Pussy galore!

FREEDOM!

I handed in the dissertation on Friday (after 2 all-nighters!) and have spent the weekend catching up on sleep and writing huuuge to-do lists now I have time to actually do stuff. My final major project starts tomorrow, but it isn't due in until May so I am still considering myself free as a bird bird a little while longer!

I decided to dress quite nicely on hand-in day (I'd been in my pyjamas for about 5 days before hand!) as me and my uni pals were going to Wetherspoons afterwards for food and drinkies. I didn't get a picture of my outfit at the time, but have re-enacted it, as it is my new favourite outfit! Plus, you'll be spared the dead-in-the-eyes expression you get after being awake for 48 hours... On reflection I do look quite eye-dead in these pics too. Oh well!






The pussybow blouse is courtesy of A|Wear, who kindly gave me some credit to use on their online store. I absolutely love it. It ticks all the right boxes for my figure. Baggy enough to hide my jelly belly, but polka dotty and pussybowy enough to look pretty and keep me from veering into frump territory, as I so often do! Do you ever get it when you like an item so much you're counting down the days until it's socially acceptable to wear it again without looking like a one-outfit-wonder/skank? This is that.

I actually went over my spending limit because I found some other lovely bits including this Angora cardigan and these bargain Ray Bans-esque sunglasses for £4! I also found a cheeky free delivery code too (AWearFreeShip) to help justify my extra spending! The quality of the items I received was great, and the pricing was reasonable (£25 for the cardi, £30 for the blouse). The only thing I would warn you about is the sizes seem to come up a bit big. I am sending the cardi back for an exchange for the size 10 instead. So if you're between sizes, opt for the smaller one.

The good thing about A|Wear giving me some credit to use on the website is that I got to experience the ordering process, rather than just telling their PR what items I would like. I didn't experience any hiccups whilst ordering, I found the site easy to navigate and my items arrived swiftly and nicely packaged in a rather exciting metallic pink packet! I was also sent an email to let me know my order had been shipped, which is always a nice touch. All in all, A|Wear is most definitely worth a look if you fancy a change from the usual high street/online suspects. Especially seeing as the delivery is free at the mo!

In keeping with the pussybow theme (AKA - any excuse to pay homage to my feline friends), I wore my little kitten locket from Claire's accessories and a cat brooch I found in Snooper's Paradise in Brighton.

Off to bed now! First day of uni tomorrow and then I have my friend Jen round for tea and Glee, so may not have time to post, but will do my best! ♥

Disclaimer: I would never post about freebies unless I genuinely like them and think it's a product you might like too. I never feel obligated to write about a product I'm not fussed about, much to the irritation of some PR's!

An Outfit(ter) post!

Hola!

So, one week until my dissertation is handed in! Whether it will be finished is another matter, but at this point I just want it out of my life! I had my last tutorial for it today and my tutor said some lovely lovely things (my writing style was 'perfect', appaz!), so I'm feeling quite confident about it now. I stayed up until 4.30am on it this morning. I find I work easier throughout the night and having a lie in than waking up early to do work. Jeremy Kyle and This Morning are always too distracting!

So, these are the bargains I picked up at Urban Outfitters last week. They were both a tenner, down from a collective price of £150-ish! The blue playsuit is a tad risque for me, as it is a bit of a bra flasher, but it doesn't really show in real life. I'll probably wear something under it anyway... I'm not sure parading a doughy, white midriff it is ever an appropriate style decision! And the leopard dress needs a bit of taking in, as it's a size large, but I really like it. Thinking I need to chillax on the leopard print front for a while now... It's becoming the sole criterion I look for in a garment!





I'm going to go and chill for a bit now. I have the weekend off work so I will be cracking on with uni work big time, but for tonight I am going to sort out my SHAMEFUL nails (chipped grey polish and various lengths!) and watch 'Dinner for Shmucks' with the boyf. (EDIT: Alex has just seen me type that and has informed me he doesn't want to watch it with me now, because I shouted at him for trying to talk to me whilst I was blogging. It was his own fault!)

Thanks for all your kind comments wishing me luck with the diss. Much appreciated! Good luck to anyone else that has deadlines looming, there seems to be a lot of it about! ♥

Best Coast's best video!

