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Saturday 28 February 2015
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Tuesday 24 February 2015
oops, i did it again
'don't knock it until you've tried it' they say, and now i've tried it i'm well and truly knocking life without a fringe. i've been debating going for the snip since before christmas, and last week i finally took the plunge and went ahead with cutting off the 8 months worth of growth and had my trusty fringe put back in, and i don't regret it at all (let's see if i'm still saying that in the summer when it's no doubt sweaty and sticking to my face...)
i opted for quite a messy, soft fringe as opposed to the super straight cut fringe i used to have simply because i wanted something that was going to be easy to manage and part if i wanted to, and i'm really pleased with my decision. to say i've not had a fringe for around 8 months, it's weird how 'me' i feel now i have one once again. fringe, i left you once, but i'll never leave you again.
Saturday 21 February 2015
saturday scribbles
this week i've focussed on creating the beginnings of my picture book, and in all honesty it's been a bit of a struggle. i have a tendency to overwork illustrations for fear of them not looking enough as they are, and in turn i've put together a bunch of spreads that i'm not entirely happy with, so i thought today i'd share with you some instagram snaps that show some of the less overworked components of the illustrations instead.
tomorrow i plan to tackle what i've already got in a much more fresh way that feels relaxed and natural and will hopefully look better overall, but time will tell. i think i'm going to stay away from digitally creating illustrations and simply use photoshop for arranging and making slight tweaks to bits that need it in the hope that my work will start looking and feeling like i want it to, and i'm hoping it'll fall into place pretty quickly because time's ticking and my picture book certainly isn't going to illustrate itself!
Wednesday 18 February 2015
the body shop | 'mango' eau de toilette
after harping on about the difficulty of finding cruelty free fragrances for what felt like a lifetime, my mum quite clearly became aware of my struggles and thoughtfully bought me this mango eau de toilette for christmas to try out. i'm a big fan of the body shop's various scented body butters and shower gels, so i was curious to see how i'd get on with one of their famous fruity scents in the form of an everyday fragrance.
mango isn't at the top of my list when asked what my favourite body shop scents are, however it's pleasantly surprised me. i tend to be a lover of sickly sweet scents (ie britney spears' fantasy) which i find people tend to either love or hate, so i was surprised at just how much i've been enjoying using this product as it isn't nearly as sweet as some of my previous favourite fragrances. i'm terrible at describing scents so i'm not going to embarrass myself by attempting to describe this product's scent, however i will say that it's fruity rather than sweet and in turn i think it smells a bit more mature than my usual scents of choice.
my only slight niggle with the product is the fact that it's an eau de toilette as opposed to a perfume so it doesn't linger for as long as i'd like it to, meaning that it makes a perfect fragrance for throughout the day, but you might want to find something with a little bit more of a kick to it for a fragrance that would see you through the day and into the night. or, if you're like me, you can just simply top this product up as and when you desire to stay smelling delicious all day and night.
for £8.50 i really don't think this is a bad little fragrance. i've been using this product daily since christmas now and i'm about a third of a way down it, and i've already been considering heading back to the body shop to pick up a vanilla and strawberry scented fragrance for when this one eventually runs out. the body shop's scents might not be the greatest cruelty free option out there, but they're certainly bridging a gap for me while i'm finding my bearings in the world of cruelty free fragrance.
Tuesday 17 February 2015
acid wash
jacket: river island (old)
shirt: primark
necklace: lilac edge
belt: primark
mom jeans: topshop
boots: primark
shirt: primark
necklace: lilac edge
belt: primark
mom jeans: topshop
boots: primark
hi world, and welcome back to another instalment of my infrequent but definitely-still-a-thing outfit posts! i've spent today working on the beginnings of a picture book spread and broke it up with a visit to the post office, and because it was such a nice day i figured i'd take 20 to snap a few outfit pictures too. as i was only nipping out briefly i couldn't really be bothered with the effort of premeditating an outfit before chucking it on, so while in the process of chucking on clothes i reached for a striped shirt (as ever) and my trusty mom jeans that weren't going to flap around in the wind on my way to the post office.
i'm currently still working on the aforementioned picture book spread, and i think it's going well so far; i'm feeling a little bit rusty at the moment but i'm sure by the end of the week i'll be back into the swing of things! i'll probably give myself another hour or 2 on this spread now while waiting for my housemates to get back from uni, and then i'll be giving myself some necessary time off to stuff myself silly with pancakes with lots and lots of jam and nutella (not together though, obviously.) happy pancake day everyone!!
