THE FAUX FUR SCARF

Although it's still February and still very cold outside, the other day we had a not so cold day and it got me so excited for Spring so I decided it was about time I did another outfit post. I mainly put this outfit together to wear one item in particular because I hadn't worn it before, it's my Topshop pink faux fur scarf! I'm in love with this scarf, I've wanted a faux fur scarf like this for so long because they just look so chic, not to mention because it's soft and fluffy. I wanted to wear quite a simple outfit, well mainly an outfit consisting of black clothing because I didn't want to clash with the scarf and I wanted the scarf to be the main focus of the outfit. I think faux fur scarves like this are great for an easy and chic transition from winter to early spring, they make a simple outfit look much more stylish and less casual, I'm excited to wear this in London when I go in March and hopefully there will be some posts about what I get up to when I'm back.

I paired the scarf with my black raw edge blouse from Topshop, which brings more texture to the outfit and I picked this up in the sale for £15 which was an absolute bargain! I also wore my black oversized blazer which is my favourite jacket to wear at the moment! They're just so easy to wear and pull off, they make a casual look, look smarter and more tailored. This one is actually from a charity shop but originally from Marks & Spencer's, I'm pretty sure my mum payed about £3 for this and it's in great condition and I really like how it fits slightly bigger and longer on me. Charity shops are really great for items like this and are definitely worth a good look in every now and then, if you know what your looking for then it will be much easier to find a good item.

I recently bought the Adidas Stan Smith trainers in white and navy, purely because I already have the Adidas Gazelle trainers in black but I'm not sure if I like them anymore and thought these would be a better suit for me. I prefer the Stan Smith trainers much more because they're a slightly chunkier trainer which I rather, I haven't stopped wearing these since I bought them, and they're the only shoes I have that don't rub me and give me horrendous blisters so that's always a plus.

I hope you enjoyed this post and like the outfit, keep an eye out for more outfit posts coming soon, and if any of you have any tips on taking outfit photos and want to leave a comment down below that would be super helpful.

THINGS I MENTIONED:
Topshop Faux Fur Scarf - similar here
Adidas Stan Smith trainers - white & navy
Topshop Raw Edge blouse
Black Blazer - similar here 
Primark black jeans
Topshop black oversized bag

FEBRUARY BIRCHBOX

I received my lovely February Birchbox the other day, so I thought I would make this a regular post just so you guys can see what you get in each month's box. This month's box is so pretty in all it's lovely marble glory and has some great products. The first item that caught my eye was the Spectrum Collections Tapered Powder Brush, purely because of how bright the packaging is! It's great that you get a full sized brush included, I now use this to apply my highlighter because it's a great size for this because it's really precise and such a soft brush. Another product is the Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster, I'm quite curious about this because I never use stuff like this but I'm interested to see if it would make a difference to the quality of my skin. It's meant to smooth fine lines, plump and protect your skin when you use it after cleansing so I'll give it a go and let you know how I get on.

They also included a Birchbox exclusive which is part of their first Birchbox make-up brand, it's the Loc One and Done Shadow Stick in the shade Perfect Cents which is a lovely gold, bronze colour. I love shadow sticks, they're my favourite because they're so quick and easy to use but still create such an effortless great look. This is a great product because it lasts so long and is waterproof, it's so easy to just blend with your finger and not need a huge amount of brushes to blend it in. I think these are pretty good for the price (£8) although this is a full size product and it is rather small, but it's great quality.

They also included a sample of theBalm Cosmetics Frat Boy blush, this a lovely warm pink blush to give your cheeks a rosy glow. I've been using this tiny sample pretty much every day and now there's nothing left so I might have to look into getting the full size product because it's such a lovely blush and so pigmented. They also included a sample of the Ayres Body Butter in Patagonia, this is a lovely body butter and really softens and hydrates the skin unfortunately it includes lavender and jasmine which I really hate so I'm not a fan of the smell so I have given this to my mum and she's really enjoying it. Another thing they've put in is one of the L.Erickson Grab & Go Ponytil Holder, these are quite pricey bobbles, I mean I usually just get mine from Primark so I don't think I'll be buying these at £11.50 for a set of 15, but it's nice to get to try one. 

Hope you enjoyed this quick overview of this month's Birchbox, keep an eye out for more posts coming soon!

