Groundhog Day

(BTW, the lovely Rochelle from Tesco's fashion blog has featured my blog on there today!!)

Bonjour!

Sorry for the impending essay - lots to cover! I promise more short posts in the near future!

Anyway, I didn't get an outfit picture from my day o' fun yesterday so I got a belated slightly more dishevelled one today (late night!). I look particularly dead to the earth in this first picture!



The top is brand new from h&m (£12.99) and I like how you can tuck the straps in your bra for summertime Katy Perry homages. The seams are a little unfortunate in some lighting and make you look a bit like you have droopy nipples. But I love it anyway! The bodycon skirt is another fresh h&m bargain (£7.99!). Tights & Cardi are also h&m!


(Little Roxy wandered in while the timer was ticking, so I stopped posing to say hello but it ended up as quite a sweet piccy so have posted anyway!)

I had a great time with my pal, Jen. We went to the Holocaust Exhibition at the Imperial War museum which was just harrowing but really interesting. I learnt loads. Stuff you kinda wish you didn't know but is important to know about. After that we had a sunny stroll down Oxford St and went to Pizza Hut which was lovely.

Then went to the Chevrolet Party to get our nails did. The night was a bit of a disappointment because besides the band, the 'Wah-Car' they'd set up was one of the main attractions for a lot of the party-goers, but there were only 2 girls from Wah there. This meant there was a huge queue as well as a huge strain on the girls themselves. Jen & I queued for almost 3 hours (!), which was made worse when The Daily Mirror's style/gossip columnists (I think) queue-jumped the rest of us. That's fashion, I guess! By the time it was our turn, the girls were so tired and pressurised that they didn't do the best job, I can't lie. It's not surprising though, as it was 2 of them against the world (a 3rd did turn up eventually)! It was disappointing to say the least. But I try and take lolz with me wherever I go and Jen & I had a good laugh with the other girls in the queue. Ironically, I met more people than I would've in the crowd anyway!

In other news, to help me with my uni work which is going nowhere, I bought some Ginkgo drops from Holland & Barratts today which apparently help your memory and concentration. Hope they work! I love H&B, I always want to buy everything and become some kind of super efficient, healthy human.

I also lost my Advertginity, as you can see in my sidebar. I'm just trialling it for a month to see how it goes. I've not made a big decision to 'monetise' the blog or anything ridiculous like that. But when Shop Pulse enquired about advertising, I checked the site and it's bloody wicked and I thought it would be a happy addition to the blog. The site shows you everything that all the big stores like Topshop & ASOS etc stock, all in one go so you can find exactly what you want without going to a bunch of different sites. So have a click if you want to check it out! (Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for bankruptcy that may occur with awesome clothes overload!)

I don't get the big beef with blog advertising. If it's something relevant to a blog's content and reader, what's the big deal? Please let me know if you think this is a wrong decision for the blog. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Hope you're all having a lovely Friday night. I'm going to tidy my bedroom now because Selina (Flying Saucer) has got me dreaming of a time where my side of the room isn't covered in clothes. Go and check out her adorable new room!

X

Come dine with me...

(EDIT: How on earth did I forget to mention, I am featured on ASOS's blog today!! Clickety click!)
On the menu tonight... A cocktail of cold & flu drugs with some Mini Eggs you won't be able to taste for dessert!


Ha! Needless to say, my cold is still raging. And despite being super tired last night, for some reason I didn't get to sleep until 4am so I'm ridiculously run down today. Luckily it's the Easter Hols so I have nowhere to be and can wallow in misery all I like. And I have! Alex is away until Saturday in Scotland so I don't even have a hot doctor to look after me.

I don't normally rant about my life that much (I hope!) but thought I'd share my plans for tomorrow to see if it might be therapeutic and cheer me up.

My friend Jen & I are secret WW2 geeks and have been planning a war themed day out in London for months. Tomorrow is the day (I'm really hoping I feel better than I do now!) so we're going to the Imperial War Museum and then to the Britain at War experience, which has loads of cool war stuff to see and do (you can sit in air raid shelters and hear the sirens, etc... Eee!!) I remember because I went there with school when I was about 12, haha! If we have time we'll nip to the Science Museum just to mix things up a bit! I've always loved museums, so I'm super duper mega excited for our special day!

And just to claw back a few of the cool points we'll have lost during the day, we're going to that Chevrolet Spark launch I mentioned in the evening. The Mystery Jets are playing which will be sweet and I'm hoping to get my nails done again because WAH are there. Can't decide what I want this time! Am thinking 'MEOW' on the fingers with a little cat on my thumbnail...

