Review; Fifty Shades Negligee & Underwear

I've been totally in love with the Fifty Shades collection since reading the books - I've turned into a bit of a fan girl if I'm honest! I have 2 mugs, one being the official 'Laters Baby' mug which is amazing and another which was a gift from my lovely friend. However, a friend suggested to me that I look at the collection which is being sold in Tesco - and I'm so glad I did!! I actually had a voucher from Tesco too for clothes, so I happily went and spent it on these beauties!

Satin Chemise

On my initial scroll through to decide what I might get, I saw these and fell in love! Two of my favourite things ever; satin and beautiful negligee! I love the simplicity and elegance of these and as soon as I tried them on, I didn't want to take them off! They come in two colours Duck Egg Blue and Black.

On the centre of the bust on each chemise is a little bow with the Fifty Shades Freed key; I think this is a really lovely touch and adds a tiny amount of glitz to the overall beautiful item! On the hem of the bust is stunning scallop edge lace, and the straps on the garment are adjustable - perfect to help the ladies sit nice and comfortably! The garment sits about thigh length, although I'd recommend if bending down or over to cover yourself - it can be a little revealing! The feel of the item, is a super soft stretchy satin and is really comfortable to wear at night.

I got mine in a size 18-20 and the fit is definitely comfortable - as said above the material is a little stretchy to help accomodate.

Black Satin Chemise - £19.50
Duck Egg Satin Chemise - £19.50

Kimono

The next item is the Satin Trimmed Kimono robe - when first putting this on, I was a little confused as I wasn't sure how kimono's work but soon figured it out. The robe itself is a beautiful soft cotton with the trim of the gown in a satin ribbon - a lovely elegant touch.

I got mine in a size 18-20 - however I do feel this is actually quite big on me when not tied up extremely tight (like the image). On the back of the neck, and on the end of the belt ribbon you have the Fifty Shades Darker emblem sewn on - again another really nice touch to the garment.

The garment sits about thigh length, and again be warned when bending over - although you don't do much bending in bed, only when you get up in the morning. This is a really cosy and comfortable item, and I can't wait for the really cold days to wear this and cuddle up in it! This is perfect for the elegant yet sexy look, and is perfect for not revealing too much but still enough to tease (I like to tease!).

Black Satin Trimmed Kimono - £19.50

Anastaisa Pleated Balcony Bra and Pleated Briefs

So I was totally drawn in by the Anastatsia set. I love the pleated ribbon design (pleated designs are definitely my weakness). Now my actual bra size is a 44DD, but recently, I've being losing weight and getting fit, so toning up and my body proportions are out of control at the moment. So I tried "sister sizes" which kind of worked. I got the bra in a 38E and if I'm honest, all I need is a bra extension clip and its pretty much a really comfy fit! The bra is underwired and has padded cups; the cup holds the ladies well and give me support and lift (which if I'm honest, I was surprised it did!). The pleated duck egg ribbon goes up on the straps, and over the cup and with a little bow and key charm in the centre of the bra and bows on the end of the straps which attach to the cup. 

Looking at the knickers, I got the high briefs, as I don't wear thongs that often and these are really comfy. I got these in a size 22 and fit perfectly. The back is a sheer black mesh material (very cheeky) and is really comfy. The front of the knickers have the signature bow and key charm as do most of the other items.

These are really really comfortable - and wore them for a whole 12 hours without feeling uncomfy at all - the bra gave me enough support just as much when I wear my actual bra size. This set is really elegant and charming. Its reserved but shows enough, which in the book is a good representation of Ana. The Anastasia set comes in either Black with Duck Egg Blue ribbon or White with Grey Ribbon.

Black Anastasia Pleated Balcony Bra - £19.50
White Anastasia Pleated Underwired Bra - £19.50
Black Anastasia Pleated High Briefs - £9.50
White Anastasia Pleated High Briefs - £9.50

Elena Lace Brazillian Briefs 

On the Elena Lace Brazillian Briefs the whole of the back is a sheer elegant yet risqué eyelash lace which has a comfortable cut along the bottom. The front has a panel with a golden pink back, covered in lace. The modesty panel, is a satin material on the outside and a cotton on the inside. The briefs has a low cut on them, which I'm normally not a huge fan of as these can be uncomfortable and roll down if you aren't gifted with a flat stomach like myself - however for me they did stay up very comfortably and I didn't feel uncomfortable with the lace either. As on the majority of the other items, we have the signature both and key charm - I definitely like the re occurrence of the charm as its just a lovely little detail.

