Beauty Break - Aveda

Good morning lovelies!

So just this past week, I had the opportunity to attend an awesome beauty event at the John Lewis store in Kingston. A few of us blogger girls attended the beauty floor to meet and chat with several brands that showcase in John Lewis stores. I will be writing more about this experience soon, but thought, as I had the good fortune of receiving plenty of samples of different brands, that I would share my experiences with you for each over the next couple of weeks.

Since the event, I have been using the Aveda  Invati shampoo, conditioner and Damage Remedy serum on my hair and to say that I have noticed a massive difference would be an understatement. My hair is so much softer, doesn't break when I brush it and doesn't put up a fuss when I clip it up or style it.

It's hard to tell in this photo as my coloured bits of my hair are so fried, but this looks so much better than the straw like stiff hair that I had only a week ago. It also has more body and falls nicer naturally. On top of it all, I love the smell of the Aveda products - it reminds me of when I was a kid and would wait for my mum at the Aveda hair salon in Toronto, reading all the magazines and deciding how I wanted my hair done.

Here is what I used:

Invati Exfoliating Shampoo - Not overly soapy and really feels nice on your scalp

Invati Thickening Conditioner - You only need a bit but it does the job

Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair - This made my hair so smooth and made styling a trick!

Sometimes I forget just how important it is to treat my hair nicely and this was a nice reminder. I am going to continue to use these products  through the Winter as I know my hair will benefit, especially with the cold weather coming.

I'd love to hear what some of your favourite hair products are for Winter - share in the comments!

xxToodalooKatie

Patterns and Simple Colours

Hello friends!

So today I am sharing a quick post with a recent OOTD that I wore. Because I have a small wardrobe, I now really make an effort to have all season clothing - things I can transition from Summer to Winter with the addition of tights and a cardigan, for example. When I visited the new Simply Be shop on Oxford street in London, I fell in love with this black and white patterned blazer and knew straight away that it would help this comfy red strappy dress work for winter. I am really pleased with how it looks and can't wait to pair it with jeans too!

Blazer - Simply Be

Dress - Forever 21 +

Tights - M&S

Bag - M&S

Necklace - Black Hert Creatives

Tell me all your creative ways that you transition your wardrobe!

xxToodalooKatie

British Plus Size Awards!

Hello again everyone!

So last week I found out that I was nominated for the Best New Blogger category along with 5 other amazing bloggers. 

Although my blog has been around for what feels like ages, I have always felt like a bit of a quiet mouse in the blogosphere. My blog's identity and look has changed over time and has really become more and more me. It means so much to me to be recognized like this and to be nominated, so thank you for those who voted to get me nominated - I can't thank you enough.

If you read my blog and want to help, I would be forever grateful if you voted now to help me win!

Click here to go to the voting page and see all the nominations!

Thank you to all who have supported me and continue to support me everyday!

Love you all!

xxToodalooKatie

Having my five a day with Modcloth!

Good morning!

It's almost the weekend and I can't wait! I have only been back at work for a day and I am already needing a weekend. Today I am going to share with you my new favourite dress that  I ordered from the American site, Modcloth. If you haven't been on and had a mooch about in their plus or standard collection, go do it right away - it's the best!

This is the Bea & Dot Fresh Farmer's Market Dress which is now sold out. 

I love everything about it. I would say their sizing is a bit generous as I have room to wiggle in this dress. I also really love that the background is black because it will be easy to throw on a pair of tights, a cardigan and wear it through winter... fruits are for every season!

Dress : Modcloth

Shoes: Primark

Bag: Primark

All of my photos were taken in Southhampton whilst on a mini holiday with my family. It's beautiful there and part of me wishes that I lived in the little thatched roof cottage behind me in the photos. :)

Have you tried Modcloth?

XXToodalooKatie

Boohoo Plus - More like Woohoo Plus!

Hello friends!

