Autumn Transitional Outfits W/ Femme Luxe

Monday 23 September 2019

It's officially the first day of Autumn and I couldn't be more ecstatic, if you're a long time reader of this blog or even a long time follower on any of my social networks you'd know that Autumn is my favourite time of the year. Cosy nights in, Autumn fashion, Halloween, the list of reasons it's the best time of the year is endless. Autumunal outfits happen to be one of my favourite things about it, bring on knit jumpers, boots, scarves and getting all wrapped up in dark colours.  Today I've collaborated with Femme Luxe to bring you some Autumunal transition outfits.


Knit jumpers are an Autumn staple for me, this jumper dress is so comfy and paired with some chunky ankle boots is perfect for transitioning into Autumn fashion. I just paired it with a belt I got with another Femme Luxe dress (it actually came with the last outfit in this post) just because I loved how they looked together. I'm excited to invest in some more jumper dresses and knit jumpers as I'm just a major fan.


You always need a good pair of jeans, skinny jeans happen to be my favourites and I love these blue ruffle waist jeans. The paper bag style at the top is so flattering and avoids the need to find a matching belt. These have quickly become my favourite because they're just so unbelievably comfy and they fit like a dream which is great if you only wear tight fitted jeans like me. 


Although we're getting into the season now we're still having some warm days here and there. This black zip up dress is more of an evening outfit but paired with some over the knee boots and a comfy jacket for when it gets a little colder in the evenings it's still perfectly acceptable to wear. This dress is different to my normal style but that's why I loved it so much. It shows off your figure and isn't too short which is an issue I always have with dresses.

What are your Autumn staples? Are you excited for the upcoming season like me or are you not much of a fan? Be prepared for some more Autumn themed posts, I've got loads planned ranging from fashion, to beauty looks, to home decor and anything else I can fit in inbetween. Bring on the best season and of course my favourite holiday.. Halloween!

Love Isabelle
xxx

The Innocence Of Blogging

Sunday 18 August 2019

I've been going through all my posts to remove dead links and while doing this I found myself drawn to reading some of my super old ones, and to be honest it got me a bit emotional. Blogging used to be something full of crappy pictures and posts that were peoples thoughts and not even about anything too in depth, the amount it's changed from now to posts of mine I've been rereading from 7 years ago sure is strange to look back on. It used to be so innocent, there was no pressure to have a fancy professional layout and fancy pictures and collaborations were a lot easier to get, but now the market is so over saturated it seems to be all about the magazine look. 


Blogging used to be different because it wasn't the same as magazines, but now if your blog doesn't look like an online magazine people aren't interested. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that but my heart does ache a little for just how care free it used to be to run a blog. Now there's so much pressure for everything to look professional and for bloggers to "compete" with each other and that innocence is gone. Why have our pictures got to look like they've all been taken by professional photographers? Why have our websites got to look like we've spent a lot of money on getting them designed? To start a blog looks so daunting and scary now when it used to be just the opposite. 

For me blogging started as a means of escape from the real world. Being a blogger wasn't a job, it was just a way for me to let out my thoughts and to communicate with people. I was shy, anxiety ridden, I had no friends and I definitely didn't have the social skills to make friends and blogging and filming Youtube videos was just a way of me letting everything out and being part of something that was a real community. Don't get me wrong, I love how far all this social media stuff can bring people nowadays, I think it's incredible, but I can't help but miss the way it used to be, instead of being a community everyone just tries to make it a competition and that's quite sad.

Isabelle
xxx

Makeup Revolution Girl Panic Palette Review

Tuesday 13 August 2019

I haven't been doing makeup or beauty reviews for long, which is weird considering this blog did start out as a beauty blog, but when I do upload one there's a 90% chance it'll be on an eyeshadow palette. Why you ask? I just really love buying eyeshadows, I think I have a palette problem. Not kidding. Today I'm going to be reviewing the Makeup Revolution Girl Panic palette, now I love Makeup Revolution, I find it really hard to go wrong with them and they're so affordable. I didn't purposely buy this palette, Superdrug had an offer where if you spent a certain amount on Makeup Revolution products you'd get a palette free, and since I'm such an offer nerd I just couldn't resist it. I was slightly unsure on the colours at first, some colours I really loved the look of but others just weren't me and kinda make me think. For the most part I do like it, although mostly the orange, red and peach toned colours are the ones I tend to lean for the most.


