8.29.2014

The British Tag

 1.How many cups of tea do you drink a day and how many sugars?
Well I let the whole British drinking tea stereotype down here as I don't drink tea at all. Neither do I drink coffee but, give me a hot chocolate any day. Bring on Autumn for plenty of cups of hot chocolate!

2. Favourite part of your roast?
It has to be the roast potatoes, especially when my dad's making it. My other favourite is peas, I love peas okay? I don't have roast dinners very often at home so I'm definitely dreaming of my Christmas roast dinner already. 

3. Favourite dunking biscuit?
I don't really dunk biscuits but, if I had to I'd choose chocolate digestives because imagine all that melted chocolate loveliness. I do however, love a good custard cream! 

4. Favourite quintessentially British past time?
Picnics, I haven't been for one in years but, I have happy childhood memories of having a few picnics. My other favourite is definitely getting fit to burst with have a big Sunday lunch. I also enjoy being cuddled up with my boyfriend, wrapped in a duvet watching something on Netflix whilst you can hear the sound of the British rain hitting my bedroom window. 

5. Favourite word?
Pebble! I do have a favourite saying that my Dad uses that is 'genie mac' which you use like 'genie mac that's expensive!' 

6. Cockney rhyming slang?
Pass me the dog and bone! I never use Cockney rhyming slang though, I'm too Northern for that.

7. Favourite sweet?
Strawberry Bon Bons are my favourites but, as a child and now (when I can find them) I loved Candy Sticks. Does anybody remember them? I used to pretend they were cigarettes and I would hold them between my fingers like they were the real deal because I was a badass child, obviously...


 8. What would your pub be called?
Something really random like the Mad Ferret, I don't really know aha 

 9. No.1 British person? 
I don't have just one favourite so, I'll just rattle off a list of the top ones; David Attenborough, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.


 10. Favourite shop/restaurant?
I'll give you three favourite shops; Topshop, Lush and Boots. I don't really have a favourite restaurant but, I do love all the cute independent cafe/restaurants in the Northern Quareter (Manchester).

11. What British song pops into your head?
S Club 7 songs! There ain't no party like an S Club partayyy! I was obsessed by them as a child; I saw them live twice, had all there albums, I had a t-shirt with a clear pocket on the front to insert the photo of your favourite member in, I watched the S Club tv programme religiously and oh I had pink feather trimmed cow boy hat that I bought when they were touring. 

 12. Marmite? 
No thank you! Isn't the colour enough to put you off? Any lovers of Marmite fancy this?

Yet another wishlist...

It took me forever to get this post done to then realise that few of the items are now out of stock (Nightmare!) I have decided to just leave it, I wanted to show you all what my style is and what I like.

 My favourite part of the burgundy midi dress is the square neckline, I think it can be quite flattering. I definitely need a mustard coloured jumper like the one above, it will definitely be my chosen colour for autumn. I thought that the grey long sleeved crop top and the pink midi skirt would go really nicely together.  I will definitely be purchasing the paisley skirt from Miss Selfridge (come on it's Paisley! Of course I'd spot that one!) My mum has kindly bought me both the trousers and the blazer in the top right corner, which I'm in love with! The trousers are such a lovely fit and the monochrome patterned capri trousers are very 60's (oh hello Bridgette Bardot). I hope the wear the both of them to my Uncles wedding with a white shirt. I featured the Fred Perry because for agesss I've wanted a Fred Perry dress! I really wish they had my size in the black floral dress from Nasty Gal, it's lovely especially with the turtle neck and it looks like it would be very flattering on.

1. @Urban Outfitters for £8 // 2. @Amazon for £16.97 // 3. @Howkapow for £7.95 // 4. @Urban Outfitters for £10 // 5. @Topshop for £7 each // 6. @Lucie Sheridan for £11.50 // 7. @feelunique for £10 // 8. @Topshop for £4 // 9. @UrbanOutfitters for £24 * // 10. @Topshop for £4 // 11. @Next for £35 // 12. @Paperchase for £5

As you may have noticed from what I've put in this bits and bobs wishlist, I adore Sausage dogs!!! How cute is that pencil case by Lucie Sheridan though? Oh and you can't deny how cool the wooden sausage dog lamp is! I love flicking through pictures so the Paris and London books are perfect for me. Another item I'd like for university is the cute panda wearing a bow tie notebook for making lecture notes in. You may or may not know that I'm studying illustration at University and I'm very interested in fashion illustration so, the 100 years of Fashion Illustration book is right down my street! Moving on to another notebook in my favourite colour, red. I have wanted to try the invisibobble for ages now, a kink free hair after having my hair up? sounds like a dream to me! I'm forever getting paper cuts, ouchies from shoes so I thought that the little tin of plasters would be very appropriate for me and it helps that the tin looks super cute.Yes, everybody that is a Grumpy cat stuffed toy you are witnessing it is! I put the Moomin badges on my wishlist as I've loved Moomin from being a little girl, I thought it would be a nice little reminder of my childhood and being a child. That is another pencil case, I thought this was a bit of fun and would make me giggle every time I got it out of my bag to work had on my illustrations.

