Flashback Beauty Friday 83: Hard Candy Charmed Lip Gloss Bracelet

Post does not contain affiliate links or PR gifted items.

Don't yell at me, but I still don't have that post I've been teasing for weeks! I felt really unwell last night and I'd been busy during the day doing other things for the blog, so it's on hold again. It won't be next week either because if I can tease you some more, it's the brand I'm talking about today and I don't like doing the same two weeks running. It's one of their most iconic items if that gives you a couple of clues. Last time I shared the pretty Stila travel palette, Striking In South Beach if you missed that.

Irregular Choice: Scarves & Rings

In the second part of my Irregular Choice accessories post, I'll be showing you some of the recent scarf and rings. You can find my first post on tights and socks here. I've been buying IC scarves for a while and have amassed quite the collection now. Although I wear them a lot, I wouldn't consider myself a "scarf person".  You know those people that always have a scarf draped around their neck? That's definitely not me or my style, yet I am using them regularly (I know what I mean in my head, just not sure I'm articulating it properly)!  Despite them being quite thin, they can really warm you up on cooler days in or outdoors.  Sometimes when I've got my jumper on and my blanket on and I'm still freezing, I've wrapped one of these around me as a shawl too.  I also wear them on my head.  You know I'm very fond of a headwrap and these are great to use for that as they are so big.  I'm trying to think of something that they are a similar size to... a single bed almost!  

Topshop Horse Necklace

My Topshop horse necklace arrived today! It's just as gorgeous as I'd remembered. Like I said in my original post, the image on the site doesn't show the 3-dimensional aspect of the horse to it's best. I snapped some quick photos on my phone when it arrived.
Hopefully you can see what I was talking about with the complete half horse body and head sticking out from the wings. It's rather heavy! This is it fastened quite short, it can hang longer than this.
Good news is, Topshop have extended their free delivery until the end of Friday (2nd August), so you could have this pretty pony delivered to your home for free! To take advantage simply enter the code FREE4ALL at checkout and that's for both UK and international orders.

This post contains affiliate links, which when clicked through and purchased from, can earn this blog a small commission. By doing so, you are helping fund the blog, all opinions are still my own and I was not paid to write this post nor gifted this necklace.

eBay & Discount Codes

Hello! I'm back into the swing of things, with posts a-plenty coming your way. I've just posted another couple of outfits on The Shoe Girl Diaries and have some beauty hauls and a peek inside my wardrobe for later today. I've also got a small selection of items up on eBay right now (ending tonight) after taking a break from that for a couple of weeks, so I'd love if you could check them out (love it even more if someone bought the Topshop platforms as I suspect the highest bidder is someone who previously bought and didn't pay for them and has opened yet another new account, grrr).
I also have a couple of free delivery codes you might be interested in. First is Topshop, I popped into my local this week and spied this horse necklace (above) and couldn't shut my mouth for the next few minutes (no, really). The image on the site doesn't do it justice. It does say '3d', but you have to see it to believe it. There's a complete half of the horse sticking out from the wings of the necklace, it's massive and really quite magnificent! I don't know why I didn't purchase it at the time (think I couldn't be bothered queueing), but it's winging (geddit?) it's way to me now. The code for free shipping is FREE4ALL and is valid on any order (worldwide) until the end of tomorrow (Monday 29th).
Miss Selfridge also have free shipping on UK orders with the code HELLOSUNSHINE (ends midnight 29th) and on orders over £40 internationally with the code SUMMERLOVING (ends midnight 31st July). Their Inspired By range has just hit and has some beautiful vintage inspired, boho pieces including this metal bag £40 (above), kimono jackets and jewellery.  The collection is inspired by India in collaboration with Cosmopolitan fashion director, Shelly Vella.  
I'm pretty sure I've written about these embroidered wedges and clutch bag before (above), but if I haven't, I love them! The peacock embroidered clutch is £60, the wedges £75 (selling out fast) and there's also a pair of studded and spike peep-toes £75 in a similar style. All of the items are from their Designed By range, which has some stunning embroidered and embellished pieces right now.
Oh and I just love these 'Portia' strappy shoe-boots, £75 (below). I adore my Bertie 'Superstar' wedges, but am always on the lookout for similar strappy shoes incase something happens to them (God forbid). These have a 5" heel, so are perhaps not quite as wearable as my wedges, but I think they are stunning anyway. They come in black or a rather gorgeous pinky nude.

