Style Speaks Louder

I recently celebrated my 30th birthday and did so in the wonderland that is Las Vegas! What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas as they say but I don't mind sharing some highlights from our trip.
The hubbie and I jumped across the pond for some winter celebrations as it was also his birthday - so turned out to be a joint celebration (although he isn't 30 yet!)

[caption id="attachment_573" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The view from our room at the Bellagio[/caption]

We were lucky enough to stay in the Bellagio Hotel, famous for the large fountain outside that hosts impressive water fountain displays every 15 minutes, we know this as we had a room overlooking the fountain and the famous Las Vegas Strip.
The hotel was beautiful, as can be expected from one of Vegas's five-star establishments and seemed to go on forever. We entered via the casino and it took us a good few minutes to trek across the casino floor and find the lobby area, which was undergoing a transformation from the Thanksgiving decorations into a sparkly Christmas winter wonderland.

[caption id="attachment_590" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Bellagio does Christmas[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_587" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Bellagio Winter Wonderland[/caption]

Our room was lovely and we had been given an upgrade to a higher room so we really could see Vegas sprawl out beneath us and gave us a moment to take it all in. Not wanting to miss a moment we quickly refreshed, shook off the jet lag and set out on our adventure.



Staying in Vegas is really is like staying in a huge adult playground with so much going on around you, you can't be bored here!

The hotels themselves are quite fun to explore as you can pop into any hotel and explore the casino and amenities. The Bellagio is a classic institution,sitting like a palace behind a huge lake that hosts the Bellagio fountain and Caesar's Palace sits next door equally as formidable and famous for starring in the Hangover movie.

[caption id="attachment_584" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Bellagio hotel[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_585" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Me outside Paris hotel[/caption]

The Paris hotel opposite the Bellagio is pure Vegas novelty, featuring a mini Eiffel Tower, Arte De Triumph and a huge light up Hot Air Balloon, we had breakfast there one morning and even the food is French cuisine. I had blueberry waffles at Mon Ami Gabi which were lovely although the coffee was not so great....even after asking for a fresh one.



[caption id="attachment_574" align="aligncenter" width="630"] New York New York Hotel[/caption]

....and then you have hotel New York New York, shaped like the New York skyline and at the south end of the strip Excalibur hotel which is in the shape of a medieval castle... it really feels like you are Alice in wonderland.

The Venetian hotel even has a canal running through the shopping mall area called Canal Shoppes with gondolas with the gondoliers singing in Italian as they row passengers up and down, I was tempted but the cheese factor was a tad too much for me.



....and that isn't a clear blue sky you see above me, that's the ceiling of the mall, all the shopping malls in Vegas had painted ceilings to replicate the sky and changed colour depending on the time of day, which just added to the jet lag fuelled day/night confusion.

We of course made a visit to down town Las Vegas, which is a must see and also includes all the famous wedding chapels on the way.



Fremont street in down town Las Vegas is a short taxi strip from the main strip but is definitely worth a visit. It is where Vegas all started and has the most amazing neon lit casinos that ooze old-time glamour.



We had an amazing time there although it seems like a distant memory now but the fun definitely does not stop, and we might have got up to a few unusual activities;



We also were able to catch the Cirque du Soleil performance KA at the MGM Grand which was amazing and made an excellent end to the trip. I wasn't able to take a picture of the performance but I did take a snap of the super-size cocktail slushy we bought to drink during the show.



We had a unforgetable time in Vegas and I would love to go back again.

Here are some tips if you are going to Vegas for the first time;

Weather: when we first booked we thought - hey its the desert it will be hot hot hot! but it wasn't. We went in early December and the weather was cool during the day but temperatures drop at night so you will need a jacket and some jumpers if travelling in winter.