Sunday 15 February 2015
sunday synopsis
finally, a sunday synopsis post that i'm on top of! i thought i'd get this out of the way (relatively) early in the day before my friends get back in and i no doubt don't touch my laptop for the remainder of the evening, so hi!
so, let's start with the obvious: i've dyed my hair. for a while now i've been debating going back brown simply because i was getting a little bored of the orange, and after spending my week lusting after jenna coleman (swoon) i finally bit the bullet and bought myself the dye (from superdrug so cruelty free, if you were wondering!) my friend josh helped me pick out a colour that was pretty close to my root colour so from here on i don't need to worry about topping up, and i think he did a pretty good job of it. now it's darker i'm also back into the territory of do i or don't i want to cut my fringe back in, and while i'm fed up of looking at my overbearing forehead, i also know i'll be fed up of my fringe come summer once it's hot and sticky and sticking to my face. sigh, fringe woes.
also aesthetically speaking, i've now finally found a nasal arrangement (didn't know what else to call it!) that i'm happy with now i've finally found a ring for my septum. i went through a spell of buying absolutely useless septum jewellery because it was either too big or i couldn't actually fasten it because it's so fiddly, but i'm finally over it and shall be leaving it as it is until further notice, phew.
i've spent today exercising, running a couple of errands i had and listening to select t. swift songs while doodling away for my picture book, and as i mentioned yesterday, i'm really getting into it. it's so nice to finally feel connected and excited about my work again after the first term of third year which felt a little draining and uninspiring, so here's to a good few months before graduation. maybe it's just coincidence, but i find things in my life tend to go downhill as autumn/winter approaches and then level out once again when spring/summer arrive. i like to say that i'm like a flower in that i bloom in spring and wither and die in autumn, and i'm using this example as firm proof of that.
Saturday 14 February 2015
saturday scribbles
this week i'm sharing another few pages from my sketchbook in regards to my picture book. on monday i received feedback and my story was generally well received, however it was a mutual agreement between myself and my tutors that to use another sloth within my story wasn't really doing me many favours in terms of diversifying my portfolio, so i've spent a couple of days this week rethinking my protagonist and making some slight changes to my story – nothing too drastic, but enough to give me a chance to explore another creature!
in the end i settled on a tamandua, a type of anteater, simply because i loved how they move around (mostly on all fours, but they often stand on their hind legs) so clumsily and spend a lot of time tree dwelling as a sloth would, so altogether they made a pretty good (and super cute!) substitute. i always pictured mallory as a lost, confused sloth on the streets of new york, however the more i watch tamandua videos and doodle myself familiar with their anatomy, the more they're capturing my heart, and the more i can see mallory as one of them.
this week me and my coursemate also pitched our nhs work to the staff members that we've been liaising with since september, who then went onto pitch it to some people higher up the chain, and luckily they all loved it! we've also decided that we're going to enter the project into the creative conscience awards, so in preparation for its deadline in late march we've worked on a couple of smaller alterations before we perhaps have to pick it apart a little more and do a fair bit more work. i never really knew where i thought this project was going because it was sort of put on a back burner for a while until we really got to grips with our strategy, so it's exciting to think that it could potentially go ahead and be rolled out within the nhs nationally! here's to the next few months until graduation (gulp!), it'll be a lot of hard work, but it'll hopefully be worth it.
Wednesday 11 February 2015
urban decay | naked 'on the run' palette
while browsing debenhams just before christmas with my dad, he asked if there was anything i'd like to pick up as a gift because he was intending on mainly giving me money for christmas, so i jumped at the chance to try out some high end make up i wouldn't normally pay for myself and headed straight to the urban decay counter. after a bit of deliberation, i put down the naked 3 palette and walked away with their naked on the run palette as i figured that it'd give me the chance to try out a variety of their products as opposed to just one. so, how have i been getting on with it?
| perversion mascara |
retailing at £17 for the full version, this isn't something i'd be happy to buy on a whim for fear of being bitterly disappointed, so i was excited to give this a go. it creates fanned out, fluttery lashes that look relatively natural as they don't clump together. i personally love bold, thick lashes so this mascara didn't blow me away, however it does make me wonder what your lashes would look like if you teamed this with their subversion lash primer. unfortunately i don't think i'll ever find out though as £17 is a little bit too pricey for me to ever consider paying for a mascara when i know there are perfectly good budget options available on the high street.
| 24/7 glide-on eye pencil |
i haven't purchased an eyeliner pencil for longer than i care to remember now as i'm an eyeliner pen convert, but i thought i'd give this a try regardless. i used it to create a somewhat smoky cat eye, applying the pencil roughly and then blending it out. the pencil is creamy, meaning it doesn't drag when applied and is easy to blend out, and is also really highly pigmented, meaning it'd be pretty easy to build up for a more dramatic look. i've found it's also handy for lining your tight line as it doesn't transfer onto your waterline, which is always good.
