Mallzee: The way forward for online shopping!

 I have the answer to your shopping dilemmas! Have you ever searched through countless shops online trying to find the perfect dress? Do you admire a friend’s style but struggle to create the look yourself? Are you always giving people fashion advice but never getting recognition for your talent?

 Check out Mallzee.com which is launching later this year and those problems will be solved. You can create your own shopping mall or ‘Mallzee’ by choosing the stores you like to shop at and look at all of the brands in one place. Software will even find products to show you based on your personal style!

 If you use Facebook you can invite your friends via Facebook chat and they can help you decide on your outfit choices through polls, and you can star items that they might like. There are also great discounts, sale alerts, and if anyone buys items from your Mallzee you get paid (although I’m not sure how much money you’ll be paid).

 At the moment there are over 200 brands signed up to Mallzee such as Urban Outfitters, New Look, Feel Unique, St. Tropez, Office, Miss Selfridge, All Saints and more so you can do all of your online shopping in one place; this might be very useful when you start your Christmas shopping!

 Betsey Johnson said: "Girls do not dress for boys. They dress for themselves and each other", and Mallzee aims to give you space to make shopping social.

 If you put in your email address now and tell your friends via Facebook or Twitter you will be in with a chance of winning £100 of shopping vouchers and other goodies. Have a look for yourself and enter the competition here: Mallzee.com.

XOXO

Minimal Style

Minimal Style by lauren290591 featuring victorian boots

 I've been drawn to a more minimal style of fashion recently, maybe because I'm moving on with my life and I feel that everything should be fresh and new. Who knows? In an attempt to become more sophisticated I'm thinking about a wardrobe update in a minimal direction. I love the idea of having so many combinations of things to wear and the way that this style always seems to look cool and edgy. 

What do you think about minimal style? If you have any ideas about how to achieve this kind of look then let please let me know!

Lauren Loves ♥: Sophistication and elegance.

XOXO

What I got for my 21st birthday & haul

 As promised here are a few of the main presents I received for my 21st birthday, there are also things I got with my birthday money and some items I bought in general.

 So I don't have a photo of my birthday cake to share with you (which had candles with multi-coloured flames!) but here is a random item I bought recently. I love the sweet vanilla scent of this Yankee candle and it's just so relaxing and instantly makes me happy.

 My collection of rings were spilling everywhere so I bought myself this ultra cool zodiac/ palmistry hand ring holder and I also got an owl print trinket dish to hold my most worn earrings- both were from Urban Outfitters US online store. For my birthday I also had a Pandora bracelet which you can see closer here:

 From left to right: 1) My stack of books charm with the owl on the cover was a gift for graduating university. 2) The heart-shaped lock with dangling key was a present from my boyfriend for our 4 year anniversary. 3) The butterfly charm was a 21st birthday present. 4) The Gemini cameo was a 21st birthday present (yes I'm a Gemini). 5) I adore all things related to owls and this was a 21st birthday present. 6) I bought a Canon 600d camera with my birthday money and this camera charm so it would remind me of my 21st.

I'd wanted a studded bag for a while so I got this one with mixed studs from the US Urban Outfitters online store and the matching purse from Topshop.

 I got an Iphone 4 for my birthday and after a bit of searching for the perfect case I found this cute little sketched owl case on etsy.com!

 These are my most recent beauty purchases. I wear the Garnier BB Cream over moisturiser for extra hydration and blend with my fingers, it smells lovely and acts as a good primer. I then use my new foundation brush (the black one) and then the (orange) Barry M one which I got in Superdrug to apply foundation as the BB Cream doesn't give you very good coverage. 

 Soap and Glory's Extreme Plump lip gloss sure does work! The first time I used it my lips stayed plumper for hours afterwards but now it has a less noticeable effect after it initially tingles. I'd still use this on it's own or over another lip product for fuller lips as it works really well.

 I got this Umberto Giannini gloss mist to obviously add gloss to my hair which it doesn't really do but it does smell really nice and it makes my hair softer so it's still lovely to use. 

