Hey Four Eyes..

I've been wearing glasses now for the past two years; not constantly, just when my eyes started to get a bit tired after starring at the computer screen for too long, or getting engrossed in a ridiculously long (but brilliant) book. I must admit, at first I was horrified; I cried, (yes I am a complete baby), and thought I looked just, well, silly really. I know you'll all be thinking "why didn't you just go for contacts?” arhhhhhhh dsfjhdsfsgtidfjk, would be my answer. I have a massive fear of anything that involves eyeballs, so touching them is something I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do. But now, after two years of wearing them, I can say I finally feel a little bit of confidence seeping out. I don’t feel embarrassed and I’m actually a teeny bit happy I have them. 

It’s a good job really, as I popped to the opticians a few weeks ago, and was told my eyesight had deteriorated slightly (I had noticed, I had just chosen not to acknowledge the fact), which meant I’d need to wear glasses pretty much all the time. And, seeing as I was now quite partial to a touch of spectacle wearing, I thought I would indulge in a new pair; and here they are:

excuse the bobbily forehead - yum

What do you think of them?  Do any of you choose glasses over contacts? When I’ve put a little bit more money aside, I think I might splurge on another pair. Well, I am going to be wearing them full time, and a girl has to accessorise right? Good :)

Happy Birthday Pudding & Pie

This is George, he is our family guinea pig & we love him dearly:

Today is his 7^th Birthday. Happy Birthday Georgie Porgie! 7 years old…that’s quite impressive for a little pig made of guinea non? Super impressive in my eyes; so I thought he deserved a little birthday post dedicated solely to him! There's a few grey hairs coming on..but that's to be expected..

He’s such a happy little fella & we’ll no doubt be spoiling him with one too many dandelion leaves this evening. Feel free to wish him a Happy Birthday below!! :)

Freedom 90's

 

I definitely have a 90's supermodel vibe happening in this ensemble. A high waisted bumble bee inspired pencil skirt with a shrunken angora cardigan that flashes a sliver of skin. A strong red lip and my new bleach blonde crop edges it up...just the way I like it. Seriously though, who doesn't want to look like a 90's supermodel? Curves fer dayz. I miss the sex appeal of fashion in the 90's.  

F21 sunnies. Vintage sweater. Vintage skirt. F21 shoes. Vintage watch. 

Thirsty Hands..

Inecto Pure Coconut Hand and Nail Cream 75ml

I think it’s something that runs in my family, but all the girls on my mum’s side suffer quite badly with dry/chapped hands; and I am no exception. It’s just something that never seems to go away...my hands are always thirsty! It is quite frustrating, especially in the winter, because it can get quite painful; but at any other time of year I don’t mind too much, simply because I do love slapping on a good hand cream :)

Now, I do have an absolute favourite hand cream (which I’ll no doubt write about at some point, it’s delicious), with quite a hefty price tag attached; but Inecto are a new discovery for me, and definitely deserve a little mention, even if it is just on my little spot on the internet.

This product does everything you would expect a hand cream to do and more. It has quite a thick, creamy consistency; and being made with 100% coconut oil you’d assume that it may leave behind an oily residue, but no no! It sinks straight in to your hands, leaving them feeling silky smooth and instantly hydrated. I’m used to needing to re-apply hand cream every couple of hours, but this one quenches my little mitts for hours! And if I’m lucky, I can get away with only two applications a day. Plus the smell is divine (if you hate coconut, this isn’t the one for you), it’s lovely and sweet, whilst not being too overpowering.

And if you thought this little fella couldn’t get any better, you thought wrong. The price tag to go with it’s amazing nourishing properties is a jaw dropping £1.52 from Amazon!! I actually can’t quite believe such a low priced item can work such wonders; and seeing as it’s so affordable I’m thinking about purchasing a few of their other items, like the body lotion @ £2.03 *picks jaw up from floor*. And if you fancy picking one up from the high street, I believe Superdrug, Holland & Barratt and Bodycare supply them too.

I’m really impressed with this product, and I’m really looking forward to trying out a few more of their items…

Have any of you tried Inecto before? Or do you think you will now?

All Dressed Up

 

Yesterday le boyfriend and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant (euphemism for "hole in the wall") Taqueria La Mexicana on 4th Street in Long Beach. So I was a little over dressed. But seriously, what else is new? It's hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I will always be that girl who is awkwardly overdressed...for everything. On Sunday I ran to the grocery store in a fur and a pair of Ferragamo's. And orange pants. That's just how I roll. People were not amused; they stared. I probably would have been better off living in the forties or fifties. Hats, dresses, fur, and heels...just because it's Tuesday.

Vintage hat. H&M fur stoll. Vintage dress. F21 boots. 

New Love: Zara Messenger Bag

Bag: Zara
Dress: Ark Clothing
Belt: Vintage
Boots: H by Hudson

I saw this bag on the Zara website a few weeks ago and I just HAD to purchase it; & since then I’ve also seen it mentioned by Lily of What I Heart Today on twitter. (Amazing blog, check her out!) Isn’t it gorgeous? I absolutely love the pale grey colour and how it goes so well with the rose gold detail. I loved it so much I bought it in black too. Well, it would’ve been silly not to given the amazing price tag that goes with it..