This post contains affiliate links, which when clicked through and purchased from, can earn this blog a small commission. By doing so, you are helping fund the blog, all opinions are still my own and I was not paid to write this post nor gifted any of these items.

Are You Curious?*

It can be difficult to look and feel unique every day, when more often than not, you're wearing high-street clothes that half the country own! It's up to you to style the outfit in your own way and my favourite way of adding my own touch is accessories. Whether that be shoes, sunglasses, headscarves or jewellery, it can completely transform an outfit from 'so-so' to 'fabulous'. With that, I introduce you to Curiosity Cured.

Three friends got together (including Aideen who some of you may remember from my 'Irregular Choice Month' last year on The Shoe Girl Diaries) and decided to start making quirky, one-of-a-kind jewellery. Each item has a unique feel, often made with vintage, upcycled pieces. Transforming something old into something new and giving it a new lease of life. It's a great concept and I love that feeling of owning something that nobody else has.

The jewellery itself is totally my kinda thing; with the likes of pearls, cameos, bows, icons such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe and cute details like Alice-in-Wonderland and the Eiffel Tower (you all know I'm a sucker for all of the above)!

The ladies have also branched out into sourcing, beautiful vintage dresses which perfectly compliment their jewellery.  If you're looking for fun, pretty and cute pieces with a bit of history, then check out Curiosity Cured, I'm sure you'll love it!  At the moment you can contact them through their Facebook page, where you'll find more pictures and updates of where to buy.  Will you cross over to the quirky side?

Video: Animal Ring Collection Pt.1

...and this is the first part of the animal rings videos, containing lots of different brands. I speak for a few seconds at the start then there's no sound and hopefully it won't have any blocking issues for anyone without the music. Enjoy!

Video: Animal Ring Collection Pt.2

Hiya peeps! I've fixed the videos on YouTube now that had the music license/blocking issues. Thankfully I'd saved the correct format of both videos on my computer so I could simply remove the music from them, otherwise I'd have been snookered. It takes bloomin' ages to save it for YouTube though and even longer to upload them, so I've had them running all day! This one contains the Topshop and Miss Selfridge rings, which are the majority of my collection. I speak for a wee minute at the end of this but otherwise there is no sound. Enjoy!

Animal Rings Collection Part 2!

Muahaha, here's part 2 of my animal rings jewellery collection video thingy. Please comment or subscribe to my YouTube channel and do let me know the type of vids you'd like to see from me in the future. Fyi, no freaky items! Only saying that because I met my first freak admirer through YouTube the other month. Ahem "she" got off on looking at my nails (toes or fingers), cue me being totally freaked out and disgusted!! They hounded me for some "private videos" and needless to say the thought of someone getting cheap thrills from looking at my fingers is enough to make me vom! It also completely changed my view of what I put on the blog or videos I make and how they could be twisted into something seedier. The thing is if someone can get their rocks off to something as innocent as a jewellery haul then where do you draw the line? This blog would be a much more boring place without the jewellery and shoes and manicure images and that's why I make such posts. So I'm not going to let one freak deter me from doing what I do! Just wish I could block that person from ever viewing my videos-blocking messages and subscription to my channel doesn't seem enough.

I Want...Animal Rings!