Fashion: I was expecting 24/7 glitz and glamour but in reality people dressed in casual wear during the day. Of course this doesn't mean you can't make and effort and it depends on where you are going.
The casinos are quite casual and you can wear what you like, girlies got very dressed up for the clubs in the evening so take some glitzy dresses if you plan to go partying and of course some restaurants have dress codes. We travelled in December so I mostly wore jeans or leggings with flat boots as we did a lot of sight-seeing and a nice top or glitzy jumper with my leather jacket. I dressed up more in the evening when we went out for dinner. I didn't go swimming, although the Bellagio pool was heated there was hardly anyone in the pool as it was outdoors, I hear the pool party game starts in the summer.

Sightseeing: If you are interested in sight-seeing there is plenty to see, I'd recommend

• Fremont street at night for old-time glamour feel but low price dining, also check the shark tank in the Golden Nugget casino


• Stratosphere hotel, also located near down town Vegas, offers surround views of the city from the 1149 foot observation deck


• Catch one of the many Cirque du Soleil shows that are hosted in the hotels around the strip, we saw KA at the MGM Grand


• Go shopping in the Forum Shops attached to Caesar's Palace - shops range from super high-end to high street affordable


• Shoot some targets at one of the many gun ranges, the experience is mind-blowing not literally


• Check out the novelty hotel offerings, the Venice canal at the Venetian, the erupting Volcano outside the Mirage, ride the roller-coaster at New York New York hotel

Most importantly enjoy yourself and take time to take in the wonder of Vegas, whether you are partying in a wild group or having a romantic week away. x

http://youtu.be/Wsbv_iFEcZo
We are well into winter now, but it is one of my favourite seasons. Mostly because I get to wear snugly knitwear and tights and boots, there is something about a skirt in winter that appeals to me more than in any other season.

So I've made another haul video to show you the little things I've been stocking up my wardrobe with for Winter. Maple, my puppy also as some items to show you towards the end. Check it out and if you like it please give me a thumbs up and leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think as this whole vlogging platform is still very new to me so I'm still learning how it all works.

Thanks and Merry Christmas x

Skin care has become a very important focus for me recently, as everyone knows as you get older your skin starts to show the signs of ageing and I think its key to ensure you start a routine early before your skin becomes an issue.

I myself have dry skin and I like to wear make-up so I am taking steps to ensure that I treat my skin accordingly and upping my skin care game!

I enjoy using The Body Shop products as I feel they are good quality and are ethical which is important to me. So I made a beeline for The Body Shop to stock up on some skin care essentials.

Step 1 - Cleanse


For anyone who regularly wears make-up a good cleanser is essential in your routine. There are so many ranges in The Body Shop that I was tempted by but in the end I chose the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil. This cleanser is oil based so all make- up just melts off, even waterproof mascara!

Using a cotton wool pad I add a couple of pumps before sweeping it over my face. For my eye make- up I take a cotton wool pad add a pump or two of the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil and hold over my closed eye and like magic my make-up dissolves.

 

Step 2 - Tone


I then follow up with the Aloe Calming Toner, which is specific for sensitive skin like mine, which with the wrong type of product is prone to break out.

Taking a cotton wool pad again I add a few drops of the toner and sweep across my face. The toner removes any left over traces of make-up, cleanser but importantly removes impurities from the skin and helps to unblock pores. You really can't skip to this step and use this a make-up remover but toner is important to remove any excess oil from the skin and prime it for moisturiser.

I love the smell and feeling this toner leaves and I find it really gentle to the skin but at the same time really does the job, I've been using another toner recently that had a very clinical smell and contained alcohol which had a drying stripping effect to my skin, so I much prefer The Body Shop Aloe Calming Toner, which does not include alcohol.

Step 3 - Moisturise
I then follow up my routine with a moisturiser. I think its important to find a moisturise that is perfect for your skin because in my opinion its the most important skin care product of them all. I am currently looking for a new high quality moisturiser that my skin will be happy with as it is very sensitive and I've tried lots of moisturisers and my skin hasn't been very happy so I don't like to change it when I find one.

