London Wonder

Autumn/Winter '13 Hat Trends

Accessorising in the Autumn/Winter season is one of my favourite things to do. Not only is it superfun to brighten up a winter outfit, but they're cosy and practical too (trying to hold an umbrella, a Starbucks and a cigarette is like a re-enactment of Naomi Campbell's 1993 Vivienne Westwood walk... disaster waiting to happen!). I think the biggest benefit of the winter hat is the bad hair day cover-up.
There are a whole bunch of massive hat trends for this season, and I've indulged in almost all of them, so I'm going to talk about some of my favourite trends, favourite hats and famous faces that don them the best!

The beanie has been around for years as we all know, but they've recently resurfaced as a winter staple. Made a favourite by cool kids like Rita Ora, Cara Delevigne and Kylie Jenner, the beanie is a fun take on the woolly bobble hat, with bold and tongue-in-cheek slogans or bright bold patterns, they're great for a young, fresh-faced, 'thrown together' look.


The Mac-Daddy of hats this season, you've got to be brave, bold and confident to pull this one off. It's not so much about how you wear it, or what you wear it with, as it's a hat that needs to be worn with conviction to convey great, effortless style. I think the most popular advocates of the Fedora are Kate Moss, Nicole Richie, Rachel Zoe and more recently, Olivia Palermo.
Taking inspiration from the 1920's (and Downton), the cloche hat is back again this season after being dormant for a while. It's a super cute take on vintage style as it's available in an array of colours - perfect for accessorising this season. I'd say the most popular wearer of the cloche hat was Manhatten's very own Blair Waldorf of popular television programme Gossip Girl. This hat is the most structured of styles in this post, and screams Park Avenue Princess, so would be best worn with clean cut, crisp, girly outfits.


Taking inspiration from Wintery Russia, the cossack hat has made it's not-so-subtle appearance on the catwalks and the high street each season. With firm warnings that this coming winter is going to be a bitter one, I think everyone should invest in one of these truly fabulous hats! Not only are you guaranteed a head-turning reaction, but your ears are sure to be nice and toasty all Winter! The cossack can be either styled up or down to create a sleek country-girl-goes-city-chic look, which both Kate and Pippa Middleton style perfectly.
Inspired from exotic India and made famous by the likes of Kylie Minogue and Elizabeth Taylor, the turban hat adds a touch of sophisticated glamour as well as practicality to anyone's winter wardrobe. The chunkier the knit, the better, a great spin on the beanie as a sassy statement piece. Bright eye-catching colours as seen on Nicole Scherzinger help to make these beautiful headpieces really stand out.

Love them all!! Which are you going to wear this season?

Christmas Beauty Advent Calendars

So my last post was about Ciaté's Mini Mani Month 2013, and after a little bit of digging, I've found a bunch of other great alternative Beauty Advent Calendars. Eeeek!
Each year, more and more beauty brands and retailers come up with new and innovative Christmas gifting ideas, so I've found some of the best ones for you to have a little think about :)

First up; the Selfridges Christmas Advent Calendar, known to me as the holy grail. Selfridges' exclusive bijoux Christmas advent calendar brings you the best in beauty. From Viktor & Rolf, Yves Saint Laurent, Kiehl's and Giorgio Armani to Lancôme and Maison Martin Margiela, you can discover a precious treat behind every door to make you dazzle, sparkle and shine this festive season. SOLD.
At £84, it isn't the cheapest on the market, but you're definitely in for a treat with this one. I think one of the biggest turn-ons about this set is that you're getting such an assortment of top quality products - just enough to sample and try before you buy. Available to buy now.

Next up; the Boots Beauty Advent Calendar, an absolute steal at just £30! 2013 will be Boots' first venture into Beauty Advent Calendars, but they're making sure they start of with a bang! Wake up every morning to a new beauty treat and fill the month of December with gorgeous gifts to pamper yourself from head to toe. Featuring brands such as; Soap & Glory, Nails Inc, Paco Rabanne, Juicy Couture, Rimmel, Mavala, Umberto Giannini and Many More...
Perfect for the bargain hunter, what's great about this calendar is that it features all of Boots' best sellers and all of our fave's too! Available to buy now.

The last one I'm going to talk about is the Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar. I have to admit, this is the one that I am most excited about. I very rarely venture outside my make up comfort zone, and all my friends absolutely love Benefit cosmetics. Other than a short stint quite a few years ago where I tried (and loved) BADgal Lash Mascara, the furthest I've ventured to Benefit is the MAC make-up counter next to the Benefit one, and now there is absolutely no excuse not to have some fun! Our one-of-a-kind advent calendar comes in a show-stopping Pop Art box and is filled with 24 fun and flattering beauty treasures! It contains a bevy of Benefit bestsellers and three glitzy little look goods…a charm necklace & bracelet and an adorable barrette. It’s the gift that gets more gorgeous every day! 
This selection comes in at a very reasonable £50, and will be available to buy from 2nd November 2013 at selected Debenhams stores, Benefit Boutiques and www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk.

Which one are you most looking forward to opening? It wouldn't be right to buy all three... would it?? Anyone know if Latest in Beauty or Liz Earle will be doing another one this year?

Ciaté Mini Mani Month 2013

So, early last month Ciaté released their Mini Mani Advent Calendar for 2013. Back by popular demand, this should of been on every girls Christmas wish list last year, and should most certainly be on your wishlist this year - I've already sent a not-so-subtle link to Ciaté's website to my mum!
Only in it's second year, Ciaté London have put together 24 of their best selling shades of the year in this fun spin on the traditional Christmas Advent Calendar. The pack contains 17 mini Ciaté paint pots, 7 textured toppers from Sequin (eeek!) to Caviar, and a surprise full sized pot! Ciaté have confirmed that the line-up this year will be brand new with no repeats! Hoorah!
This years colours look gorge, lots of pastel and nude-type shades - great for the Winter - which you can also jazz up with the sequins or caviars for the party season, and a couple of bold numbers to brighten up those especially dark Winter days. I love the packaging this year too - much more Christmassy than last years' Aztec style set.
After selling out just a week (yes one week!) of it's release in Selfridges, Ciaté have opened pre-order on their website, to be dispatched between 21st October 2013 and 4th November 2013 with an estimated delivery time of 5 to 7 working days so you'll receive it with plenty of time to open your first door - the problem may be making sure you have the restraint not to open them all at once (my Christmas 2012 disaster). The set is a very reasonable £42.
I love the idea of a beauty advent calendar, there are a few beauty brands already doing them and they're slowly becoming more mainstream. It's a fabulous idea - They look great, make perfect gifts, and everyone goes crazy for them.