Shoes on a Shoestring #3 Danni Boots

Hello! I have another post about budget shoes today, I got these boots in the sale at Chockers the other day, and I thought I should share them asap so that they're still there for you all to snap up too!

Danni boots Chockersshoes.co.uk






I had seen boots in they style in quite a few of Sammi's videos on youtube, and I really liked them. Hers were from Missguided and cost around £45, which I didn't really want to pay, so I felt like I'd struck gold a few weeks ago when I was browsing Chockers and saw these reduced to £20!! It's a really great site in general for discounted shoes, and I have a few more posts lined up featuring their shoes!! They're really comfortable to wear, and great for this time of the year with all the turbulent weather we're having in the UK!

dress warehouse, tights m&s, cardigan warehouse, bracelet h&m, rings claires accessories, dorothy perkins and dixi, nail polish models own in purple grey np052

So this is the outfit that I wore them with yesterday, I was just going to meet a friend for coffee and to go (window) shopping for a bit! The dress is a bit dressy and actually has embroidery (hidden by my hair here) all around the neckline, so I dressed it down a bit with the really slouchy, oversized cardigan. I thought all the colours tied in well together, with the gold from the shoes and jewellery, and the neckline embroidery, which was complemented nicely by the khaki.

What would you wear these with?
Eleanor x

Empties #2 Skincare

Hello! So I've been hoarding up empties for quite some time now, so that I have enough to warrant me doing a post on them!

So first of all is facewipes, I used to always keep a pack in my skincare stash just in case I needed them, because I don't really like to use them for taking my makeup off regularly because they're not the best for your skin, but I've banned myself from buying them now, because it turned into me being really lazy and just using them every night, so this way I'm forced to take my makeup off properly! haha! Basically I hated the Vitamin E ones, they really irritated my eyes, the avocado ones were alright, and the botanics ones were the best, and these are the ones I'd go to repurchase if I was allowed, I actually like these better than the simple wipes, and there's usually an offer on them in boots!

I then got this bottle of micellaire water, because everyone's been hyping up Bioderma, but I'm not prepared to pay the hefty UK price tag for it, so I bought this alternative from UNE. This was okay, but I would repurchase it. It wasn't horrible, but it just didn't wow me like other people have been wowwed by this sort of product, maybe that effect is exclusive to Bioderma, so hopefully I'll be making a trip to France sooner rather than later...
I also finished up this Botanics 100% Organic Rosewater Toning Spritz. I really liked this, and bought one to keep at Matt's as well! The only problem I had with this was when it was coming into the Winter months I did find this to dry my skin out quite a bit, so I haven't repurchased it just yet, but I definitely will be doing in the summer! I really liked being able to just quickly spritz this over my face, it's so easy!

And finally, I finished up my Vaseline Healthy Hand and Nail Conditioning Hand Lotion, I really like this hand lotion, I've repurchased it a few times, and it was actually the first hand cream that I ever tried, back when I was 14! I won't be repurchasing this again at the moment, because I have a very healthy stock of hand creams waiting to be used up, but I would get it again in the future!

What have you been using up recently? If you've tried any of these things, what did you think of them?
Eleanor x

Shoes on a Shoestring #2 Spiked Ankle Boots

Hello! So it's been a while since my last shoes on a shoestring post and I'm quite aware that I bought this pair of shoes a while back, so I need to get it up before they go out of stock and people can't get them anymore! But I went into Primark the other day and actually saw that these were in the sale, so when better to post about them?!

Black spiked ankle boots £18 now reduced to £10 Primark.

ombré jumper warehouse, pu panelled leggings H&M.

Isn't it annoying when you go into a shop and see something that you've already bought that's now been reduced! Ah well! These are quite a simple black ankle boot, with a flat heel, and they have a cool little spiked detail over the toe, and around the top. I'm really loving the spikes and studs trend, and have been for quite a while, but honestly, who hasn't? I'd love to wear these with a black midi skirt and a leather jacket, I think they'd look sooo cool, but unfortunately, being only 5ft2, I don't have the long legs required to do that, and it'd make me look very stumpy! But I do really like pairing them with these pu panelled leggings from H&M and a jumper. I actually wore this outfit a couple of weeks ago when I went for drinks with a couple of people and I quite liked it, so thought I'd recreate it for the post!
I definitely feel like these shoes give some sort of edge to an outfit, and damn it, I love me some edge! And I really think these would go great with some girlier outfits to have that sort of toughening up effect! These are also great for these rainier/ weird weather months in the UK, because they'll do a good job of keeping your feet dry, but aren't the type of material to ruin either! So hopefully you'll still be able to find these in your local Primark in the sale!

What would you wear these with?
Eleanor x

Foundation Files #1 Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

Hello! Now, I've heard some very mixed reviews on this, some people seem to love it, and some haven't got on with it so well, so I'm here to add my two cents!

So I should start my laying down some ground, I have combination skin, with mostly normal skin, but some slightly oily areas, and some drier areas in winter too, and my foundation preference is a dewy finish with not too heavy coverage, I like to look as natural as possible!