So I have been bit quiet lately, as my parents were visiting from Canada and now my brother is staying too, which has been so nice! We have had such an amazing time and I can't wait to write a couple of posts about some of the special things we have done - one will be my first official restaurant  review... and it will be well worth it. In the meantime, I wanted to share my current Boohoo Plus wish list as I have been perusing the website endlessly admiring all the new things in the most recent collection. I'm also so pleased that they have collaborated with Nadia Aboulhosn. On payday, a couple of these will most definitely be mine...

Heather PU Quilted Biker Jean

Georgina 3/4 Sleeve V Neck Dress

Henrietta Leaf Print Shift Dress

Millie Metallic Skater 

I really think Boohoo has hit the nail on the head with the newest collection - I love the colours and textures and how many different styles there are. Roll on payday!

XX ToodalooKatie

Simply Be Open in London (Part 2)

Hello again!

So  on Sunday, myself and Hollie from Pretty Big Butterflies, Lucie from FatBeautyX, and Abi from A is for Abi decided we would all go together to have a mooch around the Simply Be shop as it's always more fun to shop with others.

We were given the downstairs changing rooms to use which are spacious and air conditioned with soft carpet and the amazing magic mirror. I could have just sat in them forever.

The sales assistants were amazing, and so helpful, grabbing us all the sizes we needed and makes helpful suggestions - and even serving up a cheeky bit of champagne!

Here are my top things that I tried on, including a couple of fun magic mirror shots!

I ended up going home with the blazer and a massive wishlist... oh how I love all of these items!

I think I will be expanding my floating wardrobe over the next couple of months to make room for all these glorious patterns and cuts!

You really can't put a price on trying something on - it makes a world of difference.

Thanks to all the lovely ladies at the shop for making our afternoon perfect!

XXToodalooKatie

Simply Be Open in London! (Part 1)

Good morning lovelies!

So last week, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you would have seen that I posted a pic in anticipation of the new Simply Be store opening on Oxford  Street in London. When I was finally able to visit, I was met with absolute joy. The shop is so well stocked and has all the latest pieces from both Simply Be and the brands they stock, like Joe Browns and Alice and You for example.

I spent a few minutes trying things on, like this amazing grid dress but had another visit planned with bloggers on Sunday so tried not to get too excited.

It turned out to be great timing, as I ran in to model and blogger Nadia Aboulhosn and blogger Kelly Brown from United states who were visiting and having a mooch around. They were both absolutely lovely and I'm so glad to have met them.

Since I have had many people ask me - here is where to find them:

I think this Simply Be store is everything we have always been asking for so be sure to pop over and check it out.

Stay tuned for our mini blogger trip that a few of us did yesterday - on the blog shortly!

XXToodalooKatie

Sunday Morning at Home - Coffee Remade

Happy weekend everyone!

So today's post is a little different than my usual outfit and fashion posts, but I would like to have my blog grow a little bit and feature more than just my fashion so I'm excited all the same. Today I am reviewing something that has improved my morning routine by making it tastier and way more hipster. I got this awesome little Lloytron grinder that works for anything from beans to spices (or similar), along with this delicious Cafedirect Machu Pichu coffee to test out*.

It was really easy to use, all I had to do was throw a good handful of beans into the grinder, pop on the lid and press down on the big button that says PRESS. 

After a few goes, around 30 seconds or so, I had a nice fine grind, ready for my french press coffee maker.

10 minutes later, I had a really soft and rich cup of coffee. I drink coffee everyday from a preground bag and I can tell you this does taste different. The oil from the beans stays and makes the coffee smooth and tastier. I didn't even bother with milk, because it was a really nice flavour.

I now have visions of myself grinding cinnamon for hot chocolate in the winter or maybe chocolate too - or using fresh ground coffee in cakes instead of instant... roll on Christmas baking!

XXToodalooKatie

*denotes items that were gifted

OOTD - Humming in Birds

Hello lovelies!

So this past weekend I attended a plus size swap run by Kirsty and Claire up in South London. The swap was amazing and even though I told myself that I wouldn't bring much home, I still managed to bring a bunch of lovely items back. 

I was so excited when Hollie pulled out this Marisota hummingbird dress as I originally tried it on at their pop-up Shapeology event but didn't have the funds to buy it at the time (you can see my post about it here).