I got these knickers in a 22, and are a perfect fit.

Elena Lace Brazilian Briefs - £9.50

Laters Baby Eye Mask

I really love the simplicity of this eye mask, I love the duck egg colour and the sewn lettering of Christian's famous phrase 'Laters Baby x'. This has a soft ruched ribbon going round the back of the head and has an elastic too. The mask is a satin material with a soft cushioning over the eyes and is very comfortable to sleep in; it does what it says on the tin really and blocks out light. I hate having light in rooms, I have to sleep in pitch black, and unlike other eye masks which do let light in, these don't at all & they are comfortable!

Duck Egg 'Laters Baby' Eye Mask - £5.00
(Unable to find link currently)

Overall I really loved these products! They were comfortable yet made me feel sexy, which is something I feel I've been lacking in lately these past few months! I don't think its even possible for me to pick a favourite, I love them all way too much to describe!

The collection is affordable too, which is something I really like. Sometimes I feel things can be overpriced but these haven't, so big thumbs up for that! The collection is also simple, and not "too over the top" I think it could've gone either way of really elegant, simple yet successful OR it could've been done badly, tacky and be a disaster. I'm just glad its the first one!

I know there are releases of other products such as nail varnish by OPI in January, so keep a look out for other products if you love Fifty Shades!

Emma Victoria

xoxox

Summer Shopping Haul!!

I promised you I'd do a haul! And here it is!! I have been super busy lately with party planning, building furniture for my room and work, that I have had to do all my shopping on-line. Never the less all the things I have bought are absolutely beautiful, and I have my mum to thank for introducing me to SimplyBe. 
Okay, so first of all, SimplyBe is a clothing company that caters for the non size 0 people of the community like myself! (They sell from sizes 14-32!) I am in fact Size 14-16 in SimplyBe (size 16 depending on the cut of the clothing around my bust area!).

So lets start with the beautiful clothes I bought! All the clothes this haul are from SimplyBe as mentioned above! I absolutely loved the Joe Brown range, it was so retro, and I just had to buy something! So lets start with my new denim gilet!

I absolutely adore this waistcoat/gilet! Its the perfect accessory to any outfit, whether its a dress or a pair of short/trousers and a cute tee! 
On the image on the left you can see the frayed detail on the arm hole. The colour of this jacket is a denim wash, and its the comfiest denim gilet in the world! This item is perfect if you are trying to achieve a rock chic/festival sort of look! This is even more perfect if you have  problems with finding these jackets to fit over your bust, this has a stretchy material so it is easy to fit over your chest and to button this up! You can wear this unbuttoned or buttoned up and you will achieve the perfect rock chic look! You can buy this for a nice round price of £30, this gilet will last you a while and it wont be part of the 5 minute fashion fad!

The next item is the Joe Browns Legacy Print Dress, now this item didn't actually look how I expected it to look when it arrived; in the catalogue it showed a pale purple (like the image on the right) but when the dress arrived it was a much more deep purple, however I was still very much in love with this dress! This has a sweetheart neckline which gives you a lovely cleavage, this dress also has a ruched area on the bust by the neckline, which also has buttons (however these cannot be undone). this dress pulls in at the waist perfectly, giving you a stunning figure. The skirt on this dress has a dipped hem, and is perfect to wear with a white flowy cardigan and a pair of wedges for a cute summer look. At the back of the dress, it also has a ruched area on the back, to pull in the dress to extend your stunning curvy figure! I bought the legacy print dress for £38.

The next item is the gorgeous Joe Browns Meadow Swing Dress, this out of all the items has to be my favourite!! I am a sucker for floral swing dresses, and if I could afford every single one I probably would buy them all, sadly I am not that rich... yet! Moving on, this dress has a mustard yellow sort of colour in person but always comes out brighter in pictures! The flowers on this are different shades or pinks and the green is a deep green. This dress is a dream to wear, it has a small slip skirt underneath the material, so another extra little bonus there! There is no zips or buttons on this dress and it has a stretchy waist so if you have any concerns about the dress fitting, may your worries be taken away! I bought this beautiful dress for £45 but it is worth every single penny, the quality of the dress is amazing, and this product washes really well, and also super easy to iron as well, just needing a quick press on the skirt!

