M I A

I have been extremely MIA on the blogging front, for anybody who even reads this - I'm sorry ! I have been so busy with moving houses, working and the beginning of a new university term. I will definitely be trying to blog more often!

This is just a simple outfit I wore to Uni today... Excuse the quality of my images.

Under Tee - Zara  , thin jumper - Zara , Leggings - Zara  , Belt - Hermes

 

Leather Sleeve Jacket - Primark £25 , Scarf / Snood - Topshop - £16

 

Watch - Michael Kors - £199 , Hamsa bracelet £3.00ish & Marc by Marc Jacobs bobble £25.00

 

Studded slipper shoes - New Look - £15

 

 

Along with the trusty Alexander Wang bag . (Which also has it's own separate post ! )

 

Unfortunately, these pictures aren't the best. I still need to figure out the best place to take some pictures working with the horrendous lighting in my room. I have a little more time to be able to read everybodies blogs again now. So I look forward to reading your latest posts !

 

D x

 



 

 

 

Glitterati

Recently, there has been a sweeping trend of glitter nails, I too, have jumped back on the bandwagon (Regardless of glitter being a pain in the a!#* to remove !) I recently found this bargain copper glitter varnish from BodyCare for £1.00 , and decided to create an ombre'y glitter nail ! I hope you like the look . Here is how I did it;

 

Prep nails, I've added two clear base coats (To make it a little easier when it comes to removing the glitter polish)

 

Technic nail varnish , £1.00 , Body Care

I then did one full coat using the copper glitter varnish over the full nail.

 

I then added two coats of the glitter to the tips only, which gives the ombre'd glitter effect.. Unfortunately , the camera doesn't really pick up how lovely the copper looks.

 

I will probably be wearing this look for a while, my friends and I really like it ! What do you think?

 

D x

Monochrome Madness

We're constantly seeing the monochrome trend grace the catwalks year in, year out. With it , yet again, being big this coming season, I thought I'd transfer the look to my nails.

I love this look, being simple yet very effective, you can spot these nails yards away !

Natural Collection nail varnish , £1.99, Boots, Nail Tip Whitener and Sugar Mouse (For a top coat)

This is one of my favourite nail varnish trends, I used Sugar Mouse over the top, which takes the harshness of the white away, leaving a subtle pearlescent shine, although the camera hasn't really picked this up.

Natural Collection nail varnish , £1.99, Boots, Nail Tip Whitener and Sugar Mouse (For a top coat)



However, one issue is , if your nail chips, it is awfully obvious.

What do you all think? Would you try this look?

D x

Indian Ocean

Summer is (apparently) here. Unfortunately, I haven't been away on holiday, but it only takes the littlest thing to make my mind wander along a picturesque beach. With the Indian Ocean being one of my ultimate destinations, how could I pass up a nail varnish named after it. So, thanks to Models Own - everytime I look at my nails I become mesmorised in a mermaidy wash of crystalised lagoon blue waters...

Models Own Indian Ocean - £5 , Barry M Pure Turqouise 295 - £3.00

I wasn't that impressed with the Models Own polish by itself, and to give it a little more of a colour instead of a shimmer, I did a base coat of Barry M's 'Pure Turquoise'. I think they both compliment each other perfectly, what do you think?

D x

Barbie World

*This post isn't first hand beauty or fashion, but hopefully you enjoy the beauty of the photographs. These pictures are amazing, I had to share them with you, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

I am a huge fan of fairy tales. As we all know from growing up, fairy tales are illusively beautiful. Something which captures the heart and imagination in a very naive and innocent way. However, through many reworkings, I have been able to channel a different understanding of fairy tales evoking a humorous and grusome outcomes through the likes of the Grimm Brothers to Angela Carter.

Dina Goldstein, a Vancouver based photographer reworked the classic fairy tales into still images, with a very 21st century outlook on the princesses lives. After winning many awards for her work, she has come back to recreate the different life to Barbie and Ken. The most beautiful couple in the world!

'In The Doll House' displays the less than perfect life of Barbie and Ken. With Ken 'grappling' with his sexuality in their love-less marriage, struggling with his position in the household and faces his lack of authenticity.

