Coconut Hair Care

My hair is naturally dark blonde but I had a few highlights put in over the past year to brighten it up. I've always had medium thickness but naturally oily, straight hair. But since the bleach has taken its toll, I have been finding it very hard to keep it in good condition.
That was until I found these beauties. Boots have their own range of coconut and almond products for normal to dry hair. I first started with the leave in conditioner and fell in love. At uni, our shower is terrible and leaves your hair in knots every time you wash it, but since spraying this into my hair when it is damp, it has become so much more manageable. I swear by this stuff. And it smells like holiday.
So today I went out and bought the conditioner as well, to see if it can sort out my dry ends. I hope it works!

Fashion vs Food

For anyone who knows me, both food and fashion are major parts of my life; if I'm not shopping then I'm out for a meal, and vice versa.
But when reality sinks in a few weeks after the loan has be blown, and you're left with a 3kg bag of pasta and Asda smart price sauce you couldn't feel any further away from being the millionaire you felt like when you saw your bank balance increase a few weeks previous.
This is when my clothes begin to suffer and my diet becomes as basic and boring as ever. My lifestyle is just too expensive to keep up, so now i have to pick between eating out, and that new dress.
Therefore I've started to look online for clothes, and eat out less, but when I do try and make them Mondays where everything is half price - or use this as an excuse to finally start that diet.

I know most of you are well aware of missguided.com by now but it really is a great place to find dresses for nights out and occassions. I wore two missguided outfits, the green one on my 21st and the black playsuit on NYE. Overall I was thrilled with what I got, the green dress was a little more expensive at £45 but it was sequined. In Topshop you would have to pay at least £60 for a dress like that, so it seemed worth it. While the black velvet playsuit was very cheap at £25. You also get student discount on top of it which makes everything a little easier. They also do great copies of things you would find in the high-street stores at much cheaper prices, it's a great way to save money but keep on trend.

Green Dress £45

Black velvet Playsuit
(I do have more than two friends I promise)

Another great website which you may not be as familiar with is kukee.co.uk. They do jewellery which you can find in Topshop for very cheap prices. I also begrudge spending a lot on jewellery because it's so small in comparison to a new item of clothing, and it usually gets lost or broken. However you can buy triple for the amount you would pay in store on this website.

This way, you can still eat out (half price food at Vodka Revolutions on mondays, Yo Sushi, Slug and Lettuce and now Yates on a Thursday) but keep on trend at the same time.

Roses are Red..

If you have walked down any high-street recently you will know that in 10 days time it is that sweetly sickening day of the year PDA is allowed.
 Now I may sound like I am against Valentines day, but I am not at all. I like that it is an occassion that I can wear a nice dress and go for a lovely meal with my boyfriend. But I hate that everyone else is sitting there, feeding each other over the table across the flicker of candle light. I find it really off putting. I think it's something you should save for when you're at home. Although it is kind of acceptable when you are drunk because you lose all sense of etiquette then.
But one other thing about Valentines day is the whole debate on wearing red - is it too cliche?
I have this red dress from H&M which I have only worn once, and think it is appropriate for my Valentines meal. It's quote short but not too short, and has long sleeves and high neck, it doesn't cling too much either which is a bonus when you're going out for a meal. It goes well with tights too in case it is bitterly cold that night (no doubt it will be).
But that't the problem... it's red!
I'm worried I will turn up to the restaurant and blend in with the sea of red dresses, or stick out like a sore thumb with most girls tutting under their breaths. Is there an unspoken dress code that you should wear red (or you really shouldn't) that I am unaware of?

Golden Globes

The Golden Globe awards have been running since 1944, and each year the dresses get more and more extravagant, and 2013 did not disappoint. Only the elite of the film industry are invited and although the awards are based on their performances, for me it should be based on their outfits.
       One outfit, which I was very impressed with was Taylor Swift's. Her aubergine DKNY fishtail number was beautiful, even if The Mirror did catch her out with a bra malfunction, but these things always happen. Her slicked back up-do went well with the strapped shoulders and open back. Taylor appeared very grown up and made a lovely change from seeing her in dressed down 'sneaker' look.

Another winner at the Golden Globes for me, was Emily Blunt. The actress looked amazing in Michael Kors when she turned up with John Krasinski who looked dapper in his bow tie suit. Her dress was of pure elegance, made from lace in a unique green, but almost golden colour. Her dress was also embellished with studs which made a nice contrast to the softness of the lace. She accessorized with cocktail jewel earrings and a neat bun. She embodied elegance at the Golden Globes.

One who never disappoints with her quirky wardrobe is Zooey Deshanel. Although her dress is not to my taste, I still think she looked very feminine and worked the Oscar De La Renta dress superbly. However, not only was it her dress that caught my eye but her fantastic nail art, and pearl accessories. It really brought the whole outfit together and gave her a classier look, whilst her nails were pure brilliance. 

Even if a celebrity has a beautiful dress, if their accessories and most importantly hair is a mess, then it ruins everything. Which is why I would like to mention Amanda Seyfried; who looked wonderful in her Givenchy Couture dress, but also had the perfect hair style. Her long blonde locks complimented her blush coloured dress and looked naturally waved. Her hair looked effortless but preened at the same time, and something I would love to try out on myself. 

