth.

I wanted to try this oil before buying it to make sure I would like it, it is not greasy like a Vaseline and messy like you would imagine a body oil to be. After first applying, your lips are incredibly shiny which I quite like, it gives your lips a very subtle wash of colour. The oil is very moisturising so if your lips are dry it will soak in within half an hour, but what you are left with is a slight tint on your lips. By applying the oil again the tint then gradually gets darker so apply it as many times as you wish.

One of the things I love about this oil is the tint you are left with, it is not like some of the lip stains you can buy where it leaves a wash of streaky colour across your lips and quite often isn't even and you need to apply the product again. I find with the YSL, after a couple of applications I have a wash of colour for the whole day and all I tend to do is then apply a lip balm just to keep my lips hydrated. This is perfect if you are at work or out for the day on the go, no need to keep checking your lips. It is a very moisturising and easy way to have pretty looking lips all day.

Here are my lips with no product on them.

I am not wearing any make up and have not used a scrub or balm on my lips.

My lips straight after one coat of the lip oil
















Two hours later, I have eaten and drunk something too. It just keeps your lips moisturised and not sticky, I love the light wash of colour. Just helps to even out the natural colouring of my lips.












It looks so natural and a little goes a long way, I really enjoy using it. If you are not into bright colours or hate the feel of Vaseline or some balms on your lips then you may really enjoying this. I bought mine in Boots, on Oxford street where the selection is huge.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx

Nobody's Child Clothing

Howdy,

I have seen so many pairs of culottes around on blogs and instagram and I must say I have taken a shine to them. I remember wearing and loving them back in the 90's (woo what a throw back), the pair I had were black and ribbed and I just loved them.

So whilst doing a little online research for some culottes, I came across a website called Nobody's Child, I had never heard of them before, so checked out their website and found a black pair of culottes I liked the look of. I rarely order clothes online as you never know about sizing and the faff of sending them back etc etc, just takes the fun out of it! I had a good feeling about these so I just went ahead and ordered them. Best part of the order was that they were only £7. Yes! £7! :-)

I made the order at almost 21:00 and two days later I had it. Super quick! The package came in a black plastic sealed bag and inside that was a very thick brown paper bag closed together with stitching (reminded me of a hessian sack). Inside the brown bag your item comes in a see through plastic bag. So obviously my order was well protected! Your order form comes in a white envelope which I think is such a nice touch and not normally what you would receive from a high street brand.

The trousers feel like good quality with well sown fastenings and sit nicely on my hips, I am excited to wear these trousers this spring and summer. I shall be wearing these dressed up and down, I think they are suitable for any occasion. I just need to see how they wash up, I shall follow the instructions and hope they come out well.

This is my first time buying from this brand and so far so good, they do cater a lot for younger people but still have a good selection of clothing that I think would suit anybody of any age. If you are a student, they offer a 15% discount if you register your details.

Here is how I plan to wear these trousers during the day and for night just pop on a pair of strappy heels. Yay to returning fashions as these are so comfortable and fun to wear. As my clothes are very dark I like to brighten it up with a pop of colour with my shoes or some sparkly jewellery.

Top: Dorothy Perkins Shoes: J Crew

Bag: Mulberry Bracelet: BCBG Necklace: custom made

I think I will go back to Nobody's Child when I want to purchase some more spring/summer clothing. They do have some fun pieces on their website right now, it fun to branch out and try something new.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx

GlossyBox X La Mer Product Review

Howdy,

As soon as I saw Glossy box were going to do a collaboration with La Mer, I knew I wanted to try it. It was going to be available in February so I signed myself up to preregister straight away. This would be the first time I applied for one of Glossybox's exclusive limited edition boxes. Before the box was released to the general public I found out that there were only going to be 2000 available! Now why is it when something is limited edition, do you want it ten times more?

From the hype on social media about this box I knew it was going to sell out quickly and it was being talked about a lot. My friend and I were desperate to get a box of our own, the day before it was being released an email was sent out to say it was going to be released at 09:00AM to Glossy box subscribers and then from 10:00AM for those that don't subscribe. It might sound a bit crazy to some but I had my emails on refresh from about 08:30, you could only purchase the boxes from the link in the email that was sent out to you. The email came I ordered like a crazy woman and then phew, confirmation was in and I had managed to get a box of my own. I was super excited, to say the least!

