Random Musings of a Random Londoner

The street is a mirror for our country, reflects the rise and fall of our nation

2012-10-21T18:26:00.001+01:00

I can never decide where I stand on yellow nails. I love the summery feeling they give me, and I think they look gorgeous on a tanned skin. Unfortunately I live in a country that has decided to skip summer entirely this year. Instead it has gone from April showers to... um... October spitting? Furthermore, no matter the weather I always remain whiter than white. On holiday I go a delightful beige colour, before reverting to my ghostly self on the plane journey back, and I am far too lazy to fake tan.

But there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. I have holiday time coming up!!!! So today I decided to spend my post-exam (whoop!) hangover day window shopping on voyage-prive, secret escape, and travel-zoo. Unsurprisingly this got me in a sunny mood, so I decided to give myself summer nails to compensate the fact I'm wearing slipper and cuddling a hottie. (Sexy image straight from me to you!)

So here it is...

So yes, Carnaby Street by Nails Inc. I used 2 coats, and was too lazy to put on a base coat, so I'm already looking forward to the fungal infection looking nails that await below! But as you can see it has the 3 qualities I look for in a nail varnish: good coverage, dries opaque, and has a shiny finish.

The Nails Inc website describes it as a "bright canary yellow", and I'm not sure if this is true, as I've never seen a canary in real life! (is this rare? Am I revealing a somewhat lacking childhood ) But I would say it's the colour of an American school bus!

I don't think it looks too bad against my pale skin, but I do think it's an odd choice for the time of year. Will probably change to a darker colour next time! (oh the woes of a girl).

So there we go! In conclusion I like this colour, I bought it aaages ago, I think for Easter nails, and have not touched it since. but if you are looking for a bright nail colour to brighten your day, then look no further (Woah, how cheesy was that?).

Oh and if you were wondering the post title was taken from this song:

So what inappropriate colours are you wearing at the moment? What colour should I go for next?

Kat x

What Colour Would You Call This?

2012-10-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone!

As I have alluded to in the past, I have rarely done anything different with my hair. It has always been big & blonde, and I loved it like that. However, for the last 6 months I have been wanting a change. My hairdresser (the lovely Jess from The House of Charles Worthington) made me wait this long, as she really loved the beach blonde colour of my hair, but I was adamant.

So, how the hell do you choose a new hair colour? Well I still don't know. I knew I wanted to go darker, but still be on the blonde spectrum, as too mark makes me look seriously ill. I started googling images like "bronde", "caramel blonde" and "dirty blonde" and came across some lovely hair colours, but they all came on uber tanned stunning beauties (Gisele Bündchen / Jennifer Aniston / Blake Lively), so I couldn't figure out how it would look on my pasty normal-looking (hopefully!) self. So I just turned up, told her I trusted her, and put myself completely in her hands.

She decided to play it safe, and give me a good foundation colour, so I can tweak it in a few months depending on how I'm feeling. So drum roll please.....

I came in like this.

Yuck!

This is better, but a rather unrealistic representation of my usual look!

Halfway through I looked like this.

How does everyone other women in the salon look chic, and I look like this?

And I walked away like this...

I suppose it doesn't look too different, but trust me in real life it is quite a change. Also in some lights it goes very ginger (to the delight & horror of the boy & his brother).

Definite tinge of ginge!

So all in all I love the colour! And I love that I can get away with more dramatic make-up now! I would like to tweak it in December and make it a more definite colour (i.e. more ginger brown/caramel), but I don't know which way to go! Ooh decision decisions!

What colour would you call this, as I have no clue? Have any of you changed hair recently, I'd love to see! Which colour should I go next?

Kat x

Two Faces with Too Faced

2012-10-03T22:08:00.000+01:00

Hello Girlies!

I am not a small bag girl. Whether I'm going to work, to meet up with friends, or on a night out, I always have a mahoosive bag along with me. This is because I am physically incapable of travelling light! In my bag I always carry my kindle, a book (yes I need both), my diary, a change of shoes, my make-up bag, and an umbrella. In spite all of that I never actually carry much make-up out with me. This is mainly because I can never be bothered to touch up throughout the day. Therefore the only thing I carry out with me, are products that can easily take me from day to night look with minimal effort. I sometimes do this with a mac quad palette, but recently I have mostly been using a quad from Too Faced.

It's called Too Faced Pixie Perfect Eye-shadow Quad. It contains 4 colours that all you'd ever need to create the perfect eye. It is comprised of a matte light ashy brown (1), a dark matte brown (2), a shimmery bronze (3), and a nude flecked with glitter (4).

The dark colour is very matte, it only looks shimmery in pic as I only use one brush!

NB Please excuse my eyebrows, I was just about to get them threaded!

Here I'm wearing 1 to define my brows and 4 all over the lid. I wear this in the day to just make my lids look a bit less dead & vein-y! As you can see the glitter is very subtle which I like, as I'm not too keen on looking like a disco ball during the day.

Here I'm wearing 3 all over the lid & lower lash line. I really like this colour, and would wear it for a more exciting day time look (i.e. not at work). It has good colour pay off, minimal drop-age, and good staying power.

Here is is 4 with some soft definition in my outer v and socket with 2. I really like this, and wear do it a lot to transform my day make-up into a night look, but usually with a flick of black gel liner, for a bit more va-va-voom!

Again here is 3 with 2 added for definition. I also added some black kohl (very poorly I may add, but I was rushing) to define my upper lash line and in my waterline to make it more evening-y. This really is fool-proof make-up, and only takes 2 minutes!

And here are some obligatory front on shots with my different eyes! This look will probably not catch on, but actually who knows, I still can't comprehend the souse brow!

So to sum up I really recommend this palette, as I like each colour and you use every one frequently (something I find rare in pre-made palettes), and you can achieve different looks with such ease. I'm not sure how easy it is to find as my friend gave this to me as an unwanted gift, but definitely keep you eye out. I had never used anything by Too Faced before, but now I will definitely check them out again!

What Too Faced products do you recommend? Which palettes do you keep reaching for?

Kat x

Food Glorious Food

2012-09-13T16:56:00.000+01:00

Ciao Ragazzi!

Apologies for this post is almost a week late, but I have been rushed off my feet all week preparing for an exam! Better late than never as they say! So how was your weekend? Mine involved eating waaaay to much, so may have to stick to carrot sticks for the foreseeable future!

