SPOTLIGHT: Presents, not gifts

Fed up of seeing 'Gift Ideas' covered in snowflakes and reindeer? Pre-packaged gift sets feel a little too impersonal? I've trawled the internet and come up with a few ideas for those having trouble wading through the meaningless, festive offal we're all far too familiar with...

Custom Pet Portrait by Lilly Piri  £113

I'm a sucker for illustration and for animals, so these amazing 'Pet Portraits' are right up my street. I would really like to get one done for my mum and dad one day, the attention to detail is astounding and I absolutely love Lilly's style. Trop mignon!

Dogeared Karma Necklace £63

While I am actually really interested the concept of karma, I'm not so convinced by the idea behind this necklace. I'm sure its aim to serve as 'a reminder to keep the circle positive, peaceful and loving' would be lost on quite a few people! Still, tiny gold jewelry is very à la mode at the moment and I love how delicate and wearable this necklace is! And who knows, maybe wearing it would encourage a few good deeds...

Diptyque x Liberty £45

Two iconic luxury brands have collaborated to produce this limited edition candle, claiming to be "inspired by the many aromas and fragrances found in curiosity cabinets and eclectic boutiques like Liberty and Diptyque". Laavely! I'd never heard of Diptyque until moving to Paris a few years ago, where my best friend converted me and turned me into a scented-candle superfan. With a trademark eye-watering price-tag but the promise of a luxurious and long-lasting fragrance, this is a great gift for loyal Diptyque fans and newcomers alike.

The Self-Sufficiency Bible by Simon Dawson £9.09

I recently developed a very strong desire to get a vegetable patch up and running but chose the worst season to start, so I've done a lot of research into what I need to do when the time is right. This book is apparently great for those who are genuinely self-sufficient, but is also a great read for those who can but dream. I know deep down that my mid-life crisis will involve me moving to the country to live off the land (apparently my hands are perfect for potato farming) and this book is perfect for any like-minded, wannabe country folk.

New Balance 410 £50

I recently bought these trainers and I am IN LOVE. They're so comfortable and go with everything, plus they're in a colour combination that is remarkably hard to find! Who'd have thought black and white trainers would prove to be so elusive... See here and here for inspiration on how to wear them.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

I went months without a phone case because I couldn't find one I liked enough, and I eventually gave in to a really cheap, see-through pink cover because I started having nightmares I'd dropped and smashed my phone... In an ideal world I'd hoard hundreds of the beautiful cases available at Society 6; each one is based on original art submitted by the artists themselves, and they now ship to the UK!

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Tailor Made Bronzing Powder Compact in 00 Nude £46.50

I lived with two other girls last year, and we often ended up sharing makeup. One of them had a Guerlain bronzer which was absolutely beautiful and incredibly flattering, especially compared to my very orange MAC compact (a poor decision that has haunted me for a long time). I'm not sure which colour it was that she had (I have a feeling it was 03 on the link above), but this looks perfect for fairer skintones.

The Hobbit Moleskine Ruled Large Notebook £18.50

I like Moleskines, I like The Hobbit (I'm yet to see the film, which is unforgivable I know..), so it's not surprising that I like this notebook. Stationery may seem like a cop-out but Moleskines really are special, plus this one makes even the Star Wars range pale in comparison. To top it off, I'm a firm believer in it being impossible to own too many notebooks- I've always got one on me to document emergency flutters of inspiration. 

Pen Orgy Pencil Case £6.95

Yep, MORE STATIONERY! You'll need somewhere to put those pens for your new Hobbit notebook, right? This made me giggle when it popped up on my Facebook feed (the Oh Deer page is actually incredibly engaging.. other retailers, take note!) so I had to include it here.

Fox Call Print £12

No Guts No Glory has a limited but really lovely range of prints, and I especially like this fox print by Autumn Jitters. I am a massive illustration fan and I would love to be able to draw. If (like me) you can't draw but want to give someone an arty and unique present, prints by independent artists go down really well. I'm actually going to start doing a few posts on my favourite illustrators, so keep an eye out!

Sloth Society Baseball Tee £15.83

I tweeted about this a few days ago when I saw it on Skunkboy Blog, I think it's awesome and I NEED IT. Most of my friends would agree that, if I was an animal, I'd probably be a sloth, and I'm 100% okay with that. I'd actually genuinely enjoy life as a sloth, they have such a sweet deal (aside from needing to be taught how to poop). Anyway, this t-shirt is ideal for those of us who don't really need to do much to release their inner sloth. Like me. Hint hint.

Monica Vinader Siren Stacking Ring £75 / Siren Band £75

Apparently Monica Vinader is a really well known jeweller, but I only heard about her when I went on holiday with two huge fans of hers and heard all about these gorgeous stacking rings. I love how raw and irregular the bands are, and how pretty they look when stacked up. These two rings in particular really complement each other and, again, I love how delicate they are. I'm definitely treating myself to one when I get my first real paycheck!

