At a Loss

Hello there! The plan for a fun Sunday post today was to do a fashion post about my working wardrobe at Next. Unfortunately this has been postponed due to my phone being stolen last night with all the photos I took on there for it.. I will retake the photos on my camera when I have time!
I am absolutely gutted, and am so upset! I have been unbelievably stressed all day today trying to deal with orange, my insurance company and police lost property forms. It was stolen out of my bag whilst I was in revs last night, before I was having a rather good drunken night dressed head to toe as a zombie, complete with fake foot hanging from bloody bandages! Luckily I do have insurance on it, but it's going to take a while for it all to go through before I get the money back for it, which is a right pain. Seeing as I use instagram and my phone for alot of the photos on here, I'm afraid my posts may be lacking a little in excitement for the next few weeks, or will be a bit more bare, but I'll try my best. Boohoo! I have had the worst day - I just need a hug! It's crazy how much I use my phone, it's pretty much an extension of my arm most of the time. It makes me feel uneasy knowing i'm un-contactable for the mean time, and how much I rely on my phone for everything! RIP iphone of 2 years (and pretty glitter case..), you shall be missed.

Blizzard Review

Following my previous post about receiving my amazing box set of glitter nail varnishes from Models Own, I thought I'd post a review on one of them. 'Blizzard' was immediately my favorite of the set, with the bottle screaming disco ball! The colour of the glitter is a beautiful silver, with multicolored holograms. I couldn't wait to get it on my fingers.

 

The application was very good, and surprisingly a lot of glitter came out on the brush. I used more of a dabbing and spreading motion to have an even distribution of glitter over the nail, which worked really well. Although dabbing it on thickly, it didn't take too long to dry, and I applied a second coat. I did it over a clear base coat so I could see the full extent of the glitter, and I was not disappointed! With 2 coats the polish gives full on sparkle, and I was wow-ed at the finished effect. I put on a couple of thin layers of clear top coat (also Models Own, which dried quite fast again luckily, as by this point I had quite a few layers on), and this makes the surface of the polish a bit smoother, so it's less likely to catch and chip, which is what I find with a lot of textured nail varnishes.

I took 3 photos of my nails to show you, the first one so you can see actually how much glitter I got out of just 2 coats, and the second, and third is a close up, I took with my lights reflecting on it, just so you can see how sparkly and beautiful it looks! I am in absolute love with it, I can't help but feel happy when I look at my sparkly nails, and it gives a really unique, professional almost look. 

Would definitely recommend this polish to anyone who wants something a bit different and stand out! :)

Models Own Stash!

Hello, my name is Ellen, and I have an addiction to nail varnish.

It's true, I'm obsessed. There needs to be some sort of help group.. Whenever I'm in boots or superdrug it's rare that I'll come out without some sort of new nail varnish which is only a shade lighter then about 5 I have already! I usually buy quiet cheap ones, but I've always loved models own nail varnish for their unique colours, I've never seen anything like the ones they have! Everything from neons, to glitters, to crackles and nail art pens, they pretty much have it all.

After a very bad move to follow them on facebook I saw they had a new collection which I adored as soon as I saw it. I'm in love with glitter nail varnish and this looked like the perfect set to own. £20 for 6 I thought was a great deal too, as you got base coat with it, and they RRP at £5 each.

I put my order into their website, and I was sad to see delivery took up to 5 working days! But I thought it would be something to look forward to. I found the box lying in front of the door this afternoon and couldn't wait to see what they looked like! It came in a box... with another box inside, packed with pretty models own tissue paper. Very well wrapped!

All the colours are so pretty, although the pink and purple aren't as bright as the photos showed them to be, and they're more of a pastel. There's a really pretty white glitter that reminds me of snowflakes, a golden flecked one that reminds me of tinsel, and a bold silver glitter that looks like a disco ball. So Christmassy! They will be perfect for winter when perhaps I can't decide what colour to have, and just layer glitter onto a neutral nail. I can't decide which one to use first! I was a bit disappointed though as I came to realise the pink glitter is IDENTICAL to my topshop one I bought a month or so ago! I'm a bit gutted, so I've decided to sell it to my sister! I swear they must have used exactly the same factory to make it!