The beautiful Dina Goldstein who created these amazing images

I personally love these images, and how beautiful the setting has been created. We all know how amazing Barbie is, she even recently her own make-up feature for MAC ! How amazing do the models look !? Especially B with her pink Hermes ! I hope you enjoy the pictures, cue the pink lipstick.

D x 

Your Majesty

As all us Brits know, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee will be taking place in a matter of days. We have all been bomb-barded with our British Union Jack flag from the traditional bunting and table settings to the re-rendition of the iconic Geri Halliwell dress. Although leading up to this one time  party, event, were the Queen grants our street parties acceptable - she's a wild one, it is a little too early to be parading around like a chewed up patriot. But here is a little way to express our love for the Queen, her country and this traditional British summer weather we are all basking (BBQ'ing) in.



Barry M Bright Red 262 , £2.99, Miss Sporty in a royal blue £1.99, Models Own Indian Ocean £5.00

I used the red Barry M as a foundation and went over it with the Miss Sporty blue. On the accent finger I chose to do a quarter of the Union Jack, as my nails are small and it was extremely fiddly to complete the full flag on the nail , let alone to do a set of 10. I went over the accent finger in Indian Ocean by Models Own to give it a glossy shimmer. I'm not going to lie, but as soon as this chips - I will NOT be re-doing it. I jumped in Queen's head first. This was one of my most difficult nail designs - I am not a nail technician so forgive them for not being perfect. I'd definitely suggest using nail wraps instead for the Jubilee.

Has anybody else done anything patriotic for the Jubilee?

D x

I Heart Simplicity

Thank you for all the lovely comments and for taking the time to read my posts !

Excuse my awful nails, they have taken the brut of exam stress the last couple of weeks. This is just a simple chic nail design I've done on my nails whilst they are on the re-growth from the perils of stress.

So easy to do, I just used two coats of a nude and then used a corally red to paint the heart. N.B make sure you wipe all the varnish off the brush - so there is practically next to nothing on it ! Especially the stem, as you don't want a rush of varnish to ruin your design.

L-R Barry M Peach Melba 318 & Coral 296 - Both around £2.99

A really pretty and summery love design, especially great if you're not a fan of wild designs. What do you think?


D x

Picture Perfect

We have all lived somewhere where there are refurbishing boundaries, I know my parents wouldn't be too happy if they came home & I had auctioned off their furnature and re-painted the walls - which goes the same for my landlord. So I have to buy little accessories to express my individuality. I always take a browse through Primark furnature section, to see what bargain household accessories they have. I saw these really nice deep picture frames which I thought could come in use with small desktop storage.

Primark, £1.50 each

At the moment, I am looking for some really nice make-up and jewellery storage accessories, so thought these would be perfect for jewellery, bobbles and other little things that have no place to go.. But pondering around my room putting every little thing I could find in them, I realised they would liven up my bed side dresser and organise some of my daily skin care, cancelling out the daily dominoe effect with my cosmetics.

They fit quite a lot in, so are well worth £1.50! They also come in a range of colours to suit any bedroom, I would definitely recommend picking some up if you are looking for some cheap storage containers, if not to use as picture frames.

I would love to take a look at any of your storage devices, I'm forever on the look out for cute desktop storage / organisers.

D E T <3

Mascara Drama

I get a lot of people asking me for the best make-up items, items I swear by, and my friends rummaging through my make-up asking for tips and tricks, especially with mascara, this is one of the main questions I get asked about. I have naturally very long eye lashes, and to get my super long super separated look, I use a couple of mascaras. Not one, but depending on how big I want my lashes, I can use up to three to four.

First thing is, when you are looking for a mascara, DO NOT look at the advertisements. Mascara adverts are the most misleading adverts of them all. We all know that the super beautiful models have lash inserts on. This could be a couple of lashes at the ends, or a full set of extensions. So DO NOT be fooled by their amazingly long, super separated lashes, because they aren't real, and it is rare that we will achieve that amazing airbrushed look.

Secondly.. The name of the mascara. Don't be fooled by the name of the new mascara. 'Telescopic Lashes', 'Extension Lash Mascara', 'Define-A-Lash', 'Magnif-eyes' 'Volume Million Lashes' 'Collossal Volume', the list could go on. This name,  hence I have highlighted 'name', is a name only ! It is what the brand have called their new product. It is very misleading, but so is the advert displaying the product. The company aren't publicising that their product will do anything, the name - teamed with a picture of a beautiful set of falsies, are making you believe that their mascara will give that effect.


