Patty and Bun

Have you ever heard of that saying 'if you're going to do something wrong, do it right'?
Of course you have.
Well, this is probably the best ever example of that.
If you're going to eat 'junk' food, make it the best frickin' junk food you've ever had. That's my new philosophy anyway.
Queue 'Patty&Bun'.

Tucked away just behind Oxford street, I guess I'd describe it as 'fast food for poshys'. It has a great bustling-but-not-too-busy atmosphere, and nice low relaxed lighting.
The staff are friendly, but not at all pushy and the service is super fast.

We were lucky enough to snach up the last table for two one evening recently, and I went for the ‘Jose Jose’ Chilli Burger with skin on chips. It was literally the best burger of my life.
Oh, and a little tip, if you do go to eat here, don't opt to share your chips, you wont want to, believe me. There were certainly no scraps left over on my plate for my fiance to finish off (much to his dismay). 
The burgers are pretty huge and packed full, so perhaps make sure the chum you choose to share your burger experience with is someone you don't mind eating messily in front of too... I know I had melted cheese running all over my hands for the majority of this meal… so attractive, I know.

Drink wise, Stef and I shared a pitcher of rum punch, which was absolutely delicious and made us all nostalgic about being on the beach in the Bahamas. Shame we left Patty and Bun to go into a frozen London and not to our private beach... but you can't have everything can you?! I definitely left on a burger high though, that's for sure.

Anyway, I am literally never going near another 'fast food' burger again.
Oh Patty and Bun you have exceeded all my burger expectations, including Byron burger. Yea, I  really just said that!

Have you ever eaten at Patty&Bun?

Photo Diary #15 What a mischief you would bring...

An old Tiffany favourite | Furry headband OOTD | Dinner in a sex shop | Berry pancakes - hangover heavan!

Hey there!

I just thought I'd do a super quick photo diary update from my weekend...

A couple of my University buddies came to London town to play with me this weekend.

We did birthday presents and drinks at my place, then headed out for dinner in La Bodega Negra, a secret Mexican underneath a sex shop in Soho.

The food wasn't the best, but the company and atmosphere were just perfect. Dim lighting, full tummies,bottles of wine, and good friends is a brilliant combination.

We may have slightly over-done the drinking at the next bar, but it was such good fun and great to get together and catch up.

On Sunday we managed to drag sorry hung-over selves to one of my favourite breakfast hang outs in Clapham. I cannot express to you how much I needed these pancakes!

The rest of the day Laura and I spent in bed in onsies with facepacks on, watching movies. Breakfast at Tiffanys inspired me to dig out my old 21st birthday bracelet, I have re-discovered my love for it :)

How did you spend your weekends?

My Aspinal of London surprise...

Hello you lovely lot.
I'm in a super good mood today; can you see an obvious reason why?!

Last night, Stef surprised me with this beautiful Aspinal of London Marylebone Tote.
He'd seen me put up an Instagram photo of it, and then snuck off to Oxford street before I finished work last night to buy it for me. What an absolute sweetheart, THANK YOOOOU!

It was totally unexpected; I actually went into shock mode for a little while and couldn't stop staring at it, tehe. I feel so beyond spoilt, and very very lucky to have a fiancé who is so thoughtful and generous.

This is my first ever designer handbag, by far the most beautiful, perfect (and most expensive) bag I have ever owned. I totally and utterly in love with it, it's exactly my kind of style, plain and classic.

It does come with a rather hefty price tag (trust me to fall in love with the most expensive one), but that’s down to it being made with fancy Italian calf leather and lined with grosgrain silk.
It's incredibly sturdy, and has a range pockets for all your things, including perfect sized pocket for Ipads and smart phones.
I just dicovered that it even has two secret pockets you can get to without opening the zip, perfect for us city girls on the move. Stunning and practical, what more could you possibly want in a handbag?
One of the best features of the Marylebone, is that you can actually adjust the buckles on the side to change the shape of the tote to square whenever you fancy a little change. Technically, two bags in one then!

