Exciting News

I've signed the contract today and can now spill my exciting secret... I've got a job at Company Magazine! Anyone that knows me will know how ECSTATIC I am to be able to say that! As I've said before, it is my fave magazine so as you can imagine, I'm on cloud nine! My role is Web Assistant, and will include various duties such as creating beauty/fashion/other content on Company.co.uk, blogger outreach and being the mag editor's PA too. All together now: eeeeeee!

Company has been *the dream* for me for a long time. After leaving various emails to the team languishing in my drafts folder in the past like a massive chicken, I knew receiving an invite to their Style Blogger Awards was my golden opportunity to ask about job opportunities in person. So, after a few pokes from Jen, Lily and Kristabel, I did it. And after a few nervy stages of the interview process, here I am. 

It has been a surreal week of celebrating with family and friends, quitting Topshop, shopping like MAD (I never have to think 'I love those shoes but where would I where them?' again!) and getting my bonce around the idea that I will be a part of this team that I've fangirled over for so long. 

What does this mean for the blog? Well, I'm clearly going to be a busy bee but am looking into getting an iPad for the commute so I can use the time to catch up on blogs and update my own (and join Instagram!). Plus, my outfit posts will certainly be more interesting from this day forward, as I have a reason to look fricking awesome every day now. 

Well, enough about my newly amazeballs life. You know I'm the queen of self-deprecation so I hate to be 'that guy' openly loving life! You'll let me off just this once, right? 

 ♥

in with the new

Long time no blog! I'm not gonna lie to you guys, I've had some pretty great news that I will be sharing with you in the next few days... Clue: I quit my job on Monday. Details coming soon! 

In other news, I've been shopping up a storm recently (whilst still trying to be my savvy self!) 

I bought the jelly shoes I blogged about! I ordered every colour (so I pushed the postage cost past the threshold so it was free!) and kept these two, returning the others. I used my staff discount so they were a bargain! 

I bought these gorgeous boots from Office today (sold out online, 1 pair left on eBay!) They were £35 down from £80 and are SO comfy. They are actually a size 8, a whole 1.5 sizes too big for me but they feel fine with insoles in! They're like heeled DM's without all the pain. 

I bought some Mac Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation today after becoming sick to the back teeth of liquid foundation and seeing rave reviews of this on makeupalley (best.website.ever). I had an old Mac 'Cream Base' thing that I got in a goodie bag at LFW and was never going to use, and they let me exchange it so this only cost me £5! Result!

I made the most of my last ever uniform purchases from Topshop, using my 60% discount on some more on-trend pieces, as I'll soon be spending my days in a very on-trend environment... 

I decided to channel Chanel with a little boucle jacket...

And got these swan print skinny trousers, too. I bought these a little small as an incentive to see my health-kick through and banish my wobbly bits! 

I've also bought a couple of amazing jackets in charity shops lately, too. I'll hopefully feature them soon! 

What have you been buying lately? 

Back soon, when I can hopefully unleash my secret on you all! 

♥

Review: John Frieda Full Repair

*Disclaimer: I do not operate on a freebie-in-return-for-rave-review basis. If I don't like the product, I won't feature it. Or if I'm in a really bad mood, I'll feature it anyway..!*

Well, after yesterday's DIY hair dye antics, it seems a good time to tell you about this hair care range I've been trialling for a while. John Frieda's Full Repair range features products that repair hair that has been zapped by heated styling products, and also protects it from being damaged by future zapping! 

(c/o John Frieda!)

My initial concern when trying this product was that it would weigh my hair down. I barely ever use conditioner, let alone leave-in treatments, as my mop is quite fine so I don't like to weigh it down. But luckily all of the products in this collection are aimed at repairing and protecting whilst giving a volume boost at the same time. After trying out all of the conditioning products, my hair was shiny, weightless and voluminous! 

The shampoo, conditioner and styling spray are my every day go-tos and I'm really pleased with them. I blow dry and straighten my hair every without thinking about the damage being done so I'm really glad to have found a range that offers protection from styling damage without turning me into a greaseball. Thumbs up!

The Full Repair range is on offer 2 for £7.50 in Boots at the moment, if you're interested in trying it! 

Have you tried this range? What did you think? 

♥

Tuesday Tip: DIY chalk hair colour!

I saw this fabulous idea over at The Beauty Department, a totally incredible blog that puts my limp attempts at creativity to shame! Appaz by using soft chalk pastels on damp hair  and then using a straightener to seal in the colour, you can create temporary dip dye and streaks! Full instructions over at The Beauty Department! 

