Christmas Party Oufit

The works Christmas Party is clearly one of the most important parties of the year. It's the one time you get to really dress up and have a fantastic night with the people you work really hard with, day in, day out. I'm pretty sure every girl will admit that they purchase a new dress when that time of year rolls around and it's your mission to find something that not every girl will be wearing. 

When the gorgeous Kim at e-tail webstores contacted me (she's the loveliest lady), on behalf of Chi Chi clothing I was just a wee bit excited at her timing. This, yes this dress right here has to be my absolute favourite Christmas party dress to date.

The long sleeves and comfortable material come hand in hand with a hell of a lot of sparkle, making sure that it's perfect for Christmas / Winter attire - plus it's a Little Black Dress, which is never an item you can have too many of. And although I like my dress to stand out a little, I feel that I could tone it down a little by pairing it with some chunky black tights and velvet ankle boots. 

Apologies for the lack of full length shots here guys, but the lighting at 7pm on a winter night was definitely against me. (cue to perhaps invest in some indoor lighting, any recommendations!?)

And if I wasn't in Australia for New Years - I would 100% be wearing this baby again.

See you all in 2013 my lovelies and Happy New Year!!!! 2013 is THE year, I just know it.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED: Blue Bird Bride Jewellery

The fab feeling of discovering another fantastic online jewellery boutique will never fade. So you can imagine my joy when I was contacted by Blue Bird Bride. If you're looking for statement beautiful necklaces then this is the place to be heading. My wardrobe consists of many plain, dark items so I always like to add a pop of colour to my outfit with accessories that do the talking. I mean, how frickin' gorgeous is this necklace?

I love it so much that I wanted you guys to be able to get your lovely mitts on one too. They come in a variety of colours and at only £16.51 I think everyone should own one! The giveaway will run from today for one month - 24th January. And if you don't win don't worry - you can nab a cheeky 15% off  when you enter FALL2012 at checkout. 

Good Luck All - and a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)

I will be off on my jolly holidays from Christmas Night, so I have filled this little space with lots of guest posts to keep you company. make sure you have a read!!

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Book Reveiw & GIVEAWAY CLOSED: 1930s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook

When Carlton Books contacted me about featuring a newly published 1930’s fashion bible I just couldn’t resist. You may, or may not have guessed from my blog that 1930’s is a little bit my favourite. I may not dress like a 1930's typical woman on a daily basis - but it's definitely where I take my inspiration from with regards to my make-up and I particularly love the effortless glamour involved with the fashion. The book is packed full to the brim with never before seen images and divine illustrations taken from fashion magazines of the day. 

I would describe this as the perfect sitting room book. You know when you sit down after a long day shopping and want to flick through a fantastic piece - well this is it. And not only that, when your in the mood to really learn something new this ticks all the boxes. The book focuses on Daywear, Swimwear, Wedding Gowns, Eveningwear and Accessories; and with all the photo's dated you can gage a full understanding of how the fashion changed throughout that time period.

I'm absolutely in love. And I was even more excited when one of the authors of the book agreed to have a little interview with me...

1. Charlotte, for those that haven't had the chance to read the book, could you tell us a little bit about it and the ladies behind the masterpiece? 
Emmanuelle is the fashion history authority so has written the introduction and most of the captions, while I am a design historian, author and critic as well as an absolutely obsessive collector of fashion photography, prints, advertisements, etc. I do all the image sourcing and try to shape the project so that we can give the reader the best fashion overview of the period that we can.

2. When did you first become interested in Fashion? 
Ever since I was child I have been interested in vintage fashion, in fact as a university student I dealt in vintage clothes as a way of avoiding having to get a summer job. And through this handling of beautiful vintage clothes, I got to appreciate the exquisite tailoring and detailing of say a 1920s beaded flapper dress, a 1940s fur stole or a 1950s boned swimsuit. They bascially don’t make clothes like they used to...unless, of course, you can afford Haute Couture, which let’s face it most of us can’t.

