Stepping into Spring: Hitcheds’ perfect date night look

As blossom slowly flutters to our feet and pretty pastel shades are here, there and everywhere, it’s the perfect time to create a cute yet sexy outfit for your date night, as Hitched perfects below.

Back when it was dark and grey the SS15 catwalk looks promised us patchworks of vintage prints, bursts of sugary colours in a well assessed balance of prettiness and polish.

With a date night meal planned with Nik and the weather feeling positively like Spring like I decided to put together a Spring date night look – high street style! 

My gorgeous spring date look

Top: Forever21+ bodysuit £9 wearing a 1X

I like the neat, tucked in look when wearing a pencil skirt. The material of this bodysuit is thick – making it perfect for the still chilly spring evenings. Long sleeves also help with self-conscious arm folk like myself.

Shoes: Primark £9 wearing a size 4

In love with the pastel blue colour of these shoes and they cost less than a tenner. The heel height is reasonable meaning I can walk confidently. This prevents the husband shoe moan… 

“Why wear shoes you can’t walk in?” 

“Because they are pretty… dur” 

Feeling flirty in my floral print!

Skirt: New Look £17.99 wearing a size 14

I love a pencil skirt dressed up or down and this one had lots of positive factors; the material (thick and stiff) and the pansy pattern were the main too. 

Pretty in pink with the perfect clutch

Clutch bag: Primark £6 

Big enough to hold everything and pretty. A cheap looking chain does come attached but this can be hidden inside the bag. 

Hair 

My extensions are currently a work in progress, so hair up was a must. Worn with a braid to the side and a messy bun. 

 

Hair in progress.. rollers a must!

 

Make-up

Sometimes I favourite the groupie rock band look – dark lips and backcombed hair, but for this look I went pretty and pink. Contouring a base with the Sleek contouring kit (light). Eyes bare with Benefit Roller Lash mascara on my lashes, heavy blush and pink lips. 

 

Mastered the contour with Sleek MakeUP

  

 

Are you embracing spring in your wardrobe yet? Pastel shades yay or nah – let us know in the comment or tweet us @hitchednditched 🙂

Love Sam aka Hitched xxx

International Women’s Day: The women who have inspired Hitched

International Women’s Day is an opportunity for the world to celebrate women and their achievements. First held in 1909 in the United States – International Women’s Day is now celebrated in countries across the globe each year on March 8th. 

To celebrate ‘Hitched’ and ‘Ditched’ thought they would share the women that have inspired them – go girls!

My Mother 



Common known in my family as Marge / Ma – I’m not really sure why as her name is Viv; it started years ago and stuck. 

My Ma didn’t have it easy growing up – nowa days people often moan they are poor, but I doubt they would want to swap with my Mums childhood. She has had to work extremely hard to get where she is but never makes that apparent. 

My Mum started her training to become a nurse at 17 and to this day has put in over 40 years of service in the NHS! My Mum went back to work when both me and my sister were babies, fitting night shifts in between school runs and dummy tantrums and that’s pretty inspirational in its itself! 

My Mum is very kind and will help anyone out if they ask – but she is not a pushover. Although we don’t always see eye to eye my Mum is always there for my family. I’d like to think I’m the same. 

My Auntie Shirley 



I don’t ever attempt to hide it – Shirley is my favourite Auntie.  Fact. It has been commented on that our personalities are very similar (and we both love wine!)  

I always have and still do see Shirley as a super glamourous lady – no one makes Primark clothes look so good! Shirley radiates confidence and has a great attitude. A proper girly girl who loves clothes and make-up – who wouldn’t want her as an Auntie. 

Although I paint a pretty descriptive image Shirley is super strong and a few years ago got the dreaded C word. Cancer. But even after losing all her hair and being unimaginable ill, she fought it and won. Now we would be the first to raise a glass to that! 

My friend Natalie



They say “if a friendship lasts longer than 7 years, psychologist say it will last a lifetime” and we more than have that covered. 

Nat has been in my life since I was about 4 or 5. We have been there for each other through friends, boys and hangovers! A bridesmaid at my wedding she spent the day before running errands with me, whilst wrapping the wedding favours in pink ribbons in the back of the car. 

Nat has always been there for me and lately has had a bit of a rough time, but handled everything like a pro! She is easily the strongest girl I know! Nat become a Mum at the end of last year and 3 months in has handled it all exactly how I expected – brilliantly. I am incredible proud to have her as my friend.

