I received this lovely little dress from their ‘Injection Collection’, – a collection of dresses inspired from the catwalk trends, yet styled in the Yumi style! It is called the Yumi Flower Dress Fit and Flare, and features black lace-style florals perfect for keeping that classic ‘little black dress’ style with a touch of white for the Summer. My task was to style up the dress to promote my typical style, so here we go! Here is me wearing the dress….

A dress of this style is one I would wear casual, so I teamed up with a black floppy hat and gothic style choker necklace to give it a more stylish daytime twist. A number of Yumi’s favourite fashion bloggers will be doing the same with their dresses, and we need you, the blog readers, to help vote for your fave blogger style off! See my blog post tomorrow for tips and links on how to vote!

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With hero dress labels such as Forever Unique, Aftershock, Gorgeous Coutre and Lipstick Boutique all appearing in the variety of categories the etailer offers, I found a stunning array of dresses for a range of different occasions, and a wide variety of prices. You can find an evening dress from Little Black Dress, yet there are also sweet little day dresses, and not forgetting bridesmaid and wedding outfits! A good one for the Summer is their range of floor length gowns, so you can find maxi dresses online perfect for the beach, Summer Weddings, or simply those Summer evenings!

Here’s some of my favourite dresses from Little Black Dress that I really need in my life right now. Whatever your dress taste, I’m sure you’ll agree that these are absolutely stunning!

Gorgeous Couture Daria Maxi Dress, £237.80

Forever Unique Agatha Dress £275

Emba Cure Pencil Dress £58

And for those hot holiday evenings, where you want to look super hot yet also effortlessly stylish, here’s some really pretty one’s I might start saving up for prior to my Summer holiday!

Kelly Ewing Annie Coral Dress £100

Gorgeous Couture Loren Print Dress £178

Forever Unique Chantel Dress White £650

It’s lovely to come across an e-tailer which retails all the well-known, luxury dresses all in one place, so whether it is weddings, proms, holidays or those all important evening occasions, I’d suggest taking a look at Little Black Dress!

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I purchased the fuschia pink top, although I had the choice of white and a deep leaf green colour too. I chose mine not only to wear underneath a blazer, but to team with this seasons printed trouser trend. If your unsure what to wear with your patterned trousers, why not just pair up with one of River Island’s cami’s? Pink Cami available here.

Polka Dot Navy and White Woven patterned trousers are from Brave Soul, for £18. Brave Soul is a funky website which retails an extensive range of clothes for women and men. I love their current selection of casual trousers, especially their printed ones! They are really on-trend and ideal for those days you want your trousers to be the talking point of your outfit. Take a look!

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I teamed the top up with a pair of high shine, faux leather look trousers from River Island so the outfit looked quite sophisticated. I’m not really a fan of crop tops teamed up with shorts or skirts, unless the crop top has long sleeves. as I am a firm believer of arms out- legs covered up, or legs out- arms covered up! Although of course that is just my opinion…

If your looking for a crop top to wear in this lovely weather we have had recently, this jewelled one really is a lovely wardrobe addition, perfect for those sunshiney evenings! It is currently £20 available from the Glamorous website.

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If you read further down on my blog, yesterdays post was dedicated to the Swimwear365 Beach Party event I attended the other week. With swimwear, it is only really a shopping area you will browse once a year, so when you do, it needs to be stylish and eye-catching so you are not only going to love your new bikinis, but feel comfortable on the beach too. Women can get really hung up and worried about their beach bodies, so it is really important to make sure your bikini is flattering to your figure and compliments your colourings. With being a blonde who tans fairly quickly, I wanted a bright, tropical inspired printed bikini with fastenings which tie at the back of my neck, which I find more flattering to a smaller figure. So check out this beauty!

The Jette Multi Colour Ruched Triangle Bikini is going to be a lovely asset to those beach and pool days! It’s striking tropical floral print mixes with leopard print trims and will look amazing in Ibiza!

For more styles similar to this, take a look here!