I'll start off as per with the packaging, it's a general Makeup Revolution palette with the plain black on the front and the name of the palette, then when you open it up you have 12 shimmer shades and 6 matte ones at the bottom. I have to admit that I was awfully surprised at how well I got along with this palette. It's quite versatile and although the pans are small a little goes a long way, the pigmentation is very soft and creamy with the shimmery shades. The only problem I have with this is the fallout, but for eyeshadows pricing at £6 (or free if you bagged yourself the deal too) you can't really complain much there and that's something you just generally find with cheaper makeup.

The shades themselves are relatively easy to blend, sometimes I do have to put a little more work in than normal and I do have to build some of the colours up a little to get the best pigmentation, but they still work surprisingly well and when added with a little bit of water you'd be shocked at how amazing it goes on.


Have you used this palette? If so what did you think? I can't help myself when it comes to Makeup Revolution and their products, I'm not normally a drugstore kinda gal but there's just something about them, plus I'm very rarely disappointed. One of my favourite products is their skin kiss highlighter, I uploaded a review on it a while back which you can find HERE if you're interested. Also make sure to go follow me on bloglovin HERE to stay up to date on my posts (and get excited for all the Autumn themed ones I have planned soon).

Isabelle
xxx


Some Self Hatred Honesty

Tuesday 11 June 2019

One of the most popular questions I receive would be "why do you always hide your face in pictures?". If you follow me on Instagram you'll notice that most of my fashion pictures only include my body, a recurring theme but not one I originally wanted to go for. I always preach self confidence and that but the reason I can't take your normal fashion influencer pictures is because, well, I don't have any myself. Trust me I would love to be able to have my friends take photos of me in the clothes I post and I know me hiding my face in most of them definitely stumps my growth and stops a lot of brands from wanting to work with me, it disappoints me constantly that I just can't do it but I guess that's life.


I thought I'd include one of the rare pictures of me taken for my Instagram, and even now I hate it and just want to scribble a massive X over my face so no one has to see it. I've tried so many times to do it but in reality I just don't like how I look enough. I don't want anyone's sympathy because nothing anyone says to me will change anything, I just wanted to be honest because at the end of the day that's most of the reason my blog grew. My readers loved my honesty, and there hasn't been any of that over here in a while so here I am, being little old honest me. My face makes me feel like I want to vomit up my tears and drown an entire country in them and as I said I don't want people feeling sorry for me or telling me I'm beautiful because it would be entirely pointless. 

If I want people to take anything from this post, I want it to be that you can follow your dreams even if you feel you aren't made for them or aren't enough. I'd give anything to be able to take pictures like everyone else does, it's something that upsets me a lot, especially given that I am a blogger and a fashion one at that. I go on Instagram and would give anything to be able to post fashion pictures with my face in them but I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. But has it stopped me from becoming a fashion blogger? Hello no. I've worked with some amazing brands over my years of being a blogger and although there are some that will simply never happen, it doesn't change all the good things that have still come of it. I hope one day I can find some beauty in myself and bring myself to do it, life's too short for self hatred.. right?

Isabelle
xxx

A Night Out with Femme Luxe*

Wednesday 22 May 2019


Like most girls I love an excuse to dress up. Whether it's for a meal and drinks with my friends or my boyfriend I love to be able to get myself all glammed up for a night. It's not something I tend to do often (the perks of living the poor life), but I think the rarity of it just makes it even more fun to do. I'm past the clubbing life now, I'm getting old and I'm in a serious relationship, but it doesn't mean I'm not down for cocktails or getting myself all dressed up for an evening, I just prefer to be at home in bed by 12 with my boyf, call me boring if you have to. Anyway, today I thought I'd share with you my two current favourite night out outfits.





Both outfits are from Femme Luxe Finery apart from the skort in the top picture. They always have such a large variety of items whether it's for a night out or a night in and my wardrobe is quickly being taken over by them. I can't stop ordering clothes but hey, can you ever have too many? Okay maybe you might say yes if you saw the state of my room, I have so many clothes I don't even know where to store them all! What do you like to wear on a night out? What's your go to store? Be sure to let me know!

