Just Joanna

DUPE : Urban Decay Naked Palette Or W7 In The Buff Palette Neutral Eyes Palette

2014-01-09T16:52:00.000+00:00

(price now increased to £4.25 plus 50p delivery)

I was casually browsing on Amazon and this little gem popped up in the items you might like box , its the W7 In The Buff Neutral Eyes Palette . Its a blatant rip off of the Urban Decay Naked Palette , but who cares when it costs ONLY £4 with free delivery ! (price has since increased ). I haven't used it yet, but i just had to take a picture and show you now as i couldn't contain my excitement . There is a mixture of 11 shimmery and matte shadows , a double eneded brush and the tin is the same as the Naked 3 . My first impressions of the palette are that the packaging is great , selection of shadows great and I'm really eager to try this palette , I can't wait to report back to you all .

OOTD and a little ramble

2013-12-05T12:50:00.000+00:00

My new Jacket from Yours Clothing is amazing ! Super Stylish don't you think ? Have you spotted my new festive iPhone cover ? Its a friggin reindeer ! Primark £3 amaze balls :-)

Its gone a little quiet on the blog, I'm just not feeling the blog love right now. I am loving reading every ones blogs , but i just cannot find that blogging mojo. I guess I'm suffering from the every ones more stylish than me , every ones more pretty blah blah , I'm sure ill be posting again soon but for now it may go a little quiet . Ive never been the most regular of posters but i want to be , it just never happens !

I have joined up to a secret Santa Swap so that post will be coming in the next few weeks , really excited as I've never done any thing like this before.

I shall leave you with yesterdays outfit , a rather mismatched outfit with clashing prints , my coloured print scarf totally clashes with my patterned trousers , but who gives a jefff ! :-)

Large Yankee Candles £10

2013-11-27T09:56:00.002+00:00

If your looking for a bargain christmas present or even just a treat for yourself then a yankee candle is a perfect gift . I have stumbled across an utter bargain this morning , Yankee Large Candles for £10 , Meduim Jars £8.99 and two small jars £8.99

Click here and it will take you to the Yankee Bargains !!

I have ordered 6 Large candles this morning for xmas presenst complete bargains as the large candles are usually £20.99 ! Keep an eye on this website * as they have a Yankee Candle event every 2-3 weeks , last week i was lucky enough to snap up some Yankee christmas ornaments , and reed diffusers for less than half price!

I hope you grab a bargain x

OOTD - Scarlett & Jo

2013-11-21T19:44:00.000+00:00

Hey there , today id love to show you a lovely tunic dress from the lovelies at Scarlette & Jo.

The dress / tunic is really comfortable and a bargain at £35 . Ive kept it simple with this dress and added a statement necklace to jazz it up ready for a party.

This is my first ever item from Scarlett and Jo and I'm very impressed especially as the sizes are now extended up to a 32 , you can buy Scarlett & Jo at Evans.co.uk and In store at larger Evans stores.

Christmas Wist List - Joules

2013-11-21T13:43:00.001+00:00

It is that wonderful time of the year , when we start scribbling our mile long wish lists , in the hope that Santa will deliver these wonderful wishes upon us on Christmas day. Today i wanted to share a wish list made up of goodies from joules.

Joules range of duvet covers takes the top spot on my list soooo dreamy and would be perfect in my floral bedroom . I also want the obligatory Christmas bling and it has to have a little of my favourite colour purple . Everyone wants slippers for Christmas right ! I love to have toasty feet, and the tartan scarf is bang on trend and will keep me all snugly. Carrying on the theme of being snugly and warm this winter Joules range of quilted woman's jackets will keep you warm , I've never own a quilted jacket so it would be nice to try a new style coat for Xmas . Oh the handbag , a girl can never have enough handbags ...

The Christmas Tag

2013-11-10T10:56:00.000+00:00

Ive always wanted to do a tag post but never quiet found the right one for me until i stumbled across the Christmas tag from Lipgloss and Lashes , I can't think of a better first tag to do as i love Christmas !!! So here we go .