The last clothing item I bought was this lovely floral 'Pick of the Season' tunic dress. You can wear this as a casual sort of dress or for a special occasion  it fits lovely to your figure, pulling in at the waist. This dress has a scoop neckline, and is made of a light material so its perfect for hot weather! (Not like we get much hot weather in the UK!) You can buy this dress in Red or French Blue. I bought this little beauty for £38 and I adore wearing this little number with a cardigan and some cute little flat pumps!

Now onto the accessories bit! This is always my favourite bit, adding to an outfit! So lets begin with the lovely pair of cat eye sunglasses I bought from the kitsch Bow and Crossbones...






I bought these lovely 'Trixie Pin-Up Rounded Cats' Eye' Sunglasses for a lovely £8. I bought these in white, because I already have a black pair of Cats Eye sunglasses. This pair are super sturdy and are the perfect accessory for the sun or to just prop on your head to finish off a hair do! The lenses are a deep shade or black/purple and work really well with all my Swing Dress'! 

The next is this lovely mini Tote Bag (Woodland), again from Bow and Crossbones; I bought this in the clearance sale. I bought this for £1.50. I like to call this my mini Bambi Bag! I love the design on this and the handles are really sturdy when carrying small but heavy items. With all my babysitting duties lately, I have had to work with a pram and a 3 year old to go shopping, and yes its not easy! But I always get the little 3 year old involved in shopping but getting her to put things in her bag, and when we get to the checkout we empty out and see what she's got! Such a fun little game, and a handy little tote bag! Highly recommend this little bag, cheap, cheerful and super retro!

These are my new favourite shoes! You would've have seen these in my OOTW this week! I bought these amazingly comfy and stylish summer wedges for £18! I never tend to buy shoes from shops such as New Look, Peacocks etc because I like to buy my shoes from the shoe shops! However, these are an absolute exception, I've been looking for a pair of black wedges for a while as my white pair don't tend to go with all my outfits! I was a bit dubious with the height of these as I like low heels instead of higher ones, but these are so comfy! I can wear these for hours and have no pain in my feet at all! These are very much styled like flatforms except with a super small arch! So easy to walk in, and this is someone who walks in small heels instead of high ones! The black material is made of suede and has a cap for your heel at the back and an ankle strap to make sure they stay on your foot, especially if you go and do some dancing! 

I bought these lovely photo frames from a lovely little shop in my local town called 'Emma Louise' now she sells Sass & Belle products, which these are, in that shop I paid £5.95 each, but you can buy these Oval Portrait Picture frames for £4.95 each from the Sass & Belle website! I didn't mind paying that little extra cause the lady in the shop is the absolute sweetest woman in the world! I have pictures of me and my 2 friends who mean a lot to me in these frames on my windowsill! 

I also bought this lovely little Cream Rose Heart Wreath, which is also from Sass & Belle. I bought this for £3.95 from Emma Louise, but you can buy this also from the Sass & Belle Website for £4.95. This so cute and sweet!

The last item I bought was this retro 'Make Chocolate Cake, Not War' coaster for my bedroom, I'm going to buy one of these each month for my room, as they have a selection of many different ones! I fell in love with this one, because lately I have been doing so much baking of cakes and breads and all that, that I thought this would be perfect! I love the colour and the simplicity of this lovely little retro coaster, and for only a £1 from Bow and Crossbones! 




So that rounds up my huge haul which I've been promising you for a while! I shall hopefully be blogging more and I have some new ideas to blog you with! Hope you enjoyed this post, sorry its a tad long!

Much Love & Well Wishes

Emma Victoria

xoxo

The 'Must Haves' and The 'Never Again's' - January 2013

Hello Again! Its been a while hasn't it?! 

Well I know I'm 8 days late (my bad!) but I am now going to do my monthly products which I have bought this month and either love or hate! (Bare in mind my spelling may be terrible as I have just got home from doing a night shift at work!) Now I hate being a negative nelly but sometimes there is a product we have, and lets face it we all have at least one, that we would never buy or use again! Now as a side note, I would like to add that January for me as a beauty month has mainly been about hair styling so just be warned! 

Must Haves!