What I really like about Aspinal, is that it's a high end brand that not many people know about (unless you've seen them featured in Vogue). As much as I love brands like Mulberry, I love that I can walk down the street with this bag and not see a dozen other ladies carrying the same one.
I love that it's understated too, and doesn't have a huge Aspinal logo anywhere, it's very discrete and classy.

I've brought it into my office today to have a little show off (it had to be done, I'm very excited about it), but I think it's going to stay my 'fancy weekend bag' now. I definitely feel very special with this on my arm, and I'm already planning a 'What's in my handbag?' post for you.

Don't I have the best fiancé and the best handbag in the world?!

You can take a look at the Aspinal range here, they have some stunning bags. What are your favourite designer handbags?

Real Techniques Core Collection and my brushes of choice

Core Collection | My Brushes of choice | Handy Brushroll

Real Techniques brushes are one of the products I bought last month purely due to the amount of hype constantly surrounding them in the bloggersphere.
So many people love them, so I assumed they must be good and didn't think I could really go wrong.
Having qualified as a make-up artist, I can always justify a new set of brushes, so I went ahead and ordered the Core Collection.

I'll be totally honest; I really wasn't impressed with these at all.
I can see why so many of you do like them, 4 brushes and a roll for £20 is a massive beauty bargain, but I just couldn't get on with them.
My main problem with them wasn't even the quality of the brush hair. That was actually pretty good considering they're so cheap, and I didn't even have any stray hairs come out of them.

The problem for me, was the size of the brushes. They’re absolutely TINY!
I hated the foundation brush size and shape,  I found it far to small to use for a foundation brush, yet too big to use as a concealer brush. I also like my foundation brushes to have a square shape to them, it covers more of my face this way (if that even makes sense). So this was a massive no for me.

The concealer brush I found even worse, pointless for concealing as it is just far too small. Although, I have started using it for accurate application of highlighter underneath my eyebrows.

The other brushes are okay I suppose, the contour brush isnt quite the size or shape I'd like it to be.
The buffing brush is definitely the best of the bunch, but I don't really tend to use buffing brushes very often, so it's a little pointless for me.

So all around disappointment here I'm afraid :( Without meaning to sound like a massive make-up snob, I really do believe that you get what you pay for. I'd rather spend £20 on one good quality brush that I love using.

The only thing I love about this set, as weird as this might sound, is actually the brush roll.
I've been looking for a plain black one that didn't cost a billion pounds for ages now. I looked at the ones in MAC but just couldn't justify it.
This may not be the prettiest of rolls but it's discrete and does the job for protecting the brushes that I do want to carry around in my handbag with me.
So I've just been popping my brushes of choice (a mixture of brushes I got on my course, and a few MAC brushes) in there instead. I even think I would pay the £20 just for the empty brush roll!

Have you tried these real techniques brushes before? What did you think of them?
If you've reviewed them too, feel free to leave your link in the comments!

Capri Mercury

This post goes out to all you candle fans, I know there are heaps of you!

One good thing about this snowy weather we're getting at the moment means it gives us an excuse to shop...I've already taken advantage, a beautiful (faux) fur headband from Sweaty Betty  and this gorgeous scented candle from Anthropologie.

If snow isn't a good excuse to get all cosy at home with a onsie, chocolate covered pretzels and a good scented candle, I don't know what the heck is!

Any of you who have ever ventured into Anthropoligie will know how absolutely devine it smells in there. On Sunday, we managed to sniff out the culprit... Capri Mercury in 'Volcano'.

This, my dears, is by far the best candle I have ever burnt. It's done a lovely job of filling our whole house (yup, the whole house from one candle) with it's gorgeous scent of 'tropical fruits, sugared oranges, lemons, and limes, redolent with lightly exotic mountain greens'. Yum!

I also love that it comes in this beautiful glass jar. When it's finally all burnt down and finished, that will be a very sad day, but I'm planning on re-using it for tea-lights, or perhaps as a make up brush holder in my bathroom. Oh, and we'll definitely be replacing it with another one!

