The New Denim.

Ha ha ha ha ha, I am easily amused but still can't stop laughing at this picture. I do have a bit of a fear of anything denim that's not jeans right now. It's an inbuilt  reaction after seeing first hand all of the scary stonewashed/ bleached denim (and double denim!!! shudder shudder!) of the 80's. However I decided I needed to get my head around it since denim has been starting to creep back onto the catwalks and into Celeb wardrobes of late.

Against my better judgement I started to look around and see could denim be cute? I must admit I was pleasantly surprised what I found out there.

Topshop denim playsuit €47

This was a good start. I love playsuits for Summer and because this is a nice smooth look denim it soothed away my fear of stonewashed boiler suits immediately. It is a good price too so that if I decided I was going to take the plunge into alternative denim then I wouldn't have to spend a fortune to do it. And if it's good enough for Cameron it's good enough for me.

Wow the denim jacket has come a long way!

Free people €102

 This one is super cute, kinda half shirt/half jacket and the beauty of this is that it goes over everything from light summer dresses, festival shorts, patterned jumpsuits to harem pants. www.freepeople.com. I warn you with this website though because everything is amazing and you will not know when to stop spending!

Topshop Bralet €18

OK so I may have gone a bit Thelma and Louise here but how cute is this denim bra? The man in your life will appreciate it. Trust me!

J Crew €72

The classic denim shirt but in this case the fabric feels as soft as silk and looks so cute tucked into a bright pencil skirt and worn with wedges.

Drew Barrymore rocks it here with white!

Denim dresses can be a big mistake if done wrong. For me the trick is keep it simple, the less detail the better. Tommy Hilfiger completely get it right with this cute Summer dress.

Tommy Hilfigger €61 (available from Macys.com)

Jessica Alba is always spot on fashion wise and this Isabel Maurant dress is amazing. I want one.

So I'm definitely convinced. I will take it slowly as I enter the world of denim but if designers keep producing the quirky denim pieces that are out right now I can see myself becoming a complete convert.

Have you had any dodgy denim mistakes?

Worn double denim in the past?

Come on fess up?

LUSHous

Ahhh total bliss.... After a long day at work my greatest pleasure is slipping into a steaming hot bubble bath and soaking until my fingers turn pruny! Alas I could not enjoy this satisfying ritual to the max without my bath treats from Lush.
I first discovered this amazing handmade cosmetics store through a cosmetic addict friend of mine when she bought me my first bath bomb to cheer me up after a particularly harsh break up and I have been a huge fan ever since. Of course since then I have tried most Lush products and they do everything from shower gels, shampoos, face masks to massage oils (ooooh sexy!). But to do their products justice I will have to re-visit all ranges at a later date as this would be the longest post in the world if I was to talk about everything I like.

Since the bath products are my overall favorites I thought I would share with you my top three Bath bombs and Bath melts and bubble bars.
My first experience was a bath bomb. It is normally a hard powdery textured ball of loveliness which when dropped into a hot bath dissolves and fizzes releasing the amazing oils and ingredients into you bath for you to soak in and relax.
1) Honey Bee. This was my first experience and for that reason it will always remain a favorite. It smells edible like honey/caramel but has amazing cleansing qualities (rhassoul mud) which leave you skin clean and baby soft.

2)Tisty Tosty. This is a bomb of seduction or romance. Its rose essence infuses throughout the bath and makes a girl feel like a princess as she soaks in a bath of flower petals. Gorgeous.

3)Butterball. This is a classic old timer that NEVER gets old. This is a good moisturizing bomb as it releases cocoa butter into the water as it melts which is absorbed easily as your pores will be open with the heat of the bath.

For a more silk moisturizing (and less fizzy bath!) try one of Lush's gorgeous bath melts. These vary from the bombs in that they contain more oils and moisturizing properties than the bombs and normally feel silkier to the touch.
1)Floating Island. This was my favourite melt for a long time. Its creamy and smells like vanilla and is a treat for the skin. Its simple but very effective.