I must.stop.buying.varnish...! I don't have enough fingers!

The Rise of the Oversized

I grabbed these photos from Vogue.com quickly, and unfortunately it didn't give me any designer names, but one things for sure, this spring/summer over sized coats and jackets will be one of the biggest trends for 2013. Lady silhouettes have varnished, and in are straight cut, boyfriend style blazers and coats that over swamp your figure. The catwalk pieces are slightly drastic and look almost too ridiculous to wear everyday, but I think this will be such an easy trend to incorporate into anyone's wardrobe.

I'm a big fan of this trend, and loved the thought of a huge coat or blazer I could wrap round me tight for winter! I made the big mistake of 'popping' into Primark the other day because I needed some new tights. (Can you tell I'm a bit of a Primarni addict?!) However this coat caught my eye and I absolutely adored it, and knew it fit the trend perfectly! In my eyes it was a coat, but sort of looked like an oversized blazer, which I really liked. It looked quite smart on, and I wanted a cream/lighter coloured winter coat, as I've worn my navy new look one to death these last few years and thought it would be nice for a change.

At £35 I knew it was alot to pay for a Primark coat but I grabbed it whilst I found it in my size, otherwise I would have regretted it i'm sure, before it sold out! It is a wool mix too and has a really lovely rough texture to it. Hopefully it will last me a while too. I really liked the fit, and with the long length it'll definitely be keeping me warm in the next month or so. It looks a bit manly flat, but with fitted sleeves it does give some fit. Definitely a good purchase from Primark, it looks good quality and a unusual style that doesn't actually look like I got it from there - result! I always seem to find the best things in there! I really need to stop buying things...

The Hunt for Boots

I was on a hunt for the perfect winter boots recently. If you live in Southampton, you know what a ridiculous amount of rain the area gets, it literally pours down all day some days! I had no water proof shoes, and was getting tired of walking around in damp cold dolly shoes. Even my Primark boots have a gigantic hole in the bottom so they let the water in, and are barley wearable now!

My first stop for clothing would usually be Primark, but I needed some decent shoes that would last me a couple of years, and although they had some really stylish ones which I really wanted, I forced myself to walk away from them, knowing the sole of them would crack in a few months and would be a waste of money. I hunted around online but it was tricky as you couldn't really try them on for fit, and I needed comfy ones I could walk around in. 

On a spur of the moment after uni trip into town with my friend Caroline, I headed into Topshop as they were recently offering 20% off for students, perfect to get some money off some boots. The ones I saw online didn't look like the photos and I didn't really like them, but I tried on a couple of styles. The shop assistant was so rude to me; (the shop assistant I had to walk across the entire store to find with a boot in my hand to ask her for the size, as there was nobody on the shoes. I found this really unusual as working in Next we always have at least 2 staff on the shoe department ready to help people wanting to try on!) Anyway. It almost put me off buying shoes in there altogether. She literally waited next to me and watch me try them on which made me feel very uncomfortable, and so I took my business elsewhere! Not before getting a couple of bracelets of course, I wanted to take advantage of the student discount!

I have A LOT of jewellery, but I felt not enough bracelets! I really wanted a spike one as they're everywhere at the moment, and I loved the skull bangle, it looks quite gothic and individual which is very on trend right now, and I could add them easily to any outfit.

I was prepared to spend more then I usually would for decent boots that would last, so we headed to Office. I walk past the shop every Saturday going to work and dribble over the shoes in the window, but never actually been in! I knew they had some great boots, but I wasn't sure if it was going to be too pricey for my student budget of £60. I went in and immediately saw some black Chelsea style boots with a heel, and fell in love with them. Luckily they had my size, as soon as I tried them on I knew I needed to buy them! The shop assistants were so lovely and friendly, and more then happy to help me, and even complimented me on the boots as I tried them! They were £65, which yes was a very high price to me for some shoes, but they did student discount, and even gave me the student lock in discount a day early because the manager was so nice! So I actually got them for £52, saving me £13 which I was chuffed about!