8.16.2014

Get Their Look - Alexa Chung

As you may or may not know Alexa Chung is a favourite fashion icon of mine! If you have never heard of Alexa Chung (shock, horror), she's a model, writer, fashion icon and presenter, well what hasn't she done really(Oh she also once dated Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys). I've loved her style for years now mainly due to the mixture of cool tomboy and effortless femininity look she achieves and her love for sixties fashion. With style inspiration coming from the likes of Jane Birkin and Françoise Hardy she couldn't go wrong! So today I thought I would do a 'how to get her look' post, showing clothes that will help give a sense of her style. The products I show below may not be the exact clothes she wears, I'm just re-creating her style from items from the high street. NOTE: Alexa Chung does where more colourful clothing than shown in this post, I just love black and white clothing too much.

1. Trench Mac @ M&S // 2. Gingham smock dress @ The Whitepepper // 3. Corduroy mini skirt @ Anna Field // 4. Vintage Levis cut off shorts @ asos marketplace // 5. Striped top @ H&M // 6. Black jeans @ Topshop // 7. Leather biker jackets @ Warehouse // 8. Dungarees @ Rokit 
With the denim cut off shorts you could team it with a band t-shirt which could also be worn with the skinnies. The dungarees can be worn with the striped top OR an oversized t-shirt and pop some converses on. A leather jacket can go with ANYTHING! I think the gingham smock dress is so cute and very Alexa. A corduroy mini skirt would look nice with a nice shirt/blouse or a cute t-shirt and cardigan. NOTE: Don't forget a trusty navy jumper for those chillier days!
 If the image on the left doesn't make you want to own a tux, I don't know what will! Oh and how dreamy is that skirt??? I don't think that my student budget will stretch quite that far.
To get one of my favourite Alexa Chung formal wear looks I'd combine the white shirt with the black velvet bow tie, the burgundy blazer and the cigarette trousers. I would pair the square neck crop top with the 3D rose skirt and some nice flats or heels on your feet. The leather mini skirt would go quite nicely with a oversized t-shirt OR a baggy blouse OR a shirt and jumper when it's a bit nippy. I'd wear the Chelsea boots in the below section with the collared dress.
                            
With converses you can wear them with denim shorts, skinny jeans and if you're like me with a skater dress. Am I the only one who likes the worn and scruffy look rather than super-squeaky clean look with Converses? Alexa has a lovely Chanel quilted bag, I found a much much more affordable quilted bag from ASOS for a similar look. The most expensive item in this whole post are the lovely Charlotte Olympia velvet kitty slippers because lets face it they're too perfect not to feature! I love the colour of the fedora, the berry colour is a nice change from a usual black colour. I have seen a few photos of Alexa wearing them with her leather jacket and black skinnies OR included in her festival wear. Why not try a pair of Superga trainers for a super laid back fun look perfect for adventures in the sun.


1. Alexa for Eyeko eye set @ Eyeko // 2. Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser @ Selfridges // 3. Lipstick shade 'Lady in Danger' @ MAC // 4. Nail polish in shade 'to buy or not to buy' @ Essie // 5. Nail polish in shade 'faint of heart @ MAC // 6. Beach matt salt spray @ Boots
To get Alexa's cat eye liner look I'd recommend getting your hands on Alexa's eye set for Eyeko. I recently read in an interview that Alexa prefers to wear a tinted moisturiser than a foundation, she uses Laura Mercier's tinted moisturiser which helps to create her natural dewy look. She has expressed a love for MAC's lipstick in the shade 'Lady In Danger' (I can't blame her it's a lovely colour), YSL lipsticks are another favourite of hers. During the interview she mentioned two nail varnish favourites; shade 'Faint Hearted' by Mac and shade 'To Buy or Not To Buy' by Essie, they are both very subtle yet flattering colours. I have included the Beach matt salt spray to help create the bed head wavy hair that Alexa has. If you want to create this look try spraying hair all over with the texturizing salt spray, twist hair into a secure bun on your head and then sleep on it OR if you're in a rush towel dry washed spritze hair with the salt spray, scrunch and leave for the wind to do it's job.

If you would like me to do a tutorial of how to get her make-up or hair look then please leave a comment if you do.

Do you have a favourite item of clothing or beauty product that I have featured in this post or any that you'd like to try?

Would you like me to do more of these 'Get Their Look' posts? please leave a comment

8.09.2014

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

I had heard many good things about Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in the shade Fair 1, it had been recommended so highly by other bloggers so I had to try it out. It took me ages to find the concealer in my shade (due to it's popularity), I got a bit too excited when I saw that Boots finally had my shade in stock!

                     
The concealer applicator is a doe foot applicator (excuse the fact the writing is coming off the tube).
    
ooh cheeky swatch of it show you all the colour of it (may look a bit darker due to lighting)
  
This is how it looks blended in well.

The coverage of the concealer is great and blends in perfectly as you can see from my above photo. It does have a slight yellowish tone to it when you first apply but, you can't notice it once blended. I tend to blend my concealer with my finger which works equally as well as it does when using a brush.
If you're like me and don't like wearing any to little make up in the warm weather then pop some of this concealer on and set with some powder then you're good to go. I'm pretty sure it doesn't last the whole 16 hours that it claims to as it  lasts about 5-7 hours for me. It doesn't last that long on my nose and some of my t-zone but, that could be due to the oiliness of my skin in those areas though. A quick re-application will fix that in a second though.
 All in all I'd say it's a bargain at £4.19 for the small amount you need to use due to how great the coverage is, lasting you a good while and it definitely does the job of concealing all your blemishes .


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