Ted & Muffy Fairytale Fit || Winter Boots 15

Ted & Muffy are a luxury boutique that sells gorgeous shoes and has expert fitters to make for an excellent shoe/boot shopping experience. The brand used to be called Duo but they have rebranded everything from their name, to the packaging, to the actual store inside. Ted & Muffy pride themselves on designing what they love, using top quality materials and they have three boutique stores in London, Bath and Edinburgh. If you don't live nearby though, fear not because they do also have a website that you can order from!

Recently I got invited along to the Ted & Muffy event and got a chance to look around their beautiful new store and eye up all the gorgeous shoes, I'm such a shoe girl so I really was in my element! I was then lucky enough to be asked to choose a pair of boots to get fitted on and sent out to me. I think the hardest part for me was definitely choosing which pair I wanted! I was torn between a sensible riding boot or a gorgeous over the knee suede pair. In the end I narrowed it down to an over the knee suede pair because who needs to be sensible?! (eye rolls) but then I had the choice of Acantha which is a stunning dove grey pair or Empress, a jet black suede pair. I decided I would at least be half sensible and go for black because I reckon I could pull these off in more 'every-day' situations than the grey pair.

I got to try on all of them with my lovely fitter who was so helpful, she measured my leg and literally all the boots fitted on perfectly. I think Ted & Muffy would be perfect for those who have either really skinny legs and find boots fit quite wide on them or those who have wider calves and struggle to get boots to get up over them.

One of my favourite things about the Ted & Muffy rebranding is the fairytale feel of the experience, it all feels very luxurious, from the stores interior to the feel of the fit on. The advert that the store used included real live wolves, I did insert the advert into this post but it didn't work but definitely Youtube it, it's worth the watch! The photo shoot they have done for their boots as well is simply stunning with the use of clocks, shattered mirrors, dark feathers, owls and snow.

I loved that they had a little tree with tags on that had our blog names on them and attached to each tag was a rustic key...very fairy tale like again.

Their prices are expensive, the boots that I chose are £400 but they do have slightly cheaper ones and I think when it comes to shoes and boots it's worth spending a little bit more money on them because they last forever and who doesn't want their Cinderella fit?! With the price you've also got the fitting experience included and I do believe they quite often have 20/25% off offers online!

I have worn my pair loads, they're really comfy and instantly make a simple outfit look really dressy. I've loved wearing them with black tights and dresses or if you wear a shorter dress they look lovely with bare legs for a night out. They also look stunning with jeans and a nice top for going round the shops or for day to day. I haven't worn them in the rain yet because I'm too scared that it would ruin them but I think they would be okay if you used a suede protector on them regularly. I have already included these in my Winter Boots post but I thought I should give them a post of their own since I've worn them so much this Winter!

What are your opinions on over the knee boots?

Lots of Love,

♥

2016 || Goals and Aims

I'm not a massive lover of New Years Resolutions because I think sometimes if you put too much pressure on yourself it makes it harder to achieve something. However, I think it's a nice idea to have a list of goals and things that you want to achieve in the following year so you have something to aim for. Last year I posted my 2015 New Years Resolutions on my blog and I actually achieved nearly every single one of them which I'm really proud of so I thought I would share this years ones too!

♥ Read at least 20 books. I love reading and it's something I don't have much time for anymore but this year I want to make sure I set aside some time to read at least 20 because I know how much enjoyment they give me. 

♥ Be more mindful. As I have anxiety, I am absolutely terrible for living my life worrying about whats happened in the past or what is going to happen in the future. So for me, a massive focus this year is to focus on the present because the here and now is all we've really got so we should focus on making that the best we can and in doing that a good future will be formed.

♥ Make at least three new friends. I'm such a people person, I love hearing peoples stories and talking to people so for 2016 I'd like to make at least three new friends. I think this will be pretty easy because I'm planning on getting a new job this year when I finish university so I should meet plenty of new people through that. You can never have too many friends!

♥ Go to the gym more. Generally I'm really good at going to the gym but when university gets really busy, it's one of the first things that I let slip. I feel so much better mentally and physically when I go to the gym so I'm going to try hard to fit it in regularly around uni.

♥ Eat healthier. I am quite possibly the fussiest eater you could ever meet, I'm just not a fan of food unless it's pizza, pasta or potatoes. Naturally, this is not a very healthy diet so I'm going to try much harder this year to introduce new, healthier alternatives. Including eating more fruits and veggies.

♥ Focus on my blog. My blog is my passion and when I'm at uni, it gets side lined a lot and I really do miss it. So I'm going to try stay on top of it and also when I finish uni in May, I want to work really hard on it.

♥ Have a selfish year. This one may sound a bit strange but for the past few years, I've spent far too long trying to keep everyone else happy even if that leaves me unhappy as a result and this year it's all about the girl power. I want to do things I want to do, do them well and most importantly do them for me. 

♥ De-clutter. I am such a hoarder both emotionally and physically. I hold on to things that serve me no purpose or real use and all it does is cause anxiety, stress or general mess. So that's a big one I would like to focus on  this year,  ridding myself of clutter in my house and also from my mind.

♥ Start YouTube. This is something I've wanted to do for a while but again while I'm at uni it's just another thing I do not have time to take on. Once I leave university though I think I'd like to have a youtube channel alongside my blog because some things are much easier to convey by video rather than writing! 

What are your New Year Resolutions?

Lots of Love,

A 

♥

Amsterdam MAC || Duty Free Haul

Recently my parents went on holiday to Amsterdam to celebrate their wedding anniversary and Amsterdam is known for having one of the worlds largest airports meaning a massive duty free area. So of course I gave them a list of a few things that I wanted from MAC and they also brought back a little surprise for me too so I thought I'd share with you the things I got because who doesn't love a MAC haul?!

