Monday 29 May 2017

IM BACK

Wow. Last post? 22nd February. WHATTTT?!
I don't think I've actually ever gone this long without posting on my blog, and for those of you who read my blog regularly, I apologise! I have totally neglected my blog, but don't worry, i'm back!
There have been many reasons as to why I haven't been posting. However, the key reason is as many of you know I am in my final year of university, and for any of you who have gone through university and come out the other side, you will know just how hard final year really is. Therefore, I just haven't had the time to put content together! I'm all done and dusted now, so I pinky promise to get back into blogging!

When I actually came to writing my comeback post, it made me realise how long I've actually been away, I didn't know where on earth to start, so much has happened! So I thought, we may as well have a catch up...
  1. I FINISHED FINAL YEAR... I may not have graduated yet but final hand-ins and exams are done.and.dusted. I am 100% free and it feels so good.
2. I did an intensive short course in fashion marketing at London College of Fashion. I can't even describe how amazing this opportunity was and how glad I am for attending. Their tutors and resources are unbeatable, and the experience was simply brilliant.

3. I got my heart broken, twice. Yep, stay away from fuckboys ladies.
4. I focussed my efforts on becoming an 'insta-blogger'- see, I didn't completely leave the blogging world! Please follow @eleanordanksx

5. I started applying for 'real' jobs. Any graduates out there, I am currently terrified. I finished university and now I'm thinking "what's next?", there are just so many opportunities, travelling? Jobs? Interning? what to dooooo. I have always wanted to break into fashion marketing, so wish me luck on the job hunt...

6. I started driving lessons. Put it this way, I started lessons at 17, I've had 50 hours of lessons, including 4 instructors, 6 cars, 1 failed test and a theory test expiration looming. This calls for "pass n go" ASAP

7. I started wearing trainers. For those of you who read my blog often, you will know a few months ago I didn't even own a pair of trainers, let alone wearing Gazelles on a daily basis and getting in on the Yeezy raffle hype.

8. I realised I needed to focus my efforts back on blogging as soon as university was over. No joke, I have lost ONE THOUSAND TWITTER FOLLOWERS due to my inactivity... actual tears are falling.

9. I realised the importance of blogging not just for my career, and friendships in the blogging community, but also for myself, as an outlet to share my passions and let my creative side thrive.

.... so, once again, my apologies for being a slacker on the blogging front! I hope you will continue to enjoy my posts, and I would love to know what's been going on with you guys while I've been away, I hope to see you all in the comments, ciao for now!
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Wednesday 22 February 2017

STATEMENT SLEEVES

PETITE Trumpet sleeve top, £12, Topshop
So, another trend I am absolutely loving at the moment is statement sleeves. I would be the first one to admit that my style can be boring at times, I'm not very adventurous, and I am an absolute worshipper of all things monochrome. So, me wandering around with massive flappy sleeves is kind of a big deal.
I think it's such a feminine design, and we need more of that right? I feel like their has been such a focus on boyish fashion that we've all lost sight of what constitutes 'girly', so yep, I'm all for frills, ruffles and flappy sleeves. Of course, Topshop made the perfect combo, making this a bardot crop top design in the process.
I actually wore this outfit for an interview, if you were wondering why I am unusually dressed in all black, however this top would work as a perfect combo to an denim skirt or even dress it up for a cocktails mate date.
Love them or hate them, statement sleeves are here for the season.
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Wednesday 15 February 2017

BARDOT

Long Sleeve Jersey Bardot Crop Top White, £8, Missguided
Every girl goes through fashion stages of obsession, so far I've had my choker, high waist jeans, suedette, camel coat and knee high boots stages. Now, i'm on to bardot tops. Myself and one of my best friends were talking about this at the weekend, I love how 90's fashion is slowly creeping its way back onto the scene, along with other eras. The 90's being by far my favourite fashion era.
Of course, the 90's encompassed the bardot top. I find this off the shoulder design so flattering and I can get enough, not only did I pick up this white top for £8 from Missguided, but also a burgundy ribbed version. Personally I love to wear these with a pair of high waist jeans... so I can actually get away with wearing this top in this awful weather! In the spring, I will definitely be wearing this with a denim skirt, or shorts in the summer.
Yay or nay?
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Tuesday 14 February 2017

JIMMI JAMS

Stripe pocket vest and short set, £12, Boohoo.com

Okay so student loan day was what, a month ago? Being the shop-a-holic I am, you can imagine I went a bit wild. However, in my defence I haven't actually spent that much, with ASOS and Boohoo fast becoming my go too online stores for absolutely everything.

