Bit of Holly: April 2012

fashion

to my bones.

17:31

Blazer: Dunnes Stores

Top: Topshop

Jeans: H&M

Rings: Forever21 & ASOS

Nails: Topshop
Lips: MAC Speak Louder (review here)

One of the cheaper tops from Topshop I bought it at a bargain price of £14 (working out about €17.50). One thing for people in Ireland who may have noticed that Topshop hike up the prices in stores across Ireland, so my trick is to try out the clothes in store and then buy online. Meaning you'll get the clothes for the 'real' price. As I find the Topshop prices here far too expensive to justify.

Anyway saw this top on LLYMLRS post and knew I had to purchase. One problem was that I didn't try it on beforehand, and found that the top is a crop top..perfect for a night out but I wore a black tank top underneath the top as not to show too much flesh ha!

Simple white blazer and black jeans, could bring you anywhere from a shopping trip in town to a dinner date.

I'm getting ready for my first day at a new course next week. Starting Event Management and I can't wait! Will post up about how it went, hopefully fingers crossed that It's the course for me !

Enjoying my first day off this week, and sitting back relaxing, catching up on blogs, youtube subscriptions, and currently writing this post while watching The Parent Trap. What ever happened to Lindsay Lohan.

What is everyone up to this Sunday?

Bisous

(Title is in reference to Wallis Bird's song To My Bones) - check her out :)

clothes

Small Primark Haul.

18:50

I never know to call it Penney's (as it is in Ireland) or Primark in the United Kingdom, I went with Primark to cause less confusion.

A week or two ago I headed into Cork City with the idea of buying one or two must needed items (not beauty or fashion related) but low and behold I came out with a lot more than I came for.

You may have seen one of the dresses that I wore in a previous post here that was one of the items that I bought. Here are the other few clothes items I bought.

Mustard Satchel Bag €9

Pleated Shirt €13

Embellished White Sleeved Shirt €17

Navy Chiffon Dress €17

Clutch €9

I love the pleated shirt, can't wait to wear with a pair of high waisted jeans. I feel the mustard bag is well worth it considering the price.

Unfortunately the navy dress didn't photograph very well, as the light wasn't the best, and I wasn't willing to wait another day to post this, but I really like the belt that comes with it.

Hope you enjoyed

Bisous

instagram

through the lense #3

21:51

Pictures from the last two weeks.

001: Gorgeous views from the stables
002: At the beach

003: Handmade choccie
004: Rocking the odds

005: More beach shots
006: Easter time

007: SO annoyed I didn't buy this dress
008: New Topshop Lipstick

009: Peek-a-boo
010: Bun time

011: Myself and my boyfriend :)
012: Sneaky fudge sunday

013: Dip - dyed earrings from Topshop

014: Hunger Games, finished in 2 days

015: Love this colour

016: Blue skies

017 + 018: Gorgeous beach ride with my horse

019: Lindt bunny

020: Sunday slouching

021: New snacks
022: 111 twitter followers MY favourite number :)

If you like these photos follow me on instagram : bitofholly

Bisous

x

Lip Butters

Revlon Lip Butters.

14:17

Been there, Done that, Got the t-shirt!!

Yes I know people may be getting sick of the ole lip butters but I had to blog about the two I bought a few weeks ago.
Not in the usual colours of 'tutti frutti' and 'sweet tart' but in 'Macaroon' and 'Pink Truffle'.

Macaroon on the left and Pink Truffle on the right.

Macaroon swatch

Pink Truffle swatch

It's taking me a little longer to brave the bolder colours in lipsticks, so I bought quite neutral shades of pink.

I love this pair of lip butters though, perfect for work, I don't have to worry about re-applying for a few hours as pigment is quite good. My lips feel moisturised after application. This is a huge plus for me as I love putting lip balms, vaseline etc on them to keep them smooth and moist.

A little on the expensive side at €11 (roughly) for the amount of lip butter you get.

I would rate this 8/10 losing the 2 points on the extent of the product given.

Bisous

Boyce Avenue

music mondays.

21:27

I present Boyce Avenue, you may have seen them on youtube on their channel here.

They are a group of very talented singers and musicians, all three brothers formed the group in Florida, USA. Best known for their incredible covers of songs such as Fix You by Coldplay, Fast Car by Tracey Chapman, Without You by David Guetta to name but a few.

They record their own original songs too. These guys have such amazing voices, easy to listen to and quite intriguing how they make mega hits suit their voices.

The way they incorporate their instruments to the songs also are breathtaking. If I ever need to take a moment to myself I stick these guys on my iPod and get lost with their voices.

Have a look below at one of my favourites that they covered.

If anyone has a favourite song of theirs that they covered let me know :)

Bisous

dress

million miles away

19:43

Haven't done any outfit posts since my first week on this blog, thought I'd change that!

Over the weekend I went to Penneys/Primark and bought a few little beauties, this dress being one of them.
Sorting out my wardrobe at the moment and decided I needed a few more pretty 'tea' dresses.

This will be perfect for summer or in the spring with tights, love these dresses that have a skirt attached to a top.
Hangs beautifully, and well worth the buy.

Cost was €15 not too steep for a pretty floral dress

Bisous

x

nails of the week

nails of the week #2

22:55

Wow, have been off over the weekend so I've had a lovely Easter spending time with my friends and family and it's been hectic! I've done quite a bit of work, ate a lot of chocolate and spent a little too much on clothes! Can't wait to post what I bought.

For the moment I am about to post about a nail varnish I bought from Topshop 2 weeks ago.

Have to admit I fell in love with this metallic nail polish in Hyperreal on the Topshop website a few months ago, but when I went to buy it they were out of stock, but then I got lucky!

I absolutely love this nail polish, the pictures are after two coats, excuse that one of the nails is a little messy. I am off to fix this right now!

At €11 it's a little steep but for staying power and non chipping I'm falling for their polishes.

Another mention is the brush itself I find it very easy to use, it has a square bottom, unlike others with a rounded bottom.
It is easy to get the polish to the edge of the nail without going overboard. With two clean sweeps by nail is covered.

One thing about this polish: it is VERY hard to get off, a lot of scrubbing with the remover, but It's worth the effort.

Bisous

x

lips

Mac Speak Louder Lipstick

21:00

A lot of lip reviews this week! Another one coming up next week (Revlon Lip Butters).

When I went shopping last week I decided to head into Mac in Brown Thomas and treat myself to 'Impassioned' but unfortunately it was sold out. Not too sure if it's just because Cork is a smaller store or it's getting incredibly popular down this part of the country! Anyway hope it comes back in soon. I was not to be disappointed, I eyed up the mac up artists and decided on one that gave me a big smile and asked how she could help me out. (Yes this made a huge difference compared to some that try to avoid eye contact!) I asked for a similar colour, and also inquired whether it would suit my colouring.

I'm known to keep neutral with my lipstick/colours so this was a step forward.

I bought both a lip liner in Beet and Lipstick in Speak Louder (cremesheen).

I first filled in my lips coming from the outside and shading in a little up the lips. I shaded with my fingers, but you could use a small sponge. I was told to bring the liner up the lips as this helps keep the pigment in your lips for the day. I would normally just line the lips and not shade in, so I was delighted with this new tip.

I then glided the new lipstick on, It is a cremesheen lipstick, which would be my favourite mac lipstick type, as I find it keeps the lips moistened and tends not to dry as quickly.