Fashion Influx

After months of getting my new place back from looking like a building site, we’re now into that lovely, ‘finishing touches’ stage. I’ve been adding some homely bits to make things more my own, with one of the recent additions being a new VQ Retro Mini Radio from the Lulu Guinness collection…  I think noise is all part of making a house a home… Which is why it’s important to me to have something to listen to music on. When you move, you’re often taking some place where you’ve only heard drilling and hammering to one that’s filled with background noise and the sound of homely goings on. Having my favourite music playing throughout the house has made things feel so much more ‘me’, and like I’m actually at home! It’s putting your stamp on things beyond sticking a few pictures up. The Lulu Guinness collaboration with VQ is soon launching on QVC and it’s just my sort of thing. Since I’ve moved out, I’ve been well and truly making the most of playing whatever music I li...

Okay... I'm not about to get my pension, but at any age, getting older can be a scary thought. My mum always tells me about the time I was about 11 and I came into her room crying, saying I never wanted to grow up. I was a dramatic child… Now, I’m thankfully a more level headed 25-year-old. The pictures in this post were actually taken on my 25th birthday – I had one of the most content birthdays yet, but even then I still moaned about the fact I was another year older. Yup, we all do it, and I do think this young adult age can be extra horrifying – being a teen doesn’t feel like that long ago, yet all of a sudden grown up life arrives and you’re expected to make your own doctor's appointments and stuff.  Buuut, it isn’t all bad. As much as I whinge about it, I know there’s a lot to appreciate being a little older. Saying bye bye to student discount is tough, but adult stuff does have its benefits.  You know yourself better than ever.   I honestly can...

How is it that time already?! Mums are nagging for Christmas lists and Dad’s will be as surprised as you are opening your presents. This is my favourite part of the festivities though – the planning and the lead up… I love buying gifts and I’m mad for all the Christmassy goings on. Annnd so, it comes to sorting out my Christmas list! This year, I’ve had things started off early with a lovely chance to give the Philips Sonicare Diamond Clean White electric toothbrush a go. As someone who’s obsessed with pearly whites, I know I’d be super happy to open one of these on Christmas day! Yeah, a toothbrush doesn’t instantly scream ‘exciting Christmas present’, but Philips has managed to take the humble toothbrush to something way more fun – it comes in five lovely colours (*ahem* cutesy pink), is clinically proven to whiten teeth in one week, improves gum health in two weeks and is proven to remove seven times more plaque than a manual toothbrush. It’s shocking to think only 25% ...

It’s been a good few weeks since I did my last home update, so I thought I’d add a quick blog post to keep you in the loop with where things are at. I’ve still not moved in, but we’re getting a lot closer to having a finished home… Exciting! We’re mostly past looking like a building site (excluding a work in progress bathroom… MEH), and now it’s onto the fun bit – adding cute homely decorations.  The main change has been that I now have a living room! If you follow me on Snapchat (fashioninflux) you’ll have probably seen plenty of it. I love how it’s turned out so far, with it feeling like a good mix of modern and feminine. The sofa featured above is the one I went for from Next. It’s called the Wilson and I think it’s reasonably new in. The style is just what I was after – not too fussy, a high leg and in a soft grey. I got the 3-seater sofa, chair and a footstool so I could have something for getting extra comfy on! One thing I would say is the chair is much larger t...

As a blogger, there's no denying that my phone is a big deal. I do spend a significant portion of my life on it, with it being important for both the day to day stuff and managing work. With that and the fact that anything to do with phones is ridiculously expensive (remember the days of £20 a month contracts?!) I want to make sure I'm happy with what I'm using.  After years on Android, I've recently switched to IOS, and so I thought it'd be a good time to give my full verdict on what's worked out better for me from a blogging perspective. iPhone Pros Photo Editing Apps Up to now I'm finding the range of photo editing apps a lot better on iPhone. All my Android favourites are still available in the App Store, but I've also found new app loves to add to my photography folder. So far Enlight has quickly become my most used app for editing - it does a lot of what Facetune does with some added extras. Camera Basically, I think if you like t...

I love that autumn is a time to really embrace the duvet day. Judgement free, we can take to our beds during rainy season and enjoy making the most of cosy comforts. It’s something that I think we occasionally need – a chilled out day to sit back and enjoy doing very little. I don’t get chance to have a duvet day that often, so when it comes to it I try to make the most of my relaxation time. Aside from my usual nap-DVD-nap-food routine on duvet days, I also try to mix my day up with a few little twists…  Homemade Pamper Products This is one of my favourite tweaks to my duvet day. Yeah, you can stick on a facemask from the beauty department, but it’s also fun, easy and inexpensive to find a few beauty products at home. I always go for a coconut oil hair mask – I use this stuff for cooking, but it’s just as amazing for giving your hair a real, deep treatment. Plus it leaves your locks smelling incredible! Another thing I like to use is olive oil for completely cleansing m...