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I’m a big lover of festivals, although unfortunately I have none booked for this year which is terrible! They are such a good occasion to get out the denim shorts, cut off tee’s or maxi dresses and chill out in the great outdoors listening to great bands. If I was to say what my favourite ever festival item would be, I would probably opt for a really cool trilby style hat – one that looks super stylish but also protects you from any sudden rain outbursts, or just covers up greasy festival hair!

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The collection of key SS13 products and new trends were displayed on rails and on the walls of the VIP area, for us all to admire. What I particularly loved about the SS13 collection is that the bikinis and swimsuits all mainly feature bright, tropical prints in bold colours which are really eye-popping and would look great with a tan! I personally love any form of prints – floral, animal, motif… however, there was also a pretty array of simple nautical stripe designs, as well as lace and polka dot, providing a swimwear design for everyone!

As well as browsing the fantastic collections, Cuban music played across the venue whilst the bloggers sipped exotic cocktails and were treated to having our nails painted in a design inspired by the bikinis. We also got to eat Mediterranean canapés and fabulous goody bags to take away which were filled with Summer essentials, such as a colourful Swimwear365 beach towel!

Whilst browsing, we were given blogger cards to place on the swimwear piece we loved the most, in which I placed my card on a simple, white lace bikini. I love to wear white on the last few days on my holiday once I have built up a tan, therefore this piece was an all time favourite for me!

Take a look at the extensive collections of bikinis, swimsuits, tankinis etc over at the Swimwear365 website!

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When wearing a coat in summer, you must consider the chance of considerably warmer weather. Nobody wants to be the one person who is flustered, while everybody else is summer cool. So the first thing you need to consider in summer is the thickness of the jacket. That means no body warmers, duffel coats and fleeces – even if the sun has retreated behind the clouds! Even if the summer weather is not quite an Indian summer, the weather will never be so cold in August that you need to wear extra thick fur coats!

To look summer cool but still keep warm if the weather dips, you must wear a jacket which will look stylish, and keep you warm, yet cool simultaneously. Here are a few styles to consider this summer season:

• Blazer – not a coat per se, however, it can take its place once the sun starts to shine. Blazers come in a range of fabrics including: cashmere, cotton, leather, linen, mohair, silk and wool. For summer, the best choice for a blazer would be cotton, linen or silk – the added material will keep you free from chills but you will not become too warm like if you were to wear a heavy wool blazer in mid-July.
• Bolero – cropped, cardigan-like garment with short or long sleeves. Even though boleros are typically knitted, there are various styles which can come in materials such as linen. You can keep summer cool in boleros as they cover less of the body than a traditional jacket. They usually have loose sleeves which will also keep you cool.
• Kimono – similar to a bolero is the kimono. Kimonos can have long or short sleeves and can be plain or elaborate in style. Silk is the most traditional material Kimonos are made from. Kimonos made of fabrics such as cotton and polyester generally reflect a more casual style.

  

• Cagoule – if you are worried about getting wet if it rains, a cagoule is perfect. A cagoule is made from light plastic which will still be cool enough to wear in summer months. A cagoule can be easily folded and packed into a bag too if the sun really starts to shine.
• Mac – a mac is essential for a lacklustre summer when you want to look summer cool. Macs are really versatile in summer – they can be thrown loosely over an outfit for a laidback look or tied with a belt for extra warmth when the weather changes.

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Product 1 – Trilogy Cream Cleanser Facial Wash: A luxurious, thick cream cleanser which reacts with water to remove make up and any dirt and grime from the day. I was intrigured with this product as it has won the award at the Green Beauty Bible Awads 2009. With pure plant oils and extracts, this cleanser aims to deliver soft, clear, completely clean skin and gently removes eye make up. It claims to perfectly prep your skin for make-up and leave skin supple. I was curious as I have been currently using Elemis and Dermalogica for their spot fighting and exfoliating qualities, so was worried this product would be a little too gentle for my skin and it’s needs. However, I can only describe this wash as ‘lovely’ and an absolute treat to use. It smells so botanical that you feel that you are actually in the heart of nature when using this! It contains rosehip oil and evening primrose known for moisturising, and aloe vera to calm, soften and clear skin. I have been using a number of new products plus have changed my diet over the past 6 weeks so I don’t know if this cleanser is to thank for my noticeably more glowing, clear skin, however I do think it has contributed.