On Friday evening I went out with the boy, his brother, and some of his friends. His brother is newly single (watch out ladies!), so is hitting it quite hard at the moment. To line my stomach in preparation I suggested we went out for some Mezze, Turkish style. So we headed to Gallipoli Bazaar in Angel Islington.

Souce

There are 3 chains of this restaurant on one street, and I have been once before to Gallipoli Bistro with some girlies (we were forced to belly dance on our chairs, because they thought we were having a birthday. We weren'tt. But we got some free cake!).

Anyway, on Friday we ordered an insane amount of Mezze with extra Tabbouleh (my absolute favourite) and char-grilled Halloumi.

It was tasty, but not the best mezze I've ever had. We also felt it would be rude to not try out a few of their cocktails.

Bizarrely enough, no matter whatever you ordered you got a cherry (in both my margharita & my martini!). But they were delicious, though quite deadly. We also had a fair bit of shisha, which again was hit and miss, though the apple & cinnamon was deelish.

In total I paid £35 for dinner, drinks, and shisha, which I think is a good deal. A good place for a group, with lovely staff, and OK food. Not a must-go place, but it'll do!

We then headed on to a nearby (newish) bar called Rattlesnake. The front room is very typical bar, playing generic music, but the back room had a live band on.

They weren't the best, but were certainly not the worst I've ever heard so I decided to bash my way to the front and mosh out 2002-style, whilst the boy looked on in bewilderment!

Yes, we are doing a jig!

You should definitely check out this bar, if you are in the area, if you are looking for a fun but casual night out,with a group of friends!

The next day, was my sister's birthday, so our little family went out for lunch (she's preggers, so apparently can't do anything more taxing!). We went to La Poule Au Pot, in Chelsea.

Source

This is a lovely French restaurant, with stereotypically French waiters (I think we all know what I mean!). The menu is extensive (especially the daily specials, which consisted of about 20 meals, and all given at beak neck speed in French). I started with warm ratatouille (I know it's peasant food, but I love it) which was tasty but mahoosive, so be warned! Followed by beef bourginon (yum yum). The food is authentic French cuisine, meaning it comes with few vegetables, it's swimming in butter, and mountains of salt used! I never cook with salt, so I found this overpowering, so if you are like me maybe ask them to cut back (they are very obliging).

For pudding I had my favourite, creme caramel (I never have pudding, unless this is on the menu!), and it was good, a lovely thick top layer, and not sickly. Though again it was huge. I left very full, very thirsty (salt), but satisfied. I actually didn't eat anything for the rest of the day, and even had to skip lunch on Sunday. I think this would make a lovely date (may have to bring the boy here, to try it out), as they were going full on with candles at 13.00. The lunch deal is fair as well (£23.50 for 3 courses).

Apologies for lack of photos, but my sister hates have her picture taken, and even refuses to look at a camera (the girl has issues). So all I could get one of was the creme caramel!

The rest of the weekend was spent helping my friend unpack (she just moved to Brixton!), watching Spencer in the Bachelor (why do they always choose the skanky one?) and eating our weight in tuna pasta bake (yum!)

I would love to hear about all your weekends!

What did you get up to? What hidden London gems do you recommend for me to go explore?

Kat x

Westbourne Grove

2012-08-28T17:33:00.000+01:00

Hello Possums!

As you may have seen in my previous posts, I have been rocking Union Jack nails for the past few weeks, but alas they became chipped beyond repair. So twas time to move on & repaint. I usually love a nude nail, but I felt I couldn't go straight back to something so blah without stopping off at a bright eye catching colour to see me through the weekend. So I settled on Westbourne Grove by Nails Inc.

Nails Inc describe this colour as a "show stopping neon yellow/orange". Show stopping? Yes. Neon? Yes. Orange? Yes. Yellow? No, I can't see it. I love Nails Inc, as they are fast drying & I usually only need one layer to achieve the perfect opacity. Perfect for me, as I tend to paint my nails on public transport! However, for this shade I used three layers, and I still think it looks too thin/streaky. Urgh. It dries with a matte finish, which is nice, though I prefer a shiny finish (probably showing my age there!).

Overall, I'm not really a fan of this shade, and would not recommend it, as I'm sure there are other similar shades that are better quality.

Westbourne Grove retails at £11 (though got mine at £22 for three), and is available from department stores, Boots and online! It is part of the limited edition Nude & Neon Collection.

Do any of you guys own this? What do you think of it? Can you recommend anything similar?

Kat x

Now if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that nothing is more powerful than a young boy's wish... Except an Apache helicopter

2012-08-27T23:03:00.002+01:00

Hey there Peeps!

How are you all enjoying the Bank Holiday? Hopefully you're having a better one than me, as I was in work at 8 this morning! I always get so jealous of people who get these magical Mondays off, but at least I got a seat on the tube (every cloud & all)

For the first time in ages me and the boy had the same days off work, so we decided to make the most of it and we headed out to Battersea on Friday for some drinks & dinner. We started off the evening in The Doodle Bar . This is a really relaxed bar located down a dodgy alley in an old industrial building. Here you'll find a really cool open space which comprises of the bar area, a street kitchen (good burgers), a ping pong table and much more depending on what night you arrive. But what puts the doodle in its name is that most surfaces are covered in black-board paint, so you can doodle away to your hearts content! (but be warned give a man a blank canvas, and he will inevitably draw a penis!)

The drinks are lovely, I can't remember what he had (but that looks like a Mojito), but I had a Lychee Bellini and a Margarita, which were both gorgeous. They are a bit pricey, but on Mondays to Thursdays from 5-7pm it's 2-for-1 Happy Hour, so the drinks work out at around £4 each!

After we'd finished these, and George had finished teaching me the anatomy of the ear (who said romance was dead?), we still had about half an hour before our dinner reservation so we headed to a pub down the road, the Draft House Westbridge. This is a lovely pub, with a great selection of beers and ales and the (lovely) staff let you try out the drinks before you commit to buying. If you are in the area, drop in for a quick drink, and let me know what the food's like, cause I would definitely go back

And then for dinner, we went to Bunga Bunga, a fun Italian pizzeria/bar/karaoke-den/nightspot. I have been here before quite a few times, but never to eat, so I was excited to try it out. It's such a fun place, with a gondola-shaped bar and really fun staff. The pizzas look massive as they make them for two, with two different topping on each half.