I got the Benefit Porefessional and Badgal Lash Mascara with Glamour magazine and while I'm still not too sure how to use the pore minimiser to its full effect the mascara is great for a quick application.

 The Beauty UK eye shadow palette was needed for costume makeup as I was going to some themed parties and I wanted bright colours. Although you have to apply the shadow heavily it really isn't bad for the price which I think was just under £4:

I also caved in to the pressure and finally bought an orange lipstick and a Revlon Lip Butter in one go! It isn't too harsh once you apply it and although it is hydrating I still wear the lip butter over lip balm:

 For my birthday I wore this triangular owl print blouse from ASOS:

 I also got a black crop top from ASOS and a soft t-shirt from Topshop:

 Hopefully you've enjoyed a look at what I've been buying and maybe have some ideas about what to get someone for their birthday if you need any! 

XOXO

What I've Been Up To

 Just in case you're interested in my daily life then here's a little update. I've been taking my puppy Darcy to training classes and it's been loads of fun watching her play with the other puppies, usually she gets as much sleep as she can. She's a Bearded Collie and almost 5 months old, here she is sleeping on the sofa (naughty!) and on my slipper:

 I've also been swamped with uni work, making a Commonplace Book for Shakespeare studies and writing a 3000 word essay about Hardy. When I was writing my essay I found a little scribble in the back of a library book that I couldn't help agreeing with in the midst of essay stress:

 I spent a lovely weekend with my boyfriend when he came home from uni for a visit and we played the Angry Birds board game (which turned me into an angry bird), Scrabble and I ended up buying american candy like Twizzlers from an old fashioned sweet shop: 

 I've also been buying a few things so I'll do a little shopping haul post soon if you're interested in seeing what I've purchased. I read The Hunger Games Trilogy not too long ago and I can't wait to see it come to life when the film comes out soon, let me know if you're looking forward to the film like me!

Lauren Loves ♥: Candy and work-free weekends!

XOXO

Naked Palette: Cheaper similar shades!

 I love Urban Decay's Naked Palette but I know that not everybody wants 12 eye shadows in natural shades or wants to spend that much on their make up. I've already done a post on the Naked Palette so if you want to see the shades I'm going to mention you can have a look at them here. 

 I got the True Colour Quad in Mocha Latte which is from Avon and at the moment it's available for £5 online so if you only want a basic range of natural shades then this is for you. The compact also has a mirror and a double-ended foam applicator although I do prefer to use my own shadow brushes and the Urban Decay brush in the Naked Palette is nicer.

 My favourite shades in the Naked Palette were the matte ones and this Avon Quad has dupes for Urban Decay's matte shades 'Naked' and 'Buck' which are great every day colours and can also be used to fill in your eyebrows. The other two shadows are very similar to 'Toasted' and 'Virgin' although Avon's highlighter is slightly warmer.

 Avon's Quad is more affordable especially if you just want to experiment with some warmer shades, and it's perfect if you're travelling light as it's small enough to carry in your pocket. If you already have the Mocha Latte Quad let me know if you agree!

Lauren Loves ♥: Warmer tones during the colder weather.

XOXO

Festive treats (for me!)

 Although I did decorate the gingerbread house (with some help from my boyfriend) I must confess that this festive treat was not all for me!

 As there are so many discounts around right now I thought I'd make the most of them and buy myself some things for Christmas.

 First up are these pretty statement stone rings, I've been wanting some for a while and with the temptation of a discount code I just had to buy them from Lily Melrose's jewellery shop www.jwlry.bigcartel.com:

 Reduced from £35 to around £15 I managed to buy this t-shirt from The Orphan's Arms on ASOS:

 I went a little t-shirt crazy, being a massive Harry Potter fan and seeing Gem wearing the Deathly Hallows logo tee on www.gemsmaquillage.com I had to buy my own from Orange Circle. My wardrobe was lacking in navy items and I thought the colour went well with the cosmic print of the logo so I ended up getting the same t-shirt:

 The Topshop sale starts on Christmas Eve and I'm sure there'll be lots of bargains so you can treat yourself after all the hard work getting everything ready for Christmas.


