Ardell Lashes

I absolutely love Ardell lashes. I think they're relatively new to the UK market (I've only recently started seeing them in Boots) but they're a firm favourite across the pond. My go-to lashes are the 131s which normally set me back a fiver in Boots. However yesterday I went to TK Maxx and they had loads of them for only £2.99! I picked up some 131s and 101s (which look massive & amazing). I've seen them in 3 different branches of TK Maxx so it seems like they are widely available there.

I also noticed that Superdrug have a 3 for 2 offer on their Eylure lashes so if you're anything like me & can't live without your false lashes, get yourself to Superdrug and stock up!

What I Wore Today

Dress - American Apparel
I am a complete fiend for American Apparel. I got this dress a couple of years ago, I only wore it once and its been sitting in my wardrobe since then. I'm running out of wardrobe space so I'm trying to wear old things rather than constantly buy new stuff. Plus no more student loan, boo! As with all things from American Apparel it is so comfy and makes it look like you've made an effort even if you haven't. You can also see my accidental ombre hair clearly here. I cannot wait to get rid of it!

Today we had the in laws round and they took us to Ikea to get Chloe a high chair. I'm dead chuffed with it because its absolutely perfect and only cost £15. We also got hot dogs and ice cream at the end which is surely the best part of any trip to Ikea!


I also created a Mad Men version of myself. And you can too here. I've only watched the first series of Mad Men but I really like the show. Jon Hamm is gorgeous and I love his guest appearances in 30 Rock. Has everyone seen the live ep they just did? I definitely recommend you check it out if you haven't already!

Object Of Desire: Velvet

Peter Pan Collar Dress - Topshop - £95
Chiffon Playsuit - Miss Selfridge - £47
Lace Insert Bodycon Dress - Miss Selfridge - £40
Turban - ASOS - £8
Body - Miss Selfridge - £25
Peg Trousers - ASOS - £38
I can't look at velvet without getting Blue Velvet stuck in my head. I'm really happy that this fabric is fast becoming the latest trend. A few months ago I bought a beautiful oversized black velvet bow hairband from H&M which reignited my love for this material. It is generally seen the kind of thing that goths might wear but as shown by these pieces it can look really elegant. I do have a massive thing for Peter Pan collar dresses - I must own at least 10! But at £95 I don't think I can afford to add the Topshop one to my collection. I only recently bought a black chiffon playsuit from Miss Selfridge but I am loving the black velvet one with white chiffon sleeves. I think I may have to splurge out on it. Has anyone else seen/own any great velvet pieces or is it something you think should remain on the streets of Camden Market?

What I Wore Today & Housemates...

Shirt - Topshop
Cardigan - American Apparel
Shorts - Topshop
Tights - New Look
Shoes - Topshop
Just a pretty casual outfit today. I got this nude silk shirt from Topshop after seeing it on the website. I couldn't decide between the red, the nude and the blue. I originally ordered the red but it was too baggy so when I went to return it instore I spotted the nude one & decided to get this instead. I wear the American Apparel cardi almost every day of my life. It is so comfy & I find it complements mosts of my outfits. I'm so happy to fit back into my size 10 shorts. I used to wear these every day but they got way too small in pregnancy. I'm still pretty heavy looking but fitting into these shorts again shows I'm on the right track! I got the shoes from Topshop's 20% off student night. God bless my uni for not putting a date on my student card. I got in even though I've already graduated, mwahaha.

I went out today to buy some stuff from Boots & Lush. My mascara was beginning to dry up so I got a new one (Max Factor False Lash Effect) and there was a 3 for 2 offer on the new Tresemme products. I bought a dry shampoo and 2 foam shampoos. I don't get a chance to wash my hair unless my boyfriend is at home so I'm hoping these will keep it cleaner for longer!

I popped into Lush to check out the Christmas & Dia de los Muertos ranges. I bought two massive bottles of Snow Fairy (everyones favourite Calpol-based shower gel!) so it'll last me ages, Snow Globe soap (smells like lemon sherbet & is very pretty) and 2 Calavera bath bombs. When I saw the demonstration of Calavera I knew I had to have it. It turns the bath neon green and looks like the contents of a witches cauldron.

