A Girl About Town

Girl About Town is a very popular Mac colour, it has been on my wish list for a long time but I've never been overwhelmed by it enough to buy it. I knew I would like it but with so many lipsticks just sitting neatly in my drawer I figured I may as well wait until 1) I need it for a particular outfit or 2) wait till I could Back 2 Mac. It's the latter that won out and I've even surprised myself at how often I've worn the lipstick since.

The weather being predictably boring as it has been, I've been sticking to all black. All black to work, all black on nights out and all back in the day because I still like wearing my tights. What's the best way to make a black outfit interesting other than jewellery? Yes, bold lips. 

Ta da....

It's a nice shade that's not too neon or blue as some magenta's tend to be.

I've also been enjoying wearing my hair up. My hair likes to misbehave on a regular basis and it feels so good to just shove it up and out of the way.

I bought the bun/donut/sponge thingy from Primark a while back and got so frustrated trying to make it look half decent that I never attempted again. A more patient self re-emmerged a few weeks later and found a simple tutorial online. By simple, I mean simple. The first You-Tube video I saw required too much patience and the blog post I discovered after required none.

It literally was a matter of feeding my pony-tail through the donut, distributing my pony tail evenly and placing another hair bobble over it. Then it was just a matter of tucking in the ends with hair grips. When I bought the donut there were only two colours available, beige and brown. Neither colours were ideal but i ended with brown. I'm hoping Primark have extended their range to black and other sizes. 

If anyone knows where I can get a black or bigger one, please let me know.

J x

Totally comf.

I've been rather impressed with Topshop recently. In particular their jumpers. I gave up on Topshop a while back as all their prices had gone up. Sadly this was the case everywhere but I just didn't like what Topshop had to offer.

I bought the following pink neon jumper. What I love about it, is that it looks shapeless but it's quite flattering on. There are slits at the sides and the sleeves roll up. It looks like it would be itchy but I chose to wear a vest underneath and it was fine.

It's definitely one of those jumpers I'd be tempted to buy in all colours if they had them.

J x

Fizz

I decided to update my collection of nail polishes, a simple and cheap splurge.

I'm not overly a huge fan of glitter polishes unless it's at the extreme end of glitter like some of the OPIs tend to be.

The ones that caught my eye recently are the new 'scented when dry' range from Revlon. Surprisingly, they really are scented when dry. Just try not to smudge nail polish on the end of your nose, it was a close shave for me. I painted my nails on Friday and the scent was pretty strong, it's now Sunday and I am sad to inform that the scent is extremely faint.

I picked up the red and pink glitter ones, which as you can see I have chosen to wear over a solid colour. I particularly like the high shine that it gives.

I'd seen them originally in boots for 2 for £10 but had a look in Superdrug as well thanks to my savvy friend and happened to find the same ones 2 for £7.99, I will take that £2.01 saving thank you. The other colours available were in an orange and purple.

J x

My favourite things.....

My two favourite items at the moment:

Oliver Peoples Wacks Glasses

and

Dorothy Perkins Scarf

I like them both so much because:

a) I can hide behind them

and

b) They co-ordinate in colour.

The glasses are a little braver than my personality but after seeing Zooey Deschanel rock them on New Girl I just couldn't resist.

J x

Monday Treat

I decided to treat myself, why? Because it was Monday and I needed cheering up.

I love finally giving in to something as simple as a treat, albeit an expensive one.

I saw these in Selfridges a short while ago and fell in love with the simplicity of them, it's a nice welcome change from my pearls that I wear all the time. At £65 they are a little overpriced considering it's only rhodium gold-plated, but that clearly didn't stop me, they were just too pretty.

They can come in silver too, but as I wear mostly gold jewellery it turned out to be a no-brainer.

J x

Isn't It Pretty?

I've finally got myself a Macbook Pro after months of deliberating and it is no doubt one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Before I even had the laptop in my hands I was putting my old one to good use and scouring the internet for a new case.