Call me a snob. But haven't we all been guilty of turning our nose up at cheaper clothing just because of the perception of low quality, tacky products? That's what I assumed. A top for £8, a coat for £30, PJ's for a tenner, surely we can't expect much? Wrong. Despite being a religious spender at Topshop for as long as I can remember, I have found some absolute gems at Boohoo, Missguided and ASOS. So, this is just the beginning of my series of shopping haul posts.

Okay, ima point you in the right, and only direction for new jimmi jams, pj's, jim jams, slobby clothes or whatever you wanna call them, Boohoo.com. They have the most amazing range of pyjamas you could hope for, this adorable pink stripey set only cost me £12. Also make sure you keep your eye out for delivery offers and discount codes!

You may notice my lack of Valentines Day joy in this post, but even though i'm not celebrating this year, I hope you all are having a wonderful day with your other half's!


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Tuesday 24 January 2017

LA LA LAND

LA LA LAND, so what's all the hype about? I'll tell you, its AMAZING.

I'll be honest with you, I absolutely hate musicals. I fully appreciate that they are absolutely excellent for anyone who is a fan, but I definitely don't fall into that camp. So, I was staying with a friend this weekend and we decided to head to the Gunwharf Quays designer in Portsmouth, and as per usual, we ended up at the cinema.

Yep, we are those people who will go to the cinema, not really to see anything in particular, but just to see a new film. So, it was either La La Land or 'Sing'. I'm not going to lie, the prospect of a singing and dancing pig almost had me, but of course I had heard people raving about how amazing La La Land was, and with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling you can't go wrong.

Right, so here's the thing. We bought our tickets, and then of course we remembered it was a musical... first impressions, they weren't great. The opening scene features a huge traffic jam and everyone jumping and singing around the cars, at this point I looked at my friend and apologised. The next scenes were also not promising, Emma Stone flouncing around her bedroom singing with her friends, it was just not for me.

To my delight, the film thereafter fell more into the rom com/ chick flick genre, which not only told the beautiful story of a couple trying to achieve their dreams, but it had some hilarious comedy moments and the use of music to tell the story was enchanting.

Overall verdict? GO SEE IT NOW.
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Wednesday 18 January 2017

MARIAH CAREY FOR MAC

 
Bit Of Bubbly, MAC, £17
 
I am waaaaaaay behind on the Mariah Carey hype, of course I heard when the collection was announced, but I never even bothered looking as i'm never really bothered about celebrity collections for MAC as I tend to just stick to my MAC faves.  However, I quickly started to see Instagram posts flooding into my feed about how great the collection was, and most importantly, I noticed that the lipstick packaging was glittery.... that sealed the deal for me.
 
How beautiful is it?! I just had to have one, so I instantly looked online, of course they were sold out. However my amazing friend managed to pick me one up from the MAC store at St Pancras in London, so although there is limited availability online, definitely check in store!
 
The lipstick is shade is 'Bit Of Bubbly', which I absolutely love as I tend to wear MAC cremesheen lipsticks, and it is a lovely nudey pink shade. Personally, out of all of the Mariah lipsticks I prefer this one, as apart from 'I Get So OOC' a shimmering brown shade, the lipsticks are gold or peach which I tend to find do not flatter my skin tone at all. The lipstick also has a beautiful flower engraved in it, sooooo girly!
 
Apart from lipsticks, Mariah has an array of other products in the collection including eyelashes, eye shadow, lipgloss and bronzer. Have you got anything from the collection?
  
 
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Monday 16 January 2017

BLUE MONDAY

 
 Today is Blue Monday. Exactly what we all wanted to hear right? I mean seriously who comes up with these things?! If its not kiss a ginger day, its short girl appreciation day, what next?
 
