Top 5 Spring Makeup Trends 2013

Hi there. Spring most definitely has not sprung quite yet, but I'm sure we all want to be prepared for when it does. So here are some beauty trends that I'll be looking forward to for this spring!

1. Matte Lips
 Giles / Burberry Prorsum / Missoni
Drop that lip gloss - the lip texture for this spring is matte. Think velvety and smooth rather than dry. I particularly love the bright coral shade used by Missoni (on the right).

2. Think Pink
 Peter Som / Donna Karan / Costello Tagliapietra

Pink is the colour of this spring beauty-wise, whether it's a pale shade or a vibrant one. The bright pink mascara might be a little much, so instead wear a bright pop of fuchsia on your lips, go for a pink eyeshadow that suits your eye colour, or go a little crazy with the pink blush.

3. Fresh Faced Minimalism
Alexander Wang / Rag & Bone / Oscar De La Renta
Not exactly ground-breaking stuff, but this is a look that's refreshing to see after all the oxblood-stained lips of autumn and winter. It's all about pretty, glowing skin, bronzer and blusher, and possibly (gasp) bare lashes!

4. Stand-Out Liner
Michael Kors / Marc Jacobs / Fendi
Whether its the sixties-inspired look from Marc Jacobs or the bold, bright coloured liner from Michael Kors, this spring is the time to experiment with your liner. Try looking up makeup tutorials for ideas on what you can do with your eyeliner - there's tons of them!

5. Bold, Dark Eyebrows
Jason Wu / Moschino / Marc Jacobs
Go easy on the plucking, and have your eyebrow pencil handy. Bold eyebrows have been in for quite some time now, which is good news if you're like me and have naturally fairly thick brows. As seen on model of the moment Cara Delevingne (she's on the right in the stand-out liner picture).

So what are you looking forward to this spring beauty-wise? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Lots of love and eyeliner,

5 Ways To Wear A Little Red Dress

Valentine's Day was pretty much a non-event for me, seeing as I don't have a boyfriend and no super hot secret admirers felt the need to present themselves to me (so, if any good-looking, single guys around my age happen to be reading this post... get out while you have the chance, I am a notorious sweet addict, your confectionery will never be safe again).
So, basically, this is as close to a Valentine's day themed blog post as you're going to get from me, red being the colour of love. The gorgeous dress featured in all of these looks comes from Modcloth, but you can probably get a little red dress from most clothing stores.

Casual
Cardigan / Boots / Bracelets / Belt

Going Out
Shoes / Bracelets / Belt

Business Casual
Blazer / Brogues / Necklace

Dark
Leather Jacket / Shoes / Bracelets

Cutesy
Ballet Flats / Hairband / Cardigan

On a different note, you may have noticed I've enabled word verification for comments on my blog. This isn't because I'm a big meanie who wants you to jump through hoops. This is because the blog's been getting a lot of spam recently. Not all of those comments got automatically filtered, and unfortunately it seemed to be the most inappropriate comments that were getting through. I try to keep this blog appropriate in case a young fashion-lover happens to find it, and it's very tedious going through every comment to weed out the spam, so I'm refusing to put up with it!
Buckets of love,

Top Trends Of 2012

This year has been pretty hectic for me so far, and I apologise for letting my blog suffer for it a little bit, but things, including my posting frequency, should go back to normal by the end of January. Now, 2012 was a great year for fashion. For me it's the first year I've been properly integrated into the fashionverse, through starting this blog. This post is a little reminder of some of my favourite popular trends of the year!

1. Studs & Spikes

Images: Frankie Morello A/W 2012 / Quiz

Adding a little bit of edgy detail to an outfit really took off last year. I've mentioned in previous posts how much I love studs and spikes, so I kind of hope this is a trend that sticks around for a while longer!

2. Baroque
Images: Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 Runway

Baroque print was a very popular choice for adding some sophisticated glamour to clothing both on the runway and in highstreet shops. I love it on dresses, it just adds a very royal, elegant touch.

3. Military
Images: Burberry Prorsum Fall 2012 Runway

I've previously dedicated an entire post to this trend, which should speak volumes about how much I adore it. Camouflage print, khaki and combat boots were all in trend in 2012, and can add a bit of kickass chic to an outfit.

