OOTD

OOTD by emilyhouse featuring a brown long sleeve shirt

OOTD

OOTD by emilyhouse featuring black ballet flats

These are a few of the items that you will always find in my handbag. My essentials and items that I think all us ladies should carry and heres why...

Soap and Glory Hand Maid:

So often I find myself wanting to wash my hands with no where to do it and this is why I always carry a hand sanitiser. However, it might just be me but i cant stand the smells of most that you can find on the market. That was until I discovered SAG Hand Maid. It has that we all know and love and is a refreshing change from the alcohol and cucumber scents that I hate.

Soap and Glory Hand Food:

I have mentioned this product before and I don't want you to get bored of me so I'll keep this short and sweet. If you haven't tried this yet...what are you doing? £2.50 isn't a lot to ask and it is hands down (excuse the pun) the best day time hand cream i have used and to top it off it has a smell to match Hand Maid so you smell twice as sweet when using this perfect combination.

Witch Anti-blemish Pressed Powder:

This has fast become my favourite pressed powder. Since summer is on its way I have been trying to minimise the make-up I use and a bit of collection concealer (we all know the one) and this powder is doing a great job. This has been my go too replacement for foundation and I carry it everywhere. I'm not sure about its anti-blemish properties but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Carmex Strawberry Lip Balm:

Carmex has always been my favourite lip balm but I hated the cherry. I just cant stand cherry flavours and smells. But when I found the strawberry version I thought my prayers had been answered. This is my lifesaver when my lips get that little bit too dry. 

Extra Gum:

Smelly breath lifesaver- enough said. The worst thing in the world is having bad breath without any way to rectify the issue. Which is why I carry gum at all times.

Anadin Extra:

A headache is bad enough but being far far away from anywhere to pick up a pain killer is well...a killer. So having a pack of pain relief is an essential in any hand bag.

Ipod:

On a crowded bus, a busy train or a long commute an Ipod is my number one essential. I like many others am one of those people who think music can change your mood completely and the Ipod is the best way to get e out of any bad mood the day might throw at me! Bad grade at uni or a difficult customer at work and all I need is a quick blast of my favourite song to chill me out completely.

- And obviously don't forget your purse and keys.

I love mugs. To some of you this will seem a bit of a strange thing to enjoy buying but others among you will no doubt know exactly what I mean. But this post if for us all: a way to inspire the mug lovers and convert the others. Emma Bridgwater! I was unaware of her incredible home wear until a few months ago and now I can't get enough. I want everything! But it's the mugs that really caught my eye. From gorgeous cups and saucers to mugs the perfect size for a hot chocolate no stone has been left unturned. My favourite is definitely the 'Love' mug. Although I also like the personalised mugs too. 

All in all I love everything about the designs and collections, the only problem for me is I can't afford it.  

These are my top mix and match products to get a perfect red lip whatever the season and whatever your mood. Everything you could want in a red lip look from a sheer wash of colour to a long lasting shade these four products provide all you need. These are my fail safe items and this is what I think of them....

Mac's 'Ruby Woo': 
The ideal choice for those days when you want a long wearing lippy or know you'll be doing a lot of smooching. It's notorious for being a bit drying and a tad chalky but I find with a good lip balm underneath it is the perfect long wearing lip shade. It doesn't require a lip liner and with a gloss over the top or even a bit of Revlon lip butter to keep your lips conditioned and your good to go.

Rimmel 'Red Dynamite' lip pencil:
On its own or as the perfect base this lip pencil is my go too choice. I wore this on the weekend as an opaque base to the new and undoubtably popular Rimmel Apocalips lip colours. Not only did it  kept the liquid lipstick in place but made it last through breakfast and lunch!

Revlon lip butter in 'Candy Apple':
My go to red for this summer! Light and glossy I think this is the perfect shade for the summer, in fact I'm already thinking about outfits I can wear it with. Obsessed? I think so. Also it works brilliantly as a gloss, thats not at all sticky, over lip-stick or liner.

Rimmel Apocalips 'Big Bang':
Like everyone else in the blogging world as soon as I tried the Apocolips lip colours I fell in love. As a red lip stick lover the first one I picked up had to be 'Big Bang' and I wasn't disappointed. Opaque and glossy there isn't much not to like about these. Although, I have found that I do tend to get it on my teeth a lot.

