Well this is exciting! My all-time favourite cleanser is celebrating it's 3rd birthday this month... any excuse for a party eh! I've used the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel for years and I have been through plenty of bottles. If you don't already know, it's a gel cleanser that turns into an oil when it's worked into the skin. It removes makeup so incredibly well and leaves your skin feeling clean but nourished.

Now I know you've heard me ramble on about this product enough times already but this time it's different. To celebrate 3 years Oskia are holding an amazing competition. Throughout the month of October, three golden Renaissance Cleansing Gels will be hidden in three unexpected customer orders and those three lucky customers will win a year's supply of Renaissance Cleansing Gel, eeeeek! If you're not one of the lucky three, you still have a chance to win as twenty golden tickets will also be hidden, entitling the finder to a free cleansing gel.

It doesn't surprise me that one is sold every ten minutes and I couldn't be happier for Georgie Cleeve, the founder of the brand. Good luck to those of you that take part! A year's supply?! I'm definitely getting involved.

You can purchase your cleanser here.

Photo by Lauren Shipley.

October is finally here! We can dig our scarves out from under the bed, turn the heating on and finally start wearing cosy jumpers again. What I love about October isn't just the start of Autumn, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and every year the beauty industry unites to support an amazing cause.

60,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and they need help and support. It is amazing to know that as well as any donations made, the money spent on the products we love will be going to those who really need it.

I've compiled a list of some of the amazing products you can purchase this month with a percentage of sales going to Breast Cancer Care during October. If there's ever an excuse to shop, it's now!

The BCA Beauty Box // £20 with £12 donation - link The most epic out of all the offerings is this beauty box from Estée Lauder companies. For only £20 you get a box worth £66 that includes some amazing products like the Estee Lauder Sumptuous Knockout Mascara, Clinique Take The Day Off makeup remover and Bumble & Bumble Thickening Spray.

Studio 10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner // £22 - link This is something Studio 10 do throughout the year, not just this month and it's amazing. For every brow pencil purchased, they'll donate one pencil (worth £22) to Look Good Feel Better to help women effected by cancer. I've been to one of the Look Good Feel Better workshops ad they are truly amazing.

GHD Platinum Electric Pink Stylers // £165 with £10 donation - link If you've always wished for hot pink hair straighteners then you're dreams have come true! The bright pink looks amazing on the GHDs and they come in a really handy travel case that can also be used as a heat proof mat. 

Origins Drink Up Intensive Mask // £24 with £4 donation - link This is one of my all time favourite hydrating masks. It's great to put on at night and also great to combat dehydration on a plane. This month it's had a packaging makeover and looks gorgeous!

Smashbox Photo Finish Priming Water // £21 - link This is a great product for adding hydration to your skin pre-makeup and it also doubles up as a primer to make things last a little longer.

Bobbi Brown Art Stick Duo // £35 with £5 donation - link I love the finish of the Bobbi Brown Art Sticks, not too glossy, not too matte. This month they've repackaged two popular pink shades into hot pink pencils to raise money and awareness.

So pick your faves and get involved. It's so important to support this cause and they couldn't have made it easier to do so!

photo edited by Lauren Shipley

When the new Chanel lip inks arrived I literally squealed with excitement and as usual they've nailed the visual of the packaging. Eight mini tubes with a doe-foot applicators in a gorgeous frosted glass so that allow you to see the shade inside. The black and gold lid is classic Chanel and it's definitely something you'd want to get out in public! I think a lot of people are surprised by the tiny packaging but I actually prefer it to the longer ones such as the Kat Von D which I find awkward to apply.

Chanel describe these as a "matte liquid lip colour" that give "intense, long-wearing and ultra-lightweight colour". There are eight shades available from a rosy beige to a deep red. I wouldn't say it's the best selection of colours but it's likely they'll extend in the future and a red lip wardrobe is very Chanel. So now let's get onto the important bit, the formula...

I really wanted to love these but unfortunately there's something not quite right for me when it comes to the formula. If they were marketed as a lip stain or lip lacquer I might feel differently but as a matte liquid lipstick, these aren't my favourite. They apply very liquidy, with the paler shades quite a lot more sheer than the darker reds. The light liquid formula, although pleasant to apply, is quite messy and hard to control. With the darker red shades it's very hard to get a precise application and I found myself repeatedly over drawing my lips by accident (and looking like Miranda Sings). I also found to get the solid colour that I would expect from a liquid lipstick, I had to layer the product quite a few times which left a very glossy finish to the lips. The gloss didn't fade much either, after 5 minutes drying time and quite a bit of lip smacking it eventually resembles a sort of liquid lipstick, but more like a lip stain.

