Happy
Wednesday my lovelies! We’re already over the hump of the week (thank god) and
it’s only two more short days until the weekend, yussss! I can’t believe its
already May- like where the hell did April go? (I swear I say this every
month!?) But a new month means some new favourites to tell you wonderful lot
all about, so without futher ado…
Metcalfe's Charity Popcorn & Nike Sports Bra
So my initial ‘New Years Resolutions’ haven’t been going too badly considering we’re
nearly halfway through the year already, but one small little tiiiny resolution
has slipped slightly: exercising. I go through cycles of absolutely going for it
four-five days a week, then weeks where I genuinely do nothing but sit on my arse
and eat too much dairy milk (sorry not sorry.) So, to get myself motivated I’ve
invested in some new gym gear and I loved how offensively girly this sports bra
was from Nike. It keeps my two lady friends all supported when going for it on the cross trainer
plus when you have nice gym kit you feel inclined to go to the gym more, right?
Thanks Nike. I also like the simple monochromatic version ASOS are selling
online.
Everybody
knows that exercise and diet go hand in hand so to get my snacking little mits
away from the Dairy Milk I’ve been going IN on popcorn this month. Popcorn is an
awesome low calorie snack alternative to a chocolate bar or packet of crisps
but it also gives you that sugar hit you’re craving at 3/4pm. I’ve been
reaching for Metcalfe’s Skinny Popcorn and in particular their Charity Sea Salt
popcorn recently. For every packet bought a certain amount goes to a Children’s
Cancer Charity and they’ve raised over £30,000 so far. Snacking sensibly while
doing your bit for charity? Yes please.
Brighton
Oh Brighton you really are wonderful. Last weekend I popped down to Brighton for
the weekend for the most wonderful bank holiday break with my best friend
Molly. I think there is something about being near the sea that makes everyone
super chilled out and happy- or maybe it was just me enjoying my 99 with a
flake a bit too much…. If you ever get the chance to pop down for the night or
even the day please do so- you won’t regret it! From chilled out cafes to the
some of the best vintage stores I’ve been to in a while Brighton is quickly
becoming one of my favourite places within the UK. I’m in the process of
putting a little Brighton guide together so keep your eyes peeled!
ASOS Turban & Garnier Micellar Water
Apart
from this weekend where the weather was absolutely beauuutiful the weather in
April has been pretty awful. So awful that I frequently had to dig out a hat to
save my crazy hair being ruined by the awful windy rain we had going on for a
while. I picked up this turban from ASOS just before Amsterdam as I was a bit
bored of constantly wearing beanies and I’ve been wearing it a lot throughout
February. It provides a bit of a hat wardrobe update plus it comes in now at £6
in the sale. Baragin.
Let’s
be honest, nobody really likes taking their makeup off… I’m all about really
looking after your skin but there are days where I just cant be bothered to cleanse,
exfoliate, buff, brush, scrub my face and I want any easy solution that’s still
good for my skin but gets the job done in one. I’ve found this little miracle:
Micellar Water. As someone who’s got super sensitive, oily skin oily thats prone
to breakouts I didn’t think this would work when someone recommended it to me but
I was so wrong. I haven’t had any
breakouts since using it, it takes all my makeup off with a trusty cotton pad (even
stubborn mascara) plus it makes my face feel super fresh after use. Maybe the ‘water’
in the name indicates that it's not overly heavy but it doesn't block up my
pores or feel as though I’m adding more unnecessary chemicals onto my skin like other removers have previously. I’ve
never really used Garnier products and I'm quite impressed with this one, plus at only £3 a bottle it’d be rude not to have a bash using it.
Beyoncé Lemonade
How
can you talk about April without mentioning Queen B and Lemonade? What can I say;
she’s killed it again. Admittedly if you’re looking for a Beyonce album that’s
full of catchy RnB inspired sound this maybe isn’t going to be the album you’d
reach for- B’Day has that covered- because Lemonade is more of an experimental
sound. It’s an album that is more expressive about her feelings, attitudes and
opinions and less about providing smash hit singles. My favourite songs on the
album are the country inspired Daddy Lessons and the sassy and empowering
Freedom. (You can't help but do you're best strut/walk when it's playing.) A round of applause for Queen B… I guess when
life gives you lemons….
Daily Journal & MIPOW Mirror Portble Charger
Starting
a new job means getting organised. I’m a serial planner and like to know what
I’m doing everyday, every week and every month so nothing has made me happier
than this marble journal from Urban Outfitters. As you can tell from my blog
and flatlays I’m a sucker for marble print so this baby was irresistible. It’s
helping me keep organised with what I’m doing as each page includes notes, to-do lists and a mini schedule to keep me on track. Plus it's completely Instagrammable. Winning.
Weirdly
enough my mum picked this up for me this month. I think its part of a mums
(and dads) DNA to worry about where their kids are and as she put it ‘now that bloody phone of yours won’t die
and I won’t panic about where you are and if you’ve got any battery.’ Cheers
muma. Anyway, I haven’t ever been bothered with the whole portable charger
thing because I didn't want another thing to carry but this is on a whole new level. It provides a full charge, is easy to
carry around in its little purple pouch, relatively light but most excitingly, it’s
a portable mirror. Gone are the days of panicking if you’ve got lipstick on your
teeth and you forgot your compact- the MIPOW saves the day both for beauty and practicality
purposes. It is a little on the pricey side compared to other chargers but it's been so highly reviewed- plus the handy pocket mirror- make it well worth the
money.
