2.27.2013

Product Review: Oatifix



My good fabulous friend Geneva lured me into Lush many a time when we lived together at University. Geneva is Lush's biggest fan: she uses their shampoo bars, soaps, lip balms, moisturisers- the lot.  As she recommends Lush so highly, and the fact that she has gorgeous and glowing skin, I decided to try out one of their fresh face masks: Oatifix. 

The little secret here is that Lush are very good to strangers that walk through their door.   Not only are they extremely friendly bubbly enthusiastic people but they also like to give away little testers of their products. #woopwoop. 

What I like about Lush (apart from free-bee's and nice people) is that their products are all organic and from a natural base.  This face mask for example is pretty much made from bananas, almonds, vanilla and oats.  -Sounds like my kind of breakfast! It makes sense really.  All natural products for an all natural healthy looking skin.  Here is the ingredients for this fresh face mask. 


Watch how it is made...


What Did I Do?
I slapped a nice layer of Oatifix on my face, left it on for fifteen minutes and washed it off with hot/ warm water.  When washing it off I did the whole circle rubbing action to remove any dead skins cells.

What Do I Think?
Flipping fabulous.  My face feels like a baby's bottom- seriously smooth and clean. Although this face mask is supposedly for dry skin, I would suggest it to anyone in England with this cold below 5 degrees weather. The cold dehydrates my skin and therefore this mask is a brilliant boost.  Oatifix is quite a nice price too- only £5.95 for 75g of the stuff.  Nice, compared to the creme de la mers anyway. 

Problems?
I have two problems with this mask:
1) It smells so good when you put it on taht you want to eat it.
2) It only lasts roughly four days as it is fresh- it is quite hard to use 75g in four days.  My advice- it great for a girls night in. 




2.26.2013

Loubie Loup: Chicken and Avocado on Rye

My twin sister, Laura's blog Loubie Loup has been populated with lots of delicious healthy meals. Here is one that I could just hoover now.













Nom nom nom ...




2.23.2013

GOOP: Make: Winter Greens, Kabocha Squash & Peeled Pear Salad

Another beautiful post by Gwyneth Paltrow/ her team at GOOP. As I have previously stated, I love this blog and I also love Gwyneth. This 'Greens, Squash and Pear Salad' looked amazing. Lunch anyone? 







VOILE! All done. Im hungry now. 

2.22.2013

Style File: Elena Perminova

Elena Perminova is a Russian designer and style icon. I reckon she is best friends with Miroslava Duma and is in the "Russian Mafia" of the fashion week crowd- but thats just me guessing the friendship groups and politics I've been feed through the media about who attends fashion week.  I found these photos on ELLE magazines website and thought she looked fantastic. So why not share her glorious taste in clothes?


Coat: Helen Yarmack
Jeans: H & M
Shoes: Balenciaga


Sunglasses: Wooden


Earring: Repossi



Boots: Balenciaga



2.21.2013

Style File: Harry

Once again, my stylish brother Harry.  Some say he resembles Francais Boulle from Made in Chelsea.  But I just think that gossip is his round glasses talking.  Harry certainly has better style than Francais.  Although lets not be too bitchy. Francais is the best character after all. 





2.19.2013

Closet Visit: Allison Miller


Allison Miller is an actress who lives in Los Angeles. I shot her the day before she left for Australia for 5 months to shoot a new Fox show "Terra Nova". She's one of the stars in the show.


Describe your personal style. 
Classic tomboy vs. Southern lady


Who are your favorite designers?
Rachel Comey, EmersonMade, Wren, Alexander Wang, Margaret Howell, Isabel Marant,  Tibi, Jonathan Saunders, Nadinoo


What are your favorite places to shop?
Madewell, Zara, Steven Alan, Mohawk General Store, flea markets, Etsy


Who are your style icons?
The women in my family, Patsy Pulitzer , Katharine Hepburn, Rose Byrne, Carole Lombard, Patti Smith

Are there any key pieces you find yourself wearing constantly?
Oversized button downs, Zara and AG jeans, a silver Kentucky horseshoe nail necklace that was my mom's, Swedish Hasbeens, and a nearly fanatical amount of stripes. I also regularly steal my fiance's hats.


What is your most recent purchase?
I just had a blowout stripe experience at Zara. I'm getting a little angry with myself.