I don't really rate the song, but the video for Best Coast's new single is absolutely hilarious! Adorable!

Lolcats, hipstamatic-esque camera effects, slightly disappointing indie music... All the ingredients for a hipster heart attack! If Tumblr crashes tonight, you'll know why!



Isn't it great? One of their songs called 'Boyfriend' plays at work and although it's not really my thing, it is rather cute.

And now, back to the dastardly dissertation. Getting there, slowly. I've got a meeting with my tutor tomorrow to go over it, then a week to crack on and get this baby wrapped up.

And then I will be back with aplomb! And I will be resurrecting Tuesday tips at the soonest opportunity. I have a good 12 weeks worth of amazing ideas so far and am always on the lookout for more (feel free to share!), so keep your eyes peeled :)

Missing you awf'ly xx

Dressing up, dressing down

Hey all!

So sorry for the blogging delay. I've been all over the place this week, what with the Topshop presentation and my dissertation! I'm also trying to eat healthily, so dinner time takes about 2 hours out of my day. Not cool. Anyway, my hand-in is fast approaching which means A) I need to get my arse in gear and write 6000 more words pronto, and B) Once I have done this, I'm all yours, as my next deadline won't be until May! Can't wait to have some time to implement all the little bloggy changes I had in mind.

So, I presented my fragrance concept to Topshop on Friday. I was a bit of a stuttering fool at points but I THINK I got the ideas across! The ladies I presented to were really lovely so that helped. They seemed really positive about the idea, but obviously it would be a multi-million pound project for Toppers so I'm not exactly holding my breath! Either way, it was a really great experience to go to Head Office and present to them, so I'm chuffed I got the opportunity to do that!

I WISH it wouldn 't have been hideously inappropriate to have taken photos for the blog, because I had to walk right through the design department to get to the Marketing department. There were big cupboards full of different material, and huge moodboards of future trends. Not to mention a whole lot of amazingly dressed staff! A bloggers DREAM. At least I will always have my memories!

Here's what I wore (with my Topshop aviator jacket over the top):



(Dress - Topshop, Boots - Charity Shop)

Sorry I look a bit srs, my face didn't want to play ball last night.

Here's what I wore to work yesterday. Not exactly blogworthy, but never mind. Comfy-casual is a must when working a Saturday in Topshop! I'm wearing the little clock necklace I bought in Urban Outfitters the other week in Brighton.





(Cardi - boyfriend, Tee - Topshop Sale, Jeggings - Topshop)

I have some new Urban Outfitters sale bargains to share with you in my next post!

Off to Topshop again now. And then doing my dissertation tonight. Lots of my favourite people are in at work today so I'm hoping for a day of minimum stress and maximum lolz, so hopefully I won't be too frazzled for my dissertation later.

Wishing you all a day of maxilolz too! Back soon! ♥

PS - Thanks for all of your good luck wishes for the presentation on here and Twitter, it genuinely did make me feel less nervous about it! xxx

Something fashiony

I came across the DKNY 'pre-fall' 2011 collection via one of Harper's Bazaar's tweets. Whilst I can't actually tell you what the point of a pre-fall collection is, I CAN tell you that the abundance of bows, jumpsuits and stripes in this one makes pre-fall collections pretty much my new favourite thing. DKNY ftw! Oh, the fickle world of fashion...

I googled around for a bit to find some better quality images, which I found on NY Mag, and arranged them into these cute collages after Topshop Princess told me you could make them using Picnik. What is there not to love about that website?

(Click for larger images)






I love the balance of simplicity, wearability and cuteness in this collection. I also really like the length of the stripey skirt, too. Will definitely be experimenting with more midi lengths this summer. Or should that be pre-fall? Surely any season other than fall is pre-fall in a way...? Nothing but the best in fashion commentary on this blog, folks!

Finding a collection I really like has made me realise how infrequently this happens these days. I can't really remember my last fashiony post... Unless ripping Lanvin's H&M collaboration a new a-hole counts? Maybe I've just been a bit ignorant of the fashion world lately due to my uni workload. Or due to being a bit ignorant about fashion generally. Either way, I'd like to try and take a more active interest in fashion this coming fashion week. I won't be spamming you runway shots unless it's stuff I think you'll enjoy, so don't worry. I just want to get back in the loop a bit.

