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Channel: Beautycrush - A Style Diary by Samantha Maria
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A Bite at Bill's

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A little while ago I was out shopping in Westfieldwith my sister Danni (Who is currently nominated on the Ryan Seacrest website for her cover of 'Drake - Hold on' and would appreciate it SO much if you could vote for her! Click here if you would like to)
We needed a pit-stop and I had noticed a Bill's had popped up just outside the centre, Danni hadn't been before so I thought we should go and check out what they had to offer for lunch.




It was quite empty when we went, but still had a lovely calm and friendly atmosphere and the staff were quick to ask if you are okay and if you needed anything while choosing your food and the like.
I love the eclectic, rustic and quirky feel of Bills, It is decadently laid out with chandeliers, shelves upon shelves of food which you can take home, Handwritten blackboard menus and dried chilli's hanging from the walls.







Danni had the Homemade fish finger sandwich which she said was delicious and I had the Avocado, halloumi and spinach salad (It had Quinoa too, one of my favourite healthy foods). My salad was lovely, fresh, light and the halloumi gave a contrast of strong grilled cheesy flavour.




I have only been to Bill's a few times before and usually it has been for breakfast (Check out their healthy breakfast board and also the porridge - yummy!) Going was Lunch was another great experience and it wasn't too expensive either. It is warm and welcoming even though its quite a big chain of restaurants - A great place to capture some characteristic snaps too!

I shared that I was there at the time and a little while afterwards I had received this gorgeous care-hamper full of Bill's goodies which I was absolutely taken aback by! It had Cookies, coffee, fudge, bon bons, red wine, jam etc. I have tried most of it already, I hadn't thought before to try the bits and bobs they sell in the restaurant but I was pleasantly surprised.The Bill's toffee cookies are a particular favourite of mine (because I am secretly a cookie monster, obsessed with the things) but also the Red wine and the jam are great if you wanted to treat yourself or a loved one as a little gift.





Thank you so much to Bill's for that little added bonus, Totally unexpected as I was honestly just sharing my love for food and for Bill's! If you haven't been, try it out, there are many many stores dotted around London and the surrounding area =]

Department of Coffee and Social Affairs

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Jumper - GAP | Leggings - Urban Outfitters | Boots - Urban Outfitters | Bag - Thrifted
 

This weekend on mine and Jason's adventures we head towards the East end of London. We Googled good coffee spots and found one up the road from here, then decided this one we walked past looked nicer and took a seat here instead. The department of coffee and social affairs.
 

Now, we're quite particular about our coffee, 'vanilla coffee snobs' you could call us. Basically we're addicted to our normal Costa vanilla Latte's but many other coffee shops don't use syrups (probably because they do authentic coffee? haha) so that morning I predicted such madness and thought we should bring our own little container of vanilla just incase!



We sat for while, sipped our latte's, had a little chinwag and felt quite comfortable - They also played awesome noughties music and the staff were super friendly. They had quite a few yummy-looking treats and pastries which I eyed up, but didn't end up having something sweet apart from the coffee!
 

A few doors down was a Deli which served toasted salt beef sandwiches and reubens so we stopped off there before continuing our travels for a bite to eat.

It was lovely 'fast food' though, wholesome and very tasty!

 I'll be sharing our Sunday adventures soon!

Sammi x

The Elk in the Woods

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Last sunday consisted of a little trip to Angel, Angel is by far one of my favourite parts of London, especially more recently. There are so many nice restaurants, little independent shops, bars and cafes in quite a small area so everything is reachable and its a really laid-back, well looked after little area.

We (once again) tried to get into The Breakfast club this time in Angel, but low and behold there was a massive queue and once again we were too impatient to wait!
We found this little gem - The Elk In the Woods.
 

We walked in and had a little nose around, it had very wooden, rustic, cabin, LOTR vibe and the breakfast food looked delicious so we booked a table right away! (They didn't have space for around 40 mins so we had a quick coffee while we waited)
 
I ordered an Earl grey tea and got busy snapping away, Apoligies there is no outfit post to accompany this, I was FROZEN on Sunday and totally lost track of fashion-blogger thought!
My top/tunic below though is from Topshop. < Link here
Jason ordered the first thing on the menu which was basically their full english.. 

& I ordered the vanilla pancakes with bacon, maple syrup and what I'm guessing was some type of fresh cream (Im not a big fan of cream so handled it very oddly)
- Side note, How cute is this plate?!


We also ordered the fries too after having spotted them earlier on looking extremely inviting - and they were.
The experience there was lovely though my pancakes were a little dry, that was my only complaint! I hadn't tried pancakes with bacon before and oddly enough it was a very nice combination!
Reports from Jasons breakfast was that it was very nice too.

I'd defiantly go back to The Elk in the Woods because I loved the atmosphere and the style of the place, I'd love to try out more of their menu too. If you're in Angel and find yourself lost for a spot of breakfast, defiantly hit up this little treasure!
 