Lauren Loves ♥: Saving money over Christmas.



XOXO

My Favourite Things Right Now

 This is just a little post to show you what I'm loving at the moment. First up is my amazing, shiny, glittery, camera-shaped bag that I got from ASOS:

 I also got a beauty product after finally giving in to temptation (it must have been the chocolate)! It is of course the Bourjois- Delice De Poudre, Bronzing Powder in shade 52 that smells sweet too. It's meant to be chocolate scented and instead of containing shimmer like a lot of bronzing powders this one is matte:

 These are my favourite things right now but I will be posting very soon about the contents of my Christmas Glossybox which I'm sure will contain some awesome beauty products so look out for that! Let me know what you're up to over Christmas or if there's anything you'd like me to do a post on.


Lauren Loves ♥: Sparkles and chocolate



XOXO

Birds of a Feather

 This weekend my boyfriend was at home and I had a lovely few days with him before he went back to university. We went to see Breaking Dawn, if anyone has seen it, how gross is the birth scene and how comical was it when Jacob first saw Renesmee's CGI face? We also went shopping, the items I purchased will follow shortly, and when I got home I found the ring I won in a competition and a letter from Charlie whose blog is http://www.new--romantic.blogspot.com/ and should shortly be changing to www.charlestownvintage.com, so thank you for my prize I really do love the bird's nest ring!

 I went to Bank and found this cozy boyfriend cardigan from Blonde + Blonde which is perfect as the weather has just turned chilly:

 As you may already know I have an obsession with owls and on my shopping travels I found a cute owl-shaped ring from Primark, which goes nicely with my wing ring and my new bird's nest ring!

 The nail polish I'm wearing is Nails Inc: Basil Street, and Model's Own: Garnet.

 I used to love Vanilla Coca Cola before they stopped selling it in the UK and I was stupidly happy to find this lip balm for £1 when I went shopping:

 So that was my weekend, what have you been up to? Feel free to leave me a link to your blog if you have one!


Lauren Loves ♥: Being cozy when the weather is cold.



XOXO

An Evening with Elle

 I recently attended the Evening with Elle event held in the Birmingham River Island, and as I was one of the first to RSVP I also got a goody bag on arrival! I thought I would share with you what I was given. As well as receiving a copy of Elle magazine I got:

Canvas Bag.

Cozy Bobble Hat.

Black Wayfarer Style Sunnies.

Beauty Products: Models Own & Dermalogica.

 Here's a slightly better photo of the nail polish colour:

Autumnal Shade.

 Have you been anywhere exciting recently or are you about to? Let me know what you've been buying over autumn too.


Lauren Loves ♥: Free stuff!



XOXO

Dalmatian Inspiration

 It looks like Topshop has gone dotty for Dalmatians. Prepare to see that monochrome pattern everywhere, from your shoes to your nails!

Lauren Loves ♥: 101 Dalmatians! I'm such a 90's kid.



XOXO

What to buy now

 Yesterday I passed my driving test first time! During the days before my test I decided to go shopping to relieve some stress without spending too much money.

 I got some autumnal, burgundy coloured jeans from Topshop which cost £40 (without including any discounts) and some gold studded, black boots from Primark for only £15. Bargain.

 Recently I ran out of liquid eyeliner so I went to Boots and there was a 3 for 2 offer across selected ranges, and my Bourjois Liner Feutre was included so of course I had to buy 2 other items.

 For a while I've wanted to try Maybelline's Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner; I finally gave in after Boots seduced me with their offer and got it in the shade 01 Intense Black.

 The other product I chose was a Kate Moss lipstick from Rimmel, she's launched this collection to celebrate 10 years as a Rimmel London Spokesmodel. I decided on shade number 12 which I think is a duller, classic red with a very slight hint of coral.

 As we know, Primark is always good when shopping on a budget but if you're in need of some new make up then take advantage of the 3 for 2 offer at Boots while it lasts!


Lauren Loves ♥: Make up offers!




XOXO