Exfoliate


I also bought from The Body Shop the Seaweed Pore-Cleansing Facial Exfoliator to really clean my skin when I feel that it needs a thorough cleanse. This exfoliator is very tough as its aimed at combination and oily skin - which technically I don't have but I wanted a clay based exfoliator I knew it would clean deep down and I find exfoliators aimed at sensitive or dry skin to not do very much.

After using this my face felt so clean and fresh and it definitely felt that it my pores had been thoroughly cleansed. This is not a product you should use on a daily basis and for my skin I will probably use it when needed or once a week. My skin did feel a little dried out after use so I will use this sparingly when I want to go deep!

There are a few other skincare items that I would like to add to my routine but I'm happy that I have found these products for the cleansing stage.

Let me know what your skincare favourites are in the comments below.

I love the season that is Autumn, everything looks so romantic with orange leaves floating down from the sky and the Autumn sun casting silhouettes. Its also the time of year that pumpkins come out to play in various forms in the run up to Halloween.
Pumpkin and squash are my favourite Autumn treats and I also like to indulge in pumpkin spiced lattes (AKA PSL) so I thought I would make a make-up look inspired by the month and the PSL.

I've used pretty orange hues on my eyes and my lips to create this cosy Autumn make-up look.

The orange eye-shadow and lip products are Topshop products that I bought towards the beginning of the year but I've gone back to them to re-work them for Autumn by introducing more earthy tones to my eye colour from my (favourite) bareMinerals eye-shadow palette.



To get the pretty burnt orange colour on my eyes I used the orange shade from Topshop's 'Long Weekend' eye-shadow duo and swished this over my lids, I then went over with a small amount of the glitzy gold hue from the duo to add a bit of dimension. I then took the shade 'Get Ahead' from the bareMinerals Power Neutrals palette and added this to the outer corner of my eyes blending into the socket. I added a final pat of the Long Weekend Orange to the centre of my lid to make the colour pop.

For the lips I patted on Topshop's Lip Cream in Pout, a little of this colour goes a long way so I smoothed the colour into my lips with my finger. They no longer sell Pout on the website but Topshop's Lip Varnish in Fun and Games is very similar.

All make up used for this look:

[caption id="attachment_543" align="alignnone" width="2000"] The Body Shop honeycomb bronzer, bareMinerals 'Get Ahead' eyeshadow, bareMinerals blush French Kiss, Topshop Long Weekend eye duo, Topshop Lip Cream, Topshop Magic Liner, bareMinerals foundation.[/caption]

*All the make up used in this look is cruelty free at the time of going to publication.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/QDosLWsYMVA]

I have a little addiction to fashion and beauty video blogs on YouTube and have been following several beauty, fashion and lifestyle bloggers for several months now. I especially enjoy listening to them talk about products they have purchased as it gives me an idea of what the product is like before I buy it, its like having a personal beauty advisor at the tips of your fingers!

So I finally decided to make my own beauty and fashion vlog on my own favourites and share it with the world. Eeek!!
I must admit making a video is a lot harder than it looks, but after I was happy with the light, sound and background surroundings I sat down and started to talk about the cruelty free beauty favourites I have been buying and some Autumn fashion buys.



I feel quite strongly about using beauty products that have not been tested on animals and through my research I came across this website called LoveLula.com , which is an online beauty retailer that is dedicated to selling products that have not been tested on animals, and contain the highest percentage of ethically sourced, organic ingredients. I didn't talk about this website enough in the video but it is amazing! I bought the bareMinerals blusher from them and delivery was free and it arrived the next day!

I'm also excited about the fact that it is now Autumn! I'm a winter baby so I love the winter, just for the fact that you can wrap up in jumpers, tights and woolly scarves.

I talk about my Autumn fashion purchases from New Look, ASOS and F&F but here I am showing you how I like to wear them now autumn is officially here;







So if you want to know what beauty and fashion items I'm loving this month check out my video blog and let me know what you think either in the comments on YouTube or below. Thanks x

You can also follow me on Instagram @bebobchu or like me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stylespeakslouder 

 

As you may know I live in my jeans, specifically skinny jeans - the skinnier the better, but I've been crushing on boyfriend jeans (or should they be husband jeans if you are married? ) and I recently bought these ripped up slouchy boyfriend jeans.