The plus side of having a liquid lipstick that isn't kiss proof is that it's actually comfortable to wear. The formula includes a combination of polymers, wax and vegetal oils that help the formula glide onto the lips in a creamy velvety way. So for those of you that hate the feeling of a dry liquid lipstick, you might like these, but for me the practicality of having a lipstick that doesn't fade when I eat or drink is too important. Each Rouge Allure Ink is £26 which is a lot of money especially compared to others on the market. I'm a huge fan of Chanel beauty and can name endless amount of products that I swear by but I'm afraid on this occasion, it's a miss from me.

These came out on 7th October and as always, please head to a counter to try them for yourselves... the beauty of makeup is that we all love and dislike different things!

Photos by Lauren Shipley

Last week was my first proper week back at work and I genuinely loved it. It's exciting to be starting new projects and getting back into old ones too. I'm trying to get back into the swing of vlogging but leading up to the wedding I took a break from it and it's been strange getting back into it. One weekday and one weekend day seems to make the perfect length vlog for me so this week's is a mix of launches, lunches and then bit of weekend family time too.

I'm so excited for next week's vlog as I'm spending the weekend away with friends and I'm hoping to take some really nice photos and footage whilst there. Hope you like this week's vlog!

When Urban Decay bring out new products there's always a buzz within the beauty industry. I'm rarely disappointed with their launches and this time round it was the promise of razor sharp liquid liner - genius name. 

There are twenty shades available with some beautiful electric blues and also some more wearable bronzey browns. There are two finishes, cream and metallic; the cream has a more glossy finish and the metallic has a more pearly finish. I think the packaging looks really sleek, I love how the handle is a little textured and sort of indicates the eyeliner colour inside. I also find the packaging quite easy to hold when applying although I do think they made a massive error when it comes to opening the product. There is a suction (which I'm sure prevents the product from drying out) that is so strong it's almost impossible to open the liner without it splattering on your hands. I've made quite the mess trying to open these, you have to be so careful and really slow.

The formula itself is really thin and watery, which I thought I wouldn't like but I find that it works really well as long as you really shake the product before applying. You can hear that there's a ball inside, so I give it a good shake until the sound stops. I'd say I'm pretty good with applying liner and this isn't one of the easier ones. The brush is quite long which makes it easier to apply side on, but it is quite fiddly so I wouldn't recommend it to newbies.

Once applied it takes a few seconds to dry and then that's it... it's set. These are without a doubt the longest wearing eyeliners I have ever tried. I wore the bright blue one on a cold day when my eyes decided to stream down my face... it didn't budge. I wore the brown one on a day where I did my makeup at 8.30am and didn't take it off until 11pm... it was still perfectly intact. I'm seriously impressed with the lasting power, even if that means it takes a little longer to remove. I find using a waterproof eye makeup remover on a cotton pad works and it's really strange as the eyeliner doesn't smudge off like usual, it flakes off in bits.

They're £16 and well worth the money if you're an avid eyeliner wearer. my favourite shades so far are Demolition, Chaos and Deep End - link

Photos by Lauren Shipley. 

I still can't believe I got this opportunity, but it did really happen! I came back early from our mini moon because I just couldn't pass on the opportunity to film with Bobbi Brown. She's an incredibly inspiring lady and we had such a fun time filming. We chatted about her love for London, how she travels and she spoke about the 25th anniversary of her cosmetics line. At the end of the video she touched up my makeup and it was such an honour!

I hope you love this video as much as I do!

I had the BEST weekend in Dorset with friends. Blue Chip Holidays were so generous and lent us an incredible house to stay in for a long weekend by the beach. We relaxed, watched films, played pool. went for long walk by the beach, got soggy wellies and Rich went in the sea!!! He's mad.

I hope you enjoy catching up on my weekend.

It's always this time of year that you start getting last minute invites and have nothing to wear (cheers Autumn for just creeping up on us like that!). I really don't know how they do it but NEXT offer next day delivery on any items ordered before midnight - it's a life saver! It's perfect if you're impatient and want your shopping to come asap but I find it the most helpful for last minute invites and throw your whole wardrobe on the floor situations.

I'm always pleasantly surprised by NEXT and this season is no different, their accessories and handbags are killing it. I used the next day delivery service to pick up this black and gold polka dot playsuit in a size 10 and I'm completely obsessed with it so be prepared to see me wearing it a lot. The shape is gorgeous as it drapes across the top and the shorts hang to a really nice length. I love that it's long sleeved and the polka dots aren't full circles, they're like little clusters of gold which make it look really expensive. I started with the playsuit and then accessorised from there, starting with this beautiful coat. Blush pink is a colour I've started to wear a lot as it really seems to suit my colouring. This wrap style coat with a tie waist is the perfect Autumn/Winter coat to either throw over a smart outfit to keep you warm or to pair with casual jeans and trainers for a weekend look.

