Boho is back…

February 23, 2017February 23, 2017 | blueskygirlie

…but then it never went away!

I am a sucker for falling in love with things via my Instagram feed – to be honest its one of my favourite things about Instagram. Stylish people share their great finds with you, discoveries that you can then make your own. I’d seen an amazing blouse on a few different bloggers feeds and had assumed it was Isabel Marant or similar, and knowing that was completely out of my price range resigned myself to swooning over it from afar.

I couldn’t believe it when I tapped for a credit tag and found it it was from good old Marks and Spencer! M&S! I practically did a little dance!!!

The blouse is from the Indigo range at M&S and is a cream cotton Telcel with detailed embroidery and fringing. It is gathered under the bust so is a very flattering fit which hangs to your hips. The generous bell sleeves add to the peasant look but everything about this blouse screams designer when it is in fact, high street.

I wore mine with skinny jeans and heeled boots and felt the proportions were really flattering to my curvy frame. Size-wise it is true to size and I bought the UK size 12 which hangs really nicely.

The best bit about this blouse is the boho details. The detailing is REALLY good – a mix of colours with fringing detail to the front and it has a slight cut out detail to the back fastening.

This blouse would definitely be a great addition to your SS17 wardrobe – its a very wearable piece, is lovely quality and very flattering. My advice? Grab it now before it sells out!

Peasant blouse – Indigo at Marks & Spencer / £35 in store and online now

What does your Valentines Day look like?

February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 | blueskygirlie

It’s Valentines Day! Whether or not you celebrate it, love it or loathe it, are taken or single, it’s a great day to spoil yourself and make yourself feel good. It’s a day all about love – whether its the love for a partner, for your friends, your family but most importantly yourself – because you can’t love anyone properly unless youve learnt to love yourself! In todays blog I’ll show you my picks to help you do just that…

Mind blowing blow dry spray – Schwarzkopf Got2b
Red lingerie set – Peacocks
Vanity case – Primark
Heart earrings/Movie Night purse/Diamanté brooch – New Look
Rose Quartz Facial Oil – Skin Chemists*
Red Gazelle Trainers – Adidas
Je t’aime brooch – vintage
The Righteous Butter – Soap and Glory
Heart dish – Clintons
Harley Quinn mini-figure – Lego
Love Heart sweets – Swizzles Matlow

I love wearing nice underwear whatever the day and Valentines Day demands some red accents so why not your undies! This lace bra and knicker set (£15 from Peacocks) is sexy but still wearable – as a 43year old, DD cup size with a mummy tummy, Ann Summers style is just not going to work for me! Feeling confident is sexy, right? The Schwarzkopf Mind Blowing Spray is a new discovery for me and its amazing! It makes your hair dry so fast and makes straightening really easy. The ‘Be Mine’ heart dish (£10 from Clintons) is perfect to put my rings on at night and the Harley Quinn Lego minifigure (£4 from all good Lego retailers) is a little gift from my boyfriend who just loves Lego (and I love Harley). The heart earrings were from the New Look sale and look really cute on as do my red Adidas Gazelle trainers – I’ve wanted a pair for ages so treated myself in the January sales and by buying the kids version (they go up to UK 5.5) I saved a fortune! The Skin Chemists Rose Quartz facial oil (£24.99 from Skin Chemists) is still keeping my skin soft and radiant (for more info see my review of it here) and smells lovely…just the thing to make you feel great about yourself!

I do love a pretty accessory and the heart brooch is a vintage one and the diamanté wreath brooch is from New Look. Love Heart sweets are always cute to give your loved one and dont seem to of changed that much since I was a kid (apart from maybe a ‘text me’ one!). And this vanity case (£5 from Primark) is just adorable – perfect for if youre going away or just to store stuff in your bedroom or bathroom.

I love Soap & Glory products so The Righteous Butter is a constant buy for me – if you’ve never tried their products then I did definitely recommend you do. And finally I couldnt resist the Movie Night coin purse (£4.99 New Look) its small, but perfectly formed and the perfect size for your cinema tickets, some coins and a bank card.

But ultimately my Valentine Day looks like just being with the people I love. As its half term and I have the day off I will be lunching then having a Starbucks date with my 3 sons/stepsons in the day and then later on will share a romantic dinner with my boyfriend. We dont ‘do’ gifts, just give a Valentines Day card because for us its every day that matters, not just February 14th. But whatever you do, however big or small, enjoy the day.

PS I also wrote about how I hate the commercialism of the day here – have a look and let me know your thoughts!

During February Skin Chemists are having a Rose Quartz month with lots of promotional offers on the entire range. This product usually has a RRP of £99 but during February is reduced to £24.99 – to shop it click here. My followers can receive an additional 20% off by using the discount code BLUESKYBLOG making the product only £19.99! The code is valid until the end of February.

*I was gifted this product but all views stated are my own. For more information please see my disclaimer section.

The thing I fell in love with this week

February 11, 2017February 11, 2017 | blueskygirlie

L’Oreal Elvive Colour Protect Low Shampoo / £6.99

As someone with thick, quite curly hair, I am not a fan of overwashing my hair especially since it has been vibrantly coloured. When I saw an advert about ‘Low Shampooing’ which appeared to be a more gentle way to wash your hair, I was instantly interested in what that meant.