1. What is your favourite Christmas drink?

I am a loyal Costa girl , Starbucks has nothing on Costa (nah nah nah ) . Costa make the most amazing Black forest hot chocolate mmmmmm its like drinking pure heaven and it really does taste just like a black forest gateaux smothered with cream on the top with chocolate shavings and cherry sauce … Oh god i think i need it now !!

2. What is your favourite Christmas smell?

If i could some up Christmas in one smell it would be the Winter fragrance from The White Company the fragrance is made up of sweet cinnamon , clove and a dash of orange.

3. Do you have any Christmas traditions?

When I was little my parents gave us a chocolate box. This chocolate box was a old shoe box that they covered in Christmas wrapping paper and filled with fun sized chocolate bars with the obligatory golden coins ,mini Santa's and candy canes , this is a tradition i have carried down to my children .

4. What's the one thing you really want to get from Santa this Christmas?

I actually just bought my christmas present , it is a VivIenne Westwood frilly snake bag a present from my children , they have such good taste !

5. Have you ever built a gingerbread house?

No . Considering i have children this is terrible ! I will make it my mission this year to make a gingerbread house !

6. Who is your favourite person to buy presents for?

My nan , its hard as she wants for nothing , its so hard i usually cop out and buy her a cd or tin of biscuits !

7. What is your favourite Christmas song?

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey enough said .

9. What is the weirdest gift you have ever received?

A pink apron :-( It was the end of a beautiful friendship , it was such a thoughtless gift from a close friend. Its also a long story but we shall just leave it at the fact she bought me a apron !

10. Do you like to dress up for Christmas or stay in your PJ's?

This is tricky , if i had my own way we would all be in Christmas PJ's but for photo and visitor purposes we get dressed up in our Christmas jumpers !!! . Its a tradition i started last year we all had Xmas jumpers it was really fun , you don't have to spend much at all as prim ark have cheap jumpers for around £6 !

I hope you enjoyed the Christmas tag , please let me know if you do it too , thanks to lip gloss and lashes for the questions .

OOTD - ASOS Red and Black animal print dress

2013-11-08T12:40:00.001+00:00

Dress / ASOS

Jacket / Evans

Leggings / Asos

Booties / Evans

Last i night i attended the St. Davids Cardiff shopping event and this was my outfit of choice for the night. This Asos swing dress has done the rounds on plenty of plus size blogs over the last few months and i can see why as its a really comfy on trend dress , hides all lumps and bumps and has a trendy animal print. I added my new leather jacket from Evans to give the outfit a little edge i can't wait to wear this jacket more it was definitely worth the splurge ! I can see this becoming a favourite outfit over the winter months .

From Wales to London...

2013-11-02T15:45:00.000+00:00

On Wednesday i travelled down from the top of a mountain in wales to big ole London town ! I was lucky enough to be invited to an evening of goktails by the simply be team , and it was a lush night and the best part of the night was this happening ....

Fan girl moment ! Meeting Gok was an amazing opportunity i chit chatted with him , he gave me bra advice and yes he squeezed my bangers !

Unfortunately the lighting was crap and i only had my iPhone to take pictures boo hoo but here are some poor quality pictures of some amazing bloggers i got to hang out with xx

After a few hours my heels were killing me and i had to leave to find my travel Buddie and get my flat shoes as the heels of death ripped my feet apart ! once my feet were nice and comfy i found myself in a bar till the early hours of the morning playing connect 4 and ending up extremely worse for wear ! I am still having flash backs of ordering a kfc at 2am and falling asleep on the counter! Oh the shame but so fun !

I stayed in a beautiful hotel in Shepard's Bush called the W12 Rooms . I had a fabulous experience here check in was swift , a staff member took me to my room carrying my luggage , The room itself was a very high standard , immaculately clean with all mod cons and the bed was so comfy ! I am all ready planing my next stay here !

I had a lovely time in London and cant wait to go again soon, thank you to simply Be for inviting me and ill leave you with a picture of what i wore to meet Gok if in case you missed it on my last post.

