Saturday 29 September 2012

Holiday eyewear wishlist

Exciting news - tomorrow I'll be jetting off on holiday for a week of glorious, glorious sunshine. Craig & I hadn't planned to go anywhere this year (shhh, Paris doesn't count) but the weather has just been SO RUBBISH that a cheap and cheerful holiday seemed like a good idea. So after a manic few days of scouring every travel website, we are off to Albufeira in Portugal, staying in a lovely wee villa near the sea.


As it was such a last minute booking, I've not had a chance to get organised (beyond passport - check, euro's - check, bikinis - check) but a girl can dream, yeah?

So it was pretty good timing when SmartBuyGlasses got in touch and asked me to put together a wee wishlist of my favourite designer sunglasses from their site. Yes please! I've mentioned it a few times on here before, but I love sunglasses! I used to just buy flimsy plastic pairs until a few years ago, when I was treated (!) to a pair of the most beautiful Prada glasses. It was the first designer item I've ever owned and I love them so so so so.

BE MINE:  Prada | Ray Ban Wayfarer | Ray Ban Cats | Ray Ban Clubmaster

I reckon it's pretty clear that my choice of designer glasses would be from Ray Ban... they might be a wee bit pricey, but I think it is perfectly acceptable to splurge on accessories - especially when they are such classic styles.

Oh blogging, you are so bad for my bank account! I'll be away until next Sunday but have a few posts set up over the week – fingers crossed the scheduling works & I don't spam you all at once.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I really like sunglasses though! 

Friday 28 September 2012

September instagram

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS ALMOST OCTOBER. Where did September go?

Instagram name: @eversojuliet

1. My mum and dad came round for afternoon tea, which was SO tasty. I would like lunch to look like this every day please!

2. A lovely wee house, just round the corner from work. I love buildings in the Old Town.

3. We started finally putting up photos in the house. We're going to cover the stairs in pictures of places we've been - managed to cover New Zealand, Hawaii, Hong Kong & Edinburgh so far, but got a lot more to do!

4. Poor Riley is feeling very conflicted about the weather these days. He loves being outside but hates being soggy, which means he is gazing sadly at the garden whenever it rains.

5. I got a new coat - a fuzzy leopard print jacket of dreams! I have been on the hunt for the perfect cosy leopard coat for years, and weirdly enough found this in Primark. Happy days.

6. This is Ollie, my sister's puppy! SO CUTE.

7. I had to renew my passport which meant a dreaded trip to get passport photos taken. I think I am slightly better at getting my photo taken these days (probably because I do it so much for this here blog, ha) but WHY do photobooths always make you look like a proper criminal? Argh!

8.  Lunch with the lovely lovely folk from the Lyceum Theatre at Spoon. If every work day could be like this I'd be a very happy lady!

9. Finally moved my piano into the house, I've missed it loads! If anyone can recommend a piano tuner near Edinburgh please let me know!

10. Started to organise the library... look out for a post on this in a couple of days!

11. Craig & I all scrubbed up for a wedding at the Botanic Gardens.

12. We went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse which was FANTASTIC. I am a massive fan of musicals so I was expecting good things, but  I was absolutely blown away by it. The perfomances & sets were incredible, I highly highly recommend it! It's on until October 20th so go if you can get a ticket!

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Glittery shoes

The trouble with Scotland is that it almost always rains. And the trouble with rain (apart from obvious soggy woes) is that it absolutely ruins shoes... particularly ballerina flats (that aren't designed for sloshing about in puddles).

I am very bad for hanging onto shoes for much longer than appropriate, and tend to try and patch them up about ten times before saying goodbye. But the other day I decided that enough was enough & went on a sensible shoe shopping mission.

Er, or so I thought.

Buffalo glitter ballerina shoes *

I'm not quite sure what happened, but instead of the smart black flats I picked out, these shoes made their way into my basket. These glittery, disco ball, bow-topped, when-will-I-wear-them shoes. Ohh boy.

I am going to justify this decision with the following logic:

  • It is almost October, which means it is almost winter, which means it is practically the festive season, when glittery shoes are appropriate.
  • They will be perfect for the next museum lates (more on this later!)
  • They are beautiful and I will love them for a very long time. 
  • EVERYONE needs at least one pair of glittery shoes, right?