 So the Bourjois healthy mix serum is described as a semi-matte finish, which initially I thought would be a bit weird, how exactly is something semi-matte? Well I'll tell you how! It mattifies your face, but maintains a certain amount of luminosity and glow, which I actually think is perfect, because you get the glow without the shine or stickiness! It's also quite a light coverage, which is great for keeping your look as natural as possible, which I really like, but it definitely doesn't cover up any blemishes, it doesn't even cover up my freckles, it just has more of a blurring effect. So this foundation tends to be great when you haven't got any spots or anything in particular that needs covering up, but your complexion just needs a little pick me up, if it's looking sallow or dull this is absolutely great! To be honest I wear it even when I do have blemishes, it's nothing a little concealer can't sort out! I have the lightest shade of this (51) and it would probably be a little too dark for me if it was a heavier coverage, but I can get away with it as it's so light. The shades in the range are also definitely on the more yellow-toned side, but again, as it has such a light coverage, I haven't found that it makes too much of a difference.

I've found that this has worked best for me when I prep my face with moisturiser, skip on the primer and apply the foundation straight to my face with my fingers. I've tried it out with a multitude of different primers and brushes, but I really feel that you get the best finish with this when you apply with your fingers, and it wears longer and nicer with no primer underneath (just for reference I have been prepping my face with my Oriflame energising day cream and it works really nicely with this foundation without a primer). I found it to go a little patchy with primer, but without it lasts and wears really nicely, it doesn't oxidise and get darker throughout the day, which is a definite plus for me (I hate foundations that do that! They make me feel so self-conscious, what if my face has turned orange?!) I also found that this was better left unpowdered on my skin, as when I tried it with powder, again it went patchy and highlighted my pores after a while. But when I use it without any of that I actually find with this foundation that it looks better throughout the day to when I put it on, which can't be a bad thing! I think it's because it gets less matte as the day goes on, but by no means shiny, just really natural and dewy, and it definitely does last all day! So if you've been having problems with this one, try using it in the way I have done and you might get some better results, do let me know if you do this, I'd be interested to see if it's the same for other people!

I really like the packaging of this, the glass bottle is a plus for me, as I think it has a more expensive feel, and the pump is a massive YES because it's so much easier and far less wasteful when you're getting product out. I also really like the gel consistency of the foundation, to me it's what every liquid foundation should feel like, not too thick, but not too runny, and it's so easy to distribute and blend into your skin. It smells a little bit like suncream, I think, and I don't mind that at all, as it isn't unpleasant but doesn't last either, so you don't need to be worried about other people being able to smell it. I think it's a really nice touch that the ingredients include "vitamin-rich fruits: lychees, goji berries and pomegranate" and that it's also hypoallergenic!

So does it live up to the claims on the front of the bottle? It says that it lasts 16hrs, which I think it a bit of an overstatement, I've had it lasting reasonably well for 12 hours, although it was definitely on its last legs at that point, but I would say that in using it the way I talked about earlier it definitely maximised the amount of time that this lasted and it was quite long lasting when I used it in this way. It also promises a radiance-boosted eve, revived complexion which I would completely agree with, so that's a thumbs up from me!

I hope this is proof that it lives up to the promises of radiance, this was after I had got in from a full day of uni, wearing it all day, for at least 7 or 8 hours.

I really like this foundation and I'll definitely be repurchasing once I get through the rest of my stash (I really should use them up before I buy more!) I'd recommend this foundation if you like a glowy finish, not if you like overly matte, heavy coverage foundations. I also think it's best suited to normal/combination skin types, if you have oily skin I don't think this is enough to keep it matte all day, and I did find that I clung to my dry patches a little which highlights them, so I wouldn't recommend it to overly dry skin types either, but for anything in between it's a good'un!

Sorry that this has been quite a long one, but I feel like the more detailed these reviews are, the more helpful they are for people who are thinking of buying the product, which is my aim in writing these!
Have you tried the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, or any other Bourjois foundations? What did you think of them?
Eleanor x

Chocolate Orange Cookies

Hello! Now you may have seen, if you follow me on instagram (@porcelaineleanor - I'm very new on there, so please go and follow me!) that on Saturday night I was baking! Quite late as well, I might add! I had seen a recipe on Anna's blog for what promised to be gooey, rich and very chocolatey cookies, so I obviously had to give them a go! Here's Anna's post with the recipe, along with video instruction of how to make the cookies, I just made the little adjustment of making my 3 big bars of chocolate into 1 Terry's chocolate orange. These are meant to be a replica of the cookies at Ben's in London, which I can't personally vouch for because I've never been, it what I can say is that these are amazing! They're so soft! (Not to blow my own trumpet or anything!) my sister has actually eaten 3 of them today!

 I halved the segments of chocolate orange just to make them easier to put into the dough balls, but put more than one half in each.

Let me know if you make these or have any suggestions of other adjustments I can make to the ingredients to make different kinds of cookies!
Eleanor x