Dublin

A way to celebrate finishing your first semester at university? A holiday of course, just before christmas. A holiday before a holiday, some might say!


Irish Coffees! Yum

 Baby Guinness Shot! Literally the tastiest thing I have ever had. 

The alternative christmas card. 

Most beastly meal ever! Steak and guinness pie. 

Us by the famous river Liffey!

Dublin Castle

Bristol harbour on the way home. 

Feel Unique Beauty Box December

So the twitterscope has been eagerly awaiting the release of this beauty box, from Feel Unique.com, the international beauty product sales website.

The one high hope I have of this beauty box after both Glossybox and Joliebox have added a charge of delivery, is that they won't instill this. As one of their company policies, Feel Unique have free international delivery worldwide, and so the beauty community can only sit and hope that this is something that they stick to.

So, the box!?

It uses a slide feature, which I love, it makes the design very different to that of Glossybox, the sleek black and fuschia design makes me sure that it's something I want to keep for storage as it will look lovely and not too attention seeking on a shelf.

Now for the fun part, the products:

Product 1: Figs and Rouge Lip, Face and Body Balm in Sweet Geranium

Retails for £3.49 on www.feelunique.com

Figs and Rouge balms truly are multi purpose products. The balm has been labelled as a make up bag must have by Emma Watson and many beauty editors. It's a moisture filled, petroleum free balm (which is very travel friendly) which can be used virtually anywhere on your body to give a moisture boost and leave a sweet scent. Each flavour has a different skin specialism, whether it be to hydrate, to soothe or to moisturise. The Sweet Geranium flavour is for conditioning and hydrating.

It really works best on lips as it didn't really seem to serve a purpose when applied to my face, but it does really help chapped and dried out lips, making it absolutely perfect for winter months when lips really suffer. Overnight they felt softer, more full  of moisture and not to mention that the balm smells absolutely amazing!

Product 2: Annick Goutal Paris Madragore Pourpre Eau de Toilette Spray

Retails for £51.85 on www.feelunique.com

So this was a slightly more high end product, a mens eau de toilette spray from Annick Goutal, who I shall admit I had not heard of before. (I've never been a massive perfume girl!) The packaging was beautiful, the gold and purple bottle with gold italic detail is gorgeous in it's own right, and accompanied by a purple lace string bag certainly makes it feel like a higher end product for only paying £9.95 a month!

The perfume itself was light and airy, a surprisingly light floral hint that you wouldn't necessarily expect from a mens perfume. All in all, it wasn't that wintry for a december must have, but it is a lovely product.

Product 3: Bed Head Sugar Dust

Retails for £9.85 on www.feelunique.com

Having famously wavy hair, aka the most annoying hair type on this planet, I swear by Bed Head products. My hair isn't curly, it isn't straight, it's annoying in the middle, frizzy, and inevitably without treatment ends up looking like a big old triangle.

The idea of this product, is that it is a powdered dust that you sprinkle lightly over the roots of your hair to absorb oil, and then tease your hair to create a tassled look with volume. The alternative is to sprinkle the product throughout your hair to create a texture with staying power.

It's a great alternative to dry shampoo for those rushed days when you need to style your hair with minimum effort and want a messy volume look. For days when I'm in a rush and don't have the time to properly style my hair with straighteners or curling irons, it is definitely a new favourite whatever the season.

Product 4: Clarisonic Nourishing Care Cleanser
Retails for £21.00 on www.feelunique.com

I suffer from ridiculously dry skin, the moment I get out of the shower I have to lather myself with moisturiser and aqueous cream or my face will actually start to sting, let's not even address what happens when I go swimming in an actual pool with chlorine. The Clarisonic cleanser is a specialist cleanser for those who suffer from dry and delicate skin.

The olive oil and shea butter leave a gorgeous smell of honey on your hands and face, whilst the product itself leaves my face feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. The shea butter helps your skin to moisturise, and provides your skin with vitamins and healthy sodiums.

Overall it's an ideal product if you suffer from dry skin, as a pre product for a good day cream or moisturiser. I'm not quite sure if I would recommend it's worth £21 for 177ml of cleanser when there are so many other cheaper alternatives out there, but if money isn't an issue it's a great cleanser.

Product 5: Nails Inc Oxford Circus Shade

Retails at £11 www.feelunique.com

The nails inc Oxford Circus store is a lovely shade! I'm not sure if I would exactly describe it as a december colour, it's a pastel pink but in true Nails Inc fashion it has the trademark thick, high quality consistency.

Sample size nail polishes are just as good as full size ones for me, because I've never actually finished a nail polish bottle before it's dried out! Has anyone?

Overall I love the feel unique box. I love the contrast of the products, it has a good mixture of health and beauty products and make up. I'd highly recommend it above Glossybox or Joliebox to anyone that is considering investing in a monthly subscription beauty box, this is the one your hard earned pennies are best invested in. 

Hope you all had a fab christmas!

Sophie
xo

Yuki Press Event

For the AW11 season Yuki again have a delightful array of treats for us. Big fluffy jumpers and cardigans, figure loving dresses and flattering details were all on show at the press event above their Great Portland Street store.

This evening dress meets trenchcoat piece combines vibrant red with subtle beige to create a unique design flattering to those of us blessed with lovely curves. It gives the appearance of a classic a line coat, when it's actually a dress. How quaint!?