2)Dreamtime. This is one for a just before bed bath. I find it personally best on a Sunday evening when the hangover is starting to wear off. It releases sandalwood, lavender and jasmine and relaxes the whole body and mind so that once i slip into my jammies I'm asleep before you can say goodnight. Zzzz Zzzz

3)Marshmallow moment. Now I am known to love sugary sweet things, especially in cosmetics. My perfumes are always sugary sweet. So this melt is a dream come true. It smells or marshmallow and also has cocoa butter so when you hop out of the bath you smell good enough to eat. Yum!

Bubble bars used to be my last choice when choosing a bath product but just because I would normally get swayed by bombs and melts before I got that far, however lately they have become a bit of a new favorite. I can often be found with a chilled glass of rose, hair up and lounging in bubbles like Alexis in Dynasty. Fabulous darling! Bubble bars need to be crumbled into the bath as the bath is still running and this helps whip up the bubbles. The great thing about these instead of regular bubble bath is that they are also intensely moisturizing aswell as opposed to some bubble liquids.
1)Amandopondo. This has the scents of rose, lemon and orange. It is great for a day time bath as it helps give me energy and feel fabulous all at the same time.

2) Karma. This is sexy and spicy and the scent floats around the house giving a sultry feel to an evening. Possibly a good one for a shared bath! (wink wink!)

3) French kiss. This lavender scented bubble bar is meant to evoke a feeling of Spring in Provence and it even has it's own little lavender sprig which infuses into the bath when melted.

So if you haven't already checked out Lush then treat yourself to a bath tonight with one of their amazing treats. You will tahnk me for it believe me.
Also check out all their other amazing products, I will definitely revisit some of these at a later date, I can't resist.

Until then happy bathing!

Oh Happy Days.

Today is my 40th blog and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for getting this far and not running out of ideas to write about. So in celebration of looking back on what I've achieved I thought I would have a reminisce about things that made me happy as a kid, namely TV! Being an eighties child we watched tv a lot and I'm probably biased but the tv back then for kids was fantastic. Anytime I talk about it with peeps my age they get all excited and start gushing about the programmes they used to watch. So here is a little flashback to some of my favourites.

Button Moon

THis was one of my early favourites back when Mrs Spoon was the height of sophistication. Didn't you used to want to press the button that made the rocket take off?

Chock-a-block

This programme wa slike a cool version of Playschool and the bonus was it didn't have that scary Hanbel doll either. The enthusiastic presenters used to drive amini train around the studio and then watch VT footage on their technologically advanced posh VHS tapes. What a cool job!

CockleShell Bay

This completely brings me back. These two kids used to hang out with some old dodgy sailor geezer in matching outfits, mess around on the beach for a bit and then go home for jam sandwiches for tea!!!

King Rollo

Mr Ben

These two used to be on at lunchtime and to be honest I didnt really like either one that much but still watched them everyday. I think my real dissapointment was that Mr Ben never picked the tutu to wear in the fancy dress shop(ahh the innocence!)

The Get-along-gang

Being a girl in the 80s one could not escape the draw of the girl cartoons, Rainbow Brite, The Get-along-gang  (my fave was Woolma Lamb!) and the Care bears. Plus the added excitement came with collecting the dolls, teddies, stickers, rubbers, you name it and comparing them with your friends...

Fingermouse has to be the cheapest tv programme evermade, just some cardboard and an imagination but still it holds  place in my heart, as does which always made me cry for some reason.......

When I got a bit older my viewing tastes changed, cartoons became more weird. Like Ulyses. What the hell was that about? I actually think I used to be scared of it but still it didn't stop me watching it.

Ulyses

Dungeons and Dragons has to be up there in my top five I reckon. It was so cool. I loved the Dungeon Master and the unicorn. This used to be on around 4pm when I got in from school classic! It knocked its rivals He-Man and She-Ra out of the water!

Talking of after school tv. These two were pretty cool in my opinion.

The Pink Windmill

The Pink Windmill was Awesome! "There somebody at the door" would be shouted at the top of our lungs in our house when Grotbags would call round. Slightly unnerving looking at Rod Hull now knowing that he went bankrupt and fell to his death from the roof of his house into a greenhouse but back then it was all harmless fun!