Let's ignore the fact that I saw a tiny child wearing almost identical shoes the other day, and just focus on the sparkly, sparkly, sparkles. 

Monday 24 September 2012

Halloween how to: Lichtenstein pop art make up

If you didn't realise from my giddiness in my Hotel Chocolat post, I love Halloween! When else do you get to be crafty and creative, dress up like a big kid, and party?

So this year in the run up to October 31st I'm going to run a series of make up tutorials for different Halloween looks, starting with a Lichtenstein inspired piece.


Here's how you do it! It is a wee bit tricky, but just requires steady(ish) hands and a bit of patience. For this look I only used items that I already had in my make up bag, which were:

  • foundation
  • black kohl eye pencil
  • black liquid eyeliner
  • red lipstick
  • blue eyeshadow
  • blue eyeliner

You'll want to start with an even base.. I just used a pale foundation all over my face.


Step 1. Draw on the ultimate scouse brows! I used a black eyeliner pencil to fill mine in and roughly create the shape I wanted, then went round the edges with a liquid eyeliner. Try to keep your lines as crisp as possible.

Step 2. Using a kohl eye pencil, sketch the lines at the top of your eyelids. You'll want to see this line when your eyes are open, so use the pencil lightly at first until you are happy with the position.

Step 3. Fill your lids with a coloured eyeshadow (mine was from an Urban Decay palette). Try and build the colour as much as possible, this isn't a subtle look!

Step 4. Very carefully, use liquid eyeliner to paint over the pencil lines. Use small strokes at first so your hands don't wobble too much! Better to make the line a bit thin at first, it's easier to build it up than vice versa! I also added eyeliner along my lash line at this stage.


Step 5. Draw lines underneath each eye (lightly in pencil first, then go over with liquid eyeliner), and add tears to each side. I again used pencil to sketch out their position, then coloured them in with a blue eyeliner pencil (why on earth do I own blue eyeliner? At least it came in handy here!).

Step 6. Liquid eyeliner again! This time, outline the tears (a wee bit tricky as they are curvy shapes, just go slowly), and start adding lines to your face. I did a line down the side of my nose, round my nostrils and above my lip. Use either liquid eyeliner or a sharp kohl pencil for this.

Step 7. Draw a line around your jaw. I wish I had continued the line around my forehead too, so you should do this! 

Step 8. Put on bright red lipstick and outline your lips with liquid eyeliner. I have to admit I found this bit SO fiddly, it took me quite a few attempts, and I don't think my final look is particularly even! Again, just do small strokes with the brush, it's much easier than trying to paint one smooth line.


Step 9. The most fun bit! Ideally you would use a red lipliner for this, but I didn't have one. Instead I used a cotton bud and red lipstick. Dip it into the colour, and twirl for an even(ish) dot of colour on your face. I tried to work in even lines. And that's it!


Style with polka dot clothes and a brightly coloured wig! & please remember to continue the dots down your neck... I forgot to do it & you'll look so much more complete (and less like you just have measles). You can even do polka dot nail art to match!

Friday 21 September 2012

Rekorderlig cider giveaway

We've all heard of Rekorderlig, yeah? It feels a bit like this Swedish cider has taken over the world this year (kicking the less tasty, fizzier versions out of the water), but for good reason - it's bloody lovely! 

This summer they launched their Swedish School - a campaign teaching cider-lovers how to bring out their inner-Swedishness (which I'm sure we all have). The videos are funny, but (more importantly) feature people with THE MOST INCREDIBLE HAIR. Effortless, just look at my lovely bed head curls hair. I'm a bit jealous. 

THERE IS NO SUN IN SCOTLAND (ruining the nice picnic photos I had planned). But look, you can drink it inside! With fruit! Hooray! 
To celebrate the new campaign, the lovely folk at Rekorderlig have given me THREE CASES for you lovely lot to win. The ciders come in a whole host of flavours, and the winners can pick their flavour of choice (I recommend wild berries. Mmm!).

To enter, just fill in the rafflecopter form below. If you've been taking part in my other giveaways (it's been a bit of a theme this week) then it is super easy to take part - you'll have done it all already!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The competition is open to anyone from the UK who is over 18 (tsk tsk underagers).

p.s. if giveaways do your head in, I promise I will be back to normal service next week!

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Hotel Chocolat halloween chocolate (& giveaway!)

