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Nails of the week – Pink and silver

Inspired by Chanel, I decided to use pastel pink ad silver on this weeks nails. However, I went against to trying to replicate their latest design using the colours, as it made my nails look very small…. hum….

Anyway, the combination is a winning one and I used Kiko Candy Pink and Barry M foil effects in silver.

I decided to do what a friend described as an “upside-down French”; with the strip following the cuticle line shape, a bit different from the half-moon.

Kiko’s nail polish was easy to apply (very even for being a light, creamy colour) and I used two coats. Barry M’s quality is exceptional, as I mentioned before; only one coat for the strip. Great coverage, lovely shiny silver.

Durability was top. Seriously, ten days now as I am going on holidays and waiting to do my manicure, so it will last longer when away.

I really like this one. Found it very feminine and delicate!

Rating:

What I wore

So, with the weather oscillating so much, and looking a bit grim at points to say the least, I went a bit crazy on the autumn/winter 12-13 items that can already be found in the shops. It is a sad thing; it is not even the pinnacle of summer and I am already thinking about buying warmer clothes…

I started the week with love on my mind, favouring the heart print two days in a row, with two girly dresses I love!

Then I went a bit darker, and yes, I wore trousers, a very rare occurrence; and  I closed the week with a very autumnal blouse.

This week I gave in to the big necklaces. Oh, I am loving them and cannot wait to acquire a couple more.

Monday

Navy and nude heart print dress (Little Mistress),  red patent court shoes (New Look), heart ring (Forever 21), nude round and large over the knuckle rings (H&M), above the knuckle ring (eBay), MAC lipstick in Lady Danger.

Tuesday

Black and mustard heart print ring (Primark), tricolour court shoes (Zara), rings (big heart – Forever 21, small D heart – Miss Selfridge, mustard – H&M, black bars – Primark), bracelets (mix of Topshop and New Look), Lancome lipstick in Hot stuff.

Wednesday

Black sheer shirt (Primark), black trousers (Zara), black peep-toe wedge booties (New Look), rings (skull – shop in Paris, gold knuckle – H&M, resin – Sobral, above the knuckle – Lovehearts and crosses), bracelet (New Look), earrings (News Look and ear cuff – Topshop), necklace (Primark), MAC lipstick in Odyssey.

Friday

Floral blouse (Primark), black pencil skirt (H&M), taupe gold captoe shoes (Viviana), rings (mustard H&M, star – Primark, gold knuckle – H&M, resin – Sobral, above the knuckle – Lovehearts and crosses, bars – Primark), necklace (Primark), Kiko lipstick (it was bought on their sale, has no number, or name, it is quite orange and matte, I put a little bit of Vaseline on top).

Have you started buying Autumn/Winter items yet? What trends are you going to be adopting?

Viviela shoes launch party

Stop press!!! Shoe alert, shoe alert!!! Recently, I attended the launch party for  new shiny London shoe brand, called Viviela, fruit of the  work of Brazilian artist Viviane Leal de Melo and Lithuania-born architect Ela Meneghetti Rocha.

Barnes, my favourite!

The chosen venue said a lot about their first line, the autumn/winter 12-13  collection: classy.  Set in the Vertillon bar at Hotel Verta, next to the London Heliport in Battersea, the evening was a delightful combination of  a few of my favourite things: shoes, bubbly and a river view terrace with lovely weather.

The shoes were beautiful, I would wear at least a good seven from the collection. All different designs are named after London neighbourhoods – quite a cute tribute to the brand home city. My favourite one is, without a doubt, Barnes (which is quite weird, as I lived in Barnes for quite a while) – the little “wings” it has at the back are just adorable.

Hand-made

In leather, of course, they are all hand-made in Spain. I touched all the shoes on display and you could feel the quality. I tried on the Barnes in brown and orange suede (absolutely gorgeous!) and they were very comfortable, I could really feel the cushioning inside, and there was no tightness. I even tried another pair that was a little bit small for me and they felt ok. The heel, although high, is not thin, and offers good support when walking.