I've got a confession to make... I bought my first pair of sunglasses this year around an hour ago. Now I know its still winter and the sun doesn't come out all that often in the UK but I just love sun glasses. They might even be my favourite part of summer time. So in light of my purchase it thought it would be a good plan to have a look online for the glasses I'm after this year. So, here they are. Four of the styles I'm after for the soon to be summer.

I love this shirt, mainly because of the pattern. At £12.99 it's a steal so how can you go wrong. It reminds me a lot of the Topshop unique a/w 12 pattern too which i think makes me like it even more!

home decor...

Homewear - Okay I'll admit this is a bit of a strange one when it comes to a fashion and beauty blog but I think I might have an addiction. Over the past 2 years I have become home decor crazy. I buy everything from duvet sets to book shelves and everything in between. Now For those who are still living at home or like me have a gang of housemates decorating communal areas may be a bit out of your control but this doesn't mean you cant enjoy decorating your own space! My room is my haven, impeccably neat and clean (although that is down to my OCD tendencies) it's the once place I can call my own and I love decorating it! If you hadn't noticed from my top six picks on my homewear wish list I love neutrals and hints of metallic and if I had my way my room would be feminine luxury with a few  retro twists. Although, being a student I think this fantasy will be left to my dreams until I get a place all of my own.

My top tip when looking into homewear is to check out your favourite fashion retailers to see if they have 'home' collections too. My best discovery was Zara home for gorgeous pieces which would make perfect additions my fantasy home and existing bedroom, although I'm not sure my bank balance would agree it was such a great discovery. Urban Outfitters, Next, H&M, M&S, habitat and Argos also come top of my list for great finds!

Heres hoping I've inspired you to get creative and start to decorate your space!

Winter hates hands...

It's time to show your hands some love as we are thrown head first into the cold snap this winter. I have neglected my hands over the years and this winter they fought back with a vengeance. Dry, irritable with nails not even a dog would accept. My hands were looking horrific. So I started to give them the love they deserve. These are just a few of the products that got them up to scratch....

Nivea Creme

Now my mum uses this and her mum uses it and so on and who am I to mess with tradition? As soon as I picked this up my hands were in heaven. This has to be my fail safe product for dry skin but it never occurred to me to use it as a hand cream. It's super thick and gives your skin a much needed injection of moister from the very first application. Although I do warn you it takes a few minutes to soak in so I would suggest it as a night time regime. Maybe whilst your sat in-front of the T.V?

Hand food

What can I say this is a no brainer and every beauty guru's must have. Soup and Glory do an array of amazing products but this has to be one of the best, nourishing and with that classic Soap and Glory smell we all know and love there's nothing not to like. Plus it comes in a mini size so it's the perfect handbag staple.

O.P.I Nail Envy

Ranted and raved about this product is something I had always been curious to try but with a price tag of £18.00 I needed a little more convincing before I forked out the cash. So when I saw it in the clearance section at sally's for £8.09 I couldn't say no. And I can honestly admit that I should have payed the £18.00 for this years ago it does exactly what it says on the tin and is keeping my nails strong and long.

Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover

I was a bit well, weirded out when I was introduced to this product. The idea of scraping skin off you nails is, lets be honest,  a little bit disgusting on all accounts. The first time It happened to me I hated it but I was amazed at how much prettier my hands looked. Neat nails are definitely the way forward. Now I just have to work out how make it less disgusting. 

Essie 'Wicked'

The finishing touch. It's all well and good having nice looking hands and nails but when you want to show them off you need a bit of colour. This Essie colour has to be my go to nail varnish for winter, dark and vampy with just a hint of red to spice things up a bit.

This week my weekly want is at Topshop and if you haven't noticed this is one of my favourite shops but don't worry my wants will have variety! And what can I say about this week I'm a sucker for stripes...

New Year new blog...

Right. This is it. My blog is getting a re-vamp...

No more slacking my new years resolution is to get back to what I was going when I started this blog posts at-least three times a week. That's right and it's going to have some structure. I'm going to introduce some regular posts that will encourage me to step it up when it comes to posting!

1. Weekly wants... / Wish list
     - A quick and simple post that includes the item(s) I have seen that week and am lusting over.

2. Whats new?
    - My favour purchases of the month/week

3. OOTD
     - We all know what that means don't we?

4. Monthly favourites.../ Great discovery
    - My favourite items of the month from clothes and makeup to music or just a great discovery.

Along with these regulars my blog will be peppered with features on everything from budget shopping to week in photo.

I hope you stick with me while i re-dedicate myself to my much loved blogging.