Tuesday 18 December 2012

Giveaway Update: Winner Announcement

Good evening my lovely readers. What a lovely first day at my new job. I really must say, I cannot complain. Everyone was really nice and I feel right at home in my new office.

However, I can imagine some of you are eager to find out who has won my Giveaway rather than my first day at work so, I shall cut to the chase!

With a little help from random.org I can now reveal that the fabulous winner of this super cute prize is:
Entry (comment) Number 4! Congratulations, Catherine!


I shall be emailing you shortly and arrange for the fab BarryM Glitter Polish and Original Eye Pallette by Sleek Make Up to be sent to you asap. Fingers crossed it might still arrive before Christmas. Psst... Check our her lovely blog if you haven't seen it yet: http://notdressedaslamb.com It's a great read and she's got some great photo tips on her blog too which I have already bookmarked to read over the weekend!

Right my lovelies, I'll be hosting a new Giveaway again soon in the New Year until then I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has participated this time. Also, thanks to those who have followed my blog in the process, it's nice to have new readers on board! I hope you'll enjoy reading my ramblings on life, fashion, make up and books. Feel free to comment with any feedback any time!

xoxo
Kate


Monday 17 December 2012

Christmas Lights & High Heels

I spent most of the weekend tidying up our house and getting it ready for Christmas. Every year I change the decorations of my Christmas tree. Last year it was purple/green glitter themed. The year before that it was black/gold. This year? It's all about vintage love...


Sunday 16 December 2012

A new day & Fantasy blogger breakfast

Good evening my lovelies. It's been quite a week. I haven't been able to share this with you before but here come the big news: I quit my job the other day.

Yes, I know, I loved it there but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do and follow your heart. Well, my heart just wasn't in it anymore. In the end, start up life simply wasn't my cup of tea. Now, enough with the heavy - let me share with you, a lovely recap, of a lovely day in London last week.

On Thursday I attended the Fantasy Shopper Blogger Breakfast in London. Here are some snapshots including the extremely delicious Fantasy Shopper cupcakes...


It was lovely to meet a crowd of enthusastic, inspiring and lovely bloggers from both the London area as well as my beloved Devon. We spent time talking about Fantasy Shopper as well as playing on the site.

There was also a little raffle for all bloggers and Louie from http://www.withlovelouie.com/ was the lucky winner of the Fantasy Hamper filled with some very cool fashion goodies from Mint Velvet, Ted Baker, Reiss and more... Yeah, as you can tell, I was a little jealous of that one. :)

So, that's it for now. Tomorrow I'll be showing you my lovely Christmas decorations and don't forget I'll be announcing the winner of my make up giveaway on Tuesday at 9pm. There's still time to enter.

Click here to read how and good luck!

xoxo
Kate

Saturday 15 December 2012

3 Days of Christmas #style post

Not long until Christmas and I'm now really looking forward to putting my Christmas decorations up this weekend. I was up in London on Thursday and just looking at the fantastic lights and decorated shop windows in Harrods made me hum Christmas tunes for the 24 hours that followed.

So I've started planning my Christmas outfits and added some items I own and a few items to buy to my Fantasy wardrobe to experiment with. Here's what I've come up with and before I forget, my Giveaway is still open so enter today for your chance to win some fab make up treats! Good luck! xo

Christmas Eve
I usually spend Christmas Eve cooking a turkey roast dinner for James and myself. We spend the evening together watching Christmas movies, eating loads of food and relaxing before the family get together that follows. Slippers and a Christmas jumper are a must. Click here to view where the items are from.

Christmas Day
Christmas Day this year will be spent at James' family house, unwrapping presents, enjoying a feast of a meal and playing with my little nieces and nephew. I liked dressing up a little bit for Christmas Day but still remain casual. This dress is perfect for the occasion. I've got it in khaki and have just ordered this cute berry coloured version. I would probably wear leggings with this outfit for warmth. To view where the individual items are from, click here.

Boxing Day
Boxing Day pretty much is a second Christmas Day aka. food extravaganza at James' parents house. Usually we move from turkey to a little less festive food but still pretty much to eat so a dress is a good call as a food baby is definitely to be expected! This outfit definitely works for me and the dress is a bargain from New Look so will get this into my real wardrobe tomorrow. To view the entire look and where it's from, click here.

Now I just need to sort out some last minute Christmas shopping. Can't believe I haven't bought all my pressies yet! Ah well, at least I can treat myself to some new clothes in the process.

xoxo
Kate

Thursday 13 December 2012

#Giveaway Sleek Eye Shadow

Eye shadows determine how natural or dramatic you will strut through the day. This is my new fave eye shadow this season:



Now, as promised today I'm hosting my first giveaway so I'm giving you the chance to WIN one of these eye treats for yourself! That's not all, the prize comprises of a make up goodie bag containing a selection of my favourite things:

- One Sleek i-Divine original eye shadow palette



- One hot pink and black nail varnish by BarryM


UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

To be in the chance of winning these goodies simply:
1. Follow my blog via GFC (google friend connect)
2. Follow me on twitter ( @kate_martin85 )
3. Tweet "I've just entered @kate_martin85 's giveaway at allmyfavouritethings101.blogspot.com"
4. Post a comment with your Email & Twitter handle below

Note: You must be a UK or Mainland European resident.

Giveaway closes on the 18th of December at 5pm GMT.
The winner will be announced at 9pm the same day on my blog and twitter.