Now anyone who knows me will understand my love for big hairy yeti style jumpers. They are so perfect for cuddling up to at winter, especially when university heating loves to screw me over so much. (thanks for that EHC) These two are definitely making my winter wish list. Both taken from the new Miwa line, I'm a massive fan of the contrasting autumn colours with a zig zag pattern in the first one, it's so different! The second one I absolutely adore for the range of colours! Pinks, reds browns, whites and purples all blend together in one colour to create a truly amazing jumper. 

However, if we are going to be discussing jumpers, I really have to divert everyone's attention to the breathtaking Yuki Tokyo sweetheart jumper. Available in lovely shades of beige with black detail and black with white detail, it really is my favourite item from the whole collection, and one of my favourite garments all season. It manages to achieve the cute factor without overcompensating over to the childish border and has a variety of options. With black jeans and boots for a casual day to day look, or with a high waisted skirt and heels for a dressed up office day. 

The pure detail of surrounding the borders of the heart shaped design with matching lace and the close knit structure really is just beautiful. 

I hope you're all lovely. I've finally  finished all of my assignments for this semester and tonight I leave for a much awaited week long holiday with my boyfriend in Dublin, can't wait! 

Sophie xo

Selfmachine

It's been simply forever since I last did an outfit post, so here we are. 

I think this vintage top is lovely, one of those things that I've had forever hanging in my closet but I've just never actually worn it. It's very 80s with shoulder pads and everything, and the buttons are pretty stunning. 

The shorts are reworked Levis Rokit ones, I love high waisted shorts, probably more than life itself, and they make any top look flattering really. 

Collar vs no collar? I'm still stumped. 

Wearing:

Blouse - Vintage

Shorts - Rokit £20

Make Up:

Clarins Everlasting Foundation in shade 0001

Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet Mascara

Lips: Marker in Cherry, Topshop Make Up

Blush: Bobbi Brown in Nectar. 

I hope you're all lovely. I'm off to the library today for a ever too long day of research, essays and marketing plans. Blergh deadlines are really not being nice to me. 

Sophie 

xo

Punky Allsorts Jewellery

So we're all looking for something different, the industry can only be so innovative at one time and unfortunately for the majority of that time, us, the general public are left circulating in a series of been there, done there, got the vintage tshirt that was left in my attic from my mother, horrors.

That's why I was so thrilled to come across jewellery line Punky Allsorts courtesy of the lovely people at Katch PR, (well I was bound to be a fan of anyone that calls themselves the self proclaimed mat hatter of the fashion industry)... Circulating London and New York fashion weeks and believing that fashion is about magical fantasy. I'm not really surprised at all the celebrity attention they've gotten in the past few months.

With prices ranging from as little as £8.50 for rings and necklaces, it's the one of my top student indie buys, if you're looking for something a little better made, original and underground boutique style than your average Forever 21 or Accessorize budget jewellery.

Hope you're all lovely :) I've been busy at uni with the neverending projects and enjoying living the student life in London. It turns out you can't get through a fashion university education with just shopping... who'd of guessed :/

xo



An apology, an essay, and a note.

So you have probably noticed (or at least I hope you have) that I haven't blogged for almost two months. I haven't stopped blogging permanently, I just needed a break to sort out some personal things going on in my life at the time and to question what direction I wanted my blog to go in. 

Vanity Theft has always been a lifestyle blog, of course with general focus being on beauty and fashion in London, but I very strongly want it to remain a lifestyle blog. I've just moved into university, and want Vanity Theft to become an account of my experiences as a non hipster fashion student in London. I'll still make my main focus on beauty and style in London (I mean what else is there to really talk about?!) but you'll also get an insight into student life, the dos, the don'ts, the drunken mistakes and the tips to avoid extreme poverty. 

So heres to a new and improved Vanity Theft with a post coming tomorrow on transforming your uni bedroom, what other blog is there to read this school year!?

All the best. 

Sophie xo

Review: Smashbox HD Foundation

New foundation time! I've been wanting to find a foundation with excelent coverage but that is also summer friendly, as my usual love MAC seems to just literally fall off my face in the summer heat. Smashbox was recommended to me so I thought I would give it a try.

I'm an F1 (Fair 1) and it retails at £28.50, widely available online or at Debenhams in the UK. For those stateside readers, you know that smashbox is available widely everywhere, but mainly at Sephora, being one of the top brands there!

The container is small but holding a lot, making it perfect for make up bag travelling and easy to transport aswell as being lightweight. I'll never quite get over the heaviness of some foundations (MAC face and body prominently) The consistency is the perfect one for summer, it's not too runny or too paste like. I'd recommend moisturising before application, especially if you suffer from dryer skin like myself.

It comes out from a squirt like nozzle, aviding the annoying spillage of screwtops, and really is a brilliant product, I admit I'd never actually used smashbox before but they're one of my firm favourites now. This really is a must have foundation with excellent coverage and the light no make up feel that your complexion often needs for summer.

Lots of love,

Sophie xo

Flower Power!

It's been a very long time since I did an outfit post so I thought I would do a very summery one!

Last week on the way to a 44 Frocks Party, I had a wander through Hackney Market on Broadway and found this lovely little 80s floral number at a vintage thrift store. It's a Christian Laure from Paris and is so eighties! It's my perfect summer frock!

These pictures were all taken by my lovely boyfriend in the garden, and they feel so lovely and summery! The bit in the middle of the waist is perfect for hiding my not so yummy tummy aswell!

Photography rights to Ed Hague Holmes

Hope you're all fabulous!

Sophie

xo