My Nail Varnish Collection

I realised that I have never shared with you my nail varnish collection, and thought I must do a post on this! I have been having some sleepless nights recently so took the opportunity once at 3am in the morning to get out all my polishes (they currently live a cake box in my fridge but I'm hoping to invest in some new storage solutions in the New Year). At the time these photos were taken my collection was at 87 - I've already added to this since I took the photos but obviously you'll be seeing the new ones in upcoming Fabulous Nails posts.

Everything!

Clear / Nail Treatment Products (why do I have 3 x Insta-Dris?!)

Glitters

Crackles

Solitary black polish

Golds

Magnetics

Silvers

Reds

Greens

Blues

Yellows

Oranges

Purples (despite very rarely wearing purple polish there are quite a few!)

Brown (no idea why this and the rest are sideways, sorry)

Neutral

Grey

Phew! And to think I've already added around 20 to that, and then I've got the Ciate Mini Mani Month starting in December. Do you think I have a problem?

Are you a nail varnish addict? How big's your collection? Do you have a favourite brand?

xx

Christmas with Hotel Chocolat

Are you struggling to find the perfect Christmas present for a friend, or stuck with a Secret Santa you have no clue what to buy for? Hopefully this little post will help you figure that out!

There's a Hotel Chocolat store right by where I work (we're talking less than 20m away!) and I have caught myself wistfully gazing into their windows one too many times! I decided to take a look at the full range of chocolatey delights available on their website and share my favourites ideas for presents with you!

...oh and you get a FREE BOX OF CHOCOLATE for yourself when you spend over £60!

£5 Secret Santa Gift

How adorable are these teensy weensy reindeer? My Secret Santa bought me some dark choc ones last year, they're delicious and a perfect present idea if you've drawn someone you don't know very well!

£10 Secret Santa Gift

This keepsake tin full of festive chocolate delights is a gorgeous gift and really good value for money as it's only £10!

£15 Secret Santa Gift

Cracker gifts are all over the place at the moment but I adore these tiny Christmas crackers as a Secret Santa present! 

Must-Have Advent Calendar

At £22 this is a pretty pricey advent calendar (well, not compared to some of the beauty advent calendars out there!) but can you imagine opening a door and munching a yummy deluxe chocolate treat every day for 24 days?! I'm tempted to surprise my boyfriend with this!

Special Box of Chocs

If you're after a really good box of delicious chocs, perhaps for your other halves' family or to treat a grandparent, these boxes are really big for only £22, and are currently on offer 3 for £60! Ideal if you've got a few people you need to tick off the Christmas present list!

The Big Beast

Now I don't have a spare £300 but if I did.... how absolutely incredible is this massive hamper?! It has literally everything a chocolate (and booze!) lover could ever possibly want! Yes it may be on the pricey side, but you get an awful lot of bang for your buck. I'd love to be able to afford to buy this and treat my Mum this Christmas as I know she'd love it!

Have you got any favourite treats from Hotel Chocolat? Which gift would you like to receive yourself?

xx

I Want Never Gets... Firetrap

I bought a Firetrap coat when I was 18 and to this day it is my favourite coat of all time. Unfortunately coats are not immortal, and my beloved coat is no longer with us, but here are a few of my choices from Firetrap's latest offerings. I love their blend of berry autumnal shades with neutral tones like grey - perfect for layering up with this winter!

I love loose knits this year, and think this grey jumper would suit most body shapes and be an ideal way to add a bit of layered warmth to any outfit. I could see myself pairing this with a berry playsuit for a dressier look, or just some black skinnies for a lazy afternoon snuggled up on the sofa. £65 from Tucci - Click!

Another knitwear item that I would love to get wrapped up in this winter! I have always had a bit of a thing for oversized collars as they keep your neck warm even without a scarf! I think this could certainly keep you snug on warmer winter days when you don't quite fancy wearing a coat, but also be a staple under your coat on those freezing-your-fingers off days when you want to wear as many layers as possible! £90 - Click!

How dreamy is this blouse? It's just stunning, the colours are spot on for wearing in winter. I could easily wear this to work with a pencil skirt but it would also look fab with jeans for a family function over Christmas or New Year. I can tell the fabric is soft and light and the pattern is just beautiful! Currently on offer at Tucci for £48. - Click!

Another absolutely stunning pattern, this tunic reminds me of some of the offerings from All Saints. I think I could easily team this with tights and a chunky knit for a Christmas meal with friends, or just a pub session after work. Pair it with heels for a more glammed up look that would be ideal for a work Christmas party! £75 - Click!

