Flamingo Shoes

I bought these gorgeous Flamingo shoes (Office £65) this bank holiday whilst shopping with my friend Beth in Oxford Street. I fell completely head over heels for them and I can't wait to spoil my feet rotten in them!

Afternoon tea with a slice of theatre and fort building

Yesterday my beautiful friend, Emily travelled all the way from Cumbria to visit me in London for less than 24 hours. 

Emily is my wanderlust friend, if I ever want to go on an adventure, it's Emily I call. 4 years ago we'd travel the country spontaneously to see bands that we loved (Oxford, Bingley, Bristol, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff to name a few) 2 years ago we road tripped to Exeter and visited Paris for a week for my 18th birthday. After Paris we went almost 2 years without seeing one another again, life got in the way, but neither of us gave up on the friendship, and more recently we've been having monthly Skype dates and met up in Preston in January. 

And a week ago, we were on one of those Skype dates, and Emily was suffering from a particularly severe case of wanderlust, and I, being the good friend I am, convinced her to come and see me the following weekend. 

We started the day in my home, catching up and hugging a lot, then we rushed to the theatre to see a matinee performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Considering most of the cast were made up of children, the show was incredible, although I was saddened that none of the classic songs were included - until the very end that is, when Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket performed Pure Imagination together; but it was the set design that really stood out for me. I studied set design at university for a year and still have a huge passion for it. 

Afterwards we went for afternoon tea at Ladurée.The weather was beautiful, and so it was the perfect place to visit, as the store in Covent Garden is all seated outside. 

                                                                                           

The food was, honestly, incredible. At £21 the afternoon tea is one of the cheapest in London, and also one of the best. 

However, although the company and food were the best I could have dreamed of, the service was awful and ruined the experience, after taking our order the waiter did not return to ask us if everything was ok, nor did they bring milk to the table for my tea, they didn't even offer. After the deliciously filling macaroons and finger sandwiches, plus other desserts, neither Emily or I could finish the absolutely Ispahan, pictured below, we asked for them to be boxed up so we could take them home, something I have done often at other restaurants. They told us it was illegal to do so and completely refused. 

In the evening we had planned to go into Camden to see Frank Turner's DJ set in Underworld, however we were both exhausted and instead decided to build a fort made of sheets and a dozen cushions with a home made picnic, diet coke in champagne flutes with a children's film playing. Both of us are adults, and both of us know how to do adulthood properly. 

Thank you for a wonderful weekend, Emily - I can't wait to see you again soon!

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

X

The fault in our stars - Little infinities.

Two weeks ago I finally moved back to London. I'm so excited to be back in the city I love, I've been away since end of March and I didn't realise how much I depended on London until I went back to the countryside. 

Last weekend I had the privilege of seeing The Fault In Our Stars (TFIOS) 40 days before the release of the film with my ex-flatmate but forever friend, Rebecca. We're both huge fans of John Green and the book, we both pre-ordered TFIOS and so received signed copies when the book originally came out 2 years ago. We were also lucky enough to meet John and his equally talented brother, Hank, in February 2013 and will have the same privilege this summer at Leakycon, Orlando. 

We were asked not to blog spoilers, so instead I'll say just take tissues. TFIOS is one of my least favourite of John's books (seriously, have you READ Paper towns ?) and so I didn't expect to cry at all, except 10 minutes in the first tear rolled down my cheek and after that there was stopping it. I was full on sobbing by the end, and even as the credits were rolling I couldn't stop. I was a mess! I had liquid eyeliner all over my face - when the lights came up, Rebecca just laughed at me! I was so surprised at the quality of the film, films are never as good as the books they're inspired by, and this film is no exception, however it did the book as much justice as it possibly could. 

We received free copies of TFIOS with the movie cover (REALLY ?! I already have 5 copies from different events) and also a free T-shirt with #littleinfinities  and The Fault In Our Stars with the release date on the back. It is THE least flattering shirt I have ever owned, and it drowns me, but I love wearing it to bed. 

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

X

Hair Wavers

                    

     

My younger sister is blessed with the most beautiful curls, I, however, was not-so-blessed with temperamental locks that go from curly to poker straight within one wash. It makes planning for an event ahead difficult as I never know what my hair will look like on the day. 

I must have wasted a small fortune on the amount of hair curlers I have purchased in the past, desperate for the curls my sister models so beautifully (seriously, she's the prettiest 17 year old this side of the moon)  - none have ever worked for me, but if at first you don't succeed...

And now, it seems, i have FINALLY succeeded.  That's right, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first, I am more than happy with a hair curler. Well, not really a curler, but a waver.

I trawled the internet for a pair of wavers, watched hundreds of youtube review videos and finally settled on the Babyliss Pro Porcelain Triple Barrel Waver.

They're so simple and, more importantly, quick to use and have the exact effect I wanted on my hair. It looks like a natural beach wave and will be perfect for summer. These photo's are taken 12 hours after first using the tongs and although they're obviously not as tight as they were when it was freshly done, you can still clearly see the waves. (I didn't have time to edit the first three photographs so don't judge me too harshly!)

I've had them for a week and I can no longer imagine my life without them. Aww.

What are your hair product must haves ?

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful.
Jessica 

X

I'm wearing -

Mint scallop dress from ASOS

Sheer cardigan from Miss Selfridge 

Hair pins from Etsy (full review coming soon)

Under £25 haul!

Happy Easter everyone! I decided to treat myself this easter weekend and indulge in some sweet pastel cami's. Every once and awhile I'll challenge myself to only buy items under a certain price limit, and this was one of those times. Every purchase I made had to be under £25 - I just couldn't justify spending more on a cami dress!  I trawled through 100's of online retailers but kept coming back to ASOS, Forever 21 and Boohoo. ASOS has such a variety of clothing and styles that I can always find something to fit my theme, and Forever21 and Boohoo are perfect for cheap and simple necessities. 

