Lets Party, Christmas Edition - Part 1

Yes thats right, its the most magical time of the year, which can mean only one thing and that's getting dressed up, wearing all things sparkly and cracking out that red lipstick that only gets the love this time of year. So i thought ;d show you how i would do a Christmas party or night out, this year. Unfortunately i dont have many plans to get all dressed up this winter so it gave me a little excuse to have fun with it too. For my first look i went for a classic going out 'Amy' look, with quite a tight fitting midi dress, but this time with a twist. I normally always go for a dress with this fit, as sometimes dresses that flare or flounce or flow, can make me look like a little child fairy, instead of a woman on a mission haha! However i was a little more daring with my next look which will be going live very soon. Anyway back to the outfit and the main star of the show in this look, and thats the dress. This little Gem is from the Topshop petite section, which means it fits like a glove and isn't too long for my very short legs. Its a gorgeous navy velvet and lace combination that just shouts elegance. If you haven't already go and check out my velvet Blog post here. It just fits in all the right places and feels like great quality. Even better, it has a small slit up the back, so its really easy to move in and feels very comfortable to wear. No awkward limping up the stairs situation coming your way in this baby!

* Velvet Dress - Topshop, (similar) Shoes - Newlook, Bag- Rebecca Minkoff *

For shoes, i thought i would go all in with the velvet trend, with this grey velvet stilettos. I love Pointed stilettos. They are my favourite kind of heel and already i have quite a collection in my wardrobe. I personally am not a fan of having cold toes, so sandals, this time of year are a no go for me, and the pointed finish to the shoes, always does a good job of elongating my legs, and making me look a lot more sophisticated then i actually am. These bad boys, were a right little find in my local new look, at £11.49!! I mean what a bargain, bit of an odd number but hey i definitely wasn't complaining. I will be getting my money's worth with these one's thats for sure. 

For accessories, i wanted to keep it simple and let the dress do that talking, however i couldn't not wear my new little Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac, to finish it all off. This bag was my only Black Friday bargain, down from £170 to £45!? Shamazing deal that i couldn't pass up. I like the metal detailing on the bag and it just gives it a little edge to the outfit. 

As i said at the beginning no Christmas outfit is complete without a pop of red lipstick. I went for the classic Rimmel 107, which never lets me down. I completely love this outfit and if i had a Christmas party booked it would be my go too look. what do you think? what are you guys wearing to your party's this Christmas? 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

5 summer wardrobe staples

Hello my lovelies it feels like forever since I've sat down and wrote, but with work being super busy and being poorly it just hasn't left much time for it. But i'm back and today i want to share with you my 5 summer wardrobe staples that we all need in our lives this summer. typical that as i'm writing this its raining but hey its England what more can you expect apart from the four seasons all in one day. 

My first summer staple is anything bardot or off the shoulder. These are literally everywhere at the moment and personally i love the trend. I think its super flattering and on most body types too. I have a couple in my wardrobe already but i don't think that will stop me from buying more. Zara have had some beautiful bardot pieces in this summer so that is always a good place to start. I also picked up a couple from H&M. Both shops are really affordable, perfect for this kind of trend when your unsure of how long it may be on the catwalk.

Both bardot tops - H&M , Gold Choker- Riverisland , Initial Necklace - Monica Vinader

Secondly a pair of espadrilles. They are really comfy, and go with so many different outfits. I would love to own a pair of Chanel espadrilles, but for now the likes of Asos and kurt Geiger will do me just fine. Platform espadrilles are also really popular this summer and they look lovely with a little white dress for a super summery outfit and still a little bit of height. 

Beach Bum Espadrilles - Asos , Lace up espadrilles - Kurt Geiger

A summer bomber jacket is also perfect for those not so summery summer days like today. There are a lot of lightweight and printed bomber jackets on the market, and you can get them for a great price too. I found mine on Asos but its by boohoo and it was only £20. They can make a dress look a little more dressed down and casual and also look great with just a pair of jeans and a plain t'shirt. Effortlessly cool and understated. 

Bomber - Boohoo

My last two summer staples are in the accessories department. First being a simple choker. There are so many types and so many designs on the market at the moment, i really feel like whatever your style you can find one to suit yours. I personally am a fan of the slightly more delicate and thinner chokers. However with a very simple outfit the thicker bands can look so stylish and chic, one of my favourite style icons, @barbarapbabe does this so well so definitely check her Instagram out. 

Simple Choker - Asos

Last but not least is a western style buckle belt. I love this style and they look great paired with jeans and shirts or even a dress to make it a little more casual. I really like the double buckle belts that are floating around at the moment and am currently on the hunt for one. I love this style of buckle and i think it will be great for all year round definitely getting into winter with boots and jumpers. 

Western Belt - Topshop

So there you have it. My 5 summer staples that will really give your wardrobe that little update to keep it on trend. Let me know what your favourite summer trends have been this year so far. Hope you enjoyed reading this.

