PORRIDGE N PICKLES OFFICIAL BLOG

Hey Everyone!
So today I have for you, a 'what's in my bag?' post. You've probably seen loads of these on Youtube and other blogs, but I myself have never done one.

So the bag that I am currently using, is this faux leather studded number from Topshop. It isn't currently on the Topshop website (not sure why?) but I know it is in a few high street stores! It has a studded front, and a non studded back. This I like, if the studs don't really tie in with what i'm wearing then I can just spin the bag around to show the plain side. It is also this gorgeous tan colour which goes with just about everything.
So the cross body strap is supposed to be attached via the metal hardware on the side of the bag (seen above). However, i'm not really a fan of this. The attachment is really far down the side of the bag so when the bag is hanging from this strap, it reduces the amount of space within the bag by a lot.
Instead, I attach the cross body strap to the hardware loops which attach the carry handles to the bag. It does mean that the distance between the two ends of the cross body strap are closer together, making the whole smaller but I don't really find this a problem as I generally wear it over the shoulder rather than cross body.
Right, onto what I keep in it...



I have no wrappers in this bag! I like to keep my bags nice and tidy... I also have no receipts floating around in this bag, I keep those bad boys in my purse or filed away in my diary.
Firstly, i'd like to talk about what I keep in the little zipped pocket of the bag (sadly there is only one of these zipped pockets). It's mostly little things, mainly because they are the only things that fit in there. So I keep two lip balms, one has an SPF and one doesn't. I also have a pen (never know when you are going to need one of those!), hair grips (i'm always in need of these because I wear my hair up most of the time), Nurofen which is basically just a make of Ibuprofen (i'm sadly always getting headaches...) and finally the bra straps from my strapless bra (this is my favourite bra and I wear it with all of my strappy tops so I keep the spare straps in my bag just incase I need them).
Next, I thought i'd show you the cosmetic type of products (although I showed you the lip balms earlier). With me I carry sun cream (because it is getting quite hot here now), a small compact mirror (this one is from Estee Lauder and I just love it. It was a christmas present from my parents) and the Garnier BB cream that I am currently trying out (I currently have a love hate relationship with this...)
I then have my headphones and little speaker. I love both of these products. I probably don't need to keep my speaker in there on a day to day basis, but I like to listen to my music through it when in the car just because the sound quality is so much better than my car speakers.
This is as you can see, just my bits and bobs. I keep carrier bags on me most of the time because here in Wales, we have to pay for a carrier bag. It isn't much, but it is money that doesn't need to be spent in that way. I also keep a little drinks bottle on me, Coke Zero is de-lish! Tissues I keep with me just incase I get the sniffles or spill something, i'm really clumsy.
Finally there are the larger things that I carry with me. These include my purse (I talked about this here), my diary, sunglasses and phone. I generally carry these with me everywhere I go, they truly are my essentials.

So today I thought i'd give a little insight into my favourite apps for the iPad. My iPad is like my right hand man, I take it everywhere with me and do everything on it; apart from my assignments, I guess they require a little more 'room'. I probably should have taken these pictures after cleaning the cases screen cover...
Firstly, i'd like to show you the Afterlight app. This thing is pure genius and just £0.69! For basic image editing it is the most simple, yet powerful application i've come across. It gives you an array of photo filters, borders and textures. I find it perfect for editing photos i'd like to put up on the blog.
For photo's that require a more sophisticated form of editing, Photoshop Touch is the go to app for when you are on the go! Offering you a little less than Photoshop CS does, it still allows you to play with the basics such as curves, brightness/contrast, shadows/highlights, colour balance, noise reduction and many more! You can also select certain pixels, the whole image, cut, copy and paste. Obviously I wouldn't recommend it as a replacement to the actual Photoshop CS, but for on the go, this really is a competent application! To me, it was a little pricey at £6.99 but i've found that for me, it was well worth it.
Have you ever heard of the Eyewitness application? That's what this is. It is an application brought to you by the Guardian newspaper. Everyday an image is uploaded with a little box containing a small bit of information about the picture shown. In that box you can also see who the photographer is and if you click the 'info' button, you often are given a 'Pro Tip'; if you are lucky, it will also tell you the camera used to take the picture along with the settings. The app is free, but if you choose to subscribe, more images will be available to you on a daily basis. I haven't gone for this option though, i'm more than happy with just the one image a day.
This is the 50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic. I believe that it originally costed £2.99 although i'm unable to check that now as it says 'Open' where the price normally is, so don't quote me on that! So anyway, in this little app there are obviously, the 50 greatest photographs of national geographic, however there is also a whole tale to go with each photograph. You can view how the image originally looked when it ran in the publication and you even get a little biography on the photographer. When I first saw this app I believed that it would be a simple collection of the 50 photographs so the stories and biographies were a nice surprise. The images are just gorgeous and I recommend everybody to try out this app, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