Thirdly, the reviews of the mascara. You will notice on some adverts that the company have interviewed somebody who LOVES the mascara, or have done a survey with a percentage of people who witnessed a change in their lashes. This again, is very misleading. The company will select certain people to give reviews on, they are not random females found on the street. They will go through a selection process, and those who have the lashes they are looking for - who will get the best effect from the mascara i.e 'long, dence' lashes, will be used.


Returns. The best thing for a mascara company is the health and saftey act. As the mascara has touched your eye, you cannot return it for health reasons. Which is why you cannot, or should not, try a mascara out in a shop. So if the mascara doesn't work for you, you're not alone, we've all felt our money go down the drain.


A key tip I give out, is find a mascara which will work for you and stick with it . The brush is everything ! I use MAC Plush Lash mascara as a base. This has a thick dense brush which grabs all my lashes separately without clumping them together as well as lengthening subtly. For certain occasions use Clinique on the top of MAC, as this darkens and clings to the already separated lashes, giving them an extreme length. A good mascara will separate and darken your lashes giving an elongated 'lengthening' look. So find a brush which will work for your lashes.

                   MAC Plush Lash £14 ,

 Clinique High Impact Mascara, £16

                                    

 Also, the amount of product which is distributed onto the brush. If it is too tight when you pull the brush out, you won't get enough product, if it is too loose you will be subject to clumpy lashes.

If you have a brush you like to use, but you've finished your mascara, try using the brush with a cheaper alternative and you should get the same if not very similar results!

TOP TIP if you are subject to clumpy lashes, do one coat and then wait for it to dry, then reapply. The extreme amount of wet product is what clumps your lashes together, so take some patience in drying time, it is all worth it when your lashes are looking amazing!

Hope this helps some of you .. Let me know if any of these tips work for you !

D E T <3

Ladies; Moxettes

This is in no way a review ! Everybody loves a bargain, so of course, scouring my local Home Bargains I came across these. Now, if you haven't seen these before, you're in for a surprise.

99pence. Home Bargains

(Tampons, yes ladies, these are tampons! )

No need to go into extreme detail of the product, however, these are the most stylist tampons I have ever seen! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how delightful such a shying product could be. Very boudoir, stylish, feminine and pretty. They also come with a retro refillable metal box, which makes the awkward rumage in your bag safe and stylish in any situation. And for 99pence, these are no dearer if not cheaper than the standard Tampax tampons.

The brand Moxie, is an Australian brand designed by female, Mia Klitsas, (Her amazing blog - The Powder Room ) who has obviously thought about necessities as well as styling. Bringing females a very stylish and compact way of avoiding those embarassing shying moments. 

Who says we can't be feminine throughout the month?

How amazing is the packaging? What female wouldn't be shy to have these in their bag or on their dressing table. The re-fillable tin allows up to four tampons to be stylishly stored again and again.

Moxie has more female products, which I will - without a doubt - be checking out . With a very reasonable price tag, I personally feel everybody should check these out. We all should all be able to stay stylish no matter how we are feeling around the month.

What do you all think about this product? How amazing is the packaging !?

D E T <3

Where are your..

Clothes from..

I walked through my town centre yesterday and had a few people compliment me on my clothing, which is always really lovely to hear. 

With people asking me where I bought certain items from, I thought it would be nice to share my outfit with you all.

This is what I wore, no make-up and a simple high pony. Excuse the quality (Not used to including myself in the pictures!)

Faux Fur Gilet, Primark

McQueen Scull Scarf & Chanel 2.55 Bag

 Leather panel Tee - Zara , £19.99

Zara pants rolled up, £34.99

Brogues (Scuffed & worn in !) , Primark , £12

Jewels, (I love wearing gold at the moment!), L-R, Cartier Love bracelet, Cartier Charity Love bracelet, Michael Kors gold watch & Hamsa bracelet

I would have preferred to wear this without the scarf and gilet , but it all comes along with the UK weather package, I'm sure we all can't wait for the summer months. The time will come when we can ditch the jackets and coats and wear our stocked up summer clothes.

D E T

Urgh , Acne.

Unfortunately, I'm not about to discuss some amazing new Acne clothing, I am talking about those dreaded pimples.

