Fashion Dupes: Vagabond Dioon Boots VS New Look Chunky Boots

Hi guys!

Hope you're all having a good Blue Monday, which I guess sounds very contradictory but you get me right?

I feel like I haven't done a fashion related post in a while, so I thought I would do one that I have been thinking about for a while - about my new favourite pair of shoes, these beauties.

I got these a couple of weeks ago after being on the hunt for the Vagabond Dioon Elastic Chelsea Boots for ages and they seem to have been discontinued in Office and most other retailers which is so sad! They are so gorgeous. But anyway, I found these wonders in New Look for a fraction of the price of the Vagabond Boots. They are built upon the same concept with the chunky heel and sole and the chelsea boot style. 

I have only had them for a few weeks but as you may be able to see they are extremely well loved and I have worn them pretty much everyday since. They have a slightly more matte finish than the Vagabonds but personally I prefer this and at £24.99 I cannot really make any complaints about them.

These are the Vagabond Dioon's incase you aren't familiar with them, but as you can see they look pretty much identical to my New Look shoes. I am so glad that New Look came out with these because they are so comfy and at least £65 less than the Vagabonds.

2020 Update

It feels crazy to be updating a post that was published in 2014, but I know that the Vagabond Dioons are still hugely popular, and so many of you still visit this page to find some dupes, so here are some great affordable alternative I have found recently - hopefully they are all in stock for a while!

Nasty Gal* - £40

ASOS* - £34.99

ASOS* - £30

ASOS* - £89

Pretty Little Thing* - £35

Public Desire* - £34.99

I style them with pretty much anything, leather-look leggings, dresses, skinny jeans - anything.
They are definitely a winter essential for me!
*affiliate link

My Lipstick Collection

Hello everyone!
Hope you are all well on this (very) cold Monday. 
I was thinking of posts I could do over the upcoming week and thought it would be nice if I could show you all my Lipstick collection/lip glosses, although it is not large. I thought it would be interesting not just for you but for me as well, so I can look back at the end of the year and see how much the collection has grown!

So I store all my lip products in an empty Glossybox because they look super cute and pretty on the outside, and I just haven't got space to buy drawers to store all my makeup in. I use these boxes to store Nail Polish and all my other makeup as well, except the stuff I use everyday. 

The random bits and bobs I have - All the lip products here are from brands which I have no more than 2 lip products from, or from brands I cannot remember

 In the above photo, my most used products are probably my Elizabeth Arden Eight our Cream, my Sleek Matte Me and the MeMeMe Cherubs Blush which I use as a lip stain.

My small MAC lipstick collection - Speak Louder and Morange

I particularly love the Collection lipsticks I just find they are super creamy and easy to apply! They don't have the best staying power but for such a cheap price I cannot fault them.

A few NYC Products - not the best available on the high street I'm not going to lie

Calvin Klein - Eros, Orange Too and this one on the right is called Contrast

Revlon is possibly one of my all time favourite high street brands for Lip products, they have such an amazing variety. My favourites are the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains and the Lip Butters. I have the Stain in Rendez-Vous and Lovesick, the Lip Butter in Candy Apple and their regular lipstick in Softsilver Rose. 

Another amazing brand for Lip products is Rimmel. The Apocolips are a huge love in the blogger world and so is the Kate Moss lipstick in 107. There is not one Rimmel lipstick in my collection that I don't like, they are all phenomenal and again such a bargain.

Maybelline do some good lipsticks that stay on for a huge period. The Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipsticks which are on the left literally do not budge at all! Sometimes I think the staying power is better than my MAC lipsticks. On the far right we have the Colour Sensational Popstick in Cherry Pop which is just a tinted lip balm. I think I only bought this because it was pretty...

Last but not least my MUA Lipsticks. Lets not even talk about the Matte ones because they are the worst thing ever made, but the regular ones are amazing for £1. There is not a huge colour selection but they are super moisturising and go on the lips smoothly. 

I hope you guys enjoyed looking at my lipstick collection! There are a few more products that aren't in here that I just could not find to photograph which is a bit of a pain, but I am looking forward to seeing how much this collection grows by the end of the year!

What are your favourite lip products?

Nails Of The Week #2 - Moyou Vintage Rose

Hi everyone!

Since my Nails of The Week seemed to go down well I thought I would do another. Since Christmas has been and gone I thought I should move away from the Santa red shades and onto something different. 

So for those of you who are thinking I did this by hand, I didn't. I used a new nail stamp plate that I bought from Moyou. They have such a gorgeous selection of plates available and they're only £4.99 which is amazing. 

This was my first try at stamping so that's why a few of the nails don't look perfect, for example the baby finger. 

The colours I used were the MUA shade Lush Lilac, which is not very lilac at all and more of a pale icing pink which made a perfect base. The MUA polishes are actually fairly decent for £1. On top I used my Maybelline Colour Show Neons in Electric Pink which I actually hadn't used before, but the range is so fantastic and they're very pigmented. 

I definitely think I will be trying out some more plates from Moyou because they are just so gorgeous and easy to use!

2013 Favourites

Happy New Year!
So 2013 seems to be a bit of a blur I'm not going to lie - but I put together some of my favourites to share with you all.
1. Taylor Swift - Wonderstruck I have written a full review of this perfume here, but I couldn't resist putting this perfume in my 2013 favourites. I'm pretty sure I have used this perfume every single day since I got it for Christmas in 2012. The scent is so sweet and fruity and perfect for everyday use. I wont talk too much about it because if you want to read more about it then you can just click here. Taylor is one of my favourite people ever so it will be no surprise to everyone who knows me that this is in my favourites. 