To give you an idea of some basic things you can do on both the Afterlight app and the Photoshop Touch app, here is:

• An original image.
• Here is the image after I added the 'Hellow' filter in the Afterlight app and altered the brightness and contrast.
• Here is the same image after turing it black and white and playing with the curves in Photoshop Touches.

Do you have any apps you would like to recommend?

Make: Nikon
Name: 35mm AF-S f/1.8 G DX
Filter Size: 52mm
Cost new: £150.00 (here)

I brought this lens with the idea of it being my go to lens as well as (or an alternative to) the 18 - 55mm standard lens that the Nikon D5100 comes with. I read countless reviews and looked at many pictures before I made this purchase. I also looked at brand new cost and second hand cost. I was lucky enough to find a second hand mint condition example on that specific auction site that I wont mention by name... wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I ended up making a £36 save which I can't say is to bad now that i've seen that the lens really is in mint condition! I considered buying the 35mm f/1.8's bigger brother, the f/1.4 but the price difference kind of made that decision for me! I have to say though, that I don't regret going for the f/1.8. It carries out the job that I want it to do perfectly! It works well in all conditions and produces pictures that are just so crisp. Many people have described the bokeh produced by this lens as rather ugly, caused by how crisp the lens actually is. I'm not sure whether I totally agree with this or not; I don't really find anything to be hideous about the bokeh produced by this lens, but I guess that is dependent on taste so check the images bellow to make your own judgement!

Would I recommend this lens?
Yes! It is brilliant, I really do love it.
Would I recommend this lens over the 50mm?
I guess that is all dependent on where you take most of your pictures and what you like to frame. Many people have said that there isn't much point investing in both lenses. However, I did and i've found that for me I made the right decision because they both have there strengths and weaknesses focal length wise.
For all the fancy twiddly information, please check the lens spec here.

Check out these:

• Here is a review that I really did like. It is between the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 but they do talk about all the good bits (as well as some bad bits) about this brilliant lens!
• Here is a basic look at a few f/stops. 
• Here is a link showing an example of the bokeh produced at f/1.8.
• Here is where you can find all the images that i've taken and posted on the blog using this lens.

For Christmas of 2012 I was brought my very first ever designer purse; a Mulberry long locked purse, glossy coat in the colour dark blush. Being the first ever designer purse (real purse, not like my LV key pouch which is more of a pouch... than purse) i'd laid my hands on I was a little excited. With that, I thought i'd let you know all the little details i've learnt about this great piece.

