Scrapbook 01

01. My first proper purchase (that wasn't food or make up) with my wages! I love them. 02. Fake nails, post about my first time using them soon. 03. Nails early in the week but messy because my nib on the black nail pen doesn't work and had to use the brush. 04. My dad and I cleared out our fridge and found this green thai curry paste from '09. Yep. 05. I bought a mini coke can because it was 40p and really cute. I'm the person advertisers dream of. 06&07. Mum bought me a one direction calender & the May image (birthday month fyi). 08. Finally found a liquid foundation that I like. 09. Smints rasberry/lemon flavour - amazing. 10. New brogues which cause blisters making me walk like I've wet myself.  11. My skin sucks right now so I'm trying these, they make my skin feel so soft! 12. Finally taken all my revision down from my walls. 13. Chicken tikka masala - I'm not a massive fan but it was a fun night filling the curry house with our 19 person party. 

This is a new 'feature' i'm going to start doing. I can tell you now that they will most likely be few and far between as I don't carry my camera around that often as most of my week is spent at school then work. Exciting, right? But, basically when I do  make these posts they are just going to be little 'scrapbooks' for me. 

Hope you're well. Do you think the mini coke can is cute too?!

Victoria xx

Vivianne Westwood Presents Cheeky Alice...

I've only just seen this?! The campaign was released in 2011.

Cheeky Alice is said to be the 'sexier older sister' to the Naughty Alice perfume.

I adore Vivienne Westwood and I think it's cute how the perfume is personified. (yeah, I'm lame.)

In my opinion the Naughty Alice image is probably giving off a 'sexier' image? Anyway, the ad campaigns make me want to be Alice (especially her hair please). 

The description of the scent:

"At the heart of this cheeky and delightful fragrance is a fresh and floral bouquet that perfectly captures Alice's femininity and impertinence. The delicacy of the lily of the valley catches your attention and subtly leads you to a voluptuous and noble fragrance of fresh peony mixed with a touch of rose, eternal symbol of womanhood. This feminine and provocative perfume perfectly embodies our Cheeky Alice."

You also get a bracelet too, it's wrapped around the lid of the bottle when you buy it. 

Victoria x

Elie Saab Haute Coture Spring 2012

I'm not massively knowledgeable on designers and to be honest I tend to know what the trends are when they hit the high street rather than when they were on the runway. However, I have my moments, especially if it's a designers I'm interested in. As I said, while I know of lots of designers I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about them or their lines, except Oscar De La Renta and Elie Saab. I always adore what is created by these designers. 

I'd heard of Elie Saab but only really seen anything until I was researching for one of my textiles projects. Elie Saab fitted my theme beautifully (waterfalls, fyi). I fell in love instantly and so it was no surprise to me that when I saw the Spring 2012 collection that my reaction was just as it was before, so much so that I knew I had to share it with you.

Isn't the collection just so incredibly beautiful? The delicateness and intensity of detail is astounding and of course the pastels are out in force. If the situation ever arrives where I am to be on a red carpet in a beautiful fancy gown it better be Elie Saab, or Oscar De La Renta of course. 

The man himself. I want to give him a hug, two hugs. One for the collection and the second for being so adorably smiley in the photo above.

All images were found here - a beautifully useful website. 

What do you think of Elie Saab and the Spring 2012 collection?

Victoria xx

Nails (15) Slytherin

Models Own - Jade Stone 

Nail Art Pens - Ebay 

I didn't really know how I was going to do my nails when I chose these colours and to be honest I didn't really like how it looked at first. Then I decided to add the black in and now I really really love it. 

I adore my nail pens, although some are now a bit worse for wear. I got mine really cheaply off of eBay but they don't seem to be being sold at cheaply priced now but the prices are still really low to any high street shops. If you're not an eBay fan you can get black and white Wah x Models own nail art pens or Topshop recently released some nail pens - actual pens as well!

Anyway, with my nail pens I find that they're a bit too clear to just be applied straight onto a bare nail so I applied one coat Models Own Jade Stone just to give me a base. This makes the colour of the nail pens come out a bit more and packs a stronger punch. A lot of people apply a white coat before also to create a really strong colour - this can be done for any polish, not just the pens obviously. 

•  Models Own Jade Stone - 1 coat.
• Two coats of the green (looks blue in photo - second from left) nail pen on 3/4 of my nail
• Two coats of silver glitter polish on the remaining 1/4 of my nail ( fourth from left)
• Two coats of the green glitter pen over the 3/4 of nail coated in the non-glitter green pen. (green glitter third from left)
• One black line over where the green joins the silver

If you're a Harry Potter nerd like me then you may have already noticed that these are the slytherin house colours. When I was little I once got sorted into Slytherin on an online quiz (much to my dismay - and tears) and so played the quiz until I got Gryffindor. No shame.

Are you a fan of glitter nails?

Victoria x

printed tee's

I think one of my favourite and easiest looks to go for is a tee tucked into a tube skirt. It can look so good with very little effort. However, I do think that it's hard to find good women's graphic/printed tee's. Men have a much bigger and better choice which I suppose is understandable as the tee is more of a staple for men than women. This means that I tend to have a cheeky look into the men's section in shops and online. One of my best friends bought a cardigan from the Primarni men's section and it always 'makes' her outfits. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, the tee's will often (depending on cut) provide a slightly oversized look which can make an outfit look edgy and that little bit messy-but-cool look. So I've found my favourite three printed tee's for men. 

click to enlarge.

I know we all sometimes still feel a little awkward about the Kanye/Taylor award speech fiasco, but come on we've moved on, we've listened to her song Mean (which is amazing & it just came on my YT playlist!) and now we're all guilt free to wear Kanye across our chest. Also, the £5 'Students are Revolting' tee?! I adore it, definitely going to purchase that one. 

There are printed tee's out there for women though. These will be 'cut' for women so will most likely provide a better fit even if they've been designed to give an over sized look. 

click to enlarge.

My favourite here has to be the Asos 'what you waiting for' tee. I love a good slogan(?). 

Have you ever looked around the men's section? Do you own any men's clothes?
Victoria x

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