Isabelle
xxx

(Outfits gifted from Femme Luxe)


How To Grow Your Instagram With Hashtags

Thursday 16 May 2019

One of the questions I get asked the most is "so how do you grow your Instagram?". I get asked this on a daily basis and it's so time consuming having to write it all out to send to each person, I thought making a blog post on my top tips would make my life (and yours) a hell of a lot easier! Let's forget all this follow to unfollow fake love bull, sure I'm not the only one who's tired of receiving way too many unfollowers a day because of what I'd say is the most pointless tactic I've ever seen. I was originally going to put them all in one post but then it started getting super long, so I thought I'd do a different post on each topic. I can then go into more detail without you having to read throughout so much in one go. 

grow your instagram, instagram followers

Today I'm going to be explaining hashtags and this is one best explained through pictures to be honest, down below you will find two examples of me using hashtags badly next to the results of me using hashtags well. As you will be able to see, there's a massive difference. I tend to use hashtags quite well in most posts so it was hard to find examples of me using them poorly, but I did the best I could. I'm not saying they're easy though, they're super tricky and you're not going to get amazing results on every post. 


I start with looking at what hashtags other bloggers in my niche are using, I also try to be very specific to the photo I'm posting. Using pointless hashtags really doesn't get you anywhere, the more specific you are to what's in the photo the better the results. I also try not to use too many big hashtags, I'll use a few super popular ones but your post will normally just get lost very quickly among the sheer amount of photos that will be posted every minute. I then use some medium size ones and some smaller sized ones. If you're ever stuck for what hashtags to use, when you type in one hashtag it will come up with recommended ones so I normally go with them, or as I mentioned earlier I use inspiration from people in the same niche as me. 


It's always best to switch up your hashtag on every post, not only because every post is different but also because if you keep re using the same ones constantly I find it doesn't have the same effect as if you constantly switch it up. There are also plenty of apps which help you find the best hashtags for the topic of your post, if you type Instagram hashtags into the App Store a few good ones come up at the top, they're always worth a try even if it is just for you to get an idea on the kind of ones you should be using! I have done posts on social media and blog tips before which you can find under the category HERE, there's not a massive amount there at the moment but I'm going to be adding a lot more posts like this. Aside from Instagram which I'll be uploading more of, let me know in the comments or on my social media what other tip style posts you'd love to see and you can follow me on Instagram HERE.

Isabelle
xxx



Pixi Beauty Face Mists Collection Review*

Wednesday 15 May 2019

I have been seeing Pixi Beauty everywhere lately and after following them on Instagram I fell completely in love, so you can imagine my excitement when they offered to send me some of their products. For my first Pixi review I thought I'd start with these gorgeous mists, when I opened them I did a little (okay a massive) happy dance! I'm pretty new to face mists and if you've been following me for a while you will know that I'm a nightmare when it comes to skincare and having a routine. The 4 mists Pixi released cover pretty much everything from setting your makeup, to hydrating your skin, to giving you a glow and to helping your skin look happier and more awake, so here is what I thought of them!



Makeup Fixing Mist

This is hands down my favourite one, I use it religiously. It's infused with rose water and green tea and smells absolutely gorgeous. I know some people aren't a fan of rose water scents but personally I absolutely adore the smell and think this product works perfectly. I use it every day to set my makeup and it's been a complete life saver at prolonging my foundation wear, especially in the hot weather!

Glow Mist

This one is perfect for Summer and anyone who loves a nice dewy look to their makeup. Personally I'm not a massive fan of dewy skin but on days I quite fancy it I love using this and it's a must have if that's your thing.
Vitamin Wakeup Mist

I've always suffered from quite tired and dead looking skin so you can only imagine how much I appreciate this one, it instantly brightens up my skin and helps it look alive. I love to use this both in the morning to make me feel more awake and to make my skin feel less.. eugh, and before my makeup just to add a little extra something.

Hydrating Milky Mist

This is the one I reach for least but I still do love it, if you ever need a burst of hydration this mist has your name written all over it. It really moisturises your skin and leaves it feeling so lovely and soft. 



There's nothing really to complain about when it comes to these, they all do as they say they do and can we just at how cute the packaging for them all are?! They look AMAZING sitting on my dressing table and the makeup fixing mist has secured itself a place in my everyday makeup bag. Have you tried makeup mists, or even better yet Pixi mists? Be sure to let me know down in the comments and if anyone has any Pixi products to recommend I'd love to hear them! Make sure to go follow me on bloglovin HERE, I've received various Pixi PR packages as of late and will deffo be sharing some more of their products soon.