(images from The Beauty Department)

My hair is not made for this tutorial as it is short and black, but I thought I'd have a stab at it anyway to see how it turned out! I looked for pastels in WH Smith but they were like £8, so I flounced off to The Works and got some for £3.99. It took a few tries to get the the hang of it, by which time my hair was a frizzy dry mess from all the straightening and brushing... so by the time I had got the hang of the technique, it did just look as if I had chalk in my hair. Not dye. 

During:

After:

I think this would work perfectly well on those with lighter hair, but I don't think it's impossible to get the look on black hair. In the future, I will do it on clean hair, get it right first time now I know how to do it, and consider buying more posh and pigmented chalks (I think art stores sell them individually, so no need for a pricey WH Smith bulk buy). 

What do you think of this idea? If you've tried it, do you have any tips or techniques to share? 

♥

DIY Nail Art: Felines at your Fingertips

The quest for cute stuff to stick on my nails has never been easy. Ebay is a big place, but it never seemed big enough to have cute cat stickers/decals other than cheesy cartoony ones. So, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw Heather's amazing animal-adorned nails on her fab blog the other day. Off to eBay I went.

Janchristie is a fairly new eBay store set up by two animal enthusiasts who were facing exactly the same struggle as me. Except they didn't just sit on the internet and whine about the lack of cute animal nail art supplies, like me. They decided to make their own! They have birds, dogs, cats and more in their fabulous store! They are photographers, so have used photos of their own 'models' (although they can make-to-order, too!) I ordered 5 sets of stickers at £2.15 each with free P&P and here's what I chose! 

(cats found here, pugs here)

(Janchristie on Facebook)

For my first manicure, I cut out some of my 'talking cat' stickers! I found the ones that looked best on the nail were the ones I cut tightly around the edges, not leaving any clear plastic around the outside. I used a base colour of Leighton Denny Babydoll (c/o Glossybox), stuck the stickers on and sealed in with Seche Vite. 

I didn't really have time to do every nail today, so for my latest manicure I decided on a Pug statement nail! 

I used Models Own Snow White as a base, and did polka dots of Rimmel's 60 Seconds Black Out using a trusty kirby grip. My spots weren't very neatly spaced as I was a bit sleepy, but if you squint - THEY ROCK, right?  

I'm just beyond thrilled with my new nail stickers. It's lovely to see a UK seller providing such exciting, unique and cheap products to us nail art/animal enthusiasts - I've lined plenty of pockets in Hong Kong in the past, so it's nice to 'buy local' for a change! 

I've been emailing with Janchristie to hear all about their story, and they have kindly offered you guys some free samples if you type 'GEM' in the comment box when you pay on eBay. Needless to say, I totally recommend these stickers as they are clearly adorable and so different to anything else on the market right now. 

What do you think of my animal-tastic nail art? Would you invest in these nail stickers?

♥ 

A Faulty Foundation

(Any excuse to sneak pop punk songs of my yoof into the blog).

So, let's cut to the chase. Here's what I wore to town with my gurl Jen on Wednesday:

Jacket - H&M kids, Dress - Topshop (sold out now), Necklace - c/o Rock 'n' Rose, Snood - Topshop, Boots and Bag - Charity shop

My Rock 'n' Rose Kora necklace has been causing a stir... I didn't realise its 'anti christ' connotations, but old women have been scowling and dissing me in the street! One woman loudly muttered 'Oh dear.' at me on the train! Charming! I shall still continue to wear it in the name of all things edgy. Soz, god.

Ma face. Wearing Estee Lauder Double Wear in Shell with a bit of ELF cool bronzer! This look could've done with a slick of lippy in hindsight!

Nothing too exciting to report on in general life, but in makeup matters I am on the lookout for a(nother) new foundation... I bought Clinique Even Better a while back and liked it but the colour is just too dark and yellow for me. I knew it was in the shop but just couldn't say no to the deal of dreams... This foundation took away my paleness and I realised that I couldn't be having that as I am proudly pasty. So I have since tried Illamasqua's Skin Base and love it, but am biding my time to get one on eBay or a blog sale seeing as I don't really want to blow another £25 on foundation... Let me know if you see shade 02 for sale on your travels, or if you have one you want to sell! By the way, one of my Twitter followers has told me you can get 20% off using the code NIHRIDA20! Still doesn't make it cheap enough for this scrimper, though.

Oh, foundation shopping. It's worse than jeans, isn't it? 

♥

10 Years Younger

BEHOLD, my friends. 

The biker of my dreams - from none other than H&M's Kids section! 

(all H&M besides Topshop boots!)

I've been looking for a replacement for my Topshop biker since it started looking a bit ropey (and since I got pink nail polish on one of the lapels at LFW...)  and it turns out, I'm aged 13-14 when it comes to bikers for kids! The price you pay for wearing clothes aimed at people a decade younger than you? Well, the jacket doesn't exactly do up with ease... But then nor does my knackered Topshop biker which was a size 12, so go figure! This is actually much comfier on the arms than my Topshop one too, and has a much more 'bikery' look with the silver details! £19.99 VERY well spent. 

