Birthday Wishlist No.3 - ghd's

After 6 years of dedicated straightening and curling, my beloved ghd's died this morning. Although we're working on repairing them, I know they can last a little while longer, I think its time for a shiny new pair anyway. 

I know there are plenty of other companies and celebrity hair stylists who do a range of heating irons, I've never found anything or heard any better reviews quite like ghd's, they are the best. 

(If anyone has any other recommendations, they would be greatly appreciated! I haven't completely shunned the other brands!)

So after having a browse on the website,  my favourites from the ranges are these below.

If you would like to have a browse yourself, you can do here.

ghd classic Gold Styler

Limited Edition ghd Red Gloss IV styler

Limited Edition ghd Green Peacock 

For more info on any of these please enter the website.

Hopefully 4 months of frizzy hair go quickly!

Summer Wedding Peplum Perfection

This season there has been pretty peplum's everywhere in our stores.
This style is classic looking, sophisticated, and I mean, if k-middy's got one on, we know its the ultimate in ladylike-ness. 

They suit most shape types. If one is curvy, it can hide an unwanted waist with the peplum fabric and accentuate your voluptuous curves. And if your straight up and down, like me, it will give you a waist by creating the illusion of a clinched abdomen! magic.

I've tried on my fair share of peplums, skirts, tops, dresses, and while I prefer some more than others, I have never bought one because, well, when would I wear it? I'm not a very formal person, and this is a look which is hard to dress down.

Perfect for a night out? not for me! Still a bit too formal for my sort of socialising. However, if I was to wear this style, it would be at a summer wedding.

Sadly, I'm not attending one this year, but if I was this would be the best on-trend look to go for.

Without a doubt the best ensemble to accompany an elegant wedding outfit, especially in a floral print. I'm sure a few will be attending some matrimonies this season, so why not keep it simple and play it safe with a gorgeous peplum!

A few of my favourite celebrities Kate Middleton, Blake lively, Jennifer Anniston, and Emma Stone all rocking the trend.

How to create the summer wedding look I'm on about (below).

If your not the fascinator type, then a nice flower in a smart down do will pick out the colours in your floral print perfectly. Subtle make up to compliment the natural look, pinky lips, a bit of blusher and eye shadow, you can always add more for the reception party! 

Maybe add a thin necklace, and a few gold bangles or a ring, not too OTT on the jewellery so as to not take the focus away from your gorgeous dress.

And finally some tan wedges, avoid stumbling around the grass in heels, and just add to the summer theme, as well as matching just about anything! 

Pretty Peplums by emilyrodgers18 featuring a floral print dress

And there you have it!

So if you've got a summer wedding, or even a smart occasion and your stuck for style choices? why not shop around for a peplum, I hope this has inspired you!

Love for Del Rey

I've recently been crushing on high tops, I can't believe I never tried any on before, and I've been shopping around for some for a while now.

 So when I saw my girl crush Lana Del Rey wearing the River Island hidden heel high tops (£40) at the Lovebox Festival last week, I had to have some even more!

The fact she paired them with a pretty peach sleeveless collar top and clinched waist pleated skirt really complimented her style. Casually elegant and she has all the sass to pull it off.

Her sixties hair and make up just topped off the look. 

Below is just a mood board I was playing around with and how to recreate the look.

She's definitely set a trend for this season with this outfit! 

Love for Del Rey by emilyrodgers18 featuring lace up wedges

Instagram Step Up

Instagram has taken a big hit on the world of smart phones. Celebrities, artists, fashion companies, everyone is instagramming, not only to create beautiful photos, but as an interesting marketing tool. 

So its no wonder they've created apps to take it one step further, making Instagram style photos, but using frames, so the user can create a picture using several different ones. 

There are three popular apps that provide this at the moment,  Diptic, PhotoShake and Picframe. They all do roughly the same thing, just in a different format. 

I bought Picframe (£0.69) from the Apple app store, and its made instagramming so much more fun!

You might have seen I've already used the effect a bit on past posts, the best bit is, you don't have to post the photo straight to instagram, you can save it on your phone, or even share it on Facebook or Twitter instead. I was sold!

Below are a few examples, from me and other users!

 Learn more Instagram tips and tricks here.

Graze Craze

You might have seen these little boxes around, I'm a bit behind with the craze but I recently jumped on the Graze box band wagon. If you haven't already heard of them, their a small company producing healthy, natural snacks, which are posted to you every week in a little box. With a choice of 4 nutritious selections out of hundreds, its part of the fun when opening the box to see what goodies await inside. 

They have plenty of offers and deals which make receiving these weekly treats all the more tempting. Your first graze box is half price, however if you know someone who's already bought one, they should have a voucher for you to get the 1st one free!

After creating your account on the website, you can then go through each of the snack boxes and choose which ones you don't like, to make sure you'll never receive them in your Graze.

If you decide you really like a particular snack after you've tried it, simply click the 'love' button, to ensure you'll get it more regularly! easy peasy! 

Below are all the yummy goodies I got in my first Graze Box. 

My particular favourite was the 'very nori-sh' crackers, spicy japanese rice crackers with seaweed bits! 

Each box aims to provide you with a few healthy snacks to get you through the day when your feeling peckish at 'biscuits-o-clock', if your feeling tempted simply reach into your box and nibble away!

If you fancy signing up, you can do here 

They have been featured in Grazia, Tatler magazine and many more, they are the perfect stylish snack!

Happy Grazing!

Best Dressed for Less No.2

Jessica Alba's casual outfit is perfect for a relaxed summer's day. I love the pop of colour in the jeans and shoes, as well as the printed scarf giving the plain look a bit of pazazz. 

Image taken from vogue.com.

Here is how to re-create the outfit using high street picks. 

Jessica Alba Outfit Inspiration by emilyrodgers18 featuring a camel handbag