Now, if I was being lazy me I would have thrown on some black boots and grabbed my every day handbag but this is me making an effort for a night out. This small gold clutch is really cute, it fits with the look and actually you can keep quite a bit of stuff in there. They have loads of great bags this season which you can browse here at The Bag Boutique. I also put on some velvet black knot sandals which are incredibly affordable (and comfy!). Velvet is a huge trend for Autumn and this is a real nice way to add a bit of texture into your look without going full on velvet and they're great for those that prefer a smaller heel.

So here it is, my first wedding blog post... sorry it's taken a while. 2,400 photos later and I think I've figured out how to share parts of our day with you, it's something I really wanted to do.

Let's start with my hair because honestly it was one of the first things I considered. My rule for the most part was to be myself and not try and look particularly different or "special". I know your wedding day is a special day but I'm always a bit saddened when I see brides looking completely different and sometimes not as nice as they do in their everyday life. But my hair was the one thing that didn't quite fit in this rule and that's because I knew having my hair down would be too stressful for me. The slightest bit of sweat or wind makes my hair frizz so having it down was never really an option. I wanted something up, but not a traditional up-do.

I've used Hershesons for years and during the months leading up the wedding, Jason at the Harvey Nichols salon perfected my colour making it slightly darker at the roots going into lighter balayage in the lengths. Luke Hersheson recommended Sean Nother for my wedding hair and so the trials began...

We met up a few times before the wedding but really, it all came together perfectly on the day. Sean is great, he's patient, he listens and he's incredible talented at hair styling. I think it's important to have the right people around you on the day and Sean slotted in perfectly with our excitement but calm vibes.

I started with the idea of a halo braid but after a few attempts I wasn't sure how I felt about it, getting the right thickness of the plait was hard and I found the hair on top too smooth and flat. It also felt like too much of a crown and although I liked it at the time, when I looked back at photos of the trial I wasn't keen. I then found this photo of Olivia Palermo and we used this as a idea to work from. I wanted soft plaits, but NO frizzy bits and I didn't like the idea of flat bits of hair on the top.

I was so happy with the final look, it stayed in place all night (even with the most crazy dancing), it felt comfortable and I think it looked great. Sean wrote out a step by step guide to how he achieved this look, so I hope it's helpful to any of you who attempt to recreate it or want to show this post to your hair stylist!

Sean's Notes

1. Prep the hair. I used John Frieda beach waves and some hairspray to roughen the hair up, but any old surf or texture spray will work. For a greater sheen use an oil based texture spray.
2. Firstly section off the back, in a horizontal section from one ear lobe to the other. The majority of the hair on the top half should be sectioned off out of the way.
3. French Braid the section from one ear lobe to the other diagonally across and carry on braiding the ends. Tie off with a clear elastic band and pull the braid out a little so it's not so tight. Fold the hair hanging out back on itself and grip into place. The reason for this was to firstly keep the hair off Lily's neck preventing it from becoming frizzy while she was dancing. Secondly it acts as a base foundation for the knots at the end of the look.
4. Now you can work on the top. For Lily's hair I put it in a side parting just off centre working back to the crown, but this style can work in any parting you like. 
5. Once the parting is in, and depending on how thick you want the braid, place 3 or 4 fingers on the hairline. Where the fourth finger lies, follow that thickness all the way around the side and to the back of the middle of the head. Repeat on the other side of the parting until a halo shape has formed.
6. Clip the round halo of hair which was past the four fingers on top, out of the way.
7. Start braiding either side of the parting. Start at the parting and work all the way around the side and to the back. For Lily I did a Dutch braid so it's sat on top of the hair, which firstly makes the braid more defined, but also pulls any loose baby hair flat. This was important as Lily's hair tends to frizz up at the front and so it ensured it would stay looking neat all day. (You can do a normal braid, both work really well, although I would stress a great tip is leaving a little hair out on the hairline by brushing small pieces out with your fingers. The reason for this is that it just means the braid looks a little softer and more romantic, an extremely tight clean braid can look rather severe and on occasions can work, but not for a wedding!)
8.  Once either side is braided and the ends are tied off with elastics, start pulling them apart a little, giving them a messier texture and a thicker look and feel. Leave them out while you finish the top.
9. Using an olive oil hair stick, you can clean the hairline up and stick down any stubborn baby hairs which you don't like.
10. The hair left on top needs to be split in two, although it can be done in one big piece. Split it evenly in half in a diagonal section from the top left to bottom right. Braid each section in a normal French braid and pull apart to roughen it up.
11. Now you're onto the final stage. Tie the two side braids together in a knot, then knot again. Pin in to place with small black pins.
12. Double knot together the two remaining braids from the top section and start pining in to the knot created by the two sides. Mould with fingers and any loose strands can be gripped in or left out, depending on how relaxed you want it too look.
13. Lily had sourced some ivy and small wax flowers which I pushed grips through the stems and then worked into the hair. I believe there's a fine line between too many flowers in the hair and too little. Furthermore, smaller flowers work better.
14. Finish with an anti humidity hairspray.