I recently read a story in the news about a young girl who has taken her life through depression over her acne .. This story was heart breaking to read as I have been through the long hearted process of going through numerous treatments for my acne.

I used to suffer with acne like most teenagers. I was told over and over again that they were just ''teenage spots'', ''everybody gets them'', ''wash your face properly, exfoliate ..'' , ''they're not even bad'' blah blah blahhh . However, I was lucky enough to be put on medication for my acne, which was a long trial and error process, but luckily-  I cannot be called ''young pimpernel'' anymore .. It was a combination of genetics and hormones to why I was breaking out.. (I don't want to bore you all, but if anybody is reading who is suffering with acne and wants some advice, I have been on a long hearted process of drugs - So I can do a separate post for you.)

So, before I managed to drag myself to the doctors, I tried every home remedy possible.. Especially with having little money when I was younger, I couldn't always just splash out on Clearasil so I had to find some household products which would do the trick!

Out of all of them, here are my two favourites which I find give the best results ..

Oranges

This is something I have been using for years now. It is so accessible to anybody.

Orange peels are acidic and a great anti-oxidant being packed with vitamin C, so making a paste with the peel helps to fight excess sebum/oil the face produces.

Wash the orange in its whole form then grate the peel into a bowl.. When you feel you have enough orange for the affected area or for the full face add a tiny bit of water to create a paste .. Make sure your face is washed and your hands are clean (You don't want to transport bacteria ) .. Then just apply the orange paste.. Leave it on for 10-15 minutes (if you can! ). You will get a stinging feeling on your face, but don't worry - that's normal.. Just try and fight it. Then after your time is up, wash it off and your face will be fruity and refreshed..

You may start to notice the difference in the first go, but this a very natural way to fight spots.

Another treatment I use is :

Aspirin

Only aspirin and only aspirin should be used in this situation.

Aspirin is an anti inflammatory which helps reduce the redness brought on by spots, it also helps to dry out the spot and prevents the clogging of pores which makes it perfect to be used on the dreaded acne. 

Just take 1-2 tablets and place them in the palm of your hand, sprinkle tiny drops of water over the tablet till it breaks up into a bitty paste formula which isn't too runny to stick to your skin.. Apply it over the affected area and leave to dry.. As it begins to dry it tends to dust off. So to avoid getting it in your eyes, it is best to lie back and relax for 10minutes.

Because this is a medicine, it is adviced to take precautions, so please make sure if you are going to use this method, you check for allergies and use it in reason.

Both of these are known to work for me and many other numerous people. Let me know how they work out for you !

D E T <3



Revive Me

We're out of the January blue month and nearly half way in to February, back into the regime and have no 'reason' to be feeling a need for another holiday, although our skin may be saying different..

I stumbled upon this in Home Bargains, they do great beauty products at such a discount price. So I thought I would try a new face mask. They have a couple of different masks from this range which have different beneficial properties as well.

Refresh and Revive facial sheet mask , Home Bargains , (around ) 90pence.

This was a little dearer than the usual Montagne Jeunesse face masks, they were about 79pence. This inparticular one claims to improve the tightness, revival and lifting of skin, but being the green tea guzzler I am, I was a sucker for the Stem Cell line.

So you wash and dry your face as normal, then apply the mask..

The folded mask.

The mask comes drenched in the product which contains a protein growth factor to help strengthen the skin. You leave this on for 15-20 minutes and then peel off and patt the skin slightly for any remains to absorb in.

The mask smells amazingly fresh and it is really calming to the skin once applied. It is very refreshing and leaves the skin feeling soft and revived. I did notice some tightness, especially on my forhead. It has left my face smelling and feeling refreshly nourished. Although one thing I could fault would be the size of the mask. I would of liked it to continue down my neck rather than just my face. But other than that, I really enjoyed it and will definitely be buying some more.

Has anybody tried these out? If you haven't and can get to a Home Bargains, these are definitely worth checking out.. 

BodyCare Bargain

We all love a good bargin, especially with this credit crunch making it harder to justify splurging a couple of quid here and there on unnecessary items. However, finding those bargains can come at a struggle, especially with every shop claiming to have discounts, grand saving totals and big bold percentage off signs to put even the most clued up shopper in a frenzy over whether they have witnessed it cheaper elsewhere..

