Friday, 30 November 2012

November sponsors!

You might have noticed that for the last month or so I've had sponsors on my blog (look, over on the right!). They are all lovely people for helping me fund my nail polish & over-priced coffee habits, so I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to them all.

Here's a bit of blurb about each of them (they are quite an eclectic bunch!). If you like the look of what you see, please visit their sites & say hello...

Barratts Shoes provide shoes, boots, wellies, slippers and footwear for all the family. From classic styles to the latest trends, the store aims at stocking something for everyone.


Auld Reekie Roller Girls are an all female flat track roller derby league based in Edinburgh, Scotland. (If you're asking yourself - what's roller derby? - then look here!). Next spring ARRG are holding their second home season - where the Cherry Bombers, Leithal Weapons and Skatefast Club battle to be champions!



Tastes Like Love
Lauren's blog is a lovely colourful, crafty place to be! She blogs about her daily advenutres, illustrations, vintage finds, fancy folk & the delightful things she comes across. A lovely, lovely read!

www.tasteslikelove.blogspot.com.au

Sugar and Vice
Sugar & Vice is a jewellery company based in Canterbury, Kent, providing you with a one-stop shop for statement pieces and personalised jewels. They pride ourselves on our friendly, polite service, quality products and speedy delivery. The necklaces are gorgeous!



Indie Chic Boutique
Indie Chic are an independent Edinburgh based women's clothing and lingerie boutique. They scour the world to bring clothes, lingerie, vintage pieces & all things pretty from Los Angeles, San Franciso, New Year and Miami to the UK.

Find them in-store at 111 Broughton Street Edinburgh, EH1 3RZ
or


If YOU would like to sponsor Ever So Juliet then you can do so here! This site currently reaches just under 10,000 unique users per month (crazy, I know) & adverts start at only $5 (£3 to us UK-folk!) for a month. I use Passionfruit ads which means it's really easy to purchase, upload artwork, track your ad stats & see your advert up immediately.

Alternatively I am always up for a button swap - just send me an email (thisisjuliet @ gmail.com) or comment below if you fancy it!

Thursday, 29 November 2012

Book love

One of my very, very favourite things to do is read. I love it. I can't understand why you wouldn't read (and to be honest, I slightly distrust people who don't like reading...sorry!). I have always been a very speedy reader, but doing an english literature degree really stepped it up a notch.

So I've decided to start a new monthly feature on my blog - a wee recap on the books I've read in the last month. I think it'll be fun to see how many I go through in a year, and hopefully will provide reading inspiration if anyone out there is looking for a new book!

As this month has been taken over massively by nanowrimo I'm including October's reads too (which includes all of my holiday reading!). I should point out, these aren't meant to be 'real' reviews (I'm too rambly for that), just my thoughts of each one!


Summer of Night - Dan Simmons 
Dan Simmons writes terrifying books. I couldn't read The Terror if I was alone in the flat. I had to stop reading Drood because I had really mental nightmares about it (an embarrassingly true fact). This book is a total cracker though! It's one of his earlier books, and it is so so so scary. Read it & freak yourself out. Then read the Terror, because it's amazing.

Embassytown - China Mieville
I am a big fan of China Mieville, but found this a really tricky book to get into. I sometimes think I'm maybe just not smart enough for his books because they are always based around such a clever concept.. and with this one it meant I was spending more time trying to figure out what was happening, than enjoying the plot. He's an incredible author though - Perdido Street Station is a brilliant piece of fantasy fiction.

Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
I'm writing a young adult book at the moment, so thought it would be useful (and fun!) to read some books aimed at the same age group. This looked pretty good ("number one bestseller!" etc), but ohhhh I HATED Artemis Fowl. What an annoying character. He's just amazing and clever and perfect at everything. And he's not nice to his mum. No thank you.



