The Fitness Post #2

Since about V Festival I've really been lazy. I haven't done much exercise and have been having a bit more fast food than I would usually allow myself. With about 5 weeks until my birthday I thought it would be the perfect excuse to get my act into gear.

From Pinterest

A few achievements I made this week 

- I went to my first ever abs class. I now feel like someone has taken a bat to my tummy. It is agony. I felt like a totally beginner in that class and definitely couldn't keep up with the rest of the group. My abs are non existent and I have no core strength and it's thing I really need to improve. Feeling like a total fool for half hour is better than not going at all and I think I will give it another crack soon although I much prefer Body Pump.

- I went to Pub Wednesday and usually I would grab a big calorific bottle of Red Bulmers but I stuck to a diet Coke.

-I had an all day marketing meeting this week which means they feed us lots of goodies (the bonus of working for a hotel chain means good restaurants)! Rather than fish and chips or some buttery chicken I went for a big helping of salad and a bit of smoked salmon. Then there was a tower of profiteroles. Taking some melon instead of a profiterole the size of my fist was one of my proudest moments this week.

- Saying no to Danish pastries and pain au chocolat in the office and having a plum instead. Small step but at 390 calories for one I know it was the right decision. 

My new Alexander McQueen-esque scarf.

 I love a good scarf. As winter draws in I feel I have to have a knitted one but I always get too hot and end up stuffing it in my bag. I was browsing H&M and saw this beauty. It's light weight but there's a lot of it so keeps the wind off my neck and goes perfectly with my black leather jacket!

The prettiness of the flowers against the toughness of the skulls gives it a real edge and I think it will go with everything as it can dress up or dress down lots of things. Currently I'm enjoying it with some black Topshop Leighs and the massive cream jumper I got from H&M which I showed you here! The colours are fairly neutral but I never want anything to bright as it gets colder anyway. 

 I think skulls are pretty standard on scarfs to Alexander McQueen and I would absolutely love to own an original but that's not going to happen anytime soon. I think considering this was £6.99 (#bargain) it looks a lot more expensive than it is. I think scarves do that to a lot of outfits actually and that's why they are a good investment piece. Sometimes I go months/years without wearing a certain then find I can't live without it. Am I just trying to justify buying a designer one?

I love this scarf so much I may even do a lookbook for it to show how I would wear it to different occasions for you!

If you are as in love with this as I am you can purchase it here and thank me later.

My new winter bag(s).

I love bags. I wish I could afford a Mulberry, Prada or even a Celine but I would rather change up my bag each season and have a new friend for all the others in my wardrobe. Zara was top of my list for handbags this Autumn but as I wandered past Miss Selfridge my eyes were drawn to these two beauties. 

I like how the bag is quite slouchy but still has a bit of structure and I love bags with a long strap as i hate holding my bag all day. The gold detailing is really nice and the tassels are my favourite bit!

Now before you judge me for buying two bags let me defend myself. There was also a brown one so narrowing it down to two was hard enough. The bags were both reduced from £42 to £32 each. Bargain right? Well when I got to the till she told me all sale items were buy one get one free. Say whaaaaaat?

So I got £84 worth of bags for £32. Happy days.

I think I'll get the most wear with the black one but as I wear lots of black in the Winter the berry one will add some colour to the outfit - plus we all know how much I'm loving berry this year. 

A very berry haul.

New Look £14.99

H&M £14.99

H&M £14.99

H&M £14.99

New Look £17.99

New Look £22.99

So any takers on what my favourite winter colour is? 

The weather is definitely starting to change and Autumn/Winter is my favourite season fashion wise. I pretty much live in black, cream and any berry shade.

H&M are killing it with staple knitwear this fall. Primark is great and all that but I find their knitwear to be poor quality whereas H&M is slightly more expensive but still no where near as ridiculous as Topshop's prices. I love the berry cardigan to throw over more summery outfits and the cream jumper is slightly longer at the back so is a simple outfit to throw on with leggings.

I love the dresses I picked up from New Look., especially the last one with the lace netting. I don't own anything like this and think it will look great dressed up or down. I couldn't decide whether to get it in black or oxblood - oxblood won as I can wear it with black tights and not be completely in black! 

I picked up a few other bits which I will share with you throughout the week.

Rimmel Lasting Finish By Kate Lipstick 101

I saw Lily wearing this lipstick in one of her videos. I thought it would have been a nice MAC one or even a NARS but nope, it's Rimmel. Even better because it's cheap as chips! 

I have a Kate Moss lipstick already in shade 08 which is one of my favourite neutral pinky tones but 101 is a more blued based rosy pink. I can imagine it being very subtle on light skin tones but gives quite a pop of colour on my lips, which is the only place I experiment with colour. I find it looks lovely with my Well Dressed Blush from MAC and black eyeliner. 

The formula is creamy and quite matte. It's not flakey but after a little while does become quite dry. Lip prepping is key with this and a good scrub and a bit of moisturiser really helps this to apply beautifully. At £5.49 in Boots it hardly breaks the bank and there are lovely colours in the range. I'm after a nice berry shade for winter. 

(On a side note I would like to say sorry for not writing lately, I had to work this weekend and then had an allergic reaction to something which led my hands to swell up. I was a tad scared but it was also really funny to have balloon hands! But yes I couldn't type so no posts. Now I would like to find out what it is I am allergic too.