Pack Your Bags

I bought a couple of tops for my trip to Europe that I didn't end up taking with me, so I returned them to New Look in exchange for this absolutely gorgeous cross-body bag!

I was smitten at first sight with this beauty, it looks more vintage than high street, & is just big enough to fit all my daily essentials in. It was an absolute bargain at £15.99! I've been using it every day since I purchased it! Linky!

xx

E.L.F. mega haul #1 - shimmering facial whip

When E.L.F. (eyeslipsface) recently gave customers a code offering them a whopping 50% off the entire website, I couldn't resist! As my followers on Twitter will know, I ended up spending £31.50, qualifying for free shipping too! This is what £63 will get you at E.L.F.:

Obviously too many products to cover in just one post! So for the next few weeks I'll do a post every weekend on a different group of products, ensuring I'm thorough with my reviews and don't bore you endlessly with one mega review! Today's post is on the Shimmering Facial Whip - I already had this in two shades but one of them exploded in my bag (sadface) and the other just doesn't match my skintone. So I purchased the whip in Spotlight and Lilac Petal...

This is Spotlight. It's the lightest shade of the whip and I thought it would be useful as a highlighter on nights out. In real life, the tone is much more subtle than I expected but it still gives a gorgeous light-reflecting shimmer. As with all the whips, you only need a small amount and it blends into the skin easily. It also smells lovely - the facial whips have a tasty citrus scent to them which is luckily not too overpowering!

This is Lilac Petal. I have been using this as a highlighter every day since it arrived - I adore it! You can see the brilliant shimmer effect it gives on the skin which is perfect for a nice natural make up look in the summer. I will probably use Spotlight for a more subtle look when I start work and the winter starts creeping in.

Overall a fantastic product, definitely recommended. The whips are sold HERE for £1.50 each, I'd recommend purchasing a couple of shades to ensure you end up with one that matches your skin. I can't hype this product up enough, I actually prefer it over Benefit High Beam as a highlighter! And as I got mine for 75p I am one happy bunny!

xx

I Want Never Gets... Stella McCartney

As someone who is about to start work in a very professional and well-to-do career (I start work as a trainee solicitor on Monday, eek!), I'm well aware that appearances in the workplace make all the difference. Especially in a male-dominated work environment, us girls have to work hard to ensure we're dressed in the smartest, most appropriate way without sacrificing our personalities, whilst maintaining decorum and avoiding appearing slutty and show boating. Sounds like hard work! It is, unless you're lucky enough to be able to afford any of Stella McCartney's classically tailored collection.

This silk-satin blouse is so effortlessly chic, its beautiful. The colour is divine, the fit is perfect and the necklice remains appropriate for the workplace. £395 Linky!

As the days continue to fly by and autumn is increasingly closer, I am become more and more obsessed with winter wear, coats especially! This incredible masculine coat radiates style without being too garish and would be an ideal addition to any professional girl's wardrobe. £895 Linky!

Another gorgeous blouse here; I especially love the added twist of the merlot cuffs to what would have otherwise been a fairly standard, but most certainly elegent, white shirt. £435 Linky!

Finally, this blazer is the icing on the proverbial cake. It takes a slight risk by mixing navy with black but easily succeeds. I adore the tuxedo style of this jacket, it reminds me of my Reiss black suit jacket that is a similar fit only slightly shorter (my one show stopping piece in my work wardrobe, bought in the sale of course). £1,175 Linky!

xx

40 is a Magic Number!

I just wanted to say a mahoosive THANK YOU to every single one of you fabulous followers! Bee's Knees is now lucky enough to have 40 of you, and I could not be happier!

In other news, I've added some pages to the blog to aid navigation. If you can think of any other pages you'd like to see added please leave a comment or email me @ elspethdaisy@yahoo.co.uk with your idea.

xx

Window shopping in Venice

Venice has lots of wonderful shops, with even more wonderful displays! Here is a selection of my favourites:

Louis Vuitton handbags with bird legs! Ingenious!

Missoni A/W11

Gorgeous Cavalli dresses

Summer is still alive at Miu Miu


 
 Miscellaneous (aka I can't remember)

 & last but not least, an incredibly stunning display from Hermes

xx

Fabulous Nails - European Edition!

Whilst in Venice I came across a brand called Kiko Cosmetics, and as a beauty junkie I was immediately drawn into their shop...

They had such a wide variety of make up for ridiculously low prices!

 From eyeshadow...

 ...to mascara...

 ...to an epic range of nail varnish!

I ended up buying 3 eyeshadows that I'll be reviewing in a couple of weeks' time, and 4 nail varnishes. I got the two on the left as a present for my Mumma, cause I'm nice like that, and treated myself to the gorgeous purple toned baby blue pastel on the right and a fabulous glitter polish.

 This is the blue (3 coats) on its own. It's such an unusual colour I love it! But of course I didn't stop there...

 I applied the glitter polish over the top, and got this absolutely gorgeous effect! I can't help but feel like a mermaid with this on my nails! I love it! It's a lot less chunky than the Barry M glitter paints and so much easier to remove.

I applied these polishes without any other form of topcoat and they lasted a good 5 days before beginning to wear/chip at the tips. At 1.50 Euros for the glitter and 2.50 for the blue polish, I'm incredibly impressed!

Click here to go to the Kiko cosmetics website to see their full range of nail lacquers!

xx

I'm back!

After a wonderful time in Europe I am back and full of things to blog about! I hope the next few weeks will be full of interesting posts for you all! But first I thought it would be nice to share some photos from my escapades...

This is a snap of the teeny tiny local beach close to our hostel in Dubrovnik (Croatia), so much more laid back and relaxing than the main beach in town!

 

Photo of Dubrovnik taken from the walls of the Old City (I am afraid of heights so I was immensely proud of myself for managing to walk on the walls!)

 

I have dozens of similar photos like this one, taken all over Venice. Can't put into words what a beautiful place it is. 

 I quite like this random pic of St Mark's Square, Venice, after dark. Magical.

Painted houses in Burano, Italy - this island is so surreal and colourful! I'd love to move there in search of the quiet life when I retire!

Bit of an arty shot of a shop display in Burano.

I had the BEST time! I would like to thank every single one of you for sticking with Bee's Knees while I've been away, and WELCOME to my wonderful new followers, it's lovely to have you!

One last thing before I go and unpack - Cosmopolitan magazine are running their 2011 Blog Awards at the moment, if you have a spare minute I would love it if you could nominate me for the Best New Beauty Blog category! The link will be in my side bar for the duration of nominations, but here's a quick link too:

Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2011

It's lovely to be back!

xx