Un Lun Dun - China Mieville
More young adult reading - this time a good one! I raced through the book really quickly, which was a nice change after my slow pace through Embassytown. He's just so creative and funny and good. I like him a lot. I can't wait until my book-loving niece is old enough for this, I think she'd love it.

Warlock - Wilbur Smith
I am a sucker for historical fantasy - I had read River God a few years ago, so was quite chuffed to find out that there was another novel in his Egyptian series (even though it came out in 2007... I am seriously behind the times). It was a perfect book to read on holiday - light enough to dip in and out of, but exciting enough that I absolutely raced through it!

American Gods - Neil Gaiman
This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, but I hadn't gotten round to reading it until last month. Neil Gaiman is really wonderful and you should read at least something by him, if you haven't already. Next up on my list is Anansi Boys, which (sort of) follows on from American Gods.



Patrick Ness - The Knife of Never Letting GoThe Ask and the Answer & Monsters of Men
These books make up the Chaos Walking trilogy and they are practically perfect in every way. Buy them buy them buy them! (I really can't recommend them strongly enough. Love love love).



Those in Peril - Wilbur Smith
I am usually quite of fan of an action/adventure book, but in this case - oh, bore off Wilbur Smith! If you've read any of his other books you really don't need to read this one. It's packed with one-dimensional characters who do daft things in daft situations. I really can't be bothered with female characters who are presented as being SO STRONG until they melt in the arms of an even stronger man. Whatever.

The Tommyknockers - Stephen King
I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book. At the beginning and end it was exciting & scary & quite thrilling. But the middle went on FOREVER and it did feel like it was taking me months to read it.

The Casual Vacancy - J.K. Rowling
Ahh, we're definitely not in Hogsmeade any more! Like the rest of the world, I would have bought J.K. Rowling's new novel regardless of what it was actually about... she is an amazing storyteller and character writer. But small-town political dramas aren't really my cup of tea. I sort-of liked it. I definitely wouldn't re-read it though (sorry JK, I still love you).

Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Sparkly shoes!

Tis the season to be sparkly, tra la la la la!

I'm sorry if this is still too soon for some of you, but I really cannot wait for Christmas  - it's one of my very favourite times of the year. Both Craig & I have birthdays in December and I just LOVE it, the whole month is full of parties, wonderful friends & hanging out with family.

I've got a couple of big nights out coming out - my work throw a massive party (which will be ace), and a just-as-fun smaller lunch for the staff. There's the Scottish blogger christmas party (which I'm tagging along to with the lovely Lianne from Ruby Ruby Slippers) AND my birthday night out (which I have made zero plans for so far, but still)!

I'm a bit of a magpie all year round anyway, but December basically cries out for over the top sparkliness! Here's my pick of the shiniest shoes I could find....

Shoes from Spartoo - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

1. I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to heels, but these Betty London shoes are lovely!

2. GOLD BROGUES. Need I say more? They are also by Betty London.

3. If you packaged up my perfect shoes they would look a little like this. They are sparkly AND tick my leopard print box.Wonderful work, Ravel.

4. Even more by those magpies at Betty London (I didn't plan to mainly feature this brand, but how could I resist?). Disco balls for your feet.

Lovely stuff. Fellow magpies, rejoice!

Monday, 26 November 2012

The Amazing Spider-man nail art (& DVD giveaway!)

Let's talk Spiderman! 

I knew I was going to like the newest Spiderman film as I'm such a big fan of Emma Stone (I love her!) and Andrew Garfield (er, hello) but I didn't realise just how much I would love it. There's a scene where he swings through the streets of New York & I genuinely got a bit of a lump in my throat. Aw. 

So I was pretty chuffed when Sony Entertainment got in touch  asked me to put together a spidey nail art look using a couple of polishes from the OPI Spiderman collection to celebrate the release of the Amazing Spider-Man on DVD & Blu-ray. 