The first thing I asked them to pick up was the satin lipstick in 'Spirit'. I knew I wanted a new MAC lipstick but couldn't think of which one to get and quite a few of my friends swear by Spirit so I thought it was worth giving a whirl. It's much darker than what I personally would usually go for but I'm really glad I chose it. It is definitely along the 'Kylie Jenner' theme so if you like lipsticks like Twig, Velvet Teddy, Brave, Whirl etc then you'd probably really like this one!

The second thing that I had on my list for them to pick up for me was actually Nightmoth lipliner because I needed a good lip liner for going underneath MAC's Sin lipstick and preferably one that could be used under Diva and Rebel too. It's a purple, burgundy toned red shade so it is quite versatile. I meant to ask for Nightingale because I think that would probably be a better multi-tasker for the three because Nightmoth is a totally different tone to Rebel however I got confused because of them being such similar colours with similar names! (a bit like Spirit and Stone...Mac why do you do this?!) However, I love Nightmoth under Sin and it can be really nice under Diva if you want to do an ombre lip or if you just want to make it that little bit darker. As it was Christmas time it also came in this gorgeous limited edition, purple packaging too.

The last thing my mum and dad got me was a total surprise (well I think mostly my mum was involved in this one somehow haha!) and it was one of the limited edition Christmas eye shadow palettes. Firstly, how beautiful is this packaging!? I absolutely love the pretty colours on the front and the ridged black part adds a nice touch too. I actually don't have a lot of MAC eyeshadows, when it comes to eyeshadow I'm very much an Urban Decay girl so I was happy to have some more to play with. This palette is the Enchanted Eyes Navy set and it has six different shades in it which I think you can buy individually if you wish too. The first one is a nice highlight shade, the second is a good sweep all over the lid shade with the third shade in the crease to blend it out. The silver shade would make a gorgeous smoky eye especially at this time of the year and the navy shade has a stunning shimmer through it and finally there's a matte grey/black which would be fab as eyeliner or for smoking out that eyeshadow. It comes with a little double sided brush too so it would be a really nice one to take for a weekend away. 

What do I need to pick up next from MAC? Have you tried any of these products?

Lots of Love,

A 

♥

July/August || Instagram

♥ Yellow Topshop rain jacket that I showed in a haul recently

 ♥ The dream team

♥ Nandos Peri Peri chips

♥ New work shoes

♥ Les Mis phone case

♥ New Boots

♥ Night out nails

 ♥ Poorly snuggles 

♥ Feet up in the Audi

♥ Frankie & Benny's chilli garlic bread 

 ♥ Adult colouring in books 

 ♥ New Asos bikini

♥ Minions in work

♥ Fresh eyebrow kit

♥ Luca's 'I'm feeling naughty' face 

Decided to combine both July and August's pictures together because I hadn't posted very many pictures in July to give it its own post! All these pictures are from my instagram @whatabbyloves and Luca's @lucathespringer. Please come say hello!

Lots of Love,

A

♥

By Terry Eyeliner || Review

I was very pleased to see this little beauty in my February My Little Box because everyone knows how fab a brand By Terry is and this eyeliner is full sized. It's not the colour I would have chosen but it is a very interesting shade- a black with gold flecks that when blended turns an olive colour.

I like this, I didn't think I would get much wear out of it because of the colour but it actually goes well as an eyeliner for every day looks ... mostly. I wear gold eyeshadows a lot so I find that it compliments it really well and that the flecks of gold aren't too obvious.

You could wear this all over your eyelid and blend it out to get a pretty olive green/gold eyeshadow colour but personally I prefer it as an eyeliner. I do like how versatile it is though and I think it would make a really pretty smokey eye. It's creamy, pigmented, long lasting - no smudges under the eye four hours later. 

I definitely would love to try a plain black version of this because I think I'd love it even more in black! Have you tried any of the By Terry eyeliners?

Lots of Love,

♥

Dusty Girls Sunshine Bronzer || Review

 A few weeks back I posted a review of a fake tan by Moogoo which if you read you'll know I absolutely adored. MooGoo also have a 'sister company' Dusty Girls where they sell natural make-up and knowing how much I love a tan they sent me their bronzer to try out. I have had so many compliments since using their tan and this bronzer in combination that I had to share it with you. The company uses the name Dusty Girls because of the 'dusty' look your skin has after a day in the country and they try to recreate this using natural minerals and clays from the earth.

When it comes to make-up and skincare I'm all for products being as natural as possible because you only get one skin so it's important to look after it. One of my favourite make-up products is bronzer, I use it as contour, to add colour to my face, on my chest and anywhere else that I feel needs a touch of colour. So it would be fair to say that I've used quite a lot of different bronzers and know what works and what doesn't!

The first thing I love about this bronzer is how big it is. It's the perfect size to swirl a brush round  but not so big that it isn't make-up bag friendly. The colour of the bronzer is really nice, it isn't at all orange, it's the perfect brown shade which makes it great for both contouring and bronzing up the face. It does have a tiny bit of glitter in it but as you can see from the swatch it's very subtle. I think the shade would suit all skin tones, it looks gorgeous when I have fake tan on and when I don't.

The natural ingredients used are joboba and macadamia oil, both products renowned for having benefits to the skin. I love the name of the bronzer 'Sunshine' because it really does leave you looking like you've been out in the sunshine and have that outdoorsy glow. It costs £15 so it's far from the cheapest bronzer on the market but I think the quality is incredible and it's cheaper than a MAC bronzer would be and of course much better for your skin!

Have you tried any of the Dusty Girls range? What do you think of natural make-up?

Lots of Love,

♥

* Post contains PR samples.