Sometimes, I find talking about my outfits tricky. The thing is, I like pretty basic styles. I’m also mostly monochrome, and generally go for simple fits. There are no crazy new prints, bright shades or out-there embellishments. I guess when I started blogging there was more of that, but I’ve grown up with this blog and over time I’ve worked out my style. I think it’s just sussing out what’s really ‘you’ – I don’t like anything that makes me stand out too much, I’m happy to be glam but also just as happy casual, and I love the classic wardrobe staples. After all these years of buying my own clothes it’s about time I worked out what I actually like!   I think the main thing for sussing out your style is giving yourself time. It took me years to finally look at my wardrobe and think this is ‘me’… Summing up yourself in a bunch of clothes is kind of difficult anyway. It’s not necessarily going to take that long, but I don’t think anyone works out their style overnight. ...

Sometimes I need to boost my motivation in relation to blogging, and often that includes reminding myself that it can have benefits wider than the blogging world itself. Blogging has had a huge impact on my career which now means I work in an industry I love... God knows what I'd be up to if it wasn't for blogging!  So, aside from being a full time blogger, where can you actually go with blogging? I think there are so many transferable skills that you can develop from getting your blog on. Even just giving yourself a confidence boost can have a whopping impact on your career opportunities! For now, I'm just gonna talk five careersy routes which feel like a great fit for us bloggers.  Social Media I couldn't miss this one out, as it's the sector I work in and one I got into through blogging (there's more detail on social stuff here). Generally, having a blog without social media is unavoidable these days. Most of us are Snapchatting, Instagramming or...

I was hopeful that by now, I'd have more to show you on the house front. In reality, I did know that it'd probably take way longer than I was thinking... That's what everyone tells you when you start work on a house, and my gaaahd are they right. Once you start it's a complete snowball of jobs - I was initially planning on a lick of paint here and there, but have ended up gutting the place. With it being my first house I feel like if I'm doing it I might as well do it properly... Then move onto moaning about being penniless and having to live on Pot Noodles for the rest of eternity!  With everything just coming out of the building site stage (oh how it's lovely to have walls and flooring again!) I thought I'd share a small snippet of some new house-y bits. I can't wait to get talking about this kind of thing more, so this is a nice start! As I'm sure is expected, everything is pretty minimal. The whole place is getting painted white, w...

  If I love reading something, I want to get involved and write about it too. So, as a seriously snoopy person, I thought I’d share my own blogger confessions for anyone who fancies knowing the sneaky bits. I’ve been giving myself a bit of time out from really getting stuck into blogging over recent months, so I did think this’d be another nice one to get back to writing. I don’t mind a quick outfit post, but I don’t just wanna spend my blogging life talking about what trousers I’m wearing. Right, forgive me for my blogging sins – it’s time to ‘fess up. Sometimes, I fucking hate blogging. I don’t live, sleep and breathe blogging. Part of me wishes I did, but I don’t. For me, it’s a nice part of my life that I really value, and while it’s rare that I completely fucking hate it, sometimes I do, for a multitude of reasons. I think what it comes down to is that there are just so many aspects of blogging that aren’t ‘me’. It’s not always something that I can relate to, and w...

Alongside the usual cash, phone & ID (praise the Lord if somebody wants to ID this grandma), my bag on evenings out is usually jam-packed. The fact that I can cut its contents down to a clutch bag’s worth is an achievement in itself. I’m not much of a party girl, but I’ve had a few evenings out in the diary recently that have meant I’ve perfected my ‘going out bag’. Basically this means I’ve sussed out what makeup products are essential for me not looking like a troll by 3am. So, with makeup I tend to go cheap. Nobody’s got time for losing that Chanel lipstick. Nada. Recently I’ve been using a lot of NYX products anyway, so that works out well! The liquid lipstick in Sandstorm is my favourite taupe-y nude and although it’s matte it doesn’t wear off in too much of a state. A shine fixing powder is something I always take out with me for tackling sticky clubs. This HD Finishing Powder is one I use daily as it gets rid of any oily areas and fuzzes out pores. I’ve gone ...

You know when you just need a week of doing very little? By the time holiday season comes round, that’s all I’m after. A week of relaxing, napping and having to think very little. God I love a little bit of time where my biggest decision is where to go for tea. Bliss! I’ve just shared a few clips from my holiday over on YouTube – I tried the whole vlogging thing this time round and for once it wasn’t a total flop… despite plenty of shuddery, out of focus bits that didn’t make the cut! I don’t think I’ll every be one for walking round talking into a camera, but I do like being able to put everything together to look back on. Blogging wise I’ve had over a week off, a first in probably four years. I think for my own sanity I just needed a bit of a break, but I’m really looking forward to getting back to it now! youtube  /  bloglovin  /  twitter  /  facebook  /  pinterest  /  tumblr  /  instag...