OPI - Call me Gwen-ever* | OPI - Into the Night* | OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls*
I was sent Call me Gwen-ever (a corally orange), Into the Night (a metallic dark blue), and My  Boyfriend Scales Walls (a white polish with a tinge of grey). I had thought about trying to do a subtle spiderman pattern (maybe a tiny bit more appropriate for the serious work meetings I have this week), then thought nah - I'm going full spidey!


So I painted this mix of webs & the Spiderman mask. It's really easy to do - all you need is a thin brush or nail art pen to paint the lines of the web.

Sony have also kindly offered a couple of copies of the DVD as a giveaway - so if you'd like a chance to win one, just comment with your email address below!

The Amazing Spider-Man is out on Blu-ray & DVD on Monday 26th November (that's today!).

The competition will close on Monday 2nd December & winners will be notified by email. 

Friday, 23 November 2012

TacheBooth

On Wednesday night I went to probably the most random (but fun!) nights out I have had in a while - #TacheBooth, hosted by the lovely Zoe from Google Edinburgh (who also writes one of my very favourite blogs, Conversation Pieces).

This was one of a series of events they are running, and this one was themed around moustaches (aren't all good things?). So we crafted our own moustaches out of felt &  fake fur, drank themed cocktails and were allowed to run riot on one of LOOKLOOK's photobooths (I've never had to not queue for a photobooth before, so I was pretty shameless!).

looklook photobooths
I love my moustache!

There's a few more Google events coming up in Edinburgh if you fancy going (they are free to attend & are full of fun things, nice people & free drinks... ace!). The next one is #WoohooBuckaroo on November 28th - a night of retro games, sweets & booze at Boda Bar. If you'd like to attend just head to the event page to RSVP.

p.s. also, just in case you missed my post yesterday, Google are also running a competition to win tasty tasty gin. Just look here for details on how to enter!

Thursday, 22 November 2012

Win Edinburgh Gin!

Let's talk gin. Tasty, tasty gin.


I've actually got a confession - before trying Edinburgh Gin at the Book Festival earlier this year, I was a bit scared of it (I thought it was only for old men & people who like tennis). But it was light! & refreshing! & nice! Plus I am an absolute sucker for pretty packaging.

Anyway, this is an interesting story (I promise) because the lovely people over at Google+ and Zagat have teamed up together to offer a gift pack of gin (original, raspberry & elderflower flavours) to you fine folk.

For a chance to win, all you have to do is review your favourite Edinburgh bar, pub or club by clicking here.

Luckily for us lazy folk, by "review" they literally mean a few words.. not much longer that a tweet! Just the sort of thing you would tell a pal if you were recommending it. You can add as many reviews as you like & the more you add, the higher your chances of winning. Hooray!



The contest closes on December 9th, so be quick! Google Edinburgh will choose a winner and be in touch shortly afterwards. You must be 18+ years of age and a resident of Scotland to be eligible.

Gin gin gin gin!

Good luck! x

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. The gin is bloody lovely though (I definitely recommend it!)

Wednesday, 21 November 2012

Christmas shopping: gifts for guys

It's a well-known fact that boyfriends are pretty hard to buy for at Christmas. I always dismiss things as being "too gadgety" when shopping, then regret it when I see Craig's eyes light up over plastic. So to help us all, I have roped my lovely boyfriend into putting together a gift guide of Christmas inspiration.

Like my version from last week, it's full of ideas from £10 - £££s, so there's something for every budget. Hope it helps! Over to Craig...
Hiya! Juliet asked me to pick out some gifts that I thought fellow men might enjoy as a Christmas gift. I got my thinking cap on and this is what I came up with – hopefully some of these might provide a little inspiration for those hard-to-buy-for guys in your life!

IF YOU HAVE...