They were really delicious, I had Margarita ('casue I'm sooo exciting) and the boy had sausage & salami. It was £17.50 for both of us, so really no different to Pizza Express, and yet so much more fun!

We shared a tiramisu for pudding, and it was creamy & delicious. It's also worth getting a drink, if only to read through the hilarious menu. I had a Spagnolitz (no idea what it was, but it was foamy & delicious).

The boy had a SuperMario Monti (gin, cucumber, apple juice & elderflower) purely for the comical receptacle (which I really wanted to steal, but he is my Jiminy Cricket).

As the night went on, the lights were turned down, and the karaoke started. Very cheesy, but ultimately fun. I sung a very moving rendition of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart', and then was told it was time to go home. Fantastic night, and I highly recommend it.

The next day, we headed back to his mess, as he has an exam coming up and we had to focus on revising. So obviously i spent the day procrastinating, doing the laundry, and knitting for my sisters bubs (in the making!).

We then headed out to play badminton, before going on an old school date night. First we went to Nandos.

And then the cinema to see Ted!

It's co-written, produced and directed by Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy), and is essentially about a teddy who is magically wished to life by a little boy, who simply wants a best friend. 27 years later and both the bear and the boy have grown up (physically if not emotionally).Their unique bond causes friction between John (the owner of Ted, played by Mark Wahlberg) and his long-suffering girlfriend (Mila Kunis). The plot is ridiculous, and yet it still works. The film is really funny, cleverly written and well acted by all (especially Wahlberg, as I was not expecting much from him as a straight comic actor as opposed to a funny angry man). I am a big fan of Family Guy, so I knew the type of humour to expect (un-PC and rude). I really enjoyed the film (as did the boy), and would recommend it to anyone wanting to see a very funny, light film, in fact the boy asked if we could go see it again!

And what with Sunday being the day of rest, we slept & ate & slept some more. A perfect end to a perfect weekend!

What did you guys do this weekend? What films have you seen?

Kat x

My Top Olympic Things

2012-08-23T21:38:00.001+01:00

Hello world,

As I said in my last post I absolutely loved the Olympics & really miss it now. To try & keep the feeling going I thought I'd do a round up of my favourite bits. And wowzers was this tough to do. I really found it hard to whittle down all the amazing moments down to a top 10. So I cheated, and ~~subtly~~ smuggled loads more moments in under the guise of general chit chat!

Disclaimer: This is going to be British heavy, I'm sorry but it's really hard to not be biased in your top moments, but fear not other countries are mentioned!

1. When a Man is Tired of London He is Tired of Life

I'm not going to lie, I've been bashing pretty hard on the Olympics ever since the handover in Beijing. It was sooo cringe. Compared to the Chinese extravagance we seemed so amateur. We showed up with a bus & Leona Lewis & generally just farced around. Also, in the last year I have been told that as a Londoner I would not be allowed to use my car, public transport, or even walk around the area I live. Top top it off I didn't get any tickets (despite applying for £800 worth). So by the time it rolled around I was wishing that I had booked holiday so I could abandon the country.

But the day before it was due to start my feelings changed, and this was all to do with a little bit of fire. On the final day my friends dad got to carry the flame. I knew I had go and see this, as it's a part of history.When I got off the tube at Bank very early in the morning I was taken back by the number of people who had turned up to watch the relay, and overwhelmed with the cheers he received (his not being a celeb).

Well done Mr S!

Then came the opening ceremony. And it was mental. Starting off with actual farmyard animals in the stadium, followed by the red arrows, apple tossing, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the words of Shakespeare, the Queen skydiving with Bond, The Child Catcher, good old J.K., thousands of volunteer dancers, an NHS tribute, great music, Tim Berners-Lee, honouring new upcoming athletes, an awesome cauldron, and of course Mr Bean. What else could we have wanted? I loved it. It felt unique and British & in those few hours (no that's a lie, it lasted forever, just like the results section of Eurovision) I became a fan of the Olympics, found my British pride, and fell back in love with London!

And then the games started and my love for the city only intensified. The venues for the events were all wonderful and really showed London off. I especially loved the use of Horse Guards Parade, Greenwich Park, and the route chosen for cycling time trial. London really is a beautiful city.

And then all too soon came the closing ceremony. I did not like this as much as the opening ceremony but it was good fun. Although who on earth did Emeli Sande sleep with to get 3 spots, when the Spice Girls only got 2 and Take That only 1? But Boris' dancing was the clear highlight. It seemed like great fun, and I loved the handover to Brazil! Also wasn't it nice that they thanked us for helping them put on the show with fireworks & lights etc (*cough cough Beijing I'm looking at you). It was a great ending to a great games, and I can't wait to see what the party city of Rio has to offer in four years time!

2. Super Saturday

This was a day when everything just went right for Team GB. We raked in a grand total of 6 gold medals and even smashed a world record. It all started at Eton Dorney with the men's coxless four team and women's lightweight double skulls with solid victories, followed by the women's team storming to success in the Velodrome. It all seemed too be going our way, but then the evening came and with it athletics. Let's face it we've never been a country to dominate in this particular area, so even though 2 of our golden stars were competing, I refused to get too excitied. But the golds just kept coming, in spectacular fashion. Who could ever forget Mo Farah running ~~for his life~~ to victory in the 1000m.

And Jessica Ennis somehow managed to look stunning whilst competing in her own mini Olympics of events, and secured her vicory in the 800m run. And we can't forget the relatively unknown Greg Rutherford flying through the air to claim his own Gold in the long jump.

What a great day, one for the history books. Oh and yeah some chap named Bolt cruised through his first 100m heat, but who was watching that?

All these victories helped us secure our place as 3rd in the medal table. And what is easy to forget is we are quite a small, broke country full of increasingly fat lazy people (don't hate on me, it's sad but true). This got me thinking about countries success (number of gold medals) relative to population, and the results are really interesting. In first place is Grenada, 2nd is Bahamas, and 3rd is New Zealand. The USA is in 28th and China is 47th. Great Britain lies in 10th place, which I think is still impressive out of a total 204 countries. And what happens if you compare the number of medals to prosperity, purchasing factor or per capita income? I'm not going to do this, but it is something to think about! Who do you think the true winner is?

