Abercrombie & Fitch shopping purchases

When in America one thing that's always a must-do for me is a visit to an Abercrombie & Fitch store! I love their casual, typical american, a little preppy style of clothing plus I've pretty much always been a sucker for anything red, white and blue or stripey! So the purchases I made at A&F in California aren't much of a surprise probably....

Red, white and blue anyone? What I got...

A&F super skinny destoyed jeans in medium wash (link) - $39 on sale!

Blythe sweater with black and white classic striped pattern (link) - $58

Loved the shawl collar and it's so soft so nice and for autumn/winter!

Camille cable knit sweater in red (link) -$58

Arielle classic white v-neck tshirt (link) - $28

I'm especially stoked with my new jeans because a pair of destroyed jeans was on my shopping lust-list and I managed to score these in the sale for only $39 plus they were a great fit!

What do you think of my 'all American' Abercrombie & Fitch purchases? X

Clinique Superbalanced Powder Bronzer

In May Clinique launched their new superbalanced powder bronzer, with a long-wearing formula that helps to absorb oil, maintain your moisture balance so your skin looks healthy, whilst being lightweight and oil-free.

It comes in two shades: bronzed 1 & bronzed 2. The matte bronzer will suit most skin tones because it can be used as a contour or an all over bronzer.

What also makes the superbalanced bronzer slightly different to other powder bronzers is its packaging. It comes in a grinder type container that basically 'shaves' the solid product to a loose powder which allows you to control just how much product you dispense per application, minimising waste or spillage like you can have with traditional loose powders. Plus it assures the powder remains fresh for a longer period of time.

How to use it? Just turn the grinder clockwise for a fresh dose of bronzing powder and apply it with a large powder or kabuki brush, building colour to your desired level of bronze.

Clinique Superbalanced Powder Bronzer is soft, pigmented, blends very easily and feels light weight on the skin. What not to love!

Other products used in this FOTD:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (review here)

Super balanced bronzer #2

Toshop cream blush in Neon Rose

MAC Retrospeck eyeshadow (applied all over lid)

MAC Mulch eyeshadow (applied to lower lash line and outer V)

Lips: Shepora Peach lipgloss (link)

The Clinique Superbalanced Powder Bronzer is available now from your local Clinique counter or web store - link £25/13.5g. The powder comes with a cute limited edition floral pouch while stocks last.

Have you tried Clinique's Superbalanced range? Xoxo

Lunch at Clementine's in LA

As a bit of self-proclaimed foodie, before going on holiday, I made sure I did my research to find some great 'go-to' places for meals. On one of my favourite blogs, Cupcakes and Casmere, Emily recommends the cafe Clementine as a fab place to grab lunch or to "meet a friend". So when we randomly drove past Clementine's one afternoon in LA we felt this would be the perfect spot to stop for a bite to eat!

Check out the massive Rolls Royce that pulled up outside whilst we were there! The place however isn't posh or exclusive. It has a lovely relaxed cafe feel that serves a variety of organic and freshly baked or prepared food.

Inside the cafe they have an widespread selection of fresh food to order from the counter or a menu with even more options. All their muffins and sweets looked amazing and I was very tempted to grab one of their granola-to-go boxes...just because ;)

In the end I decided on a mixed salad plate which meant I could choose three salads from the deli counter..now the only problem was which mouthwatering salad to pick! To drink I got their tropical iced tea which was very refreshing!

My scrumptious mix was the summer chicken salad, the grilled squash medley and the beetroot lentil salad with goats cheese. Nom nom...

Sitting outside on the terrace enjoying our lunch!

 

This was probably one of my favourite cafes in LA so I would definitely recommend it if you are ever in the area :) You can read Emily's other great recommendations in her 'Guide to LA' here. From her list I also went to Urth Caffe, Toast Bakery and Sur restaurant. Have you ever been to LA; if so what's your favourite cafe there? Xoxo

 

Keeping fit Hollywood style!

Even though I am currently on holiday I still want to try to be a little healthy and work out; especially since I'm taking part in the London triathlon at the end of September! I'm doing the 10km run as part of a relay team so I really need to maintain my fitness levels over the next few weeks.

 

So while I was in LA I decided to keep fit the Hollywood way by going for a run at Runyon Canyon Park in the Hollywood Hills!

This was around 8.00am in the morning (yes up early because of jet lag!) before we started our gruelling run in the park. The run was an absolute killer; the heat and some serious climbing definitely meant I didn't look so fresh afterwards! No wonder all the celebs and LA people look so super fit; doing this run regularly definitely would keep you in amazing shape.

It was very cool to workout whilst admiring these awesome views over the city and even spotting the famous Hollywood sign!

 

To listen to my favourite beats during my run I used my brand new mobile phone accessory.

This is my Griffin Adidas Armband; made especially for the iPhone 4 (link). It's super lightweight, comfortable to wear and even has a little handy slot to put your key in!

After our workout we treated ourselves to a delicious but also nutritious breakfast at the Urth Caffe in Beverly Hills.

I had the yoghurt bowl with their homemade organic granola! It was very good, the only thing I would say is that I thought the portion of granola was a bit too small...it left me craving more but suppose that kept it a healthy morning Hollywood style ;) xoxo