Saturday, May 30, 2009

Outfit: Casual Sunny Saturday






I find it ironic that, given my extensive shoe collection, the most comfortable footwear I own cost just £2.94 from Primark. I had a pair of their flip flops last year – actually I think they were bought two or three years ago, and they were so comfy. I could walk miles in them and they never rubbed once. They eventually fell apart (well they were only £2 to start with) so yesterday I headed to Primark to see whether they had any flip flops made out of the same material. It’s not plastic and it’s not fabric, it’s just this really soft, foamy kind of stuff that doesn’t rub and doesn’t make your feet hot. I got two pairs – this turquoise & green pair and a purple & pink pair, all for less than £6.

Anyway, it’s hot and sunny out again. I’ve done loads of washing and run various errands this morning. I’m just taking a break from sitting in the sun with a book to type this, then I’ll head back out there to see whether the sheets are dry so I can remake the bed. The young man has gone for a cycle ride with the chap from next door and when he comes back I think we’re heading to the pub to meet some friends and then the plan is for a BBQ later on.

The crop jeans are from several years ago but I love that they are stone wash and a little distressed – bang on trend for this season!

Blue top – Primark
Crop jeans – New Look
Turquoise flip flops – Primark
Blue necklace & ring – Dorothy Perkins
Blue bead bracelet – gifted
Sunglasses – Ethel Austin

Total Est. Cost £29

Friday, May 29, 2009

Outfit: Sunny Friday






It’s Friday, the sun is shining, and it’s my last day of work before a week off! The forecast is good so far for the weekend and the beginning of next week so I will be able to wear some of my summer clothes hopefully. I shortened a dress the other day (for ‘shortened’ read ‘cut off the bottom with scissors’) and I am excited to wear it at its new length. And yesterday I turned up some city shorts that I felt were an awkward length. I used hemming tape for the first time ever – it was very easy and I think the shorts turn out alright.

I love how white jeans really make bright colours pop.

Red cardi – Long Tall Sally (eBay)
Turquoise tank – Topshop
White jeans – Topshop Tall (eBay)
Turquoise shoes – New Look (charity shop)
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins
Red & cream bangles – gifted
Red beads – eBay
Sunglasses – Ethel Austin

Total Est. Cost £41

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Picasa Problems

For some reason, Picasa was having trouble talking to Blogger (goodness knows why, they're both Google apps) and my collages were only showing up intermittently. I have sussed out a work around now so hopefully you should be able to see the collages in the outfit posts for the last week (excluding Saturday 23rd May). If you still can't see them, please will you let me know?

Outfit: Blue Accents





It feels like it should be Friday already even though it’s been a short week. But it’s only Thursday. I’m getting my hair cut tonight which is always good news. After 5 or 6 weeks the front part gets too long and annoys me.

It’s overcast at the moment but I have high hopes for the sun putting in an apprearance later. And the forecast for tomorrow and the weekend is for it to be glorious.

This coat didn’t get nearly enough wear last summer so I’ve decided to put it into daily rotation. Life is too short to keep a lot of things for best. You never end up wearing them.

Black cardi – New Look Tall
Black & white top – New Look Tall (eBay)
Jeans – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue silk scarf – Florence + Fred at Tesco
Blue coat – Topshop Tall (eBay)
Blue ring – Dorothy Perkins
Blue bead bracelet – gifted
Whitby jet cross – gifted

Total Est. Cost £50

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Outfit: Sleepy Wednesday

My alarm didn’t go off this morning so I woke up at five past seven – the time I would usually set off for work. Fortunately it is half term this week so the roads are fairly quiet. I had no time for breakfast so am now awaiting the arrival of the cafĂ© van so I can get something to eat.

It is rainy today, hence the boots.

Black waistcoat – Next Tall
Black/white/purple check shirt – Dorothy Perkins Tall
Grey skinny jeans – Primark
Purple boots – Priceless Shoes
Purple bangles – Diamonds & Pearls
Silver earrings – Dorothy Perkins
Whitby jet cross – gifted

Total Est. Cost £68

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Win a Necklace

The fabulous Boutique Girl is having a giveaway with the chance to win a beautiful necklace. For details on how to enter, click here!

Contest Winner!

I am a little late announcing this, but Cocopunkz, you won the contest earlier this month. Contact me on the email address at the side and I'll get your prize to you.

Review: So Real False Nails by Nailene



I wrote a review of Nailene’s Tip Whitener Pen a while back and a lovely lady from Nailene contacted me to ask whether she could send me some product samples to try out. Included in my goodie package were 3 packs of false nails – 2 classic French tipped ones and a set with blue sparkly ends.

On Friday night I decided to give one of the standard French tip sets a go. I have never worn false nails before so was a little apprehensive about applying them (even more so about how I would get them off again!) but I went for it nevertheless.

I chose the nails that were the right size for each of my fingers – there are 2 sets of 12 sizes in the pack so it shouldn’t be a problem to find ones that fit. I was able to find a good fit for all but one finger, but it wasn’t too noticeable that the fit on my right hand ring finger wasn’t exact. The nails look as though they have been attached to a strip of some kind when they were manufactured as each tip had an extra nodule on the end that needed filing off. This was easy to do with an ordinary emery board.

