November Round Up

Just a few things I've been up to in November...

Matilda and her friend Hattie at Little Potters. We made ceramic Christmas decorations with them, so cute!

My lovely Grandma Pat celebrating her 80th birthday! 

This month saw me return to work and I am loving being a working Mummy. 

Autumn walks with my girl, now I am working again, each day we spend together is just lovely.

Christmas work party last weekend, I was sensible and drove so didn't have a hangover!

Matilda enjoying her first (stuffed!) reindeer experience when we were doing some Christmas shopping together with Daddy.

How was your November? All ready for Christmas? I still have lots to do but I really can't wait, it is my favourite time of year!

Chloe x

Nursery Details

My favourite room in our house is Matilda's nursery. I just love it. She has recently started sleeping in her own room so now I spend even more time in there, feeding her in the rocking chair before putting her down for the night in her cot.

I want to show you how we have accessorised her nursery, to make it more girly, more baby-ish! 

Firstly this felt name bunting. Isn't it the cutest darn thing you've ever seen? I had it made by Oh Sew Sweet (you can find Beth on Facebook). 

She will tailor the design to suit your room! Now you can't see in the photo but the White clouds are made from glittery felt, just gorgeous!

I feel like shelves are such a 'thing' right now for interior design. I took to Pinterest for ideas on how I should style Matîlda's. A general rule for baby shelves: books and teddies! 

Top shelf: Baby Photos book from Aspinal of London. This was a beautiful gift from my sister Courtenay and her partner Tom. So thoughtful. Two teddies in a tin; these were found when clear unit my Grandma's flat after she was moved to a care home. Something sentimental.

Middle shelf: Keepsake box. In here I've kept all the cards we got at her birth, any party invites we've had, a newspaper from the day of her birth & our hospital bands. Jellycat Bashful Bunny Medium in grey, The Little White Company elephant rattle, Jellycat Bashful Bunny Small in white. This outfit hanging up is the first outfit she ever wore, it is from The Little White Company and its so cute and tiny. I can't believe Matilda was ever that small! 

Bottom shelf: The books were gifts so not too sure where they were purchased. Jellycat Polar Bear teddy. Courtenay bought this for Matilda because when I was a baby, my favourite teddy that I still have to this day is a bear called Polar! The monkey and giraffe teddies are from Mothercare.

What do you think of these nursery accents? I hope you like them! I will post a more general nursery post soon so you can see colour scheme & theme!

Chloe.

ASOS Occasionwear for Autumn/Winter

If you're anything like me, I plan for months in advance what I'll wear to a wedding. I've been to three this year and had three different outfits! I can always count on ASOS for their occasion wear.

One I wore would work really well for winter weddings.

I had my eye on this dress as soon as I saw it on We Are Twinset and knew I had to go for it when it went half price in the sale. The colour and print work perfectly for weddings at this time of year. It is made from that thick scuba material so it'll keep you warm too! It is still available to buy for £65 here. Bargain!
Chuck a black or grey leather jacket over the top to keep you warm.

Sorry for the blurry photo!
I added this New Look clutch and ASOS fascinator. You can't see my shoes but my trusty wedding shoes from Jimmy Choo got another wear!

Here are some other dress picks that would be great options for winter weddings!

ASOS Wiggle Dress £50 - Buy here.

ASOS Premium Prom Dress £120 - Buy here.

ASOS Skater Dress - Buy here.

I'd love to know what you think of these dresses!

Chloe x

September Beauty Haul

Last week I (finally!) received my Younique products and I am so excited to share with you all.

I ordered the Cloud Nine collection for £113 and it includes so much!

Touch Liquid Foundation, Touch Skin Perfecting Concealer, Addiction Eyeshadow Palette, Precision Brow Liner & Brow Gel, Opulence Lipstick and their famous 3D+ Fibrelash Mascara.

The foundation is silky to the touch and a little goes a really long way, which is great if you like to build your coverage. It is a matte finish foundation and lasts all day.

The concealer comes up quite dark so I would recommend choosing a shade lighter than your foundation colour. Again you only need a small amount and I apply mine by dabbing with my finger tips over my dark circles (the uniform of a new mum!)

View the collection here.

I also used Younique's Beachfront Bronzer but that is not included in the collection. There are three shades to choose from, I have Hermosa. The pigments in these bronzers are incredible, the colour is so pretty! They have a subtle shimmer to highlight your face. Use your bronzer brush in a number 3 motion starting from the centre of your forehead, going over the cheekbones and jawline. Repeat on each side as many times as you wish to get your desired bronze goddessy look!!

Now ask anyone that knows me, they'll tell you how much I love eye shadows! So I was really eager to try these ones out. There are three palettes to choose from and I ordered the third. I used the shades Tickled, Determined, Flippant & Irate. As it was day time when I tried these, I didn't go too smokey, might have looked a bit silly in the Post Office queue!

I finished my eyes with one coat of the mascara. Now if you haven't tried this, you need to. I have tried every mascara known to man and nothing even touches the power of this! You can add coat after coat to get a real false lash look if that is what you like - perfect for date night or Saturday night cocktails with the girls!

I am a presenter for Younique and love the opportunity it has given me to connect with women and empower them through beauty. I heard about the brand through my Mum, she had to work really hard to convince me that the makeup was worth a try - I was such a product snob before! Now my dressing table is covered with Younique products and I swear by them. If you'd like to know more about joining the company, you can email me at chloelstephenson@gmail.com.

