The Big Boot Challenge revisited pt2 - Simply Be

After revisiting The Big Boot Challenge a few weeks weeks ago I decided to review a few more pairs of boots to show you some of the choice that are available this year. 

The second pair I have to show you is another pair from Simply Be*.

These boots are from the Legroom range and retail at £89. 

For this pair of boots I decided to get a leg fitting down and try the Curvy Plus in an E fit. Curvy Plus fits up to 518mm calves.

As you can see on this pair I have less bagging around the ankles and although I would struggle to get a pair of skinny jeans tucked in to these, I actually prefer them.

As with any leather boots they are very stiff and took a few wears before they stopped hurting, but now they fit like a glove.

I will definitely get my wear out of these boots this winter. I never realised how well tan boots go with everything!!!

Toni 

*these boots were gifted to me. All opinions are my own.

Day Three - Monday Mani

There always seems to be a post about nail polish. Today is my turn!

I love painting my nails. I find it amazingly therapeutic. And I have been know to paint my nail, remover the polish and start all over again!!

OK am quiet snobbish when it comes to buying nail polish. I won't buy cheap, unbranded polishes. With nail polish I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. If you pay a few quid for cheap polish them chance are its going to be rubbish. I generally stick to Barry M, nails own, OPI and Essie.

Essie polishes are the most delightful polishes, beautiful colours, applies evenly, and dries super quick and lasts days.

My two newest shades are Bahama Mama (plum) and mezmerised (blue). I love them!

Essie polishes retail at £7.99 in most boots stores. Although they are quite expensive for nail polishes I highly recommend them.

PS. If you have have a TK Max nearby check out the cosmetics sections, I recently got three full sized bottles for £6.99.

Do you have any Essie polishes? What's your favourite brand?

Toni x

Day Two - Birthday boots

Tuesday saw me officially entering my late 20ies. 27 to be exact.

I was a little bummed all day as I had envised my life too be so different when I was younger. I thought I'd be married with kids and a cute little house somewhere. But instead I have no kids, and no cute little house. I have my boy, we been together seven years, and on the whole my life is pretty good, but not the one I wanted.

Any how, I'm digressing. My mum and mum in law very kindly gave me some money for my birthday.

Originally I was looking for a pair of biker boots, but stumbled across these beauties in Evans.

I loved the zip and buckle on the outside of the boots. They also have a super comfy insole.

I am not going to post any more pics I plan join wearing them as part of an outfit in the next week.

The boots are super cute, and are a very good width around the bottom of the calf. I even wore them with my skinny jeans this afternoon.

are you a fan of ankle boots?

Toni x

The Big Boot Challenge pt 2 - Yours Clothing

So here we are again and I have another pair of boots that fit my fat calf's!

These boots are from the lovely Yours Clothing.

The boots retail at £79 and are available in a XL and XXL calf.

Before I received them I was a bit sceptical as the size guide states that the XXL boots fit up to a 462mm.

As you can see from the picture, the boots have a buckle around the calf. As my calfs are bigger than the stated size, I found them restricted and swiftly removed them! (Yes , I took a pair of scissors to them!)

The boots themselves where really comfy. The leather is really soft and the elastic in them is really strong. I Would even go as far to say that you could get another few cm out of them.

The only down side I found is that they fell down a bit and got a bit baggy around the ankles. But I can live with that! 

You can find out what Becky thought of her boots by clicking on her name.

Is there any boots that you can suggest we try for our challenge?

Until next time,

                          Toni x

Transition trends from Curvissa

All though the last few days have been glorious, we have to face the fact that unless we have an Indian summer, we have probably seen the best of the hot and sunny weather.

For me this is the worst time of the year to dress for. Still a tad warm for full on winter attire but not warn enough for strappy vests and no tights. So when I received an email from Curvissa this week I was excited to have a look at a few items from the A/W 12 range soon to be launch.

My favourite items are the Cardigan and the Mustard Jacket and the bag, I would love to have them all in my winter wardrobe!

From what I have seen so far, Plus Size brands have really upped the anty this year, and Curvissa is no exception. I could go crazy, and bankrupt, this winter!

What do you think? Do you like the transitional period between season?

Toni x

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara

A few weeks ago I was making on of my many trip to my local boots and saw that Soap and Glory cosmetics were on offer! As of Sunday (last time I went in they were still on the 3 for 2 offer!) One of the products I got was the Thick and Fast Mascara!

RRP. £10

I generally use either Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara or a Armani Eyes to Kill, both of which I love! But I kinda love the thick and fast mascara! I love the look of false eyelashes but I have yet to master the whole putting false eye lashes on skill!

I love how this mascara make my eye lashes look!

No mascara VS Thick and Fast Mascara

As you can see there is a considerable difference from my normal lashes to my lashes once the mascara has been applied.

The only thing I didn't like about the mascara is that you get an awful lot of product on the wand! I found that I didn't need reinsert the wand for both eyes! I got enough product to do both eyes!

At the moment you can get a full size Thick and Fast Mascara free with this month Elle magazine!

Have you tried this mascara? What mascara do you use?