This dress is a size bigger than what I had on in the original post but I love that it has long sleeves, is so soft and colourful too. It's been chilly in the mornings here and I think we are almost back into tights weather full time for the moment so this is exactly what I need.

Dress - Marisota via Fat Swap

Tights - Assets from Target (USA)

Flats - Primark via Fat Swap

Thanks Hollie for dressing me up!  I love how cute and effortless this look is!

Stay tuned for more swap finds... I really got some good bits!

XXToodalooKatie

Plus North - A Weekend in Leeds

 Hello lovelies!

Today I want to tell you about my weekend away at the plus size fashion weekend in Leeds called Plus North. I love attending these events, whether they be for bloggers or the public or both, because it's great to see so many lovely ladies who I only ever get a chance to chat to through Facebook or email and because it's a really nice atmosphere.

I was lucky enough to get to model for Yours Clothing on the Saturday for the catwalk event. Although the outfit was a little different to what I usually wear, I had tons of fun and shared the catwalk with so many other amazing girls. It was also a great opportunity to show off my new buzzed hair/mohawk thing which my lovely fiance, Steven, did for me the night before.

I have to say a big thank you to Abi  and Charlie for taking these photos otherwise I would have had none of myself modeling. 

It was great to catch up with friends who I don't get to see often enough because we don't live close to each other and also wonderful to finally meet people that I communicate with regularly from brands. It's nice to finally put a face to a name - and when it comes to bloggers it's also nice to finally meet some of them in person because a blog can say a lot about a person but it's not the same as chatting with them.

I had a great time modeling and far too much fun giggling with friends. I'm pretty sure our entire train car was less than impressed with our snorts of laughter both on the way to and back home from Leeds - but we were having too much fun to mind.

Did you go to Plus North? Did we meet? Tell me what you enjoyed most!

xxToodalooKatie

OOTD: Fall Blues

Good morning!

Today I am showing you my new favourite skirt that I found among the clothes in the clothing swap at Plus North. It's an Asos Curve cobalt blue swing style skirt in a longer length and I love it! The colour is perfect to welcome Fall (or Autumn as you all call it) in with.

Top: Monsoon (Old)

Skirt: Asos Curve

Shoes: Irregular Choice --- aren't they lush!?

Thanks to my lovely photographer Tara (follow her on Twitter) - She's the best!

What colours are you looking forward to wearing this fall?

xxToodalooKatie

French Curves - Le Tutu

Bonjour tout le monde! 

Je sais que je suis un jour de retard, mais ma nouvelle maison sur l'eau nous cause des ennuis, et j'étais  à Leeds pour Plus North ce week-end aussi (blog à suivre à ce sujet). 

French Curves est un challenge pour les blogeuse française avec un thème chaque mois. Ce mois-ci il ya deux, comme ce petit post sur le tutu est un poste spécial. 

Je n'ai que deux jupes tutu dans ma garde-robe et j'ai déjà présenté l'autre ici, dans ma première post de French Curves. Celui-ci est un jupon avec une tunique par-dessus et une chemise en dessous. 

J'ai couplé avec des collants noirs et des bottes Doc Martens. 

(Excusez ma coiffure, c'était une longue journée).

Hello everyone!

I know I am a day late with this blogging challenge, but my new boat house has been causing us some trouble and I was away last weekend in Leeds for Plus North (blog post to follow about this).

French Curves is a blogging challenge for French speaking bloggers with a theme each month. This month there are two, as this little post about the tutu is a special extra post.

I only have two tutu-like skirts in my wardrobe and I have already featured the other one here, in my first French Curves post. This one is an underskirt with a tunic over top and a shirt underneath.

I paired it with black tights and my Doc Martens.

I love this tunic because it has the best neckline and buttons along the button - it makes me feel very artsy.

(Pardon the messy hair, it had been a long day).

Shirt/Chemise - H&M (old/anicen)

Tunic - Received at Plus North Swap

Tights - M&S

Boots - Doc Martens

Have a look at what the other French Curvettes have posted for this challenge!
xxToodalooKatie