I've been wearing them mostly with Nike Air Max trainers and t-shirts - keeping it simple but I love how they can be dressed up here with a silk white lace top and some pointed flats.







I live in South East London where these beautiful old warehouses used to be used during the war for ammunition production, and have been restored and converted into flats.

I just love the architecture of the warehouses and how each one holds a piece of our history.



Maple also enjoyed her little exploration of the warehouses, even if it was a little windy that day....



DERP!



Jeans:Topshop,  Top:Zara (old) similar here,  Shoes: ASOS,  Bag: Paul Costelloe similar here 

Hi, I'd like to introduce you all to a special friend of mine - my puppy Maple, who has been dominating my life for the last two months.

She joined our family at the end of June and has quickly won the hearts of family, friends, neighbours, the post man, strangers in the street..... the list goes on.

She is a shih tzu breed and is currently 4 months old, so she is fairly small as she also belongs to the toy variety of dogs and she is a rare gold colour with a black mask, as shihtzu's typically tend to be white with brown. Despite her size she has got quite a demeanour and isn't really scared of much, with the exception of baths and the hairdryer, and happily plays with dogs two to three times her size without batting an eyelid. Today for example she decided to take on a full grown rottweiler, who was thankfully a sweetheart and didn't mind.

Her hobbies include staring into space on our balcony,



Wearing her rain coat,



Accepting flowers,



And running through long grass in the park.



She has changed our lives for the better and I'm not sure what I'd do without her, even when she is being a cheeky madam.



I've made this video to show a snipet of her day to day life to share with you so I hope you love her as much as we do, and I'd love to hear what you think - I'll be sure to tell her because she loves the attention. x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4SARCY1iQ8

I'm not a big fan of breakfast. I've never liked cereals on the account that they taste a bit off with soya milk (I've never liked drinking soya milk and I'm lactose intolerant) so I've always stuck to Marmite (love it) on toast, until I became gluten intolerant and toast became a treat. Argh

Besides a slice of toast has never really got me running to the kitchen in the morning. So when I came across this buzzfeed article in support for Ramadam I thought I would try some of the recipes as they looked super healthy and fun to eat, even though I wasn't following Ramadam myself.

My favourites included this Baked Peach Oatmeal Casserole  which is from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com



You can make it in advance the night before and save it in the fridge for the whole week, or until its all eaten. I quite liked the texture, which was sort of like a custardy oatmeal.
Tip: Add a splash of almond milk before heating up your breakfast portion.

How I made the  Baked Peach Oatmeal:

Ingredients (converted to metric from the original post)
Dry ingredients

• 200g rolled oats - these are just plain loose oats


• 25g light brown sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 1 tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

• 400ml Almond milk


• 1 large egg


• 45g butter melted and cooled slightly (or coconut oil for healthy alternative)


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1/4 tsp almond extract


• 3 peaches - 2 diced to line the tray and 1 sliced to cover the top.

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 200 C and grease a 8x8 oven proof casserole dish.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl
3. In separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients
4. Arrange chopped peaches on the bottom of the baking dish.
5. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over peaches, followed by pouring the wet milk mixture and shaking the dish to ensure all the oats are covered.
6. Arrange peach slices over the top as shown below:


7. Bake for 40 mins until golden and set, allow to cool and then place in fridge for next morning's breakfast.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Smoothie 

I also loved the idea of a breakfast smoothie in the morning and what is better than a peanut butter and banana breakfast in slurpable form?
So this recipe from www.mindfullyfrugalmom.com had my name all over it.



I loved that the recipe also contains oats, to give you that energy boost that will last you all the way until lunch as well as giving the smoothie a satisfying thickness.

