Summer Hair and Beauty

We are on our last dregs of shampoo and I finally realised that Lookfantastic discount codes work with Aveda again yay!  I’d swapped over to Shop Rush and then they stopped having codes that worked with Aveda too and I was starting to get annoyed!  Who wants to pay full price for Shampoo?

I’ve been using Aveda for almost 20 years and it is the only shampoo that allows me to grow my hair past my chin without it becoming a tangled flyway mess.  I have very fine and static prone hair and it’s not that I haven’t tried other brands (at both ends of the spectrum) it’s just that Aveda seems to be the only one that works for me.

I was terribly disappointed when I visited an in-store concession and the sales team didn’t seem that bothered about trying to sell me anything.  I asked about a replacement for the Sap Moss shampoo they did not so long ago to be told I must have gotten the name wrong because they had never heard of it… hmm… here’s me thinking that the customer is always right.

Anyway, back to the point of my post, after almost 20 years of deliberating over one of their colour conditioners (I’ve had the shampoos) I have finally caved in and bought some Blue Malva:

Blue Malva Conditioner

It should brighten my dark blonde hair.  I just feels like it needs a bit of a boost lately.  I don’t have the time or energy for permanent colour or the maintenance that goes with it.

I’d love to try the Madder Root to get some red tones but I am a bit worried my hair would turn fluorescent orange.

Madder Root

We’ve been using Rosemary Mint Shampoo for about six months:

Rosemary Mint

For a change we’ve gone back to Scalp Benefits and it will take us around six months to get through a 1000 ml of it:

Scalp Benefits Shampoo

They are both nice and light shampoos for all the family.

I love the way online shops have cottoned on to those small ‘at the till’ purchases you can’t help but make so I ordered one of these shampoo massage doofers too:

 

Kent Scalp Massage Brush

Okay, so they kind of look a bit like giant hex-bugs…

I noticed that there was also a BOGOF on Korres shower gel so I dropped a pack into my basket too.  I’ve not tried the Basil Lemon before but it sounds perfect for summer when you want some fresh zestyness on a morning:

Basil Lemon Shower gel

Good job I had a code with all of the accidental purchases oops.

 

July’s Bookshelf

Another slow reading month for me unfortunately. Pesky end of school things and mobile babies getting in the way of quiet relaxation!

First up, a modern classic that has just been released as a Kindle version:

To Kill A Mockingbird

Believe it or not, I’ve never read this despite loving the film.

End of the school year also means no school books to read at bedtime.  I was planning a trip to the library when this children’s classic turned up courtesy of The Works*:

The Early Years at Malory Towers

My seven year old got a mini Enid Blyton book with a McDonalds Happy Meal a few months ago and enjoyed reading it.  I thought that she was a bit beyond The Wishing Chair et al and absolutely adores school so hopefully this will be perfect for the six weeks holidays.  We have already had tears at the opening chapter when the mothers see the new girls off to boarding school though.  Oops.  I think we’ll be able to read a chapter per night between us.

*In exchange for an honest review of the book.

Summer Wishlist Update

Yay, I managed to bag the Topshop midi skirt in the summer sales.  I actually like it more in the flesh as I was a little worried it might be too pale but it is a more flattering oyster tone.  An incredibly versatile colour and pattern actually with many red through to orange tones and grey through to black.  There is even a tiny hint of lime green in there.  It goes with an awful lot of my wardrobe and I can see me wearing this in autumn with a charcoal skinny roll neck sweater or fitted black cardigan too.

Topshop Midi

Unfortunately I do need some shoes to go with all of these planned outfits…. Step in Clarks sale!  I’m patiently (well not really) waiting in for my delivery right now.  I did try some on in store but unfortunately having titchy feet means store stock is equally titchy so I had to try on some larger sizes to gauge whether to go down a full or half size.  I want a court shoe with a comfortable and chunky heel:

Clarks

Hopefully there will be a good one in that lot.

On the off-chance of my usual jeans I had a look in the Very sale and thought I’d take a punt on some super reduced ‘slim leg’ jeans to wear rolled up as slim boyfriend jeans.  I got them this morning and although they aren’t super slim they are great straight leg jeans.  Quite pleased I got these for under £7.

South Slim Leg Jeans

I was not looking for a coat at all but spotted this duster coat in store and it called to me to just try it on:

Marks and Spencer Duster Coat

Another walk-by:

Oasis Maxi

A super fit with the floaty top half and elasticated waist. So really the plan of me just shopping my wardrobe didn’t work quite so well as I planned. Oops.

Recent Card Makes

I’ve had a good run of card making lately.  I love it when you hit on a design that can be replicated using different colours or papers to change it up.