Ooh, by the way! You may remember me cryptically talking about my latest uni project. I created a new product concept for Topshop and my tutors advised me to contact the brand and try and pitch it to them IRL. Well, they have invited me to present my idea to them this Friday morning! Eep! I am super excited and not as nervous as I thought I'd be...

Does anyone have any presentation tips? Have never done a *proper* one before. Although it'll probably be easier than my uni ones, where the tutors are always trying to out-Cowell eachother...Time will tell!

♥

On The Naughty Step: Veet High Precision Facial Wax

Evening all!

Wilkommen to the first instalment of my new feature, On The Naughty Step, where I'll tell you the products/services I have used that are a waste of time and money.

First in the firing line is Veet High Precision Facial Wax for sensitive skin. I have quite prominent, unruly eyebrows and unfortunately I hate plucking (My pain threshold is -657). I bought some other Veet Wax Strips on offer once and got into a habit of snipping off tiny strips and doing my eyebrows that way, which actually works very well but it is a bit time consuming, so I was hoping to find an easier way.

Enter High Precision Facial Wax! It consists of a little tube of wax and an applicator stick. The directions instruct you to put the wax into a mug of hot tap water for 1 minute, and then use the stick to apply a thin layer of wax to the face. It sounded weirdly fun and you know I like a good DIY, so when I saw it as part of a buy-1-get-1-half-price offer in Boots (usually £8.16), I snapped it up.



Image: Boots

When I got home, I tried it out. I used the stick to apply a thin layer of wax to the brow region and pulled the wax strip against the direction of hair growth. Unfortunately the wax strip didn't whip off like they're supposed to, it was more like unpeeling a gooey sticker! It only removed one or two hairs and left behind a bunch of sticky wax on my skin.

I tried a few more times but gave up, returning to my tried and trusted wax-strip-snipping method. It just didn't work at all. I followed the instructions to the letter, so why didn't it work? Was my tap water not hot enough? Was it too hot? Maybe my slugtastic brows were too much for this sensitive formula? So many questions. Maybe there's a knack to using this product, but my eyebrow was red by the time I'd given up trying and I couldn't be arsed to try different techniques and make the product work for me. It should just work.

I am really surprised at just how crap this product is. Veet are a huge brand, and it's hard to believe they would release a product like this. I'm not the only one that feels this way, either. Its reviews on Boots and Amazon are less than impressive.

I didn't try it elsewhere on my face, as I don't really suffer with facial hair, so I'm not sure how the wax performs there! But for eyebrow use, consider this product well and truly On The Naughty Step!

Have you tried this product? Did it work for you? Any products you've tried lately that have been an epic fail?

♥

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside

(I hit 1400 followers today!! Firstly, Omgeeeez. Secondly, thank you all so much! xxxx)

On Wednesday, Alex & I went to Brighton to see our buds Dan and Danielle (the ones we had round on New Year's Eve). We went round town in the day (I bought a few bits which I'm saving for a later post) and then went back to their STUNNING flat to watch films, listen to music, and do some nail art! Yep, pretty much a similar night to the one in my New Year's Eve post!

I kept telling Danielle she needs to be an interior designer. My pictures don't do the flat justice (a lot of them didn't come out well... I am incapable of taking a picture that is both straight and in-focus!) but it is a total dream and I have pre-booked Danielle to help me out when we can afford to furnish our own place some day!

Their flat has definitely inspired me to make a new resolution. I really want to become house proud this year. I am a literal slut when it comes to household matters. My side of the bedroom (and sofa for that matter) is just shambolic! MUST sort myself out this year. For the sake of my relationship! Alex regularly despairs of my ways...

Anyway, here's some pics of Wednesday night:

Tipple of choice:



Danielle in her lovely kitsch-en!



The Krispy Kreme shrine! It only worked out as £2.50 each for 3 doughnuts of our choice. Amazing.



A slightly zoomed out version of the last pic, so you can appreciate the pretty kitchen wall!



I love the little birds clipped on the kitchen lamp!