Isabelle
xxx


*This post contains PR samples but all opinions are my own.



Blackpool Day Trip

Tuesday 14 May 2019

Last year I went on a family holiday to The Lake District. After a long drive we arrived in what quickly become one of my favorite places maybe ever. I'm not going to go on about that too much in this post as I'm doing a separate post of my photographs from up there, but during our trip up North we made a day trip to Blackpool too, it was only about an hour and a half from The Lake District and in the warmth was a really nice trip out. 




We went up to the Blackpool Tower, it had AMAZING views and was just breath taking, but my fear of heights had to be a bit annoying. The glass floor up there was so cool but it took me about 15 minutes to even put one foot on there, kids were doing better than I was! I was a bit of a laughing stock but really, can you blame me?

I also managed to drag my Mum to Blackpool Dungeons. I've been to the London Dungeons before when I was little and loved it, so I had to try the one up there too while we were in Blackpool. It was a great experience, had so many funny moments and even freaked me out a little! One part we had to all sit in these seats in the pitch black with sounds and etc, it didn't really scare me like that but then all of a sudden the back of our seats dropped and I literally almost wet myself. I grabbed the hand of the woman next to me by accident with a proper grip, luckily she found it hilarious! Talk about embarrassing though.




Overall I really loved the day trip out, it was a last minute thing but I'd always wanted to visit Blackpool so it was nice to finally do that. There was so much to do and the Weather was definitely on our side. I'd love to go again some time, I just live so far away so it's not exactly easy. What are your favourite places to visit? I'll be uploading my post from the actual Lake District itself soon, I just have so much to put in it because I really loved it up there. 

Isabelle
xxx

What Does Love Mean to You?

Thursday 2 May 2019

Everyone has different versions of what love should be or what kind of love they want in their lives. Some settle for less, some aim for more, we all have different ways we want to feel loved and different ways we like to express our love. This post is going to be about what love means to me, it's a different kind of post to what I normally do but I feel like I've got too comfortable in my comfort zone and I need to branch out, so here it is.


Love is something you feel in every part of you, it's knowing that no matter what happens you have someone you know you can always count on. It motivates you, inspires you, makes you want to do or be better. It's being able to call that person at stupid times if you're in desperate need and knowing they will be there for you, knowing that they won't judge you and will accept you no matter what. It's having a hand to hold when life gets hard and knowing they won't let you go. Love isn't easy, it's not all gooey romantic comedy stuff. Love is arguments and tears, but it's also sticking together no matter what gets thrown at you. It's making it work regardless of the trials and tribulations. It's communication. Being able to talk to that person about anything and everything without being scared of what they'll say and without fear of being judged. It's them taking your thoughts and feelings into account because they think of you as one and not as separate. It's about feeling secure in that person rather than constantly worrying about what they're doing or where they're going. It's feeling so comfortable with that person that you can do the weirdest things but they won't think any differently of you. Love is being able to see that person happily and comfortably in your future, it's when everything you want or think about doing one day also involves that person too. Love isn't being selfish, it's sometimes having to do things you wouldn't normally do for that person, it's sacrifices, it's selfless and it's the best feeling in the world.

I was slightly worried about this post because I didn't want to seem super soppy, plus the last time I mentioned relationships on this blog it was a post about being single, and now I've been with my boyfriend for 7 months (the boy deserves a medal if I'm completely honest). I went so long without posting on here and I'm quite disappointed in myself for that, but I'm back with a new style and plenty of ideas. If you enjoyed this post I'd love to know what love means to you! Any tweets or messages with what it means to you would be so nice, even a blog response if people still do those nowadays! I'd love to hear more opinions so be sure to let me know.

Isabelle
xxx

Some Missguided Lovin

Wednesday 1 May 2019

Like most other girls I can't help but love Missguided. Their Bluewater store isn't massively far from me and I love going there and seeing what they have in store. On a recent trip to Bluewater I thought I'd pop in and have a nose and was not disappointed with the range of styles they have in there for Summer. I took as many clothes into the changing rooms as I could physically carry and tried on a few outfits, and today I thought I'd show you my favourite. 