These are wedding anniversary cards. Got three, including my own, coming up soon.

The background paper is by Magnolia.  I thought the distressed look went well with the linen textured card blank giving a kind of an antique tapestry feeling?  The stamp is a Do-crafts one.  It is fairly tricky to get a good stamp with it but I do like the text.  The background card is a mix of Bazzill and Colorbok.

Next are some birthday cards using a pennant design.  This is an excellent technique for using up those small strips of paper I always seem to end up with and odds and ends of ribbons that aren’t long enough to tie.

The papers are a mix of My Minds Eye (purple pleated ribbon card) and Kaisercraft (pearl accent card).  I just arranged them by eye and made sure the sides were equal length but I think anything goes really.  I also did a kraft style version for a teenage boy but didn’t manage to take a photo before it had to go in the post.  I think I’ll be making more of these as I get some more paper pads or double sided scrapbook papers in.

June’s Bookshelf

Well I didn’t get to read a lot.  In fact other than helping my seven year old with guided reading her chapter books from school I only managed to read the last book from May’s bookshelf:

The Rabbit Back Literature Society

It was very enjoyable.  I’m not surprised the reviews on Amazon were so varied as I would struggle to put this into a genre.  It was down right bizarre in parts, certainly one of those books where you have no idea of the ending put it that way.  I’m not sure I would read anything more by the author as the itch has been scratched.

1008 Hollywalk Park – Maternity Capsule Wardrobe

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The Wrap Maternity Dress / Dorothy Perkins Maternity Black And White Stripe Bodycon Dress / Mama Licious TERESA Jumper / H&M MAMA Slim Jeans / H&M MAMA Straight Jeans / H M clothing / TOPSHOP Maternity Black Vest / Maternity Leggings Women George at Asda / Clarks black open toe sandals / Birkenstock white cork sandals / Mulberry purse / Warehouse black scarve / Maternity Casuals | Isabella Oliver

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Being pregnant does seriously limit your wardrobe choices but this can be liberating!  I really enjoyed having a carefully curated selection of outfits and clothes that I could mix and match so I have decided to share a similar capsule wardrobe here.  My advice would be to stick to a fairly minimal colour pallet.

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In fact, I felt my capsule wardrobe was so successful I’m trying to implement it in my non-maternity wardrobe now.  I’ll keep you updated as to how I get on with that.

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Mulberry Tessie Satchel

I love this bag.

Mulberry

That is all.

Summer 2014 Fashion Wish List

I’ve rejoined Pinterest lately and have bucket loads of pinspiration so I’ll mainly be shopping my closet this summer (hopefully).  Being a SAHM at the moment I’m looking for a casual mix-and-match capsule wardrobe.

The jeans

In a word “boyfriend”.  Slim or loose fitting but always, always rolled up.  I find the jean brand South fit me really well.  Littlewoods/Very catalogues stock the brand but no longer sell the style that I have.  You may be able to pick some ‘Katie’ boyfriend jeans up on eBay.  I have them in two sizes, in different washes and with distressed or destroyed detailing:

Saying that, I’m often seen pulling on a pair of bootcut jeans with boots durrr (if it’s raining) or chunky wedge heels.  Slim fitting to the knees and a super long leg length give more of a summer of love vibe instead of a frumptastic one.  Again I prefer the South brand ‘Mason’ bootcut or ‘Kitty’ kickflare – the bonus being you can pick them up really cheaply in the sales so I have quite a stash of different washes.

Dressed up:

Pintrest

Or dressed down:

Pintrest

You can’t go wrong with a stripe tshirt can you?

The textured top

I appreciated that I’m way behind the trendsetters with this one.  I’ve already been rocking the fine knit sweater over shirt combo that is all over the place and fancy trying a shirt under this lighter crepe top I picked up on eBay:

Next

It’s a bit too tunic length on me though and doesn’t sit right unless it’s tucked in.  Perhaps I should cut the bottom off and re-hem (well wonderweb would be ideal for this project wouldn’t it)?  That would nudge me towards the current trend for cropped tops but as I can choose the length I can decide how age-appropriate it will look!

The basic tshirt

Slightly loose fitting, fine knit jersey (but not so fine that you have major visible bra issues).  I struck it lucky with this from H&M and so cheap at £6.99 that I’m considering another colourway:

The sundress

Over the past few years I’ve managed to pick up some simple cotton knee length 1950’s style sun dresses from Primark.  They wash and iron really well plus the bodice is fitted enough for me to go without a bra.  Being a fairly classic style they can be stored out of season and brought out again each year for the too short British summer.