3. Family Ties

When you watch these athletic events you always think of the struggle & journey the athletes go through. I always think the unsung heroes are the families. They have to watch their loved ones go through years of struggle & devotion and then they have to go thrugh hell watching the actual competition take place. I found it too tense to watch certain events (the bloody beam in gymnastics had me panic eating mountains of cake), so just imagine what the loved ones must go through? So my next pick for top moments are the little bits where we saw the families reactions to their loved ones victories. There were loads of these moments caught on camera, but the one that best showed the agony the athletes put their loved ones through is Chris Hoy's mum!

The sweetest moment was when Mo Farah & his daughter found each other after his victory in the 1000m.

The Brownless brother competing & yet supporting each other in the men's triathlon was absolutely extraordinary to me, and I was so happy they both got medals. What a proud mummy they must have!

But the stand out moment for me is Bert Le Clos's reaction to his son's victory over Phelphs in the men's 200m Butterfly final.

The pride he has in his son's achievement is truly hearwarming, and perfectly shows the human side of sport.

4. It is in victory, not defeat, that a man's character is truly tested

So, we've covered how wonderful families were, now to focus on the athletes themselves. In a day and age where it's becoming increasingly acceptible to be competitive & selfish, it was very refreshing to see not only graciousness in defeat but humility in victory. This was most evident to me in the swiming, where after every race participants congratulated each other no matter which position they came in.

Ok, ok there was also alot of show-boating, but this is not what I will remember in years to come. I will remmeber Phelps guiding Le Clos around the pool and showing him how/where to pose, in spite being disapointed in his loss. I'll remember Usain Bolt & Mo Farah honouring each others accomplishments by swapping their trademark poses.

But greatest of all these moments for me was when Kirani James swapped name badges with Oscar Pistorious (blade runner) after winning his 400m heat. This will no doubt go down in history, and is a great example of sportsmanship comradery and respect.

5. Celebrate & Rejoice

So, I've harped on about the importance of being humble, so obviously my next favorite moment are the best victory celebrations.

Some of my favourites were Andy Murray winning, climbing up to find his girlfriend & mum, and on his way down hugging a random little boy. I've never really been a fan or Murray, but I really warmed to him this year. His obvious joy at winning coupled with his kind treatment of Laura Robson, meant that I can now watch the US Open and root for him! Go on Muzza!

The next two I enjoyed the most, are quite similar. I clearly have something for men diving into water! But first up was the canoe slalom, in which we unexpectedly won both gold & silver. The shock & jubiliation was clear as the whole team dived into the water to celebrate!

Similarly was the celebration at the men's 10m diving final. Tom Daley had been having a bad olympics. He had failed to medal at the synchonised final the week before, and had produced dissapointing dives at the heats to qualify for the final. The pressure on him was immense and to top it off he a flash photogapher caused him to mess up his first dive so he had to redo it. Despite all of this, somehow everything came together in the last minute (it truly felt like a Richard Curtis film) and he got a bronze medal. Some people would have been disappointed but he was elated. His whole team picked him up & ran him into the pool. It only goes to show that third place really isn't a failure.

But the most memorable celebration has to be provided by the German discus thrower, Robert Harting. Upon hearing he won he tore off his shirt, left out a roar & grabbed a German flag before takiing part in a victory lap, over hurdles. And he wasn't finished, after leaving the stadium he headed out for a night on the tiles with friends. He then fell asleep on a train, got robbed of his Olympic village pass, and wasn't able to get back in at the end of the night. Hilarious!

6. Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

I'm having difficulty with finding the right words for this, becuase I don't want to sound like a judgemental shallow bitch. But, if I skirt around the topic, I think I'll just end up digging myself into a deeper hole. So here goes... Our athletes really don't look like athletes. Now, I don't mean all of them (hello Ennis & Daley), but during the games I was struck by how normal a lot of them look. Take for example Murray, he is incredibly fit, is a millionaire, and has a gorgeous girlfriend. But he looks like a skinny, pastey man who can't afford a haircut!

Now look at some of our top Olympians. Our gold winners in, Philip, Hines, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy. They are at their peak, and yet they look like average blokes who fancied going cycling for a change this weekend now the footy season's off the telly.

But the pinacle is our my favourite side-burned man, Wiggo!

Now tell me does this look like a man who's won the Tour de France and an olympic gold, in the space of a few weeks? Or does he look like the nice guy next door who occasionally rides his bike down to the pub? America may have their athletes looking like Greek Gods, but we have a side-burned skinny man, and I know who I'd pick any day of the week.

Hmm, maybe not!

7. Just a bit of bant...

The Olympics is meant to bring all the countries toether, but some of my best bits have been the rivalries between the countries. This year Britain (well the media) seems to have been focused on the rivalry with Australia. The best things about the Aussies is that they're easy to joke around with & they give as good as they get. They are a strange & unique cacophony of laid back & competitive. They kept saying we only win gold medals sitting down, and lets face it, theyre not wrong. In fact out our 29 golds, 18 of them were won witting down (That's 62%). But, whatever, scoreboard! However, the best part of this rivalry this year was between the sport ministers of both respective countries. They made a bet on who's country would place higher on the medal table. Well we all know how that went, so Kate Lundy will have to don a Team GB shirt and row the length of the Eton Dorney course. I find this hilarious, and shows the best of friendly rivalry.I don't think she's done it yet, but I hope to go down & cheer her on!

But the rivalry that I was secretly focusing on was between France. I thought Hollande was very rude about us before the games kicked off, and then mocked us for not getting any medals in the firs few days. Hmmph, why is Cameron never rude back? I think it would help his popularity! Well, after a slow start, I'm proud to say we well & truly butchered them. The ~~pettiest~~ best example of this rivalry, happened in the velorome. After royally spanking the French at cycling, their team director suggested that we were only doing so well because our kit was somehow superior, and we were hiding it from tthe other teams. We responded by saying that we had developed specially round wheels! Hilariously, these so -called "magic" wheels are manufactured in France, and are exactly the same as the ones used in the French team. I wish I knew about other rivalries between countries, serious I find them to be the most interesting & funny part of the games!

8. The Best Things In Life Come in the Unexpected Moments

It seemed an eternity before we won a medal. And that obvsiously meant we lost out on a few medals in that time (swimming, cycling etc). I feel sorry for all the athletes that the public have heard of, as they have a whole nations expectations weighing down on them. Everyone said we had a home advantage, but this can also have a negtive effect, and the pressure can get to them. But whilst some athletes didn't get the medals they were aiming for, there were some who came out of nowhere and got completely unexpected medals. My favourites of these came from gymnastics. When I think of gymnastics I think of three nations; America, Russia and China. I'm pretty sure noone was expecting us to walk away with anything. And then somehow for the first time in over a century we won something! The first was the men's team.