1.  BaByliss Pro-Curl Curling Tongs.

Now I have become very bored with my straight hair with the ends deciding they want to flick out making me look like Miss Hoolie from Balamory, so I decided I would finally purchase some curling tongs after I had been using my mum's old curling tongs she had from the 1980's! (Which were just a cheap pair, but have lasted so long until the ceramic finally started to wear!) Now these arrived on the 26th January and I've only just got round to using them as I have been so super busy at work!  And the results made me so happy; I acheived the big bouncy flawless curls I had desired and much more! I bought these from a friend who decided she didn't need them after cutting her hair very short and sold me them for £5.00 but you lovely lot can buy these for £18.49 in Boots. In the images below is my hair after I curled it this morning!

The curls have a good bounce and last for ages without becoming flat. Now I usually add the Tresemmé Professional Firm Hold Hairspray but I decided for once I wouldn't and see how long my curls would last. Right now they are still bouncy and full of curly life! (Shown in the image on the left!). 




2. Peacocks Hair Bun 'Donut'


Now I know I am seriously late with this craze but hey, I like doing things late! But I saw this in the sale section in the clothing shop Peacock's. Now I have a lovely friend who works in Peacocks and actually went into the store room to see if there was any blonde ones left... and to my luck THERE WAS! Now I got this for the super cheap price of 99p but you can buy these from Boots or Superdrug from around £1.99-£3.99 in either Blonde, Black or Brown, depending on your hair colour! I got a small blonde donut because my hair is still only shoulder length (sigh...) but I will purchase a new one once my hair has grown to a sufficient length! 

3. No.7 Day and Night Moisturising Creams (test pots)

I bought these as tester pots as part of my huge Boots Haul from the No.7 Stand. Now when it comes to Moisturisers I am very fussy! My skin is very sensitive so I can easily come up in a rash when using these products! I started using these about 3 weeks ago now and I adore them, I will definitely be purchasing these again in the future! These make your skin feel very silk like and I usually put these on after I have done my spot treatments on, which usually tend to make your skin feel taut and dry, but these make your skin silky and refreshed... No.7 you've done it again! You can purchase these from Boots; The Day Cream costs £9.00 and The Night Cream costs just a tad more at £9.95! Seriously Girls, these are fantastic on your skin, definitely worth it!

4. Mavala Nail Polish

Now I am a huge fan of the Mavala Nail Polishes. You can buy these in Lloyds Pharmacy for about £3-£4... Even though they are dearer then some other nail polishes, the finish and feel of these are just fabulous! I currently have these in 71 La Paz (Hot Pink), 153 Lagoon (a greeny-blue colour) and in Touch of Provence (Lilac). The consistency of the nail polish appears very thick, but once applied onto your nails becomes very thin, I usually apply about 3-4 layers depending if I am putting anything on top of my nails, then I usually only apply 3 coats. I currently use my Lagoon polish with my Barry M Aqua Glitter Polish as they work so perfectly together! I can usually wear these nail polishes for around 2 weeks without even chipping them! You get a high gloss finish to make your nails just perfect! 

5. Victoria Jackson Make-Up Set

I bought this absolutely amazing make-up set when I went up to Westfield in London back in January! They had a small little stand in the train station and I just had to have a little nosey, and I am so glad I did! This make-up is high quality and just feels so light on your skin! In my set which I got for £50.00 was a VJ Mascara, VJ Terra Glow Bronzing Powder, VJ 24/7 Makeover Portfolio Sunrise & Sunset Colour Kit, a VJ Blush Brush and a little Beauty Tips booklet! I use the mascara every single day and I need to purchase some more very very soon! The mascara doesn't cause your eyelashes to clump if you put more mascara on! The eyelashes are equally feathered out and also make your eye lashes actually look longer! The booklet taught me so many tips that I never even knew myself! If you need any tips, even on how to apply your blusher then this booklet has it all; it has 5 little sections which include the eyes, foundation eyebrows blush and lips. The bronzing powder is a warm golden colour, nothing to make me look orange either! Sometimes when I buy bronzing products, they make me look like an oompa loompa, and that's even when I buy the lightest colour! 
In the colour kit pods you get a tri-colour of eyeshadows, 2 blush's (one which is your skintone which is the day perfecting blush - in the day kit; the other is for adding colour to your cheeks) and 2 lip gloss swatches. Happy is an understatement! These are the perfect size to fit in your handbag too! If you want to find out more products then please have a look at the Victoria Jackson website; www.vmakeup.com/ 

6. Simple Cleansing Make-Up Wipes

Every person should own some of these amazing wipes! Now, I am probably over-hyping a very simple and typical product, but, I adore Simple cosmetics! I have never had a bad experience with any of their products! They make your skin feel lovely even after you have had make-up on all day! Your skin feels refreshed and vibrant! You get 25 wipes in a pack, but I always buy these in a bulk! You can buy them at any drug store or even supermarkets in the health and beauty section! I buy mine in Morrisons for £1.99, join me in some Simple lovelyness!!

