July Wishlist | LLWXO

1. Topshop Yellow Rain Mac - here 

2. Topshop Lace Up Flats - here

3. River Island Rose Gold Watch - here

4. Missguided Studded Tan Clutch - here

5. Motel Striped Playsuit - here

6. ASOS Cuff - here

7. Juju Jelly Shoes - here

8. Topshop Leaf Jumpsuit - here

I haven't done a wish list post in forever and making this I have no idea why, they're the best! First up is this rain mac from Topshop. I've always wanted a yellow rain mac to look adorable in! They're not just for toddlers! I love the gingham detailing on the cuffs as well, extra adorable. AND a sensible purchase as it's not ever going to stop raining in England. Another Topshop pick are these lace up flats I've seen everywhere but want want want. 

I love watches and rose gold, so I need a combination of the both. I found this one from River Island and it's lush! Next up is this bag from Valentino Missguided HOW MUCH DOES IT LOOK LIKE THE ROCKSTUD STUFFFFF I love the Valentino range so when I saw this bad boy it just had my name all over it, it's gorgeous! It's like £18 as well so much more easy going on the purse strings than Valentino.

I love Motel Rocks but haven't ever purchased from the website! I was browsing and I saw this playsuit I really really want as it looks so versatile. It would make a great casual playsuit with some lace up flats, or a smart formal one with tights and a blazer, OR a formal/going out look with some nice black heels and a cute clutch! When I shop I look for how much wear I can get out of something and if I could dress it up or dress it down.

I really badly want an arm cuff or cuff of some sort and I saw this one on ASOS I really like. It's gold with monochrome stone detailing and it's mega cheap and cute! I'm scared I wont be able to pull it off though... we'll see.

When I was a kid I had some jelly shoes but my mum wouldn't let me get a heeled pair, as I was young, but I really badly wanted some, just had to make do with the flats. Well now i'm technically an adult (even though I act like a disney obsessed seven year old) I can wear heeled jellies! Woohoo! I love the Juju jelly shoes from Union Jack Boots, they're so cute and look mega sturdy.

Finalllllyyyyyyy, this gorgeous Topshop leaf print jumpsuit needs to be in my wardrobe as soon as possible. It's so so so so so pretty and I need it, end of.

 Any of these items from my wishlist take your fancy? :)

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February Favourites

OH YES IT IS! It's the marble effect tray and pot that's everywhere at the moment! I know, but I just could not resist it, especially to home my Zoeva Rose Gold Luxury brushes I received from Luke for Valentines Day.

 This month I have been loving most the Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation. I use this everyday and especially during February as I have been skint and haven't really owned any other foundations as I have used them all up. Literally all of them.. my Diors, Chanels, Macs, ALL OF THEM! Which is a nightmare. Feeling a massive high end foundation shopping spree coming soon, as I do love owning a variety of foundations rather than just one. But yeah, this foundation is amazing, does the trick for a lovely day wearing foundation, I love it.

Secondly I've been grabbing my Benefit products so much this month, especially the Gimme Brow, Hoola bronzer and my new favourite mascara in the world Rollerlash. Rollerlash is bloody amazing. I will be doing a separate review post on it soon but let me just say, it's brilliant, I love it so much.

 Then finally, I have been loving this Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipstick, I picked it up after I watched a Zoella video, can't remember which one, pretty sure it's a Boots haul video, and bought it straight after. She usually has that effect on me, and it's a beautiful product.

 And of course, I have been loving this tray and this pot. How lovely do the brushes look in them, look! I also picked up another H&M home pot for my other brushes as well.

So there it is! My February favourites. Thanks for reading! Please comment and follow if you enjoyed this post!

My Favourite iPad Apps..

  In January I treated myself to a brand new iPad Mini 2 and I haven't put it down since I got it, I'm addicted. It's funny because whenever I go on it then go on my iPhone, it feels so weird because the iPhone seems so tiny now. I'm not usually a massive technology gadget geek but I love this iPad.

 I'm constantly browsing the App store for a new game, new app and new books to try, and hopefully fall in love with. I love finding new games and apps that are fun and I enjoy, endless amounts of fun to be had. These are a few of my current favourites on my iPad right now:

Bloglovin - free

 I love reading blogs, I could do it all day. I always use the Popular option to find new blogs to follow and it's such a handy app to have on my iPad, I reccommend it for any blog lover with a tablet.