£10 to spend

1. These ‘cool’ steel ice cubes (see what I did there?) are re-usable and safe, ideal for cooling down your whisky (or other beverage, I suppose) without watering it down. £13

2. USB mixtape. Take it back in time and make a mixtape complete with liner notes for that special person in your life, without having to worry if they actually have a way to play a real C90! £15

3. With Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained due for release in January, the Christmas holidays could be the ideal time to get reacquainted with the director’s trademark stylised violence and sharp dialogue. This collection has all his movies up to Kill Bill, for less than the price of a cinema ticket and some popcorn. £12

4. These clever little chaps attach to any shoes to help you get a bit more grip when things get icy this winter. Ideal for staying upright on the walk to work! £9


£25 to spend

1.  Personalised Christmas Sack! These come in 4 styles for the full-size ones and 2 styles for mini-sacks, giving you a very nice way to present all your gifts that you can re-use every year. £20

2.  I think this is such a good idea! This tail-light for a bike does all of the things a normal rear light for a bike does (i.e. flashes, lights up), but also uses nifty laser technology to project 2 lines on either side of you, effectively creating your own bike lane and handily giving other road-users a guide to a safe distance. Plus it looks pretty space-age! It's $20 plus postage.

3. This Tetris light is pretty amazing. A set of all 7 tetrominoes which can be arranged in any pattern you like and light up when they touch one another. Thankfully they don't disappear when you get a line of them together though, as replacing them could get pricey! £30

4.  Drum machine t-shirt. This t-shirt has working drum pads that let you create rhythms and loops anywhere at any time. It's washable, and fully functional, and is sure to provide hours of entertainment, especially for the other passengers on your bus ride. £30

£50 to spend

1. This elegant glass teapot lets you brew all your favourite loose-leaf and bagged teas and see when the colour is just right. Plus it looks stylish too! It's just over £38.

2. Pretend to be Rick Deckard, unwinding from a hard day’s work ‘retiring’ replicants, with this Blade Runner whisky glass, hand-blown by Italian glassmakers Arnolfo di Cambio (Cibi, ‘double old fashion glass’), the folks who made the glass in the movie. It's £55.

3.  This is a very stylish hip-flask for the more discerning gentleman, and comes with a very nice chocolate-coloured wax canvas cover. $50 plus shipping.

4. A gift guide for guys wouldn’t be complete without a video game or two, and Christmas is like summer blockbuster season for this industry. Some of the most-anticipated titles this year include -  Far Cry 3 (£30 - £48), Assassin's Creed 3 (£38) , and Halo 4 (£35).


£100+ to spend

1. 
On November 30 Nintendo launch their brand new console the Wii U. This has a tablet-like gamepad which lets you play on both screens simultaneously, or even with the main TV off or on a different channel. It’s potentially a weird concept, but if anyone in video games can pull off a weird concept, it’s Nintendo! This also promises to be able to link up to all your Netflix, Lovefilm, iPlayer and other internet TV stuff, so should be a useful living room addition. £200 - £400

2. These Edifier Spinnaker Bluetooth Speakers have received amazing reviews based on their sound quality and design. For wireless sound in your home you’d be hard-pushed to find a better quality set of speakers. They're £329.

3. This is a weird one! The Remee Lucid Dreaming mask is an eyemask for sleeping in that is designed to increase REM sleep and promote lucid dreaming – the kind of dreaming where you’re aware that you’re dreaming and can control what happens. I don’t personally know if these work as they’re still at pre-order (due to be available by Christmas though!), but the concept is pretty amazing. $95 plus shipping.

4.  Some of the best gifts aren’t things, they’re experiences. These always make good gifts as it’s something people don’t normally buy for themselves, but would be delighted to receive. There are lots of different activities to choose from – this is one I think would be pretty excellent fun (not recommended for people scared of heights!) – an extended microlight flight, with the chance to take the controls. Flying! In the sky! Like a bird! It's £149.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Glove love!

Brr, it's cold in here! There must be some toro's in the atmosphere!

I know I always bang on about the weather but this is okay because I am British (it's the national past-time) and I live in Scotland, where it is COLD. So, when the nice folk over at Paramount Zone got in touch & asked if I wanted to try out any of the products from their Christmas Gifts 2012 promotion, I obviously said YES to gloves. Cause I love gloves (see what I did there?).

