On my jollies!

So I'm currently in ol' Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands for 2 weeks so obviously I won't be blogging for a while but I wanted to share my excitement for the new baby prince and say how happy I am for my faves Will and Kate and I'm excited to hear the name once they've decided!! Anyway I'm going to get a huuuur braid tonight for old times sake and probably continue to skivvy the wifi in various cocktail bars! Adiossssss 

Tumblr-Esque Holiday Nails!

As I'm going away to the Canary Islands for two weeks tomorrow, I thought I'd spruce up my nails a little bit and treat myself before I go. I found these false nails for £5.50 in Claire's and fell in love with them.. I always see nail art images on tumblr and get so so jealous and these looked exactly like some designs I had seen while scrolling away. They came with "already glued" nails that you could press on straight away however to be on the safe side I bought some nail glue and used that with them aswell. There are plenty of nail sizes in the pack and enough to do both your hands twice over so quite good value really!! Here's what they look like.. 

Little Primark + H&M Haul..

Today I took a trip to town (manc town) with my mum & sister to do some last minute pre-holiday shopping. Obviously we hit up Primark for some bargainous spending and I think my mum must be my shopping charm because I find loads of things when I'm with her and nothing when I go by myself! They've refurbished and expanded the Primark in Manchester so recently I do find a lot more things to buy as it's just huuuuge and they've got room for lots more stock and a wider selection which is sweeeet and very bad for my bank balance. However, with Primark I can buy a shed load of things for the same price as I could buy one or two things from another shop such as Topshop!?

The first two things I picked up were bags.. like I don't have enough. I've been loving the transparent/see-through trend with bags at the moment and I had to get this white/clear barrel bag, it's so pretty and was reduced from £9 to £5 so I had to get it.. I will have to think very long and hard about what I put in this bag before I hit the town with it hehe! I also found a denim acid wash backpack which I'd been looking to buy for a while, and with Primark prices this was the perfect opportunity. 

£5 Primark 

£9 Primark

Venturing into the clothing sections, I found a few more items to take on holiday shown below.. 

£3 Primark

£13 Primark 

I almost bought a blazer identical to this in Topshop for a lot more, so I was a very happy bunny to find something so similar and for lots cheaper! 

£12? I think.. Primark 

I never leave Primark without a pair of these, genuinely good lashes for £1!! 

Top £6 Bottoms £4 Primark

My favourite Primark purchase was probably the tie dye skull bikini.. to be able to buy a bikini set for £10 is such good value and I can never have enough things with Skulls on them! I'm currently wearing it now in the garden to type out this blogpost hehe! After spending probably close to an hour in Primark, we were hot and bothered and just decided to move onto H&M because my sister had a voucher from her birthday..

£14.99 Cat Mesh Jumper - will definitely be used for the breezy nights on holiday 

£3 Johnny Depp Cry Baby top!! Couldn't leave this and I love the film and my Johnny <3

Badges and Patches to decorate my denim backpack with.. 

I think I have an obsession with the words puss/pussy especially when spelt with $$ signs. 

A Birthday, A Cat, A Dog & New Shoes

So with a birthday comes, an outfit of the day and family visits accompanied with a special puppy visitor! As previously mentioned, today is my sister Sarah's 17th birthday so to celebrate we had family round as usual and then we went out for a meal at TGI's woo woo! I think it was in the 30's in terms of heat today so outfit wise (OOTD) I chose something light and breezy.. this being my new leopard bandeau courtesy of my mamma jacks from Asda(?) I believe and my grey speckled skater skirt from Topshop. I covered up later on with a sheer white shirt, far too hot in the garden to be taking photographs with it on hehe! Hercules, the neighbours cat, likes to join me in the garden since we don't have rabbits anymore and he has quickly become my bezzie mate and waits at the end of the garden for me every day.. clearly working the "look to the left" pose. 

Cross & Coin necklace from the Asos sale, £3 and I got the last one! I do love a bargain! 

Being a birthday occasion and all, I thought it only fair to take my new shoesies out for a brief walk (from the car into the restaurant, har har). I got these from ASOS this week, and as soon as I saw them on the website I knew I had to have them.. tortoise shell is my weakness. As they're patent, I wasn't sure that I could wear them casually with completely everything but I'm more than likely to be wearing them for dressy events so that was no longer a concern and when it comes to shoes you can't spend too much time weighing up the cons, cause if they're pretty then they're sold in my opinion! They were £45 on Asos and in my opinion they're really worth the money.. I'm so impressed with how nice and chunky the platforms are, and the tortoise shell effect is really pretty and different. 