I also went to the bank to pay in a cheque from an ex-housemate. This might turn into a rant so you might want to skip this next bit. One of the best things about uni life is living away from home. You get the freedom that living with your parents often denies you of. However in my experience it is pretty much impossible to find a good housemate. In my first year I lived in halls but my housemate (who was also on my course) stole anything I left in the kitchen which meant we had words and everyone on our floor decided to hate me. Her room was next to mine and she liked to play the same awful songs on repeat (Heartbroken, anyone?) until about 3am every night. She had it on so loud that I could feel my desk vibrate. This paid off for me in the end though as I stayed at uni longer to finish my work which improved my grades. I also spent more time at the gym to escape the hell of my flat and I ate very little because I didn't want to go in the kitchen while any of my flatmates were in there - all of which helped me get down to a size 8! The deposit we got back was good, only 12 quid had been taken off for a burn mark on a counter.

In my second year one of my good friends on my course and I decided to live together but we didn't want it to be just us. A big mistake. After meeting various groups looking for two people to take rooms in big houses we found some people who seemed to be nice. We ended up in a house with 3 girls and 1 guy. Those 3 girls would make our lives a living nightmare for the next year. They were so horrible that the guy decided to leave early after they chucked rancid eggs and cold spaghetti over him while he was asleep. They were loud, drunk, rude and thick. One night they played George Michael's Careless Whisper on repeat until 4am!!!! They even stole alcohol from my friend's room while she was in there. Suffice to say, I got a lock on my door and kept it locked pretty much all of the time. Our landlord was an idiot (Mr Pattani aka Express Lets in Headingley, FYI) and never did anything we asked for and completely ripped us off in terms of our deposits. We paid 300 quid and I only got back about 60 of it. My friend only got £11!

Our 3rd year looked like it would be a million times better. Me and two of my best friends on the course found an amazing flat in Hyde Park. Everything seemed like it would be great at last. However I got pregnant which meant I had to move out in April. Lots of shit happened with boyfriends moving in etc. but I paid everything that I was meant to. We kept the flat spotless and our landlord rewarded the lead tenant (my 'friend' Gemma) with the full 900 quid back. Then Gemma decides not to bother telling us that shes been given the deposit back but my other friend was promptly sent a cheque for 300 quid. Last weekend I asked if she could sort it out because I still hadn't got my money back. She text me some bullshit about the landlord taking money off both me and her meaning that I would only get £250 back. My other friend made me think this was fishy so I checked with the landlord and they told us that we'd gotten all the money back. I still can't believe that someone who I thought was a trusted friend would steal 50 quid from me and it would've been £300 if I hadn't kept going on at her. She said I owed money for bills, a broken shower and cleaning the flat - total lies. She seems to have forgotten that I paid all my rent, her boyfriend moved in rent & council tax free, and she used my room to dry her clothes, do her work & keep all of her shit in. But I have the full 300 back now so I suppose I'd better stop going on about it but it goes to show that its really hard to find trustworthy, nice, normal people to live with. Its sad that I have lost a good friend over it too. If you're just starting uni please think long and hard about future housemates and househunting. I had such a bad experience with this and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else.

New Nails: Bad Fairy & Illamasqua Purchases

So as everyone knows, the Mac Venomous Villains collection came out this week. On Monday I was tempted to order some things from the website but figured I could wait until Thursday to pop into Harvey Nicks. I'm very glad I did because I saved myself quite a bit of money. I originally wanted to order the De-Vil eyeshadow, Melon pigment, Oh So Fair beauty powder and Bad Fairy nail polish. However when I went to Mac I tried on De-Vil and Oh So Fair which made up my mind that these weren't for me. De-Vil was far too orangey and really didn't suit my colouring (as you can see on the picture below). Oh So Fair was gorgeous, but what made it any different to the many other pink blushers I already own? So I left these behind and picked up Melon and Bad Fairy as well as a foundation pump for my Estee Lauder Doublewear and some Duo eyelash glue. Bad Fairy is such a gorgeous shade! I had previously shunned all glittery colours as I thought they looked quite childish and tended to stick to flat colours but this is a real treat. I love the gold flecks that show up in the light. I can't stop looking at them, they are just that pretty. I used 3 coats of Bad Fairy and Seche Vite on top.