Thanks for reading my lovelies. x 

Blue and white greek chic

Whenever i put the colours blue and white together when i'm outfit planning, places like Mykonos and Santorini spring to mind. I have never been to either, but they are definitely on my wish list. The endless pictures on Instagram of the blue skies and beautiful white apartments and architecture definitely keep me inspired and dreaming of the day when i get to visit.

 When i found this blouse in Riverisland i knew i had to have it. The boho style with the balloon sleeves and tassels are definitely on trend, and the blue and white embroidery is so cute and pretty. I love all the embroidered jeans that are in the shops at the moment. They are definitely next on my list to get. 

I paired this top with some simple white Leigh jeans from Topshop and some very cute pale pink loafers.  I would wear this outfit on a nice day out with friends or a date. I also think if you were to throw some heels on it would be perfect for casual drinks in the evening. I hope you enjoy the look. All the items will be linked below.

 *Blouse - Riverisland Jeans - Topshop Shoes - (Mine weren't online but here is a similar pair) Riverisland *

For my accessories i wanted to keep it very simple as i feel like the blouse is a statement in itself. For jewellery i kept it super casual with my everyday bracelets, a mixture of Pandora and Monica Vinader bracelets, as well as some Pandora and accessorize rings. I am a huge lover of jewellery, and in particular rings. I cant leave the house without at least one ring on and of course my watch, i feel lost without it. 

My bag is by DKNY and i absolutely love it. My boyfriend bought it for me for my birthday and i have been using it non stop since. The colour is gorgeous and the size is perfect as sometimes i find it impossible to find things in huge bags. 

So there you have it. A summery, pretty girly look for a day out or casual drinks. I love this outfit and think i will get great wear out of the top especially. I hope you enjoyed this post, and stay following to see more. 

Do check out my Instagram @amyrowleyy to follow me day to day and see sneak peeks of upcoming blog posts. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

from day to night

Happy Sunday my lovelies, finally a beautiful summers day we all hope and pray. Today on the blog i am sharing a style post with you. You will all have seen this beautiful pink dress by now featured on the blog a couple of times, so i wanted to style it up for you and show you how i would wear it...Day or night. This is definitely a very versatile piece. The jersey fabric makes it very easy and comfortable to wear, and if your one of those people that are always a little scared of over dressing for an occasion, this little gem is perfect. 

* DAY *

For a girly day out or a casual weekend barbecue this is the perfect solution. I have paired it with a beautiful embroidered bomber from boohoo and some espadrilles. Simple and understated. The little choker and sunglasses just pull it all together. I am a great believer in strong accessories perfecting an outfit and taking something simple and turning it into a statement.  You will be able to find all the links to the items below, and whats even better is that all items are £30 and under. Bargain!!

Both Chokers and Bombers are key pieces to have in your wardrobe this season, they are absolutely everywhere. Personally i'm not a huge fan of the thick band chokers as my features are quite delicate. This one from Asos is perfect just a little bit more dainty and not so harsh. 

* Espadrilles - Asos  Dress - Riverisland  Choker - Asos  Bomber - Boohoo * 

* NIGHT *

Mixing up an outfit only very slightly can turn it into the perfect outfit for girly drinks, a date night or even a casual wedding. I wore this outfit on holiday and absolutely loved it. i was comfortable all night, and it definitely made me feel pretty and feminine. I'm a sucker for constantly wearing a pair of jeans and a nice top, so its always good to mix it up a little. 

Keeping the choker in the mix to give the outfit that trendy edge, i simply changed the espadrilles for a pair of heeled sandals and added a simple chain shoulder bag and voila! I love this outfit so much and think i will wear it loads over the summer. I can't rate the little black sandals enough. I picked them up in the sale and have been wearing them non stop.

* Sandals - Kurt Geiger  Bag - Mango (not online anymore) *

I hope you enjoyed this style post from me, a big thank you to Kit for helping me with the photos, it was hilarious trying to get these shots, I hope your all enjoying your Sunday, i'm currently at my mums house in bed with a cup of tea and my little cat Fred! perfect! 

Thanks for reading my lovelies xx

June favourites

Let's start off by saying June has been a great month for me. Super jam packed and that's just how I like it. I've decided to do a monthly post broken down into categories talking all about my favourites in the previous month. This way i can look back on memories or at things I have forgotten that I loved and you can always take a look and take inspiration or spark your memory too. The categories are going to be; Style, beauty, food and experiences. So let's get started. 

Style- without a doubt one of my key pieces and favourite items in my wardrobe this month has definitely been the pleated Riverisland dress. It's a beautiful dusky rose colour, midi length, pleated detail and a waistband to pull it in. I wore it on holiday and I absolutely fell in love. It's perfect for day or night and I have a style post on this coming up so keep your eyes peeled for that. 