The Dash

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Playsuit - LOVE*
Boots - Urban Outfitters(Now on sale)
Bag - Zara
Necklace - GogoPhillip

I dont ususally post my outfits in selfie-style but yesterday I put on my new LOVE playsuit to go and meet some blogger girlies for lunch. (We went to Vapiano's and I Instagrammed a pic)

I chose this playsuit in colbolt blue because I was about to click black and thought, No Sam, you own EVERYTHING in black, go for a bit of colour!

I'm glad I did because its a great piece to have in my wardrobe and is quite versatile, Im really looking forward to be able to wear this in the summer with a slouchy cardi and some sandals, I think this colour would also look great on so many different skin tones.

My camera was super-heavy to be carrying around central all day so I wanted to snap my outfit quickly before I dashed out.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! I will probably be snapping more things in the next few days!

The Body Shop's Serum-In-Oil

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Its been a little while since i've posted a beauty review, every now and then though they'll be something that i'll have a mini obsession with and that I just have to share.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil *

Recently its been the Body shop's serum-in-oil. I've tried lots of serums and lots of oils and I tend to like serums a little better than oils because I dislike the feeling of an oil sitting on my naturally oily skin overnight - sometimes it leads to breakouts. This Oil though is super lightweight, It dosent sit on top of my skin, it sinks in and replenishes my skin by the morning and keeps it looking plump and healthy.

I honestly can't think of a bad pointer for this product and I always do have a balancing thing to say or something that i've noticed which might not work for everyone but I honestly have been getting on with this very well.

If you have combination-oily skin like me you should give it a try. It has the power of the serum backed with the moisture of the oil, + Vitamin E, its great! I have been a fan of the body shop Vitamin E line for quite some time too.



Had to add in a candid photo of Captain Riley (My little Frenchie) while I was trying to snap this earlier, He found the product quite intreguing!

I also talk about this product in my recent beauty & non-beauty favourites video which you can check out below =]



Let me know what you think of this serum-in-oil if you have tried it too and of your thoughts!

Thank you to The Body Shop for sponsoring this post.

Giant Robot

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Jumper - Monki
Shorts - Rokit
Belt - Thrifted
Necklace - Gogo Phillip

Last weekend we had dinner at a spot called Giant Robot - The food was amazing, I want to go back for their chicken burger it was heaven!
We vlogged while there too which you can check out here - the place had so many great photography areas so we ended up having a bit of a shoot!
Before that we also had grabbed a coffee and I snapped some sneaky pics of Jason =]
I thought i'd share what I was wearing last week as I had many questions on my vlog about my jacket etc so here it is!


The Crooked House of Windsor

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Top - Bershka
Skirt - Motel Rocks*
Coat - Topshop
Bag - Zara
Not too long ago I took a trip to a little English tearoom named 'The Crooked House of Windsor' with my mum and sister.
We never go for this sort of thing but I had wanted to go since christmas time (If you remember in my post before?) So we had tea and scones!








They done really lovely tea, scones and lunch - we sat at the window and had a little chat before walking around the nearby church and castle. The house does make you feel a little lopsided as its sloped! A cute little place to visit =]

The Striped Pencil Skirt | LFW OOTD

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Jumper - Monki
Skirt - Urban outfitters (sale)
Bag - Zara (sale)
Boots - Vagabonds
Rings - The Great Frog London

A million apologies for being MIA - I have moved home in the last week due to a number of reasons, a main one being that I couldn't even upload anything from my old flat, the internet was terrible! I'm now all set up and am living with my boyfriend and our little puppy Riley and we're still settling in.

I had to put settling on hold though last friday and saturday as I was lucky enough to attend Fashion Scout with the body shop! I have a guest blog post up too over on their blog which i'll link here if you guys would like to see - Its my round-up of my two days there!

This was my first day outfit, I wanted something i'd feel comfortable in but with a bit of height (the vagabonds) so that I felt a little more dressy than usual and I went for quite a simple look.

I'll have more posts up from my time at LFW as it was AMAZING and there lots of images I want to share with you guys!

Theres also going to be a video on The body shops channel which we filmed of my two days there so i'll keep you guys posted on when thats live too!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and here to a great week!



Fashion Scout Photo Diary

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My time at LFW Fashion Scout behind the scenes with The body shop..Through my lens








With Head makeup artist Claire De-Graft and friend & model Emily Brooks (On the right & on the catwalk below)









Spent some time with the loveliest girl EVER! Em Sheldon



Some of Em Sheldon's designs


The 'Day 2' Outfit

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Top - Zara
Skirt - Topshop (sale)
Leather Gilet - LOVE at Topshop
Rucksack - ROKIT< similar
Jacket - H&M

I know this is a little delayed but I wanted to share my Day 2 outfit while I was at London fashion week.
I went for layers and for what I call my 'Bane' coat which I didn't end up needing too much because it was SO hot everywhere! I brought my small rucksack for the day to stop myself from overpacking my bag and wore my Vagabonds again as they were really comfy!