Yours Clothing - Tartan Dress & Biker Coat

2013-11-01T14:52:00.001+00:00

Tartan Dress (szUK24) - Yours Clothing £30

Belt - Simply be (old)

Leggings- Asda

Boots - Evans

As soon as i saw this dress on the Yours Clothing website coming soon section i knew i had to have it , I waited patiently for around 3 weeks ! and as soon as it was released i had that baby delivered on next day delivery !!. I absolutely love it. I have found the the sizing to be on the generous side i ordered a 24 and it fits perfectly i definitely wouldn't size up on this dress its made from a stretchy material so fits and flatters in all the right places .

I also ordered a new coat from yours its to warm and cosy!

The coat is extremely generous i sized up to a 26 as i always do with coats and i didnt need too i could of easily got the 24 so bear this in mind when your ordering, well worth £55.

Have you bought anything from yours recently ?

Review : Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation

2013-10-08T17:08:00.001+01:00

Would you believe me if I told you that I have never bought a foundation from a drug store? It's true! I spend hours musing down the aisles of Superdrug and Boots, swatching away like the true blogger in me, trying to find the right shade and that's where my main problem with drug store foundation lies. How can I find my shade when I cannot try the foundation on in the shops? I stand around and look at other girls rubbing bits of foundation on their hands, turning to their friends saying "Ooh that's the perfect colour for me, I love this foundation" and then they purchase it. SERIOUSLY! You swatched your hand and now it's a holy grail foundation?! You know that the skin on your hand in no way matches your face right?! I bet 99.9% that it's not the right colour for you!

I cannot afford to purchase a foundation on the off chance that I "think" it's the right shade for me from a hand swatch. I want to know that I have the right shade for me first time. My solution is to get a sample pot and take a sample. Easy as that!

Here we have my super drug cream pots with 3 of the shades i thought i might be . I have only taken enough for one application of each shade, I'm not taking the mickey here, i genuinely want this foundation and I'm trying to find the right shade for me .

Which shade did i buy ?

150 Nude

I'm going to let you into a little secret , this review has been sitting in my drafts folder for months now as i just could not make my mind up on this foundation as over the last few months I've had a love / hate relationship with it . At first i loved it , thought it was amazing , best thing since sliced bread , but then things changed. I noticed the foundation was clogging up my pores , it tendered to sit on top on my skin and i just could not blend it at all, it was clinging to areas of dry patches on my skin so it got sidelined. A month passed and i thought id try it again and now I'm in love again! It doesn't clog up my pores anymore and blends flawlessly on my skin. Ive started to use it in combination with my mac msf i think I've struck gold on a great combination so for now this is my go to favourite foundation on the market , it has sidelined my foundations from mac and benefit .

The Wish List : Yours Clothing

2013-10-04T22:29:00.000+01:00

Its no secret that Yours Clothing is my favourite plus size clothing brand , i find it the only brand who can hit the nail on the head every time with its young, fun fashion at affordable prices and with new stores opening at lightening speed the brand is rapidly growing into the top UK plus size high street brand, anyhow i digress we all know i love yours !

I want to show you all my current wish list . I will be getting everything on this list once I've sold some of my old clothes on eBay, I have a strict and simple rule when it comes to buying new clothes , One in One out . Its easy to slip into the trap of a bulging wardrobe stuffed with items you wear once and never see the light of day again because its stuffed in the pit of doom with all the other clothes you buy and forget about.

The Wish list

Red and Black Check 2 in 1 Tartan dress with patent belt £30 - Currently not in stock at the moment i spied this beauty of a dress in the coming soon section . The blogging world is currently going crazy for Tartan I'm so glad the trend has been picked up by plus size retailers , i love this trend and cant wait to buy into it i did try the pink clove tartan dress that every plus size blogger seems to own , but when it arrived, i was disappointed by the material it was made from .It reminded me of shiny scuba diving material euurghh , glad i can relay on Yours to bring me a tartan dress that is cotton stretch , completely my style. Please hurry up and come into stock ! (i even have a email alert set up for this baby !)