I’m lucky enough to have had so many inspirational women in my life – it was tough only high lightening a select few but if I wrote about all the inspirational women in my life I would be here for weeks! Happy International Women’s Day girls! 

Meet our new Hitched!

We’ve said a sad goodbye to our original Hitched – Mrs Lauren Parsons (sob!) as she ventures off to focus on her career outside of being a fabulous Wedded Miss.

We hunted high and low looking for someone perfect to fill her very glam shoes, and we found her! Meet Sam Harwood and learn more about her here!

Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013

Hitched & Ditched are very lucky ladies indeed- not only do we love blogging about all things love, life and laughter, but we were somehow shortlisted by Cosmopolitan magazine in the sex & relationship category. Unfortunately our gorgeous Hitched couldn’t attend on the night, but Ditched put on her best clobber, back combed that bouffant and headed to the swanky OXO Tower in London for bloggings version of the Oscars. Here’s how she got on…

Ditched rocking Boohoo’s monochrome finest

We were lucky enough to be shortlisted last year too, but knew this years event would be bigger, better and pinker- and boy oh boy Cosmo didn’t disappoint. Upon entering the gorgeous venue Ditched had her picture taken against the Cosmo background and felt like a mini celeb in the process, she then tottered away and was greeted by some lovely champagne- which was much needed to calm those ‘will we win’ nerves! As well as fizz, the lovely folk at Pinky Vodka were in hand to make a lush selection of drinks for a room full of blogging talent- we’re talking huge fashionistas, travel experts, foodies and event interior style icons.

As everyone started to mingle, Ditched met some amazing bloggers who deserve a huge shout out on here! My fave Fab Four of the night were the lovely Jen Stanbrook of love chic living, who is also a Nottingham lass and who won the best interior style blog on the night, Antonia of tidy away today who received highly commended in the same category, the gorgeous Sarah of the fashion ache , and finally the best dressed on the night (in our eyes definitely!) Jess of the travelista

As the drinks flowed everyone awaited to hear who would be crowned the lucky winners, and Ditched snuck to the front to grab a sneaky picture of the action…

We’re sad to say we didn’t win, but to say we haven’t actually done much on here for 2013, we are a million percent grateful to be shortlisted again- so a huge thank you to all who voted!

As the winners celebrated and the rest of the bloggers got rather tipsy, Ditched worked the room and enjoyed having a glitzy manicure, one too many cupcakes and tons of giggles in a fun photo booth.

At the clock struck ten and the curtain fell on another fab blog awards, there was only one thing left to do- collect the heaving goody bag and look back on a brilliant blog evening. We’d highly recommend any bloggers out there to enter next year, as win or lose you’ll have an amazing time!

WIN! A fabulous beauty goody bag

If you’re anything like us, your faces are arid from the harsh cold, you struggle to rise from your pit as 7am still resembles 3am, and the last time you truly pampered yourself was back in 2012; yikes. But never fear ladies, as we have conjured together a fabulous goody bag full of lush products to leave you feeling hotter than that Joey Branning bloke from Eastenders on a Summer’s day.

But what can I win? We hear you cry….

The Hitched & Ditched winter damage control kit includes *drum roll please*

2 Miners cheek tints
Kitoko hair cleanser and balm sachet
Spa Strength Within Beauty Supplements
Squeezed Lemon Face Mask
Philip Kingsley Elasticizer hair treatment
Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturiser
Right Guard Xtreme Dry deo
No More White Bits self tan mousse
Dead Sea Spa salt brushing sachet
Soap and Glory hand food cream
Susan Posnick mineral foundation
Boots Almond Body Butter
Victoria Beckham body lotion
Lily Lolo south beach bronzer
Miners plum lipstick
Mini Benefit eye potion
Nazila Love Glamour luxurious lashes
St Tropez everyday dark moisturiser
Anatomicals eye mask
Refreshers lip balm

WOW! So how do you win these beauty-luscious things? Simply drop us a line with the subject ‘Beauty Bag’ telling us why you deserve it, along with your contact details, to editor@hitchedandditched.co.uk

Good Luck ladies!

one entry per person. Competition ends Sunday 13th January

Wedding wardrobe woes

Our Wedded Miss has heard the words ‘I Do’ more than Miss Independent has been told ‘it’s not you, it’s me.’ Here she opens her wardrobe and vast make up counter to talk about that perfect wedding look.