I also made an order from Illamasqua. I already have a few of their lipsticks and blushers which I adore. Tramp is my HG red lipstick! So I decided to try the new Precision Liner in Abyss and the Intense Lipgloss in Petulant. I've been using Lancome Art Liner since I was about 16 as I have never found anything better. But I think the Precision Liner is a great alternative. Art Liner is slightly easier to apply but my one gripe with it was that it would rub off a little in the day (especially as I have a weird problem where I like to pick off my mascara - not good!) but the Illamasqua one just does not budge. Plus it has this wonderful gloss to it. I know a lot of people say to use olive oil to take it off, but I find that my Lancome Bi-Facil eye make up remover gets rid of every last trace of it. The Petulant lipgloss is also really nice. Not too sticky but really bright and long lasting for a gloss. As the gloss wears off you're left with a pretty pink stain on your lips so there will still be a bit of colour there even after eating and drinking.

The Next Step?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Last week I went to hospital to have laparoscopic surgery to remove a large ovarian cyst. Therefore I've spent the last week sitting in bed recovering from the three cuts in my belly. I've had a lot of problems this year and now they seem to all be finally coming to an end. To celebrate this I've decided to get a new look by getting my hair done. Here is a quick hair history. Commence incredibly cringey pictures of younger me:


I think I was about 17 here. My hairs been all sorts of random colours like purple and green and to cover these up I had dyed it black at home. One day I decided to go to the hairdressers for once in my life and I had black on top with red underneath. Check out the sexy overplucked eyebrows, nice!


This grew out a bit, the black faded to brown and the red faded to ginger. I'd been suspended once for dying my hair at school so when I finished my A-Levels I decided to bleach my hair. I went to Taylor Taylor in London and it cost a lot, but my hairdresser did a great job.


This was at the end of the 1st year at uni. Despite moving to Leeds, I still always journeyed back to London to get my hair done. My hair was long and blonde but incredibly damaged and dry.


So over that Summer, I went for the chop! I loved this style and despite my big face, it looked pretty good.


Heres the same look a bit more grown out. It lost some of the asymmetry but I really liked how my hair looked here. I think this was also when I was at my thinnest so this was a good time for me in general.


When I went back to London in April 2009 my hairdresser asked if she could put a pink toner in my hair for a change. I agreed and loved the results, even if they were a bit bright. My boyfriend hated it and we got some weird looks when we went on a date in Sheffield - me with bright pink hair and him with a bright pink t-shirt!


This was in Summer 2009. The blonde had grown out, my roots were horrendous and Andy didn't want me to go back to London at all. I'd gone to Vidal Sassoon in Leeds once to get my roots done which was a disaster (they suck, never go there!) so I wasn't prepared to go through that again. Andy said he thought I would look good as a brunette so...


I went to West Row in Leeds and had my hair dyed back to brown and cut in a very short crop. The hairdresser had to put red in it to stop it from fading so it had a nice sheen. It was cool but I still yearned for my old blonde :( Unfortunately I couldn't do anything about it because I got pregnant and hair dye is said to be bad for the baby.


And this is me right now. The brown grew out and most of my hair now is my natural colour - something I hadn't seen since before I started dying my hair at age 9. The ends have faded back to a blondish colour so it looks like I have Ombre hair but it just looks horrible on me. I hate it so much, so I just tie it up most of the time now. Its grown out a lot and is past my shoulders so I really need it cutting. Plus I've had loads of post-pregnancy hair loss, its just a mess and looks crap.

I've picked out the salon I want to go to (Cutting Room Creative in Leeds) and I'm getting rid of my shitty hair. I want to go back to blonde but this time with a definite grey/blue tint to it. Not sure what to do with the length. I might get it cut shorter because I tried to cut my own fringe which messed it up even more. At least then I can get some white blonde extensions and it might look half decent. I need some help though so, opinions please?