I soon made up my mind and decided upon Marc Jacobs, I was torn between the bright coloured embossed cases and the havana flower print and as you can see by the pictures I settled with the havana print.

I picked mine up in Selfridges and was told that it was exclusive to them. The havana print range spans all cases for iPads and the different screen sized laptops.

I'm very happy with mine and am looking forward to brightening up my dark library bound days.

J x

Candlelight Club

A few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday in a different way, I stepped back into the 1920's.

A company called The Candlelight Club host events in a secret location in London based around different themes of the 1920's.

I have to say it was one of the most fun and original nights I have ever experienced. Everyone made such an effort and it really helped make the evening feel authentic.

A bar was set up with a menu of 1920's Shanghai inspired cocktails and a live Jazz band playing some fabulous tunes for us girls to dance the Charleston to.

I highly recommend booking a ticket for an evening with your friends, and at £15 it really isn't much. Check out the website for any upcoming events.

What's really special about the evening is the entire venue is lit up only with candles. Provided you weren't a fire hazard, it was all very beautiful.

I chose to wear Mac Red lipstick, strings of pearls from Primark, a simple midi black dress and a black headband turban.

Looking not so authentic with my digital camera.

J x

Long Overdue Haul.....

I bought these products a long time ago, around the time of the Illamasqua's last launch for Theatre Of The Nameless.

It was a hit and miss set of products to be honest. Mac's smoulder is a staple item for me so that made the hit list. I fell in love with Illamasqua's berry polish called Vice. A perfect Autumn colour. I couldn't resist and picked up a matching lipstick called Resist. On the website it is described as a deep rose pink with matte finish. I haven't had a chance to get any pictures of me wearing it, but as soon as I do, they'll be up.

One of the 'miss' products was Bumble and Bumble's Straight hair serum. What a complete disappointment. I paid a ridiculous sum of money for this (£22). It claims to tame unruly curly hair but it did quite the opposite, my hair was left so frizzy and dry. I gave it a couple of chances, used it on dry hair, used it on wet hair and even used it as a styling product and still got the same unwanted results.

The other 'miss' product was Estee Lauder's Double Wear concealer. The product itself is not at fault, I loved the consistency and it's coverage. The problem was that the colour matched my skin tone too perfectly and failed to hide any dark circles or blemishes. I now use it as a foundation touch up for on the go.

The final item, Chanel's Peridot, is sitting right in the middle of hit and miss. It looks fantastic in the bottle but applied it doesn't blow me away. It definitely looks better on shorter nails, because when I had them on longer ones I looked rather witchy.

J x

Theatre Of The Nameless

I was fortunate to be sent some products from Illamasqua's new collection,
Theatre Of The Nameless.

I have to say it's definitely my most favourite collection so far, but that seems to be a reoccurring theme. I'm sure the Illamasqua team will out do themselves on their next collection.

As always, the supporting material for the collection is impeccably sleek and dark in nature. The colours for me stand out a lot more and our shades that for me as a darker skinner person are much more wearable.

I was kindly sent:

• Ambition - Shimmer Blush
  
• Kontrol - Lipstick
• Berber - Pure pigment

I have to admit that the pigment and lipstick are quite scary. Having spoken to the lovely Illamasqua team at Selfridge's they assured me there are many ways to tone it down and suggested adding lip balm to the lipstick for a more subtle look and to add the pure pigment to my nail polish. Looks that I will be definitely testing out.

As you can see Kontrol lipstick gives off two very differnt colours, flash dependent. The natural photo is a much more accurate interpretation of what the colour is like.

I am however loving the blush. It reminds me a little of Mac's Dollymix but with a more lilac undertone. Although they are well pigmented I still needed a bit more than the average amount of product to get colour payoff, I was a bit conscious of the glitter but it gave a nice glow.

I couldn't help myself but I picked up the pink lipstick from the collection and Vice, one of the new nail polishes. A post with my latest haul will follow.

