OUR MONTH ON INSTAGRAM: September

It's hard to believe that September has come to an end and that Autumn is fully on its way! This month has been another busy one for us, with S moving back to Cardiff and both starting our final year at University. The Rugby World Cup has also taken hold here with plenty of tourists around and adding to the overall buzz of the city which is great!
 Here's our month on Instagram:

With our theme of the month being Changing of Seasons, we blogged about our Autumn boot obsessions, gave a run-down of our Lush beauty haul and showed you some key beauty looks from the AW catwalk to be rocking this season. We were also crushing hard on all the amazing dresses worn to the VMAs and loved Lauren Conrad's runway show at NYFW.

September has also been the month of baking obsession for us - you'd have to be living under a rock to escape the Great British Bake Off here in the UK and we can't get enough of it! To curb our cravings, we visited Coffee Barker, which is a perfectly 'Instagrammable' place in itself, Waterloo Tea Gardens and reminisced on our trip to London. We also popped into Home by Kirsty, (which is just opposite Coffee Barker in Cardiff if you fancy a visit) and of course, wanted to buy everything.

What've you been up to this month?! 

S & K  xo

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CHANGING OF SEASONS: Autumn Runway Make Up Trends

Happy hump day everyone! 

Today marks the official first day of Autumn, so with that in mind, we decided to share our favourite A/W 15 make up trends taken inspiration straight from the runway for today's post. From statement lips to dramatic eyes we cannot wait to try these looks out this season. 

Statement Lip - Burberry

When we saw this statement lip look on the Burberry S/S 16 runway we were excited by the thought of experimenting with a darker lip colour over the colder months. In our eyes, Autumn and Winter months are the perfect times to don a berry lip. For this look Burberry used their 'Oxblood' lipstick, but for a high street duplicate, (and huge fans of this brand) we love this MAC lip colour in 'Diva'. As this colour lip is so on trend you'll be able to find lots of cheaper alternatives, like Rimmel's 'Starry Eyed'.

Burberry Kisses 'Oxblood' - £25

MAC 'Diva'- £15.50

Rimmel Lasting Finish 'Starry Eyed' - £4.99

Smoky Eye - DVF

We always find ourselves creating lighter make up looks during summer time and experimenting more with our make up during the Winter months. When we saw this make up look on DVF's A/W 15 runway show we had to include it. This bold smoky eye adds a dramatic feel to the otherwise minimal make up look, but you can create a more subtle look at home, depending on your style. The recently launched Urban Decay Smoky Palette would be perfect to create your smoky eye, with it's range of colours. A cheaper alternative would be the Collection Uncovered palette in grey as it has some earthy tones in there too (unfortunately this product is only UK based). 

Urban Decay Smoky Palette - £38.00

Collection Undercover Palette 3 (Nude Grey) - £3.99 

Long Lashes - Giambattista Valli

 Long, doll like lashes were seen at Giambattista Valli's A/W 15 show earlier this year. We love the natural simplicity of this look, with a nod to 60s chic (think Twiggy!) too. Use a lengthening mascara with several applications to create a full, long lash-line without having to fuss around with false lashes. This Estée Lauder 'Sumptuous Infinite' mascara offers both length and volume perfect to recreate this catwalk look, but for a drugstore price, the Maybelline Lash Sensational is the perfect dupe.

Estée Lauder Sumptuous Infinite Daring Mascara - £21.00

Maybelline Lash Sensational Multiplying Mascara - £7.99

Flushed Cheeks - Topshop Unique

Natural and 'outdoorsy' beauty was the inspiration behind Topshop Unique's A/W 15 catwalk look, with flushed cheeks and lips being the main attraction. With "handsome and well-bred" being the signature, creme blush was used dabbed onto the cheeks to create this rosy look. Beauty editor favourite, Topshop's own creme blush in 'Head Over Heels' would be perfect to recreate this look, but if creme blush isn't for you, try out this Rimmel Lasting finish blush in the dusky tone 'Pink Rose'.  

Topshop Creme Blush 'Head Over Heels' - £7.00

Rimmel Lasting Finish Mono Blush 'Pink Rose' - £3.99 

We hope this post gives you some inspiration for new season beauty trends - straight from the runway! What're your favourite looks for the colder months? Let us know!

S & K  xo

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CHANGING OF SEASONS: The Boot Edit

For this week's Changing of Seasons post, it's all about boots. We love making the most of the cooler weather in the upcoming seasons and transitioning our footwear to warmer and chunkier styles, so today we'll be showing you some of our favourites for this season.