I really wanted to go for a summery look for our good friends ‘the Cravens’ wedding, as me and the hubby had just come back from Ibiza and I had a lovely tan, plus the weather was looking promising so I wanted to make the most of it!

My dress was a peachy, nude colour from good old Topshop (£30), pleated with spaghetti straps and just above the knee. You don’t want to look like you are going on a night out when you attend an all day wedding or like you’re trying to out do the bride! So this dress was perfect not too clingy or too short! Plus it was excellent for me having over done it on the all inclusive the week before because it was nice and flowing!

My shoes are from New Look (£27.99) and went perfectly with my dress and summer theme. The peach strip gives them a bit of colour and the pearls and diamanté a bit of bling which I love and with a tan the colours are gorgeous. Considering how high they are they were reasonably comfortable, although obviously I was still dancing barefoot at midnight!!

I wanted to keep my make up fairly light and colour coordinated with my outfit so I started off with Garnier BB cream for oily/combination skin which gives surprisingly good coverage. I used Posietint by Benefit on my cheeks and Soap and Glory Love at First Blush to give me a rosy glow and highlight my cheekbones.

Obviously i applied lashings of They’re Real by benefit on my top and bottom lashes and then some Urban Decay eyeshadows on my lids in Scratch (peach), Snatch (glitter peach) and Uzi (silver)!
I always line my eyes with Benefit waterproof eyeliner because it’s amazing and I can’t leave the house without it!

I applied a MAC lipstick in Vegas Volt which is a lovely peachy orange colour and goes well with a tan and has great staying power.
I finished off by spritzing my face with Urban Decay All Nighter make up setting spray to fix it all in place for a long day of smiling, crying, talking and laughing!

Because I already had a tan (jammy!) I just used some Sally Hanson Airbrush Legs tan glow leg make up to even out my legs and give them a gorgeous sparkle – the stuff is fabulous, like wearing tights but better!!

I finished off spritzing myself with my Chloe Rose perfume which I bought especially for my own wedding and brings back beautiful memories.

And then I was ready to enjoy the wedding of Michael and Louise – it was a fabulous and fun day and I felt beautiful as well which is a bonus.

A Bad Case of The Singles

If I had a penny for every time someone gave me that look when I said I was without a bloke, I would be able to buy 2 and a half Freddo bars. But what exactly is it about those people who are coupled off which makes them look at you like an alien? Here our Miss Independent delves into the depths of deepest singledom to shed some light on this new found disease known as ‘The Singles’

I remember it clear as day, word for word; the time I fled to a sunnier climate with my cousin and had my first encounter of being diagnosed with ‘The Singles.’ My cousin has been with her fella ever since Paris Hilton learnt the art of serial dating, so it was only right that we happened to meet 2 couples when abroad who had also been together longer than time itself. While I was trying to get my sunbathe on, I was constantly surrounded by conversations themed on ‘things that your other half does’ and ‘ohh yes we will probably have a house or bambino by then.’

It wasn’t until I coughed and they realised I was actually still there, that one half of smug couple numero one asked whether I had a boyfriend, to which I replied ‘no not at the moment’, and that caused the sympathetic tilt of the head along with ‘aww don’t worry, you’ll find someone soon.’ Well at 23 years old, I certainly didn’t have images of my growing old with a beard and 20 cats, so worrying was the last thing on my mind after a previous relationship lasting 2 years.

So just how long has this been going on, and is being single really something people should fear in a time where women are choosing careers over caring boyfriends? I believe that having The Singles is something you either embrace or eternally fear; I say enjoy the extra space in your double bed, not having to shave your legs for 6 weeks (yes I do that sometimes, and what?) and just simply taking care of yourself while the right person skips along beside you without you blinking an eye.

I feel that asking someone if they are in a relationship falls under the bracket of ‘things you ask people you have only just met’, along with ‘what do you do for a living?’ and ‘where are you from?’ But I would never tilt my head and go ‘aww’ if someone told me that they were unemployed or worked in a factory putting lids on toothpaste tubes then condesend them by saying ‘don’t worry, you’ll find a job soon!’, so why do people feel the need to cast me out like a lepar when I reveal that I am without a spooning partner and do not receive a regular forking?