I actually do feel a lot happier now, so thanks for reading about my contrasting day!

So tell me... Do you have any uncool things that fascinate you?? I love hearing other people's geeky interests!

Lurgies and love ♥

Tuesday Tips: How to apply false eyelashes!

(BTW - Do you have any cool tips you would like to submit for Tuesday Tips? I want to hear your DIY or beauty tips/tricks. I will try out the ones I like the sound of, and will post them on here each Tuesday! With full credit to the tip-giver of course! So please comment below or email me and get involved!)



Hey guys!



I write to you from beneath a pile of tissues. My cold is raging, but the show, and indeed Tuesday Tips must go on!



I've had a few requests to do a fake eyelash tutorial, so here's a bunch of tips and a video that will hopefully be of use!







(My falsies and the bits I used to get the look!)



- When buying fake lashes, do check that both lashes are symmetrical. Some are shaped differently to each other and it's annoying when you're trying to put them on and no matter what you do they won't match!



- Cut the lashes to size. If you find when you've tried to wear falsies in the past and they haven't stayed stuck or they are uncomfortable on the inner eye, chances are you haven't trimmed them to the right length.



- The lashes I use are called Demi Wispies and are made by Ardell from human hair (kinda ew, I know) and they're great because they're made to be a little shorter (hence 'Demi'), so no trimming required! They're available at larger Boots stores or here on eBay!



- Always apply a thin line of liquid eyeliner first. If you don't, you can usually see the little gap between the lashes and lashline, making them look obviously false. It doesn't matter if it's a bit wonky, liquid eyeliner is really easy to apply along the line of the fake eyelashes once they're on, so you can add an extra slick at the end.



- Use good glue. I swear by Eyelure glue, and you can buy bigger screw top bottles from larger Topshop stores at the moment (better than the stupid tiny bottles that go all goopy around the lid). Also, pound shops often sell really gross sets of Eyelure lashes (the fluorescent lashes are big news in Chatham's Poundland right now!) So if you're running low on glue (or, like me, bought a lash set that isn't Eyelure), just buy the cruddy £1 lashes for the glue that comes with them!



-Take your lash glue out with you just in case one comes a bit unstuck.



- Apply lash glue to one lash at a time. There's nothing more likely to make you muck up putting the first lash on than the intense pressure of the second lashes glue drying while you're doing it! Get the first lash perfecto, then move on!



- Here's how I put the lash on. I hold it by the outer end and keeping my eye open, work out where that outer edge sits nicest among my own feeble lashes. Then I apply a bit of pressure so the outer is in place. Then I close my eye and stretch it out so I can stick the rest of the lash on straight. I made a little video of this process in case it isn't clear (if I look a bit warped, it's because I used my fisheye lens):







- To remove the lashes, gently peel them off (I find this easiest pulling from the outer part of the lash). This is usually fine unless you've used loads of glue, then it can hurt a tiny bit. To reuse the lash, carefully peel off the glue from the strip (so satisfying!) and replace on the lash holder it came with. If you want to remove the mascara, just carefully use a makeup wipe (after you've removed the lashes). I don't use much mascara so I don't find that last step crucial. I usually get a get loads of use from one set of lashes. I only have to buy a new set if I lose one lash or if Roxy eats them (true story - if I accidentally leave lashes out on a surface, she thinks they're spiders. Buffoon!)



Can you think of anything I've missed? Please feel free to share any other lash tips you've got!



I'm off to bed now. I'm so tired because my boyfriend sets his alarm about 2 hours before he eventually obeys the snooze alarm and rolls out of bed and I just couldn't get back to sleep when it went off at about 8 this morning! Grrr!



Nighty night!!



x

Wildfox good girls go bad

I've been a fan of Wildfox Couture's delightfully fun and aspirational lookbooks for a year or two. To me, they embody sisterhood... girl power... sleepovers... cheekiness and of course, effing cute clothes.



(Various pics from their lookbooks from Ilovewildfox.com)

Over the past year or so, these lookbooks have built up a strong identity of exactly who the 'Wildfox Girl' is (I especially adore the brand's recent offering, the delectably dreamy FW/10 lookbook). She's cute, she's hot (but not smutty) and loves a good time!

Which is why I just don't get the brand's latest collaboration with Mark, The Cobrasnake for Exit magazine. The Wildfox girl seems to have gone from the life and soul of the girly sleepover to just another vapid, vacant Cobraslut. Lipstick smiles replaced with sultry pouts (with cigarettes wedged in them, no less!) and more side-boob/soggy nipple than you can shake a stick at... I don't know where to look!