If you like using natural, botanical products, and are usually a fan of brands such as Neals Yard and Origins, then you are going to love Trilogy Cream Cleanser. I really do eel it has calmed my redness and is just an absolute luxury to use. It is quite pricey, £22 for 200ml, so not sure it’s something I can keep up with. But a brilliant idea for Birthday/Christmas presents!

Product Number 2: Bobbi Brown Long Wear Even Finish Foundation. – For me to review another foundation other than Estee Lauder Double Wear is a pretty big deal! I swear by the foundation and never wear anything else. However, I have recently wanted to try another long-lasting foundation which is more lightweight, therefore I opted for Bobbi Brown after hearing they launched a new product last year wich provides long-lasting wear. What I love about Bobbi Brown is that their foundations contain no pink tones whatsoever, which is what I need! My complexion is not very pink, therefore I despise foundations that contain pinky tones. The foundation is alot less thick than Estee Lauder Double Wear, but smells much better, as it contains lavender. It lasts for a good 12 hours, has a lightweight formula which stops shine and grease, however it does not give as thick a coverage as Double Wear. If you want a new, lighter daytime make-up, this is one I would recommend, as overall it calms the skin, comes in a variety of non-pink shades, and lasts throughout the day, keeping skin looking fresh and glowing.

Product Number 3 – Butter London Nail Lacquer in shade ‘All Hail The Queen’. By far my favourite nail polish colour for the season, not just the month! This colour is subtle yet has a shimmer, is more dramatic than the ‘nude’ colour everyone is wearing, and is really durable and chip resistant for at least two days. Comes in a stylish bottle. I find I don’t need a top coat with this as it has a built in shine, and has a lovely glimmer when the colour hits the light. A great daytime nail colour!

Product Number 4 – Liquid Gold Radiance by Alpha H. If you put this product name into the search box on the right hand side of the blog, you will see this as a full product review which I blogged about recently. Basically it is a great product to use for fading any red marks, pigmentation, age spots and sun spots that may have marked the skin over periods of time. It’s a water based product – perhaps a little too watery would be my only criticism – which pats onto skin and absorbs quickly. A slight stinging sensation can be felt, but within 2 weeks I noticed some red marks had vanished! Available at QVC.

Product Number 5 – Skinetica. Now I owe this product to a beauty blogger who shared this skincare secret with me. Lots of bloggers have been given samples of this product to review, however I have purely gone online and bought it just from reading all the reviews out there. Skinetica ‘Soothes, Calms, Clears’ is another water based liquid which is to be used as a toner and aims to clear up break outs, soothe the skin and stop further breakouts. As I always give honest reviews, the product doesn’t completely stop any skin irritations occurring, but it does calm any current ones. Any redness and angry skin starts to clear from 5 days of using the toner twice a day, and I noticed any spots that came soon cleared before getting worse. I suppose I have had less breakouts since using the product, but I have also been cutting out sugar from my diet, so I don’t know which one is to thank! Anyway. I used one bottle up of this and I am now onto my second one, as I actually do feel this is a fab product for spot prone skin. Available to buy online at Skinetica for £10.

Happy beauty shopping!

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However, 2013 only goes ahead and introduces us to bushy eyebrowed models, with dirty blonde hair and black eyebrows. Cara Delevinge makes her debut and the beauty fanatics go crazy! Suddenly it becomes stylish! The next thing we see is people falling over themselves to darken their brows to copy those on the catwalks. Eyebrow pencil sales go up, and brow bars open up all over the UK. Eyebrow tinting becomes one of the fastest growing beauty procedures, and at last, I can go natural!

However, I do believe all eyebrows need shaping, so I purchased an eyebrow pencil for the first time from MAC, which is actually two shades lighter than my natural brow colour (otherwise I would be sporting dramatic jet black brows, which would be way too harsh even in this day and age). It’s in shade ‘Lingering’, and I simply use it at the corners near my nose just to ‘corner off’ the look. Voila! With my strange colourings, I am now officially accepted in the eyes of the beauty industry, and I have natural eyebrows. Good news all round then!

MAC Eye Pencil in Lingering

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