 They're also suuuuupes comfy, despite your thoughts on patent being stiff and uncomfortable, they're actually soft and pliable and don't stick to your feet while it's hot. I'm very close to buying the second pair which have a checkered/plaid pattern for a more casual look as I love them that much!! 

Anyway, enough about shoes.. please enjoy the following photos of some cute animals! As mentioned, Hercules is my next door neighbour's cat.. he is very dim and not the brightest cat in the litter but he's cute and he snuggles on me so I love him! The second cute critter is little Bella who my cousin looks after from time to time when her mummy's go away so she came round for a visit today for my sisters birthday! I have to say, I did prefer her when she was a tiny puppy and slept under my chin for the night, but she's still a cutie! 

Happy Seventeenth Baby!

Today is my sister's 17th birthday and although she can be a little shit at times, all is forgiven on ones date of birth and I thought I would share some of my favey photos with my sezzykins. I have to say seventeen was definitely one of my favourite years and lots of vodka was consumed so if you're anything like me gal, have fun & enjoy the age baby sis..

Chillin outside the Corrie local, Sarah with her dummy <3 

Dicking about like we sisters do 

As close as we will get.. 

Front facing camera hype!

Particular Fuerteventura favourite!! 

Before she turned into mini toddler satan!

The days of fringes and disposables..  

Planning for a Change..

At some point we all plan to make a change, whether it be to do more exercise, change our hair colour or change our attitude. I always make plans with myself to change something and most of the time I let these plans fall through but I think the best way to stick to something is in small steps.. plan, arrange and change. Little things like changing the way you behave, or to change your appearance by getting a new tattoo or piercing could lead to bigger things like volunteering for a charity for the summer or going travelling with friends.

Grungey green hair for a cheeky change last year.. 

I've found that altering my attitude towards certain things can help with changing how things are and making them better for me for the long run. Optimism and a good working attitude is key when doing new things and trying to change something for the better. From recent changes I have made personally, I think that doors are more likely to open when you are headstrong and positive and I'd like to think that I can plan to do more things while I'm young and have things to see and do and experience. Recent life lessons have told me not to let people get in your way and to do what you think is best for yourself, only you can make the choices in your own life and the world is your oyster.

Must-have Midis

I love the midi trend.. midi skirts and midi dresses.. and most recently the midi ring! The ring that can be worn in the middle or top part of your finger, giving more interest and style to your hands. Plenty of fashion retailers are now stocking selections of midi rings and I picked two packs up from H&M this week, some thick bands along with some thinner simple bands in gold. I have quite chubby fingers myself so to have a selection of wider and smaller rings to fit on the different parts of your fingers is great and you can definitely get more wear out of what you get. 

Am I unintentionally framing my uterus !?

Khloe Kardashian styling her midi rings on Kourtney's big behind

The Return of Gagaloo #ARTPOP

Oooooooh my gaga, how long have we been waiting my fellow monsters? For what seems like an eternity, Gags has been pretty much neglecting us.. no hints of a date for the new album, no tweets, no photos! Finally today, the Haus released a new photo along with dates for the new single, album and App. Strangely, GaGa did not tweet the information herself - her twitter has reverted back to an egg and she has been in hiding for months! Some fans have been turning against her and posting negative comments with the theme of "abandonment" and "not caring" but patience is important and knowing gaga, what's coming is going to be hella amazing.

I feel an explosion of madness and creativity coming our way and the single on the 19th August (the day before my 20th birthday which makes it even better) will be just the start of it. I'm excited to see what is happening with the App, whether it will be like LittleMonsters.com or a whole new experience!? Who knows, at the moment everything remains a mystery and I have to say I've missed my main gal a lot and I can't wait for her return..

I don't care if she's been ignoring us, I'll support her for as long as I live! 

Leave Willow Alone!!

There is so much controversy surrounding Willow Smith's new music video #SUMMERFLING. It seems like every single uptight parent and active opinionist in the world has crawled out of the woodworks to put their 2 pence in and ask questions like "is this too mature for a 12-year old" .. "why are our children growing up so fast?".. "is her clothing inappropriate?". First of all, I love the video.. and the song and think she's really coming into herself in terms of being an artist and young teen queen fashionista. I understand that touchy adults think that the theme of a "summer fling" is too mature for her but no-one was complaining at a thirteen year old JoJo releasing "Leave (Get Out)" with similar subject issues in 2004, so why have things changed? It's still the same light hearted-ness in a song that young teens are likely to have thrown at them to make them big in the charts. All young artists sing about "boyfriends" and "breakups" and "being in love".. it's what you think about when you're that age and it's not something to be taken so seriously and critically because 99% of the time it's all fiction and the actions and behaviour are not really taking place in real life! I don't believe that Will Smith would really let his daughter go and put this kind of music out without being confident that it's not going to affect her career or give her a bad image and surely he wants to help boost her image and let her express herself with fun and youthful videos while she's still at the age of 12.. not even a teenager - I would love to be able to show that kind of creativeness for myself at that age!

