Author: simplybylola

First look for Spring/Summer’17

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back! I could write a thousand reasons why I haven’t posted in the last few months, but it doesn’t matter and all that matters is that I’ll be back for good for those who like reading my posts for the written part or those who just like having a look at the pictures. I have the next few posts planned but I always welcome any ideas and suggestions from you guys about what you would like to read about here!

Going back to the post topic; I present you the first spring outfit (I probably took this on the only sunny day last week!). My favourite season, spring carries so many outfit possibilities. I usually show you outfits that I normally wear everyday and this is probably my favourite spring everyday outfit as this dress is so easy to dress down with trainers and an denim jacket or up with some lace up heels and an blazer, things that have many styling possibilities especially if you’re on a budget and can’t afford to buy something new each time further more a design like this is always ‘in, stripes are a classic that make a comeback every season especially in baby blue. To be honest each brand in this outfit is timeless, Levis, Converse and Abercrombie and all brands that have stuck around for years and make clothing that you can wear for years not for a season.

DSC_0024DSC_0034DSC_0040DSC_0055DSC_0044DSC_0071DSC_0110

(denim jacket – levis, dress – abercrombie, shoes – converse, shirt – dorothy perkins)

Let’s talk: Getting out of your comfort zone & self-motivation

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

If someone told me one year ago that I will enjoy going to the gym a few times a week I would laugh in their face and it’s not because I don’t like being active because I was always active, I used to do gymnastics, ice skate, work out at home and go running a few times a week but the word gym just gave me the shivers for many reason; my main form of defence was saying that it’s just not for me because I’m not a gym person and also I had this image of everyone there being super fit and judging me that I’m not which obviously I couldn’t be more wrong about.

At the time that I joined I was in a bad place in my life,most of my friends went to uni while I took a gap year and I found it hard at first to find a routine for myself because it’s easy to just waste year and not really achieve anything so I thought that during the free time I have one of my goals will be to get the body I’ve always wanted but always had some excuse. Getting started is not easy; every time a slight inconvenience would happen, something didn’t go right or I got something wrong I felt like giving up but I didn’t and the skill of not giving up was also transformed into other areas of my life without realizing. At first my only motivation that made me go was looking better and getting a better physique but before I noticed any changes on the outside I noticed changes on the inside; a much more positive outlook on the world, my sleeping pattern got much better since I usually go in the evenings and when I come back most of the time I fall asleep straight away, my mood swings stopped and I could go on like this for a while but you get the idea.

In those few months that I’ve been going for there were many occasions when I was tired and I would rather stay in bed and watch something and binge eat ice cream especially if it’s cold or raining because that’s much easier to do, but the easy way in life doesn’t lead you anywhere and as someone once said summer bodies are made in winter so if you want to look good in summer start now not in May. But every time I feel like not going I think of where I can be if I don’t give up, of how far I’ve come and about those people who are waiting for me to give up, I’m not saying that these reasons will suddenly motivate everyone to go but that’s just what personally keeps me going furthermore after some time you’ll get into a routine and you’ll create discipline for yourself to self motivate yourself as there won’t be always someone around to motivate you when you need it so you have to do it yourself and it’s one of the most important skills to have if you want to achieve anything as a freelancer or a business person and you need to be your own boss then your career or business will depend on you being able to self motivate yourself and discipline yourself into doing things even when you don’t exactly feel like doing them.

So now you’re probably wondering how does getting out of your comfort zone come into this? Well for me the idea of working out in front of people was terrifying,I felt insecure about myself and I thought that everyone will judge me so if you feel the same way as I did then let me tell you; people of different shapes,sizes and ages go there for different reasons and no one will judge you as you’re a step further than most people because you’re working on yourself. So my advice is concentrate on what you’re working on and ignore other people and ladies don’t be afraid to go into the weights area even if you are the only female there because most likely 90% of people there will be happy to help.

If you enjoyed reading this post make sure to like,share and comment! To be more up to date with my fitness journey make sure to follow me on social media which at the top right.