Throw on a skinny fitting twin-set style cardigan or more formal blazer for those chillier days.

The midi skirt

Hmmm, printed or plain, full or pencil style.  I’ve seen hundreds that would fit the bill but know there will be only a set number of summer days in which to wear them…

I guess the sundresses fulfills the brief for a fuller skirt, and the floral, so maybe I should be looking for a pencil or tube (I think the difference is just that the latter is stretchy) style. Geometric or possibly animal print and fairly neutral.

Topshop (not technically floral)

Bang On Trend (nope, I’ve never heard of them either but bargain prices)

Although… hubba hubba…

River Island but strikes me as being really sweaty if it is warm ditto neoprene.

The shoe

There seems so much choice every year and nothing really seems to go out of fashion at the moment does it?  I mean we’re still seeing gladiator sandals on the high street and even trainers are having a resurgence on fashion blogs and I wore those the first time around at college!

I adore the look of boyfriend jeans with stiletto court shoes but could I do a brisk 20 minute walk on the school run in them – err no, even using the pushchair as a zimmer frame.  I’ll be sticking with my normal wedges and flats.  My tan ones seem to go with everything but I would like something to change it up a bit:

Clarks

They are reminiscent of a pair of beloved silver sandals I wore as a bridesmaid when I was a child.  Thankfully the hideous white polyester floral bonnet I also wore has yet to come back in fashion…

 

 

May’s Bookshelf

May’s bookshelf:

The Golem and The Djinn (or Djinni as I’ve seen both)

I thought that the subject matter was interesting…  A Golem is a creature made from clay and bound to a master but what happens when that master dies?  A Djinn is what I’d call a genie and this one did indeed live in a lamp.  The book started off following each main character and it was obvious that they would meet up at some point but would they be friends or enemies?  I found the book fairly slow going in parts and the ending was a bit rushed.  Not my normal genre but I did enjoy it although not as much as I’d hoped.

Of Mice and Men

Now, I’m not usually a fan of modern fiction but I’ve put a few titles on my ‘to-read’ list this year and this was one of them.  I really, really enjoyed it!  I can see that if it was dissected in a school environment it wouldn’t be nearly so enjoyable though.  It has inspired me to read more modern fiction certainly.

The Rabbit Back Literature Society

A creepy Scandi fable if the reviews are to be believed.  Something about the title drew me in but now I’m really not sure.  Just started it last night.

 

Baby: Luxury Buys

These are the non-essential baby bits.  Great to put on your list when 101 people ask what they should buy so you don’t end up with 101 sleepsuits (as useful as they are)!

Baby Sleeping Bags

There are hundreds of brands of sleeping bags for babies and we’ve tried quite a few.  Tesco, Mothercare, Mamas and Papas, Jo Jo Maman Bebe, Next and Slumbersac are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  There isn’t that much difference between them but sometimes the way they fasten is easier for one baby or parent than another.  They stop baby from kicking off the covers or wriggling too far under them but admittedly aren’t as cheap as a few cellular blankets.

We’re currently using one layer of this 3-in-1 sleeping bag from Jo Jo Maman Bebe as it has been very warm at night:

Link

Leather crib shoes

Most crib shoes are pretty pointless and come off before you’ve even made it out of the door.  These leather crib shoes (Star Child, Dotty Fish, Inch Blue etc.) have enclosed elastic on the heel to grip on baby’s feet better and I’ve found the leather soles to have naturally less slip than socks when they start pulling themselves up and cruising around.

Oh, they are cute too.  Our son is currently sporting these by Dotty Fish:

Amazon around £6.99

We have some pewter ‘sandal’ style ones in the next size up that my daughter used as a baby too.  I have run those through the washing machine and whilst it’s probably not recommended they came out okay.  Better than having poo on them anyway.

Reusable nappies

I’m not a 100% cloth user but we’re not far off at the minute.  A friend passed on some Tots Bots V3 and the are currently our favourites for fit and absorbency.  Okay, they have pretty great patterns as well.

Around £16.99 but 3 for 2 in Boots currently.  Tots Bots have just launched a newer version and Real Nappy Week offers have I think wiped out the stocks of these in most other places.  Jack and the beanstalk always puts a smile on my face.

There is a wealth of information here if you are thinking about giving reusuable nappies a whirl http://realnappyweek.org/ apparently just using one reusable saves 900 disposables from being sent to landfill.

Baby blanket

I mainly used a Wallaboo Nore in the car seat:

Link

And a Wallaboo Arctic footmuff in the carrycot and pushchair:

Link

Both do away with the need for coats and blankets and can easily be opened up when you bring baby back inside and you don’t want them to overheat or wake them up.