I really do love skin care and it is so important to have some sort of a routine and look after your skin. As I am in my 30's and have been pretty good with skincare over the years I don't think my skin looks too bad. It's always best to start young, prevention is better than cure, right? But it's never to late to start, I remember using a face cream that said it gives you skin of a 21 year old. I laughed and said I don't want that I was only around 19 at the time. Oh... to have that wrinkle free skin back.

I'm not going to rate these products, just tell you if I enjoyed or recommend them or not. As for the question, "Are they worth the money?" I shall leave the prices below and let you decide that for yourself. The largest amount shown in ml are the amounts and costs of what you would pay if you purchased these products. The smaller amounts are what you get in this box.

The Cleansing Micellar Water
A 200ml bottle costs £70, which works out as 35p per ml
The Glossy Box bottle is 30ml, so at 35p per ml, this works out as being worth £10.50

This works well and removes all make up, even stubborn mascara comes off easily. I don't like the slight alcohol smell but it doesn't sting my skin or eyes at all. I would prefer to use Bio Derma as it is far cheaper and does not have any alcohol scent to it. Or for an even more affordable option you can save £65 compared to this and go buy Loreal's Micellar water.

The Treatment Lotion
A 150ml bottle costs £100, which works out as  66.7p per ml
The Glossy Box bottle is 5ml, so at 66.7p per ml, this works out as being worth £3.33

I enjoyed using this, it works very nicely when used before your moisturiser. It is one of those steps in your skin care routine where I am not sure if it really is necessary but I still tried it and my skin seemed to soak it up and enjoy it.

The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum
A 30ml bottle costs £145, which works out as £4.83 per ml
The Glossy Box bottle is 5ml, so at £4.83 per ml, this works out as being worth £24.17

I am not a fan of this as it has a very strong alcohol scent, it did soak in quite quickly but left my skin feeling slightly tacky. I would not ever purchase this and am so pleased I got to try these product first as £145 is a lot of money to spend.

The Eye Concentrate
A 15ml tub costs £150, which works out as  £10 per ml
The Glossy Box tube is 3ml, so at £10 per ml, this works out as being worth £30

I LOVE this, it is extremely moisturising and not irritating at all. My eyes never watered or stung from using this product. My eye area is definitely more hydrated and I feel it has smoothed out some of my lines and has even helped to somehow take some of the blue of my bags. The skin feels more plumped up and concealer glides on and stays better than before I started using this.

The Intensive Revitalizing Mask
A 75ml tube costs £115, which works out as £1.53 per ml
The Glossy Box tube is 15ml, so at £1.53 per ml, this works as being worth £23

A very nice and very hydrating mask, I love the fact that you only have to wear this for 8 minutes and just a simple wipe off when it is done is all you need to do. My skin loved it and a lot of it is absorbed into the skin. If your skin is dry or looking dull, this mask really does help bring your skin back to life and restore some of the moisture back into it.

Creme De La Mer (The Moisturizing Cream)
A 30ml pot cost £115, which works out as £3.83 per ml
The Glossy Box pot is 7ml, so at £3.83 per ml, this works out as being worth £26.83

I LOVE this cream, it is a very thick and moisturising. Take just a small amount and warm it between your finger tips and pat it on to the skin. It will soak in and just leave your skin extremely hydrated and not oily in the slightest. I would not use this during the day as it would be too thick and you would find make up application very difficult. But as a night time moisturiser it is perfect and I really recommend it. A little does go a long way and a small tub would last you a few months.

If I had to pick a single product to recommend I think it would have to be between the moisturising cream and the eye concentrate. I am not sure I could choose just one as I really do love them both. I have enjoyed trying these products so much and the small amount I have had to try has lasted me a few weeks. So La Mer products do last a long time and a little goes a long way.

Will I end up making a purchase from this brand? We shall see, doesn't help when your husband sends you picture of the La Mer counter from the airport (ahhh someone hide my cards from me). Awesome collaboration GlossyBox! I shall be keeping my eyes peeled for the next, this one was amazing and worth every penny.