Touch screen gloves - £4.99*
Manic winter face - Model's own
I received a pair of their touch screen gloves, which mean you can use your iphone (or other touch-screen product) without having to take your gloves off and freezing your fingers. This is ace because I constantly take photos on my phone, and I can do this now without being cold. Hooray!

They are pretty cosy. The conductive thread is pretty subtle, so it doesn't look like you are rocking mad metallic fingers (always good). The only downside I can find is that they make me a lot slower when using my phone, so I can only really text at mum-speed. Still, that's a price I'm willing to pay for cosy hands!

Monday, 19 November 2012

Pendant necklace wishlist

I really love quirky pieces of jewellery. I think it's such a nice way of making a simple outfit that wee bit more interesting and eye-catching. As it's a cold, boring Monday morning (I am presuming. You might be having a wonderful Monday, in which case - carry on and have fun!) I thought I'd cheer us all up by putting together a wishlist of pretty things.

Here's a few of my favourite pendant necklaces. I didn't intentionally only pick gold or brass items, but ever since I was given the skull necklace (last Christmas, thank you wonderful Craig!) I fell in love with gold jewellery.


Top row

Bottom row


They're priced from £20 - £115 so you can treat yourself, or share this post and hint to someone before Christmas!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. 

Friday, 16 November 2012

Nanowrimo update

Hello! I just wanted to share a wee update on nanowrimo. We're onto day sixteen now and I should be at 26,666 words to be on track (I'm not, but I've got all of tonight to write).

Please ignore my terrible working title
It's been loads of fun so far, but definitely tough! This is the first year I've had to balance blogging alongside writing, so it's been a bit of a challenge finding time for both (and still enjoying them). I'm also baking a wedding cake for my lovely pals Jude and Charlotte & am going to their wedding tomorrow - loads of fun, but busy busy busy days ahead!

But hey, I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. I'm also filming weekly updates on my youtube channel, which you can watch below. Look how fresh faced and enthusiastic I was in week one! Ha. Ha. Ha.

 

& then I'm just exhausted and resigned to battling on in week two.




I'm not going to post every video I make here, so if you'd like to subscribe then you can do so here. Non-writing videos are also on the way (er, when I have a spare moment!). 

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Christmas shopping: gifts for gals

It's Chriiiiiistmas! Okay, not really, but there are just under six weeks to go until Christmas which means it's definitely time to start your shopping (assuming you aren't one of those crazy people who have everything bought & wrapped already!).

Last year I put together a couple of Christmas gift guides - one written by me & one by Craig, for present inspiration. They were loads of fun to do, so I'm doing it again (and am roping poor, patient Craig into guest posting again). I've split the guides into (roughly!) a few different price ranges, so there's something for almost every budget. I've also called this one "gifts for gals" mainly because they are all things I would like, and I'm a gal.

Hope this helps inspire you!

IF YOU HAVE.... 

£10 to spend 

1. I am forever jealous of people who can pull off high-neck tops, particularly because it opens up a magical world of collar tips! These kitty collar tips by Motel Rocks are adorable and are only £12.

2. If in doubt, go to Lush! This snow fairy gift box is an ace choice and is £11.95.

3. This skull and top hat pendant is slightly more pricey, but it's BRILLIANT. Look at it! You also get to feel good about yourself for supporting an indie etsy business. It's £15.

4. Everyone loves pugs! This iphone cover is by Rabbit Smile (who I've featured on my blog before). They make cases for phones, kindles, laptops & more, & I can vouch for the quality. Plus they are super cute! This case costs £11.50.


£25 to spend 

1.  The Frankie daily journal is beautiful & every year I am jealous of the people who have managed to snap one up before they sell out! It's full of pretty details and illustrations and looks pretty much perfect. It costs about £18 (but you'll need to pay for overseas shipping).