 

 

 

New years resolutions

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

First of January; fresh start and a great moment to think of the things you want to accomplish this year. Writing down a list of things you potentially want to do or change in yourself is the easy part; the question is how do you stick to it throughout the whole year not just till mid of January and then go back to your old habits. First of all be realistic in your resolutions, it’s  important to dream big and aim high but there is absolutely no point in saying you’re going to go to the gym 6 times a week for example if you know you don’t have the time or energy to do it so instead for the first two weeks go 3 times a week to get yourself into a routine because slow long-term changes are better than sudden changes which you will give up on within a month and this applies to all sorts of resolutions not just gym related. So whatever it is you want to do take it small step at a time and don’t get discourged if something doesn’t work out the way you want to at first.

Second of all throughout the year you’re going to want to give up,but giving up isn’t an option and that’s what you have to tell yourself and whenever you’re gonna feel like giving up think of where you can be at the end of this year if you don’t give up, and how amazing it’s going to feel to say I’ve accomplished this or that. Futhermore a good motivation for not giving up is thinking about those people who are waiting for you to give up. There’s no better feeling than proving people wrong who don’t believe in you.

My final advice is; just go for it whatever it is you want to do, I know that this sounds like such a cliche but if you can dream it you can do it. If I had to narrow down to just one thing that I learned in 2016, it would be that everything is possible and that you never know what life has in store for you so don’t ever lose hope. Have an amazing year guys and I hope you’ll stay for the journey of my blog with me this year!

Season Trend: Grey & Pastel Pink

~ simplybylola ~ 11 Comments

First of all hello to all my lovely readers and second of all I want to apologise for the lack of posts in the last month; what can I say life got in the way but I won’t let that happen again. It took me three tries to take these pictures due circumstances that were not under my control but I didn’t give up because I was determined to show you guys this outfit especially that I know there were people waiting for it which is really lovely and motivating for me. I really wanted to show this outfit to show that just because it’s winter it doesn’t mean we have to wear dark and gloomy colours all the time and that pastel colours do work in winter as well, because the jacket is quite bright and it makes the whole outfit I chose to go for toned down colours in everything else and also I’m obsessed recently with the combination of pastel pink and grey. Also a tip for girls; this is my second pair of heels from Public Desire and they are so comfy that I could wear them all day so if you’re looking for a pair for the party season that’s the place I would recommend because they’re really affordable as well and have always have great promotions on!

As this is my last post before Christmas I would like to wish you all a wonderful time with your families during that special time, try to for those couple of days concentrate on what’s really important and put your phones down.

Love Lola

dsc_0018dsc_0020dsc_0025dsc_0031dsc_0055dsc_0064dsc_0073dsc_0077dsc_0019dsc_0084

(jacket – new look top – new look trousers – george asda bag – marc b shoes – public desire)

Casual Autumn Look

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

dsc_0153

The leather jacket and blue jeans combo is my fave for every season, this outfit is completed by two trends; a velvet bag which is a must have for this season and a layered top which both were bargains. Recently I’ve been lucky with finding bargains and this designer bag was purchased for only £14,99 in Tkmaxx and the top in Zara for £15.99 which for Zara is quite cheap, I don’t make a secret out of the prices because I want to show that you really don’t need a lot of money to dress well! There were a few other alternatives which I was taking into consideration for this outfit; I think that leather pants and black stiletto heels would make an great more elegant alternative or if you like playing around with fashion black jeans, small red leather bag and red stiletto heels would look great.

dsc_0152dsc_0132dsc_0147dsc_0237dsc_0229dsc_0194dsc_0244dsc_0213

(jacket Dorothy Perkins top Zara jeans Asos bag Steve Madden shoes Firetrap)

Season Trend: Burgundy

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

dsc_0037

I couldn’t wait to do an outfit like this; this is my go to autumn outfit. For the past few seasons I have been obsessed with burgundy but I always try to keep a balance as you can see in those outfits and I don’t go with more than 3 pieces in the same colour. Like I’ve said before in posts all you need is an ‘base’ for an outfit and my base in this case is the hat, bag and shoes which I can use to style in many different ways. In my opinion in every outfit there is an element to it that makes it ‘whole’ in this case it was the string choker which is beautifully handmade from Niki and you can check this and all her other chokers on her instagram here and if you quote ‘SIMPLYBYLOLA’ you will get one and the other half price! dsc_0027dsc_0034dsc_0016dsc_0002dsc_0057dsc_0067dsc_0065dsc_0041dsc_0083dsc_0116dsc_0045