THINGS I MENTIONED:
Spectrum Collections Tapered Powder Brush
Ole Henriksen Truth Serum Collagen Booster
Loc One and Done Shadow Stick - Perfect Scents
Ayres Body Butter in Patagonia
theBalm Cosmetics Frat Boy Blush
L.Erickson Grab & Go Ponytail Holder

SEPHORA HAUL

So I did a bad thing...I spent a stupid amount on shipping and taxes to ship a few products I have been wanting for so long and it was so worth it! It was clear I wasn't going to America anytime soon so what other way than to order from Sephora, who do ship internationally but it does cost quite a bit, it was something like £20 and that's halved between me and my friend, let's hope Sephora sort it out I mean why don't we have one in London?! So I know I may have ordered an eyeshadow palette not that long ago, but I couldn't resist buying another one, and I mean you can never have enough eyeshadow palettes! Especially when the Tarte Tartelette In Bloom Clay eyeshadow palette is new in, I couldn't pass the opportunity up, it's just so pretty! The packaging is beautiful not to mention how amazing the shades are, you've got a great choice of shimmers and definitely enough matte colours to choose from. I mainly ordered this because of the shimmery shades but now I've got it I mainly use the matte shades. They're just so creamy and pigmented, my favourite shades that I use non-stop are Smarty Pants, Sweetheart, Rebel and Leader. This is my favourite look to wear at the moment, pretty matte pinks over the eyelid with dark brown almost cranberry shades for the crease and outer corner. This is honestly such a nice palette and it has all the matte shades I could need, the quality of this is amazing and it wasn't too pricey (£30), I really need to try some more Tarte products as well. 

I couldn't order from Sephora and not buy any of the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks, especially after hearing from what seems like everyone how good they are! I managed to get the shade Double Dare which is the main colour I wanted, it's a lovely pink shade and quite easy to apply as long as you don't smudge them and they dry quickly into a matte texture. The only struggle with this product is that they are so popular and never have that many shades in stock! The one shade that I really wanted was Bow N Arrow but it was out of stock *tears* but I guess there's always next time. The other shade I bought was Lolita, and it was a pretty hard decision deciding between Lolita and Lolita II. They're not completely different and are quite similar but that tiny bit of difference makes it so much harder to choose, I ended up going with Lolita because it was less of a brick red/orange colour and more of a chestnut rose. These are really great quality and I definitely recommend having a look at them if your near a Sephora or ordering from Sephora anytime soon.

Obviously ordering two liquid lipsticks wasn't enough, I had to order 3 of the Sephora Cream Lip Stains! I picked one up in Paris last year in the shade Always Red and this is the perfect red lip shade for my skin tone, it's such a great product so I had to pick up more shades. I really wanted a dark berry colour but didn't want to invest in a high end one because I'm not used to wearing dark lip shades so I wanted something cheap and cheerful but still a great quality product. After loving Always Red, I picked up the shade Blackberry Sorbet to ease myself into darker lip colours, I'm so glad I did, it applies so easily and it's a beautiful berry shade and I absolutely love wearing this especially around this time of year. A slightly more spring/summery shade now, I mainly got the shade Strawberry Kissed after seeing it on the lovely Estee Lalonde, it's such a lovely bright, pink shade and it looked so lovely on her. I don't usually like colours like this but I just got excited about wearing this in spring and on hot summer days, so there's no way I wasn't ordering this! The last thing and shade I ordered is Marvellous Mauve, which is the usual shades I go for, it's a lovely light pink, nude shade. These Sephora Cream Lip Stains are great quality and for this price (£9.60) why wouldn't you buy all of them. The only thing is that they can rub off a bit when you touch your lips, but I find this with pretty much every lip stain.  

I hope you liked this haul and that it was helpful if any of you are heading to a Sephora or ordering from there anytime soon!