If you've purchased any Miss Selfridge jewellery online lately, you'll have noticed that the entire collection was price reduced and not a single full price product was to be had on the entire site. It made me a panic a little that Miss S may be discontinuing Diva jewellery. The good news was that I, like many others, picked up handfuls of bargains over the past few months. Even during a quick pit-stop at the MS jewellery stand in Debenhams recently I got 4 rings for a tenner, as they were in the sale and BOGOF (buy one get one free).
This week though, the site has gradually been restocking full price items-phew. Here's where it gets a little strange though...the majority are brand new items, but there are many that were included in the clearance that you can now purchase at full price (?). There's quite a few things I've bought from that selection, so I'm pretty chuffed that I got them considerably cheaper. They have added a ton of animal themed items though...uh-oh, here I go again. I need them. Do you hear me? Neeeeed them, yes indeady. I want that little sitting froggy £12.50, because he's mega cute, the swan is too similar to my Topshop one (just a swan without the flower), so I can pass on that, same with the unicorn (remember the pewter Topshop one I got years ago? Identical), the pearl with the snake I already have, the other frogs I could maybe pass up along with the bird (how many bird rings can one person own?), but I love my Evans fox ring (it's sits so perfectly), that I'm keen to purchase the similar-ish wolf one (with bow-from Little Red Riding Hood then?) and that bright parakeet is unlike anything I have, so I kinda want that too! Then the lovely Char sent me this picture text today (below)....I die! Seriously, seriously need this bunny ring. The earrings are on the site already, so hopefully they'll add the ring soon, then there will be no stopping me!
Last month Irregular Choice got in on the act by adding some stunning jewelled animal rings to their online accessories. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous...but can't afford!
I suppose that cute faced panda is similar to my River Island one (and 3x the price). I do like the 2 birds in the top image and the 2nd owl...cute! I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my next video was going to be a closer look at all my animal rings, seeing as I have so many. However I keep adding to my collection and have never had time to edit the original photos and now they need updating. I know a lot of you love seeing my jewellery, so it's definitely something I'll be working on this month.

If You Like It...

I'm about to bombard you with SS11 stuff from various brands that I really want to talk about. However I don't like my blog becoming completely devoted to 'company images' as it's a bit like an advertisement (even although it's not) and although I find it useful myself being able to see what to look out for instore-I like to add my own images and views into the mix too. With that said, I'm feeling completely lethargic this week and not very motivated or inspired to sort through dozens of my own images and get them right and labelled and up here. I blame it on February-my most hated month of the year! My lack of enthusiasm will come across believe me, so I'm going to stick with the slightly easier to write SS11 posts! I will add these pics in the middle for something else to look at though....
I decided my jewellery storage needed an overhaul yet again, as I've been pretty obsessive with my purchases, doubling or maybe trebling my collection recently. I want neatness and I want all my rings in the one place, so I don't have to go sorting through several boxes each day to find what I'm looking for. Seeing as my animal rings make up around half of my ring collection, I figured I could split this box into one layer normal rings/one layer animal rings. It had previously struggled to hold all my rings on one level with brooches and some necklaces underneath. The tray that comes out is split into several smaller sections whilst the bottom layer is split in half. Should I therefore sort the animal rings by animal type? Colour? Style? Size? I tried a couple of different ways and ended up (after hours) deciding upon a mixture of size, style and colour (shown above). Then I sorted through all my other rings (below) and put them in the bottom, only to realise once the tray was on top, the damn lid wouldn't shut!
I was so annoyed! It was a waste of an evening as I then lost interest in rearranging them for the millionth time. I have several decent storage boxes for my jewellery, although they never seem to be quite perfect. I did move the 'other rings' into a drawer of another box (for now), but they are squished and it doesn't allow for new purchases. Ideally I'd like a box with lots of trays or layers, similar to ring trays in jewellery shops, where the ring band sits in the roll and that keeps them all separated, but neat and it's easy to see each ring. Plus it doesn't matter how big they are, they all fit in. I didn't really want to go to the expense of buying yet more storage though which probably isn't going to look as pretty as the boxes I already own and is going to take up even more room (which I'm already struggling for). After a little investigating just now, I found this site and this is exactly what I need...but they are £6.95 per tray, plus I'd have to find something to house the trays in or else that would defeat the whole purpose. Hmmm.
I also had tonnes of brooches that I'd inherited from my Granny and some new ones I bought that need rehoused, so I need to find time to rethink the whole storage thing again. I didn't get many decent pics that night as I forgot to take photos when I got so carried away. You should've seen the 'before' though-a right mess!