L-R

1) I love the coral colour of this cami dress from ASOS and the layered top with scallop detailing turns it from a plain simple dress into a statement piece for summer and at £22 it's within budget!

2) This Vera Moda cami in nude is the only item here that I spent over £25 on! It was £26 in the sale and I just couldn't say no! It's a simple, but a basic piece that every wardrobe needs. I'll be able to build on this dress easily with floral accessories.

3) This sky blue dress, also from ASOS came in at £22, it's the perfect pastel shade from spring/summer and will last for years to come!

4) This layered scallop dress is the same as number 1, but in a subtle mint shade. This is my favourite colour this spring and I can't wait for it to arrive! I'm sure it'll be one of those dresses I just won't be able to take off!

5) Again, a second buy. This one is the same as number 3. Yellow is my favourite colour always so I just couldn't resist! I know yellow is a colour a lot of people stay away from, but I've always found it to make my pale skin glow, rather than wash it out. It's like holding a buttercup under your chin!

6) This sweet dress is from Boohoo and was a bargain at £10! I love the floral pattern and I'm a sucker for a lace trim.

7) I'm forever expanding my chunky-knit cardigan collection and this is my most recent addition. With such a large range of chunky knit cardigans to choose from, it can be hard to whittle it down to just one, This "Daisy boyfriend cardigan" from Boohoo  stood out for it's mint colouring, I love the shade and think it'll contrast nicely against some of the other pastel shades pictured here. For £20 its a bargain! 

8) I've had my eye on this crochet trimmed cami from Forever21 for over a month, I love the length and the crochet detailing on the underarms, I've been waiting for 4 weeks for them to re-stock my size, and it just isn't happening! So I decided to take the plunge and get a medium. I already know it will drown my size 6 frame, but for £22.75 I'm willing to take a chance. 

9) I love these tan coloured boots from Boohoo for £25 - right on budget! I was originally looking for white/cream coloured flats but found them all to be too harsh, when I came across these I thought the colour was far more subtle. I love the cutout's and buckles too! 

What do you think of my purchases ? 

Until next time, 

Stay beautiful

Jessica X 

Walking in a whimsy wonderland

Firstly, I realise I have been an awful blogger as of recently. I do have a good excuse though, I've been in and out of hospital and also planning huge events for the charity I run, so my blog just had to sit further down on the priority list for a little while! That said, I am back now, and ready to tell you all about my most recent fashion obsession. 

This summer I want to be a fairy. I love the idea of looking as if I've stepped straight out of a fairy tale, folklore is a passion of mine, particularly fae, and so for this spring/summer I decided to stick to a whimsical story book theme for my wardrobe.

I find when picking a theme, it's easier for me to choose what to buy, otherwise I'm faced with 1000 beautiful dresses and I don't know which ones to cull. My method is to set a price limit before I start, then scroll down, ignoring the price of each item and add to my basket whatever I think fits my theme, after I'm done I'm go into my basket and begin removing the dresses I like less, the one's that bring me way over budget, and then the ones that fit the theme less. 

All these clothes are from Modcloth, which is my favourite online store right now (and forever). I'll start with the dresses I almost bought - my cart came to $2000 which I simply could not justify, so I had to make some harsh decisions - let me know if you agree with the one's I made. 

 

 


 

It took me along time to decide to remove the second dress from my cart, I think its beautiful and there is a possibility that I'll change my mind on this one before I make my purchase in the morning (I like to sleep on things first, to stop me impulsing buying and regretting my choices) I also completely fell in love with the yellow shoes and point blank refused to remove them to begin with, but in the end I decided that 3 pairs of shoes was too many to buy in one order, and so I regretfully waved goodbye (I'll be back for you darlings, some day) 

These are the items I did choose to purchase 

 

 

I whittled it down to these items, ad I'm quite happy with my choices. Although not all necessarily fairy like, I do think they all  looks like they could be worn from by children's story book characters. I particularly fell in love with the mint green shoes. The maxi dress on the second line is actually for a ball that I'll be attending in the beginning of August, I think it's whimsical and formal, without being too over the top. 

Until next time,

Stay Beautiful.

Jessica X

Models Own Watermelon Lip Balm

Today my Models Own watermelon lip balm arrived in the post! As mentioned in a previous post, I'm pretty obsessed with lip balms and have quite a large collection, but I'm yet to find my "perfect" balm - so the collection keeps increasing! 

This particular lip balm caught my eye after searching the web for watermelon themed clothing and cosmetics. I'm a big fan of Models Own nail polish, and at only £4 I thought I'd give it a shot. 

The delivery arrived within two days (bonus points for that!) and I was quite surprised to open up such a large box for such a small item. The tissue paper the balm was wrapped in was a really nice touch, I love receiving post, and presentation is a very important to me, so for a fairly large company, it meant a lot that they put some form of effort into packaging their products. 

The Balm comes in a bright green compact with mirror - I was actually quite impressed with the quality of the mirror, I've found it to be better than some compacts I've payed £10+ on. My first impressions were that the colour was very pale and that although it smelt fruity, it smelt nothing like watermelon. However after trying the lip balm I was completely won over, it leaves a lovely pink tint to my lips, perfect to apply lipstick over, and although slightly sticky, lasts better than other balms I've tried - I only had to apply 3 times in 18 hours, and for someone who has incredibly dry, chapped lips, this was a huge improvement compared to  previous balms in a similar price range. 

Although still not my perfect balm, it's definitely a keeper and one I'll continue to use frequently. 

Until next time,

Stay Beautiful.

Jessica X