The dress is one of their £7.99 summer bargains, too. My daisy love continues! 

I posted about shopping in the kids' section as a Tuesday Tip once, if you wanted a few pointers! (Waaa, don't know why the pics have gone all squished!)

Do you ever shop in the kids' section? 

Off out for Nando's and drinks now - perfection!!

♥

Love is Free

I'm running out the door to go on my shopping spree with my buddy but had to share these awesome pictures that arrived in my inbox yesterday! Charlotte Free, aka pink-haired goddess of my dreams, is the new face of Forever21's S/S 2012 campaign! 

Loving the abundance of collars and prints! Apparently this is the first of a series of edgy campaign's Forever21 will be globally releasing in the future. I hope this means the stock will be getting a bit edgier as although I've only been in the store a couple of times, I've been underwhelmed! I'm sure this gorge campaign will up the brand's cool factor - it's certainly persuading me to haul my boyfriend (aka. chauffeur) to Westfield so I can give Forever21 another shot! 

What are your thoughts on Forever21 and this shoot? 

I'm off now, wish me bargains! 

xo

Tuesday Tip: DIY Daisy Nail Art!

I've been super inspired by daisy prints since acquiring my fabulous Republic jeans and seeing the abundance of daisy prints at the Motel blogger event the other day! And what do we do when we love a trend but for hygiene reasons can't wear the same item of clothing every single day? All together now: Make it nail art! 

(Clockwise: Motel playsuit, Oasis dress, Motel crop top, Republic jeans, Topshop bralet, H! by Henry holland dress)

My manicure of the moment is so perfect for Spring and has received loads of comments from people thinking they're nail stickers! Nope, this is all real! It's a really simple look to create and hopefully you'll get the gist from my little graphic, but if not, here's how to get the look:

✿ Start with a base colour - I used blue to match my Republic daisy jeans!

✿ Using yellow nail polish, dot a few dots on the nail, leaving enough space between each for the petals

✿ Using white nail polish, dot around the yellow spots to create petals

✿ Yellow polish is usually a bit thin, so once you’ve done the petals, go back and do another blob of yellow in the middle

✿ Finish with a slick of topcoat to seal the design in and make it look like one smooth layer (you can see how bumpy it looks without a topcoat in the bottom-right picture above!)

What do you think of the daisy nail look? 

xo


PS - I did the little daisy icons in the text above using CopyPasteCharacter! Amazing text graphics you can paste into text to jazz up blog posts and tweets!

London Fashion Week Video Diary Finale!

Well, the final instalment of my London Fashion Week video diary series is finally here! I have been so busy in the last month that I haven't had time to sit and edit it all down, but this weekend was perfect for sitting on my derriere and watching endless videos of myself play the fashion week fool for your amusement/bemusement! *FUN!* Anyway, the way I see it, the next LFW isn't for another 5 months, so what is the hurry?

This lovingly compiled footage features loads of cool stuff - backstage beauty, after parties and, Kanye West! Oh, and myself being a drunken buffoon. My Twitter followers may have witnessed my epiphany a while ago that I am essentially just 'Louie Spence with tits': a faux posh, exaggeration-loving show pony! It's at its worst when alcohol is in the mix... 

Despite the various delays, I've loved creating these little diaries for you guys. I hope they've been interesting in some way as I've really tried to get across what it's really like at fashion week. 

Check out more of my LFW antics here: 

LFW Video Diary Part 1

LFW Video Diary Part 2

---

LFW Photo Diary Day 1

LFW Photo Diary Day 2

LFW Photo Diary Day 3

Let me know what you think of my LFW diaries! 

♥

Brand New

When I was in Brighton the other week, I thought my eyes were deceiving me when I spied this lovely rusty-burgundy chunky cardigan in H&M with a £5 sticker on. I queued to pay and was ready for a battle, expecting to be told it cost more, but it did indeed come up as a fiver on the till! I do love me a bargain!

I wore it to work yesterday to prevent looking like a hussy in my new River Island bralet top and new skirt from H&M, under the logic that it's impossible to look like a hussy in a chunky knit.

I have used the word 'new' quite a lot in this blog post! I've been treating myself to a few new bits recently as I feel like my wardrobe needs a bit of a spruce. I have a shopping trip planned with my friend Jen on Wednesday which could be slightly lethal, but I have realised a bit of retail therapy is important once in a while! Sounds pretty obvious, but I get so set in my bargain hunting ways, that I often begrudge buying anything that isn't from a charity shop and costs more than £2.50! It's really no way to live! The above outfit does only cost £30 in total, though, so I'm hardly at risk of bankruptcy if I do relax my spending restrictions a little!