Here is how I made the Peanut Butter Breakfast Smoothie 

As I'm lactose intolerant I replaced all the dairy items from the recipe with my non dairy favourites but you can choose to use dairy or non dairy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup almond milk


• 1/2 cup dairy free yoghurt - I used plain free from soya yoghurt from Tesco


• 1/2 cup quick oats, soaked in 1/2 cup water - I used Ready brek


• 1 banana - I used pre frozen banana chips


• 2 tbsp peanut butter

There is the option to add chia seeds and cocoa powder but I didn't feel the need for them so left them out and it turned out excellent.

Instructions 
1. Soak the quick oats in the water for 5 - 10 minutes to make them easier to blend.
2. Add all the ingredients to the blender in the following order; milk, oats with soaking water, yoghurt, peanut butter, banana.
3. Blend until smooth and frothy and serve chilled.

The quick oats in this recipe really transform a regular smoothie into a breakfast treat that will sustain you throughout the morning and with the addition of the chia seeds you will be getting protein and fibre in one tasty swig.
Make this the night before and you will have a healthy breakfast to grab on the go, and who doesn't love peanut and banana combo?

Let me know what your breakfast recipes are or if you make any mentioned in this post, I'd love to hear from you. x

Getting a good book for the summer is as popular as eating ice cream in the sizzling heat, especially if you are jetting off to the beach and are looking for something to wile away those hot beachy days (not jealous at all).



My latest summer read is Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann, and I read about this book on a blog or in a magazine and was told that  even though it was published in 1966 the thoughts and ideas the book represents are still quite relevant to modern culture.

The book tells the stories of three women, Anne, Neely and Jennifer who form a friendship throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's while working in the entertainment industry and share an addiction to prescription medication to distract them from their life problems. I have only just started to read the book myself and found it was quite easy to slip into the initial story of Anne a beautiful virginal girl from a well to do family in the country who moves to the city to make something of herself rather than stay in her home town of Lawrenceville and become a wife as her mother expects her to do.

So far I am finding the story quite interesting and it seems to have a strong feminist push towards women doing what they want to do and the fight against what the men in their life and what society expect them to do, especially as gender boundaries and stereotypes are such an issue of debate even 50 years after it was published.

the author Jacqueline Susann was a model herself in New York, having moved there at 18 from Philadelphia so it will be interesting to see where the story takes these characters and how this may relate to Susann's own experiences. I will keep you posted.

The second book I recommend is Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussman. I read this book last year after picking it up in a book store as part of a book promotion and after having read the cover synopsis it seemed like an intriguing read.

The story centres around two women Nick and Helena, who are cousins from a wealthy family, who with their own families summer in Tiger house, situated in Martha’s Vineyard, in Cape Cod, each year with much glitz and glamour and cocktails aplenty.

The book is also post war and opens on the story of Nick as she struggles to cope with life while waiting for her husband to come home from the Navy. At first the book seems to be interested in the desperations of a lonely housewife but then the story changes and moves on to the point of view of her cousin Helena, Nick's husband Hughes and their daughter Daisy and Helena's son Ed. The story peaks when a grisly scene is discovered while the whole family is staying at Tiger house and how all the characters react to this.

I really liked the way the book was written from each individual character's point of view, as you get a really strong sense of the voice of each character through Klaussman's writing and who each of the characters really are, however you soon learn that each character may not be quite what they first appear and the whole story seamlessly stitches together.

The book is an excellent read full of twists and turns, deceit love and heartbreak and it definitely kept me entertained. Klaussman is also great at setting the scene of a hot sizzling summer, which we seem to be having at the moment in the UK, I read this during winter and it the imagery used within the novel really made me feel much warmer, if anything it will leave you pining for a cool cocktail and a swim in the ocean.

Let me know what your summer reads and recommendations are in the comments below, or I'd love to know if you have read either of the two books mentioned and if you liked them - except don't ruin Valley of the Dolls for me because I've just started it.