Autumn Treats

Hey Bloggers!

I hope you're all enjoying the festive autumn period so far, even if it is absolutely freezing!! But as I've always said, autumn really is the BEST season for fashion, chocolates, decor and well, just about everything else in the lifestyle sector.

Here are a few of the things I have been loving at the moment for Autumn...

Donut Buns! The rose hair accessory I picked up in a charity shop ;)

Mint Chocolates! These are a rather large box of Thorntons bought by my beloved for me on our anniversary :)

Magazine Freebies - As you can see, Elle magazine had some Benefit lip glosses on offer which I just had to have!

Experimenting with Autumnal make-up looks. Smokey eye with a red liner gives a modern update to the more traditional smokey eye look.

Costa's cute Christmas take-out cups! :) There are 4 designs in total to try.

Fingerless Mittens are great for keeping hands warm and can be buttoned back when you need to scramble for your coffee/train money like I do! ;) These cross design mittens are from Primark and are a winter bargain.

Berry coloured accessories are an Autumn must-have. I've always wanted a pair of M&S 'Autograph' shoes and managed to pick these up for about a quarter of the price they would have originally costed, yay! ;)

Starbucks Red take-out coffee cups are iconic and pleasing to the eye! :)

Melon coloured statement lips. I'm loving this lippy shade at the moment as I tend to wear a lot of black clothing, so it mixes things up with a nice pop of colour. :)

What things have you been treating yourselves to this Autumn?

Note: All images are taken by myself (Dawn)

Fashion Icon: Nicki Minaj

As much as I don't rate her music all that much, Nicki Minaj is truly a style icon in her own right when it comes to pulling off quirky fashion trends.

Ever since she first burst onto the rap music scene back in 2010 with her debut album, appropriately entitled, 'Pink Friday', I have always noticed Nicki's individual sense of style and personality. It just goes to show that some celebrities can stand out from the crowd for any number of reasons... for Nicki Minaj, it's her striking charisma and Hawaiian looks that get my vote.

Nicknamed 'Harajuku Barbie', what I love about this lady's style is her ability to wear anything and everything, and wear it with confidence. For me, fashion is very much about making your own way and not following any one trend in particular. Fashion and beauty are so diverse in that they can transform a person's look entirely, and Nicki is the perfect role model for transforming her day to day look - I would definitely call her a style chameleon.

Although she may come across to some people as slightly O.T.T, I love her eccentric outfits and make-up choices, and I'm always eager to see what style she will come up with next!

Whether she is playing dress-up as a Punk on the cover of Marie Claire Magazine, amping up the neon factor whilst promoting her MAC Cosmetics campaign or wearing just about every type of wig there is, Nicki Minaj is certainly an inspiration to fashion followers and art lovers alike.

Note: All images are not taken by me.

Latest Fashion Buys!

Hey Bloggers!

I hope you've all had a great week and that you celebrated the first day of Summer (yesterday) in style. There's definitely hints to it being Summer what with the constant humid weather, coffee shops bringing out iced drinks and retailers stocking lots of different brightly coloured beachwear items! For me Summer is not my favourite season but it does have its advantages, such as; being able to get away with wearing less make-up, leaving the house without a jacket and generally feeling happier with the smile-inducing weather :) So whether you're off on your jollies soon or like me, looking to start a new career path, Summer is all about general merriment and enjoying all of those little pleasures in life.

Speaking of little pleasures, I had a little nose around a foreign food market that Preston had on earlier today which was nice as they don't come here very often. I sampled some of Italy's finest delicacies and they were out of this world! I also had a browse around Topshop where I spotted lots of yummy looking jewellery items in the sale - here's what I bought...

A Taste of Italian Culture - An Assortment of Cakes, Croissants and Biscuits that were rich in flavour and worth every penny ;)

...With a side of Caramel Costa Light ;)

Sales Finds: White Leather Bow Hair Accessory, Lime Fragrance Travel Wipes and Lilac-Glittery Ankle Socks.