(hat Urban Outfitters, choker Grad Chokers @instagram, jumper H&M, jeans Mango, shoes Hotter, bag Aldo, jacket Dorothy Perkins)

dsc_0144dsc_0134dsc_0149dsc_0148dsc_0153dsc_0156dsc_0160dsc_0177dsc_0180dsc_0193dsc_0195dsc_0201dsc_0207

(hat Urban Outfitters, jacket Dorothy Perkins, top Topshop, skirt New Look, bag Aldo, shoes Hotter)

Why is NYX Cosmetics the new ‘it’ brand!

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

_20161019_181249

NYX Cosmetics is every make up obsessed girls dream – high end quality at affordable prices. Even though NYX was founded in 1999 (yep!) by Toni Ko who’s goal was to make a great quality product for everyone to afford; only recently everyone went crazy about NYX as few years back I doubt many people heard about the brand but right now NYX is going like storm with astonishing nearly 9 million followers on Instagram, new product launches often and NYX being available in most Boots shops in the UK now (finally)!

The first product by NYX that I tried was the Soft Matte Lip Cream; I was on a hunt for a liquid lipstick and I stumbled across the soft matte range on Feelunique, and the price of just £5.50 convinced me to try it. When I did try it I was impressed that the formula didn’t make my lips feel dry at all which was my worry about liquid lipsticks; on the downside to keep your lips looking good it needs to be reapplied every 1-2 hours hence why I used it up within two months nevertheless for that price it’s still good quality.

The next thing that I purchased was the gel liner as I always wanted to compare it to a pen liner and to be honest it’s probably my least favourite product out of all of them and my number one eyeliner is still the L’oreal Superliner which makes doing my wing eye super quick and easy.

_20161019_181059

The eye shadow base which I purchased when I got more into make-up and realised that primer/base is a very important part of the make-up as it will help it last longer and honestly it’s the best. I don’t use any high-end eye shadows so the formula isn’t the best and they’re not very pigmented but nevertheless with this base they stay on all day without smudging or creasing; it’s definitely one of those products that I will be re buying when it’s finished.

_20161019_181952

Next up is my favourite liquid lipstick; NYX Lingerie in Push Up is the most perfect nude shade ever that I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of and I’m trying to get my hands on the rest of the Lingerie collection as I personally found the formula of it even better than Soft Matte and it definitely stays on longer but Soft Matte has the advantage of being part of a wider range of shades to choose from.

The last few products I’ve brought on my lunch break (oops) in the newly opened Boots concession next to me. The product I was most curious to try was the Tame and Frame brow pomade to see how it compares to the Anastasia Beverly Hills one which I currently use and to be honest I would say it’s a great dupe for it if you don’t want to spend £15; the ABH dipbrow pomade in medium brown is the exact same shade as the NYX expresso one as when I used one on one side and one on the other you wouldn’t tell the difference between them. The only downside of the NYX one is that you need to use more product to get the same effect as you would with ABH when using less product. I started the testing the finishing powder by dropping it.. twice! So when I finally got round using it, I was a bit disappointed with this product as I don’t think it made any difference to the final look of my make up and the same goes to the matte blotting paper. They’re very thin so you have to use lots compared to some other ones I’ve used from a different brand which were thicker and one or two were enough.

 

 

This is only a very small part of the NYX Cosmetics range but if you’ve never tried any of their products I hope it helps you decide whether you want to try some products to summarise it’s a bit of a hit and miss with the products as some are better than others but now you know which ones are worth buying according to me!

I hope you enjoyed it and if you did make sure to also check out 5 high end beauty products;are they worth buying or not?