The pack instructs you to buff your nails and push back the cuticles – a nail buffer and orange stick are provided for this purpose. Then I was ready to start gluing the nails. I found this fairly easy even though it was my first time doing it, but I did manage to get glue on my fingers and almost glued myself to the table at one point. The excess glue on my fingers was mostly removed with nail varnish remover, the rest had come off by the time I’d taken a shower and slept overnight.

The nails look pretty natural and I was pleased with the way they made my hands look. They are not at all long (Nailene describe the length as ‘medium’ but as my fingers are long, I think a shorter length would be too short for me), only slightly longer than my own nails which I tend to keep pretty short anyway. I was worried about how I would manage removing my contact lenses with them on though, and this was not something I attempted to do at all over the weekend.

I applied the nails Friday evening and by Sunday tea time 2 of them had dropped off. I stuck them back on but a third one fell off as I was cooking tea on Monday (fortunately it ended up in the sink and not in the lasagne!) so I decided I would remove them that evening.

You will need to set aside a good amount of time for taking the nails off. The pack says they will dissolve after a few minutes of soaking in acetone nail varnish remover. No. After an hour and a quarter, I still hadn’t got all of the nails off – and resorted to prising them off with my other nails once they had soaked for a while to soften the glue (NOTE: This method of removal is not recommended, but seriously, I thought I would be there all night!). There is still some glue on my own nails this morning that refuses to budge – I’ll have another go with the nail varnish remover tonight.

Despite the trouble removing them, I would definitely recommend these nails and would probably use them again if I was going to a wedding or other special event. As long as you are aware that it will take a long time to remove the nails you can plan in doing it. I liked that they were short in length, yet still looked good.

You can buy Nailene So Real nails at WalMart, CVS and Rite Aid in the US, and try Boots stores for them in the UK.

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing something summery if we get the sunshine that is forecast
…reading the June issue of US Glamour
…watching my Flying Doctors DVDs
…listening to the MP3 mix CD I made last week
…eating salad
…shopping for nothing

Outfit: Summer Tuesday



My outfit is summery, even if the weather can’t make up its mind what it’s doing. It started out grey & cloudy this morning but the sun is attempting to put in an appearance now. I managed to sunburn my legs yesterday, hence the leggings today hiding the evicence.
I didn’t realise this was such a New Look-centric outfit until I started listing it just now.

Black shrug – New Look
White t – Tall Girls
Red & white skirt – New Look Tall
Black belt – New Look Tall (free with a shirt)
Black leggings – New Look Tall
Turquoise peep toes – New Look (charity shop)
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins
Red & cream bangles – gifted
Whitby jet cross – gifted
Red beads – Ethel Austin

Total Est. Cost £38

Monday, May 25, 2009

Outfit: Spring Bank Holiday



It’s been another glorious sunny day today – unusual for a bank holiday in the UK. The young man and I spent most of the day in the garden and then when it (inevitably) clouded over, I went to Tesco for the weekly shopping.

Black shrug – New Look
Purple tank – New Look Tall
Jeans – Next (charity shop)
Turquoise shoes – New Look
Turquoise bangle – Dorothy Perkins
Pink & purple bangles – gifted
Whitby jet cross necklace – gifted

Total Est. Cost £42

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Whitby Jet Necklace


The young man didn’t get me anything for my birthday this year (don’t worry, we had agreed no presents in advance). Then last night he produced an H Samuel bag containing a jewellery box and said it was a belated birthday present. I was surprised and when I opened it, it contained this black cross necklace. It is made from Whitby Jet and the talented young man crafted it himself from a piece of Jet he found on the beach just north of Whitby. I am so impressed. He said it took a long time to polish it up and that is why it wasn’t ready for my birthday. Whitby Jet jewellery is not cheap and this is extra special as it was hand made especially for me.

Outfit: Sunday





The young man and I set out to enjoy the glorious sunny weather today. We had a bit of a walk and ended up in the city for a meal.

Purple shrug – charity shop
Grey t – Next (charity shop)
Jeans – Next (charity shop)
Black sandals – Birkenstocks (Fitness Footwear – gifted)
Black cross – gifted
Bangles – gifted

Total Est. Cost £5

Outfit: Saturday





I met my sister in the city yesterday and we had lunch. We walked around the shops for a while and then my friend called to say she & another friend were in town and so we met them for a coffee.

Blue & cream stripe top – New Look Tall (eBay)
Jeans – Gap
Silver flats – Priceless Shoes
Red beads – eBay

Total Est. Cost £30

Friday, May 22, 2009

Outfit: White Jeans






We finally have something resembling a fine day outside (fingers crossed it lasts, though showers – that weren’t on the weather map yesterday – are now forecast for later on) and I decided it was time to break out the white jeans. I’ve never had white jeans before – I always figured I’d spill something on them, or sit somewhere mucky or just generally get them in a mess. But I wear pale grey denim and pale blue, and white is only one step further removed from both of those. I scored the jeans for £15.50 on eBay and I think I’m going to like them.

Blue/green/white/black tunic – Dorothy Perkins (charity shop)
White cami – Topshop
White jeans – Topshop Tall (eBay)
Blue patent shoes – New Look
Blue necklace – Dorothy Perkins
Blue bracelet – gifted
Blue ring – Dorothy Perkins
White sunglasses - ASOS

Total Est. Cost £34