After noting that the metal work on my Mulberry Alexa scratches with ease, I decided to keep the plastic protection on this metal work (well as much of it as I could) for as long as possible to help prevent them getting damaged. You see, the metal locks on most of the Mulberry items are large and extremely shiny, in fact they remind me a bit of tinted mirrors! This turns out to have been a wise choice as I use the purse all day everyday so there would have bound to have been one deep scratch on the front of the lock by now! If you're a little more delicate with your purses, or alternate regularly, then you don't need to worry about this so much.
Pocket wise, this purse has three large ones as well as one pocket for coins and six card slots.
In pocket one I place all kinds of bits and pieces I like to keep with me. For example, my Metro card from my trip to New York City last summer (I actually ended up with four of these because we couldn't quite get the hang of how they worked...). When we left, it still had a few dollars on it (not that i'm going to be using it anytime soon); it also has some sentimental value and I just, like to keep it with me. Also, if i'm in a hurry I stuff receipts in this slot as well.
This next pocket is right by the six card slots and so here I keep the cards that don't fit, such as my NUS card and parking tickets when out shopping (beats putting them in a pocket and forgetting where you put them when you come to the ticket machine!)
This last pocket is a little smaller than the other two and so here I stuff receipts that I need to keep hold of for a little while. I also put train tickets and bus tickets in this slot. It's large enough for a few items similar to these in size.
Over all, I am really pleased with this purse. It couldn't match my own personal style more, which I know sounds silly because it is plain and simple, but that's it! It also has plenty of slots for all the many pieces of paper that I like to carry around with me. If i'm lucky (as in, it happens to be a day where the pieces of paper are a little less in quantity than normal), I can also fit my phone (iPhone 4S) in the front slot as well, which means this purse dubs as a clutch bag too!

Do you know about 'The Outnet'? Nope? Well I didn't either until yesterday when I searched for "hunter wellie sale" on google. Well The Outnet are a sister company of net-a-porter, which i'm sure you've probably heard of already? They seem to be a little more well known, well here anyway. The Outnet, unlike net-a-porter, sell last seasons designer trends at a fraction (and I really do mean fraction) of their original price. If I wasn't saving for a trip in the summer, I probably would have brought my bank account to it's knees, but I didn't... Instead though, I did buy myself some Hunter wellington boots at 40% off there RRP, and I mean really, can a basic black (well they have a bit of neon on them as well) wellington boot really go out of fashion?! Nope, I don't think so either.

These will actually be the second pair of Hunter wellingtons that i've owned. The first pair were a bright yellow, matte finish short boot, similar of which can be viewed here. Overall they made a great pair of wellies. The fit was amazing on my feet, I mean they actually fitted around my feet, which I find is unlike most wellies. The shortness of them however meant that streams, and really just water in general, proved to be hazardous as it was in danger of spilling over the top. The top of the wellies also rubbed my legs to pieces when I wore them with shorts during the summer (minor technicalities, you know, it was fixed with some of the welly socks that Hunter sell separately). This is why I brought a tall boot for a change; no danger of water leakage and no blisters on my legs!

If you'd like to view these wellingtons on The Outnet you can do so by clicking here. I unfortunately took the very last pair in this style, but they do have some other great styles left if you search 'hunter' in the search bar. If instead you would like to view Hunter's current range, you can do so by clicking here.

For future reference, if you'd ever like to visit The Outnet again, you can do so by clicking their icon found on the bottom left sidebar of the Porridge N Pickles blog page.

Here are some photographs that I shot in relation to the review I wrote about my new Scaramanga bag, you can view the review here. You can find the Scaramanga website by clicking here.

So the other day (Wednesday to be precise) I purchased a bag for the first time from Scaramanga and by Thursday morning it had arrived (I know, quick right!?) Scaramanga are sellers of the most gorgeous antiqued leather bags of all different styles. Each Scaramanga leather bag is made in the heart of Britain using traditional methods and tools.
I stumbled across Scaramanga after conducting a search on good old google, what I searched for, "vintage leather bag". After searching through a great number of websites, and having no look finding what I was looking for I might add, I finally came to Scaramanga and even though they aren't exactly vintage bags, they still seemed to have that vintage feel.
As soon as it had arrived I knew I had made the right decision. The leather of the bag is deliciously soft and supple while still holding it's shape (don't you just hate it when the leather is as stiff as cardboard?! well, maybe you don't...) and it already looks like it has seen years of wear when in fact it hasn't! The length of the strap is adjustable in the same way you would alter your belt and there are three separate pockets, two interior and one exterior (always a helpful feature for those little nicknacks that always seem to get lost even in the smallest of bags...). I just love it, can you tell?
I will update you all soon with some style photos (just have to wait for it to stop raining) :) You can visit the Scaramanga website by clicking here.