Black and White Spot Jacquard Skater Dress £30 - Love this dress . There are many illusion style dresses currently on the market , unfortunately they all seem to be body con style. I carry my weight around my tummy and anything body con for me is a BIG no no, i despise vbo (visible belly outline) hi5 to all the girls out there that embrace it , i just cannot and never will , so when i saw a illusion dress made in a skater dress style i squealed with delight , my prayers were answered ! Cant wait to try this dress.

Black long line Jersey Peplum Style Flare top with lace collar £23 - This has been on my wish list for the past month , Ive been trying to avoid plain black tops , yes i know it has a lace collar but its still rather plain , having said that i want it because it is peplum style and i have never owned anything peplum style i long for a peplum dress but that's another story !

Purple and Black Flock Short Sleeve print Skater Dress £30 - Its purple and black, my two favourite colours whats not to love! . I'm very excited to try a item of clothing that has flock detail , its not a pattern i have ever worn before and i love to push my fashion boundaries and try new things .

The last 2 dresses are from the sale section. The purple dress is reduced down to £19 and the black floral dress is down to £16 , fingers crossed all these items will still be in stock when i order very soon.

What are you currently lusting over ?

Blogger Event : The White Company

2013-09-10T10:42:00.001+01:00

On wednesday night i was invited to attend the opening of The White Companys store in Cardiffs St Davids 2 shopping centre, and all i can say is WOW , this store is so stylish. I will let the pictures do the talking .

All the adorable children's clothes make me wish my girls were small again.

As soon as i arrived i was greeted with a glass of champagne met up with other bloggers and was soon making my self familiar with the gorgeous candles on offer . I was lucky enough to meet the CEO of the white company and he proceeded to give us a little background on how the candles are made which was really interesting. I spent the next hour and half sipping champagne , being treated to food from Jamies Italian restaurant and drooling at the home wares on offer . Of course i had to make a cheeky little purchase which i will share with you in another post as i think they deserve a post all of their own .

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

OOTD - Simply Be cotton red floral cotton dress

2013-09-06T10:08:00.000+01:00

Shrug // New Look

Dress // Simply Be

Leggings // Yours Clothing

Sandals // Simply Be

On Wednesday night i attended the opening of The White Company's first shop in wales located in the St Davids 2 Centre Cardiff and this is what i wore to the event. I find the St David's centre extremely warm i often wonder if they blow hot air into the place as I'm always cooking there , i wanted to wear something cool and with this dress being a thin cheesecloth material it fit the bill perfectly , i teamed it with a little white shrug and white leggings and my trusty purple sandals. A perfect outfit for staying cool and comfortable .

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

Shopping Haul : Paperchase , Apple iPad mini , stickers & stamps !!

2013-09-05T10:06:00.000+01:00

Organiser // Paperchase

Stickers & Stamps // Paperchase

Ipad Mini // Apple Store

I'm really into Filofax / Organisers at the moment . Ive been lusting after a A5 Purple Filofax Malden but the fact its well over £100 has pissed on that bonfire ! I did a little bit of on line research and found a cheaper alternative at Paperchase , priced at £22 its a fraction of the price of the A5 Malden and satisfies my need for a A5 sized organiser. I plan to do a whole post on my filofax / organiser obsession look out for it in the next few weeks.

Cute owl and cupcake stickers and adorable stamps , this purchase is purely to channel my inner child , i want to decorate the pages of my Filofax / organiser ! I want it pretty and cute .

The big purchase . The Ipad Mini. This is a birthday present for my daughter, she is turning 8 at the end of this month and has really wanted her own iPad for so long and always comes back from her daddy's house telling me all about how she plays on his iPad , i cant help but spoil my little princesses.

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

Wordless Wednesday

2013-09-04T10:34:00.000+01:00

OK , so not entirely wordless.

Every Wednesday i am going to post a picture that i have taken recently that i love or means something to me with no explanation , just a food for thought picture.