I know you aren't really meant to brag about the nice things you get as a blogger, but I just can't resist on this occasion. Not only was I sent chocolate (always good), I was sent Hotel Chocolat chocolate. & not just any Hotel Chocolat, but a few things from their brand-new, ridiculously cute, try-not-to-eat-it-all-at-once Halloween range. Hiya! It looks a little something like this.


It includes the Halloween Bites box, a Little Bag of Horrors (which surely someone should buy for Ayden at Little Blog of Horrors?), & chocolate skullsThe range also has the most amazing looking chocolate box - Dead Gorgeous, a limited edition, satin trimmed coffin filled with milk and dark chocolates that are finished in 24 carat edible gold. How amazing is that?

Another benefit of spooky themed chocolate? You can do idiotic things like this.

Don't judge me. It was late.
& it tastes gooooooood.

To continue my "unplanned but excellent" week of giveaways, the lovely people at Hotel Chocolat have offered a goody bag for a lucky reader. Woop. Just follow the rafflecopter instructions below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Galaxy nail art

Last weekend I was reading Burkatron, one of my new favourite blogs (if you haven't subscribed yet, do it!), & I spotted her tutorial for galaxy nail art. It had been absolutely ages since I last tried this so I thought I'd give it a go!


It's a really simple tutorial - you just paint your nails a dark base colour (I had no black polish, so I used Crayola's dark blue) and randomly sponge lighter colours all over your nails. I used a mixture of yellow, light blue, purple and turquoise (all Model's Own polishes).

Then you add in random white dots (to make stars), use a little bit of glitter & seal with a top coat.


Some nails are better than others, but overall I'd say it's a huge improvement on my last attempt (look how short my nails are! & how bad my photo is! Sorry older readers..!).

My nails are in a bit of a state at the moment, they are all different lengths and just feeling a bit knackered (if er, nails can be knackered). A proper beauty blogger I am not.

Monday 17 September 2012

Garden update

One of my very favourite things to do these days is potter about in my garden (I know that sounds so boring, but it's ace!). It has been so fun starting with absolutely nothing (remember how it used to look?) and seeing how far it's come in just a few short months.

Nowadays it is looking a little more like this....


Look how pretty it is! We've just hung up solar-powered fairy lights and lanterns in the corner which look so lovely lit up at night. The plan is to get deckchairs for this corner, but we've pretty much missed the good weather (oops). Loads of pots line the decking, including a big pot of basil, mint & coriander, and a homemade sweet pea frame in the corner.

My mini greenhouse is AMAZING, hardly takes up any room and has been home to a few happy tomato plants this summer.


Sorry for the bright photo - it was hard trying to fit everything in! The plants in the main flower bed have all sprawled out and have been flowering all summer. In the corner I have planted a cherry blossom tree, but it is struggling from transplant shock (oh no!) and is shedding leaves. I don't know what to do except keep watering it loads - please don't die, tree!

I've been on a mission to attract birds to the garden all summer and it is finally working (hooray!).There's a blue tit that keeps popping in, and the other week there was a hoard of great tits (note to other naive folk: google image searching for "great tits" isn't a good idea. Doh).


Vegetables are growing too (although super super slowly as the weather has been so rubbish). We've got tomatoes, loads of lettuce, carrots, a few peppers, a courgette plant and spring onions on the go. I'm not sure how much longer they'll go before it starts to get too cold... I'm just experimenting to see what happens. 


& it is full of flowers. I wanted the garden to be a really colourful fun space. One that cheered me up everytime I looked out, that had lots of personality and was a fun place to sit in. I think it's well on its way.

I'm so pleased with it!

Sunday 16 September 2012

Sugar & Vice necklace giveaway!

It never rains but it pours, right? It has been AGES since my last giveaway... I had planned to have a couple across the year (nicely spaced out and all), but have somehow managed to set up three over the next week with no special reason to do so. Still, free stuff is always nice, right?

So as a massive THANK YOU to everyone who reads this blog (and according to google analytics that's a massive 4,500 of you per month, jeeezo), here's the first prize - an amazing Stag in Disguise necklace by Sugar & Vice.


I came across Sugar & Vice a few weeks ago and was SO impressed with their wares that I was over the moon when they agreed to partner up with me for a giveaway.