One thing is for sure, you all need to check out the big black box at the front of your Body Care. Although it may seem cheap, embarassing and feel like you are on display with everybody judging you, the baseline is that you will be surprised at what you can find in there. From baby, bath and beauty products all at an unbelievably low price, it is worth a rumage.

I managed to pick up this beautiful orangey/coraly/pink nail varnish for 19pence ! (That is less than a Freddo !) This will be used so much in the summer, but for now it can help brighten this snow up!

Body Care - Wet & Wild , 19pence

I have had BC nail varnishes in the past and they have been a nightmare when it comes to drying, which puts me off greatly. But for 19pence, I thought it would be worth buying. It dried really well, within seconds, even when applying a second coat !

It is definitely worth taking a peak into those bargain baskets!

D E T <3

Beauty Shhmuty

Beauty Boxes.

Don't worry, this isn't a 'what's in my Glossy Box this month' (Seen as we all get the same, if not very similar!)

I have been subscribed to GlossyBox for three months now. Which I'm sure that everybody has witnessed the 'GlossyBox #Enter Month#' post on numerous blogs.  If by luck you haven't , I'll be the one to run you through the mularky.

Glossy Box is a company which delivers five delux sized high end beauty product to your door for just £12.75 (Incl postage). The boxes are either a hit or miss, as you do not know what you are going to get until it arrives. The idea behind this is great. It gives you the opportunity to try out some expensive products in the comfort of your own home and really get a feel for whether you like them.

The only problem with this is the mystery behind the products. Some people may find these boxes a hit everytime, I however, have used three sample sized products all together - which I wouldn't really recommend. It is a nice surprise when the box arrives, as the packaging is amazing ! The excitement of the wrapping and all these surprises are lovely, but when the logic of the money comes into play, it daunts on you that you could be putting that towards going to the salon, getting some make-up and even cinema tickets.. (Not even on Orange Wednesdays ! Big spender!!!)

There are also a lot of other beauty boxes to try out which offer a vast range of products from sophisticated tea leaves to candles and relaxation oils at a similar price as the Glossy Box such as Boudoir Prive or Carmine .. There is also this subscription company Latest In Beauty who, for £1 , send you three highstreet (Reality affordable) sample products , the ones we look at in Boots and question whether to waste that couple of quid on.. Which for the price, you can't go wrong on really.

Has anybody tried any of the other beauty boxes?

D E T <3

The Girl Who Caused The Storm

There has been a storm of controversy over one little girl. I'm sure many of you have heard or seen the copy of French Vogue, which has a mesmorising ten year old beauty gracing the cover.

Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau

It goes without a doubt when saying this little girl is absolutely beautiful ! Think of her as a collage of the most beautiful models in the world. The pout and teeth of Lara Stone, the face of Natalia Vondianova and the eyes of Adriana Lima. Without saying, this ten year old is going to have a packed life ahead filled with editorials and runway debuts. We can't keep putting Elle, Giselle and Kate through the traumas of lying in locations Thomas Cook doesn't even fly to, being pampered and made-up and then forced to look down a lense all morning, now can we.

The Vogue cover setting highlights her youth, the white dress and purity and her beautiful angelic face. However, turn the covers and this is what has caused the controversy.

The pictures are a reinterpretation of girls playing dress-up in make-up, heels, dresses and jewellery. Although this isn't the problem, the problem which has sparked the outrage is the adultness of the images, the sexuality of the not-even-teenage models.

Low gazes, pouty lips and sultry body language have caused the outrage of pedestalling child sexuality which promotes the wrong type of attention. However, if they weren't playing dress-up in their mothers clothes, there would be an outrage over children wearing make-up and using hot hair tools, followed with captions about children losing their youth. The pictures are what the viewer perceives of them, if you want to associate an image of sexuality around a young girl playing dress up and lying on a bed in low cut dresses - then that is what you are going to get, rather than a young girl who has seized the opportunity of playing with her mothers unattended finest, pretend playing the elegant sophistocated women which comes with the nature of a childs imagination. When I saw the images, I couldn't believe a ten year old could look so beautiful. At ten, I was covered in cuts, bruises clutching a football ready for the next curby tornament, but even when I tried on a pair of my mums heels - I too used to strut along the landing like I was first face at Milan fashion week.

What are your views on ten-year old Thylane Lena- Rose Blondeau?


D E T <3