It was £22, which may seem like a lot for some of you, but I cannot stress enough what a lovely smell it is and how much it relaxes me. So worth it.

Have you ever tried any candles from Anthropologie? What are your favourite scented candles this winter?

High tea in Fortnum and Mason

Firstly I must apologise for this post being so picture heavy but I just couldn't help myself, I hope you can see why?!

Today my lovely fiance took me for a birthday treat, high tea in the ever so glamourous Fortnum and Mason.

It was such a lovely relaxed atmosphere in the tea salon, gorgeous crockery, a pianist and fellow tea drinkers :) 

I think the photos speak for themselves, but the tea, sandwiches, scones and cake selection were absolutely divine, and just the right amount too.

Everything was so perfect and beautiful I was Instagramming my little face off!

The whole afternoon tea experience here was perfect, delicious and I would recommend it to any of you living in or visiting London. I certainly felt very 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', if only I'd worn some pearls. I'm one very happy lady right now. 

Oh, and I'm even thinking of stealing their colour sceme for our wedding, what do you think? 

Have you ever tried the high tea in Fortnum and Mason? 

You can take a peak at their menu here.

Laguna

As usual, I'm the last beauty blogger to jump on the bandwagon with this one.

Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to justify spending £25 on the cult famous Laguna Bronzer by Nars. It kind of hurt my heart a bit when I actually did it. I also feel like every time I venture into SpaceNK I have to half shut my eyes, I always see so many pretty things, I would buy the whole shop if I could!

This was an 'accidental purchase'(*ahem*) as I lost my ‘go to’ Mac bronzer with the mirror in it. That's the one I use for on the go application and touch ups, and it's beyond annoying not having a mirror in your handbag isn't it ladies?!

Stef and I were shopping in Kings Road, and seeing as I couldn't seem to find any clothes I wanted to buy (anyone else having that trouble in the sales or is it just me?!), so…I took the plunge. It was the perfect excuse.

I have to say (please don't hate me beauty bloggers) I wasn't overly impressed. I know this is totally controversial, as all you other blogger seem to be totally in love with this, but I have to say, it was pretty much the same as my Mac bronzer, just a few pounds more expensive.

Don't get me wrong, I do like Laguna, the shade is beautiful, it’s highly pigmented and long lasting. It is everything you could possibly want from a bronzer. My only problem is I just don't understand why you would pay this much for it when you can get pretty much the same thing in Mac at a cheaper price.

 My ‘go to’ is  Mac Bronzing powder compact with a mirror for £19, or you can even get the  powder blush (without a mirror) for 17.50. That’s nearly a £9 difference in comparison to Laguna, for pretty much the same product.

This sounds (and feels) strange coming from me, as normally I can always justify a high end beauty product. I usually end up totally loving them and feeling like I can't live without them, but I just feel like this one is overpriced for what it is.

Saying all this, the thing that I do love about this product, (which I'll admit is totally shallow), is the packaging. I love, love, LOVE Nars packaging, I just think it's so sleek and classy. I love that the mirror in this compact is so gigantic; it's perfect for using on the go, you can see so much of your face in it. I do feel a little bit special whipping this Nars compact out of my handbag :)

So there we have it, probably the most negative review you've ever read about this cult blogger produc, sorry!

Have you tried Laguna before? What did you think? If you've reviewed it too, pop your link in the comments!

Photo Diary #14 Do you remember what I said, that first time we met?

Sundays face | Cocktails in Clapham | Queuing | The Breakfast Club | Shiny new Vespa | Cat-face cuddles | Naughty Nars purchase

I haven't done a photo diary post in a little while now, not since I got engaged, so I thought it was about time I did a weekend post :) They're my favourite kinds of posts to read and write, I must be the nosiest blogger!

So this weekend was a pretty relaxed one, but really really good fun. I felt like it was over far too quickly! Sometimes it's nice to have nothing planned and just see what happens, don't you think?
On Friday night my friend Nicola and I had a catch up in Clapham. We had planned on quite a tame night, but accidently happened to stumble upon on happy hour, oopsy. Cucumber sour cocktails, chicken burgers and a good friend to laugh with makes for a fabulous evening.