Sammi x

Gem of a Birchbox

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It's been a while since i've featured a beauty box and i've received a few in the last few months but this one really has stood out to me.

As you can see its a Birchbox - I opened it up and whereas usually I think 'meh, one of these items are useful' with some boxes, I liked everything in here!
I love that there is a bright Leighton denny polish because we're coming into spring and its a good brand, I'm obsessed with winged liner and there is a mini-eyeliner. I always like trying out new cleansers and shower gels as they're easy to get through and its nice to switch it up sometimes.

Then...Chocolate? Its one of my favourite kinds too! Thank you Birchbox for this beauty, It's come in really handy and has boosted my love for beauty boxes again.

This is actually coming a little late but I really have wanted to feature this little number! Have you had any beauty boxes you've been loving recently?

Sammi x

The Soho Meeting

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Leggings - Topshop
Jacket - Pull&Bear
Boots - Topshop (Sale)
Bag - Zara
Snood - H&M

Last Friday I was in Soho for a meeting and I wanted something that looked a little smarter than usual. This was one of those thrown-together outfits which actually turn out okay! (Usually I get in quite a tizzwoz)
I am on the hunt for another jacket like this one, only shorter and possibly a different shade of grey, anyone know where I might find one? This one is from Pull & Bear many moons ago but has become a staple piece of mine!
Hope you all had a lovely weekend x


The Primrose Hill Walk

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Last weekend we took to Primrose hill to walk our puppy Captain Riley and to have lunch with some friends.
It was sunny and bright so I went for something casual, comfy but with a light jacket so I wouldn't get too cold because we all know the English weather is highly erratic!




Dress - Topshop
Jacket - H&M
White Converse 

The Fruit Juice Cleanse

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Hey guys,
Last week I tried out a juice cleanse for a day, I had been really intrigued by juice cleansing for a while and I was offered the chance to try out the Fruveju cleanse and so jumped at it!
I thought I would vlog my day while cleansing to record how I felt and the taste of the juices so I will leave the video below for lots and lots of detail about my cleanse but I thought to share here on my blog too incase any of you have wondered about it or are interested =]

I would recommend it as something to do one-off, maybe when you feel like a bit of a detox. The juices mostly tasted really lovely and they were delivered on the day early in the morning in a cooler, they're numbered in order of how they suggest you drink them and also with rough timings.

I really enjoyed juicing for the day and would defiantly do it again! Thank you to the lovely people at Fruveju!

Sammi x

KINGS


BLUE BRETON

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Oversized Breton Dress - MOTEL*
Jacket - Boda Skins*
Boots - Vegabonds
Bag - Rokit

Last week I filmed a youtube video with friend and fellow youtuber ShirleyBEniang (also of ShirleysWardrobe) - The videos will be up soon! I also asked Shirley if she wouldn't mind snapping my outfit of the day and she was lovely enough to help me get some flix.

I know - Another striped dress? I am going through a bit of a breton 'thing', I love breton pieces because they're timeless, chic and easy to style. I love this piece from Motel, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it on the website, Wearable all year round because its quite a thick material and is lovely quality.

Thank you Shirley for the photos!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend & an early Happy mothers day to all the mums out there!

Sammi x



THE LEATHER MINI

THE CHECK

EUSTON STATION

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Coat - H&M
Top - Brandy Melville
Jeans - Topshop Joni's 
Lips - MAC Russian Red
Rings - The Great Frog

The other week I took to Euston to have a little photoshoot with the extremely talented Jay Stewart. I had been following his work for years and he's photographed some of my favourite models including Jasmine Sanders, Ashley Moore, Cici Cavanagh& fellow youtuber itsmyrayeraye.

Here are my favourite shots from the shoot, we sat at Cafe Nero for a little while, then popped into Ed's for a few cheeky shots and ended at Cafe Rouge.
Oh, then we also took a few shots in a taxi on the way home! It was such a fun experience because I'm no model and I always run out of posing ideas awkwardly but it was super laid-back and comfortable shooting with Jay.

A massive thank you for the amazing photos - I hope you guys like them too!

You can check out Jay Stewart's work here and he also has an InstagramTwitter, amazing photos!

Sammi x

Reporting with The Body Shop

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You may remember that a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to cover Fashion week at Fashion scout with The body shop. It was an amazing experience!
I was able to visit the makeup artists backstage before the shows, ask about the products they were using, what they liked personally and also get footage and photos of the models pre-show and then on the catwalk.



While I was there I was working on a video covering Fashion scout for The body shop and it is now live! You can check it out below - I hope you enjoy it! I was very fun and exciting to be a part of!



There is also a guest blog post I have written for The body shop over on their blog, which you can find here.



Hope you're all well - Looking forward to the next fashion week already! (Lets do summer first eh? haha)

Sammi x




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