What do you think of my makeup? Any of you tried some new products I need to know about?

Chloe x

Matilda Rose

Hopefully you can forgive me for the long break in blogging, I have a good reason I promise.

On Tuesday 7th April at 10:48am, Matilda Rose Stephenson was born.

Weighing in at 9lb 7oz, our little chunk has bought so much joy.

I won't go in to too much detail regarding the birth but I was 12 days overdue when I was admitted to Medway Maritime Hospital for an induction of labour. It pretty much worked straight away and she didn't hang around for her big arrival.

It was so fast it was almost a little shocking for me!

This is the first photo of me after the birth. Had to put some make up on of course!

Matilda is over 4 months old now and each day is wonderful, she is such a happy little princess. Of course she gets very spoilt by everyone.

My husband and I are so lucky.

I'll be sharing plenty of posts on our journey through parenthood, Matilda's wardrobe and nursery, plus all the things I loved pre-motherhood: beauty, fashion, travel and more.

The hiatus is over, I've settled right into being a mum and now ready to share that with you all.

Chloe x

My Baby Shower

I thought I'd do a lovely post on the baby shower my Mum and two sisters threw for me a few weeks ago.
It was such a beautiful afternoon filled with all of my favourite people and foods!

We had picked Witherden's Hall in Wingham as the venue - a gorgeous converted barn set in beautiful Kent countryside. Take a look at the venue here: http://www.witherdenshall.co.uk/

Obviously my outift took a lot of planning, even though it was so simple, I wanted something that was comfortable and flattering for my 7 month bump!

The dress I wore was from ASOS for £35 - total bargain.

I teamed it with some black heeled boots also from ASOS but these have since sold out, but find some similar styles here.

The food was Marks and Spencer to save my Mum the boring job of cutting sandwich crusts - you can order party food platters from their amazing selection online and it was totally delish. Everyone commented on the standard of the food, so this way of providing food for your party is definitely recommended!

I particularly enjoyed the mini fruit tarts and the beef & horseradish sandwiches!

My beautiful baby shower cake was made by the same lovely lady that made our wedding cake. My Mum found some pictures on Pinterest, sent them over, and voila! One layer was chocolate, the other Victoria sponge and both tasted divine.

I unfortunately couldn't enjoy the champagne, so sipped on elderflower Presse instead - very glamorous!

The afternoon consisted of a 'Who Knows Mum Best' quiz - some of the questions I couldn't even answer myself! We also had to pin the dummy on the baby - needless to say, I pinned the dummy to baby's eyeball!

There was also 'Sniff the Whiff' - a game with 5 soiled nappies and we had to guess what the smells were!

Everyone really enjoyed the afternoon and have totally spoiled Baby S with some amazing gifts.

My sisters & I.

All the girls left with a slice of cake and a popcorn cup to enjoy that evening - I am so grateful to everyone for coming and for the gorgeous gifts.

Chloe x

The perfect Valentines Day face...

I have put together the perfect flirty Valentines Day make up look! Whether it's a dinner date, cinema trip or chilling at home with a bottle of wine, this look is fabulous and fun and not 'too much'

For the base, I've mixed two of my favourite foundations, Lancome Teint Idole in 010 and Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Warm Sand. Added to that, is the Lancome Éclat Miracle to add extra luminosity and dewy-ness! 

My foundation brush of choice is Real Techniques from Superdrug. Not too pricey either! 

I mixed those together with my brush before applying all over my face.

Then to hide any blemishes, redness & dark circles I love Benefit Boing concealer. I like to apply this with a concealer brush, for me it gives better application and coverage.

The bareMinerals brush is especially good!

Now to add colour back in to the face, I have used bareMinerals warmth with their flawless face flat brush. I like to make a number 3 shape around the right then left side of my face. So start from the middle of your forehead, bring round to colour the cheekbones, then the jawline. Repeat as often as required to get the colour you desire. I also brush lightly over my nose and chin, as this is where the sun would naturally colour my face.

I like to add blusher next with my Real Techniques brush. For this look, I've used Bobbi Brown Sweet Sugar. To apply, make a big cheesy grin and circle on the apples of your cheeks.

After this, I powdered my face with Guerlain Meterorites. This adds a little extra glow & shimmer, so be careful where you apply - I dust lightly on my cheeks and nose.

Now for your eyes!

My colours of choice are the Naked by Urban Decay range, particularly the first palette. 

I applied the shade 'Toasted' all over my lids, a really cute metallic shade that isn't too dark.

To highlight the eye, I have dabbed a small amount of Benefit High Beam under my brow and applied lashings of Lancôme Hypnose Drama mascara to the top and bottom lashes. If you wanted even more drama and definition, you could of course go for liner, but I wanted an easy day or evening look.

My brows are coloured in with the 'Naked' shade of the Urban Decay palette. I've found this colour to be closest to my own hairs and fills in really well.

This lipstick is just so pretty, I wore it on my wedding day and just love it! It's Bobbi Brown Bikini Pink and is the perfect flirty pink hue that works from day to night and lasts too.

And there you have it, an easy to achieve, fun & flirty look for whatever your  Valentines Day plans are.

Chloe x