4. Oxblood
Images: Nina Ricci Fall 2012 Runway, Christian Siriano Fall 2012 Runway

This dark red hue was THE colour of autumn 2012. I particularly remember there being a lot of love for Alexa Chung's head-to-toe oxblood look. This colour is classy, suits a lot of different skintones, and happens to goes well with pretty much every other trend on this list.

5. Black Leather
Images: Valentino Fall 2012 Runway / Topshop
Leather has never really been out of style but in 2012 it was cropping up everywhere you can think of - including on shorts, on the sleeves of military-style jackets, and in the form of leather-look jeans. This is a really great trend because it goes with almost anything!

Are there any fashion trends of 2012 you loved that I've missed? What were your favourites?
Let's hope that this year will hold some exciting new fashion trends too.

5 Fashion New Year Resolutions

Welcome to my first blog post of 2013, and the end of my blogging hiatus!
Usually, I'm pretty good with my new year's resolutions, mostly because I either set realistically easy-to-accomplish ones or I don't set them at all. This year I thought I'd go with the former option, and because I've enjoyed fashion blogging a lot these past few months, I thought I'd make them all fashion-related. So, I present to you my fashion resolutions for 2013.

#1. Have a proper closet clean out
I recently became aware of the fact that my wardrobe is full. I realised this as I was desperately trying to cram a pair of leggings onto an already full clothes rack. I confirmed that I definitely need to have a closet clean out when I found a top that was for ages 13-14. I am 17 years old. Yikes. So, my resolution is to look through the whole of my wardrobe and get rid of the items I never wear or don't fit me properly. I plan on filling big charity bag with my old clothes and possibly saving an item or two in case I want to try a DIY project.

#2. Buy less fashion fads, and more classically stylish items

I think I've been pretty good throughout 2012 in not buying into fleeting fashion trends too much, but I'm making it an official resolution of mine this year. My goal is to buy less of these fads and more items which never seem to go out of style. This would save money, and would also mean less need for closet clean outs in the future!

#3. Try out some DIY tutorials
This is pretty simple. I've seen lots of easy DIY tutorials that I wanted to try but never got round to it, so my resolution is to try out one or two of them. In a lot of cases putting in a bit of work can save money too, which is a bonus.

#4. Learn how to sew better
I can sew, but not very well, so I'd like to learn how to do it a little better. Sewing is a skill which can easily fix a lot of fashion problems, such as buttons falling off or small rips in fabric. Plus, it's just a good general life skill to know.

#5. Stay the same dress size
I am currently a UK dress size 10, which makes me somewhere in the middle of being curvy and slim. I'm at a healthy weight now, so I'm not particularly bothered about losing weight, although some of my jeans are a little tight right now so I could probably do with losing a couple of pounds. My goal for this year is to stay the same dress size, so that I won't have to buy a load of new clothes in a different size because my current wardrobe is too tight or too loose for me!

Do you have any fashion-related new year resolutions for 2013? Please share!

Thank you for bearing with me through this blogging hiatus. I am so so grateful for all returning readers of this blog, and I hope that I'll be writing another set of resolutions for my blog this time next year.
Much love,

Friday Five: Winter Headwear!

Goodness gracious. I can't believe it's been almost two months since I started Floral Mess. I guess time flies when you're having fun, right? I'm almost a little impressed with myself for keeping it up regularly for this long, but I think maybe I should wait a few more months before I start feeling smug.

This post is inspired by the fact that winter and my ears are not friends. They, along with their buddy my nose, are the first part of me to turn ice cold when I decide to brave the outdoors during winter. What better way to stop this than with some trendy (and more importantly warm) winter headgear?

1. The Bear Hat Of Adorableness

Lipsy / £12.00

2. The Ear Muffs

Republic / £10.00

3. The Faux Fur Hat

New Look / £9.99

4. The Trapper Hat

H&M / £14.99

5. The Beanie

Topshop / £12.00

Now, I'm off to make a nice big mug of hot chocolate and daydream about Christmas. Thank you for reading and, as always, comments are very much appreciated!