Gutting

We were all extatic when we won silver, and it was disappointing when it got demoted to a bronze after a Japanese appeal. But then it sunk in, history had been made & the country was elated. This was quickly followed by getting two more medals in the men's pommel horse, and Beth Tweddle ending her career with a bronze medal.

And I walked away with a massive crush on Louis Smith!

9. Sisters are doing it for themselves

In my eyes, there is one true winner of the 2012 Olymics. Women! 25 medals were won by women, and of those 12 were gold! It was wonderful to see Katherine Grainger finally win a gold medal, after getting silver in the last 3 games!

And it wasn't just great for us. This was the first time Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bunei have etered female athletes into the Olympics, and it's also the first time women have boxed in the Olympics. I think this marks the start of great changes in terms of gender equality in sport (well I hope so anyway). GB have been lucky with their female athletes as we now have so many positive female role models for kids nowadays, insead of just scantiliy clad pop singers, reality tv strs or wags. Here ae some photos of my favourite women.

Well done ladies!

But my absolute favourite medal was the first gold we won. And it just happened to be won by my friend Helen Glover (with Heather Stanning of course). Trust me a race is even more amazing when you know the person, and they smashed it of course!

10. Weirder is Always Better

Like most people who watch the Olympics or actually any sporting event, even the laziest and most un-sporty of us suddenly become experts in whatever we're viewing. This happened to me across the board, and not in sports that I have watched before, but the most abstract sports shown on the telly. I am happy to announce, I am pretty much an expert in synchronised diving, dressage, artistic gymnastics (especially the ribbon) and synchronised swimming. This is another reason to love the Olympics, it brings coverage to usually unpopular sports, which has to be lovely for the athletes, who would normally be ignored.

Bonus Point

Drum-roll please... It's ~~finally~~ time for my absolute favourite (singular) moment. I have chosen it because it sums up this Olympics for me: a sport I knew nothing about, a woman winner, another gold for Team GB, and most of all patriotism!

My favourite moment was Charlotte Dujardin winning a gold in individual dressage by making her beautiful horse dance to Land of Hope & Glory, whilst the crowd sung along. Absolutely perfect!

I'm gutted I couldn't find a video online, as it is AMAZING!!!

Well, there we have it. I feel I have lost a few years of my life writing this, but there are my top Olympic moments. And even though it's all over now, I can't wait for the paralympics to start next Wednesday?

So did you love the Olympics as much as I did? What were your top moments/events/athletes?

Kat x

A Very British Summer

2012-08-17T00:20:00.000+01:00

Soooo, the last thing I wrote 3 months ago was along the lines "I hope I don't get an infection". Well, can you guess what happened? So I have been going in & out of hospital, feeling very rough, and looking even worse for the last few months. But thankfully it's all over now, and I can get back into the swing of things (famous last words, right?)

I feel I have missed out on most of the summer, but at least I haven't missed out on nice weather. The thing that did keep me going was all the awesome British-y things going on. The Jubilee & then the Olympics (plus the Paralympics soon) have been wonderful. It's put everyone in an awesome mood, and made patriotism and national pride acceptable once again in England (let's face it, it's always been around in Wales & Scotland!). In this spirit, I seem to have acquired a whole load of Union Flag themed paraphernalia (I surely can't be the only one to be duped by them). I know I'm biased but I honestly think we have the best flag. So here's a few examples of the quality ~~tat~~ I have obtained in the last few months!

So as my welcome back to the internet post I thought I'd share with you a few British photos of what I've done, worn, the jubilee Olympics, and a few of my personal highlights. So even though this is v belated, Enjoy!

So up first is the Diamond Jubilee, I was still pretty ill for this but I went to see the flotilla (no pics as it was raining a preposterous amount!). My street really went all out & one of my neighbours (who happens to collect flags) took it upon himself to decorate the street.

We had a street party (moved indoors for obvious reasons), for which I baked a Union Flag cake!

Really delicious!

Me & my friend then went to a House Party & danced to the early hours. Lovely.

Sticking to the patriotic theme, this is what I wore:

I also went to Hyde Park to see the concert which was so much fun.

Alfie Boe!!!!!! I bloody love him

The weather was beautiful so took a picnic of only the healthiest food!

We sat/sung/danced with any stranger who happened to be unlucky enough to walk past.

A month later I went to a 'Best of British' party at the mess by boyfriend lives in. The dress-code was very open to interpretation, some people only wore a dress in one of the three colours, whilst others went all out. My boy was one of the latter people.

Yes he's the one in the Philip mask

Somehow I have absolutely no photos of myself (gutted) so I'll give you an idea of what I wore. You can piece the items together in your head (lucky readers!), I make people work for my posts!

And finally we come to the Olympics. I went from being a hater to a fangirl within the space of a few hours (the length of the Opening Ceremony to be precise!), and I really miss it now. I was going to do a full summary & give my highlights, but this post has really gone on & on & on, so will just have to do it tomorrow, but I will still show some of my pics.

I was not lucky enough to get any tickets, but I did go to Hyde Park to the free screens a few times, which was very fun. Ridiculously enough we weren't allowed to take food into the screen areas, only crisps and chocolate (makes sense to only allow food that leads to obesity when watching sports!), so we had to sit outside to eat our sushi like the naughty children we are.

When we had our fill we went in & watched Charlotte Dujardin win Gold in dressage! The crowd went wild & we all stood to sing the national anthem!

She wins the medal & I do an excited face

We then went on a walk around London. We found a square which croquet set up so we had a couple of games, whilst a zumba class happened in the background. Very surreal.

Smugly preparing to hit my ball out
- but it was then brought back to me by a well meaning tourist!

After thrashing the boy in the last game (thanks to some very tactical cheating) we carried on our wander & ended up going down to Tower Bridge to see the Olympic Rings. I'm really going to miss these, which is ridiculous.

So there we go... 2012 really has been a great year to be British. I hope there is more of this to come in the remaining few months.

Have you been enjoying 2012 as much as me? Have you been embracing the ever present Union Flag tat? What British things have you been up to?

