A dupe for Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue

I don't know about you, but one of my all time favourite perfumes is Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue.  Sadly, I've had numerous bottles over the years and the one thing that has always disappointed me is the fact that it has no staying power, it fades off my skin in about an hour, leaving just a whisper of fragrance behind.  This has always been it's one major flaw which when combined with the price has made it a non viable purchase.

However, today I was in my local poundland and amongst all the deodorants, hand creams and packets of false nails I spotted a perfume called Bright Blue made by European American Designs.  I picked it up expecting to smell the usual over floral, air freshener like scent that I associate with a very inexpensive perfume.   What actually happened was I stopping smirking, smelt it again, looked at the row of boxes and quickly put it in my basket.

When I got home I once again expected to be disappointed, but the reality is that it is a good Light Blue dupe.  Like most inexpensive perfumes it has no length to it, but then neither does the real one and at this price you can either spray lots on or put it in your bag and refresh often.  The other thing you can do is to spray it on to a tissue and put it in your drawer, this gives your underwear and clothes a lovely gentle scent and this can seem a little wasteful with a more expensive scent.

All in all this was a very happy first foray into the world of poundland perfumes and while I still love my (too large) designer perfume collection, I will not be as dismissive of bargain buys again. 

Let me know if you have discovered any great dupes or even just found a beautiful bargain fragrance that you love.

A charm bracelet as a mood board for life

I've just bought myself a new Thomas Sabo bracelet and some new charms.  While I know that the fashion for charms has passed, I bought this as a concrete statement of my dreams, plans and even ambitions.  Charm bracelets were originally meant to say something about who you were or where you'd been, a tangible souvenir of your journey through life so far, but when they became fashionable this seemed to be forgotten.  

Personally, I wanted a wearable mood board, to be a constant reminder, a snapshot of who I am, what I love and what I would still like to achieve.  In my opinion, the act of selecting, buying (and paying for) the charms meant that I really had to think about what mattered to me most.  The charms I selected were; a maypole, because Swedish Midsummer is one of my favourite times, a heart with a Starfish, I love the sea, the Eiffel Tower, because Paris is one of my favourite places & to remind me to brush up my French, a plane, to remind me to travel more & my trusty hamsa, (which Ive had for years), to protect me on my adventures.  I still have a couple which I would like to get, namely a cat  (I love my Russian Blue boy) and a car (because I'm finally planning to buy one).

Even if you don't want to actually buy a bracelet, why not go online and browse some charms and work out which would reflect who you are and where you want to be.

Taking control of your health - Prevention and detection of illness

This is a slightly different blog post today, although it is still on the topic of health and wellbeing.  Above is a picture which I took today of the David Bowie memorial wall in Brixton, sadly he lost his battle with cancer today.  

I just want to say that cancer, heart disease and other similar illnesses are truly terrible and sadly, the damage they do is not always treatable.  Having said that, many of these illnesses are now detectable and treatable, especially if the are discovered early enough.  For this reason, I would urge anyone reading this to take advantage of any screening programs they are offered and to have any symptoms or health issues which are bothering you, always, always checked out.

It's the start of a new year and many people have made resolutions to improve their health and fitness through exercise and diet, that's wonderful and can offer many benefits including reducing the risk of developing certain illnesses, but also be aware of screening, monitoring and checking any issues which may seem trivial today, but could develop into something more serious later.

Healthy & Tasty Tuna pasta bake

Easy Tuna Pasta Bake Recipe

Here's a recipe for a full of flavour but still healthy pasta bake, the only fat comes from the cheese & you can always substitute wholewheat pasta.  I have deliberately not put measures, you can adjust the ingredients to suit your own taste or dietary requirements.  It's amazingly easy to make, the only cooking (other than 25 mins baking in the oven) is cooking the pasta).  It's also infinitely changeable in terms of which vegetables you use.  So here it is, warm comfort food without any effort....

Ingredients:
Pasta
Can of chopped tomatoes
Can of tuna in spring water
Leeks
Handful of fresh basil (I keep a basil plant in the kitchen, looks good, smells great & you always have fresh basil)
Freshly ground black pepper
Cheese

Variations:
Chop a chilli & add into the mix. Or
Add a squeeze of harissa or chilli paste this will make it nice & spicy or
Add a bit of chopped garlic or
Add any vegetables you have about the place Esp broccoli, courgette or carrots (these will need par boiling first) or
Substitute onions for leeks

Method:
Boil the pasta & while that's cooking chop your vegetables and put the tuna, tomatoes & vegetables into an ovenproof dish.  When the pasta's cooked, add it to the dish, mix them all together gently & cook for 25 mins of until cheese bubbles

Enjoy

Pic to follow

YSL Black Opium Review

This is my unboxing & first impressions video of Black Opium by YSL


http://youtu.be/tYCVUIkHmJY

Autumn / Fall Outfit Idea

As Jane Austen said it is a truth universally acknowledged that autumn follows summer (ok she didn't write that part).  Today I'm looking out of my window at the pouring rain, the thunder and lightening are competing with each other and it seems that sunshine is a distant memory.  That's why I thought I'd share my outfit idea which goes across the seasons and still manages to not make you look like there's snow on the ground.

The Mac is by Ilse Jacobsen Sweden and is just so well designed.  It's light, but windproof.  Her zips are rubberised so they don't go soggy in heavy rain (nor will anything in your pockets get wet).  The lining is a soft light fleece and the hood fits nicely (I hate it when a hood is so huge you can't see out of it).  My top is made by Pyrus London and is beautifully light & soft and the jeans are Vero Moda (double button so slightly high waisted).

Moving on to accessories, the bag is Vince Camuto lovely soft leather and uber practical with a zipped gusset which make the bag about an inch wider (big enough to put a bottle of water in).  The wallet beside it is by Love Moschino and matches it well and once again, is really practical with lots of card slots and a zip all round so nothing can fall out.  Finally the studded shoe boots are from zara and just give the outfit a little quirky touch.

New Youtube Haul - Birthday Boots & Bags

Just a quick one to let you know that I have filmed a new haul video, it includes my autumn / fall bags & boots from Kurt Geiger, Ugg, Ralph Lauren & Vince Camuto.