don't you know

Proenza Schouler SS12, image from Jak&Jill

I found this image somewhere on my travels around the internet and I just thought these bags are amazing! They look exactly like an old camera-bag I own that my dad gave me. The camera's long died, so I'm tempted to try and attach a chain to it and have it as a mini-handbag.. I'm sure it'd be much cheaper! haha. 

Anyway, this is kind of a filler post. I start my internship properly tomorrow, I'm off to my friends house in London tonight. It's a week long and it's going to be very intense, I'm sure. Tomorrow I have to be in work at 7AM! I'm dreading it a little bit, and worrying that I'll be awful and all sorts of things that I don't want to think about too much, but this is just to say that blogging will be the last thing on my mind whilst I'm away. I'll try and update via Twitter when I can - probably complaining about early mornings, knowing me, and I'll let you all know how I get on when I'm back!

Have a good week!

seeing double

Just a quick post today, I have a few things to do and I'm feeling a bit down at the moment. I got some slightly disappointing assessment results yesterday so I'm still picking myself up today!
I went to the shops with my mum on Monday and we mostly just went for lunch but we had a little wander around the shops too. I didn't spend too much, just got a few things. I wanted a book to read on the train next week when I commute, so I got these two. I've wanted to read American Psycho for a while, and I heard about How to Train Your Dog Quantum Physics somewhere and thought it sounded interesting. I also picked up this really cute notebook from Paperchase for £5.50. I wanted a notebook to keep all my recipes in and this was a really lovely one, I think. I like birds, as you can probably tell from my duvet cover, so I'm happy!
The nail varnish is from Accessorize - I think it's this colour here but I'm not sure, I don't have it to hand. It's one of Accessorize's really beautiful glitter polishes - I've not found any as good anywhere else! And for £4, you really can't go wrong. This is an old photo I've had lying around from playing with my old camera, but I thought it showed the glitter and the matte-quality of the polish (ie, not a glossy polish) well.
Anyway, there you, a short but sweet post from me, I'm starting to really panic about my internship next week. I know it will be fine when I get there, but I just get really worried before they start. Oh well!

a fail whale of a day

Jumper, Marks and Spencers

Scarf, gift

Skirt, H&M

Leggings, Tesco

Earrings, Vintage

Nails, Rimmel Rapid Ruby

Me and my mum had this really lovely day planned on Monday. My dad had to go to Oxford for a meeting, and so we thought we'd go and spend the day and see the museum and the art gallery and get lunch and grab a lift with him. Then we found out the museum and the gallery shut on Monday's. Step one, foiled. 

We thought, well, lets go to Winchester, it's a pretty town and they have some nice things to see. Get to the station on Monday morning.. no parking spots.. at all! Step two, foiled. 

Then I decided to drive us to Reading and we could get lunch in a place that's just opened up there - All Bar One. We went to one in Oxford a little while back and really liked it. We get there and we go inside. There are some staff who don't acknowledge us, and don't come over to help us - the place is empty. Annoyed, and will probably never go back there, we leave! Step three, foiled! 

We ended up in the Slug and Lettuce and got a quick bite there and then a nice wander round the shops and good browse in the bookshop, and it although it was nice to spend time with my mum, it wasn't what we had intended!

forgive us now for what we've done

I'm feeling sorry for myself today - I had to go to the dentists yesterday and I got some nasty injections that have left my jaw all bruised so I'm sitting around the house today feeling a bit lame and eating chocolate brownies. And I've been looking at bits of jewellery that I want.. 

Hamsa necklace, Little Nell, £8

I really love the hamsa symbol for some reason, I'm not sure why. I came across Little Nell recently and I love her jewellery, but this caught my eye. I do have a keyring very similar to this though, I'm tempted to try and make it into a necklace!

Blue Quartz Pendant, Fashionology, £33.50

Ever since I came across Unearthen's crystal necklaces -  I have wanted one. However, I can't quite justify shelling out upto £200 on one their beautiful necklaces. Fashionology do these which are pretty beautiful, and as close as I can find that don't cost the earth! 

'Cross Drop' earrings, Topshop, £6.50

I'm not really sure why these are referred to as 'cross drops'.. they're ankhs? Anyway, it's another symbol that I really love, I already have an ankh charm bracelet. This is what I'm most tempted by today, as they don't cost the earth and will cheer me up..