* Dress - Riverisland *

Next up are my Vince Camuto sandals. They go with absolutely everything and are so incredibly comfy. I have worn them to work several times now and had so many compliments too. This particular pair remind me so much of the Isabel Marant sandals but at a fraction of the price. I bought mine from Kurt Geiger in the sale and I believe they are still online so I will link them below for you. 

* Sandals - Kurt Geiger *

Beauty- next up is my beauty favourites and I think it's important I give a shoutout to my new hair. I am absolutely loving my new balayage and shorter length and the girls at Regis Colchester did such a great job. I can't wait to go back again and maybe go even lighter next time. 

My next beauty favourite has to be my new Mac lipstick, creme in your coffee. It's the perfect shade and formula and I love wearing it on a daily basis. I'm so happy I purchased it. If you want to read more on some of my favourite Mac lipsticks click on this link to read a blogpost all about them.

Food - I don't know about you but I have a really addictive personality when it comes to food. I go through stages of being obsessed with things and having them on a daily basis, then I normally over do it and after a while go on to something else. I hope I don't sound like a crazy person and I am not the only one *laughs*. 

This month I have absolutely been loving rhubarb yoghurt with mixed berries. It is absolutely delicious. I normally get the activia rhubarb yogurt and mix it with raspberries and blueberries. Perfect for mornings at work or after dinner for a slightly healthier desert option.

My obsession for maltesers this month has hit an all time high. They sell them at work and I have to stop myself buying a packet daily. I don't know anyone apart from my boyfriend that dislikes them, but that pleases me even more as it means I don't have to share. Even better the new maltesers advert is hilarious if you haven't seen it check it out.

Experiences- last but not least is the experience section to this post. Now this can be anything from a day out or a trip or even something like a new hobby or a class I'm doing. 

This month I have three favourites in this category. The first being my holiday to Portugal, it was lovely to get away and to see some different surroundings and sun for a couple of days, I will link my two blog posts with lots more detail and pictures below, if you want to have a little nosey. 

* Holiday blog posts - Part 1 - Part 2 *

My second was a day out to Alton waters with a good friend. It was a pretty random day, super sunny and warm which is rare for us in England. We went to a place near Dedham called Alton waters it consists of miles and miles of land and forest and a huge lake with the options of all the water activities you can think of. We decided to hire bikes and we went on a 7 mile bike ride round the entire thing. It was so much fun and we had so many laughs while doing it. Plus it was great exercise too, working off all that munching on maltesers. We finished the day off with a pub roast at a local pub in Flatford Mill a village near by. It was by far one of my favourite days not only in this month but this year too. 

* Alton waters *

Last but not least and I am clapping to those of you that have made it this far down, but starting my blog was definitely one of my favourites. It's sparked my passions for fashion and beauty. It's given me a new hobby and something to do and be proud of. Plus it's great for my friends and relatives to keep up with what's going on with me and my life when I don't get to see them that much any more. For any of you wanting to do it and not sure, please just go for it. I have stopped and started and wanted to do it for years, and I'm so glad that I've finally taken the plunge. 

Hope you enjoyed this new post and I would love to know your favourites of the month so if you have any please comment below. Tune in on Sunday for a new style post if you would like to see that!

Thanks for reading my lovelies x 

Packing Hand luggage, tips, tricks and a sneak peak into my suitcase

As your reading this hopefully i will be sunning it up in Portugal. My first holiday of the year, 5 nights away in the beautiful sunny Portugal. Sounds bliss. But the worst part of any holiday or weekend away, is the packing. I dread packing and always think i'm going to forget something, which sounds about right for me. Having only hand luggage is a girls nightmare, but its becoming more and more popular these days as airlines like easy-jet are quite generous with there sizes and weights. So i thought i would share some little tips with you that make my task of packing that little bit easier.

   My First tip is too write lists. I am a huge list writer anyway on a daily basis. They keep me organised and i can check things off when i have done or completed something. I always like to make a list of all the things i will need to take, and if there is anything i need to get i can always make an extra list for that too. You can use any old notebook to do this, but i got this 'List Book' from Paperchase. I love it, one side is normal lined paper and the other half is a mixture of sticky notes, all different shapes and sizes. Perfect for the queen of lists like me *chuckles*.

My next little tip is too put outfits together and plan the outfits your gonna wear. This way you can mix and match with different pieces in your wardrobe. When your going out in the evening and you change into something nice you tend to only have this on for a couple of hours. There is nothing to say you cant wear the same top or trousers with something different on another night. For instance the outfit above is what i will probably fly in. But i could then wear the jeans with another top on a cooler evening with some little heeled sandals.

The biggest issue with flying with hand luggage for me and most girls i can imagine, is the liquid limits. You can only have one 20x20 clear plastic bag with a maximum of 1000ml. Each item can be no larger then 100ml too. 