A couple of weeks ago Anna and I hopped on a train up to Norwich to spend the day with our friends from The Lean Machines, John and Leon. We always have so much fun together so we decided to film a videos whilst we were there. We had so much fun and I laughed A LOT. I don't think any of the videos will make any sense at all, but I still love them.

Before you watch this I feel I have to warn you, it's pretty rude. But also hilarious! Enjoy!

With the Internet being such a huge part of my life I think my friends and family were surprised I didn't go for the online invitation option, but I've always been a huge fan of stationery so it was something I wanted to make special. We wanted to send out a "save the date" to make sure our guests kept it free so it was something we thought about quite early on. I thought it would be such a lovely and sentimental idea to use Olivia Whitworth as she created this illustration that Rich used to propose to me. He found her on a freelancer website and they had a couple of months of back and forth to work on a "will you marry me" illustration with drawings of all my favourite things.

A little bit about Olivia. She's a freelance illustrator who originally trained in architecture, you can check out her website here. One thing I have to say is she was an absolute pleasure to work with. Throughout the whole process she was incredibly patient and we really became friends. She's so talented and I would 100% recommend her for any illustration projects.

We started with the "save the date" and of course, me being me, I really dislike the term "save the date". It just didn't feel like something we would naturally say, so instead we went for "fancy another wedding?". It was important for Olivia and I to nail the illustration at the beginning as we knew it could then be used throughout the rest of the stationery in different variations. I wanted it to reflect my vision for the venue... lots of greenery and hanging festoon lighting. I've posted some early illustrations below so you can see what we started with, I sent over lots of photos of the type of greenery, lamps and lighting that I like. We played with the idea of succulents but in the end we decided ivy worked best. The final illustration of ivy and festoon lights is so gorgeous and perfect for us. The drawings were first done in pencil, then scanned into the computer and coloured/touched up using photoshop. The colours were originally done as flat colours but were then brought out using photoshop brushes and texture overlays.

Next up was the invite itself and with this we sent an information card and an RSVP card. As it was a non-religious, non-traditional wedding we could write what we want and our parents are both very laid back. So we just wrote our first names and basic details of the day. The information card was where we could mention local accommodation, transport options, gift list, how we felt about posting photos online and of course, dress code. I've never felt strongly about telling people what to wear at my wedding, it seems strange to me, so we wrote "It's a barn venue and there will be a very small amount of walking on grass. We just want you to be happy and comfortable so wear whatever you like!". In case any of you are thinking about doing no dress code, I can confirm that everyone looked lovely and happy and I don't remember for one second caring what anyone else was wearing. I say, go for it!

The RSVP card was pretty standard, although we wrote "yes, I'll be there, can't wait!" and "Noooo, I can't come. Gutted!" instead of yes or no. If you decide NOT to print names on the cards, I'd recommend writing a small number on the back of each one that correlates with a spreadsheet as sometimes people forget to write their names on their RSVP cards.

There were just a few bits of stationery that we wanted on the day. The order of service was double sided with the lyrics to "Hey Jude" on the back for the singalong at the end of the ceremony. On the front was a list of the people in the ceremony and a rough outline of how the afternoon and evening was laid out. I didn't want to give too much away but I also think it's nice for people to have an idea of timings and not feel like everything's a surprise. The menus were placed on each guest's plate and instead of 'menu', we chose "let's eat!" to encourage the casual, sharing vibe of our dinner.

So I hope you liked having a peak at our wedding stationery, let me know what you think! There are also some brilliant ready-made invites out there, so don't feel you have to get your own thing designed, it's definitely not essential.

As I said, Olivia was so perfect to work with on this and I'm so grateful. I'm excited to hear that she has just released her first colouring book so I wanted to add in a few photos of that too! "Dream Weaver" is available now and unlike most colouring books, this one has a story of images to follow. The nameless woman, I like to call her Mary, drifts off to sleep and the book follows her dreams. It's a gorgeous book that would make a really lovely gift too.

{ the early sketches for the stationery }

Photos by Razia Jukes  [show_shopthepost_widget id="2068500"]

I just posted this month's monthly favourites video which is a mix of beauty, style, TV, food & more. I hope you like the mix of products mentioned, these are my favourite things that I wanted to recommend to you guys!

You know you've found the one when you do a little dance in the mirror. That's when you know. 

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*the items above are affiliate links