2. It's a locket ! And a duck! And it's from Hannah Zakari, the prettiest gift shop you ever will see. It's £24.

3. Swoon! These ombre tights are absolutely gorgeous, and only £25. They are hand-dyed and made to order so you'll need to buy them soon, if you want them to arrive before Christmas.

4. This gorgeous luna silk scarf is by the super talented Olivia Mew (who also made my amazing Star Wars scarf). It's perfect for tying in your hair and is £29.


£50 to spend 

1. I love Benefit but can't really afford it as everyday makeup. Instead I cross my fingers each Christmas & hope that some will end up in my stocking. The dazzle me, dahling! kit has a lovely mix of products & comes in at £44.

2. I'm aware that this is quite a ridiculous amount of money to spend on chocolate, but think of this as edible art & it's easier to justify the price. Coco Chocolate (Edinburgh's amazing artisan chocolatiers) have created Swellegant - their largest ever collection. Mm mm mm. It's £44.95.

3. La Terre is a beautiful print by Double Merrick, inspired by old classroom wallcharts. Buy art, feel cultured! It's exactly £50.

4. Models Own are my very favourite brand of nail polish, and any nail art addict would be over the moon to receive their ultimate box set for Christmas. It contains fifteen polishes from the best of their box sets for £50.


£100+ to spend

1. I think this is a sign I am growing up, but ever since I saw this Becka Griffin painting on Helen's blog I have been seriously jealous! Bespoke house portraits start at £120 for a colour illustration, but would be the most lovely keepsake! What a nice gift to get someone who has just bought their first house? (Ha).

2. Ooooh this looks so cosy! Donna Wilson is a Scottish designer who makes all sorts of nice ceramics and cushions. Yes, this rainy day throw is £195, but it's also 100% lambswool and is guaranteed to be so very, very soft.

3. I have been pining for a proper leather satchel almost all year & they are firmly on the top spot of my Christmas list! There's a few different satchel makers out there, but the Leather Satchel Company wins my vote (mainly for packaging their bags up in brown paper and string). My ideal one (14 inches, chestnut brown, magnetic fasteners & stamped with my name) would come to £113.

4. What's the very best gift you can give someone? An adventure! I honestly think memories are the best gifts of all, and surprising someone with a trip (no matter how near or far) is such a lovely present. Craig & I have our eye on InterRail passes for an upcoming adventure. Ticket prices start at £145 for 30 countries.


Craig's shopping guide will be up next Wednesday so keep an eye out for that. AND if all this commercialism is too much for you, never fear - I've got loads of DIY gift guides to show you soon. Yay, Christmas!

Monday, 12 November 2012

Outfit: winter is coming!

Brrr, it's cold out there! I'm trying to avoid the winter trap of wearing jumpers & jeans every single day, but it's hard! Especially when it's dark and chilly, and I just want to be as cosy as possible.

This is my outfit from a slightly more colourful day. I'm clashing two patterns quite massively here, but I don't care! I think it's nice to be bright on a dull day (and I can never really resist leopard print).

Jacket - Primark
Scarf - Primark (so cosy!)
Dress - JOY
Cardigan - ASOS
Shoes - Dr Martens from Spartoo*
I've got my scarf pretty much glued to my neck at all times now. I bought this from Primark along with a matching cream bobble hat (and a couple of festive-looking cardigans). I try to avoid buying everything from Primark, but it's just so cheap & the knitwear is so colourful and lovely and hard to resist. Ah!

Shoes-wise, I'm still living in my Doc Marten boots. They are SO comfortable and wonderful and brilliant. If you've ever considered buying them then do it! I really like this pair too as they don't have the traditional yellow stitching, so they don't look like I've nicked them from a grungy teenager. Hooray.