Mr. Boddington's Penguin Classics: 'Wuthering Heights' £9.99

It's a bit of a cliché, but 'Wuthering Heights' is probably my favourite book of all time. I love poring over the special editions of classic books in Waterstones, so I got quite excited when I stumbled across this version by luxury stationer Mr. Boddington. Anthropologie sums it up well: "this book is a must-have for design buffs, book collectors and literature lovers". I don't actually have my own copy (I stole my sister's one a while ago), so I might have to invest!

Why talk about makeup?

Growing up, I was a huge tomboy; I loved baggy trousers and skater shoes, I cut the bows off my first bra, and I refused to wear makeup. I would never have predicted that, at the age of 22, I'd have such a keen interest in the beauty industry.

Most of the blogs I follow are beauty-based, and the people that run them are so passionate about the products they're writing about that I guess it's rubbed off on me a little. I'd quite like to start reviewing some of the makeup and beauty products I use, and, knowing that this can be quite a controversial topic, I've thought a lot about the aim of this sort of post.

When I started wearing makeup at about 15, I was really, really self-conscious about my pale skin. I desperately tried to cover up my freckles- which I absolutely hated- with this awful, cakey L'Oreal powder foundation which wasn't suitable for my dry skin at all. I had no-one to teach me about makeup, but (more significantly) I had no-one to tell me that I really didn't need to hide under a layer of cosmetics. It took a few years, but my relationship with makeup is now a healthy one. I don't wear a lot, and what I do wear is there to accentuate my natural features; the only things I try to hide are the bags under my eyes after I've had a late night...

An ex-boyfriend of mine bemoaned the wearing of makeup, saying it was pointless because most guys preferred a natural look. Quite frankly, what you look like is no-one's business but your own, and no man or woman should feel pressured to look a certain way to feel attractive. You could argue that the cosmetics industry does put this pressure on girls, which I am certainly not denying, and I truly hate the idea of someone feeling ugly just because they're barefaced. No-one should EVER feel victimised, or that they're doing something wrong, simply for choosing to or choosing not to wear make-up!

This weekend, a colleague who works on No.7 told me a story which demonstrates the effect makeup can have on someone. She was serving a woman in her 70's who had recently had laser eye surgery, and who hadn't seen herself since she lost her sight aged 8. When she looked in the mirror she saw a face she didn't recognise, and didn't feel confident in her own skin whatsoever. She'd never been taught how to do her makeup, so my friend showed her a few ways to use some of the products which had been developed for ageing skin. After her makeover she left feeling so, so much better about herself, and it just goes to show that even the simplest of beauty tips can really empower someone.

With all this in mind, all I'd like to do is offer an honest opinion on products to help other people decide whether they'd like to try them too, whilst always maintaining that having a healthy and positive body-image is of paramount importance when navigating the beauty industry.

HOW TO: go from blonde to dip-dyed

This option works if you'd like to give the impression of having grown-out blonde hair without that in-between, yes-I-know-my-roots-look-horrific stage.  As far as I can remember, my hairdresser dyed my roots and, where the blonde started, she alternated between using bleach and dye to avoid a 'line', using the same 'weaving' technique you use when highlighting.

I would say this is the most time consuming option I've tried, and the effect was very minimal, although it did look natural and I was definitely happy with it.








When I changed hairdressers, she matched my natural colour and simply combed the dye through the hair. I loved this effect, as again she avoided a 'line' but pulled the dye down further so it was more obviously ombred.


While this method made the dip-dye more obvious than the first, it still looked natural. I'm not 100% sure why the first hairdresser used bleach as when comparing the two it seems superfluous, but obviously I'm not an expert!


(NB: while it was certainly a warm brown, it wasn't quite this red! I blame 'Warm Vintage' on my friend's Samsung...)

I decided I wanted to go a lot darker, with only a tiny bit of blonde on the ends, so my hairdresser (the same one who did Option 2) decided that the only way to avoid the dreaded 'line' was to tint the entire head of hair the same colour, quickly dry it off with a hairdryer, and then lift the ends with bleach for only about 10 minutes as they already had bleach on them from before.

It was a bit of an experiment and she admitted she hadn't done it before, but we were both really pleased with the effect! It's a really noticeable change and I've had a lot of compliments on it.









The 'upside down dip-dye' is also really easy to do at home.


My friend Issy has a lot of highlights in her naturally dark blonde hair but found her roots were starting to come through. Firstly, she bought a hair dye that was as close to her natural colour as possible and dyed her roots plus an extra 2 inches, leaving it to develop for 20 minutes. She then combed the dye down her hair a little more and left it to develop for a further 10-15 minutes so that the colour looked as natural and seamless as possible. She then rinsed it out and voilà!