Finally, who doesn't love a cute pair of little tweed shorts? I used to have some really similar to these but I lost a bit of weight and they don't fit me anymore so had to be eBayed! I think tweed shorts are such a simple and easy look to pull off in autumn or winter, especially with woolly tights and a big snug jumper (maybe the grey one I raved about above?) £45 from Tucci - Click!

Do you own anything from Firetrap? Are you a fan of their autumnal hues?

(Supported by Tucci)

xx

Mango Tweed Car Coat

For weeks and weeks I have been trying to find a jacket or light coat for autumn days that aren't chilly enough to justify my big snuggly winter coats. I spotted this oversized blazer from Mango on the ASOS website and ordered it instantly - it's almost identical to one I had my eye on from Glamorous  but at a fraction of the price and plus I'd always pick Mango over Glamorous when it comes to trusted brands. I have to say I think Mango is my new favourite store for staple wardrobe items. Anyway...

I've worn it out already over some of my other new purchases that you'll be hearing about soon. I think this is a ridiculously versatile item that I'll get plenty of wear out of for years, as tweed is so chic and oversized blazers are easy to wear with dresses, skirts or jeans.

I've tried to show the 'true' colour of the jacket in the photo above - it's quite grey IRL. I bought it for £39.99 on the ASOS website

xx

Xmas Party Outfit Challenge

I saw Claire's entry for this challenge and fell in love with the shorts she chose (so much so that I've ordered them haha!) and thought why not give it a go myself?! So here's my outfit, sourced from Glamorous:

The cute and quirky dress is £32.99, the bag is £20 & the boots are £34.99.

I understand that this might not be the stereotypical 'Xmas Party' outfit, as it doesn't include outrageously stacked heels or any sequins or glitter, but I decided I wanted to do this properly and pick items I would realistically wear to a Xmas party. As I'm still recovering from knee surgery and on crutches, the bag is practical for me as I can't carry a clutch and a crutch at the same time! Obviously heels are a no-go for me at the moment so these cute quirky boots are perfect - I think the studs add a bit of glam making them suitable for me to wear to a party whilst on crutches! And I love the dress, it's just my style!

TOTAL = £87.98

If you'd like to try out this Challenge, you can do so here. It's being run by the lovely folks over at Fashion Vouchers and the deadline for submissions is Monday 17 December!

Good luck!

xx

Heeled Chelsea Boots

It's been a while since I first wanted a pair of heeled Chelsea boots. In fact probably almost a year! But for whatever reason I never got around to buying some... so I decided to invest in a pair a few weeks ago. The ones I'd spotted all that time ago were on Daisy Street so I made that my first place to look this time around.

As soon I started looking I saw these beauties. I love the curved toe with the hidden platform - I think it makes them look a lot softer and more feminine, which is important to me as I think a lot of Chelsea boots can appear quite masculine. I was even happier when I eventually decided to buy these, as they were £5 off! So £24.99 including free saver delivery. I expected delivery to take ages, I've never ordered from Daisy Street before, but I was super impressed. I ordered them on a Sunday and they arrived on the Tuesday of the following week - absolutely delighted with 7 working days delivery time. As for the boots themselves, well you can see how pretty they are! They seem very sturdy and well made and although I haven't been able to wear heels and so haven't worn them out yet, sitting with them on my feet makes me confident that they will be one of my fave pairs of shoes this winter!

Do you own any Chelsea boots, or any other shoes from Daisy Street? What are your experiences?

xx

Fabulous Nails #18

Today's post is about the red Barry M magnetic nail polish. When I bought these polishes the red was the shade I was instantly drawn to - I am a big fan of red nails in general but the colour in the bottle looks very metallic and perfect for winter wear!

I used the red polish along with the diagonal striped magnet (again as I achieved such a nice effect with the blue) to achieve this look.

I didn't manage to photograph my nails in daylight so excuse the slightly orange hue to the photo! But I think you can see how the colour is nice and glossy and metallic - just as I'd hoped it would be! I love how the magnet bring the lighter tones in the colour to the top to create a contrast against the darker background.

What do you think? Have you tried any magnetic nail varnishes yet?

xx

My New Work Winter Coat

If you're a long time reader, you'll know that I have a little bit of a coat addiction... but I managed to clear out 4 of my old winter coats that I either wasn't wearing at all anymore or that had been worn to death. I found this as good a reason as any to invest in a nice new winter coat, but one that is suitable for wearing to work. I looked everywhere before finally deciding to invest in this one:

It was originally £92 from Debenhams. I really liked the monochrome chic polka dots - I think it adds a bit of personality whilst keeping it appropriate if I have to go to a client meeting out of the office. I originally bought it when Debenhams were having one of their 20% off events, but actually ended up sending it back and reordering it a couple of weeks later as it went into the sale and I eventually bagged it for a bargainous £40! I was really happy with the saving, as its such a good fit for me and feels such good quality I probably would have been fine paying full price!