I am OBSESSING over this teal bodysuit, if you follow me on social media you will know I'm a massive fan of bodysuits, but not only that, I think the colour of this is just gorgeous. It goes so well with this white skort which is so convenient, I prefer skorts to skirts and shorts nowadays just because I feel so much more comfortable in them. Do you love Missguided? Where's your favourite place to shop? Be sure to let me know!



Isabelle
xxx


I Saw It First Wishlist

Sunday 28 April 2019

Wishlists are something I don't understand why I've never done. If there is anything I'm good at it's wishing I had things I don't (the perks of living the poor life). I spend a fair bit of time going through clothing websites just adding things to my wishlist even though I know perfectly well that I'm never going to be able to afford them, judge away, but it's just nice to dream. I spend way more time than I care to admit doing this but I know for a fact that it's a thing a lot of other girls tend to do too. I thought since I'm trying to post more fashion related posts on this blog (if you follow my instagram you will notice it's entirely fashion and style now), a wishlist would be an easy way to start transitioning into more of these style posts. So here I present to you, a wishlist for one of my favourite shops right now I Saw It First.



I'm only doing six items because I didn't want to overload this post, so I went through my wish list and picked the top 6 items that I most desperately wanted. Who wants to place bets on whether I'll ever actually get to own any of them? Starting off with these three, I love this Pinstripe Blazer Playsuit. It's so different to something I'd normally wear but I think it looks so classic, also I think playsuits are just so convenient. They also have it in a Nude colour but I just think the darker one looks so much nicer. Next up we have this Red Tartan Mini Skirt, I'm loving skirts like these lately and I Saw It First have a great selection of them on their website, I'm just a sucker for red so naturally I was drawn to this one. Lastly here we have this Grey Check Overcoat, it's a blazer style which is why I think I love it so much, I happen to be completely obsessed with blazers lately. I like the colour and I think this would be nice for date night's to slightly dress down your outfit, I've already imagined so many outfits with this coat in my head.


The final three, I think this White Lace Dress is so pretty. It's not something you can wear often as it is very dressy but it'd be really nice for dinner or drinks or if you're going somewhere nice. I'm not sure if it's the kind of dress that would suit me but I'd be willing to give it a go. Secondly we have these High Waisted Shorts which are perfect as we go into the Summer season, which should hopefully happen soon if the weather decides to get it's ass in gear and keep up the hot weather for more than a few days. Last of all we have this Khaki Shirt Dress, it may not be the most summery colour but they do happen to have about 10 different colours, this one just happens to be my favourite. I think this dress is so flattering and versatile, it can be worn both dressed up and dressed down and in so many different ways.

I thought I'd leave it there but I'm definitely interested in doing another wishlist in the future. If you're interested in following my fashion instagram be sure to go find it HERE. I've got a few new posts planned so be sure to watch this space for more posts soon. 

Isabelle
xxx



Finding Affordable Broadband

Thursday 28 March 2019

In this day and age the internet is everywhere, it plays such an important part in most peoples lives. As a blogger it definitely plays a huge part in mine, I couldn’t do what I do without it so it’s safe to say that I spend a fairly large portion of my time using it. Where I use the internet so much, finding broadband that is adequate to my needs has been a bit of a struggle, especially when it comes to finding it at a reasonable price. I tend to use a ton of apps and programmes all at once so fast internet speed is a necessity to help me get everything done. Waiting around for web pages or images to upload can be a nightmare sometimes and is very frustrating for not only myself, but many others.



We’ve all been there, you’ve seen a really good deal online and you think “is it worth it though? Is it too good to be true?”. We live in an era of YouTube and Netflix, we constantly stream content and we expect it instantaneously. We don’t want to wait forever for a video to buffer or an app to download, we want it now and we want it cheap. Unfortunately, most of the time what we want isn’t as easy to get as we wish it was. There are loads of  companies out there that tie you in to a long contract, with the promise of receiving super fast internet alongside good rates, next thing you know six months later they’ve doubled the price and now you’re stuck with them. To avoid this you really have two options, you can spend hours reading through pages and pages of confusing jargon (which just causes more stress) or you can use a trusted comparison site. There are plenty of good broadband deals scattered over the internet, but finding them is never that easy. You've got to know what you're looking for though, if you want speed, you want Fibre. It's so much faster than standard internet and most of the time it's not too much more expensive. Be careful though, just because it says you can get fibre it doesn't mean that it's gauranteed to be faster, check what speeds are available in your area; Fibre can range from 30mbps to 264mbps, it all depends on how good the connection is in your area, so use an online speed checker before you tie yourself in to a contract!