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

OOTD - Asos Floral dress

2013-09-03T13:59:00.001+01:00

Dress // Asos Curve

Leggings // New Look

Sandals // Simply Be

Cute , floral , and comfortable this dress has become my go to outfit . Every girl has a item in their wardrobe that they can just put on and your good to go , well this is my '' good to go outfit '' . Smart and casual i feel on trend and priced at £25 its a bargain !

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

Motivating Monday #blogyoursocksoffseptember

2013-09-02T10:13:00.001+01:00

Every Monday i have decided to dedicate my post to a inspiring quote to kick start the week as we all feel the Monday blues !

This quote has been inspiring me for years , i hope you find it motivating too !

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

#blogyoursocksoffseptember

2013-09-01T19:33:00.001+01:00

#BlogYourSocksOffSeptember

During the month of September I will be blogging every single day (& more if I feel I can) to kickstart my blog into Autumn! The idea is to post on your blog every single day of the month, whether it is beauty, lifestyle, fashion, food or whatever YOU want to blog about. We can all get stuck at some point, perhaps you get writer's block - but 'Blog your socks of September' is going to hopefully bring back your blogging mojo, bring along new blog readers and let you interact with other bloggers taking part in the challenge!

What do you need to do?

* Blog every day in the month of September - you can even blog more if you're up to it!
* Include the hashtag #BlogYourSocksOffSeptember in any tweets you want other bloggers taking part in the challenge to see
* You can also add this snazzy button to your blog to let your readers know that you are taking part in this challenge, and to spread the word to other bloggers too.
*Feel free to comment on the page in my tabs leaving a link to your blog and/or twitter handle (mine is @xxx_joanna_xxx) if you are going to be taking part in this challenge

Asos £50 Giveaway WINNER !! and updates

2013-07-30T15:52:00.000+01:00

CONGRATULATIONS TO ........

Tobi- Rhea Starr

I hope you find a lovely dress for your weightless goal xx

Congratulations !

The blog has been a little quiet of late , I've had the odd email asking if I'm going to be blogging again regularly and the answer is YES ! I landed a cool new job working for Yours Clothing so expect lots of outfit posts starting to pop up weekly in the coming weeks.

Im off to Greece on thursday so the blog will go quiet again but when im back i shall be sharing all my holiday outfits with you all .

Oh and this happened on sunday

Now i better start packing !!

xx Joanna xx

Competition win £50 to spend online at ASOS

2013-07-22T12:33:00.000+01:00

The Lovely people at Appliances Online contacted me and asked if i would like to hold a giveaway , to give one lucky reader a £50 voucher to spend online at Asos , of course i obliged as i love to give something back to my readers !

You can literally spend this voucher on ANYTHING on the Asos website , I have chosen my top pics to inspire you !

To enter all you have to do is enter via raffle copter and i will shoutout the winner on my blog , twitter and Facebook . If i do not hear from the winner within 3 days i will pick another winner .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck everybody xx

Primark Accessorie Haul & Holiday Prep

2013-07-12T11:48:00.001+01:00

Yeah for primark jewellery ! Cheap and cheerful holiday essentials.

I'm currently on the holiday countdown to Greece- Koz , 2 weeks and 6 days to be precise . I'm gathering all my final bits and bobs ready for "the epic packing night" and it will be epic trying to squeeze my clothes into my fabby new electric blue suitcase, Isn't she a beauty! I snagged this case in the Asda Holiday sale i paid £30 i had previously seen it for sale for near £50 in other shops.

I've also been trying to put outfits together

There have been many shoe purchases aswell ,but unfortunately i forgot to photograph them, bad blogger !

I was thinking about doing a holiday countdown series in the run up to my holiday , like whats in my travel make up bag , how i pack my suitcase etc would this be something your all interested in seeing ? Let me know in the comments below .