More retro kitchen cuteness:



Sitting down to a Krispy feast and some nail art. This is just a fraction of my ever growing Models Own nail polish collection!



The boys' music of choice:



I loved the nesting Beatles dolls:



Maggy:



Hungry Maggy:



Danielle's nails after a layer of Eyeko's Rain polish. It's a gorgeous powder blue shade.



After receiving the leopard treatment from my Model's Own black & white nail pens:



Maggy is an avid TV watcher, apparently, and got extremely curious when we watched a programme about cats!



An outfit picture taken right after we got home from Brighton, as I was going straight out with my Topshop pals. You can see my new hair better than in my last post! I like it a lot more now since I chopped some more of my fringe off. Excuse the accidental poofy bit on the right!


(Jumpsuit - H! by Henry Holland, Belt - H&M, Cardi - Primark via boyfriend, Boots - Charity shop)

And breeeeeathe!

I have had such a fun week of seeing friends etc. But now, I need to crack on with my dissertation in a big way! Not fun. I attempted to do some of it today but was feeling too out of it after an unexpectedly boozy night with the Topshop crew. I'm working this weekend but will try and spend my evenings making some progress on the dreaded diss'.

Hope you've all had a lovely week! Any fun weekend plans??

♥

Some sweet sale buys!

Evening all!

I am trying to make my christmas money last so I can spend my student loan on exciting stuff like rent etc. So even though I have money to treat myself, I still delight in finding mega bargains.

This happened the other day when I popped into Paperchase. All of their festive stuff is SO cheap now! My £6 stretched so far!

I bought these adorable nesting dolls, but Alex has already put them in the loft with the rest of our christmas decorations! I wanted to keep these up all year, they're so cute! (I got the image from Amazon).



I thought these ice cubes were pretty cute for all year round, so I'm glad I nabbed them cheap!



I got this little eye mask for only 75p! Perfect for my headachey days!



These are a bit lame but i thought they were too cute to abandon!



I also found this lovely gift tag stamping set in Oxfam which I figured would be a good lifetime investment! You just stamp onto plain tags and gift wrap and hey presto! A highly adorable DIY gift tag! You can also get a notecard set with a little owl stamp (I know a lot of you owl lovers will love that!)




In other news, I got my hair cut off in a big way today. I think it's a bit too short at the moment but by next week i think I'll be loving it. Anything has got to be better than the hideous all-one-layer 'do I was sporting before! Sorry for the cruddy Photobooth image. It turned me blue so I had to turn it black and white! I have it shaved a bit on the sides and at the back but you can't really see in the pic. Will post a better one soon!



In yet more news, we're off to Brighton for a couple of days tomorrow to see our friends we had over on new year's eve. I am trying to be excited about seeing our friends but it's being eclipsed by my excitement about eating my weight in Krispy Kremes!

I am actually trying to eat a low fat diet this year but life keeps getting in the way. For example, we went out to Nando's with friends last night and they offered us 10 free wings because we spent over £20! It was such a double edged sword... SO fatty... But oh so delish! And now Krispy Kreme is giving me no choice but to pay it a visit when I'm in Brighton. *Sigh*! Looks like my winter insulation (car tyre) will be warming me for just a bit longer!

Hope your week is going nicely? I feel so excited about this year and may have some cool news to share soon!

♥

Credit where it's due?

Have decided to take the blog post down as I think it has served its purpose and I don't want it cluttering up this blog! If anybody who is desperate to know what they've missed, I am happy to email it to you! This particular matter is over and I will be raising the issue of crediting in general in the future under less dramatic circumstances!

Thanks for all of your support and opinions! I am thankful to have readers like you ♥

Happy Monday

What a sweet thing to find in my inbox this morning:

Jazz, from Jazz Loves You More sketched my last outfit post! She sent me a truly sweet email to accompany the picture and got my day off to a happy start :)



Jazz's kind email reminded me how much I appreciate everyone that follows this blog. I feel so lucky that this blog seems to have evaded the internet 'trolls' that bring other bloggers down *TOUCH WOOD*. I don't think I've ever received a mean comment, which surprises me, as I'm a fairly curvy 10/12, making me quite the easy target for the heartless anons out there. I feel really lucky to have such a loyal and friendly community and I'm going to dedicate as much of 2011 as possible to making this blog an even more thrilling read for you all! ;)

2010 has been difficult for me, with various university and money drama preventing me from blogging to my full potential, but I have made some blog resolutions for this year which will hopefully get the blog back on track. Obviously, I have dissertation and a final major project to do before May, so my progress may be slow, but bear with me!