THINGS I MENTIONED:
Tarte Tartelette In Bloom Clay Eyeshadow Palette
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick - Lolita
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick - Double Dare
Sephora Cream Lip Stain - Always Red, Blackberry Sorbet, Marvellous Mauve, Strawberry Kissed

JANUARY FAVOURITES

There aren't that many new favourites this month, but one I have to start with because it has to be my new favourite palette, is the Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette! I didn't think I would like this palette but after keep seeing it everywhere I had to get it, and I'm so glad I did! Although I have quite a few eyeshadow palettes this one is completely different and that's how I justified buying this as well as it being a treat for how much I worked over Christmas, well more of an excuse. I love how different all the shades are, you've got so many different shades to work with and this is the only palette I could justify buying because I have nothing like this not to mention how nice the packaging is. A few favourite shades include Harajuku for a crease colour as well as Serious for the outer corners and then my other favourite shades are Zone and Pop which are lovely peachy toned shimmer colours which look lovely all over the eyelid.

A lip favourite this month has to be the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade London, I have been obsessed with lip stains this month, they have been my go to lip product all month! They're so much easier to wear, they last longer even when I'm eating I rarely have to re-apply but they are slightly harder to apply than lipstick as it's so easy to smudge the product. These NYX lip creams are a great first lip stain to try out because they're so easy to use not to mention cheap and cheerful. I love the shade London and did originally think it would be too light but it's my perfect nude shade and I have now gone and ordered the shade Cannes which is a slightly darker brown nude, but I need so many more! I prefer using lip liner when using lip stains because they're easier to apply and smudge less throughout the day because of the lip liner, a lip liner that matches this shade perfectly is the New Look Pure Colour Lip Pencil in the shade Mink.

A product that I don't quite understand why it wasn't mentioned in my 2015 Favourites is the Nars Bronzing Powder in the shade Laguna, I really can't believe I didn't include this! This has to be my all time favourite and go to bronzing powder, this is the perfect shade for me and great for contouring to make it seem like I actually have cheekbones. You can't go wrong with this, when you apply it, it doesn't come out too dark and patchy so you can either go for a natural look or really build it up to contour, I don't actually know what I would do without this and it's starting to hit the pan so I may need to stock up pretty soon! An old perfume favourite that I've started wearing again and been wearing non-stop this month is Chanel Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Toilette, this is such a lovely fragrance and I love re-discovering old favourites and getting obsessed with them all over again. I bought this a few yeas ago on my 'girls holiday' in Spain so every time I use this that's all it reminds me of, its such a lovely subtle, fresh scent and perfect for going into Spring, which I know we're not quite there yet but here's hoping it comes around early this year!

Now into the non-beauty favourites, I have a favourite person this month, as odd as it seems...this month I have been loving Alexa Chung! I am officially obsessed with her, I have been watching her Youtube series on the 'Future of Fashion' on British's Vogue's channel non-stop. I think it's really interesting to get an insight into the fashion industry from so many different people with different roles in the industry, it's really good and I recommend you give these a watch if you're interested in fashion and you want to pursue it as a career. They're also great just to see a little behind the scenes for all things fashion, and they also feature sneak peaks into celebrities closets like Suki Waterhouse and Olivia Palermo which are great to get style inspiration for outfits. My other Alexa Chung favourite is her book IT which I have now had to order a second copy because I need prints of her lovely illustrations to go on my wall! This is such a great, easy read and such a lovely book filled with lovely illustrations and photo's, so if you don't already have it you need to order it now!

A social media favourite this month has been Pinterest, I find myself constantly on the app whenever I'm bored. I think it's such a relaxing thing for me to do, to just sit there and pin beautiful images of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid in amazing outfits and lovely photos of great interior and bedroom inspiration. If you've already got Pinterest leave your names down in the comments and the same if you know of any lovely Pinterest boards/profiles I can check out.

My last favourite is something I always buy each month but never really mention, it's Elle magazine but the February issue I got this month is so good not to mention the cover includes the beautiful Kylie Jenner so I had to pick it up. I love the cover of this months issue, I think they've also re-edited the layout of the magazine and some of their usual pages and it's so much better and I've just really enjoyed reading the February issue this month so I had to mention it. I hope you liked this late January Favourites, let me know what you've been loving this month and keep an eye out for a very special haul coming soon!

THINGS I MENTIONED:
Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette
NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream - London
New Look Pure Colour Lip Liner Pencil - Mink
Nars Bronzing Powder - Laguna
Chanel Chance Eau Tendre Eau de Toilette

NON-BEAUTY:
Alexa Chung - It by Alexa Chung
British Vogue's YouTube Channel
Alexa's Series 'Future of Fashion'
Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/caitlin3831 
Elle Magazine