Social Channel of the Month: @juniperfoxx
Okay,
so normally I mention a blog that I’ve been loving in particular but oh my god this Instagram was too good not to
share. Ladies and gents meet the wonderful Juniper who has lived
with her owner from the moment she was born and is now a full-fledged
member of the family. She is the most loveable little fox I have ever seen…
She’s often pictured wearing a floral crown or with bubbles on her head, taking
mid day naps with her owners and has a little smile that would make any heart
melt. Her Instagram is a little fox haven that provides plenty of ‘awwww’ moments but also provides a bit of an education with the posts of her loving owner writes about, including ups and downs of having a little
foxy friend. @juniperfoxx you’re doing the fox community proud and melting
hearts worldwide. Especially mine.
Quote of the Month
'Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire'
-Unknown
Happy beginning of May my Angels and I hope your Wednesday isn't too terrible. (If it is you should definitely look up @juniperfoxx... Just sayin'...) I've got some posts scheduled in for the end of this week so pop back and see what else I've been up to, but until then I hope you've enjoyed this post and it's brought you some new inspiration!
Have you guys tried any new products this month that I should give a go?
A x
Am I
the only one who has been highly disappointed with this years Met Gala Ball?
Undoubtedly there were some beautiful dresses that hit the most reputable
fashion red carpet but I felt somewhat deflated with the fashion elites most
recent Gala offering. Almost as frustrated as the Punk theme back in 2014, but
that’s a whole other blog post...
For
weeks New York society has been working itself into a flap about
the theme for the 2016 Met Ball: technology. Designed to draw
attention to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new exhibition ‘Manus x Machina:
Fashion in an Age of Technology’ the Met's annual sartorial gala promised a
mixture of metal and technology inspired concoctions on pilates-toned living
mannequins. Maybe that is why I’m disappointed: it was exactly what I had expected
and nothing broke the mould. The idea of hate couture is to break out of the everyday,
challenge ideas, express new ones and the general impression of all the dresses
that hit the red carpet were just so…. Uninspiring.
The
Oxford English Dictionary defines Technology as:
1. The branch of knowledge that deals
with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life,
society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts,
engineering, applied science, and pure science
2. The application of this knowledge
for practical ends
3. the terminology of an art, science,
etc.; technical nomenclature
& 4. a scientific or industrial process, invention, method, or the like..
Technology
is designed to excite, to become the pioneer of new revolutionary ideas and the
dresses, to me, just didn't hit this brief. While I’m not doubting that the dresses
worn were not beautiful and that there wasn’t amazing craftsmanship involved to
create these one-of-a-kind unique pieces of fashion art but is a head to toe
silver sequinned dress really that ground-breaking when a theme of Technology is so vast and unique? I think not.
This
theme could have been the best yet but it fell flat. Previous years’ themes for
example the ‘Punk: Chaos to Couture’, didn’t work because the theme was never
about clothing- Punk was about who you were and what you stood for. The
advances in technology have undoubtedly made an undeniable impression on the
fashion industry- laser cutting, 3D printing, thermo shaping and circular
knitting just to name a few- but were these amazing advancements littered
across the carpet like they should have been? No. Kendall Jenner in sequinned
custom made Balmain- Pretty? Sure. Blake Lively in floral Burberry- Stunning?
Undoubtedly. Amber Heard in satin Ralph Lauren- Beautiful? You bet. Madonna in
Givenchy? I mean that was just plain wrong so I won’t even go there… But these
dresses weren’t the innovative and inspiring work I was so desperate to see.
Maybe
I was thinking too futuristically. In my head I’d imagine the Gala as a
cavalcade of sharp textures, light, fabric and form that would make even
Metropolis film fans swoon. There are so many revolutionary designers that are
using technology to create innovative, futuristic and obscure designs that
excite style tastemakers and budding fashion lovers. Maiko Takeda and his
experimentation with new and recycled materials, Vega Zaishi Wang’s creations
incorporating fabric and light, Iris Van Herpen’s hand-worked materials to
create sharp and digital inspired forms, Ying Gao and sensory interactive
garments or Amelia Agosta’s haute tech collection using innovative techniques
like 3D printing and body scanning. These amazing ideas have been created yet
nothing like this was worn on the biggest event on the fashion calendar. With technology the bigger, more
inspiring, more outrageously ostentatious the better, yet the fashion pack
stuck with the known. Looking pretty prioritised over being thought
provoking... Predictablility favoured being inventive… I guess Claire Danes did the
best with her light up Cinderella-esque dress but this only skimmed the water
with the potential that this theme could have conveyed.
I don’t doubt that the celebrities and their stylists tried to channel bits of
technology into their ensembles. But this was made difficult by the fact that
most of the best technology inspired fashion ideas had been stolen by stylists
and fashionistas and integrated them into the mainstream a while ago. Metallic
makeup, graphic inspired nail art, the use of sequins encasing the human form
like body armour, bleached eyebrows, slick hair, ludicrously high heels and
well, metallic everything: done, done and still being done. Watching current
mainstream icons try to recreate technology style was never really going to
work. I suppose the other way of doing technology would be
to channel some kind of counter-cultural doctrine; even if someone must wear a stunning shimmering ball gown and comply with industry-set standards of
beauty... But that would require someone's celebrity stylist to have an original
thought or idea. I guess they should have got in touch with Ying Gao, Vega
Zaishi Wang and Amelia Agosta and the gang like I originally hoped...
Of
course I will look forward to next years Met Ball- as someone who is obsessed
with all different areas of fashion I will always feel inclined to see what the
latest fashion offering will be- but I hope next year they get it right. I hope
celebrities and fashion enthusiasts indulge in the exciting and intoxicating
areas of fashion that are so diverse and unique instead of skimming the water
with a luke warm nod to the theme involved. While I know this realistically won’t
happen, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that someone will break the mould and lead
the way to new ideas like fashion leaders always should.
What were your thoughts on this year's Met Gala Ball dresses?
A x
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