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Most of the shoes in the collection are high-heel courts.  The lines are simple and elegant and most shoes are sky-scrapers! Suede features quite a lot and black predominant, and overall, good neutral colours, suitable for all time wear in the coming season. However, splashes of colour are present and the attention is on the small details which usually run on the back of the shoes: a funky heel shape, colour contrast, visible stitching, different texture, studs or fringes.

The ankle and knee-high boots are fierce, with some of the latter having “boat” shaped toes. The black Ealing mid-calf  and the Mayfair ankle boots have a fabulous bright pink detail at the back!  The forest green Camden ankle boots have a beautiful shape and studs at the back. Lovely.

For me, Kensington, City, Bromley, Piccadilly and Westminster are more demure and a bit more serious, in lighter, natural tones, but are equally enchanting, especially City. They strike me as perfect work shoes that can transition through the evening social events without looking too “office”.

“We wanted to create a brand representing a style for ‘grown up’ confident women. For women who know what they want and who want to look and feel great. For women who keep an eye on the latest trends, but who refuse to compromise on comfort and quality”, said the designers. Well, from what I see, they have succeeded, with a well rounded A/W collection to fit into many different women’s styles.

The whole Autumn/Winter 12-13 collection – image from viviela.co.uk

At the time of the event, the prices weren’t advertised; I am really curious to find out the price range for this collection.

I wish the designers the best of luck on their new venture, and I will be keeping my eyes open for when they go on sale as I am afraid I have fallen for Barnes!

Viviela London

Nails of the week – black with details

Right, this week I did something I rarely do: I change my nail colour halfway through the week.

I bought a pack of nail art striping tape, and was really looking forward to using it for the first time.

The selected tape colour was red, to combine with Barry M black nail polish, into one of my favourite colour combos.

Barry M polishes are great with an amazing value, really, I cannot say this enough. Two coats, easy to apply, great coverage and durability, glossy finish.  Then I applied the tape close to the tip, around the point a French manicure would end. I found application easy and quick.

The problem is, after a few days, the tape started to peel off, and being particular as I am, I decided to remove it. So after three days, I took everything off, re-applied black to all of my nails apart from the ring finger, on which I applied a beautiful black and white nail wrap from Nails Rock to create an accent nail.

The wrap was quite old; and I found application very easy – for this one, there was no heat-me-with-a-hairdryer palava. It was just a sticker. And the staying power was much better than the giraffe print Nail Rock wrap I used before. I found this foil beautiful, very glossy and striking. It did start to come off when I applied bronzing oil repeatedly to my body during a sunbathing session, but really, it was expected! Only problem: it was so hard to remove!!!

So, there you go, although I had a “costume change” in the middle of the week, I was extremely happy with both versions of this week’s nails, I think they were both very classy!

Rating:

Eye make up – daywear

I could not live without make up. Really. I cannot imagine my life without the colour it, literally, brings into my face. Not that I don’t like my clean face; there was a time I had severe acne and yes, and I would never think of leaving the house bare-faced. I think this is the reason I have such a passion for make up; I had to make it work really hard to cover my problematic skin. Today, its main purpose is not to hide, but to enhance my features.

Anyway… I thought I’d share some very basic, day wear eye make up ideas; I wear it to work pretty much everyday. It is usually a variation of what you see here, with different complementary colours, different products,  but I tend to stick to this for the daily grind. It is usually a 5-minute job (providing I don’t mess up the eyeliner which I occasionally do).

Super mega staple eye shadows for me are MAC’s Expensive Pink, Nylon, Vex, Carbon, Naked Lunch and Brown Down and a light gold L’Oreal one. I mean, they are amazing, have a good staying power, truly everyday shades you can mix and match, build up or strip down for neutral daywear which will not fight with your lipstick, even if the chosen shade is red (like mine, most days).

I prep my eyes with the e.l.f or the NYX primers. Sometimes, I just brush Vex or Nylon on eyelids and brow bone and apply an eyeliner, across the whole lash line of just under half, for more sultry but at the same time lighter eyes.