Toni

OXOX

Christmas Wish List Part 1

I am going to be realistic and admit that I know I won't get everything on my wish list and will probably end up buying most of the items myself, especially the clothes and make up. Plus this part of my wish list alone comes to over £1000!!

I still can't master putting numbers against pictures (it took me hours to work out how to do college's in Picasa!! any help here would be greatly appreciated!) I am going to list top to bottom, Left to right (if that makes sense!).

1. Nikon 1 J1 Digital Camera - www.Currys.co.uk £499
2. Black Sparkle Star Jumper - www.DorothyPerkins.co.uk £28
3. Black Jeggings - Ponteroma Fly Leggings. www.Evans.co.uk £27
4. Purple Top - www.Evans.co.uk £19.50
5. Stripy Jumper - www.Next.co.uk £28
6. 100 Year Diary - www.ohsocherished.co.uk £25
7. Pink Orchid Limited Edition GHD's - www.GHDhair.com £129
8. Models Own Eye Gift Set - www.Next.co.uk £15
9.Tan Sludge Long Boots - www.Next.co.uk £85
10. D & G Iphone Cover - http://www.net-a-porter.com/ £90
11. Paul's Boutique Bag - www.Bankfashion.co.uk £70
12. Links of London Sweetie Bracelet - www.linksoflondon.com £130
13. Links of London Sweetie Drop Necklace - www.linksoflondon.com  £215

See you soon!

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish

I love Nail Polish! I have the whole Barry M collection. But whilst on an early morning brows around Boots I came across the cutest nail polish I have ever seen and had to buy it! (I am on a shopping ban, but had points on my advantage card so it doesn't count, Right?)

Max Factor's Max Effect Mini Nail Polish. Its sooo cute in its mini bottle and with its mini brush! The price isn't quite as cute though. The mini's retail in Boots for £3.99. Yes, that's right £3.99!!! (You can can a full size of most nail polish for that amount!).

Compared to a full size Nails Inc polish its tiny!

The range of colours that Max Factor do is amazing! They are very bright and vibrant and very on tread for autumn. But that's really where the 'pros' of this polish ends.

I had to use three coats to get an thick, even coverage. And although the polish dried very quickly I found it very watery and runny. I also found that it is not very durable. I painted my nails when I got to work at around 8.30AM and by 14.30 (now) it has started to wear on the tips of my nails.

I think I'll stick to my Barry M's for a little while longer!

Boots

I have an addiction to boots. Well, to footwear in general, but boots are by favourite type of footwear. Over the years I have struggled to find boots to fit my man sized calf's and always ended up disappointed that all my friends could wear  lovely boots and I wasn't able to :-(

Nowadays, its much easier for us 'wide calf' girls to find decent, fashionable boots in varying calf and width fittings. The most obvious choice for wide fitting boots is Evans. In the past I found that the fitting of Evans boots wasn't every good, but over that last couple of years this has drastically improved. As well as having a good fit I find the quality of Evans boots is exceptional.

Here are my favourite boots at Evans at the moment

Available in Brown and Black and in Extra wide (EEE) fit. £79.50

£79.50

£39.50

Available in Black and Tan and in extra wide (EEE) fit. £89.50

Click here to see Evans Footwear size guide.

Next also have a good range of boots. They accommodate standard, wide and extra wide calf's.  Next also do a good range of wide fitting shoes. I do tend to find that if I buy Next wide fit shoes I have to get a size smaller, size 5 instead of size 6. I also find that the next range is more fashionable. They also have a lot more choice of 'going out' boots.

available in Tan, brown and Black and standard, wide and extra wide fitting. £85

£40

£50

£65

 Click here to see Next's footwear size guide

Now to Viva La Diva. If you didn't know Viva La Diva is a partner company to Simply Be. Viva La Diva have some amazing shoes (and handbags). They hold a lot of designer brands from Ugg's to Rocket Dogs to WedgeWelly. Some brands are ridiculous expensive for what you are paying for and some are very reasonably priced. The range of wide calf boots isn't very extensive, and some of the boots are very old ladyish. My previous purchases from Viva La Diva have included ankle boots or shoes, but i have managed to find some wider calf boots.

Legroom Boots available in Standard, wide (E) and Extra wide (EEE). £85

Rocket Dog cowboy style boots. £54.99

Ugg Clovis. £200

Wedgewellys. LOVE THEM. The circumference around the calf goes up to 15inch, with an adjustable strap, but have managed to get my 17inch calf's in to them. I also love that these wellies are so glamorous. I hate with a passion the multicoloured, patterned, love heart print wellies!!! These are definitely wellies to go 'glamping' in!

Wedgewelly. £45

I also love the short Hunter wellies. And as I love pink they are perfect for me. I don't own a pair of Hunters at the moment but my sister does. She has both standard and short length. She told me that the standard wellies don't have a very big calf circumference but they are uber comfortable. The claims that the short one are more suited for wide calf's as they are quite short!!! I think I need a pair of these on my wish list!!

Click here to see Viva La Diva's Footwear size guide.