Friday, 9 November 2012

Elemis tranquil touch bath elixir

One of my favourite things to do is disappear into a big bubble bath, listen to good music & shut the world out for half an hour (or an hour if I'm feeling especially lazy!). A little while ago the nice people at Pure Spa (who did my nails & hair all fancy last year) got in touch & asked if I'd like to review on of their Elemis products. Obviously I said yes, please!

elemis tranquil touch elixir

I received a sample of the Tranquil Touch Bath Elixir* - a "sensuous bath soak". Ooooh. As well as being the leading luxury British spa & skincare brand, Elemis have got seriously good morals. They don't test on animals or use any animal extracts in their products. It's all natural oils & organic extracts.

elemis tranquil touch elixir

This elixir is made up of a combination of patchouli, cedarwood and vetivert aromatic oils, and enriched with natural cocoa butter. I had never heard of patchouli or vetivert before, but after a quick google discovered the former is a mint plant (earthy, musky aroma) and the latter is a tall tropical grass (sweet, woody aroma). Another fun fact, vetivert oil is known as the 'Oil of Tranquility' because of its excellent calming action. Yes please. 

bath
This is a bath. Not a sink (ha).
I normally use quite girly, flowery bath products, so it was a real treat to use this. The scent is really rich & does make me feel like I've just stepped into a spa. It produces a good amount of bubbles (which to me is pretty much the most important part of a bath product!) and my skin felt super smooth afterwards. 

A full-size bottle (300ml) costs £21 so it is quite an expensive product, but it definitely feels super luxurious (and would be perfect as a present for the busy person in your life). Thanks again to Pure Spa for giving me the opportunity to treat myself! 


Wednesday, 7 November 2012

My hair history

Yesterday I saw this hilarious post by Gillian from elevatormusik & was inspired to dig out my old photos and cringe/laugh/regret my old hair decisions!

My hair is naturally red (gingery/auburn) so as I was growing up I was always told how lovely it was & that I should never EVER touch it. So I had long red hair til I was about seventeen years old. Then I went to uni & realised that I was a grown up (ha ha ha) & could do what I want. So I did. CRINGE.

Age 17 - 19
1. My first big hair change! A couple of months into uni I went into my hairdresser with a photo of Willow (from Buffy!) and asked for her hair. Didn't really work. I look like I have 90's curtains. Sob.

2. I let this grown out a bit and hacked shorter layers in. Also started wearing blue eyeshadow (!).

3. Decided to dye it all a dark brown with big bits of pink all over. Was terrified to show my dad (shouldn't have been, he was actually very nice about it). What an awful haircut. It's just so shapeless?

4. I then dyed it almost black (WHY?) and add blue bits in that faded to a horrible green after a few weeks.

5. When I was too poor to redye it I just had massive yellow patches all over my head. Here I am with my pal Patrick from Fall Out Boy. Note the wrist warmers.

6. I joined myspace at this point & thought this was a perfectly acceptable photo to take. Oh lord.

Age 19 - 21
7.  Kept dying it dark brown with random colours in it. Where are my eyebrows?

8. And let the colours fade to a weird white/yellow when I couldn't afford to buy hair dye. Worringly, this hair isn't too far off what I have now.

9. I'm in third year of uni at this point & I decided to start wearing hot pink eyeshahow to match the pink bits in my hair.

10. Dyed the whole thing a weird red colour (which had odd lighter patches throughout). Scowled a lot at this point apparently.

11. Finally made a sort-of sensible hair choice, and dyed it a lovely chestnut brown (that actually looked okay with my skin tone). I reckon if I ever dyed all of my hair again it would be to this shade!

12. Then I got bored, chopped it all off and discovered the joy of a blunt fringe!

Age 21 - 24
13. Attended a "favourite decade" fancy dress party where Craig & I were the only people who had dressed up. Hahaha. My hair was boring and shoulder length.

14. The chestnut dye grew out (and I didn't ever bother to try and cover the regrowth) so I had my natural colour for the first time in four years! Went back to a middle parting (bad idea).