All the Glossy Box La Mer products added up together are worth a total of £117.83 and I paid £35 plus the P&P.

If anyone fancies joining Glossy Box I could not recommend it enough. I honestly LOVE receiving a box every month and getting to try new products. I have found some staples I use everyday from these boxes, by joining up you you will be the first to be able to get these limited edition boxes before they go on sale to the general public.

Depending on if you want to pay monthly or purchase a 3, 6 or 12 month subscription you have the option to choose what is best for you. You can cancel the pay monthly subscription if you are not enjoying it, so it is not as if you are signing up for a year and and are bound in a contract. I have the years subscription as I have already said I love it that much and also it does work out slightly cheaper.
Click here to check out the website and see if you fancy joining, use the code GB50 to get your first box for just £5. The products inside are always more expensive than the cost of the box, in one box I received had 5 products one being a full size face mask that retails for £26. That alone covered more than the price of the box, what can £10 buy you in the shops now? Not a lot, so go treat yourself, you may just love it.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx

The Truth about Outlet Shopping!

Howdy,

We all love a good shopping trip and you can't beat the excitment of going to an outlet, the excitement of going round your favourite shops in hope to get a good bargain.

Well..... you might not be getting so much of a bargain as you may think. It's wise to keep your wits about you and if you have things in mind you would like to purchase from previous seasons, take a picture or two of these items in order to compare them.

What I don't think some people know is, many of the shops in the outlets don't always sell what is sold in their high street stores. You may find a very similar product and they may look roughly the same but when your get up close you can notice differences.

For example, Michael Kors, a bag purchased in the high street or from online will quite often come with leather straps, a zip closure, a dust bag and quite often a michael kors tag on their larger bags. When you look at a very similar bag in the outlet some of the straps are plastic, there is no zip, dust bag or MK tag on the bag. So overall you are still getting a genuine MK bag it just might not be up to the same quality as you can see on the high street. So when you are thinking to yourself excellent this bag is half price compared to the high street, that is quite often because the quality of "leathers" used are not the same.

One thing you can do is ask the sales assistant which products are end of season stock and which have been made just for the outlet!

I myself have purchased a MK bag from the outlet and the leather is amazing, the bag has worn very well, it just shows signs of wear on the handles. Which is a shame but they do take the strain of the bag especially as I seem to quite often fill my bags up. I didn't get a dust bag as I said earlier I guess this is to keep down costs in an outlet too. I do think if you are spending £150 + on a bag I would like a dust bag to keep it protected in when I am not using it! So me being me on my next trip to London I went down to the huge Michael Kors shop on regent street, whilst wearing my MK bag and asked the lady in the shop if I could please have a dust bag to protect my bag as I didn't get one. I just had to show my receipt of my purchase and the lady kindly got me one from the back of the shop. Yay to asking and getting one. Ask and ye shall recieve!

Another key thing to look out for when purchasing clothes, lets say a pair of GAP jeans, is the quality of the jeans themselves. There is a difference in quality, from outlet made jeans, these have the design stamped around the inside of the waitband and on the shop bought ones you have a white sown in label. Outlet jeans do not have many rivets on the pockets and you wont see the infamous 1969 GAP info found printed on the inside of a front pocket. I have used GAP as an example as I have experienced both buying them from an outlet and from a GAP store on the high street, so I can see these differences for myself. The jeans are also not as thick, it is a more relaxed softer feel of denim, so if you prefer that then maybe the outlet version are perfect for you. They don't last as long but I loved the fit and comfort and would buy another pair for sure.

Just remember when you go into a shop, think to yourself, are you are getting the same quality as you can on the high street for every item? Just be a bit more observant and check the labels. Not everything in an outlet is value for money and making you a saving.

Even with everything I have mentioned above, I still LOVE going to outlets and I will continue to go, you just need to be aware that if a pair of trousers are £30 in the outlet and on the high street they cost £35 and are better quality and will last longer, then I'd suggest going for the high street version. The moral of this blog post in three words is "do your research!"

Some shops are very crafty with how they promote and sell their items in the shops, just be aware and outsmart them before they take your money and outsmart you.

Thanks for reading
Kara xx