J x

Teenage Dream

Isn't it pweeetttyyy?






What we have here is OPI's Katy Perry Teenage Dream polish, every Barbie fanatics dream.

There are many glitter nail polishes available but this one I think is special. It presents itself almost as two different polishes, a shimmery pink with a glitter polish on top.

What I like about this polish is that it's kind of subtle because it's a nudey pink but it has enough glitter for that 'oooooo' effect.

I'm also impressed with how well it's lasted without no chipping. The photo is of the polish 5 days in. I can't help but look down at my nails and smile, makes me feel incredibly girly.

J x

I am obsessed with......

Illamasqua's Precision Ink in Abyss.

I've been wanting it for a really long time and it is on the more expensive end of liquid liners at £17 but I haven't seen any other liner as patent as this one.

I find everything about it quite sleek, the colour and the pen style applicator. It's not as firm as I had imagined on application though. I think I was imagining something along the lines of a Berol pen but with a bit of practice I've managed to create an ideal flick.

I have been using it all week, keeping it simple with just a single eyeshadow or mascara. What's great about the Precision Ink is that the colour is so intense, even when using it with a dark eye shadow you can see the liner clearly.

As well as being intense in colour, the precision ink seems to be intense in power. It stays on all day long with no smudging. When I have worn it all day I find it just gets dry, which I don't mind because it means I can take it off easily with a wipe or cleansing oil and it doesn't leave smudgey marks on my skin that leave me looking even more tired and bruised.






My favourite look I've done so far is the one below. I used Mac's Contrast and Mac's Pearlglide liner in Fly By Blu. It's probably my favourite because the flick came out so perfectly.


I'm also particularly pleased with the way my skin looked. I recently watched a StyleSuzi video and she mentioned how she used Bare Minerals powder foundation (mine is the 'original' formation instead of matte) to help set her Mac Studio Fix liquid foundation so I gave it a go and I really liked the result.

Sadlly I couldn't attend the launch of Illamasqua's Theatre Of The Nameless, so I've been kindly sent a few items to play with, so that means a post is in the works.

J x

H&M Selfridges

I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of H&M in Selfridges, purely because I was curious as to what it would offer compared to the many stores scattered across Oxford Street.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by not only the eye-catching display but the range of clothing Selfridges has chosen from H&M.

I couldn't resist on opening day but to go a little crazy and it would now seem my Autumn wardrobe is coming along quite nicely. Below are the three items I settled on albeit reluctantly otherwise I would've left with many more items:

• A navy blue coat.
• Colour block shift dress.
• Long belted wool waistcoat/cardigan.

I fell in love when I saw the coat and at £35 I continued to fall, and envisaged myself in it accompanied by boots and a beret. The material is nice, it's relatively thick and blazer like and definitely feels like it's more than what the price tag claims. It's thick enough for Autumn but it's definitely no Winter coat. I like the a-line cut and the bow detailing. The top set of buttons are metallic and the final few are concealed poppers. I've not taken a picture of the back of the coat but it has a flattering belt detail across.




The colour block dress is interesting, it's made up of three different materials. The navy panel is sheer throughout so depending on how brave you are I suggest wearing a slip or vest underneath. The middle piece of of the dress is similar to jersey but richer in texture and the final panel is a silky material. My favourite part of the dress is the sleeves, capped sleeves are always flattering. I think the dress will go perfectly with the navy coat and I look forward to wearing it with thick tights and boots.




Finally, the last piece is a typical Autumn item. What I like about this waistcoat is that it's really long and covers my bum, this means I can get away with wearing a long top underneath and leggings, perfect for lazy days. It's cotton blend and has a delicate ribbing the whole way down, I will have to be super careful that it doesn't bobble or decolour.