A new bra is on the shopping list for Wednesday - any recommendations for Jen and I? We're busty buddies, so if you're in the same boat do share your favourite shopping destinations! 

Have you had a nice Easter? Mine has been utterly unremarkable, but we have a great night of Homeland and Milkybar buttons ahead so the only way is up! 

♥

Lookbook Loving: Topshop High Summer

The Topshop High Summer lookbook appeared in my inbox recently and I have been rather fixated on it. I particularly adore the retro styling of the first few looks and the epic shoes in some of the other looks are also worth a mention - hello stacked espadrilles and jelly shoes! Glad I'm not alone in my ankle sock addiction too, they are quite a key theme here!

Topshop

What do you make of Topshop's offerings for this summer? 

xo

New Skirt

Thanks for the entries into my Dorothy Perkins giveaway in my last post! The winner will be selected on Sunday night subject to me being alive after an Easter choco binge.

A fairly run of the mill outfit post tonight, wearing my cosy Topshop sweater and new H&M skirt which is rather nice. Although according to the boyfriend, "it looks like you've got it on back to front". Zip details, eh? Mind boggling inventions. 

(Headscarf - H&M, Boots - surgically attached, originally from charity shop)

I don't know about you, but I am SO looking forward to having a few days of chillaxing. I have a tiny little shift tomorrow afternoon at work and then I shall be free until Tuesday afternoon to tidy my hellish home, do lots of blogging, pin things on Pinterest, catch up on freelance projects and maybe do a Youtube vid? Hmm, speaking of Youtube, editing the final instalment of my LFW diaries could be a good idea! Better late than never, I guess... MAYBE I'm actually being uber intelligent and tactical by posting LFW things later on, to prevent them getting lost in the deluge of other posts... So I'm either a lazy cow or a genius. I just can't tell anymore! 

Have you got any Easter plans? I do hope they involve a lot of chocolate. I'm on a slight diet at the moment but for one day only I am planning to hurl myself so far off the wagon that it will be slightly awkward for all involved. Yay for Easter!

xo

Dorothy Perkins 19nineteen collection + giveaway!

Today sees the launch of Dorothy Perkins' new capsule collection, 19nineteen - so-called as 1919 was the year the brand launched. The range is inspired by street style, with dressed down separates with edgy detailing. To celebrate the launch, Dotty P's enlisted a few style bloggers to play dress up with some of the items from the range... One of them was me!

(Shop 19nineteen)

(See my feature in the DP magazine!)

(I'm wearing: white cropped sweater, black ankle grazer, snake print shirt, black boots. Denim jacket, cream linen foil vest, snake print leggings, tan sandals)

I rely on prints quite a lot to express my style, so I wasn't sure if this stylishly uncluttered range would suit me, but I have been surprisingly hooked on the gold flecked vest and snake print leggings since the shoot (I got to keep these items as I had to sprint off straight from the location to catch the train back to work!) 

The photos were shot by Phill Taylor, who was lovely. The other bloggers involved were Stella and Vivienne, who looked effortlessly beaut in everything, unlike moi with a barnet that makes me look like a crazed ventriloquist dummy if the wind blows it even slightly out of place! Oh, well. At least I have my health! Joking aside, it was a really fun experience, and lovely to see Dorothy Perkins shaking things up a bit with this new capsule collection!

So, what do you think of 19nineteen?

===

Dorothy Perkins want to share the 19nineteen love with you guys too, so to win any 2 items of your choice tell me what your favourite piece from the collection is in the comments below!

- This competition is only those who follow me via Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin or have a really good excuse not to be!

- Competition closes 9pm Sunday 8th April

♥

Puppy Love

Here's something a little different to Caturday! 

Paper Magazine have summed up their latest shoot better than I ever could: 'Man's best friend is a girl's best accessory':

(Paper Mag)

AMAZING pictures and a totally adorable idea, don't you think?

I'm not sure I looked this glamorous whilst picking up Jack Russell crap walking the family pooches this weekend! I also managed to fall over and graze my knee trying to stop Dexter escaping his new harness and racing after another dog. There was a little girl riding her bike who was so busy watching me fall over that she then fell off her bike. It was a damn mess all round! Flippin' dogs.

The animal antics never end, as I have come home to a welcome home present from Roxy - a dead mouse! I know it's the thought that counts, but giving a fluffy little mouse a tearful river burial is really not the ideal end to a stressful week! A giftcard will do next time, cat. 

Hope you've had a lovely weekend wherever you are, with mouse corpses at an absolute minimum!

♥