3. What inspires you about 1930's Fashion? 
I love the fact that even though it was the height of the Great Depression, women bucked the gloom and doom and opted for sheer over-the-top glamour – whether it was a slinky gown or just a bright red lipstick. Never underestimate the power of fashion to cheer one up...

4. The 1930's style truly celebrated the woman's figure and the coming age of glamour - do you feel we could embrace this more in our current day and age? 
I think that the overtly feminine silhouette of the 1930s was great – for the first time women could be glamorously womanly with their curves being accentuated with figure-hugging fabrics. Today, sadly most designers prefer to have models that look half-starved and/or half-dead so that they don’t compete with the impact the clothes make on a catwalk or in a glossy advertisement, which is all rather depressing. Really it should be that clothes are made to fit real bodies, rather the bodies being made to fit unrealistic silhouettes. During the 1930s women were allowed to be feminine, and this must have felt very liberating... And I’m pretty sure the men during the 1930s appreciated this curvaceous look too.

5. What's next for you two lovely ladies? 

We have just finished the next volume in the series, “1940s Fashion” – which is packed just as full with images and information – from wartime utility garments to Dior’s New Look. It has been another great learning experience, and we are both looking forward to working on other decades next year!

1930s Fashion: The Definitive Sourcebook is published by Goodman Fiell, RRP £30 and is available at www.carltonbooks.co.uk and all good book stores. 
And now for the very bestest bit!! If you want to get your hands on a copy of the beautiful piece - you can enter to win one below :) As many of you know I'm off to Australia next week for 3 weeks, so the giveaway will close on the 29th January 2013 - when I'm back and have had a chance to sleep!! A winner will be picked randomly through rafflecopter. Good luck!a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Day Time Winter Make-Up

When it comes to winter, my skin is super duper pale. I can end up looking like Caspar, but 1000x paler - yeah not a good look. I like to add a bit of colour to my face with a bolder lipstick and darker blush. It's probably a little 'Bella-Twilight-esque' but that'll do nicely ;)

Real Techniques Contour & Buffing Brushes | Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer - Fair | White Pencil Eyeliner | Bobbi Brown Corrector - Light Bisque | Rimmel Black Pencil Eyeliner | c/o Semichem: Rimmel Extra Wow Lash Mascara | Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner | Benefit Brow Zings | Kate Moss for Rimmel - 107 | c/o Semichem: Rimmel Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blush - Santa Rose | MAC Mineralize Skin Finish - Light Plus | Clinique Anti-Blemish Foundation - Shade 02 Ivory | c/o Harrods: Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow - Bone

My daily make-up doesn't tend to differ too much to my evening these days. My base will always be the same regardless - I suppose the only difference is that I'm a little less heavy on the eyes! I'm a huge fan of lipstick and like to experiment with different shades every day. And for winter I'm particularly enjoying the darker plummy shades. Let's be honest, what girl doesn't have this 107 lippy right now?

During the day-time I also prefer to use my high-street/drug store make-up products with a selection of Rimmel cosmetics & Collection 2000. They're such good quality for the price and their staying power is on par with that of my MAC and Chanel faves. 

I recently treated myself to the Bobbi Brown corrector and believe me - it's worth the hype. I'm so bowled over by this baby and it's definitely going to be staying put in my make-up box (let me know if you'd be interested in reading a post dedicated to it).

I'm also particularly fond of my mascara and liquid eyeliner - both are under the £5 mark and you'd never know!

How do you wear your daily make-up?

My Christmas Party Make Up Routine

Happy Sunday my lovelies! 
This weekend has been a rather fab one. Friday I received my Photography course results and passed with Distinction! I was so happy I definitely did a little dance at work. I worked my little tooshy off to get a good final project so I'm really happy that I managed to get the grade I did.
I also received my first feature in a local magazine about Wonderful You - a three page spread! I KNOW - I nearly died. I think I'll pop a little post up showing you guys, that's if you want to see it :)
Lastly - I went out on Friday night and used an old handbag that's been gathering dust over the past few months. It only had a bloomin' £10 note in it! (it's the small things, eh?)

Anyway - following on from my mum's birthday party a few weeks ago, I got a few questions on my make-up for the evening....