On terms of the "love interest" in the video, he is shown in a mere two clips - innocently sat by each other next to the water at the start of the video and then later on when he picks her up playfully .. barely seems like anything to worry about to me, could have been a lot worse. And to the people complaining about her clothes.. are 12 year olds wearing anything other than crop tops nowadays? I've seen children younger than 12 wearing much more inappropriate clothing with their full midriffs hanging loose but Willow is reflecting a 90's fashion trend and I don't see a problem with it! She is doing everything that a young girl would enjoy doing in the video.. playing about in a pool and spending time with people a bit older which everyone does at some stage to "fit in" and her brother is there might I add.. nothing to complain about in my opinion! I think people are picking at the lyrics a bit too much and trying to divulge something out of nothing but each to their own. I'm glad she's moved on from the whip my hair phase and I actually think this style suits her, she is obviously wiser and more mature than her years and if she wanted to be playing with barbies I'm sure she would be. She's a talented little twig and I reckon Jada and Will are letting her ride the wave into her teenage years and standing behind her each step of the way which is great and what parents should be doing! The British accent also adds to the fact she really isn't taking life too seriously and still has plenty of growing up to do!

#TEAMSMITH

I do love a good countdown..

Nothing gets you more giddy than a Countdown App on your phone.. days, hours & minutes are made all the more exciting!!

78 Violet Hothouse Review

So yesterday 78 Violet, aka Alyson & AJ Michalka, released the new music video for their single Hothouse which has just been released today I believe?! Firstly, I'd like to say I have been a fan of Aly & AJ since the 2007 album "Insomniatic"and I think everyone can probably say they loved Potential Breakup Song when the Miley and Mandy show came about! I've continued following the sisters on twitter etc and have been wondering when they would start releasing music again and I'm quite pleased to say that although they've matured their music hasn't vastly changed and their voices are recognisable with the same style of music. 

The video starts off with a very lengthy monologue, which has been all the rage in music videos lately (I still stand by the fact Lady GaGa created the craze and everyone was soon to follow!). The dialogue usually contextualises what you see in the video which is debatable in this case but there is an explanation on how their mother's advice has steered the sisters out of destructive relationships and how together they are on a quest to find paradise. It all sounds very poetic but doesn't say a lot about the seven minute long visuals or the song itself really aside from the fact is is called Hothouse and there are plenty of shots of them prancing about in a hothouse. There are also plenty of references to how close they are as sisters, "I have my sister, I can do without you" and "you don't know me, how could you know me if you don't know her" .. which personally I find quite strange because me and my sister could not be more different and I can't see myself every embarking on a journey to freedom through hothouses (greenhouses to us english folk) and sprawling countryside with her.  I suppose it is quite nice for them to share their bond with the world and show themselves as what can only be described as soul-mates. 

"So I left with her, we took our way out, for something free, completely unlike you and I".  The video is made up of lots of hippie, boho-chic and ethereal beauty which completely suits both Alyson and Amanda and makes for an aesthetically pleasing video and finally after 3 and a half minutes of babbling, the song starts. I like the black and white shots mixed in with the video and I suppose the clips inside the hothouse are quite unusual and visually pleasing because the girls are so stunning and the flowers compliment their light skin and hair.. also reiterating the lyrics "you're a hothouse flower".  

Overall Hothouse is a pleasant listen and fits the video styling well with a mix of acoustic and folk-pop which is a slight change in pace from their old material but I think their music has taken a nice turn and I look forward to seeing what else they bring out. 

Hell-to-the-No Hayfever!