S' Favourites

This post is very exciting for me as I'm in the process of buying this years winter boots - so I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me. This year I'm loving the brown shade boot trend that's circulating the high street. As well as that, I'm obsessed with ankle boots - they're so flattering for everyone! This year is also the year of thigh and over-the-knee boots. I'm still undecided whether this trend is for me so I've chosen to put in my favourite thigh-high boot in just in case.

1.  Heeled Knee-High Tie Back - Missguided 

2.  Scarlett KG Kurt Geiger - Kurt Geiger

3.  Tan Strap - New Look 

4.  Black Lohan Square Toe - Dorothy Perkins

K's Favourites

I love knee-high and over-the-knee boots for Autumn, but being a small girl with short legs, these aren't really possible for me! Instead, I always go for ankle boots, mixing it up with colour and comfort: chunky heeled boots for this time of year can really tie an outfit together and make a great substitute for heels if you're going out in the evening whilst being super comfy.

1.  Zip Detail - Oasis at ASOS
2.  Peeptoe Block Heel - New Look
3.  Cross Strap Side - New Look
4.  Magdalena Boot - Dr Martens

We hope we've inspired you with our favourite styles this season - what boots are you looking out for this Autumn? 

S & K  xo

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LUSH HAUL: New Products

As some of you know, last month we were invited to a blogger event at Lush Cardiff (read all about it here) and as well as having a browse at all the new season products, the girls at the store kindly gave us some of these to try out for ourselves. We also couldn't resist picking up a few of our favourites too! We couldn't not do a Lush haul, so read on to see what products we've been trying out these past few weeks!

Love And Light Hand Cream *
This super light hand cream is gorgeous, and so sweet-smelling with elements of citrus coming from the Brazilian orange and orange blossom used. This moisturiser sinks into the skin quickly, leaving your hands feeling smooth, but not greasy, and smelling lovely! K suffers a lot with dry hands during the colder months, so can't wait to keep testing it throughout the Winter.

 

The Experimenter Bath Bomb *

 After seeing the Experimenter in action in the store, we were so excited to have one given to us to try out for ourselves! The scent is sweet yet woody, with vanilla and smoky Vetivert oil as main ingredients. We loved the explosion of colour in our baths and the popping candy helped the bomb fizz around, leaving an amazing trail of colour behind it. It's also full of glitter, so you leave your bath not only with soft skin, but feeling like a princess!

King of Skin Body Butter

We've been hearing a lot of wonderful things about King of Skin for a long while now, so we took the opportunity whilst we were in Lush to ask more about it and try it before buying. After the we were given info about the product and tried it out for ourselves, we both decided to buy one. This body butter is essentially a bar that fits perfectly in your palm, making it so easy to use when in the shower! It is beautiful on the skin, it feels really nourishing - leaving your skin soft and hydrated. 

Salted Coconut Hand Scrub *
After trying this product in store, we both very nearly bought it ourselves. So S was thrilled to see it in her goodie bag! This scrub is the perfect product to soften your hands, as the sea salt is super cleansing. This product is the perfect softening treatment for your hands, helped by the use of natural oils: argan and extra virgin coconut. This hand scrub is also really quick and easy to use: you simply rub it onto your skin and rinse off!

Cup O' Coffee Exfoliating Mask

After hearing such great reviews online of this new mask, K couldn't wait to get her hands on it to try it out for herself. This scrub has surely lived up to the hype, with the ground coffee being the perfect exfoliating ingredient teamed with sweet-smelling vanilla (Fairtrade, of course) and organic Agave syrup - it smells just like a sweet fresh brew. Perfect to use on your face in the morning for a little pick-me-up, it leaves your skin feeling smooth and wakes you up in the process!

Don't Rain on My Parade Shower Gel *
This product has become a staple to our shower routine: the mix of blueberry, vanilla and violet leaf combined create the prefect juicy-smelling shower gel. We also find this product very invigorating and refreshing-we can't get enough of it! The sweet scent will last all day (which may cause you to occasionally sniff yourself: you have been warned) and has definitely become one of our favourite shower products.


(Items marked with an * indicate the products that we were given to us by Lush)


A huge thank you to Lush Cardiff for hosting and inviting us to their blogger event, giving us the chance to try out a few of the summer collection and being so helpful with showing us their new products. Pop into your local Lush to see what new goodies they have in store and let us know if you have any favourites: new or old! 


See you soon for another Changing Of Seasons post,

S & K  xo

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