#LFW

If you don't know anything about London fashion week (LFW) then you've either had your head in the sand for the last few days or really couldn't care less about fashion. If its the last one, you are really missing out.
For those who do know what it is, it's a week of excitement, anticipation and you're itching to get involved. Well this year I did.
Replying to a tweet that I never thought I'd get a reply from was a frustrating experience. I desperately wanted to be part of the fashion riots but felt it was a lost cause.
Until I got a reply.. "thank you for getting in touch, Bora Aksu would love to have you intern with us this season". Yes! Best news ever, I couldn't help but reply a soppy email saying how grateful I was to get the chance to be part of it.
Leading up to the 14th September I was extremely nervous; what if they're all bitchy? What if I don't understand what they ask me to do? The usual questions that I imagine to run through every interns mind.
Arriving 40 minutes early I felt a Tesco meal deal was in order to calm my nerves and waste some time.
However, if I knew then I would have arrived late as we had to wait 45 minutes after arrival time until we were allowed in.
While waiting all 12 interns were left to converse about what shows they had previously done and what they aspire to do. I felt inferior to the 16 year old boy who had just come back from New York, has a place at Central St Martins and his mother is a stylist for Elle magazine.
Having to wait for so long wasn't so much a problem though, looking round at all the extravagant guests and celebrity spotting passed time quickly. Plus the Bora Aksu staff were lovely, nothing like I expected; apologising every ten minutes about keeping us waiting.
Finally, when we could get in to backstage B, it was chaos. People running around, half naked models changing in front of you. I felt like a spare part and being at the bottom of the food chain as an intern i was asked to move out the way on more than one occasion.
We were taken through to the catwalk and out job was to fill the goodie bags with gifts and show people to their seats- easy peasy! Though the goofy bags were not as straight forward as it first seemed, many gifts were short a couple and someone had put the wrong nail varnishes in and suddenly everyone went into panic.
As you could imagine everyone was racing for front row even though seats were assigned, so I found it slightly awkward having to tell people to move, especially when I wasn't sure who half the famous people were.
I got shoved out the way by some photographers who were trying to picture Kate Nash and Kelly Brooke but to be honest I wanted to get out the way, didn't want to be caught in the back of any of their pictures pulling a face!
After all the chaos had settled it was time to watch the show and I was amazed that we could watch. The place was full, they were running out of seats and after watching the show I can see why. Bora Aksu was simply amazing, even down to the lighting and the music of violins added to the show.
Whilst watching I realised how much I want to be part of this again next season and every season.
The only disappointment I felt all day was that I was promised a T-shirt and gift but never received one!

Revival of the fittest

It seems no one is a stranger to vintage and retro fashion these days, with shops popping up in popular towns and cities, as well as being able to access them on websites such as yayer.com, teapotvintage.com and even eBay.
However, the best things really do come for free as my favourite old time pieces were given to me by my parents. For example, this genuine Levi's denim jacket. I was sorting things out to sell on eBay once, and my dad said he had something I could sell; when he pulled out this dime I refused to sell it on and kept it for myself. Okay it's a little too big but the oversized feel gives it a more relaxed and urban adjustment to any outfit.
Another piece I could not let my mum throw away was her classic polka dot shirt. Ever since I can remember she has had the chiffon piece and I couldn't help but keep it. Maybe it's an attachment thing, I don't know, but I love wearing it open as kimono/cardigan over a simple outfit. Teach my mum how it really should have been worn (minus the shoulder pads and flared jeans of the 80s).
The fashion cycle is an inevitable thing, every 20 years or so fashion repeats itself with a twist, so the best place to look is deep into your parents, or even grandparents wardrobes. However, good finds can be like gold dust and only the strongest fashions should revive; so please leave the shell suits at the back of the wardrobe, where they should forever stay.

Today I'm wearing...

To kick start my long absence from writing for my blog, (due to an internship and holiday to malia) I thought I'd start a "today I'm wearing" post which hopefully will become a regular occurrence.

For those of you who are interested in working with fashion and internships I will soon post a piece on my experiences at Mudpie trend forecasting agency.

My outfit today consists of a sleeveless white shirt, raspberry coloured skater skirt, a tweed blazer, black tights and black brogues with studs. However, I must warn you that while I am writing this waiting for a bus in windy conditions it is not an ideal outfit. Thank god for thick black tights is all I can say. The English weather had me fooled once again, or I just got over excite by the one patch of blue in the sky and based my outfit upon that!

Back to the outfit, the skirt is from Miss Selfridge and compliments the masculinity of the crisp white cotton shirt against the raspberry floaty fabric. The shirt is from river island itself and in fact is a bias cut shirt that came with a black neck tie. It's one of my favourite pieces because it can work with any outfit as well as on it's own; whether you want a basic look or something more contemporary.

To finish the look off I teamed the outfit with a tweed blazer. It creates a heritage feel and adds authenticity to the look, rather than combining colour pop with the skirt. By combining the skirt and the blazer it ages the childlike connotations of a skater skirt and matures the overall look.

I did create a bow tie out of a wired headband, which I really liked,, but with the tweed it looked too geek chic for my liking but worked really well.

My choice of brogues from urban outfitters as footwear was because brogues and blazers go hand in hand in my fashion books. They compliment each other well while the studs give an edge to the clean cut outfit.