I have been looking for a deep red lipstick for a while now and I was torn between two makes, MAC and Topshop. MAC lipsticks are priced at £14.00 whereas the Topshop lipsticks are just £8.00. In the end I chose to go with the Topshop lipstick in 'Hazard' for many reasons; 1. There isn't a MAC store for miles whereas there is a Topshop store just 30 minutes away 2. Topshops lipsticks are a lot cheaper and 3. they were pretty much the exact same shades and i'd heard that the quality was pretty much the same :) I am extremely pleased that I went with this decision. The Topshop lipstick is extremely pigmented, moisturising but not shiny like a lipgloss (I prefer matt lipsticks over glossy ones), the packaging is pretty neat and it's a lot cheaper! I also get a discount which makes it even cheaper, boooyaaa. Overall I think i'd give it a 9/10 just because something has to be extremely brilliant for me to give it a 10/10 ;)

Have you guys tried the Topshop lipsticks? How did you find them? :)

Hey everyone! :) Today I thought i'd share with you 10 items that I would re-purchase.   Firstly I have to show you my pair of black Emu boots which can be purchased here. I really love these! I brought them brand new and boxed from ebay because we all know i'm one for a bargain... I wasn't quite sure how much wear I was actually going to get out of them but it turns out I wear them ALL the time. They keep my feet warm and cozy in this chilly weather we are having and also, they're black so they go with everything! You can see they are already getting dirty and warn looking...  I then have MACs Perfectly Plus Brush Kit: Essential from the 2012 holiday collection. I brought this because the size of the brushes is perfect! They are a great small, compact, travel size, great for putting in your makeup bag on the go! You can see from the pictures I still keep the plastic wrappers on my brushes even though i've used them. This is mainly so that product doesn't mix between brushes :) Unfortunately, this has now sold out online but it still can be viewed here. Check out your nearest MAC retailer, they may still have some in stock!  Next are my Toms Classic Polka Woolen flats found here. I brought these the other day as a replacement for the basic black ones I owned which I wore constantly throughout my trip to new york city and now they are just unwearable... So really, I have already re-purchased these? The Nike+ Fuelband, you utter GENIUS! This thing is brilliant. It tells you how many calories you've burnt, how many steps you've taken and converts these things into 'nike fuel' which you can view in your own little profile on the Nike Fuelband app (available for free from the app store). I thoroughly enjoy seeing the little man dance across the screen when you've reached your daily goal... You can view the Nike+ Fuelband here. AHA, the Louis Vuitton Key Pouch. I've spoken about this before in a little mini review I did here on the blog which you can take a look at by clicking here. This little key pouch coin purse thing, is the most handy thing in the whole world, probably. I use it everyday, it fits in my pocket, hangs on my jeans or if you wanted to, you could even carry it! It fits all the things that I need it to :) YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat, Touche Eclat and Mascara Volume Effect Faux Curls. Need I say more? These things are amazing. My everyday essentials would defiantly be these three. Le Teint Touche Eclat is my go to foundation. It provides a nice light coverage for hours on end and the colour suits me perfectly! (I wear B10) The mascara doesn't clump and provides a nice length for everyday use. As you all probably already know, the Touche Eclat is the go to for removing those dreaded dark circles and adding some luminosity to the face. GEEK, that's me! I love Topshops new 'geek' line as i'm going to refer to it as :) I have this specific tee in both burgundy and navy (which i'm wearing right now). They are nice and loose fitting and something that anybody could throw on in the morning and still look cool! ;D You can view the burgundy one here and the navy one here. Finally, the Otterbox. I have a commuter on my iPhone and let me tell you, it has saved my poor phone from the dreaded cracked screen many a time... Just this morning I caught the charger cable and my phone landed flat on its face on my hardwood floors. It's scary how much of a cluts I am... Always be prepared, buy yourself an Otterbox here! What are 10 products you'd re-purchase? :)
Disclaimer - this post is not sponsored in anyway. All opinions are my own.