What's caught your eye recently? 

gone in the morning

Today I was bored, so I decided to put on makeup and lipstick and just lounge around the house eating amazing biscuits that I got for 10p at work. I was going to do some drawing but I found myself looking at pictures of home libraries online. This is my life.
What are you doing today? Please tell me something interesting.

oh comely

 

I want to talk to you about my new favourite magazine, Oh Comely. If I am honest, I did not think I would like this magazine. I thought it would be a very contrived effort to cash in on that whole hipstery-nature-lover-art-student kind of thing. It's not. Or it doesn't seem like that, anyway! It's got a really lovely mixture of articles, short stories, the odd fashion article, things to make yourself, letters, interviews.. It's not jampacked of adverts, theres not a whiff of paparazzi photos, and it's all very beautiful. I mean, they print photos of teacups and vintage covers of Wuthering Heights and cameras.. how could I not love it? It is £4, but I think it's a £4 well spent! 

I'm off to get a filling now, wish me luck. ):

what's in my bag!

I was trying to think if I've ever done one of these posts, and I don't think I have. It's weird, because they're one of my favourites to read! I was trying to clear out unwanted crap from my little satchel, because I've started carrying round junk with me again, and I thought I would do a little post.

1. My lovely yellow bag. I've posted about the bag before, but I definitely love it. I'm using the old one at the moment, I left my new one at uni!

2. Everything I lug around with me - yes I can fit that all in my little bag!

Moleskine weekly planner, Chroma by Derek Jarman (my current read!), iPhone 4, iPod classic (sans headphones!), MAC Select Sheer Pressed Powder, a hair-tie, my keys, my glasses, two pairs of earrings,  my lovely purse, Chanel Gold Fiction and Mimosa, Illamasqua Corrupt lipstick, MAC Ladybug lipstick, Crabtree and Evelyn lipbalm (the best thing ever!), my penknife (Christmas present!), Burt's Bees Hand Repair Cream.

3. I'm loving my new planner. I'm trying to keep a hold on my spending this year, so I'm collecting all receipts and making a note of how much money I've spent in a week because I spend so easily. Also, note I did none of those things on Thursday! haha.

4. A quick snap inside my purse. It took me ages to find the perfect purse, but I found it. I know it's a little dull from the outside, but its the perfect size, good quality and real leather, has enough card slots and money pockets. I have about a million loyalty cards and things, but I hide them away, haha.

Have you done something similar on your blog? Please show me, I love being a bit nosy!

back with a vengence - chanel vendetta review

For Christmas, I got what every girl wants - Chanel. When I'm rich, I want to buy exclusively Chanel beauty products.. this is another story, I am here with some swatches for you!
I tried my best to get good photos of you - but this is one of those beautiful elusive nail-polishes.

On Christmas day, I whacked it on straight away - so excuse the shoddy job. Unless there is super bright sunlight or a bright, direct light, this is what it generally looks like - only nicer. It's kind of like an almost-black in every day light. It's in bright light, it really shines.. I took this under the spotlights in my bathroom, it's been so dark here recently, I can't show you in sunshine!

It's in the same vein as Chanel's Blue Satin, that almost black, but not quite. They're truly beautiful, spectacularly subtle.
I tried to take a picture to show the shimmer you'll get in bright lights (Blue Satin is in the background, you can sort of see the similar shimmer there!);

However, I wore this without a topcoat last night, and it chips something awful.

Price: I can't really comment on this, it was gift, but Chanel polishes are pretty pricey.
Packaging: 5/5
Colour: 5/5
Formula: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Would I buy this product again?: Yes, yes, yes. Even if with the chipping problems, it's a beautiful colour, and I always wear topcoats.

privatising world peace

The other day I was showing my mum different examples of nail art - and I was showing her the amazing blog Nailside.. (If you're not aware of her blog, by the way.. you are sorely missing out! Go look, learn, love..It's amazing.) I really wanted to try doing a V-Gap. Sadly, I am nowhere near as talented - and I only did the one accent nail..

China Glaze, Ruby Pumps, £5.99

I was going for this blue and gold thing, only with my lovely new Ruby Pumps nail polish and a gold accent. I think I did it a little too high up, so I might try doing this with it, and making it like a sort of harlequin, or adding a stripe.. who knows! In it's current state though, I feel it all looks a bit Ironman-ish, haha. Maybe I need to do other superhero nail art..
On the other hand, I tried a fun glitter polish a friend bought me for Christmas, I loved this, but it was a bit too much glitz for my liking!

Anyway, Ruby Pumps may be one of my new favourite nail-polishes on my hunt for the perfect red. It is nowhere near.. but a fun purchase.

Leather Goods, Fragrance, and Chanel - the Holy Trinity

Now it is the new year, my thoughts immediately turn to one thing.. my bonus. I work for a pretty good company that gives even lowly part-time Sunday-girl's like me a pretty awesome bonus in February/March. Usually it's somewhere between 15-20% of my years salary. Which works out pretty well! I normally buy myself one extravagant treat - last year it was my Cambridge satchel, which I am still in love with and use daily, when I'm at university. This year, I'm thinking of investing in another statement piece..