Hopefully I've shown that it's not just brunettes and redheads that can try out the ombre trend; blondes actually have a lot of options when it comes to getting a dip-dye!

SPOTLIGHT: Mustard Coats

Since last year's bitterly cold winter in Durham, I keep on telling myself I need a sensible, warm coat (preferably with a hood) to face Britain's hideous weather.

A year on, and nothing has changed. My very real need for a practical winter coat remains neglected, and I've somehow ended up with two or three more beautiful yet lightweight jackets which, when it comes to the basic requirement of keeping someone warm, frankly defy all logic.

I usually go for quite smart coats, but since conceding that I have to put practicality first, mustard is my colour of choice when it comes to outerwear. As well as being unique in a sea of khaki parkas, it really complements my predominantly monochrome wardrobe. Plus, there's something quite liberating about wearing bright colours when it's cold and dark!

Below are some of my favourites that I've found in the ongoing saga that is "coat-gate":

Optimism

Optimism is not something that comes naturally to me.

Well, that's actually untrue; it flows in waves. But when life slows down, so do I. I have to consciously see the good in my situation, and since graduating it has admittedly taken a lot more effort than usual.

In my final year, I considered my 'nightmare scenario': having graduated jobless, I'd be forced to move back home indefinitely and feel separated from friends in London. It petrified me but, despite my efforts to avoid it, I am now living that very nightmare.

Except, it's not a nightmare.

It could be, of course, if I made it one. In every aspect of life, you have a choice between optimism and pessimism; even if you naturally sway towards the latter, sometimes you just have to put those blinkers on and fight for the former.

I didn't see myself working in retail when I graduated, and I don't like the idea of compromising on what I want to do in life. However, I needed a temporary job, and I got one, so I actively choose to see the positives. The role is in a sector I love, I am surrounded by amazing colleagues, I've made some great friends, have relatively flexible hours and a great opportunity to learn about brands I'd be interested in working with in the future.

Most importantly, I am saving up to follow my dream and move to London. Who knows,  maybe I'll end up moving to Paris again? Or even New York? Having a target to aim for makes life so much sweeter, and I'm so excited for what the future holds.

I could easily moan, or let myself feel caged. I could easily get bitter about people I know who are finding their feet in their career, but none of that would make me happy. Taking pride in any job I have, doing it to the best of my ability and being supportive of other people's success is so much more rewarding.

You're not on your career path yet? That's fine! You want to travel but have no time or money? Make time! Make money! You're in a job you don't like? Set yourself a goal to find something else! Staying optimistic when something doesn't go to plan is a lesson I learnt the hard way, but rather than letting yourself snowball into a pit of negativity, even one small optimistic thought a day will build up enough momentum to get yourself out of an otherwise dispiriting situation.

"It isn't that simple!"

It is. Trust me :)

The Importance of Merchandising Fragrance

Before working at Boots, I had never been that interested in perfume. I had two favourite scents, and I didn't feel the need to stray from them. This all changed when I took a role in the Fragrance Department at my local store, one which specialises in Beauty and whose 'Beauty Hall' is integral to the way the store performs as a whole.

In truth, I had never given much thought to the way we display fragrance but, in general, this is how you would expect it to be displayed: in a lit cabinet, grouped in brand families, and by no means 'overstacked'. 

However, in a strange turn of events involving a physical altercation between two contractors (spirit levels were brandished; you really couldn't make it up), a pre-planned refit of the fragrance cabinets went awry. Work was halted, and managers desperately hashed together a solution before doors opened on Saturday morning. 

This was the result:

It became all too clear why fragrance is merchandised so particularly. You could of course argue that the function of the cabinets is to deter theft, and that is significant. But what I find more interesting is that, without their bright and shiny houses, thousands of pounds worth of products looked cheap and unappealing. 

I have always had an interest in design in terms of advertising and packaging, but this opened my eyes to the world of functional design. Bright lights, airy cabinets and a tidy shelf can persuade consumers to part with hundreds of pounds for a box which would otherwise look uninteresting.

Tiny details like this raised edging (right) to make sure the boxes are all aligned started intriguing me. It had always been difficult to make the displays look tidy (left), and I found myself fascinated with aspects of shelving (yep..) that I had never considered before. 

I do now wonder whether fragrance can attribute part of its high price tag to the shelves it sits on. Either way, having now seen the stark contrast between good and bad merchandising I am definitely more aware of how it is such an important factor when trying to sell a product.

What's more, I will definitely be more cynical of products housed in elegant surroundings in the future (although I do have Chanel beauty products on my Christmas list. D'oh!).

First Sunday

Welcome to my blog!

Home (hopefully!) to fashion, beauty reviews, gratuitous pictures of my dog and other snippets of my life.