| naked lipgloss |
lipgloss is something that i haven't owned since early high school, so i was definitely curious to see how a high end option would fare when compared to the gross, sticky selection young teenage me once owned. much to my surprise, the lipgloss wasn't overly sticky on your lips and added a lovely, subtle sheen of colour. another bonus is that it smells wonderful, so any bits of hair that may get stuck to your lips on a windy day could perhaps be forgiven.
| eyeshadows |
as i was contemplating picking up this or the much coveted naked 3 palette, i was definitely interested to see how their eyeshadows fared, and i certainly wasn't disappointed. for me these eyeshadows are the best thing about the palette as they're extremely pigmented, long wearing and don't have any fall out; what more could you want from eyeshadows?! if i ever happen to have £40 lying around that i don't particularly need, i would definitely considered splurging and treating myself to the naked 3 palette.
| naked flushed palette |
lately i'm big on contouring and highlighting, so i was keen to see how this trio fared, and unfortunately i was a bit disappointed. the highlighter didn't really seem to do much on my skin, but i don't know if it's because i currently use a MUA highlighter which is extremely shimmery, and as pictured, this highlighter doesn't have that much shimmer to it at all. as for the contour, i found it to be too orange for my skin tone, and the blusher really wasn't any greater than the sleek blushers i currently own, so i probably wouldn't ever find myself paying the £22 that this product retails for.
altogether, i was pretty damn impressed by the array of urban decay products that this palette offers you, and i think i made a good decision in opting for this over the naked 3 palette, even if i do still find myself lusting after it every now and again. urban decay as a brand has always intrigued me, however i've been reluctant to throw so much money at a brand that i didn't know would be worth it. now i've had a bit of experience with the brand, i've got my sights set on an eyshadow palette and a couple of lipsticks, but time will only tell if i ever decide to splurge out and treat myself to some of them...
Saturday 7 February 2015
saturday scribbles
yeah, i know, i've got some explaining to do seeing as i haven't posted a saturday scribbles post (or sunday synopsis post, for that matter) for the last two weeks. last weekend i kind of had a legitimate excuse because i was away for the weekend visiting a friend for her 21st birthday, but i'd be lying to you if i said i hadn't just generally been feeling uninspired with my work and blog as of late.
since handing my dissertation in i've been focussing on my self promotion work and starting to think about my final project, and for the most part i've been feeling a bit uninspired and bummed out, by my self promotion work in particular. i'm still a bit unsure of where i want the content or aesthetics of my self promotion work to go, but i do know that i don't want to waste the opportunity to create another good piece of work for my portfolio, so it's something i really need to try and figure out, and pretty quickly, really.
on the flip side, i've been writing another picture book for my final project to enter into the macmillan prize again, and above you can see some of the rough page spreads that make up my dummy book that i'll be taking in for feedback on monday. i've no idea how the session will go, but i do know that it's the happiest, most motivated and most inspired i've felt with a piece of work throughout the entirety of third year, so that has to count for something. i love the freedom of working on my own texts because i have complete control over everything and the permission to add or take things away where i see necessary, which i felt held me back a little throughout my alice in wonderland work because it never felt quite as natural and effortless as i'd have liked it to, but i suppose i'm learning that i thrive creatively when i can completely become the author of my own work.
for now i hope you enjoy the little snippets into a story that was inspired almost a year ago now when i visited new york, and i hope to get the ball rolling again properly from now on and have lots to share every week regarding my progress while illustrating the book.
Wednesday 4 February 2015
lush | 'light pink' colour supplement
after the christmas festivities that were (for me) mostly eating myself into a coma, my skin decided to misbehave for a long while afterwards so i decided to take action in the form of purchasing a new foundation. while i was out treating myself to some sale bargains i decided to pick up a lush colour supplement after toying around with the idea of buying one whilst in store for months previously, and i opted for the shade light pink, obviously because i'm a fairly pale gal and my skin tends to be pink in tone.
i'd describe the product as being light to medium coverage, and as you can see from the before and after picture above it does a pretty good job of evening out your skin tone and masking subtle imperfections, however it doesn't quite cover up more aggressive blemishes, but that's fine for me because i'm not a fan of heavy duty foundations anyway and much prefer to combat pesky blemishes with concealer instead. the product itself is almost gel like in consistency and sets pretty quickly, so i like to apply it by dotting it onto my face section by section (chin, cheeks, forehead) and blending as i go to ensure an even finish as it can dry a little patchy if you don't work it in quickly enough. i apply the product in circular motions with elf's small stipple brush, and it has made its way firmly into my everyday makeup routine even now that my skin's cleared up again simply because it's so lightweight and natural looking that i forget that i'm even wearing a foundation, and that's just how i like it.
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