A Castor & Pollux Wallet

(Images courtesy of their website)

I saw these wallets a couple of years ago in Vogue.. and god, I still think they they are the perfect wallet. I love frame-wallets, they seem really timeless and elegant, and in a modern colour - like the blue, green, or yellow, they are superbly stylish. They lie flat, have all the pockets necessary, and are beautiful. They're a bit steep, for a wallet, at $168 - about £107. My satchel cost almost that. But god, they're beautiful. I still lust. Also, the brand name totally gets my vote. I'm a Gemini through and through (even though I do not believe in horoscopes, haha, work that one out!), and I love all things mythological and astronomical.. so of course I think it's awesome.

My heart will always desire a new fragrances. I have accumulated so many, I have given myself a ban since Christmas 2010. Then I watched this wonderful documentary about fragrances, bespoke scents vs mass produced perfumes and it has made me lust after a personalised perfume..
Knowing this is still a bit of a pipe-dream I  decided to buy a quality one, instead. I want a brand that has history and cares about making beautiful scents, instead of mass-producing something sickly sweet for the masses. This hunt began in the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy in Florence, Italy. My mum bought a beautiful rosewater perfume here. However, they were far too expensive for me. I have tried and tested nearly every perfume in the fragrance room at Liberty's, and my hunt has led me too.. Penhaligon's. I was walking through Burlington Arcade recently to get to Haunch of Vension and stopped dead in my tracks. It's one of those places I always pass, but never consider. A quick look on their website, and I'm smitten. Yes, they're pricey. Around £100 for 100ml, they vary. But they are gorgeous. The bottles.. Ah!

Endymion and Juniper Sling

These two sound the most gorgeous, but I have to go and smell, you see. I'll make sure I have a good nose, that day..

The other thing that's caught my eye is Chanel Sublimage. Just because it's so extravagant.

£145-£240 for 50ml? It's crazy, in my opinion.. Maybe I'm that insane because I'm seriously thinking about it. However, I think the Beaute Initiale sounds like it would be more suited to my skin - and my wallet.

There were other things I was considering, too. Sensible, practical things. But these are the things that although I really, really, really don't need.. I really, really, really want. And that is sometimes what you need!

it's a new dawn, it's a new day

For New Years Eve I went to my friend Debbie's uni-house - it was a really good night, very relaxed and chilled, a good evening all in all. I drove with my friend Lauren, who brought some photos of us three from her 12th birthday party - which will never see the light of day - but I definitely didn't think we'd been friends with each other for that long! I'm really glad we have been, but what is that, like 11 years of friendship? Insane, haha. On the drive down to her house, we were talking about these pictures, how long we've known each other and how old we are - we will both turn twenty-two in 2012... we don't want to get any older! This is the first year of my life where I've actually felt happy in myself, I feel like I've learnt and grown up a hell of lot, I've coped better, moved on, felt confident for the first time in my life.. A lot of generally good things. I'm happy about this, and I want to continue this in 2012!
So I've made a list of things I want to achieve to continue this streak. These are not resolutions, these are goals to keep me happy..!

Read for pleasure.

I feel like I don't do this anymore, because I have to do so much reading for university! I know I have my dissertation coming up this year, so this isn't likely going to happen, but it's something I enjoy and I miss doing.

Be more sensible with money.

I'm getting better with this, but I want to make sure I don't fritter my money away on "affordable, fast fashion" and other silly things. 

Be more adventurous with food, culture, my work. 

And learn to cook better.. I make the same few dishes over and over - and my brother is always telling me my taste is awful. It's gotten better in the last few years, but I still don't have that much variety in my meals. I stick to what I know in my art practice, and although I enjoy this, I need to be more outgoing.

Be healthier.

This isn't a "lose weight, go to the gym" goal, because that won't happen! It's just a make-better-choices goal. Like, choose to walk more, choose healthier options. This is in every area of my life - like take better care of my teeth and sort out my dodgy knee, haha. 

Visit Tam and see friends that have moved away more frequently.

Tam is a lovely friend that lives in San Francisco.. I want to go see her! I've only gone to visit Debbie a handful of times, have never visited Lauren at uni, and only been to see Rachel once. I'm a bad friend, and need to correct this!

Keep my journal regularly.

I used to obsessively keep a journal - then as part of my degree course, I have to keep a "reflective journal" and so my personal journal came to a halt. I enjoy doing this and it gives me somewhere to think, privately. I need that.

Continue the good, forget the bad, be happy.

In terms of my depression, I've had an amazing year. I've only experienced a couple of bad patches. I put this mostly down to weeding out the bad people in my life. You know the kind! I've had a good time since, and I like that!

I hope you all have a very happy, successful 2012!