The winner will be selected at random via random.org

Right, now all that remains to be said is good luck and thank you for reading and following my little blog,

xoxo
Kate


Monday 10 December 2012

Crackle Metal Glamour

Experimenting with nails is a bit of a secret obsession of mine. As a self-confessed nailbiter I tend to opt for falsies rather than funky nail polish as they just stay pretty for longer. As you can see from the photograph below, I've opted to fake it with Elegant Touch's "Crack Up Graphite" nails, which is a limited edition available from most drug stores and Amazon.


I think this look is perfect for the party season. The silver has a glitter effect applied to it to finish off the glamourous look and I found these nails super easy to handle and apply. The black holder tips help with keeping unwanted glue residue off your finger tips when applying the false nails.

I've been using Elegant Touch for a little while and so far they've always lasted me at least 7 days so I'm looking forward to 7 days of glamour with these fake beauties.

Mulled Wine #wiwt

I've spent a good portion of my day at the Christmas market in town today. Mulled wine, Bratwurst and loads of christmas treats later I'm now more than ready for a nap.

But before I do that, here's a few shots of my outfit today that saw me through a very cold day in the heart of Exeter and multiple rounds of mulled wine..
Faux Fur Boots: Barrats,  Knit Top: Next, Denim Skinnies: New Look

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Dark Chocolate Warm Up

All you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then can't hurt...

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour - £9.99 

So, the weather hasn't been the best, it's freezing cold down here in the South West but I shouldn't complain as back home in Germany it's even colder! They've got snow and everything (according to my BFF) However, to counteract the winter chill I've been feeling, I've gone and invested in a new Dark Chocolate Brown hair colour.

I wasn't looking to experiment with a new product when I had this bright idea on Saturday to dye my hair, but this foam hair dye by John Frieda caught my eye so I decided to give it a go. Here's the result:

Original Colour: Dark Brown - Result: Top right hand corner

So, you can see the result of the colour in the top right hand corner. It's pretty much what it looks like on the packaging which is a first for me. This was the first time that I've used foam hair dye and I must admit it wasn't so easy to get adjusted to. ,The step by step guide scared me a little bit.. "Don't shake" "Tilt 5 x times" "Don't tilt more than five times" "Don't do this, don't do that" When after the first few minutes of trying to follow the instructions it became clear to me that I looked nothing like the foamy haired woman in the manual (which was blatantly photoshopped by the way as there is no way that I could have ever had such a foamy head at any point) I decided to stop worrying and just go with it.
Well, what can I say? The colour worked, I am pleased with the result and there was little mess. So all in all, I'm happy with the result and now that I know how to use it I'll use it again. So, what do you think?

xoxo
Kate

Monday 3 December 2012

12 Days of Christmas Promo

Okay, normally I try not to talk too much about work but this week Fantasy Shopper are doing something so awesome I feel I should tell you for your own good so you don't miss out!


Each day until the 12th of December Fantasy Shopper are giving away a prize to the best outfits styled and submitted to their daily Style Contests (Events), including gift cards for high street retailers like Reiss, Oasis and Cath Kidston as well as a mixture of top prizes from Lulu Guiness, Swarovski, The Body Shop and many more.

In addition, every entry will also be in with a chance to winning a massive Christmas Hamper filled with goodies worth over £500 on Dec 13th - so even if you don't win the individual Style Events everyone has a chance to win an amazing prize just in time for Christmas simply by having participated.

Unfortunately (of course!) I cannot enter as I work for Fantasy Shopper but that doesn't mean I cannot talk about it so go and style your hearts out for a chance to win! Good luck to those of you that do!

Sunday 2 December 2012

£100 Xmas Outfit Blogger Challenge

FashionVouchers.com have recently launched their £100 Xmas Outfit Blogger Challenge so I figured I'll let you know about it and take part in the early festivities.

The Challenge is fairly straight forward: Create a Party Outfit from any brand on FashionVouchers.com up to the value of £100. Then, write a post about your outfit and the competition on your blog and a link to their  competition page so other bloggers can take part.

Here's the Outfit I have chosen from ASOS via Fashion Vouchers:



Total Outfit Cost: £89.99 (from ASOS)


The Competition ends on Dec 17th - good luck to everyone who enters! If I happen to win with the above outfit, I shall let you know!

Saturday 1 December 2012

Luscious Lashes

Everyone has one or two favourite things about their appearence. Some take pride in their hair, others in their figure and some in their lips or eyes. Well, I'm always at a loss of what I like about myself let alone what I like best. After all, the grass is always greener and everyone always looks thinner, prettier etc. However, when I did my eye make up yesterday I kind realised I was really happy with my eyes. It's amazing what a little colour can do - even if it's black like my favourite extension mascara.


I've been using Model Co's Fibre Lash Mascara for over a year now and think it probably is the reason why I like experimenting with eye make up so much and usually stay away from falsies.
It's what I asked my make-up artist to use for my wedding make-up. Have a look at some of the shots.


In case you haven't stumbled upon this mascara yet, Model Co's Fibre Lash Mascara is applied in three stages. First you coat the eyes from base to tip with the big black bottle. Then you use the Lash Fibre bottle, applying a layer of white thin fibres to your lashes. The final step is to apply some more extension mascara which colours the fibres black!

The end result? Luscious lashes that take you from day to night.