This year I've really been suffering with le fever of le hay and I'm tellin' ya.. I feel for all you sufferers who have it every year! As far as I can remember, this is the first year that I've had hayfever and had it this badly, to the point I can't touch or sit on grass without it having any after effects.. and generally being outside triggers it. Obviously now it's getting hotter in England, the pollen counts are sky rocketing and I can't say I'm having the best time with it! After being outside for an hour or so, my eyes become itchy beyond belief and I have constant sneezing fits which just aren't pleasant to be honest. It definitely is at it's worst at night and when I wake up in the mornings unable to breathe through my nose at all. I also get a really tickly throat when I swallow, which goes through my ears aswell and just makes everything tickly and itchy and unpleasant. I take a one-a-day antihistamine but as far as I can tell it isn't really helping. All I can say is that if I am still sneezy and feeling shitty by the time it gets to my holiday - I won't be a very happy chappy! Please tell me if you have any magical cures or anything to ease the "fevz" a little bit.. 

I would not put myself in the middle of a meadow with hayfever, stupid woman

New Babies!

Most of my shoes come from Missguided as they have such a good selection and always keep up with whats on trend, duping topshop and higher brands but for such sweet prices! The "Gintare Studded Platform Shoes" caught my eye a few weeks ago and I knew that I would end up buying them at some point and yesterday was that day! I got them with free next day delivery which is always the best and they're just amazing to be honest. Much higher in the platform than I expected them to be but hey "go high or go home!". They're built really well and being black, they'll go with anything.

I do love a good chunky shoe! 

 Seeing as I'm not expecting to go out-out in the near future I may end up saving these bad boys for my birthday or a special night out. My tendencies to ruin shoes are abismal but I feel with these being the first pair of heels that I've bought that haven't been suede, I think I'll be able to save any marks with a baby wipe! I purchased the shoes for a bargainous £34.99 and I can't wait to start wearing them! 

How artistic of me to use pink flowers as a backdrop!?

Casual OOTN

"Outfit of the Night", going out to dinner with my mum and her friends. I decided to wear the Topshop high neck crop top and American Apparel Navy Riding Pants combined with Studded Platform shoes from Missguided, a Primark studded clutch bag and a Topshop Inital Chain necklace. On my wrists were a gold casio-copy watch from Ebay and also a tattoo styled bracelet from Ebay. 

Topshop crop & AA Riding Pants

'K' Initial necklace chain from Topshop with my wild hair (desperately needs dying)

Primark studded clutch, Ebay watch and tattoo bracelet

Pixiwoos!

I have been watching Sam and Nic Chapman on YouTube for probably a couple of years now but this year I have been properly following/stalking and I am in love with Pixiwoos! Their makeup tutorials are always the most amazing, and I am forever wishing that I could recreate their looks but I am not half as talented with makeup as I wish I was. I think they're both so stunning and endearing to watch and it really is interesting to see what they're doing on a daily basis whether it be with DailyMix or going out doing shoots for TWO magazine. I particularly love the Supermodel Series and Kristen Stewart tutorials that Sam makes, the eyes are always stunning and the smokey look is a definite favourite. 

I've also been following the DailyMix Beauty Bootcamp this week and I'm so excited for the finale today! I love the contestants and I think that whoever wins the contest, I will genuinely watch their videos that will be on DailyMix and see how they grow from the competition. Did anyone else really enjoy when Marc met Sam & Nic for the first time and he was completely gushing? So so cute! Amy is also really nice to watch, she has a different look about her and she is relaxed in front of the camera and did so well on the Kim K tutorial challenge! 

The ever-growing Beauty Community on YouTube is definitely great to watch at the moment, with everyone being linked and creating collab videos.. fellow favourites being Zoella, Jim & Tanya and Sprinkle of Glitter. I think we all just want to be in that friendship group, don't we chummies!? It's really nice to be able to have the platforms to follow people and be part of their lifestyle.

I can only hope to be as stunning and beautiful as Sam when I'm older! So talented and the looks she creates on the makeup tutorials are always just my style, dark eyes with plenty of mascara and lashes and messy hair to finish it off. If only I was clever enough to do the makeup on myself.. 

Crappy Disposables

I always buy cheap disposable cameras from boots, thinking I'll get the greatest wannabe-hipster, old school style photo prints.. No no they always come out rubbish. To be fair with decent sunlight they can get cool results but I usually end up paying for the prints and being handed back about 5 that have been successful. I've had this camera hanging about since the Born This Way Ball back in september 2012 so it was about time I used it up. I actually took it to the Lana Del Rey concert with me aswell in May but only remembered to get it out of my bag in the queue beforehand. Here are pretty much the only decent outcomes.. how do people get such disposable prints at concerts, I don't know.. mine aren't..

I used up the last snaps messing around to be honest..

Ma gal Liam & me in the Lana Queue 

That five minutes that it was sunny last month, english summer

Fresh bath face last night in my onesie using up the last bit of film, so attractive