If I look back to previous dating experiences, I should have been locked up for crimes against commitment, as I was eternally looking for that Mr Right, when many guys were just Mr Right-now-I-Just-Want-To-See-Your-Boobies. So I am previously guilty of placing my own fear about catching ‘The Singles’, when in theory I was looking in all the wrong places for a so called cure.

I believe people project their fear of being single on to other people, such as myself, and when they are so happily loved up in a relationship they forget what being single was like and relate it to a time where life sucked, and everything wasn’t one big fluffy marshmallow. But my theory as a long term member of the ‘Single Ladies Society’ (holla), is that the most important relationship you will ever have in life is with yourself, and if you are not a member of team you then how can you expect blokes to get off the bench and join in the game?

I can happily scream at the top of my lungs- My name is Miss Independent and I proudly suffer from ‘The Singles’, so to all of you who are wondering how I cope without any man veg to grope or stubble to rub up against, I say “just fine thanks” as I know when the time is right someone will put a ring on it; so for now I have no cause to say ‘Uh Oh Oh.’

 

We’ve made the shortlist for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2012!

O M G…

Hitched & Ditched have only gone and made the shortlist for the best Sex & Relationship Blog in the Cosmo Blog Awards 2012! While Wedded Miss & Miss Independent down a few glasses of something fizzy in celebration, please log on and start voting for us now.

You can vote via the following link: http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blog-awards-2012-vote

Please note you can only vote once using one email address, and you can find us under the sex and relationships category. A massive thank you to everyone who nominated us; there’s plenty more to come!

                                                                                                            Loadsa Love

Miss Independent: Hiding that hangover

 

Rain’s lashing against your window, the duvet is your only friend, and the weekend hangover is still looming as the 6am wake up call alerts you to the horror of Monday morning; welcome to the harsh reality of many party girls, including our very own Miss Independent. But just what weapons are needed from your make up arsenal to go from hungover harlet to morning marvel?  Our Ditched darling reveals all…

After hitting the dance floor harder than Jodie Marsh in the weights section of the gym, and choosing neat Amaretto as my drink of choice, it is no wonder my skin is crying out for some serious hydration, stat. Luckily for me and my arrid face, the fabulous people at Benefit Cosmetics have heard my cries and come to the rescue with their Total Moisture Facial Cream.

Complete with mango butter and natural plant oils, this wonder cream immediately quenches the skin for a long lasting effect; much like that three day hangover I often struggle to shake.

£26.50 at Boots and www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

With time never on your side when it comes to a Monday morning, applying a full face of make up to hide the weekends sins is never going to happen; it is more likely that I’ll hear back from my ‘one night thang’ than this occuring. So praise be to the gods of Soap & Glory for creating a 2 in 1 primer and foundation, aptly called ‘Show Good Face’, which creates a flawless finish to make that drunken night out a thing of the past; if only erasing the Facebook pictures was as simple…

£11 from www.soapandglory.com

 

Being a single girl about town; it’s my eyes that give it all away, so if I hit the pillow at 3am after a night of naughtiness, the whole world will know about it in the wink of a fake lashed eye. For this I like to use a mascara to add natural length and volume, coupled with another Benefit eye potion to cover up any weekend baggage.

DreamWeave mascara has been dubbed the ‘eyelash extension in a tube’ and the change at the bottom of my clutch bag covers the cost, at only £12 for 6ml.

£12 available at www.wrinkleregime.com

 

To cover the sins on display under my eyes, I choose Erase Paste from Benefit, which is dubbed as a brightening camouflage, and targets dark circles, discolouration and imperfections; if only the look of disapproval on my bosses face for lateness was as easy to cover up…

£19.50 House of Fraser

 

It’s over to you…

Hitched and Ditched love writing about things from a married and single perspective; from make up to break ups, single life to settling down, we cannot get enough of it. But what do YOU want to see more of?

We want to know what you like reading about, and the things that keep you coming back for more; after all we do this for our readers and want to see them coming back each time.

Please comment below or email kelly@hitchedandditched.co.uk with any input that you may have.

ALSO: A massive thank you to those who have already nominated us in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2012. Nominations close on the 30th June, and you can vote for us as many times as possible. It would be a dream come true for us to be short listed, so please vote by clicking here.

 

Happy reading and voting guys! New content coming very soon!

Thanks