Anyway, this is one of my more unusual posts, in fact, I don't think I have ever even done a recipe post! I tend to bake over Christmas and New Year, and this year I've been obsessed with gingerbread. It is so simple to make, and tastes absolutely delicious, so if you are feeling the January blues, a relaxing bake and a gingerbread snack is maybe exactly what you need...
 
Ingredients
100g Light muscovado sugar
85g Golden syrup
100g Salted butter
1 Tsp  bicarbonate of soda
350g Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
1Tsp ground ginger
1 Egg
 
To decorate
Star cookie cutters
Ready roll icing
Tub of royal icing
 
Method
  1. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon and pour into a bowl and mix together. Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
2. Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together, add to the mixture and blend until the mixture clumps together. Knead the mixture briefly until smooth, wrap in clingfim and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
 
3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Line baking trays with greaseproof paper.
 
4. Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm thickness on a  floured surface. Cut out the gingerbread shapes and place on the baking tray.
 
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking regularly. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool.
 
6. Decorate with icing. 
 
 
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Sunday 15 January 2017

NYE

Wow. New Years Eve literally feels like forever ago now, and it was only 2 weeks ago! As always I was a total bore and decided to stay in with my close family, as we tend to have our own little NYE party, rather than go out, how did you spend yours?

I've been thinking lately, I don't actually have two separate day time and night time makeup routines or looks... how bad is that?! I feel like I would literally not mind at all if I had to go straight on a night out without re-doing my makeup, because apart from some bold lippy and a sprinkle of glitter, it's no different!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I really want to invest some time into learning some new makeup skills, I don't even attempt a smoky eye look for goodness sake! But until then, here is my NYE look...

Skin
Rimmel London Lasting Finish 25 hour foundation
Benefit 'Dallas' Bronzer
Rimmel London Mono Blush powder "Live Pink"
Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder "Pink Blossom"

Eyes
Rimmel London Scandaleyes Mascara
Rimmel London 5 pan eyeshadow palette "Pinkadilly Circus"
Glitter Eyes 'xtra sparkles' Pot "silver" Not On The High Street

Brows
Benefit Brow Zings "Medium"

Lips
MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick



Leave me links to your latest makeup posts!


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Friday 13 January 2017

OOTD: CHRISTMAS DAY

MINI TULLE SKIRT, £25, TOPSHOP
Is this post allowed? I'm not sure. I'm either going to annoy you for still banging on about Christmas, or sadden you that it's over and we are now almost slap bang in the middle of dull January. Anyway, i'm catching up a bit on posts, having been busy preparing for my university deadlines (which have now all been submitted, yeyyyyyyyy!).
I feel like 100% of the female populations Christmas day outfits fall into two camps, you're either a onesie/ pyjama girl, or a dress up as much as you can kinda girl. I'm the latter. Although it's pretty pointless unless you're actually leaving the house to visit family or eat out, I think its always lovely to feel pretty on Christmas day. For me, its the one day of the year I can wear as much glitter as I want and nobody can say anything.
This year I opted for one of the beautiful Topshop taupe mini tulle skirts, teamed with pink glittery top from Topshop (a couple of years ago). One thing I would say about the fit of the skirt is that size wise, it is super stretchy due to its elasticated waistband. I ordered an 8 but really I would say anybody up to a 10 could fit into a size 6.
Comment your links to your Christmas outfit posts!
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Tuesday 10 January 2017

2016 HIGHLIGHTS & 2017 PLANS

Well I'm definitely a bit late to the party here... we are already 10 days into the New Year and this is my very first post written in 2017! First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope you all had the most wonderful Christmas and I wish you the very best in the New Year!

Anyhoo, I thought I would kick start the year with a recap of my 2016 best bits, and what I hope to happen in 2017! Sorry, you won't find any New Years resolutions here, I am the absolute worst at keeping them... for real I promised myself that this year I would film a 1 second video each day of the year so I could watch my 2017 back at the end of the year... I remembered today that I hadn't shot anything since 3rd January for goodness sake.