They let me choose which item to pick for you lovely lot and it was so hard! I was properly swithering over the magpie necklacecrown necklace & heart padlock brooch (I want them all) but in the end I couldn't resist this fellow. It's a stag. With glasses. And a mustache. Do you need anything else?


To enter you just need to fill in the simple rafflecopter form below. This is the first time I've used this so here's hoping it runs smoothly!

This will be running for just over seven days and is open to everyone (hooray). Thanks to Sugar and Vice for being so lovely to work with too. x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday 15 September 2012

Firmoo - free glasses!

I have to admit that I hadn't heard of Firmoo when they first contacted me, asking if I'd like to review a pair of glasses from their site, but I liked the cut of their jib! They sell prescription glasses and sunglasses (and luckily for me, as I need neither of those, non-prescription sunglasses too).

I was an idiot and filled in the delivery form wrong (prompting the very nice customer service team to email me saying "er, we do need your address" - ahh, sorry!), but the glasses zoomed over within a week.


I went for these glasses and I love them!


 I've wanted a pair of tortoiseshell glasses for absolutely ages, I reckon they go quite nicely with my hair! The glasses are nice and sturdy too - they're made of lightweight plastic but I don't feel nervous about throwing them in my bag. All in all, they are ace!

Firmoo are also running a program offering free glasses (hiya!) to first-time buyers. You just pay for shipping and you can have your pick of glasses from the site. It does sound a tiny bit too good to be true, but they are on a mission to get their name out & win people over with their speedy service. Which is okay by me!

Friday 14 September 2012

How to: apply liquid eyeliner

Hi, my name is Juliet and I am an eyeliner addict. I wear liquid eyeliner practically every day... it's become such a normal part of my make up routine that I don't think twice about doing swooshy cat eye liner, even if it's just for a quick trip to tesco or heading to work on a gloomy Tuesday morning.

So as I have had so much practice it always comes as a surprise when people say they think liquid eyeliner is hard to use. It really really isn't! My lovely work pal Kirstyn asked if I could do a wee how to, so here we go!


Step 1. Put the rest of your make up on. Here I've pencilled my (super scruffy) brows, put on a tiny bit of gold eyeshadow, a light foundation and blusher.

Step 2. Use a kohl pencil to lightly line your lids, starting in the middle and working your way out to either side. This creates a line you can use to guide the liquid eyeliner, which is really helpful if you don't have very steady hands!


Step 3. Use your liquid eyeliner to go over the pencil line. Go slowly and try to stay as close to the lash line as possible. I find it easier to do this if your eye is open a little bit (like you can see in the photo above!). I use 17's liquid eye liner - it's a nice dark black and is pretty smudge-proof!


Step 4. If you want your eyeliner to flick out (and who wouldn't?) you need to basically paint a triangle at the corner of your eye. I find it easier doing this in three stages:
  • continue the line from your eyelid out to the length you want the flick to be, making sure the line gently curves up.
  • connect the point with the outer corner of your eye (aka draw a triangle).
  • colour in the space, making sure it's a smooth line across your eyelid.

And that's it! Liquid eyeliner takes a moment to dry so you'll need to keep your eyes closed for a minute or so, just so your hard work isn't ruined by smudges. When doing your other eye try and keep the flick the same length/same height so your make up isn't lop-sided. 

I hope that helps! If you look at my other make up posts you can see how it looks in action. 

Thursday 13 September 2012

Outfit: primark duck dress

It's almost Autumn, hooray! Every year I eye up stylish autumnal clothes, picture myself in nice dresses and colourful tights... and then end up in a uniform of jumpers & jeans. Hmm. 

So I am going to try and blog outfit posts more regularly to try and stop myself from living in animal print jumpers! Here's a fairly typical work outfit to get things started. 

Dress - Primark
Cardigan - New Look
Shoes -   Dr Martens from Spartoo*
This is one of my very favourite dresses... I just can't resist animal themed clothing. It is super comfy and I have to resist the urge to wear it every day.

I'm so glad I decided to get a pair of docs too.. I had been swithering over what boots to get to see me through slushy weather and I love them so much! They don't have the traditional yellow stitching, which I am happy about, and are perfect for stomping about.