Padgram - free

 When I first got my iPad I downloaded Instagram but it looked so funny on an iPad as it was designed for an iPhone, so I had a Google and people were recommending this app to use instead and it's great. I love the way you can see so many more posts across the screen, Instagrammin' to the max.

Tumblr - free

 I love Tumblr so when I saw I could get it on my iPad I got far too excited. Tumblr is my favourite source of inspiration, as well as Instagram, and I use it everyday.

Soundcloud - free

My boyfriend got me into Soundcloud whilst we were at university visiting the library together to do our work (watch films, eat snacks, complain about how much left we have to do but don't do it till the last minute) and I love it, It's such a great way to find new music and artists to fall in love with, and super easy to make a playlist and press play and enjoy and get on with life. I usually play it off my phone and iPad and then set it up on our wireless speakers, so I can blast it out and tidy or just chill to some good songs.

YouTube- free

 I could spend all day watching my favourite YouTubers. I mainly use this iPad to steam to my tv when i'm in the flat, or when i'm chilling in bed will just start watching the Shaytards, or CTFxC, or Zoella, and so on.

Simcity Build it - free

 This is my current go-to game and I'm beyond addicted to it right now. I'm stupidly proud of my town and can't build anything more right now because I need to expand all my space but it's too fun. I tend to never spend money on games, like the in-app spending, so games tend to be slow and progressive, but I always get far too tempted to just buy a package and get on with the game further. This game is amazing, if you haven't got it yet, get it.

Kim Kardashian Hollywood - free

 Yes.. I know.. I can't help it! I love this game! It's far too addicting! I went off of it for a while, when we first moved into our flat we couldn't get Wifi installed for bloody ages, so me and the boyf would just eat or just get a drink at the local Spoons to use their Wifi, and whenever I went onto this game, I was losing millions of fans and it was just looking tragic, so I went off it. But recently out of nowhere  I've started becoming obsessed with it again! I've just got married on it, so congratulations to me.

 I've also started loving Etsy and Polyvore, and use all the standards like Twitter, Facebook, Messenger and so on.

 This iPad was definitely a splurge as I didn't need it, but i'm so glad I got one, it's never not by my side, I love it. Have you got an iPad? What are your favourite apps?

Thanks for reading :) Be sure to comment and follow xo

Happy Notes Jar

 For Christmas I recieved this jar and it was full with yummy Flying Saucer sweets. The sweets didn't last long.. at all.. and when they were finished I went to throw it away but my boyfriend said no. He said I should wash it out and write notes to put in there, which is actually a really good idea, so this is what the jar currently looks like now.

 We keep it in the living room on this side coffee table next to the sofa, and write in it whenever. We said everyday but that's effort, so I write in it whenever I get an evening to myself, and he usually writes a bulk amount whenever he can be bothered, but it's a nice idea. We'll probably open it and read them early 2016 I imagine. Whenever I open it to put a new note in, the smell of flying saucers still hits you and it's amazing, I love flying saucers, and also it's incredibly hard not to sneak peak and read one or two, but I haven't and wont, because I'll hate myself for it after, so I shall behave and wait till 2016.

 I've seen so many posts on the internet about how people have made one of these jars, and I'm so glad we did! It's nice to write happy stuff and nice moments and memories on it I would usually forget so that will be fun remembering it again when we can read them all. What do you think, do you have a notes jar? Would you ever start one? Or do you do something similar to keep memories to remember in a years or so on's time?

Thanks for reading :) Please comment and follow if you enjoyed it!

Lush Lately..

Alike every young adult in the country right now, I am loving lush. I have always done but lately it's all I have been wanting to spend my money on. My recent purchase has been the one that seems everyone has been buying according to my Instagram feed, but why the hell not, it looks amazing and who doesn't want a unicorn melting fabulously in their bath. The product I have actually used recently has been the Granny Takes a Dip. I always see mixed things about this one and this was my first time using it but I actually really enjoyed it. The colours were great, especially when it had finished fizzling, it left this beautiful hot pink shade which I enjoyed bathing in. The scent and feeling of my skin when I finished my bath was fab as well, so overall I really enjoyed this product, which was actually not one I picked myself but one my amazing boyfriend surprised me with last week when I got home from work which was the best thing ever.

