Women Crush Lauren Conrad

I used to race home after school each day and tune into MTV to catch the latest episode of Laguna Beach  and then The Hills. The shows and the cast were a big part of my teenage life, in a way it set me on track for my future. Watching Lauren Conrad at Teen Vogue and Whitney Port at the PR firm of Kelly Cutrone, sparked my interest in fashion and the potential to make a career out of it. Lauren Conrad became my idol growing up, I watched her on The Hills and read all her books religiously. 

Quite often, young girls' "role models" don't act very role-modely but Lauren Conrad is genuinely a great role model, and here's why:

• She works hard to be successful: OK, I know that when they showed the Hills girls 'working', they weren't really doing any work. Lauren Conrad, however, really proved herself past the reality show air-head persona. After wrapping up The Hills, Lauren wrote a series of fiction novels as well a beauty and style book. Lauren also started designing her own clothing label and now maintains two clothing lines of her own. 

• She has a good heart: Lauren often works with people from third world countries to source material for her fashion label. She is co-founder of The Little Market, a company that source ethically source handmade goods to help change the lives of artisans. 

• She is creative: Her Instagram account is amazing, I can spend ages scrolling through the visually appealing images of her life. Lauren also runs a creative website, laurenconrad.com, that features posts from DIY tutorials to fashion how-to's. 

• She has amazing style: Lauren Conrad always looks good! She has a knack for putting together simple pieces to make an amazing outfit. Her style is simple yet super chic and she is definitely one of my style icons.

• She encourages self-love: Lauren Conrad is a great role model for young girls because she encourages self love. This can be seen through everything she does, her websites included. 

• She works hard: Lauren has two of her own fashion labels, as well as a line for Kohl's, she has written several best-sellers and maintains an online presence on her website and beauty site. This girl is not afraid to work hard. Just thinking about all she does makes me feel like I need to get up and go!

 

 Pictures sourced from Instagram

Met Gala 2014 Red Carpet Fashion

Each year when the Met Gala comes around, us normal people obsess over celebrities and their exxy fashion choices on the red carpet. My favourite couple this year has to be Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, the looks and the touches they gave each other.. they are perfect!

Blake was dressed in a figure hugging, custom Gucci dress - and she looked like a goddess. My favourite solo look was Leighton Meester, dressed in an embellished Emilio Pucci bohemian style dress. Emma Stone takes the prize for the best hair and make up look in my opinion. Below are some of my favourite outfits and beauty looks from the night:

Mecca Beauty Loop Reward

Today I picked up my second Beauty Loop box for 2014. I was pleasantly surprised this time, and definitely think the products are better than the previous box. I received the 'level 1' box which contained two decent sized samples and two sachet samples.

The first product I was excited to see is from NARS. It is a sample sized Satin Lip Pencil. I've previously used the matte lip pencils from NARS, which I love, so hopefully I'll like this one. The colour I got is in a nude-y/brown/pink colour (different to what the colour is showing in the photos). The lip pencil glides on smoothly and feels super nourishing. The next product is from Mecca Cosmetica's recently launched skincare line. I was excited to see a product from this line included, as I've been meaning to try it. In my box I got the Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF30 facial sunscreen. From a small swatch the sunscreen seemed thin and easily blend-able and did not have that gross sunscreen smell.

The box also included a sachet sample of the Dr Brandt BB cream and Kate Sommerville Corrective Eye Cream. I feel like sachets don't allow enough product to properly try it out and form an opinion, but I will give both of these a go. The BB cream apparently changes to different skin tones so that will be interesting to try out.

I'd love to see what you got in your beauty loop boxes!

NEW Revlon Colorburst Matte & Lacquer Balms

From top to bottom: Lacquer balm in Demure (105) ; Matte balm in - Elusive  (205), Showy (220) & Unapologetic (210)

I love a lip colour, and the Revlon Colorburst Balms have been a favourite since the initial release. They are so easy to apply and come in a range of gorgeous colours. 

So obviously I was very excited for the release of the new matte and lacquer balms. I am not a lipgloss girl, I don't like anything super shiny on my lips, so I wasn't planning on getting a lacquer balm, but I definitely wanted some of the matte balms.

I hunted for sales and found that Priceline had 'buy one get on free' and Big W had a '2 for $20' promotion. After seeing the packaging of the lacquer balm in Demure I had to get it. I'm not even the biggest fan of the actual lip balm but the rosy pink packaging is just so pretty. Demure is a sheer pink with fine glitter. I also decided to pick up three matte balms - elusive, showy and unapologetic. They are very opaque and look lovely on the lips.

I haven't worn these for a long period of time but will report back on the staying power soon.

I definitely want to get more of the matte balms, however I do feel like there is a lack of more muted, natural tones, hopefully they bring out a wider range of colours.