Sale Finds: Floral Fabric Charm Bracelets, Metallic Skull Nail Ring, Metallic Studded Bangle and Gold Costume Cross Earrings.

Sale Finds: Earring and Ear Cuff Assortment, lots of cute little Mustache Earrings and 'D' Initial Earrings :)

Sale Find: Large Gold Cross Necklace.

My Favourite Purchase of today!

Obligatory Manicure Shot ;) Barry M 'Peach Melba' Nail Paint with Barry M 'Lychee' Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint. Rimmel 'Rock Your Colour' Glitter Top Coat in 'Gold Disco' painted over fourth nail.

Neon and White Leopard Print Shoes I bought a few weeks ago in the H&M sales, worn with Jonathan Aston Lace Anklets.

Note: All images are taken by Myself (Dawn).

Bon Jovi Fever! - Etihad Stadium Gig, Manchester - June 2013

Saturday 8th June saw me and my twin sis, Faye heading to our 4th Bon Jovi gig, and it's safe to say that we were as giddy as school girls, haha! Ever since we became Bon Jovi's number one fans back in 2004, we have continued to follow their success and over the years, have laughed and cried to their many number one hits.

For us, going to a Bon Jovi gig is not just any ordinary gig... the emotional connection we have with the band members and the ability they have as performers to connect with their fans on a personal level is truly unique, and we will continue to follow the Jovi clan for as long as they are willing to make music :) We have a connection to this band that conjures many euphoric memories and allows us to celebrate our love for rock music.

So onto the day of the gig where we managed to buy tickets very last minute (only a few days before the gig as they were originally priced at £75 per ticket!) Faye being the bargain hunter she is, managed to track down a much cheaper deal on Groupon, and so made our entry into the Manchester gig possible! :)

The beauty this time around was that Faye lives very close to Etihad Stadium where the gig was held and this made the experience all the more enjoyable as it was much less stressful for travelling. In the spirit of getting merry before the gig started, we drank delicious cocktails that Saturday afternoon and blasted Bon Jovi's greatest hits DVD from Faye's Balcony, just to get us rockin' into the party mood of course ;)

After 2 hours of washing and styling hair coupled with glamorous make-up application, we were ready to see our guys perform a fantastic set list (the songs they performed are listed below). I particularly enjoyed their cover of 'Roadhouse Blues' - a 'Doors' classic! Despite being thoroughly disappointed that Richie was not on stage, he was there in spirit and in my opinion, this show was still their strongest yet! After performing a 3 HOUR long set, Jon, David and Tico proved that they are still every bit as full of energy as they were back in their humble beginnings :) 

Me and Faye both bought a concert programme each as we do at every Bon Jovi gig, to keep as a souvenir. 

I have no doubt that Richie will rejoin the band before the next tour and that they will all continue to make fantastic music together - BON JOVI FOREVER! \m/ xxx

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Note: All images with * caption were taken by Myself and My Sister, Faye. All other images are not my own.

Pretty in Punk! Vogue Editorial

I've always had a strong love affair with fashion editorials. Whether I find them in Vogue, Elle, Tank or Pop, the excitement of buying my favourite fashion magazines each month brings a feeling of joy and reminds me just how versatile trends really are.

Even when I used to plan and co-ordinate styling photo shoots whilst I was studying at uni, it was always a pleasure to see the progression of how an initial idea develops into a finished promotional campaign - I suppose this is how creative teams feel when they are out on location shooting for the world's leading fashion magazines.

In that spirit, whilst flicking through the glossy pages of last month's Vogue, I stumbled across an extremely creative editorial with a strong emphasis on PUNK. So naturally, as Punk is one of my all time favourite sub-cultures especially in terms of styling, I have included the full editorial spread from the last issue on my blog... enjoy!

Note: All images courtesy of Vogue May 2013 Issue.