Now this is fine for the boys with there one bottle of deodorant and one bottle of aftershave but for us girls this is a struggle. I already have about 6 liquids in my skincare routine, then another couple in my haircare, that is without even thinking about makeup. Aahhhh the stress. 

So Rhys (my boyfriend) came home the other day with this wonderful invention, a travel organiser. Its the correct size and comes with a number of bottles for you to decanter your products into smaller sizes. It also came with a funnel and a little spatula to help do this without things getting messy. And just so things don't get confusing it also contained some little stickers with product names on them to help label them when your finished. Perfect! Rhys said it was around five pounds so you really cant go wrong.  

I scooped my moisturisers and cleanser out of their current pots and put them into there mini versions, insuring i labeled them up correctly so i knew which was which. I then did the same with my silver shampoo and voila i was on the way to a drama free liquids bag. In terms of sun cream lotion and after sun Rhys and I both decided it would just be much easier if we just purchased it when we got to Portugal. We are both very careful in the sun, so don't worry that will be our first pit stop. 

In terms of makeup any kind of mini versions are perfect just to keep things tidy and compact. I picked this Benefit They're Real mascara up from boots the other day. How cute!

Once i had filled my liquids bag up to the maximum with all my lotions and potions there is only the powder products and extras like hair bobbles and paracetamol to worry about. I popped them all in my Cath Kidston wash bag to keep them safe and this way its easy to fold round all the other bits in my suitcase. 

So there you have it, i might still need to sit on my suitcase to close it, but everything is in and i'm airport ready. Its just the getting home to worry about. But now i'm going to enjoy my holiday and get to that when it comes. 

keep tabs on my Instagram for any holiday pictures and blog post sneak peaks: @amyrowleyy

Thanks for reading my lovelies x

My New Hair. The experience and updated haircare

So I've been thinking about changing my hair and giving it some dimension for what feels like forever. I am one hundred percent one of those people that have an idea and then wait years and months until they make that change. Silly i know, but us girls have to be sure.

In terms of dying my hair i have only ever done a home kit from either boots or super drug and that was at least a couple of years ago. So my hair hasn't been professionally dyed before. 

I had been looking at the technique 'Balayage' for a while and decided to take the plunge once and for all. Balayage is the french word for sweep, it's supposed to give you a sun-kissed look, with soft highlights and tones added to your hair. It gives you dimension and is meant to lift your hair and enhance any natural highlights you may already have.

This sounded perfect and after trawling the internet, saving pictures of all the famous stars and bloggers that had already perfected there hair, i was ready.

I asked a colleague at work to recommend me a good hair dressers, and she suggested Regis. Its a well known name and salon and a couple of my work colleagues already used them and really rated them. I went in on my lunch break to have a consultation and a girl called Izzie sat down with me and talked me through the process, and what colours i wanted to go for. I went with caramel highlights and slightly blonder shades. She explained to me how it was a process and we would be able to start off with lighter browns and caramel colours and after a couple of times of having the process done i could implement the lightest blonde tones into my hair. She did a skin test on me to make sure i didn't have any allergic reactions to the dye and then took sample hair pieces to see how well my hair would lift to the colours. I then booked in my appointment to come back in about 10 days.

My appointment was on Monday and when i got there, Izzie once again went over all of the details she had done at my consultation and also showed me the samples of my hair and how much they had taken to the dye. It all looked good to me so in we went with the colour. Each step of the way Izzie was asking me questions and making sure i was happy with lighter bits at the front and how she was applying the dye. This was great as it kept me involved, I knew what she was doing and what bits we were focusing on next. 

Once all the dye was applied and my hair had lifted to the correct amount we washed it all out and were on to the next part, the cut. I wanted to get a good three inches cut off the ends of my hair, and some layers put in too. While Izzie was doing this she talked me through the process of looking after my new coloured hair. We talked about using an argan oil through my hair to keep it soft and healthy. As well as this she told me to use a silver shampoo on my hair to keep the colour looking fresh and to take the brassy tones out. 

She blow dried my hair and from this point on i could really start to see the new colours and tones. I absolutely loved it, and was so happy. She then very kindly curled my hair for me to compliment my new look. Once this was done she took a picture of the back and let me have a real close look to make sure i was happy. I definitely was. It was just what i had been after and i don't know why i had put it off for so long.

After having my new hair for a couple of days, I've styled it both curly and straight and invested in some new products to keep my hair looking fresh. So far i'm loving it.

Argan oil - Fudge silver Shampoo 

I can't wait to go back again and have some lighter tones put in next time. No wonder people always say dying your hair can get addictive. Your hair can really change your confidence and your overall look and style. I would definitely recommend Regis hair salon and if your one of those people that keep debating whether to get it done or not...Just go for it. 

Thanks for reading my lovelies x