Thursday, November 27, 2014

Black Friday Party Dresses

'Black Friday? What's that?' I hear all you British shouting. The traditionally American annual crazy sale following Thanksgiving has hit the UK. With wider shops including Amazon and Asda bringing the Black Friday sales over to the UK in the past few years lots more shops have began to join in.

Now, Christmas is coming - no I'm not talking about buying presents - you need to treat yourself to a sparkly dress! With glitsy numbers that're embellished with metallic threads and millions of gems and sequins this years trend can be a pricey one.

I've found my fave deals for this Friday for your Christmas party dress!

First up is Motel: I'm a huge fan of Motel, with their beautiful dresses you just simply can't find anywhere else you can easily find something you love; especially with 25% off EVERYTHING this Black Friday.
My 3 Christmas dresses from here have to be: Gabby Sequin, Gaia and Moonchild.


Next up is French Connection, although they're not overly advertising their Black Friday discounts as openly as other brands if you use code 30FCBF at the checkout you can get 30% off but be wuick it's for Friday only.
My faves have to be: Winter Wave, Cosmic Sparkle and New Moon.



Finally for Urban Outfitters: with a huge amount in their Black Friday sale you are sure to find something you love for a fraction of the price.
I would pick these three: Devore Dress, Vintage Metallic Tee, Vintage Velvet Halterneck.




Happy Thanksgiving and have good fun in the Black Friday sales, let me know what bargains you get!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Christmas Blogger Gift Swap



Yes Ladies-and Gentlemen-Christmas is on it's way, with 5 weeks to go if you haven't started your Christmas shopping already you are being very brave!

Fancy doing something a little different this year for presents? How about A Piece Of Viola's Christmas Blogger Gift Swap?

This Gift Swap is open to all bloggers within the UK, no matter what your blog 'type' is anyone can join. It's really simple to do; just fill out the application form (it takes less than a minute to do), write a post like this one, then you are paired up and its time to buy each other gifts.

Don't worry if you're tight for cash, you decide on your spending budget in your pairs to suit you both.

The application form needs to be filled in by November 28th to be paired up on the 1st December. Then you have a little time to shop to send your gifts off by 17th December.

For more details head over to APOV's post here to sign up and get giving!



Keep up to date on twitter using #apovgiftswap! 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Nottingham's Music Scene

Nottingham is known for having a fantastic range in music, with international and local artists and bands showing nearly every night in a venue within the city centre there's always some music to see live.

Last Friday night I went to see Example at Rock City.
Example at Rock City 
As I walked into Rock City Main Hall, becoming stuck to the infamous sticky floor, I could hear music from Delta Heavy blaring right away. This music duo are Simon James and Ben Hall who although are from London they actually met at Nottingham University! With heavy remixes of famous songs by Rita Ora, Nero and Example himself with a mix of their own tracks they got the crowd dancing straight away.
Next up was DJ Wire, aka Sam Wire, who was playing up-to-date songs mixed with some absolute classics making everyone go crazy, like their lives depended on it.
Then for the main act of the night, Example. Oh Wow. I caught half of his set at V Festival this year, but I definitely feel that his music is performed much better in a small venue, like Rock City. The crowd, a mix of young and old,  was incredibly rowdy and were clearly enjoying themselves. 
I was overly impressed by the entire gig, the crowd was going crazy all night! 

Now for my Nottingham local favourites: 

First up is Same Streets

These lads I have seen a few times now, they're always playing gigs, even last minute ones (keep an eye on their Facebook page). With some incredibly catchy lyrics, some fabulous musical talent and the wonderful twang of James' voice Same Streets are always a crowd pleaser! 


Babe Punch are an 'all gurl 5 piece Nottinghamshire band'! New on the music scene but still full of style with their fishnets and Doc Martens the girls will blow your mind with their talent, despite being rather young. Look out for their quirky posters all around Nottingham, and give them a good listen! 


Four guys, one band. Being influenced by a range of artists including The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Oasis, Coldplay and Arctic Monkeys the boys have made a unique sound that's fantastic. With their new EP 'This Is' now on iTunes you have no excuse to not check them out. 

and finally we have Adelphia

A four piece alternative rock band; that absolutely smash every show they do. Performing at Rock City at Hit The Deck Festival and even getting themselves a spot at the one and only Download festival this year after winning a voted competition with Red Bull. With huge support from BBC introducing recently you will be seeing these guys everywhere soon enough, so check them out now. 

There is so much music locally within Nottingham, with new bands and developed bands there's always some talent you haven't fallen in love with yet. 

Check out your own local music scene and support your local bands!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Mac Cremesheen Lipstick- Dare You

Mac are especially well known for their amazing choice in lipstick colours from perky pinks to powerful purples. They also now do matte lipsticks, extra sheen and gloss lipsticks-the range is truely fantastic!

The review I am doing today is of Mac's Cremesheen lipstick in the shade 'Dare You'. Reds can often be over powering, then when you try the shade up it's too pinky. This red is neither too bright, too pink or too dark; it's just right. 


 At first thoughts I thought it was going to be a little too dark, as much as I do love dark shades this autumn I still like my bold bright colours too.

For the price of £15.50 you are going to expect an excellent quality product here; with the application going on nice and smooth you get no part of your lip gets forgotten about. The shaping of the lipstick also aids the application of the lipstick.












What I would recommend is to use this lipstick with a lip liner as I do find it bleeds easily as it doesn't dry well and stays wet whilst on-which I like as my lips don't dry out and the colour stays glossy all day.