Jack Wills: Is It Worth It?

This is a post that I've been meaning to write for a long time!

Jack Wills, for those of you who don't know, is a store that markets itself as a 'university outfitters'  with the tagline of 'fabulously British' and in the most part sells clothes but has expanded into shoes, accessories, home wares and even condoms and yoga mats. Yep, that's right people.

Jack Wills clothes, in my opinion, are quite expensive. I find it a little odd that it's marketed as a university outfitters when a lot of uni students are probably more than reluctant to fork out £200+ for a JW blazer, but that's just me. I have never bought anything from a regular Jack Wills store, I always use the discount ones (e.g.the Jack Wills Outlet - which you need to be a member for - or there is a discount/last season store in Bicester Village if someone is near there) which are last season stock. This means that usually when some one tells you how much their item of JW costs there is an unspoken air (or spoken when the person isn't there, lets be honest now)  of 'Really?! Is it worth it?'. This is because while JW do other items they are best known for their t-shirts, jumpers and tracksuit bottoms. More often than not the item in question with have 'university outfitters', 'Jack' or 'Jack Wills' written on a plain backing. This surely means you are paying quite literally for the name?

I think this is true to an extent, at the end of the day they're a brand, they've built it up and they know what they're doing. However, I do think this idea of 'paying for the name' overshadows the quality of the clothing from Jack Wills. I own four (well, 3 I chose as presents) pieces of clothing from Jack Wills; a grey charcole zip up hoody, a black sundress, grey trackies and a red pull over hoody. Aside from the dress which I usually keep for holidays, I wear each of these so so much.I definitely get my moneys worth. I've had the grey hoody for I think just over two years now, maybe three, and while the inside might not be as fluffy anymore it still keeps me really warm and the colour hasn't faded at all, it's been my go-to jacket since I received it. As for the other two pieces, well I'm wearing them as I write.

I love Jack Wills and their clothing but I've  just given my opinions some good, some not so.
What do you make of Jack Wills and the whole 'paying for the name' idea?
Victoria x

Nails (14)

Gold - Barry M

Crackle - Barry M 

I don't really have anything to say about this nails except that it's simple but effective. This post is going to be really short because today has been rubbish. That might not be a good reason to do a short post because I could just write down here but I want my blog to be a happy place, an optimistic place.

Here's to a better tomorrow, I hope your day has been lovely though! ♥

Victoria x

03 Breathless

Collection 2000 - 03 Breathless - Blush - £2.99 - Superdrug or Boots

I featured this product in a post a while ago about which make up I use but I hadn't used it that often and then lost it soon after I posted that so it's being re-feautured. 

Recently all I've been using on my face is moisturiser and foundation but no blusher and I began to feel like I looked a little ghostly, this is definitely not helped by the fact I am really pale. So, I headed out for a blusher to give my cheeks a little bit of colour. Now, I will tell you that I'm a very fond Googler, I love me some Google. This means I will google and research almost everything and the right colour blusher was no exception. I'd previously tried a pink-ish colour and it just didn't look right as it looked too harsh on my skin but Google told me that a peach coloured blusher should compliment pale skin. Enter my trusty Collection 2000. As I said, this was a re-purchase even though my first one got almost no use I went back to C2000 because of the price and the quality that I know C2000 offer. The colour is a really nice peach and can look really soft on my cheeks but enough oomph to add definition to my cheeks. It's also a little shimmery close up but not from far away which I think is nice.

What blusher to you use?

Victoria x

and life makes love look hard

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I put this post together because this week my year have had some exams and so everyone has been really stressed and it's completely understandable. A lot of people I know always feel rubbish after an exam and while I don't always feel confident I do take the approach that it's done now, and there isn't anything we can do but wait so there is no point worrying. However, my exams finished today and so I wanted to put a post together that is happy and optimistic and inspiring and lovely.

I hope you've had a lovely week so far.

Victoria x

Nails (13)

Beauty UK - Cafe Culture No.63 - £1.99

Barry M - Turquoise NP295 - £2.99

Both from Superdrug.

I've been wanting a nude colour for a while now and once again Beauty UK pulled it out the bag. First of all, I love the name of the polish - cafe culture. Secondly, this polish actually has a bit of shimmer in which I hadn't noticed until I looked up close so it adds a subtle shine to your nails which looks lovely. Thirdly, the price for the quality that you get is amazing. I adore Beauty UK, they're nail varnishes are such good value for money, I would definitely pay more than the £1.99 they charge. 

I absolutely love Barry M's nail varnish bottle design. I know it's been around for ages but I still think it looks quite, I don't know, classy maybe. I always think they look lovely in photographs because of the light on the glass. I chose this colour because while I have blues most of them are quite dark or pale whereas this is quite bright. I really like this colour, Barry M are always, I think, brilliant at bringing out good colours. I wouldn't normally pair it with this polish when doing the 'ring finger thing' but I thought I might as well see what it looks like and it makes it easier to show both the polished at the same time. I might add a light glitter coat to the top of the blue. As always with Barry M I find myself wanting it to be just that little bit thicker or opaquer as even with two coats on it looks a little thin in places. Maybe that is just personal preference though and hey, third times a charm. 

What do you think about Beauty UK and Barry M polishes?

Victoria x

and that's just what we do

Boots - Ebay

I've had a really odd week, going back to school on Wednesday threw everyone out of whack. I'm really worried about my exams next week and I just did a practice paper which hasn't helped as I ended up using my textbook a lot which probably isn't that great seeing as the exam is Tuesday. So, in order to distract my self I've decided to blog about another pair of new boots I got. 

I'm really fussy with shoes and so I find it a bit strange that I've bought two pairs of new boots in quite a short space of time (first pair here), the new novelty of being able to use my own money (wages, hello!) probably isn't offering any self restraint either. However, I can justify these boots because as it stands they are my only weather appropriate pair of shoes I have right now, unless you count my wellies. 

Hope you're having a lovely weekend so far. I'll be revising and panicking that nothing is going in and working which just got crazily busy. I'll also be watching The Inbetweeners movie again, I love it so much, however my dad does want to watch it and that is something I'll try and avoid at all costs. Too cringe (the word cringe makes me cringe).

Have you got any boots like this?
Victoria x

that new year feeling

First post of 2012!

I'm so glad it's a new year, not because 2011 was bad because it wasn't, it was actually quite good but because every new year seems to reignite  a sense of optimism in everyone. I've not set a list of goals or resolutions this year because it seems to me that, like rules, they're made for breaking. I'm definitely not much of a rule breaker but I can't keep a resolution either. Therefore, in order to make sure the optimism doesn't just fade after January I've written a list. Lists are good. 

My list, I think, is quite easy going if that makes sense. It's not a pressuring or forceful list, just a list of things that I'd like to do more of this year, because isn't that what it's about, making each year better than the last? I must admit however that the no pressure-no force bit applies in absolutely no way to the first one. That is pressure right there. That needs to be done, and hopefully done well!

Time goes so fast. I think it's a bit scary how fast we got here, I remember thinking about being in this year at school and this age with my friends when we were much younger and now we're actually here. And we made it here a lot faster than we thought we would. I think it's a good scary though, exciting almost.

I hope you've had an absolutely wonderful start to the year!

Are you making any goals/lists/resolutions this year?

Victoria x