Have you bought a new winter coat this season?

xx

MUA 35% off Haul

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll have seen that MUA had 35% off recently and I ordered quite a few bits and pieces that I've been keen to get my hands on! Here's a sneak peak of what I bought:

Everything will be reviewed and posted in time, but it may take a while! If there's anything in particular you'd like me to review sooner, let me know in the Comments!

Please follow me on Twitter if you don't already (@ElspethDaisy) and 'Like' the brand new Bee's Knees Facebook page!

xx

I Want Never Gets... festive party shoes

If you're a long time reader of Bee's Knees you might remember an old series called 'I Want Never Gets..'. I discontinued the series around a year or so ago as I was struggling to find the time to blog after just starting my new job, but I've decided to bring it back! I really enjoy reading wishlist posts on other people's blogs, and shouldn't you always write blog content that you'd want to read yourself? Anyway, on with the show.

This week I'm featuring festive party shoes, which I hope will be useful to those of you with upcoming Christmas parties to attend, or perhaps early birds looking for New Year outfit ideas.

First up are these absolutely divine Rocketdog court shoes. I don't know about you but at the moment I am going crazy for glitter nail varnish, and I can imagine these sparkly beauties looking fabulous with a chic black party dress and matching glitter nails! Or you could wear them dressed down to a Christmas pub session with skinnies! A sensible heel (in my opinion, you should see some of my shoes!) and a classic shape means although covered in attention-grabbing glitter, these shoes don't look tacky or 'too much'. £48 from Brantano - Click!

If you're attending your work Christmas party and need something a little more simple and sophisticated, I love these patent/satin peep toe heels. Very demure! I would style these with a sequin or glittery dress for a real 'party' look, or with a gorgeous fitted shift dress for a classic and timeless outfit choice. Very versatile and definitely shoes you could bring out year after year, at only £26 they're quite a bargainous wardrobe staple. Click!

Another classic shoe - these lace detail peep toes would also be easy to wear with most party outfits this season. If you don't have much cash to splash and are invited to several parties, it might be an idea to invest in some staple heels you can wear with different styles of dresses to save a few pennies. I think these would look great with skinnies too. £28 from Brantano - Click!

Finally, if like me heels are a no-go area for you this year, here are a couple of cute flats that might float your boat instead. Although it's likely I'll be off crutches by the time party season rolls around, it might be some time until I'm allowed to wear heels again because of my knee surgery. So I'll be pairing my festive dresses with some simple but stylish ballet flats like these two, £20 and £15.

Have you planned your festive party outfits yet? Are you going for the all-out glitter, sequins & sparkle look or a more toned down classic vibe?

(Supported by Brantano)

xx

ps. Bee's Knees now has a Facebook page! Please 'Like' if you want to be kept up to date on all the latest happenings on my little blog. :)

Slated: MUA Brush On Concealer Pen in 'Radiance'

I picked up the MUA Brush on Concealer Pen whilst in Superdrug tracking down the Undressed palette (review coming soon!) I suffer badly from under eye circles and have done since I was a little girl - unfortunately for me its a genetic thing rather than simply lack of sleep. I hoped that MUA might be able to help me conceal my unsightly bags, and chose the lightest shade I could see; 'Radiance'.

I found the packaging pretty inoffensive and as I'd expect really from a drug store brand like MUA. The concealer retails at £1.50 and I think the packaging reflects this.

The concealer is a 'brush on pen' and you have to twist the end of the pen to get the product to come out of the brush. I had to twist for a good minute or two until the product began to come out - I had started to worry that I'd picked up a dud pen!

I hope you can see from these photos that the concealer is quite thick and heavy. The first thing I noticed about it was its heavy floral scent - not something I like at all. It reminds me of elderly ladies' perfumes and made me feel a bit sick! Not the best start...

I found the brush applicator useless when applying the product under my eyes, it smeared and didn't apply evenly. As you can see, the shade is completely wrong for my skintone but as there were no testers available in store it was difficult to try any shades out prior to purchase. The colour is decidedly orange - the photo shows the concealer half dried but when it completely dries out it's even more orange! It's awful, dries thick, heavy and orange especially on the delicate skin around my eyes. I found the first application very difficult and it's put me off trying any other shades.

Overall I am terribly disappointed with this product. After the success of the MUA lipsticks I've tried I had high hopes for this concealer, but it just does not meet the mark at all. It's too perfumed - which is worrying when it's to be applied to such a delicate and sensitive area of your face as your under eyes, it's too orange, it's too thick and heavy and is difficult to apply with the 'brush on pen'. I do not recommend this product, save your money and try something else. My search for a good under eye concealer continues...

xx