Rare London | Clothes I Simply Can’t Live Without

When I was tagged to take part in this competition by Kate whose entry you can see here  - Clothes I simply cannot live without, it really did give me something to think about.  I am sure you all have clothes that you cannot live without and I would love you all to tell me what they are in the comment section below. 

Rare London have this fabulous competition which you can enter to showcase your favourite piece, and in doing so, you could be in with a chance of winning a £200.00 voucher!  with that in mind, this is my favourite dress

I am sure most of you will agree that every wardrobe needs a black dress, and I found this extract on the birth of the LBD facinating

Perhaps more than any other piece of clothing, the little black dress is, women have been told, the essential, the one that will take you practically anywhere. And perhaps more than any other designer, Coco Chanel was the one who made it ubiquitous. She did not invent the concept, of course, but according to Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life (by Justine Picardine, $40, amazon.com), “the little black dress was not formally identified as the shape of the future until 1926, when American Vogue published a drawing of a Chanel design.… It was an apparently simple yet elegant sheath, in black crêpe de Chine, with long, narrow sleeves, worn with a string of white pearls; and Vogue proved to be correct in the prediction that it would become a uniform.…”  and you can read more about this HERE

So, for me a LDB is simply a must have item of clothing and one I couldn't live without.   I do happen to have 4 or 5 differently styled ones as you can see from the photograph below

From that selection there is one of them that I wear more than any other which is this one:

Source

It comes from the Junarose collection on ASOS and I got it in the sale for just £13 reduced from £22 and the reason why I love it so much is because it is just one of those items that I can dress down and wear it daily when I am going to work or if I have a meeting I can add a jacket to it to make it look a little bit smarter.  

Then if I am going out in an evening I can accessorise it a lot more and make it look really fabulous be it with jewellery, my going out bag and a variety of other items of clothing that I own, including my favourite pair of shoes, shown below.

I am not one of those people who keeps up very well with the latest fashion trend, I envy those of you who do and continue to look fabulous, but for me, being comfortable in what I am wearing matters a lot more and it gives me confidence knowing that I actually look really good in something that to the naked eye might look a bit plain, but with a little bit of effort can look totally fabulous.

If you would like to enter this great competition with Rare London, you can do here and you will also find all guidelines too.

As this competition states that I need to tag three of you, I nominate

Kimberley @kimberleyj77

Keeley @phatcupcake

and finally Louise @Staceysmum84

This competition Ends April 30th and if you have entered, please let me know in the comments so I can come and have a look.

Yves Rocher Comme une Evidence Eau de parfum

Perfume is one of the things I love in life and I am quite choosy about what I like and what I don't like, so when I was sent some Yves Rocher Comme Une Evidence Eau De Parfum** to review I was initially quite nervous that it wouldn't be something I liked.

Packaged inside a dusty pink coloured box, The bottle looks to be slightly plain until you look a little more closely whereupon which it is made of quite chunky glass and when the sun shines on it, you can see just hows pink the bottle is and one of the first things I noticed was the solidness of the bottom of the bottle where the pink colour is more evident.  

This perfume features two of my favourite scents -  Rose and Jasmine and for me these are the two most detectable scents within the perfume.  Working with:

• Top notes of both bergamot and violet leaves. 
• Heart notes: rose, jasmine, wild lily of the valley
• Base note: patchouli

All these come together to create a lovely perfume. Once it has been spritzed onto the skin, the rose and jasmine for me really come to life to make it a wonderful spring and summer scent and the fragrance itself on the skin lasts pretty much all day when I am wearing it.  

So from a perfume I initially didn't think I would like, it has become one that I absolutely love and I would definitely want to check out more perfumes from this range.

What's your perfect Spring/Summer scent? 

You Beauty Discovery Box - April Edition

For the past few months I have been getting the You Beauty Discovery Box which you can see here and here with previous box contents.  This month my third box has arrived and I have said I am just as impressed.

This months box is themed "Organic and Natural" and when I got my email to let me know my options for selection was now ready, I logged straight in with excitement to make my choices and I am so chuffed I got the products I really really wanted to try.

As I have said before, I love is how the box fits through my letterbox, it is packed really delicately and the box really study:

Within the magazine which comes with the box we are told that the April shortlist (of products) has been inspired by the arrival of a new season and the prospect of the first glimpses of sunshine.   So with the theme of Organic and Natural the choices between the products included Steamcream Moisturiser, Melvita Moisture-replenishing Night Nectar, Melvita ultra-nourshing Cream, Inka Mineral Eyeshadow, Green People Vita Min Fix 24 hour Cream, Fom London Body Contouring Cream, Essential Care Creamy Coconut Cream, Dr Organic Dead Sea Mineral Eye Rescue Rollerball, Clayspray Glow Red Clay with Cacao Masque and Clayspray Brightening White Clay with Ginseng Masque.