Stylist Live Event

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

 

This was my first time attending Stylist live and to be honest I didn’t expect much, just some talks and a free glass of drink but to my surprise it was so much more than that! Straight away I got excited from the moment I saw the glittery sign outside which was definitely eye catching and instagram shot worthy.  I’ve made the mistake of only going to the hours that I’ve had booked but there is so much to see and do that you should definitely go as early as possible and if there are free spaces for talks you can just walk into them. Between the four days that it is on for, there are so many different talks available so even if  you’re not a fashion or beauty enthusiast I’m sure you would find something for yourself. Even though the talks were light-hearted  there was some serious girl-power going on which I loved; women supporting each other and admiring each others work is rare these days. I think it’s important to create opportunities like this for women to learn from each other and give each other advice on how to make it in this male dominated world. Furthermore there were jewellery, food, lingerie, make-up and other stalls which offered special discounts and if that didn’t convince you enough, let me add that there was a champagne bar as well.

I had the pleasure of listening to a talk by Shirley Eniang who runs a blog Shirley’s Wardrobe  since 2008 and Susie Lau Style Bubble which funnily enough was Shirely’s inspiration for starting her blog and now she was giving a talk with her so not only it shows to never give up because everything is possible but also it reminds me of the quote; work until your idols become rivals. Although their blogs and styles are very different they both share something in common; they were doing something they love and they got recognised for it and turned it into businesses and careers but it didn’t happen overnight or even within a few months, it took years of hard work and dedication for them to be where they are today. What I loved about both of those ladies was how they stayed down to earth and humble even though Susie has the most successful and widely recognised blog of that type and Shirley has nearly half a million instagram followers but that’s probably partly why they got so successful by staying themselves no matter what. Furthermore later on I listened to a talk by a lovely and bubbly lady Caroline Watson who’s a celebrity stylist and a business woman and she shared some tips and advice on seven ways to grow your business through instagram which is useful when you have a business or even if you’re doing anything freelance as then you’re selling yourself and instagram is a great way of showing your vision and encouraging people to want to work with you. At the end Caroline added that if you have a vision just keep going and follow your dreams as she recently launched a bag brand and she worked on everything by herself and not even her husbands sceptic view stopped her as she said don’t let anyone stop you, not even your man, or especially not your man.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up to Stylist’s newsletter here to know when the early bird tickets go for sale which are cheaper than buying them later. See you next year Stylist!

Fashion tips

~ simplybylola ~ Leave a comment

fashion-quotes-188

Tired of spending hours in front of your wardrobe not knowing what to wear? Dressing well without putting too much effort into it is a skill like any other which also means that it can be learned! Hopefully my tips that I’ve put together for you will make it easier for you!

  • Look for inspiration! One of the purposes why I have this blog is to inspire people and show them how to style certain things which can sometimes be tricky to style, which is probably the case for many fashion blogs. So look for inspiration online for example Instagram is a great source for inspiration, in magazines, on celebrities and I myself often find inspiration just looking round shops!
  • Basics are important! Everyone should have a white t-shirt, black t-shirt, black jeans and white jeans in their wardrobe as they’re a great foundation for lots of outfits, and even I have days where I don’t know what to wear and that’s when I go back to the basics! It’s so easy to put an outfit together with an white t-shirt, black jeans, some silver jewellery, black leather jacket and some trainers or black biker boots and to make it more of an fashion magazine worthy outfit you can always chuck in some cool accessories like an chunky necklace, an statement bag (you can read more about what I mean when I say statement bags here) or use an bandanna as a scarf ! Also another great alternative when you don’t know what to wear are stripes; stripes are always a good idea.
  • Don’t clash colours! Personally I don’t really go for colourful clothes, I mostly wear black, white,grey, navy or pastel colours but when I do go for a colourful piece of clothing I make sure to pair it up with something more toned down like for example a flowery top with a navy pair of shorts furthermore there are colours which pair up with each other nicely like navy and red or yellow, grey and dust pink or burgundy and mustard yellow.
  • Don’t be scared to try the latest trends! Don’t feel pressured into wearing the latest trends but also don’t be scared to try them as in every seasons trends there will be something for you.
  • Annnd if after reading this post you still feel a bit clueless about how to style certain things or just want some advice in general feel more than welcome to message me!