Brooches

I've briefly mentioned there is a lot going on at home just now and that it has been a really difficult past few weeks. I don't want to get too morbid because this blog is a little bit of an escape for us all (me included), but my Granny is very, very ill with cancer and doesn't have long to live. It's been incredibly hard to see her like this when she's always been so healthy and strong in mind and body. Anyway she's obsessive about cleaning and tidying (she dusts and hoovers every day even although she lives alone and there's no dirt and she's usually up at 5am cleaning her doorstep) and so her immediate reaction to the news was to start clearing out her house. Some may think that's a little drastic, but she insists it'll be less for my Dad to deal with once she's gone and honestly it's what I would expect from her. We're slightly freaked out by the fact she'll be living in a shell with no belongings, but it's something practical to do and a slight distraction to what's really happening and we're able to joke about it just now. We've long mocked her 'cupboard' which is a little like a Mary Poppins bag, holds everything and anything you could ever need. Whatever you ask for, Granny will have it in her cupboard!
So this week, she gave my Dad a huge box of jewellery for me. She's often done this when she's clearing out, it's nothing particularly valuable (not that I'm looking for that), it's just items she hopes I will like as I'm more keen on that type of jewellery, than my sisters are. We tend to have a contradiction of tastes at times though, the 'decent items' she thinks are really lovely aren't really 'me', so she was a little surprised that I went gaga over the brooches. I've long had a fascination with brooches, which I think stems from my Great Granny (completely unrelated-on my mothers side) who always, always wore a brooch at her neck. As you can see there are lots of really unusual ones here.
I saw huge butterfly brooches like this in Primark last week!
My favourite two are below; the first really reflects lots of pretty colours and it's so cool, you can twist the centre (and brooch fixing) so it can be worn horizontal or vertical. How fab is that? (Missed opportunity for a video methinks!)
This next one is totally like something Great Granny would have worn and has a real vintage feel to it.
Granny also included lots of beads which weren't really my thing, but my Mum likes some of them and a long string of real pearls. I'm excited about those because I adore pearls. Mum mentioned this to Granny at the time, so I'm sure I'll inherit some more! Thankfully she included a large box too that's perfect for storing jewellery in, as my collection is out-growing it's current home as it is. I have a couple of jewellery hauls for you coming soon from Primark and Accessorize. Also I'm hoping to start up The Shoe Girl Diaries again next week-there's been many reasons why I haven't been able to post lately (mainly the complete lack of space to take photos in my room and also I've only been out and worn shoes once in the past few weeks).

Crystal Legs

I've been patiently waiting weeks for the crystal mesh leggings to appear on the Topshop site. I saw them on a model in Look magazine and they looked insane! I've actually wanted something like this for years, ever since I saw Britney in her Circus video with the most amazing sparkly tights. I've taken screen caps below, although if you watch the video, you'll see how with light and movement, they really twinkle. It is possible to find tights or leggings like this on the high street but they tend to look a little tacky. I wanted to look like I had sparkling legs and I'm talking more swarovski than stick on stones! The Look spread was photographed outdoors at night and the models legs were twinkling just as I had hoped and it looked classy. So I've been religiously checking the site several times a day and there were a few other items that caught my eye while I was waiting (of course).
The unicorn ring was top of my list, even if his horn looks more like a baguette stuck on his head-and how do I know it's a 'he'? Anyone else notice that bulge between his legs or is that just me? Heehee! So last night there were only 4 rings left in my size ad I decided I should purchase or be disappointed (like MAC) for the 2nd time that day. I figured either the website weren't getting any leggings in or I had missed them, so I made an order and got the unicorn ring £6.50,
rhinestone owl ring £10 (I was so going to put him back because I figured Primark would probably make a similar one for cheaper, but eventually decided I should get it or regret it),
woodland animal rings £12.50 (are we thinking fox, squirrel, stag?),
then a couple of the newer makeup items, Gloom lipgloss £7.50 a sheer, sparkly purple
and Ruthless Lips (lipstick) a dark purple with a satin matte finish (loving dark lips right now).
However, what happens this morning? Topshop get the damn leggings in! Grrr! They also happen to be £30 instead of the £22 Look quoted (I thought that was too good to be true). The thing is I don't even know if I can squeeze my butt into a Topshop size 16...all my other leggings are a 16, but TS can be funny with sizing. £4 seems a lot for shipping when it's possible I could be returning them and I think I've spent more than enough money lately anyway. I'm hoping I'll see them in Topshop next time I'm in...if I last that long! They are also available in slate by the way, but the nude were more the look I was going for.
Anything at Toppers catching your eye right now? Also what are the chances of the 4 pairs of shoes I've ordered arriving in the next 20 minutes whilst nobody else (other than me) is in the house? Yeah, didn't think so, I'm sooooo going to get caught out...!