Lots of love,

Friday Five: 5 Cute Scarves

I seem to have a bit of a winter series going on here.You can see my previous Friday Five posts about coats here and oversized jumpers here. Today I left the house thinking I'd be fine in just a jumper. I ended up with a bright pink nose that almost felt like it was going to fall off, wishing that I had something to cover it with. That's where scarves come in!

1. River Island / £16.00

2. River Island / £18.00

3. Vero Moda / £20.30

4. River Island / £10.00

5. Pieces / £17.86

I just realised that 3/5 of the scarves are from River Island, d'oh! While I was searching I found that they do a really pretty range of scarves, I recommend you check them out. Topshop also do a lot of pretty ones, so check them out too. (I have possibly become scarf-obsessed.)

Are you a fellow scarf lover? Got your eye on any particular pretty ones? Leave a comment and let me know.

Hugs and hot chocolate,

Friday Five: 5 Cute Oversized Jumpers

Welcome to another Friday Five! This sort of leads on from my post last week about some cute and affordable coats that you can find on the high street. This time it's all about oversized jumpers, which are amazingly comfy and are what I practically live in during winter.

1. Fashion Union / £22.00
2. River Island / £45.00
3. SheInside / £23.25
4. Monki / £35.00
5. Romwe / £26.62

 You can wear cute oversized jumpers both indoors (over your warmest pair of pyjamas) or outdoors when you decide to venture into the cold (with your favourite pair of jeans and slouchy boots), and you will always be both warm and stylish.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, happy snuggling!

Friday Five: 5 Affordable Winter Coats

banner credit: pattern and colours

I'm sorry for starting another post with weather-related complaints (I can't help it, I'm British) but yeah, the weather here is pretty terrible. And by terrible I of course mean cold. This winter I will definitely need to wrap up warm, and fortunately there are a lot of cute coats out there that can fulfil that need, but unfortunately many of them come with a hefty price tag. I've scoured the shops to find some coats which I think get the mixture of style, practicality and price just right.

Friday Five: 5 Cute Collar Necklaces

banner credit: pattern

Welcome to another Friday Five! This week the focus is on collar necklaces. I love them because they can transform a plain shirt and add a bit of detail to it, or simply be worn as a quirky necklace with any kind of top. I got myself a simple imitation pearl one from Topshop a while back and it can add a special something to pretty much any outfit!
Note: "Necklaces" may not be the right word to describe all of the items featured here, but I couldn't think of a better term.

Friday Five: 5 Ways To Wear Oxblood Jeans

Welcome to another Friday Five post!
The oxblood trend is really popular this autumn - this dark red colour is pretty much everywhere right now. I especially love it on jeans, so I put together five autumn looks featuring oxblood jeans to provide a little inspiration as to when and how you could wear them. The jeans featured in all of these looks are this pair from Topshop, but you can also get a pair from Dorothy Perkins or All Saints.

Top / Leather Jacket / Boots
Add some gothic jewelry and dark lipstick.

 

Top / Shoes / Blazer

Add a briefcase and a smartphone.

Backpack / Scarf / Boots / Jumper

Add a ponytail and a good book.

Cardigan / Brogues / Top
Add a big tote bag and a cute necklace.

Bag / Shoes / Top
Add dark red nails and va va voom.

What would you pair with oxblood jeans? Leave a comment to let me know if you like.
Thanks for reading!

Friday Five: 5 Winter Beauty Essentials

Winter is approaching quickly (perhaps more quickly here in Britain than in other countries) and with it comes a lot of nice stuff like hot cocoa, building snowmen and the opportunity to wear adorable jumpers and cardigans.

But the weather can be a bit rough on the parts of you that aren't bundled up, so this week I'll be writing about a few things to keep you looking and feeling beautiful through all the snow and rain.

Friday Five: 5 Cute Wellington Boots!

 
banner credit: pattern and colours

Welcome to my first Friday Five. 2 posts in and we've already established that I'm an alliteration fangirl.

The plan is that I make a post about five things every Friday. It could be an ordered list of my top 5 favourite beauty products, it could be 5 ways to wear a certain item of clothing, you get the picture. This week, inspired by the rainy weather that England has been receiving, I will be posting about the footwear which everyone is currently wearing - good old rain boots!