 My next bath will be filled with magic and sparkles and I cannot wait to use the Unicorn horn. I am also looking into buying the new Prince Charming shower gel, as anything with marshmallow on the label has me reaching for my purse, cannot resist.

 What have you been loving in Lush lately? And have you bought the new Unicorn Horn yet? Be honest...... Well you're definitely planning to if not ;)

Day in the Life of a Visual Marketing Assistant - Llwxo

 For a few months I've been a Visual Marketing Assistant at a top high street brand head office and I love it! I got the job after I graduated from doing years of work experience here and making a name for myself (definitely recommend work experience 100%). I also work as a store Visual Merchandiser in the high-street brand in question in my local store, which again, I love! I've always been passionate about visual merchandising, read my blog post on it here.

 Anyway, on to the post. I took some photos from my day and here is my day:

1. Lets begin - Arrived, woke up fully, read my emails and got briefed on what needed to be done for the day.



How adorable is my Rapunzel background?

2. Get to work! - Today I was creating Instagram style outfit shots of the outfits used in the photoshoots for the brand, I had a rail of stuff but most of it was not there so I had to run round the office hunting for the correct samples! Good thing I wasn't wearing heels today..

Running round finding the right departments

Good thing i've got skinny wrists to hold loads of clothes with

Hunting through beautiful clothes for outfits

3. Styling! - Next it was picking suitable accessories for the outfits, I love this. The press room has a shoe cupboard and it's amazing just walking up and down it with it's hundreds of pairs of shoes.



Racking up my outfit choices with their footwear

4. Laying it all out - I had to find different backgrounds for the different trends, so wandered round the office to find some nice flooring to use. One of them I used was outside and it was stupidly windy so I had to weigh everything down with the heavy chunky boots I had to shoot as everything was flying away. I also received some weird looks from the people in the window when I was doing the shots outside, oh well! It was tricky getting everything in the shot as well, as I only had a Instagram sized square to work with, this involved me hunting for objects to stand on, including plastic storage boxes and chairs, unfortunately I couldn't find any ladders, would've been ideal!



My box of stuff to shoot outside

My set up with my box to stand on

5. Edit - When I got all the shots I liked I edited them on my Instagram app and actually really liked  them all, definitely want to do more of these style outfit shots for my blog in the future.

Then it was lunch time!
Went for a wander down Oxford Street and into New Look, whoops.

Cheeky OOTD in the changing room, CHEEKAYY

My beautiful new blanket cardigan (will do a haul post)

 

 Then I had to research and design a trend poster for the brand to communicate the new brands on which will be sent to the whole business, so it would be stuck up around the office, stuck up in all the back of house in every single store and just generally used as a whole. I've made, I think about 3 of these posters for the business in my time here, work experience and employed, I actually just did the last trend poster for them. I love making posters and moodboards, was always my fav thing to do at uni (other than sleep and get drunk), but I'm only really a fan of making them digitally, can't be dealing with fiddly cutting and glue on my hands.

 

 Then I was asked to help choose some outfits and accessories for a shoot downstairs and help pack the items as well. Doing things like this makes me feel like a stylist, love it. I've been in stylist meetings, blogged about it here and being a freelance stylist looks like so much fun, what a cracking job.

 

 Overall my day consisted of Instagrammin' outfits, making trend posters, running quick errands for people e.g. finding samples around the office in different departments, printing/copying and all sorts, then helping pack and style for a shoot. No day is ever the same, and I love all the jobs and tasks I get given. I have responsibilities, such as making effective trend posters, selecting and communicating what the mannequins in all the windows are wearing every week and others, and it definitely makes me excited to have these responsibilities. I love my job!

 

Thanks for reading! If you liked this sort of post let me know and i'll try and do some more similar!

 



July Favourites '14

Welcome back to myself. I haven't blogged in aaaages as I recently been awfully ill with this horrible virus which made me incapable to do anything but moan and cry, it was horrible. Then when I got healthy it was catching up with work and everything I missed so HERE I AM with my first chance to sit down and blog. This is my first monthly favourites thing, I always love reading them and always run to Boots or where ever with people's favourites and my shopping list. So here it goes!