I usually wear Vex (an iridescent pale silver, goes fabulously with blues and greens, but also with pinks) or Nylon (a shimmery very pale gold – and this my friend, goes with everything!)  as bases, they look great on the brow bone.

Then from the outer corner of the eye and the crease, blending towards the inner corner, I apply the “middle” shade – this could be the golden L’Oreal, Expensive Pink or Smoke ‘n’ Diamonds. Most of the time, I stop there but sometimes, I use a darker shade, if dealing with warm tones, Brown Down (when I use Silver Ring, I don’t add anything darker, it is dark enough!) in the outer part of the crease and the corner, to give a subtle smokey effect.

When lining my upper lid, I sometimes do just 1\3 of the eye, leaving the inner corner clean and bright; sometimes, I do the whole thing, most of the times with a flick at the end – I am really into them now, I think it help flatters my eye shape.

Slap on the mascara on top lashes and eye liner to the water line. Now, depending on my mood (again!), I might do it just a third from the outer corner or the whole line; sometimes I add it to the lower lash line too and smoke with a pencil brush to make it less harsh, but any combination will look good! Promise!

At the moment, my favourite liners are Collection 2000 felt tip pen liner (amazing, and great value), MAC gel liner and Maybelline’s Lasting Drama gel liner, all of which I find easy to apply and long lasting. I love eyeliner, really do.

For the more grungy look coming for A/W12-13, I have been trying a chubby liner, from Miners, it is great for smoking after applying, with a pencil brush, but it smudges quite a lot, and its staying power is rubbish, sadly, as the effect is ace!

For mascara I am currently using Maybelline’s Falsies (one of my favourites).

So, what are your tested, quick day to day eye make up routine? It would be nice to know what works for other people!

Nails of the week – red glitter

How much do I love this mani? I describe it as Dorothy’s ruby slippers for your nails. Seriously. So sparkly, a real jewel!

I had this week’s mani all figured out, but had this urge to paint them my old time favourite red. But an ordinary red wouldn’t do, so as if by fate, I stumbled upon this gem at Topshop: Barry M glitter polish in red.

The coverage is amazing, this polish is laden with glitter. I put on a coat of Colorama’s 40 Graus underneath, and one coat of the glitter would be enough, but I settled for two. What a beauty it became.

For being glitter, the durability wasn’t amazing; a couple chips appeared a good five days after application. But nothing too bad.

Overall, I was delighted with this one.

Rating:

What I wore – 21/07/12

It really feels like every week, when I show you what I wore, I mainly moan about the weather. Well, I do. I cannot take anymore. All the tought and effort (and a bit of frenzy) that went inbto building a lovely summery wardrobe are totally in vain. Oh, well….

It feels like my tights are glued to my legs. My only attempt not to wear tights last week was aborted in the middle of the day; I didn~t wear them on Tuesday, but I brought them in my bag. By midday had to gie in… just not warm or dry enough.

It had been a while since I wore leopard print, so I decided to start my week in it; and I closed my week confronting the grey weather by going all colour with a bright pink playsuit.

And on Wednesday, I wore I dress I bought a few years back in New York; so pretty, inspired on the Prada collection at the time, it seems to keep giving!

Here are the details:

Monday

Leopard print blouse (Forever 21), black leggings (H&M), taupe shoes with gold toe cap (Viviana), animal rings (Miss Selfridge), resin ring (Sobral), spike and leather studded bracelets (New Look), NYX lipstick in Peach Bellini.

Tuesday

Mint green lace panel top (H&M), black pencil skirt (H&M), mint green shoes with silver toe cap (Topshop), skull ring (shop in Paris), triple spike and black heart rings (Forever 21), believe ring (Disney Couture),  Revlon lip butter in Strawberry Shortcake.