I thought I would film a little video on how I wore it that night. I've been in hiding from YouTube for a while. My skin has gone mental again so I've felt a bit self conscious, it's still not great but i've decided to just suck it up :)

Hope you enjoy and have all had a wonderful weekend! 

NOTD | Christmas Nail Art

Firstly, I would like to apologise for my absence on here over the past few weeks. I had some family issues that obviously take priority and now all is well I am back! Yay :)

So, If you’ve been reading my blog since the beginning (it wasn't that long ago – only April. Wowee how time flies when you're having fun!) you might have seen my post about my favourite little nail sticker company – Jan Christie. The stickers I bought had foxes on them so of course it was love at first sight. When the lovely ladies there asked me if I fancied a few Christmassy ones I just couldn't say no.

Red Squirrel with Santa Hat

Santa with Christmas Tree

How cuteeeeeee are they?! I'm particularly fond of the Squirrel!

The stickers work best on a lighter coloured polish, or if you fancy it just plain nails. Personally I always prefer to have a bit of polish on my nails and I wanted to show you how they show up on a really light polish along with a slightly darker one. 
It’s just the simplest and most affordable way to add a little something extra to the way you do your nails. I’ve always been a bit cack-handed with nail art, so these little stickers are perfect for me. You literally just peel them off the sticker and place them on your nail – I find it easier to use a pair of my tweezers to place them on the nail to give more accuracy (I did say I’m cack-handed remember), but I think it would work just as well with your fingers with a steady hand :)

At only £1.80 per sheet you cant really go wrong – you get enough in one packet to cover both hands in stickers with a few left over so it doesn't matter if you go wrong, or if you want to do the same look again. I apply a top coat every other day and they've lasted me over 2 weeks, which is pretty impressive.

My favouritist bit about the company is you can send them your own animal pictures to have a unique sticker, tailored to you. And because the ladies are so wonderful, they've offered you guys a little deal. If you purchase 4 or more of any of their range and add my blog name: Wonderful You in the promo code you’ll get another set of their choice free! I hope you lovely lot are going to take advantage of this, and do let me know what ones you pick!

What do you think of nail art stickers? Have you tried them out yet?

p.s. sorry for my dry hands in the Santa shots - the cold is really getting to them this year!

Anniversary Shop | Outfit Post

My boyfriend and I will have been together for 5 years in January. It seems like absolutely forever but then feels like absolutely no time at all - all at the same time, if you know what I mean? Usually for our anniversary we just make each other a card and go out for dinner or something - but being the 5 year mark we thought it might be nice to buy each other something special. We'll be in Australia on the actual date so it was an early present shop! And what better opportunity for an outfit post? Haha. We went to Birmingham (gotta love the bullring and the Christmas Market!) and this is what I wore:

Blouse: c/o Mina. Leggings: Topshop. Bag: c/o Marc B. Boots: H by Hudson of London

This is literally the prettiest, most wonderfully made and comfortable blouse I own. Mina is a little bit more of a luxury brand so it's slightly more pricey but it's absolutely worth every penny. It fits like a glove and the quality is incredible. I feel slightly androgynous in it and of course it goes hand in hand with my beloved Topshop velvet leggings that don't seem to be coming off me lately. 
When shopping I also require a suitable bag, as I take near enough everything I own in life with me on a trip, it's gotta be pretty large - I received so many comments from sales assistants in the Bullring about this little beauty. I have a bit of a massive crush on Marc B bags - this one is only £55 and the quality is insane. it's also pretty hefty so I'm thinking I might quite like using it as an overnight bag as well as my shopping companion! 

If you nosy parkers are wondering what we both got for our anniversary gifts don't worry I was always planning on telling you ;) Daniel got a pretty gorgeous Hugo Boss watch and I picked a beautiful ring from Alex Monroe - I've had my eye on it for a while and it is very welcomed in to my ever growing collection of his pieces. Thinking I might do a little post on the bits I have from him, would you like to see that?

Hope you are all having a good week - and have you managed to get all your Christmas shopping done yet? Eeek!!!