Not Sure Yet!

BaByliss Thermo-Ceramic Rollers

Okay, so as you may know I have begun to get very bored of my straight blonde locks and decided I want to add some waves and curls in without permanently damaging my hair by getting is permed! So I went into Boots (again during my haul!) and found these bad boys! I bought these for £29.99 and got a 'Stay Set' lotion free with it! I used these rollers, as advised on damp hair, (not wet!) now bare in mind I have never used rollers before let alone heated rollers, my mum said it was easy as she used them a lot when she was younger, so I thought the hell of it I'll have a go! Now, I have only used this once, and I did exactly what the little booklet said I should do, the results for me, were personally very disappointing. I used all the rollers in my hair, not putting too much into one roller either and throughout my whole hair only got 2 full curls. These just made my hair flick out at the end with a small twists, no 'bouncy and flawless curls' here. I adore BaByliss products, and I definitely wont give up on these until I'm happy or know I will never achieve anything from these (please comment below if you have these and your experiences with any rollers/heated rollers and your tips for little old me!). The battle has not been won yet heated rollers!

Never Agains!

1. Stay Set Setting Lotion

Okay, so I got this product for free when I bought my BaByliss Rollers from Boots, and I'm sad to say this product has caused me absolute hell! I will never ever purchase this again! Okay, I put this in my hair the other week when plating my hair; I followed the directions and putting this on after I had washed my hair, my hair being damp then to wet the hair with this product... When I first put the product on, all I could smell was chemicals dripping out of my hair, and yes I know this is a chemically based product, however most companies try to hide that and give it a nice perfumed smell. After around 5 minutes and I had towel dried my hair, my head began to feel very itchy and my skin on my scalp, around the back of my neck, and on the hair line on my forehead. Now, I have taken photos, however I will not show them to you as they were honestly ghastly! However, I have now returned this product to Boots, and not too much of a loss to myself. Maybe I just had a bad experience, I'm not sure but I will definitely not buy this product again! If you wish to buy this you can buy this from Boots for around £2.29.

2. Batiste Dry Shampoo XXL Volume

I love Batiste's Dry Shampoo range, I think they are fantastic when you have to rush out the house and don't have time to wash your hair. However, I purchased the Batiste 'Big &Bouncy XXL Volume' shampoo and how I was disappointed. Batiste products I have used in the past, (and I hvae used about at least 4 different types of the range) have been amazing, they have made my hair feel refreshed, just like it had been washed and that it was full of life, it made my hair feel smooth and easy to brush through, no knots what-so-ever! But, with the XXL Volume, all my amazing experiences in the past were shadowed by this. I used a quick spray of this dry shampoo before dashing off to work. My hair was knotty, I couldn't easily brush my hair either. 'Big & Bouncy'? No, for me more like  'Knotty as Hell'. I was hugely upset with this product. Batiste is a hair product I use a lot of, especially with my crazy work life, and I have so much faith in their products and they usually make me very happy with the finished outcome. Another thing that annoyed me about this product is that it should give your hair 'volume' if anything my hair felt less volumized once I had used the product. My hair become flat, and as said before knotted. I will definitely be purchasing my blonde Batiste Dry Shampoo again, but the XXL Volume I shall not! Sorry Batiste! 

Product of the Month
Dove Body Wash

I love Dove as a company, and I love their advertising techniques for real beauty and real women (Dove Beauty Evolution Video and Dove Real Beauty) however I sadly regret and hate to say it but I had an allergic reaction to several Dove products I have used... facial creams, body wash, deodorants and many more. I love Dove and think they are outstanding, but for me I can't use their products, HOWEVER, I think you should all use a Dove product (only if you aren't allergic like me!) Dove are a company who think every and any women no matter what you look like is beautiful and honestly Dove have hit it on the nail! They send out the right message to every one across the world. Well Done Dove!!



And now we have come to the end! I am sorry that this is late, I have been super busy, but I will definitely get back on track with my blogging from now on! 

Much Love You Beauties

Emma Victoria
xoxo