& I thought I would share my love with you all, what do you think?

Bright Eyes

Since I can remember I have suffered with hay fever. When I was a tot, it was horrific; I literally looked like I’d been through ten rounds with Mike Tyson every, single, day. I took medication prescribed through my local GP with no luck (it probably didn’t help that I enjoyed spending a lot of time in fields frolicking around, ha). I admit, with age, my allergies seem to have settled slightly; but the one thing that still gets me every year is ‘itchy eyes’. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me, it is the most frustrating thing ever. For pretty much the entire spring period, leading on to summer, my eyes are constantly itchy, bloodshot and streaming; and because I’m itching them so much, my eyes become puffy. Not a good look. Plus, it means I really struggle to wear mascara *hides face with hands*, simply because it will just end up all over my face and sting my eyes!

I’d tried medication, eye drops and traditional methods such as rubbing Vaseline around my eyes and lashes – can I just ask what does that even do?! Apart from make you look like a plonker; but I couldn’t find anything that worked for me. I genuinely thought I would be stuck with these hideous eyes forever :(. That was until I discovered LizEarle’s EyeBright. This stuff is amazing. It doesn’t stop you getting hay fever, but I would definitely say it’s a preventative.

Every morning and night, I squirt a little of the liquid on to two cotton pads (a little goes a long way) and sweep them over the entire eye area. It instantly cools any irritation and leaves the eye area revitalised, whilst reducing any puffiness/ redness. As most of you will know, Liz Earle only uses natural ingredients; and the soothing properties included in this bottle of wonderfulness mean that you can use this to remove your eye makeup too, if you have sensitive skin like me. Plus, if I’m having a bit of a ‘pamper me evening’, I’ll slap on a facemask and lay in the bath with two pads over my eyes; the longer you leave it to work its magic the better the results, and my eyes always feel super healthy and soft afterwards.

It’s 100% a multipurpose product, and for the price tag of £10.25 for 150ml, I think I’ll use it forever, regardless of whether I continue to suffer with hay fever or not.

So what do you think? Have any of you tried EyeBright, or do you have any products you would recommend for hay fever sufferers? 

On My Mind

1. Structured cowboy hat
2. Crazy sunglasses
3. Luze baseball caps
4. Collar necklaces
5. Orange and olive
6. Baby blue and brown
7. Tummy trend

All images via Fashion Gone Rogue

MillionDollarDress

This dress did not really cost one million dollars, but it sure makes me feel like a million dollars. Actually, considering that expression was probably coined in like 1908, when you factor in for inflation, let's settle on a nice round figure of one billion. This dress makes me feel like one billion dollars. (WTF. I hate when you think you have this really original, funny idea and then you realize it's actually from Austin Powers...happens to me all the time.)

First of all, this dress fits like a dream. It's vintage, and it's in mint condition. It's crocheted and kinda-sorta too sheer for the human eye when the sun catches it in just the right light. But I wear it anyway. And I love it.

What better occasion to wear the billion dollar dress than to celebrate my BFF's birthday at Sol Mexican Cocina in Newport Beach. With $10 bottomless mimosas...you really cannot go wrong. Mmmm...

 K so after breakfast I needed to take pics of myself in the billion dollar dress so I could blog about it. So I went over to Jazzy's. We hiked up into the wilderness of Shady Canyon (AKA her backyard) and we were snappin' away having a grand old time, taking all these fabulous pictures...

Ya, so we're snap, snap, snappin' away, and I'm all, "Jasmine, stop making me laugh I really need to have a serious model face!" And that's when we heard it. The ferocious growling, snarl of the biggest, baddest, scariest, most monstrously huge mountain lion we've ever heard in our life. And I was like:

So Jasmine was already halfway back to her house two seconds after she snapped this pic, but like, this outfit REALLY doesn't lend itself to running away from killer mountain lions, ya know? (I mean, thank GOD I was wearing platforms!) So I sort of tinkered down the hill as fast as I could...but I actually almost died. That brush with really messed with our mojo so we ended out photo shoot and went to Pick Up Stix. The end. Vintage maxi dress. F21 floppy hat. American Eagle platforms.

FlowerPower

I wore this floral print mini dress out for a night of drinks, dancing, and general debauchery on Main Street in Huntington Beach this past Saturday night. We went to Killarney's and danced and danced and danced. Then we had a photoshoot with a drunk guy passed out on a bench. That's just how you do it in HB. I got this dress at Wet Seal like, 4 years ago. No, seriously. I love the bow detailing on the back. It was cold, so the black fur was necessary for survival. The black hat was necessary to keep me from, then, looking like a hooker. The combo of black tights and black boots makes your legs look a million miles long...try it. I dare you. Vintage hat. Wet Seal dress. Worthington booties from my Grandma's closet.