Kat x

It's a Fine Line Between Love & Hate

2012-05-01T14:18:00.000+01:00

Hello Interhighway,

It's been a very very loooooong time. I have been in hospital, and hopefully I have undegone my last ever surgery (touch wood). I'm at that annoying stage of recovery where my mind feels I'm back to normal but my body wants to sleep as soon as it's been standing up for five minutes. Le sigh.

Source

As she knew I'd be mooching around for the last few weeks me madre was very kind and bought me some Uggs. She got the long ones in the classic colour (I wish they had been black & shorter - but gift horse, mouth etc). I don't really know how I feel about them. In theory I'm with Lily and hate them. I think they are uber unflattering on me and my stumpy peasant legs, and they don't really do anything for supermodel legs either. I think they are only acceptable with jeans, and I can't stand them with dresses (I can cope with them paired with shorts though!).

So why on earth would I ever own a pair I hear you ask. Well, they are just sooo comfy, and they don't always bother me look-wise as I don't have to see myself wearing them! Ha! Typing this has made me realise how stupid I really am. The main reason I always own a pair is that every year I go skiing, and I still haven't found other shoes that are anywhere near as good. So yes this means that I own a pair of boots that hardly ever get worn, but I still wouldn't be without them.

Looking on the website I realise I want some more pairs (seriously how is this possible?).

I love the bright colour of the purple ones, and the other ones I love because I always think they look like a normal pair of uggs have thrown up over themselves!

Hmm, maybe all the hospital time is making me slightly delerious. I will have to review this post in a few days time to see if it is as nonsensical as I suspect! Have a good week. Ooh and happy may day! Go find a pole & go dance (wow that sounds way more dodgey than I was aiming for)

Source

So what do you think of uggs? Which ones do you have? What do you wear in the snow?

Kat x

My (N)Ever Changing Hair

2012-04-14T00:19:00.000+01:00

Good evening to you all,

Hope you've had an event free Friday 13th. I have made myself giddy by talking/making plans for this weekend. It should be immense. Meaning full of jaegerbombs & dancing like a crazy person. It's gonna be old school!!! Yeeeeee! Right, sorry about that, really must get a life.

So what will be today's topic on a day that's bought us Korea rocket failures & blatant homophobic adverts only just being left off London buses? The important subject of hair.

I do not have fashionable hair, never have never will. I have a ridiculous amount of hair on my head, that sends itself into unruly ~~frizz~~ curls. It's natural colour is the epitome of mousey (sexy!) which goes platinum blonde around the temples. Oh and the hair at the temples never grows so I am forever stricken with poofy horns of hair.

I find it very hard to find someone who can cut hair for us curly girls. What looks good straight does not necessarily look good curly, especially layers, which really spring up with a curl. I have spent years begging hairdressers for long layers, and they just don't listen, so I always look like I'm wearing very bad hair extensions.

But no more. I have found the most perfect hairdresser. She is called Jess (not only an awesome hairdresser, but she's sooo lovely & gorgeous), and she works at Charles Worthington in Percy Street. This is a lovely hairdressers: You get a goody bag on your first visit, they are constantly doing good deals (most recent upgrade from half head highlights to full head for only £10 more), and for £2 you get unlimited glasses of champagne (yes I have got tipsy), and sandwiches, and the most delicious brownies ever. I can't rate this hairdressers any higher and would really recommend it to anyone.

My hair throughout the years (can you spot a change!?)

So as you can tell I have never been adventurous with my hair. I basically just like it big & blonde! I sometimes wish I could do something drastic, but I know it just wouldn't suit me. Le sigh.

Which London hairdressers do you recommend? What do you think I should do with my hair?

Kat x

I need a (valid) excuse to eat cake!

2012-04-12T14:18:00.001+01:00

Hello world,

I'm sitting in my room, snuggled in my dressing-gown listening to the thunder outside, talking about cakes whilst eating a cake. I have never felt the need to exercise more. Oh well, as ever, the diet starts tomorrow.

But back to the topic in hand. Cake. I found this when wedding cake window shopping with my friend.

How amazing is it? She refuses to get it, but I need this in my life. It combines 2 of my passions, musical theatre & cake (oh God I'm going to die alone aren't I?).

So can you find me a reason to get this/attempt to make it? Have you seen any amazing cakes?

Kat x

Pictures lovingly borrowed from here

May as well be in Scotland

2012-04-11T22:42:00.001+01:00

Hello all!

Hope you all had a good Easter (or just Bank Holiday weekend) I had a lovely but tiring time as I was stuck cooking for everyone. I ate waaaaay too much, and have been regretting it for days now. Have to be good now though as have an op coming up & need to be fighting fit for it!

The really sucky thing about uni ending is that all your friends move all over the country. The good thing is that you get to go to places you'd never normally go to visit them.

Classic example was a few weeks ago I went seriously up North to see my friend who has moved to Carlisle. Unfortunately I had to go on a Virgin train (seriously have they ever not been delayed), but at least they have chargers so I could entertain myself for hours on end.

Carlisle is definitely somewhere I would never have gone without a reason, but it's a really cute town (wait. Is it a city? I have such a warped view on qualifies a city status coming from central London. I think everywhere is a town!). It's a really cute town, and everyone speaks with a Scottish accent, which is slightly surreal! There's not much to do there so my friend suggested we go on a day trip to Newcastle.

I was expecting a quick jaunt, but it took 90 minutes each way! (that's like my friend coming to see me in London, and I take them to Brighton, mental). And we went there on the ricketiest little train that was absolutely crammed. But bonus was that it took us past the Angel of the North! Newcastle is a lovely town, we walked along the Tyne & went to the Baltic Centre. I had a lovely time but bloody hell there are a lot of stairs. We had to run to make it to a train, & I had to go up & down at least 4 sets of stairs. And all the girls there were in full on stilettos, how on earth did they manage that?

So here are a few snaps (would be more but spend quite a lot of my time tipsy - Seriously we arrived went straight to Tesco & spent over £80.)

Carlisle Citadel, Carlisle's Gay Bar!, Newcastle Baltic Centre, River Tyne

Newcastle Opera House, Millennium Bridge, I can't remember! Never ending staircases!

I can't wait to go back up again, for more drunken frivolities!

What do you recommend next time I go up North?