Don't get me wrong, I do actually like the editorial, but in the context of it being a collaboration with Wildfox, aka. an extension of the brand, it just seems odd to go from 'girl power' and personality to purely and object of lust... My boyfriend's intense interest in the editorial proves my point.

Do you know what I mean? Maybe I over think these things because I've studied brand identity. Maybe I'm more feminist than I thought. Or maybe I've just had it up to here with pervy photographers lately (have you heard about the kerfuffle with Terry Richardson? HIDEOUS! Never liked him anyway.)

Anywho I hope this is just a blip for the Wildfox Girl... She should remember her hoes come before bro's! And Wildfox themselves should remember it's hoes and not bro's that buy their stuff - and soggy breasts aint gonna sell me a t-shirt!

Whew! Sorry to be a negative Nancy. The Cold & Flu drugs have made me cranky! Let me diffuse the tension with this cute picture of a kitten.



Bon soir beauties ♥

Monki business

Hey! Hope you all had a lovely easter?

Mine was nice, but thwarted by a cold that has just come on. I feel really ill today and have to go to work soon until half 5. Not looking forward to it :(

I have to get ready for work now, but I shoddily put together a collage in Word (they don't have any items on Polyvore) of all my dream Monki items. When, oh when will they open one in the UK? It's so cheap! It breaks my heart.



Sorry for such shoddy image editing! That's the best I can do without Photoshop!

I'm going to get ready now. Please send me good vibes so I can get better soon, I HATE being ill. :(

x

No-sew Pillowcase DIY!

So, better late than never... Here's my Tuesday tip!

YOU WILL NEED:

- A pillowcase
- Scissors
- 3 minutes of your time

Pillowcases have such good DIY potential because all you have to do is cut a few holes in and you're good to go! Plus you can buy all kinds of crazy or cute printed ones for like 20p in most charity shops! Let's get started...

1. Lay your pillowcase out. 2. Fold in half. 3. Hold a sleeveless top or dress against the top of the pillowcase to work out how far down to cut the arm hole. 4. Do it. 5. Do the same to work out how far to cut the neckhole. 6. Do it!




Now you have a little shift dress shape. It does work as a dress if you're less than 5'6 and generally no bigger than a size 12 (depending on the size of your pillowcase of course. And your butt). If it is a little tight this way, as it is for me, fear not, there are even cooler options! Observe...




(The bow brooch is from Topshop £8 - best investment of the week!)

By folding and rolling the pillowcase, you can get really different effects. For more security, you could hem it, or use wonder-web iron-on stuff (which is super easy to apply with straighteners, btw!) but I'm lazy so I didn't bother. There's not a lot you can do about the raw hems on the neck and sleeve, but I really like the organic, freshly snipped look!

So there we are! It's such a fun rainy day DIY, because theres loads of different ways you can do it (you could try different necklines, add a lace trim round the arm holes, etc.) And if you muck it up, you've probably only spent a few pence, so just try again!

If you do try it, please let me know how you get on!

Hope you're all having a good Good Friday! :)

♥

Wowed by WAH!

Yo yo!

So, in my last post I mentioned there was a WAH Nail bar at the Tesco F+F preview. Here's a picture of my outfit (am on the way out for drinks with work friends), and my pastel leopard print nails I got done at the event!



(Top - Primark, Heels - Topshop, Jacket - Topshop, Badge - Luella, Necklace - h&m, gargantuan nose - model's own!)

It was fascinating. I chose my base colour nail polish, and then had to pick another colour for the leopard spots, which they painted on in acrylic paint with a tiny paint brush. Then sealed it all in with a top coat. I've never had my nails done properly before, so am a bit of a newbie when it comes to the world of nail art. I didn't realise just how much detail can be fitted onto someone's nails! Just look at some of the pictures from WAH Nails' blog. INSANE!







If you want to be WAH-ed like me, there's a WAH nail salon in Dalston and also Topshop's flagship. It costs about £8-20 for painted nails like mine, and £30+ for Acrylic nails. Alternatively, apply for tickets to the Chevrolet Spark Unscheduled tour, which is in London on Thursday, where there'll be a 'WAH Car' to get your nails done in (free of charge, I'm assuming!) Mystery Jets will be playing and that cutie pie Nick Grimshaw from T4 will be DJ-ing at the 250 capacity venue.

I'll be there, so please come and party with me! And get your nails pimped! I've been trying to think of a way getting the WAH girls to cram 'SAVE LUELLA' on my nails, but despite their epic skills, I doubt even they can magic me a couple of extra fingers out of thin air!

Have you been WAH-ed before? If not, what would you get painted on your nails?!

♥