Blog Resolutions...

♥ The return of Tuesday Tips

I have been jotting down ideas for future tips during the TT hiatus, and am hoping to pick it up again after my dissertation hand in (end of Jan!)

♥ Comment back regularly

I really hate that I've become one of those bloggers that's 'too busy' to reply to all of my comments. I get so easily distracted when visiting all of your blogs after reading your comments, that I will often only reply to 4 or 5 blogs in a night! I have considered installing one of those comment systems like Disqus as it looks so easy to reply to comments on there, but I am not sure... I try to reply in the comment thread too but I don't think anyone checks back... Do any of you have a system for replying to comments that helps you not get ridiculously distracted? I refuse to be a skim-reader commenter: 'Luv yr dress, comment bk xxxx www.gemfatale.co.uk www.gemfatale.co.uk www.gemfatale.co.uk '.

♥ MAYBE alter the layout?

I quite like that the blog's layout is as basic as can be. I don't want the blog to look 'professional' as I don't really want the blog to become my profession... But I might add a nice header or something... And an 'about' section etc... Any other ideas for layout changes? Would you prefer something a little less no-frills?

♥ Post every other day at the very least

Self explanatory.

♥ Introduce more features

I like the idea of a bit of blog structure. I've talked to you all about a feature I'm planning to start called 'The Naughty Step' where I call out the products I've bought that don't do what they say on the tin, etc. Any other ideas for features? Maybe a regular nail tutorial post?

♥ More outfit photos

One of my IRL resolutions is to lose a bit of weight because I feel that my limitless calorie intake really affects my clothing choices. I can't wear ANYTHING that clings to my middle and as a result I constantly feel a bit frumpy. This blog is supposed to be about style, so I'm going to regain some body confidence and experiment with my style a bit more.

So, thanks for reading this blog, I hope you'll be sticking around for 2011!

Have you got any resolutions for your own blogs? I want to add more to my list!

♥

So this is the new year

Happy New year you lovely lot! ♥

I'm feeling pretty psyched about 2011, I have to say!

We had a fabulous NYE with our buddies from Brighton, Dan and Danielle (yes, they are a couple with essentially the same name)!

We drunk Amaretto (and beer), played with the cat a lot and generally laughed our heads off. I also got my nail art stuff out and introduced Danielle to leopard nails! She LOVED them. We stayed up til about 4, and were all so glad we hadn't ended up in a pub or something. A pub was our plan B, because our downstairs neighbours had planned a party and we were going to bugger off out if the noise was too intrusive. But the party was over by 10! I think they went out on the town instead. I'm sure that's fun for a lot of people, but for me, nothing beats chilling out in your slippers, drinking cheap booze and having lolz with friends.







Here's my latest nail look, by the way! They were hard to photograph because of all the bling! Dreading trying to remove the rhinestones :| (I used Models Own Top Turquoise, MO Juicy Jules and my amazeballs new Seche Vite top coat).




The bloody ridiculous cat tunnel I bought Roxy for £2.25 (reduced) in Pets at Home. Yes, they're Santa's pants.



I had to share this very blurry photo of Roxy trying to reach the bird feeder outside! What a rascal!



Me on one of our little fold up travel mattresses! We only have a 2 seater sofa, so guests always pose a bit of a seating problem!



Dan's jokes putting Alex to sleep!



And then today, we got up at about half 11 and went for a Wetherspoon's lunch. Danielle looked fab in her original 60s cape (a gift from her in-laws). I wore a car boot sale sailboat tee, a Gogo Philip pendant and Topshop skinnies/jacket.




After lunch, we wandered round town and I bought some lovely little bits in the Paperchase sale (insane reductions on the christmas decs, stock up for next year, people!)

All in all, a lovely 24 hours!

What did you lot get up to??

♥