Wednesday

Black and white print dress (Forever 21),  tricolour shoes (Zara), metal belt (Primark),  pearl earrings (Accessorize), ear cuff (Topshop), flower rings (Accessorize), big heart ring (Forever 21), D heart ring (Miss Selfridge), bracelets (a mix of New Look, Topshop and Primark), MAC lipstick in Russian Red.

Friday

Pink flower print playsuit (Primark), black leather ankle boots (gift from a friend), skull ring (as above), star ring (Primark), snake ring (New Look), purple stone ring (Accessorize), bracelets (a mix of Topshop and New Look), NYX lipstick in Chloe.

How are coping with the “summer” in the UK? If you are not in the UK, how’s the weather over where you are?

Nails of the week – orange with gold French

A couple of weeks back I went to the Cointreau rendez-vous and as part of the activities, I had a mini manicure. The colours available or varying shades of – you guessed – oranges, including corals.

I had my nails painted a lovely shade, but being particular about how they get painted, they didn’t last 24 hours on my hands. However, I decided to keep within the colour scheme and painted my nails this lovely shade of orange-coral from Impala, called Twenty Years. On top, I applied Max Factor’s Bronze, for a gold shimmer.

Two days later, I applied a gold French manicure, using Barry M foil effects nail polish.

I have to say the colours complemented each other very well. The Impala polish was quite opaque with two coats; the Bronze on top delivered the right amount of golden shimmer. Application was smooth, and durability great, even with the French.

Overall, a cute look.

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Trends: inspiration for Autumn/Winter 12-13

My autumn/winter 12-13 moodboard

There have been loads of talks about transitioning into the colder season – guess what, I am still transitioning into summer – but it looks like I will be on a 12 months transition, the temperature doesn’t get any better and I am just changing the collections leaving some previous season legacy behind! Sad times! Still a month or so of hope, maybe I will be wearing pretty dresses and sandals till September.

Every year, I follow the fashion weeks across the globe, and something always jumps to my attention (I feel in love with LV SS12 collection so much that much of my current wardrobe is inspired by it!); but by the time you actually get to wear the trends, you kinda forgot about them… but the fashion mags and the high street won’t let you forget. Or me.

Some trends are right up my street; others, I pass, thank you, and that is the beauty of it – making what is “in” your own, picking and choosing – and why not mixing – moulding the trends to suit your own personal style.

I will be slowly leaving my pastels behind and looking out for some trends I will be adopting.

Soooo pleased that the “womanly” trend is being dragged into the next season, thanks Lanvin and Calvin Klein  – I just love the nipped waists,  curve skimming shapes,  part femme-fatale, part innocent, part dominatrix! Sharp, fierce, elegant, and red lipped.

I see this burst of femininity, an ode to the female shape, much as retro inspired wear, so will definitely embrace more!

Glad I can still wear some leather skirts I bought last season I didn’t get to very much. A leather biker jacket is number one on my wish list.

Goth, as seen in Chanel, JP Gaultier and may other – I love lace. And fishnets. Lots of black, my favoured going out shade, I count on studs and spikes to keep going for a while.  That mix of religion and rebellion. Heavy eyes.  Dark lips. Hang on to my skulls, get crosses. Really want an above the knuckle cross ring. Cute.

I love dressing very feminine but with an edge, a bit of a rough edge – so accessories following the goth trend will give me just that when thrown in with a pretty pencil skirt or a dress and sexy sky scrapping heels.

Exaggeration. HUGE necklaces. I mean, seriously. Haven’t been into necklaces very much lately, but something tells me this will change… courtesy of Miu Miu and Prabal Gurung.

Embroidery, appliqués,  crystals, jewels. May be altogether. A tribute to Baroque – all very decadent, lavish and a lot of gold. Think fabrics with flower prints with texture that could be on sofa. Love it.

Some crazy everything goes… well, I like mixing styles sometimes, so add big sunglasses and I am possibly in. I don’t like print clash myself, but admire those who manage to do it well.

Of course, counting on (faux) fur for the season, and to me, leopard print is never a no no.