The H&M section is definitely worthwhile checking out and is most certainly affordable. They don't have any of the 'basics' range that H&M offer but have great items both day and night. The launch of the collection was hyped up because it was curated by DJ Leigh Lezark, but I personally found the pieces chosen a little overrated. I much preferred the classic looking pieces.

Hope you all enjoy the H&M as much as I have.

J x

'What's In My Bag'

J x

Neutrals

I've lazily been wearing one eyeshadow colour for the best part of a year, have almost two Mac 15 pan palettes full, and I decide to buy a new eyeshadow.

Why?

Because I was bored and I'm always so envious of all you fair skinned ladies with your neutral colours. The combination of the two led me to buy Mac's Satin Taupe. It's taupe and satin-ey, there is no other way to describe it. It's a rich yet simple colour and the reason I like it is I because I can get away with wearing it on it's own and it still looks pretty. Maybe I was too hasty in thinking neutrals were a no-go for me.




I've kept it simple with mascara and Benefit's BadGal eyeliner (which I have to say, I'm not a huge fan as it seems to smudge absolutely everywhere and not in the sexy smouldering way)

The rest of the face has Nars' Casino bronzer and Bare Minerals foundation going on.

J x

thxthxthx

A good friend introduced me to this website and it was something I wanted to share with you.

THXTHXTHX

It is a wonderful compilation of thank you notes.

J x

Yes please....

Shall think about this strongly nearer pay day.

J x

One Skirt.....

• 1 black skirt
  
• 1 iPhone
• 1 slightly dirty mirror
  
• 2 belts
• 2 pairs of shoes
• 1 blazer
• 1 repeated awkward pose........

and we have almost a weeks worth of work outfits. I'm quite lucky where I work the dress code is fairly lenient and we have the opportunity to express ourselves. I'm quite a safe person so try and keep it simple

The most important item on the list is the skirt, a simple black skirt that has turned out to be the perfect black skirt.

The skirt is from Oasis (£45.00) and comes with the tan belt. It is the perfect length with the perfect amount of flare. Everywhere I look these days skirts are too short, too long, too midi....not sure what else is left but to me, perfect, is between short and midi and this skirt is just that. It's not only the cut and fit of the skirt that is perfect it's because it is so versatile. Makes getting up and ready in the morning a lot easier.

The tops, cardigans and blazers come from a range of different high street stores (Warehouse, New Look, H&M, Next).

The most recent bought items are from :

• 1) Yellow Blouse - New Look
• 4) Nude Blouse - Forever 21

I was a little disappointed with Forever 21, mainly because 1) the website is terrible and nothing appealed to me and 2) most of the items in there weren't really my style so I guess the two are linked. I managed to find two items, the aforementioned nude blouse and a similar style polka dot blouse in red. Price wise, it is excellent and the clothes seem really good value for money. Overall the store is well presented and is very much reminiscent of H&M, definitely worth checking out if you are on Oxford Street.

J x

Wishlists.....

We all have one, and mine just seems to be getting longer and longer.

The Hermes Bangle has been on my wishlist for a very long time, in particular the black and gold. I've been lusting after it for a while but at £400 it is not only a luxurious item but an unnecessary one at this moment in time.


I have however found an incredible alternative. Working in Selfridges I often have blinkers on so as not to tempt myself spending all my wages. I pass a particular concession almost every other day en route to drop the cash bags and noticed that Skandium (a Skandinavian homeware concession) had bangles that resembled the Hermes one.

I finally gave in and bought a bangle and at £19 I didn't really have to twist my own arm too much. The bangles are from a designer called Tokyo Jane and come in a great range of colours (although the website doesn't seem to have them all) I see an addiction forming as I have already decided I'm going to buy the white/cream and gold one. The bangle is advertised as being porcelain but looks almost identical to the Hermes enamel one, the only difference being the porcelain bangle isn't as fitted on the wrist. But at about a twentieth of the price, I'm not complaining.


For those of you that are interested, Skandium and Tokyo Jane can be found on the Lower Ground in Selfridges.

J x