2. Maybelline - The Rocket Mascara I personally don't think this product gets enough recognition amongst the other Maybelline products out there. Many people rave about The Falsies mascara (which yeah is very good) but this one just works so well for me. The Brush is a plastic brush which I find always gives far more volume yet more natural looking lashes. Personally, I have really straight lashes and need a mascara that will hold my curl for the whole day as well as creating volume within my lashes, as length isn't a huge issue. This mascara does this perfectly and I have been using this for over a year now, and I shall continue to repurchase it.

3. Benefit Porefessional A cult beauty product that I have actually only got into over the past half a year or so. My mum had a sample and I think I used most of it up. I am planning on getting a full sized tube in the new year. This balm makes the perfect base for any foundation or BB cream, as it reduces and fills in any pores that are majorly visible. It makes your skin so smooth and flawless and indeed makes your makeup stay on far longer than it would alone. I have read quite a few posts about how many people actually use this alone as it perfects their skin so much they feel they don't need foundation. Personally I couldn't go without foundation or BB Cream so I don't think I could give that a go, but I guess it kinda tells you just how good it really is. 

4. Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation - Natural Beige This foundation was definitely one of my best discoveries of 2013. Probably one of the thickest foundations I have ever used, however it is super easy to blend into your skin and it gives such amazing coverage.  This shade is slightly too dark for me in the winter but its not too noticeable and the shade below would be far too light. I don't use this as my everyday foundation purely because the coverage is so heavy and I don't feel I need it, but it is such a nice foundation for going out.

5. Label.M Shine Spray Shine Spray is something that always intrigues me because the ends of my hair are in a pretty bad state and anything that will make them look less dull is of interest. I use this Shine Spray after I straighten my hair and it literally makes me look like I am from a L'oreal advert or something. It has a UV shield in it as well and that can't be bad in the summer. If you straighten your hair loads or like your hair to look sleek and fresh I would recommend this product because it just does my hair wonders.

6. MAC Speak Louder This was actually my first ever MAC lipstick which I bought in May this year in Duty Free. I knew I wanted a MAC Lipstick but I didn't know which one to get since the selection is so large, so I settled for Speak Louder, a wearable pink that suits pretty much everyone. I do not regret buying this at all! I think its such a good choice to go for if it is your first MAC Lipstick purchase, because it is one you know you will wear loads. My general lipstick collection is not large, approximately 30 different ones - and I can honestly say Speak Louder is in my top 5. Its a shade I often wear to school and to work because it is obviously not too bright and over the top. Since it is a Creamsheen it is super moisturising and goes on the lips easily. 

The camera makes the colour look really dull but it really isn't.

7. Essie - A List The most gorgeous red tone that you will ever see my friends. I have been reaching for this nail colour every time I want a red on my nails. I just love the Essie polishes mainly because they're so pigmented but also because the brush is so wide making the application quick and easy. Such a gorgeous Autumn/Winter colour and a classic red!

8. The Mortal Instruments Books I can't link you to these books because there is a whole series of them. You may be familiar with the first book which is called City Of Bones, which was actually made into a film earlier this year. I was recommended these books by a girl at work who said they were her favourite books and she described them to me and they sounded pretty cool, different worlds, mythical creatures etc - so I gave them a shot. These are some of the best books I have ever read, kudos to Cassandra Clare. I'm not going to tell you anything about the plot but if you love stories like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, you will love The Mortal Instruments. Currently I am on the second book, which I wish I had more time to read because I have been on it for months, but they're honestly so engaging!

What things did you love over 2013?

L'oreal Skin Perfector Serum

Hi guys!
Recently L'oreal bought out a new skincare range targeted at a slightly younger audience, with aims to improve the appearance of younger skin. The overall intended effect is perfected skin.  My friend bought the serum and raved about it so I thought I would give it a go whilst it was on sale in Boots. 

I absolutely adore the packaging for this! I find that a lot of skincare products aimed at younger people tend to have really cheap and tacky looking packaging, however this is so gorgeous! I love the ombre effect on the bottle.

I find that this product goes down quite quickly, which is a bit of a bummer because this is at the higher end of the drugstore skincare product price range. But honestly, this product works wonders for my skin. I apply it religiously every night and occasionally in the morning depending on how my skin is looking. You are just supposed to gently massage it into your face and within 3 hours your face looks flawless and perfected. It sounds like the biggest gimmick in the world but I swear to you guys this is the best skin product I have ever purchased! It leaves your skin feeling soft, and I find it reduces any redness I have around my face, especially around my nose. Not only this but it drastically decreases the visibility of my pores.

As far as face serums go, this is very light and refreshing on the skin and does not weigh your face down at all, which is good as you are meant to apply this twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening. Obviously you don't want to be putting heavy things on your face underneath makeup. 
There are a few other things in this range such as the Day Moisturiser (which I have tried although I didn't find it to do anything special), Awakening Eye Cream, 5 in 1 BB Cream and lastly a product called Magic Touch Instant Blur which is supposed to be an amazing base for makeup. I have recently started using the Miscellear Water as a toner and second makeup remover and it seems to be making my skin look far more refreshed and clean. 
Have you guys tried anything from this range? What did you think of it?