Not only does using a comparison site save you a lot of time and effort, it can also reduce a lot of your confusion as to which deal suits your needs best and does so within your budget. No one wants to pay more than they have to for what they want, and why should they, so having them all easily explained to you in one place just makes it so much easier to find a deal that suits you. So if you’re looking for an easy and quick way to find broadband deals, a comparison site will always be the best option to go for, after all, who doesn’t like making their own life that little bit easier?

What To Do When The World's Against You.

Wednesday 27 February 2019

I'm sure we all know the feeling of when you just can't help but think the world and everyone in it is completely against you, it's a natural human thought we will all have a few times in our lives. However some people will feel it a lot more than others and it can really get you down if you let it take over your mindset too much which is a straight up cause for trouble. I mean I know perfectly well that the world isn't against me and it's all just in my imagination, but when everything you could possibly think of is going wrong it can definitely get you down and make you feel like everything isn't worth it, and right now I know this feeling too well. I don't want to feel like I do, no one does, so today I thought I'd share a few ways to help you out when you're feeling like this, but remember that you aren't alone.


Sometimes giving up feels like a good idea. Sometimes loads of small things can go wrong but once you add everything up into one it creates a much bigger picture, and not exactly a positive one at that. I'm not going to share every puzzle piece that goes on in my life because not only is it personal but there's no point, this is a common feeling and everyone has their own reasons as to why they feel the way that they do, so my job here is to help you overcome it just like i'm trying to. 

Take care of yourself. This is hands down the most important thing I could possibly think of, it may seem like nothing but it really is so vital. Make sure you're getting enough sleep at night (around 8 hours is recommended), and I don't mean going to bed at weird times and waking up in the middle of the afternoon, try to sleep at a reasonable time so you can wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. I know it's hard but trust me it's so worth it! Get enough exercise, eat healthily to a certain extent (trust me I'm not making you give up pizza or ice cream here don't worry, but just don't go too over the top with it!) They may seem so small and pointless but they really aren't, taking care of yourself and your body is key. Drink more water, do something you love whether it's watching a certain TV show, reading a book or seeing someone that makes you happy, just do things you enjoy and that you love to do and try to realise that self care is so so so important!

There's a quote that I've recently remembered by the one and only Winston Churchill - "If you're going through hell, keep going" and I feel like we could all learn something from it! When life gets tough it's easy to give up, I mean sometimes I feel like i'm just constantly trying and never getting anywhere and it's really off putting, I have moments when I just think I give up. I'm done, What's the point? If i'm never getting anywhere and just walking into the same old wall every time then really what is the damn point? But at the end of the day what is giving up going to do? I know it feels like keeping going isn't working but what are you going to get out of giving up? Okay yeah I'll admit it's the easiest and less painful option but it's the wrong one. No one said life was easy and I'm sure by now we all know it isn't, but giving up is never the answer. I live by this quote now and I think about it every single day when I want to give up (so a daily basis hah) but it really does help. One day all of these bad things will be over and all of the good stuff will feel so much better and you'll be thankful that you carried on trying, even if it felt like hell.

I know this was kind of short but do these things and I promise you that you will feel better, I know these won't take all of your problems away but they may be able to help you realise that the world isn't against you, there's no such thing. Moving on, I'm not far off 1.6k on bloglovin, so if you're interested in seeing my upcoming posts then be sure to follow me HERE! Soon I'll be adding a bit more variety to this blog with some beauty and fashion posts, along with some book reviews and etc, so be sure to look out for them. This will still be a lifestyle based place don't worry, but every now and then I think it'd be fun to mix it up a bit and throw in some other styled posts. Tweet me letting me know what you think because I'd love to hear your thoughts and don't forget to comment down below! Do you ever feel like the world's against you? How do you get through it? It'd be super interesting to read though anyones comments on this subject and to see if anyone has any advice they can add!

Isabelle
xxx