They are absolutely perfect, and exactly what I wanted. I couldn't be happier! They're not real leather but I can tell they will last at least a year with the thick heel and soles. I've worn them pretty much every day since I got them, they go with everything and look really smart dressed up or down, and they're sooo comfy. I bought heeled boots before and they have literally made my feet bleed, but I can easily walk around all day in these, and they fit my feet really well. Highly recommend Office for your winter footwear! :)

Hello October

Hi there! I admit I have been a terrible blogger over the last few weeks, and I have been desperate to do a couple of posts but just have not had the time! The last long post I wrote blogger kindly deleted it all and I gave up in frustration! I have been so busy since I've started back at uni, I've only been back 2 weeks but I could already use a break from our amount of work, and wish I was just back on holiday somewhere sunny! I sort of like the fact it’s gotten quite cold and wintery here in Southampton, all the leaves are over the parks and it looks quite pretty, and I have missed wrapping up in scarves and warm socks, although I hate having to walk to uni in the freezing cold for 9am seminars. All the carnivals are happening at home where I live in Somerset, and I’m sad I’ve missed some, I love a carnival and fun fairs in this time of year! I can't believe it's Ocotober already, where has the year gone!? Here are some updates on fun things I've been doing. :)

 Work work and more work! Starting my 2nd year came as a bit of a shock after 5 months off for summer doing absolutely nothing. When I'm not at uni or doing anything else (I'm finding I have to find time literally whenever I can!) I get all the sketchbook work out or head to the library and focus myself. My bed has been covered in scissors, glue and paper pretty so many times, I make such a mess and it takes me ages to tidy up. I am sort of enjoying the workload though, it keeps me busy and there’s always something to do. I quite like our projects too. We have 2 sketchbooks to do, one finishing in a magazine style feature and a written piece, and one in a presentation and photo shop and cut and stick boards. I also have a fashion management and marketing unit which has set me into panic really, as I’ve never really done business or understood most of it before, but I have to write a report on Topshop, and it’s easier than it looks really, there’s just a lot of long words and graphs. It’s also really interesting looking into customer behaviour and a bit of physcology on the side, who knew fashion was so complicated! We’re also learning more on Photoshop, and our tutor is so much better than last year, and I’m now able to retouch a photo as if I worked for Vogue or something!

Nights out.. or lack of them. We haven’t gone out half as much as we used to, because we don’t really have the time! We hit fresher’s week and went to the ‘Big Night Out’, where unfortunately I caught fresher’s flu after a horrific 2 day hangover, and felt so run down I had to miss my second day back at uni because I couldn’t get out of bed. This was two weeks ago and I’m only just feeling better, It’s been horrible with everyone getting ill but it always happens, those pesky freshers bringing all their germs into Southampton! It was a great night though, and we have had a couple since then. Last weekend my friend from home Lorren came down and we went out which was great fun as I hadn’t seen her in a while. We also have a ‘Pimps and Hoes’ carnage later on this week so let’s see how that goes! I’ve definitely found the source of my hangovers that just seem to get worse throughout the year.. I drank hardly any vodka on Friday night, and I felt almost fine the next day. No more vodka for me, I think I’ll stick to schnapps and cider from now on! 

I’ve been trying (I really have) to be careful with my money this year. We’re saving a lot living in private accommodation rather than halls, but I’m seeing this as it means I can buy more clothes, which I really shouldn’t be doing! The next post to follow will contain a couple of my main purchases I’ve recently made. Money well spent for winter mind you..

We’re really being pushed this year to get ourselves out there as fashion professionals and keep up to date blogs and other social networks, as it’s a good way of getting yourself known and recognized, so I’m going to try so hard to keep my blog up to date as often as I can.

Hope you enjoy! :)