Kat x

Pictures my own or from here

In the County of Swords

2012-04-02T23:09:00.000+01:00

Hello peeps,

About a month ago I left the safety of London & got taken away to the scary streets of Essex to party with a couple of uni friends. The weekend involved copious amounts of booze, friend food, dancing, injuries, abandonment and laughter.

I'd never been to Essex before, and was really up for a TOWIE experience. My friend's from Leigh-on-Sea which apparently is a nice area, so we were having none of that, thank you very much. But tbh the people relaly didn't disappoint. They are an amazing laugh, and so friendly, it's just like being up North. Thught I almost started a fight with the cabbie when I asked him to teach me how to "speak Essex", unsuprisingly he thought I was being a condescending bitch and stopped the cab till I apologised (whilst trying to teach him to speak Northener!).

So I thought I'd do a ~~brief~~ unnecessarily long photo montage of the lost weekend:

Our dinner, which was basically just 4 different types of cheese

Our table water, which we thought was beer,
but not before flagging down the waitress to complain.

Reunion!

Dirty Martini - with extra olives (can you tell I love them?)

Bagels for breakfast

Hangover sunglasses

Frozen sea

Chips cooked in peanut oil, so I couldn't eat them

So I had a lunch of ice cream & Bloody Mary

Typical Essex interior decoration. Doggy style ornament

And so the night begins

Cue tipsy floor dancing

Dinner

No idea where we were

There are no words

So there we go. It could be used as a warning against binge drinking.

I absolutely loved Essex & really want to go back soon as my friend is moving to London in a few months & then it'll be lost to me forever.

Can you recommend any parts of Essex I should go to?

Kat x

All photos my own

Don't Put It Off

2012-04-02T00:47:00.002+01:00

Hello all,

Bit of a random post, but one that I think is very important.

This year I am turning 25, which to all girls (well those of us in England at least) means the beginning of the dreaded Smear Test.

I am not the first of my friends to hit the big two five, but I am the first one to have my smear. I think this is shocking, we are so lucky to have the NHS providing us with free health care & even more to have routine screenings thrown in to check up on us. I think it's absurd that people don't go in for them. When I asked my friends why they said it was cause they "dreading it". Well ladies I have to say it is absolutely fine. It's over incredibly quickly (10x fasted than a wax) and really is not as awkward / invasive as you would imagine. I think another thing putting us off is that our mother's generation had it much worse than us. I don't want to go into too much detail, but they had to put up with much more uncomfortable (and cold) instruments than we do. I was in and out in 5 minutes, and only on the actual bed for 2.

The results for the test come incredibly quickly (I got mine within a week). Hopefully you'll get the all clear, and then won't need to worry about another smear for 3 years. However, some women will get an abnormal result. I was one of these women, I got a letter saying I had mild dyskaryosis.

I was not worried about this as I have a lot of knowledge in this field. This is a really common occurrence and all it means is that there were a few cells which had gone through some mild changes. However the letter came with a pamphlet with a massive word saying cancer (which would have really panicked me if I did not know this). I really think they should rethink sending this out!

So I had to go into hospital for something called a colposcopy. This is a very simple procedure where they examine your cervix with a big magnifying glass, and depending on what they find they may have to perform a biopsy. This is obviously a little longer than a smear test, but you can watch along on a TV so it's very interesting. I got this appointment within 3 weeks and didn't need a biopsy. Yay! But I do have to have another smear in 6 months.

I hope I have shown that the smear is nothing to worry about. It's not stressful, painful or embarrassing. All the health care professionals I encountered were amazing, incredibly professional, and listened to all my concerns. It is very important to go for your smear as the risk of being exposed to HPV (a virus that can lead to cervical cancer) is incredibly high. So please don't put it off, and just get it over with.

Sorry to bang on about such a serious topic, I promise it will all be shallow and light-heartedness again!

Kat x

Bright Eyes, Burning Like an Attention Seeker

2012-03-31T22:44:00.000+01:00

Hello interweb,

We're all still sniffling along down my end, but on the up & up, so hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to my relatively healthy self.

I'm sure you've all gathered by now that I'm a girly girl. I like make-up, pink things, super high heels, anything even slightly sparkly... you get the idea. But if there's one thing that lets me down (actually two things if you include my complete ambivalence towards handbags), it's my sunglasses collection. But this is due to my skin type (my mum's ginger so I react to the sun the same way as the vamps from True Blood) and the boy I tend to hang around with (army rugby type). So my holidays tend to include hiring a quad bike and roaming around doing outdoorsy things. Therefore, however much I may love them, the beautiful oversized round beauties that every other girl wears are just not suitable for me. Though if I did, these would be the ones I want:

Source I think I love them mainly for the Tiffany Blue legs

I basically spend my holidays living in my skiing sunnies (proper sporty types), and when I am going round a town or something I tend to go for cheapo ones. Enter exhibit A:

See quite normal, barring the purple & leopard print. I would have happily worn these all holiday, but the boy took them (he shares my belief on blending into surroundings), so I was forced to wear these beauties for a month:

Now, whilst I don't mind wearing heart shaped glasses, if you wear them day in day out you do get heart shaped tan lines, and I looked ridiculous.

So, now to the point. I needed new sunglasses, that had enough protection for skiing, and yet still looked interesting enough to be worn for the rest of the year. Enter Oakleys.

Yes I do realise I am very late to the game but Oakley's have done a fun limited edition their classic Frogskin shape, called Blacklights. We have been eyeing these up for ages, but seeing as the boy just bought some sunglasses recently we just couldn't justify the £90 price tag. But hello 2-for-1 offer so we went for it. Disclaimer: The colours of these glasses are extremely hard to capture in pictures, but it's the effort that matters. Right?

As you can hopefully tell the lenses are super reflective (you can't see my eye through them) and very gold in colour. The frames are neon pink and the legs are neon yellow. They are proper raving glasses! But what's even more awesome is that the legs detach and you can change them with other coloured legs from other glasses. Stupidly enough for some reason Oakley aren't selling the legs separately (they really have missed a trick there). But I am constantly interchanging them with the boys glasses. He got the ones with a bright orange lens & orange frames.

I absolutely love these sunglasses (and really want to get them in every colour). They provide great sun protection (well duh they are Oakleys afterall) and they just demand attention, wherever you are (I am constantly getting radoms coming up for conversations, and have been bought 3 drinks becasue of them - I've spend alot of time in beer gardens recently). But the next ones one my wish list are:

They don't look like much, but the lenses are the most gorgeous pinky purple colour, and my resistance is waning as we speak. Sigh.