On Saturday morning, Stef and I braved the queue outside The breakfast Club in Soho
, we knew it was the only thing that would possibly cure our hangovers. Queuing was made a little less painful though, when they brought little shots of hot chocolate and marshmallows to everyone outside, what a cute little touch! Going anywhere else for breakfast just never measures up, it was well worth the wait when my All American pancakes showed up. I'm pretty sure I could live off pancakes ya' know.

After breakfast and a mooch around a couple of shops, (which basically involved me drooling over the beautiful underwear I can't afford in Agent Provocateur), we jumped on Stefs shiny new Vespa and headed to the movies. The perfect afternoon for nursing a hangover :) Les Miserable was pretty darn good, if you haven’t seen it already I'd recommend it. I'm not going to lie, for the first five minutes I did think about leaving, but you get used to them singing every line pretty quickly. So if musicals aren't really your thing, i'd still say it's worth sticking this one out.

Sunday we scooted over to do a spot of shopping in Chelsea. I was naughty and finally purchased the beautiful Laguna by Nars, it had to be done it was on my wish list for so long!We headed back to Clapham and Stef treated me to dinner in the ever so fancy Trinity (I might do a whole post on this for any foodys out there).
Later on the lovely Sarah from Modern Damsel swung by for a glass of wine and some blogger chat.

What did you get up to this weekend? Have you ever eaten in The Breakfast Club or Trinity?

Hannah x

Little Black Bow

Little Black Bow (part of the Glamour Daze collection) is one of my favourite fluideline gel eyeliners from MAC.

It's a dark grey shade with tiny little iridescent glittery particles, sooo pretty.
Little Black Bow is such a nice change from the bold black eyeliner that I normally wear (Blacktrack by Mac is my current 'go to'), it's nice to mix things up every once in a while, don't you think?
Seeing as it's a glittery shade, I know I should have really blogged about this for the Christmas and party season, but I totally forgot I had it, woops!

Gel liner application can be a little tricky if you aren't used to using a brush for your eyeliner. I know I struggled at first, but the more you practice, the easier you'll find it. I find Gel eyeliner the best for getting that really clean cut, precise line, like a ribbon effect.

Now let's talk staying power. Mac Fluidline eyeliners have the best staying power I've ever found in an eyeliner, by far! They literally don't budge, you can apply in the morning, wear all day, and head for a night out and it literally doesn't move. It's also really easy to remove too, perfect.

I didn't swatch this for you, as it seems to be difficult to capture on camera, I promise you it's gorgeous in real life though!

Little Black Bow is £15.50 for a 3g pot, which seems to last forever and ever! So it's completely justifiable.

Have you tried Little Black Bow? What's your 'go to' eyeliner?

PORE fessional

POREfessional, worth the hype? Absolutely.

Now, I don't think I have particularly large pores to begin with, but when one of my friends popped this in the post for me I thought what the heck, I'll give it a go, see what all the fuss is about.
I'm usually not fussed about Benefit products, I find them very overpriced and disappointing (please don't hate me, Benefit fans).

I apply this as my primer after I've moisturized, with my fingertips, starting with my T-zone and then to the rest of my face.
Benefit say you can apply it over the top of your make-up as well, I haven't tried that yet, it seems a little strange to me! I suppose that's more if you want to reduce the look of your pores?!

This makes my make up stay put throughout a whole working day and into the evening, it's great to stop it sliding, and means I have to touch up less.
I think my favourite thing about this product is the silky consistency, makes your skin feel super duper soft. I just want to stroke my face everytime I've finished applying it (weirdo...)
It is slightly scented, but nothing overpowering, I hate using highly scented products on my face.

I would have shown you what it looks like on, but it literally just disappears into your skin, creating a smooth base for your foundation.

It's quite pricey at £23.50, but I've used it every day for a couple of months now, so it's lasted fairly well. I know lots of people don’t really see primers as an essential in their make-up bag, but this really does help your make up stay put.

Have you tried POREfessional? What's your favourite primer?