& the plait/bun hair thing is a really easy updo for slightly mucky hair - just section your hair into three bits, put the middle section into a loose bun, plait each section at the side, loop around the bun and pin with kirby grips! I've got badger stripes of blonde at each side of my hair now (plus a wee bit in my fringe!) so I'm liking hairstyles that show this off.

Ignore my slightly squint fringe.. I decided to trim it five minutes before I had to leave my house to get the bus, oops! Maybe not my best idea...

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Kampung Ali, Edinburgh

At first glance Kampung Ali doesn't look like much. It's a big room with an Italian fresco ceiling which clashes quite harshly with a flashing skyline of Kuala Lumpur across one wall. It feels a wee bit like you have just wandered into a mis-matched diner.

But ignore that. Let's talk about the food. Oh the food! There was a cold chill in the air this week and I was craving tasty comfort food... a perfect excuse to go out for Malaysian.


The menu is mainly noodle and rice based dishes, all at totally reasonable prices. We went for the following:


Roti cenai, probably my favourite thing on the menu! 


Craig's dish was the Vegetarian Mee Goreng, which was very hot, but SUPER-tasty (Craig's words). 

Sorry for the iphone photos! It was an impromptu visit.
& I went for the chicken curry noodle. This used to be a bit bony (tasty but you had to be careful), but they've recently changed the menu so it is bone-free! 

For two starters, two mains and two drinks the bill came to £24. What a bargain. 

Kampung Ali is on 97 - 101 Fountainbridge (just round the corner from Lothian Road).  

The family also run a sister restaurant, Kampong Ah Lee, on 28 Clerk Street. It's teeny-tiny (you might be asked to share tables!) but it is also lovely. Perfect for all Edinburgh Uni students too! 

Friday 7 September 2012

Pastel rainbow nails


I've had quite boring nails for the last few days - I tried a french manicure for the first time in my life... pretty, but not really my cup of tea! So to brighten things up I painted my nails with some of my favourite nail varnish colours:

Models Own lemon meringue, pastel pink, lilac dream, feeling blue & Rimmel peppermint.

Models Own are hands down my favourite brand of polish AND are planning to release a 50% discount code when they reach 100,000 likes on facebook. So if you are reading this & are a nail polish fan please like them, so I can stock up guilt-free!

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Fab - daily design deals

Have you heard of Fab yet? It's a daily deals site, but with a bit of a difference. Instead of endless restaurant vouchers & cleaning companies (that nobody has heard of), it showcases brilliant design products - jewellery, homewares, accessories, prints & the like. Items are discounted from their usual retail price (sometimes by up to 70%) and are on site for about a week, so you can take time to decide if you really do need to buy that bowler hat light (er, yes, you do).

I've been meaning to blog about them for quite a while now... I haven't bought anything yet, but it's one of the only email newsletters I get that I open every single time - even if it's out my price range, I can't resist looking!

But that's all going to change today, as this wonderful item popped up.


LOOK AT THIS. It's called a MatchCarden and it's a teeny tiny card & garden by Another Studio. It comes flatpacked (you can send it as a card through the post), and you assemble it, sow the cress seeds (which are provided) and sit back and watch your garden grow. Awww.

City Street Trio - Another Studio
They come in different sizes too, you can get city versions, a mini hothouse, a botanical garden, a football pitch, and lots more. 

Fab have lots of nice looking products coming up too (including fluttery paper eyelashes, oooh), but I am obsessed with gardening at the moment.. and can't quite resist the idea of gardening at my desk! Be mine, tiny buildings. 

Monday 3 September 2012

Couch to 5k - week one (again!)

It's been a good week!

Runkeeper - my new pal
I must admit, I was a bit nervous when I announced that I was going to start exercising again.. I was feeling fed up and lazy and the nights were getting colder. Brr! The last thing I fancied was running after work. But I am feeling DETERMINED, so I have restarted both Couch to 5k and the 30 day shred - it's a popular combination, and hopefully one that will get results.

And I've been really good! Hooray! I completed week one fairly easily - I'm running much faster than the last time I tried, and felt like I fell into a nice stride quite easily. I've also been up at 6.15am five times a week to do the 30 day shred before work - I've surprised myself with this one!

Can I keep it up? (oh please, I hope so!).

Week one summary:
+ nice easy start to running.
+ much faster, good to see obvious improvement!
+ feeling enthusiastic about everything.

- very achey already. Think this is due to the 30 day shred... hope it goes soon!