From left to right: Elusive / Unapologetic / Showy / Demure (sheer sparkly sheen)

Cosy in pink

Cosy in pink by francesve featuring River Island

Tunic
$140 - countryroad.com.au

Chinese Laundry knee high socks
buckle.com

River Island earrings
$10 - riverisland.com

Throw pillow
$75 - countryroad.com.au

Throw pillow
$56 - countryroad.com.au

Winter Weekend

Winter Weekend by francesve featuring stoneware coffee mugs

H&m jeans
$50 - hm.com

Birkenstock navy sandals
$225 - net-a-porter.com

Daniel Wellington white dial watch
$265 - johnlewis.com

Linea stoneware coffee mug
$5.86 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Textured Stripe Knit
$120 - countryroad.com.au

A Peek at my Sneaks (ft. Nike Free Run and Converse)

A few months ago there were two things I really REALLY wanted - white Converse chucks & the trendy black and white Nike Free Run's that are all over Instagram. And guess what - now I have both! … well sort off anyway.

THE NIKE'S

These Nikes Free Run's are extremely hard to find, due to the popularity. They are available in a variety of colours on Ebay but I was set on a black pair. I eventually found them on Ebay, way overpriced but decided to get them. I'm so glad I did, they are super comfy and look great!

THE CONVERSE

I've wanted a pair of Converse since last winter, however every time I went online to buy these, my size would be sold out. SO when my boyfriend told me about a Surfstitch 30% off code, and I found a pair of converse in my size I had to get them. The white chucks were unfortunately not available in my size, so I settled on these white Dainty style Converse… and I love them to bits. They are easy to style and very comfortable, looking forward to winter in these.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

I've recently come across a strange but delicious food combination; PRETZELS AND CHOCOLATE. 

During a busy week of assessment and studying last week my very unhealthy go-to snack was pretzels and a teaspoon of nutella.. YUM. So when I heard Vivienna from Vivienna Does Make Up talk about these peanut butter pretzel truffles that she made, I knew I had to try them. They were super easy to make, taste quite delicious and (apart form the chocolate) is fairly healthy for a treat. I followed Minimalist Baker's recipe which you can view here.

Do give them a try!

H&M Australia Launch

If you are a frequent reader of my blog you would have noticed that I try to post on Wednesdays and Sundays for some sort of consistency. It's Thursday - what's going on? Well something very exciting indeed. Tonight is the launch party of H&M AUSTRALIA! My Instagram is packed with fashion editors' pics captioned "getting ready for the H&M launch" and boy, its getting me excited. 

For those of us who aren't 1. in a successful fashion media job or 2. live in the heart of Melbourne, we have to live vicariously through Instagram pics and tweets. H&M is a global Swedish fashion company, and also currently the second biggest retailer. They have more than 3000 stores within 54 countries! Now these statistics are great and all, but what makes H&M so fab? H&M is all about fashion and quality at the best price. H&M cater for women, men and kids and even have the cutest home wares (I can browse their online home section for hours). There really is something for everyone. 

The downfall - H&M don't offer online shopping. This seems crazy to me, it's 2014 how can any retailer NOT offer online shopping. However, H&M is planning to roll out all over Australia quickly, so hopefully we will get to see them here in Brisbane soon.

If you get a chance to head to Melbourne, check out H&M for seasonal fashion and the latest trends. And do let me know in the comments if it is as fab as I imagine it.

Blonde Hair Revival + Shu Uemura Purple Toner Review

I'll admit, I often neglect my hair. I just have so much of it, and in the hot humid weather where I live, my hair is in a bun 24/7 to prevent more heat. There's always a point in time, like tonight, when I simply cannot ignore the state of my hair any longer, and have to invest some quality time and effort. I wanted to share with you my current routine for reviving my blonde dyed hair.

STEP 1. On a day I know I will be at home, I like to apply coconut oil to my hair. You can find coconut oil in a supermarket or health food store, it has a variety of benefits, but I'll just focus on the hair  stuff for this post. Coconut oil is a natural oil, which often solidifies, so I scoop out a tablespoon and melt it in me hands and run through my hair. I keep doing this until my hair is drenched in the oil, and leave it on for at least a few hours. The oil is really hydrating and moisturising and leaves hair soft and healthy looking.

STEP 2. After being coated in coconut oil my hair is usually in need of a good cleanse. I like to use Lush BIG shampoo, as it is a clarifying shampoo but doesn't strip my hair of all the moisture I just put into it. You only really need to thoroughly shampoo once since it is such a clarifying shampoo.

STEP 3. A few months back I completely stripped my hair of colour (as it was really dark and I wanted to go back to my natural lighter hair). During this visit to a very over priced salon, I was bullied into buying the Shu Uemura Colour Lustre Shade Reviving Balm. Well that's a mouthful! Basically, its similar to a purple shampoo, although this is more of a 'treatment'/toner. I've noticed that this is in the shade 'cool blonde', so I assume you can get a similar product for different hair colours. The purple colour is meant to counteract the yellow and golden tones in blonde dyed hair. I use this on wet hair straight after shampooing. It is extremely purple and stains everything it touches, so it does get very messy. One thing that I do find annoying is the amount of product I have to use to cover my whole head of hair. Once I have worked the colour into my hair well, I put my hair up and leave it for about 20- to 30 -minutes. Then you wash it out and TAH DAH: soft, non brassy, blonde hair is yours. I really do think this product works, however for the price (THINK it was at least in the AU$70 range) I think you can get better options (I think I'll try the Fudge one next).

If you've tried any great products for thick, dry or blonde hair I'd love to hear about them in the comments section.