Okay so 2016 highlights:
I completed the most amazing 1 year placement in the marketing department at Barbour
It was my 21st Birthday!
Tenerife
Summer family holiday in Devon
Kicked off final year of university in September
Holiday of a life time to New York in November
Made some new friends and made up with some old ones

2017 plans:
Battle my way through final year
I would love to see some more of the world and plan a couple more holidays
Graduation... I hope...
Find my first proper job (please be a dream job in fashion)
Invest more time into learning how to contour/ highlight/ have amazing makeup like everyone else
Finally finish Gossip Girl after 3 years

If any of you have done posts like this I would absolutely love to read them!!.... oh and if you have made any New Year resolutions, good luck!!!


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Monday 9 January 2017

TIFFANY & CO. NEW YORK

Return to Tiffany heart tag ring in sterling silver ring, £345, Tiffany & Co

Lets be honest, what would a trip to New York be without a visit to Tiffany & Co? Of course I had to go. The New York flagship store is just incredible, nestled in the heart of fifth avenue (as if you didn't know), not only is the art deco design building incredibly beautiful, inside there is floor after floor of beautifully designed jewellery.

My friends who had also visited the store told of the engagement ring section, "stick to the peasant floors"... I couldn't help myself, of course I went for a sneak peak. Having dreamt of a heart shaped Tiffany diamond for at least the past 10 years- future husband take note- I couldn't resist seeing it... you know, just to be sure...

No word of a lie, they are so sparkly you cannot even see the shape of the rings, and I would definitely not have found it if there hadn't have been an "other shapes" sign! I knew I had already taken it too far just by asking for the engagement ring floor in the elevator, and when asked if I would like to try anything on I knew it was time to leave!

Back to reality. I did however purchase some beautiful silver return to tiffany earrings, and this stunning rose gold heart tag ring. I mean which girl can resist rose gold...

Just wondering... does anybody know where I can purchase Tiffany silver cleaner in the UK?...


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Thursday 5 January 2017

*WEDDING INSPO: AISLE STYLE

I feel like I have actually got to the age now, as scary as it sounds, that so many people are starting to get engaged. I'm 21, to me that is the scariest prospect ever! I think I had always dreamed of a princess style dress, with lots of sparkle, however now I'm starting to consider something more simplistic, which are styles featured below. So whether you have been lucky enough to become engaged, or simply want to daydream about what dress you would love to wear on your special day, I hope this provides some inspiration!

Aisle Style is an online retailer of wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses, communion dresses  and homecoming dresses.  Choosing dresses for weddings can be incredibly difficult, I think I had always dreamed of a princess style dress, with lots of sparkle, however now I'm starting to consider something more simplistic, which are styles featured below.



Fancy sleeveless v neck ivory lace tulle prom dress, £149.99
Long sleeve flowers A-line blush tulle wedding dress, £216
Beautiful off the shoulder empire pleated chiffon beach wedding dress, £109.99
Informal shoulder straps backless tulle beach wedding dress, £119.99
What do you think? Leave me a comment below!
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Monday 2 January 2017

NEW YORK: DAY 5



I have to admit, our last full day in New York was a bit of a flop, there was ridiculously heavy rain all day long... but as it was our last proper day we had to venture out. We had planned to go back to spend most of the day in Central Park and the rest at the Columbus Circle Holiday Market.

We ventured out and did some shop hopping on the way up to Central Park, calling off at the NBA store, Barneys and Tiffany and Co, but when we actually got to The Central Park Zoo, there was literally only 4 other people there! However having the Zoo to yourself isn't a bad thing, and despite the rain, the animals were really active! The penguins in particular and the grizzly bears were absolutely amazing to see. However, I booked tickets thinking it would be like Madagascar, but sorry to burst your bubble people, but the zoo is actually tiny!...and apart from the penguins, you will not find lions, zebras or hippos...

We then had a walk along to the Columbus Circle Holiday market, which I had been looking forward to the whole holiday, however I must admit, there isn't actually that many stalls who are selling Christmassy things! We then headed back to Times Square for a Shake Shack lunch and visited Sephora and the Disney Store before heading back to the hotel to dry off and eat pizza. Safe to say, we didn't venture out again that night!

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