As colours go,  I am paying attention to berry shades:  from lighter to darker, red to blue based;  deep reds brighter than last autumn’s hero, the burgundy and purples; earthy tones: browns, tans and taupes, greens, not jade as last winter’s; more bottle or forest green. Black of course, dark greys with a blue tinge and silver.

Have seen some sporty items I could wear, even though I am not massive on the trend – H&M is full of them – really thick “lycra-ish” fabrics, sports bralets oh so cute. Not sure I am leaning towards them beacuse of the Olympics fever, as long as they are girly, I am in. We shall see.

Peplums seem to be the shape of the moment, but I have been wearing it for the past three years, so not that excited; still, a feminine, flattering shape.

Opposed to last autumn’s colour blocking, I think this one will be more about texture; and I am loving it.

Glad to see red lips still on (are they ever out? Not for me!). Geometric liners, not so sure I can pull that one off, but will give it a go.  Sculpted cheeks (love it, make you look great on pictures!).

Hair? I am thinking sleek hair – down straight on in ponytails.

I am inspired. However, I will ride this “summer that never came” vibe for a while longer. I still have hope to make my pastels worth their money!

What I wore – 14/07/2012

Bad, bad weather. Been desperately trying to keep my pins out, but it feels like the tights are stuck to them!

Black, white and red is my favourite combination ever for dressing. So pretty, effortless and instantly gives you a classic look. Cannot have enough of it, as you can see this week!

Fruit print seems to be a recurring theme this week – appeared twice in my wardrobe!

My favourite outfit was Wednesday’s, I am in love with the blouse… I thought I’d make a bit more of an effort as I attend Cointreau Rendez-vous in London, a lovely event where you got a cocktail master class, mini manis and the lovely ladies from Wish Want Wear. It was held at the super-quirky Ninetyeight bar in Shoreditch.

Monday

Cherry print dress (H&M), red patent court shoes (New Look), red belt (Little Mistress), rings (skull – small shop in Paris, black stones – Primark, apple – New Look), bracelets (spike and gold chain – Topshop, gold and black – H&M), MAC lipstick in Lady Danger, Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner and MAC eyeshadow in Nylon.

Tuesday

Blue dress with tiny multicoloured hearts and dots (small shop in Brazil), tricolour shoes (Zara), rings (small flower – Accessorize, big flower – from Brazil, white round  and love birds- H&M), bracelets (gold studs+leather New Look, others from Topshop), Nyx lipstick in Peach Bellini, MAC eyeshadow Vex and Deep Truth as liner.

Wednesday

Apple print blouse (Friday On My Mind), black pencil skirt (H&M), black Décolleté 100 pumps (Christian Louboutin), rings (love birds – H&M, apple – New Look, D in heart – Miss Selfridge, white rose – H&M, black and gold resin – Sobral), bracelets (pearls and bow – Primark, gold chain – Topshop), earring (love with pearl – Miss Selfridge, ear cuff – Topshop), MAC lipstick in Russian Red, MAC lipstick in Lady Danger, Collection 2000 Extreme 24 hour felt tip liner and MAC eyeshadow in Nylon.

Thursday

Black and White striped sleeveless blouse (Primark), high-waisted black shorts (H&M), black studs slippers (Topshop), rings (zebra – New Look, love birds – H&M, believe – Disney Couture, other silver – a gift from a friend),  bracelets (spikes and bangle – New Look), Nyx lipstick in Peach Bellini.

Friday

Cornflour blue shift dress (Dorothy Perkins),  black belt with chain (Primark), black Décolleté 100 pumps (Christian Louboutin), rings (love birds – H&M, black and gold resin – Sobral, D in a heart – Miss Selfridge, pink flower – Accessorize, gold flower – shop in Brazil), bracelets (gold with bow – New Look, spike and chain – Topshop), MAC lipstick in Lady Danger.

And here a couple pictures of my outfits in action on Wednesday and Friday and the Cointreau goody bag!

What about you? Any outfits you put together lately that you loved and made you feel pretty?