15. Became addicted to wearing it long and super straight. Didn't use any protecting products & caused ridiculous levels of damage to my hair.

16. Tried to wear it wavy, but felt a bit unsure about it. Hence the scowly face!

17. Chopped in a short diagonal fringe. Bought Riley!

18. Started wearing it in a sweeping fringe again. Still trying to learn how to style it wavy (the curls in this photo were a total fluke!).

Age 24 - present
19. Cut my fringe SUPER short and a bit spikey. Shaved the other side of my head slightly (annoyingly don't have a photo of this, but it was fun!).

20. Grew out my fringe and FINALLY learned how to curl my hair (and not look like I'd been dragged through a bush). Stayed in New Zealand for almost a month & my hair lightened up quite a bit in the sun.

21. My hair naturally went a bit darker in winter. Cut in a blunt fringe again. Finally sorted out my eyebrows!

22. Badger hair appears! Dyed a big section blonde and absolutely loved it.

23. My fringe is getting shorter and shorter, blonde panel more prominent.

24. Present day! Still in love with my weird badger hair & now dye a little bit white blonde on the other side too. I can't imagine not having a blunt fringe any more (and this journey back in time has taught me to avoid centre partings!).

Well, that was fun. If a little embarrassing! If you have any old hair photos to share then please post them in the comments & we can all laugh at each other. My poor, over-dyed, over-heated hair! I promise I'll be nice to you from now on...

Monday, 5 November 2012

Animal jumper wishlist

I think I've mentioned this on here before, but I am a total sucker for an animal jumper. I think I just haven't outgrown it yet - when I was little I had an amazing horse jumper that my mum knitted for me (aw, thanks mum!), and I find it hard to walk by a good animal motif in shops without purchasing!

So, as it's getting colder and colder (although weirdly not cold enough to stop an ice cream van come round our neighbourhood at the weekend - nutter), I thought it would be fun to put together a wishlist of my favourite jumpers!



Top row

Bottom row


I've also started a wardrobe zoo board on my Pinterest (name inspired by Sarah, who is also a fan of animal clothing), so apologies if you follow me & I've been spamming you with knitwear. It just looks SO cosy & I want it all! 

Friday, 2 November 2012

John Frieda Full Repair range

I'm pretty lazy with my hair. It's really thick & easily gets tuggy, has bleached panels on either side (that can get really dry), and I use heat on it pretty regularly. I also can't be bothered to wash it more than every few days & get REALLY BORED any time I have to dry my hair. No wonder my hairdresser gives me rows!

So, it was pretty good timing when I was offered some John Frieda products to try out. I've only ever used their Frizz Ease serums before, and didn't realise that they made so many things - everything from hair dye to hairspray.

Perfect Ends Sheer Mist* - £6.99
Full Body Shampoo* - £5.89
Full Body Conditioner* - £5.89
I was sent three products from the Full Repair range, which is designed to revive overworked hair (hello), repairing the damage of frequent hair styling & colouring.

The products all smell really fresh, and even a day after washing my hair smelled really CLEAN, which is always good. Because I have thick hair I can handle heavier products, so it was actually really refreshing to use products that were very lightweight (and it feels like they've removed some of the build up in my hair). After washing my hair felt very well behaved (although I did have my usual few tugs when brushing it out!).


I'm always cautious when using products designed to add shine for the first time, as I don't want to end up with greasy looking hair! To play it safe, I've been using the spray mist on the ends of my hair & the blonde panels - basically the bits that could use some repairing! Like the shampoo & conditioner, the mist feels super light, and my ends definitely felt less frizzy.

All in all I'm really pleased with these products! My hair definitely felt super clean and soft after using them, and I feel like a much better long-hair-wearer using heat protection for once! Because my hair was so soft, it went quite wavy across the day as I didn't use any other products, so if I wanted super straight hair I'd need to use more products on top of this. Still, I think that is okay - wavy hair is fun!