Again as with previous boxes, with this subscription you get some extra treats and mine came in the form of a 9Bar fruity bar which is said to be a delicious blend of dried fruits and seeds and is both gluten and wheat free.  The second little extra is an Antioxident face cream from The Organic Pharmacy and it comes in a little sachet containing 3mls, the other options members might have got is a Gel or a serum.

Then comes my actual selections.  

As soon as I saw one of them there was no doubt it was going to go in my box and it starts with Clayspray Glow Red Clay with Cacao Masque for glowing, healthy and radiant looking skin it comes with the following description:

"The Glow Red Clay Masque instantly adds a boost of radiance to dull skin. The mineral rich formula includes iron to activate circulation, silica to boost collagen, alongsidenourishing cacao, which is rich in anti-oxidants to rejuvenate. The restoring clay exfoliates and repairs the skin’s surface revealing a glowing and healthy looking complexion".

This can is a 30ml can which you can see HERE on the Feelunique website and it has an RRP of £15.

The second choice of mine was Clayspray Brightening White Clay with Ginseng Masque which comes with the follow description:

"For crystal clear, brightened, and renewed complexion. Exfoliates, repairs and renews. Removes dead skin cells, revealing a fresh new skin surface with energising ginseng to brighten, for an immediate replenished and healthy look.

Formulated with a pure blend of white clay, it has an almost whitening effect, and also contains energizing ginseng and natural spring water".

This can is a 30ml can which you can see HERE on the Feelunique website and it has an RRP of £15.

So for a £6.95 subscription, my box has a value of around £32 which is amazing value for money!

What do you think to do this? Do you subscribe to these boxes?

Next month the attention will be dedicated to the CEW(UK) Beauty Awards and I am already looking forward to seeing the options already!

The five aftershaves I couldn't be without!

Today on Beautyqueenuk, I am bringing to you a guest post from my Hubby whom you can find on:

Twitter

Bloglovin

Facebook

and I would love it if you would go and give his blog a visit.

I’m fairly new to blogging about my beauty experiences. I only set up www.beautykinguk.co.uk in January. When asked to guest post here, I jumped at the chance.  With the guidance that I could write about anything I wanted I put aside thoughts that made me grin wildly, things like ‘top 10 limericks’ and ‘top ten bars I’ve lost nights in’ and instead plumped for something close to my heart, well close to my skin – aftershave.

Over the years I’ve spent an absolute fortune on the stuff – I’ve tried discount brands, I’ve paid through the nose for luxury brands, been pleased, dazzled and repulsed in equal measure. Today however, I’m going to look at my 5 favourites.

The first that I can’t live without is Bvlgari Extreme – it is by far the best aftershave I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning and my collection is never without a bottle.

Extreme is the concentrate of Bvlgari Pour Homme which means that a little goes a long way. With a fresh citrus fragrance the notes of Darjeeling tea, rosewood and pepper blend beautifully to create a fragrance that has people swooning as you pass by.

A 100ml bottle costs around £30 and it is worth every penny. It oozes class and gives the wearer confidence.

The second is another aftershave from the Bvlgari stable, Bvlgari Man. This is fairly new fragrance launched in 2010 and, and has quickly become a personal favourite.

Again, a 100ml bottle is just £30 and a bottle lasts for ages. The oriental woody fragrance has notes of lotus and bergamot. The heart notes of honey really stand out after dry down and while it’s heavier than aftershaves I normally go for the sheer volume of positive comments mean that it is a must have.

In third place I was torn between choosing either Ralph Lauren Polo black or the blue version. In the end I’ve opted for blue.

While not the cheapest aftershave on the market, it can cost up to £50 for a 125ml bottle the fragrance is divine. It’s been around for over a decade and is more in line with aftershaves I go for.

It’s cool and refreshing while it has warm dry down notes that linger for well over 10 years. With a blend of cucumber and tangerine this is a fresh scent that is fruity on the nose.

Wear this and you will get noticed.

In fourth place is Acqua Di Gio by Georgio Armani which comes in at £35 for a 50ml bottle. Again, it isn’t cheap but it’s worth every penny.

Approaching 20 years since it was launched this fell into my collection after I smelt it on my dad.Crisp and cool it's sold as a bracing oceanic fragrance for men. It has an almost citrus tang to it and I’ve written about it on my blog.

The fragrance has a fresh and almost uplifting property to it and the light nature of it means that while you won’t be able to smell it those around you will – and they will adore it.

My final choice was really difficult, but after much consideration I had to pick Dreamer by Versace. A 100ml bottle is just £25 making it good value for money.

This first came into my collection when I was 16 – it was one of the first I owned and as the marketing blurb says, it does combine being fresh with warmth.

It is light, has a citrus aroma that completely disappears on dry down to an almost sensual spicy fragrance. If you haven’t tried it, you really should.

Just thinking about these fragrances evokes some very fond memories and bottles are replaced before they are even two thirds empty.

I hope you enjoyed my choices and thanks for reading - what are your favourites?