1 - Vaseline Spray & Go - I've seen these knocking around for ages but only bought it the beginning of this month and loved it. Moisturising is an absolute chore, let's be honest, but this handy spray makes it slightly more fun. Even catch the boyf using it!

2 - Viva La Juicy Fleur, Juicy Couture - I've blogged about my love for Juicy Couture perfumes before and my mad collection of them but this month all I've been wearing is this scent. It's so beautiful and is great for the summer weather we've been having.

3 - EOS balm in Blueberry - I've had a EOS for aaages now in Strawberry Sorbet and love it but I went into Urban Outfitters the other day and discovered my local one now sells these amazing things too! Was hard not to walk out with 2, at £5 a pop they're not the cheapest but my god they're good.

4 - MAC Mineralise Skinfinish - Medium - They have just redesigned the packaging so I couldn't get my hands on one of these for ages, had to switch to MAC Studio Careblend pressed powder which wasn't as good in my opinion but now I have Mineralise Skinfinish back in my life I remember how good it is and probably wont go to anyone else for my face powder!

5 - MAC lipstick in Coral Bliss - I had a few MAC lipsticks (potential blog post there wahaaay) and my all time favourite is Angel (not because it's Kim Kardashian's favourite MAC shade too...) but recently I've been reaching for Coral Bliss, which is good because I got it ages ago randomly and had never touched it, hate that. I have too many lipsticks for my own good thanks to back to MAC, but I shall try to use them all..

6 - Rimmel Stay Matte foundation - I picked this up in Savers randomly and thank god I did. I don't usually like 'drugstore' foundations, I had incredibly bad skin as a teenager so I don't want to risk aggravating it on cheap makeup so I usually stick to high end foundations, but this is just like MAC's Studio Sculpt foundation without the price tag. Definitely glad I took a chance on this!

 There it is! My July Favourites! Hope you enjoyed and has made you inspired to go spend some money, as it does to me reading these things!

This week on Instagram.. #1

I want a pug puppy

Mirror selfie at work to show off my Elsa dress

Love this

Selfie on date night with the boyf

The boyf at Casa Brazil

You can follow me on Instagram Llwxo, thanks!

Perfume collection

 I made a promise to myself I'd try to at least blog every other day, sat here watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when the boyf reminds me I haven't blogged. So i grab the camera and snap this, my perfume tray (excuse the Vaseline spray, just bought this but it's amazing!) Now, can you tell what my favourite perfume brand is? If you can't, you need to get to your local Boots now and educate yourself! Yes, Juicy Couture. I am obsessed with their perfumes! They're gorgeous! I have owned every single one (Couture Couture is not pictured as it's at home with my parents) they've released.. UNTIL the two new Malibu and La La Malibu perfumes came out.. currently waiting for either my birthday, Christmas or I have enough points on my Boots card to get them.

 I got this tray from the Range and it's so cute, had it for like 2 or 3 years now, I love their homeware collection!

 Another perfume favourite of mine haaas to be the Paris Hilton perfumes, another one I've owned nearly everyone of (all apart from Tease and Dazzle), but only have Heiress (my all time fav) and Siren here with me in my uni town, well I say uni, I've literally just graduated, but you get the point.

 I have 5 Hollister sprays but they're all nearly empty. Even though they last for ages, I feel so guilty spending that much on body sprays whenever I go in there. I need to wait till their all completely gone before I splurge on them! They are amazing though, at cheer practise I used to spray them all the time and someone would go 'who just sprayed?' i'd be like 'MEEEEEE it's hollister' and love life. They're so good!

 All the cult classics take place on the tray as well, such as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, again, owned a few of each of these brands! I also love the CK Shock perfume, so I have a little handbag one and a big one.

 This is actually me cut back on my perfumes on the tray recently after moving house. My boyf complains theres still too much and I only need 2 or 3, but what do men know!? I only have the 2 new Juicy C perfumes on my wish list so I can't see this collection drastically changing for a loooong time!

 Hope you enjoyed this post, fairly random but i'll try and plan a more exciting post! Need to be more organised if I'm going to get serious about my blog!

Thanks!

My Fashion Career Story.. So far...

We've all been there.. ''What do I do when I grow up?!''... ''Which direction of fashion do I go into?!''... Read my story of how I got to knowing I wanted to be a future top Visual Merchandising Queen..