T-bag

Remember this? T-bag and T-leaf. She was a wicked queen with her t-bag slave who used to try and stop Debbie from collecting the golden letters. Fun times!

Finally I will leave you with the most scary kids programme on tv in the 80s. Chocky. I don't know why it says PG on this image cos it still scares me now if I listen to the theme tune on You Tube. It was the weirdest programme about a young boy who starts talking to a being that isn't there and it turns out it is an alien who does weird things and is trying to find out about things on earth. I swear I had many a nightmare thinking that Chocky was in the corner of my room.

Wow there is still so much more I haven't even mentioned but I wont bore you any longer. I hope you enjoyed our trip down memory lane.

Do you have an 80s programme that you were obsessed with?

Did Chocky scare the bejeezus out of you?

Anyone remember a foreign programme called the storyteller?

Rain Rain Go Away!

Yes it is July for all of you who have woken up to torrential rain in Ireland. I don't know why we all stay so optimistic about our Summers, we should have learbt our lesson by now. July is always the worst month after an always scorching April/May and followed by an Indian summer in September. However it is hard not to get depressed on a day like this so there is only one thing for it! Shopping!!!!

I decided to check out what one can wear in this weather and still look good!! These are my top five rain gear picks!!!

Asos €57

How cute is this rainmac from Asos and the colour is enough to cheer up the grumpiest of passersby!

Rain frog €63

This is a great site www.rainfrog.co.uk. It has a great selection of really funky rain gear and a great selection for kids too!!

Asos €90

Good old Hunter wellies, yep you probably all have a pair in army green or black but how cool are these? Sugar pink and sassy!

Melissa Having Metais boot

These boots are for the more fashion conscious amongst us who feel positively unladylike in regular wellies. These are completely waterproof but have style too!

Umbrella Heaven €32

This is definitely the coolest brolly I've seen. They have loads more too, check out www.umbrellaheaven.com

Now that I have cheered myself up Im off to splash around in puddles for the afternoon! Wheeeee!

I've got the hump.

The current item at the top of my most wanted list is a camel coloured leather bag. I'm open to tan or a very light brown either but camel is the object of my desire. The problem is there are so many gorgeous leather bags out there right now that i'm finding it hard to narrow down my choice.

Ted Baker €259

This is a beauty. It's Ted Baker so they have used gorgeous quality leather, so soft and I love the stitching, it makes its cute and quirky. Bonus is the over shoulder strap for trekking about but being detachable is handy for using on posher occasion.

River Island €79

River Island always has a fantastic choice of handbags, especially in leather and this is the first of two I found here. This is a brilliant price and I can fit in everything but the kitchen sink which is just the way I like it. Plus it has a handy coin purse/mobile pocket to boot!

River Island €56

Now normally I'm not a fan of pleather but this bag is very convincing and the price is fantastic so I slipped it in as an alternative option. I like the quirky shape but it is definitely more of a day bag than for night.

Asos  €34

I love this. It is a perfect clutch for going out. Plus such a great price for something that you will always have. The design on the leather makes it look much more expensive too.

Asos €96

I think this has to be my favourite. This is the colour I've been searching for, definitely more camel than tan, it's big, has a shoulder strap and is really funky. I think this has to be the one. But before I go I thought I would sneak in a quick luxury wish list model fo rwhen I win the lotto.

Marc Jacobs €370

What more do I need to say? Beautiful.

So are you a fan of Camel?

 Any gorgeous bag sightings for me?

Top of the Shops

I know I promised not to look too much at Autumn Winter Collections this early on but I couldnt resist posting these new pics of the Topshop Autumn/Winter collection. I also am suffering with a fairly bad hangover this morning which is not so good on a Monday, so it's best I give you less waffle and more juicy pics of these tempting Topshop delights. They havent given prices for these pieces as yet so take a look and start your wishlists now!

Gorgeous! Better start saving for my new Autumn wardrobe now.