According to the advertising, ‘low shampoos’ are a gentle way to wash your hair in one simple step. These cleansing creams have a no foam or sulphate formula and both conditions hair while gently removing impurities therefore helping keep your colour strong. You use them in place of your existing haircare regime 1-2 times a week so would probably only work for you if youre willing to not wash your hair too frequently.

You then leave on for 3 mins (I just clipped my hair up) and then rinse off. It seems a bit odd with no foamy lather but I recently discovered via a top hairdresser that much of the foaming in normal shampoos doesn’t clean your hair at all, it just makes you think its cleaner! In fact the most common foamer found in shampoo is Soium Laureth Sulfate (SLS), a man-made chemical is often used to remove grease and oil from engines or floors! Whatever the specific chemical, all sulfates remove natural oils from your hair and scalp, which can lead to dryness, thinning or even loss of hair or allergic reactions.

With this product you don’t use a conditioner but can use the day cream as a leave in conditioner (also new and priced at £6.99) if you want – I used it as a protection cream as I blow dried my thick wavy hair which it can also be used for. I do like a multi-tasking beauty product!

I’m already a fan of the Colour Protect range and pretty much only use them now I’ve had my hair deeply coloured red. The new Low Shampoo is available in three different L’oreal range varieties:

• Colour Protect Low Shampoo – helps keep coloured hair feeling protected and looking beautiful (my pick)
• Extraordinary Oil Low Shampoo – for dry hair leaves hair soft, shiny and resilient
• Extraordinary Oil Curl Nourishment Low Shampoo – for curly/afro hair helps to leave hair feeling nourished.

I usually hate the look of my freshly washed hair. I will never wash my hair the same day/night as going out for example, but after washing my hair looked really good. It didn’t look as ‘fluffy’ as it usually looks with normal shampoos and conditioners. Time will tell on how vibrant my colour stays but unless my hair was very dirty I’m definitely now moving over to low shampooing regime a couple of times a week rather than the traditional wash/condition I was doing.

The range is available at all good chemists and supermarkets (I bought mine at Superdrug) and more information on the new products can be found here.

Skin Chemists Rose Quartz Age Defence Youth Facial Oil

February 1, 2017February 2, 2017 | blueskygirlie

When Skin Chemists got in touch and said they wanted to send me a different kind of Valentines gift I was intrigued. Now I’m not a big fan of Valentines Day (I blogged about it here) but I am a big fan of beauty products and last year was very impressed with the Skin Chemists Snail Serum I reviewed (see the non slimy results here) so was excited to find out what treat I would receive.

Skin Chemists’ idea is to gift (or self-gift) a rose-themed beauty product rather than a bouquet of roses this Valentines Day because lets be honest, however beautiful they can be, bouquets of roses at Valentines are such a waste of money. I personally would always rather have something that will last more than a few days and more importantly something I actually want. So I’m definitely ready to break with tradition this February, are you?

PS If you’re single and thinking “Urgh, great a blog about gifts for Valentines day” I think February is always a great month to buy yourself a few beauty treats regardless…its still a bit cold and miserable plus your skin is recovering from winter and needs all the TLC it can get. So embrace the self-gifting (I know I do!!!)

I tested the Rose Quartz Age Defence Youth Facial Oil* and according to Skin Chemists, the oil is infused with a blend of hydrating, nourishing and protecting actives. These provide essential vitamins and minerals for the skin to leave the complexion illuminated, hydrated and refined.

The main active ingredients in the formulation are:
1) Rose Otto Oil to help restore moisture balance in the skin. Its anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties aim to repair and protect the skin, whilst firming and toning.
2) Vitamin E to reduce skin damage, whilst protecting against daily damage.
3) Almond Oil to provide deep hydration and nourishment, brightening and renewing the appearance of the skin.

So does it do what it claims – to smooth, illuminate and refine…?

The first thing I noticed, from the first day I starting using it was how soft my skin felt afterwards. The oil itself is very light and doesn’t make your skin feel sticky or oily plus it smells divine! The rose oil ingredient creates a lovely light floral aroma that makes you feel great even on the most miserable of days. Plus I had no break-outs while using it and considering I used it quite liberally over my whole face I think thats great as the fact it was an oil did worry me a little before I started using it.

By week two I felt my skin was looking dewy and definitely had a healthy glow to it which I loved. I didn’t see a huge difference in my fine lines but to be honest I’m lucky as I dont have a lot and this would probably be more obvious after a longer usage time. It definitely felt luxurious to use though and I got into the habit to using it before bed and it made me feel quite pampered which was lovely. All in all I liked the product – it is easy to use with its pipette style dispenser, comes in premium glass packaging (plus a lovely bright pink box!), made my skin super soft to the touch and smells just lovely. Suitable for all skin types, I think the oil would be a lovely treat for your skin this February.

During February Skin Chemists are having a Rose Quartz month with lots of promotional offers on the entire range. This product usually has a RRP of £99 but during February is reduced to £24.99 – to shop it click here.
And it gets better! My followers can receive an additional 20% off by using the discount code BLUESKYBLOG making the product only £19.99! The code is valid until the end of February so now is the time to treat yourself (or get someone else to!)

*I was gifted this product but all views stated are my own. For more information please see my disclaimer section.