TUMBLR

Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always known I’ve wanted a career in fashion. I made my mum get me some fashion designer kit one Christmas when I was really young and loved it; from then on I was adamant I was going to be a future top successful fashion designer. At school, whenever someone would ask me what I wanted to do when I grow up, was always answered with ‘’fashion designer’’. However for a week it once changed to hair dresser, but switched right back. Always knowing I’ve wanted to be in fashion helped so much with GCSE options and A Level choices as I chose courses I knew would lead me in the right direction. 

At 16 I got my first retail job in New Look, a brand I’ve basically grown up with as my mum has worked for them since forever. Here I had my first taste a visual merchandising. I’ve always loved looking at shop windows, I find them so interesting and the concept of grabbing a customer’s attention via styling on a mannequin in the window which they’d potentially look at for a good 5 seconds before choosing whether or not to enter your store is exciting. Through me constantly bugging and trying to get involved whenever I can, I was given the chance to be the store Window/Mannequin specialist. I think I was either 17 or 18 when this happened and I was so excited. The responsibility motivated me so much and I took the role a little too seriously for a part time job, however I loved it so much. I’d come in early to change the mannequins, bust forms and the windows whenever they needed doing (and even when they didn’t). Even tidying the windows from dust and smudge marks excited me, as I had my very own role and responsibility!

PICTURE SOURCE

Then came University. I researched all the places which had fashion courses to offer, all of them advertising that they wanted students who had completed a Foundation Art degree. Now I had my heart set on NOT doing a Foundation art degree, doing a AS Level in Fine Art killed it for me, after GCSE Art and 2 A Levels in an art subject (Graphics and Fine Art) made me want to stop Art and just focus on fashion, I had enough of it. I applied and interviewed for places and mostly was turned away at application process as I hadn’t got my Foundation. Now this was horrible, was seriously considering saying no to university full stop and working my way up instead. Luckily I received an offer for an Interview for Epsom University. Went and looked around and then came to the group portfolio showing. Wow. Now I realised why they ask for a foundation art degree. These girl’s portfolios were jam packed! I went away knowing I hadn’t got in and debated this bloody Foundation art degree, HOWEVER along came Southampton Solent and offered me a place. Yes! Was so happy.

 

I came to University knowing I was going to be a Visual Merchandiser. The course I’m on is so varied in fashion that we do it all. PR, Styling, Buying and Merchandising.. You name it we do it (apart from pattern cutting which I’m definitely not complaining about). This left me in a panicking state a few  months ago when my course leader told us to start applying for jobs. What do I want to do now as I’ve tasted so much fashion industry choices?! 

 During my time at university however, I had completed a load of work experience at New Look head office, yes this brand is a brand very close to my heart! I was the International Visual Marketing Assistant and bloody loved it. Apart from the half 6 in the morning wake ups, it was so fun and it was definitely a career choice I wanted to pursue. The head office itself was amazing; I’d find myself wandering around just ogling all the shoes and pretty clothes. I even got to attend a few Press Days which I absolutely loved. I mainly worked in the Visual Marketing department but my role required me to work with other departments as well, so I got to see and taste all of it, and I loved it. During my time here I learnt more about Visual Merchandising and the nitty gritty details of it. I was involved in training workshops and even got to assist in creating training modules to send to Field VM Managers to train their VMs in their regions! By the time I left I felt so confident in my visual merchandising knowledge.

PICTURE SOURCE

  My Visual favourites are the obvious, being Selfridges London and designer brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel. One of my favourites has to be the Louis Vuitton gold dinosaur skeleton concept as I bloody love dinosaurs and love LV, it was genius. The dream is to one day reach this level. I want to style and go nutty in the windows for one of these brands, with an amazing Visual Merchandising budget I can imagine, and let creativity loose on the mannequins and concept. It'll take a lot to get there. The reason I cannot continue my story is because I don't know the next steps. I'm completely stuck on what to do next, trying to find a VM job role right now but there's little out there I can find and I need to concentrate on finishing this bloody FMP for my degree. 

PICTURE SOURCE

 I hope you've enjoyed reading my story. If you're stuck on what to do next, don't worry, as i'm trying not too! I'm just hoping that destiny will occur and the right oppurtunity and what to do next will just happen and it's meant to be...