Do you have any stories about amazing deals you've gotten on awesome pieces?
My friend Alex found this insane 70's sherbet colored cocktail dress for me in Wisconsin for $12. It fits perfectly and comes with a veil. A veil!! I also found some great navy/gray ankle boots at Wasteland that look a lot like the Isabel Marant Dicker boots that I can't find anywhere in my size.



Which beauty products do you recommend? 
Jojoba oil for moisturizer, Dr. Bronners for my bod (yeah, my bod), and Bare Minerals make up. I really like Weleda Rosemary Hair Oil for split ends. Revlon makes a red lipstick I've been using since I first wore it in a high school production of 42nd Street!



Can you give us smart shopping advice?
I like to visit clothes. If you see something I love, don't buy it immediately. Give yourself a week to see if you can't live without it. That way you don't give in to any fast fading trends and if it vanishes from the store, you can usually track it down online. That said, I go absolutely crazy at sample sales and I don't think there's anything wrong with that!



What's the best thing about your job?
I joke that it's taking home the wardrobe afterwards, but being an actor is my dream job. I'm so grateful it verges on the absurd. Traveling, working in a supportive community of artists, creating new lives and storytelling...it's the tops. Oh, and free haircuts! 



5 things you can't live without. 
Family&friends, Adam (my fiance), black coffee, Thelonius (my dog), and the kind of laughter that makes it hard to stand up.



2.17.2013

Alexa Chung


Style Swooon...

Style File: Sunday Coffee



Being a country bumpkin, going for coffee is a bit more of an expedition than just walking out of your house and having copious coffee shops to choose from on your doorstep.     Coffee houses are a 15- 20 minute drive away and choice is pretty much Cafe Nero, Costa Coffee or Starbucks.  Being a lover of a strong deep roast black americano, Nero is always my go-to high street coffee.  Their coffee is much better quality than that of Starbs or Costa and their coffee's are a double shot as standard- the way it should be.  

Because going for coffee has to be planned when living in country,  the casualness of wearing pj's or unsavoury tracksuit bottoms to your local coffee house is a little less acceptable.   On this occasion I wore...

Bobble Hat: Levi's
Polo Neck Cable Knit: ZARA
Fur Gilet: My Mothers
Legging: Ebay
Handbag: Anya Hindmarch



Levi's bobble hat. 


Anya Hindmarch Newspaper and Magazines handbag



Sheepskin booties and polka dot leggings. 

Happy Sunday.

2.15.2013

Item Crush: The Leather Skirt

I am lusting hard for a leather skirt at the moment... I have searched and gathered here some of the best skirts that are on the market.  Each totally unique in style, I am rather struggling with the idea of going with one look.  That said, with these being leather, my bank account dictates one is about all I could manage. Dang.

Leather pencil skirt by Jaeger

Light blue leather skirt by Farfetch

Leather skirt with zip detail by Warehouse


Leather and denim skirt by Acne

Leather skirt by Warehouse




2.14.2013

Happy Valentines Day


Happy Valentines Day!

May your day be filled with pink and red hearts, annoying loved up couples (yourself could be included), excessive PDA, lots of chocolate and red wine.

XX

2.09.2013

Suitcase Magazine


Yesterday I picked up my first ever issue of the fashion and travel magazine SUITCASE.

I am loving this magazine!   Here are five reasons why this is my magazine of choice.

1) The graphics design is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. 

2) It is sexy.  One of the first things I noticed about this magazine (apart from the sultry girl on the front) was the quality of the paper.  Yep, I know,  a bit of a loser thing to be excited about, but the thick matt paper makes it feel so expensive. This makes it a collectable. As I magazine-obsessed-lover,   I would never dream of throwing this baby away. 

3) The content is unique and fabulous. This edition that I picked up is the third edition and focuses on the USA.  In this mag, you will discover everything America: Where to eat in San Francisco, the American Festivals,  American inspired fashion edit- you get the idea. I wonder what country the next issue will focus on?

4) It is only five pounds.  Yeh- a little bit more than your ELLE but remember it is so sexy you can't throw it away. So essentially your buying a really nice book for a fiver. Bargain I say. 

5)  It is quarterly. This makes it super special when it does come out. 


Contents of my bag yesterday: SUITCASE magazine. Pink pen. Cath Kidston handcream. Keys. Nail File. Keys. Cath Kidston key ring. 

Here are some sneak peak pages of SUITCASE.