Vintage hat. H&M fur stoll. Vintage dress. F21 boots. 

Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Makeup

I’m quite conscious that the start to my blogging life is a bit ‘clinique mad’, but hey ho, I do absolutely love it.

Being such a huge fan of their anti-blemish 3 step range, I thought; why not try the anti-blemish make-up too? I popped in to my local boots to pick up a tester of the foundation from their counter – I didn’t want to make the official purchase until I’d actually given it a good go! Actually, on that note, their tester pots are actually a really good size. I got 3 pots, in shades 1, 2 & 3 and each pot lasted me over a week. Obviously it will depend how much foundation you like to use, I’m not too heavy handed with the ole’ liquid so it lasted me well :). I ended up going for shade2 in Fresh Ivory – dry combination to oily. It’s slightly darker than my skin tone, but I always prefer to do that; I find that if I go for an exact match my face ends up looking like casper and if I go darker, I look like an orange, so I figured just slightly darker would tick all the boxes! I must say, I’m really impressed. It’s a medium coverage, that’s buildable; it’s not cakey or too light, just right in my opinion. Usually, I’m a powder girl (huge bare minerals fan), so I don’t proclaim to be at all in-the-know when it comes to liquid foundations by any means, but for me I think I’ve found ‘the one’. And with just a little drop it helps to conceal any blemishes, whilst giving a more even skin tone.

The staying power is undeniably fantastic. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t know many foundations that when you look in the mirror at the end of a long day, look freshly applied, and this definitely does. I have had repeated compliments since this purchase of people telling me how great my skin looks etc. Which is such a confidence boost when you’ve been feeling really crappy about your skin. Excuse the gross photo, I was in a bit of a rush to go out for my brother’s 16^th birthday meal; but I wanted to show you what it looks like on without any editing etc :)

I really lack any form of self control when it comes to any sort of shopping. So obviously, I got roped in to purchasing the concealer too: shade1 clearing concealer. Now, this is definitely a thick concealer, I don’t think it would be something I would ever use under my eyes, unless I mixed it with an illuminator or something like that, well, just because I think it might be a bit cakey for my liking. And I don’t like cakey-ness of any sort on my disgustingly dark bags that seem to take up half my face (for this I am a raving fan of touché clat, but i’m rambling now, and that’s another story). However, this is very very good at covering up blemishes; the coverage is immense and definitely ‘full’. Along with the foundation, it’s staying power is spot on, excuse the pun ;). For application on both, I use the Real Techniques - Core Collection brushes - Ah-mazeeee-ing, check them out here.

clearing concealer

liquid foundation

Have any of you tried these little gems, if so, what did you think? Or do you have a foundation that you’d recommend for spot prone skin?

Godard Girl

This outfit makes me feel like I should be cast as a female spy in a Jean-Luc Godard film circa 1964...or something. And since that's not really feasible per se, I opted to wander aimlessly around the Ladjevardi Mansion and make Jasmine take some artsy fartsy photos of me. (Typical, really.) And I spoke in a French accent...the whole time. Now don't get me wrong, I've never actually seen a Godard film. (Sorry I'm not sorry.) However, based on pop culture references I really feel confident that this was the look he was going for. And if I'm wrong, well then at least I still look fierce. PS- Let's talk about the lipstick. This Nikki Minaj for MAC is the new Russian Red. So insanely bright pink..."man repelling" at it's finest ;) F21 beret. F21 scarf. Ray Ban Glasses. Vintage sweater. Vintage velvet skirt. INC shoes. (Sorry I'm not Mrs. MoneyBags and I have to repeat shoes all the damn time. I'm a Real Style Stalker...on a budget. NOT a Real Housewife.)

Vintage hat. H&M fur stoll. Vintage dress. F21 boots. 

Spring In My Step

We are in full on Spring mode here in Orange County. (Except for the freak rainstorm today. Ew.) So, naturally, I busted out my springiest of Spring wear. This skirt is actually supposed to be a top...the arm holes are actually providing that extra flounce and asymmetrical draping on the side there. But honestly, this top is ugly, and it's just so beautiful as a skirt! I am having an angora moment as of late. (WTF, who says that?) But seriously, over the past three months I have picked up so many angora sweaters at thrift shops. It's such a fun and luxurious texture to experiment with; very dainty and ladylike. I stole borrowed this Betsey Johnson necklace from my girlfriend Jasmine, like, 3 years ago. I think she kinda forgot that she owned it and now she thinks it's mine. Which makes me really happy because the outfit would be totally boring without it. This ensemble made me feel like I should magically teleport off to vacation in the French Riviera or something like that, but instead I somehow ended up out to lunch with Jasmine. (I didn't bring up the necklace. Neither did she.) Teleportation can be so tricky... F21 sunnies. Betsey Johnson necklace (Lova ya, Jazzy!), thrifted angora sweater. Thrifted skirt/shirt. Inc. shoes.

Vintage hat. H&M fur stoll. Vintage dress. F21 boots.