Supermarket Chic - Asda edition

2013-06-29T12:21:00.002+01:00

Maxi Dress // Moda @ Asda

Shrug // Asda

Can you believe i found this beauty of a maxi dress in Asda ? for the barginous ( yes ,thats a word ) of £20. Its from the Moda range sized 24. I don't generally look at the Moda range as i find it geared towards the mature lady or what i refer to cruise wear ! but this dress just popped out on the stand and my instant reaction was WOW ! this is Aztec , Neon , totally on trend and very me, i have to have it . I absolutely love that feeling when i item of clothing jumps out at me , i feel excited and i know that I'm going to look fabulous and that's what fashion is all about to me looking and feeling fabulous , total woman empowerment !

What do you have in your wardrobe that gets you excited ??

Simply Be - Blogger take over Lauren and Emmas dresses.

2013-06-14T17:41:00.000+01:00

Perfect arm length and pretty necklines .

How long have i waited for this day ? well like FOREVER ! The day has come when we can all purchase dresses designed by Bloggers Lauren , Emma and Laura .

As soon as i saw Laurens dress i KNEW that this would be mine ! Its so dam funky . I know there will be people who say oh ''its just another skater dress'' WRONG ! Its not just another skater dress its cut completely different to any skater dress i have worn , the fabric isn't thin cotton and flimsy its durable stretch material with a funky ice cream print YES ICE CREAM ! just wow. The neck line is cut so perfectly, in fact its so darn pretty and has a ruffle on the bust which is so flattering on my bust , i have a neon yellow belt that i am planning on wearing with this dress but its gone walkabout !! grrhh . I need to find this!.

Shall we talk about Emma's dress ? Oh go on then .. As i mentioned above , when this collection was launched , i was all for Laurens dress and didn't want any other dress , but i watched the 3rd simply be video with Emma talking about her dress and i watched her walking about in it ,and something just clicked and i connected with her confidence. I'll be honest here i wasn't going to order it because i thought it would cling to my belly and make me self concouis , but while watching that video i felt Emma's confidence ooze through and it just squashed all my insecurity's and i thought sod it im gunna try it , im sure i can make this work ! . I am so glad i did , and i cannot thank Emma enough for inspiring me to wear something that is way out of my comfort zone . I love the tulip style , ive never worn anything like it ever , ive never worn anything so tight !! but i love it and again on this dress the arms are so right just a perfect length .

Just thought i also mention Laura's dress , she looks awesome in it , i didn't buy it as i do not go out enough to warrant a party dress ! Boo Hoo ! Cant wait to see pictures of people who bought her dress !

Thank you Lauren , Laura and Emma for creating beautiful dresses .

Yours Clothing - Aztec Maxi Dress

2013-06-14T10:08:00.000+01:00

Yours Clothing - Aztec Maxi Dress £32

Favourite Maxi dress of 2013 Award goes to the Aztec maxi dress from Yours Clothing ! . I love this dress , i have never had a dress that fits so well and feels so comfortable in my life. The dress is a lightweight cotton jersey skims over my belly doesn't cling at all and is true to size . I love the funky pattern i love the shape it gives me , LOVE LOVE LOVE . There are no downsides of this dress for me , however if your short or under 5ft 5 /6 your going to have problems with the length .

The dress is priced at £32 , that is a steal for such a great quality dress Ive paid twice as much for dresses from other plus size stores and not been as happy with them. Yours Clothing are definitely my go to shop for summer maxi dresses .

Have you bought any maxi dresses from Yours Clothing lately ? Let me know your favourite :-)

OOTD - Casual Shopping

2013-06-12T15:38:00.002+01:00

Tunic // ASOS Curve

Leggings // Simply Be

Necklace // New Look

Shoes // Asda

Today i met friends in town for a spot of lunch and shopping . I wore my favourite leopard leggings from simply be and a simple black tunic from Asos curve. I treated myself to a three statement necklaces in New Look today , you can kind of see one of them in the picture but i shall show you them in a upcoming haul post later on this week.

I love casual days , this tends to be a go to look for me mixing up a plain black tops with funky leggings and a chunky necklace . What are your go to outfits?