So all in all, I have to say, in the most objective way: Get them before they are discontintued. They are amazing.

What colours are you favourite? Where do you get your sunglasses from

Kat x

Photos my own or from stated sources

Look at my Sheeny Shiny Face

2012-03-30T22:38:00.001+01:00

Hello Inter-highway!

I am poorly. In fact everyone in my house is poorly. So today was spent lounging on the sofa reminiscing about better times when we had full use of both nostrils. Good times. This seems to be going round everyone at the mo, so hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow feeling glorious. But obviously I will not be posting any photos of my face, because no-one deserves that. So photos below are from a few weeks ago.

So today's post is about the wonderful world of highlighters.

If I am wearing proper make-up in the daytime (i.e. not for work), I tend to go all out. I figure I only have a few years where I can get away with it, so I may as well just go for it. So a problem I often face is how to change it up for the evening. Highlighters are my answer. I don't wear them in the day, because really what's the point? There's too much light around to appreciate the affect so it's something I save for 'going out' make-up. So, somehow it's got into my mind, that it's not a good night until I am a sheen on my face! I surely can't be the only one out there who thinks that?

I have used many different ones over the years, never having a definite favourite. I guess I'm saying I was a highlighting slag. Just flipping about from one to the next never developing any strong emotional attachment to one in particular. That was however until 1 month ago. I fell in love, and now I am never without it. So what is this magical product I hear you ask?

Obviously it's from Mac & it's Belightful

This is in a special snazzy box as they don't make it in the normal format anymore (bloody typical).

It's called: Packed to go 4 lips & pressed powder. It came in a lovely cardboard box (which I really don't want to throw away, even in recycling, it's just too pretty). Actually I love the packaging of the product itself as well. It comes with 4 solidified lip glosses in the top:

Clockwise from top left: Riviera Ready, Poetic License, Quick Change, Rosehips

And you push these aside to reveal the Belightful underneath.

It is a lovely powder highlighter, which mac describes as a "Gilded Peach Bronze". On first inspection it appears very glittery, but this is just the top layer, and a quick sweep of the brush reveals love bronzey gold powder. I apply it to with mac's 227 brush to the top of my cheek bones & brow bone and when the light hits it gives a lovely, not too in your face sheen. It photographs like a dream too.

As I said before I did not want to photo myself tonight, so I trawled through old photos of me on Facebook to find a suitable shot. I am a posing fiend, so this is a really tricky thing to do, but I tried...

Relax, this was just after application,
thus before any type of blending!

Oh dear, but this is all I could find.
Sigh

...And failed. Oh dear, I blame the alcohol.

But yes, photos may let me down, but the product itself is amazing. The cutesy box costs £29.50, which for the highlighter + the 4 lip-glosses is actually quite a good deal. I am definitely going to repurchase Belightful when it is re-released in another collection, and I never think like that, so it must be good.

Which highlighters would you recommend?

Kat x

All photos my own

Covering Up My Sins

2012-03-28T23:57:00.001+01:00

Good evening interweb,

Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer, Estee Lauder Ideal Light,
Mac Select Moisturecover, Bobbi Brown Corrector,
Mac Studio Finish

As I have hinted for a while now, I tend not to sleep very much. This doesn't really bother me, but it does take its toll just south of my eyes. I don't have bags, I have humongous dark purple marks that really look closer to bruises than anything else. So I am one of those people who has to always wear concealer under my eyes. I don't always wear foundation, but concealer is a must (unless I am seeing the Dr & actually want to make myself look more ill to gain some sympathy!). So I thought I'd share with you the products I have found the most useful over the years.

Bobbi Brown Corrector (Porcelain Bisque)
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer (Ivory)

My bags are so bad I can't just use concealer on its own. I have to use a product underneath to try and tackle the dark colour. This was suggested to me years ago at a Bobbi Brown counter, and I haven't looked back since. I am of course talking about Bobbi Brown's Corrector (£17). It is very similar to their creamy concealer, except that its main purpose is to neutralise dark circles (it's like it was invented just for me!). You are meant to use it over your foundation, and under your usual concealer. I, however, find this gives me a very cakey finish, which, quite frankly, jsut attracts more attention. After some experimenting, I found it best to use under your foundation and wait a bit for it to set before you apply the final layer of concealer (i.e. do your eye make-up first). I love the finish this gives & it completely covers my circles. Essentially, it does not really matter which concealer I use on the dya, but I always use the corrector, and I can not recommend it higher.

So now onto concealers.

Mac Studio Finish (NW20)

The first is another one form Bobbi Brown, and it is their Creamy Concealer (£17). I got this after hearing the pixiwoo girls rave about it, and I loved it. It does exactly what you expect and it really is a good concealer. It was my favourite for years, however 2 months ago I went into mac & bought the very similar Mac's Studio Finish Concealer (£13.50), and I haven't really used it since. Studio Finish is like the upgraded version of creamy concealer, it gives better coverage whilst also having a more natural finish and I don't have to blend it as much to obtain a less cakey finish (which is always a bonus first thing in the morning!). I do always feel a bit guilty for having given up on my creamy concealer after years of loyalty, but then I use it again, and realise it just isn't up to scratch any more, I have upgraded to a newer model and I don't think I'll ever go back.

Estee Lauder Ideal Light (soft pink)

And finally is my liquid concealer. My very first concealer I ever bought was Estee Lauder's Ideal Light (£22.5). This is an illuminating concealer, i.e. it covers up dark circles by making them more light reflective. I never really liked this as I found it highlighted my problem areas (never apply this type of product over spots). I did however like how it felt on, it was much lighter & did give a lovely fresh finish. So this caused me to try out other liquid concealers, and this bought me to mac's Select Moisturecover (£13.50). I love this as a day concealer on a good day (i.e. no black eyes), and especially love it over a mineral foundation as I find this gives the most natural finish. I don't wear this over spots or blemishes, as even though it is buildable, it just doesn't give the amount of coverage I require.

Mac Select Moisturecover (NC20)

So here are my concealers of the most. I use them with mac's 224 brush (as the pixiwoo girls taught me) or a 252 brush, depending on my mood (yes I really do live my life in the fast lane!). I especially recommend the Corrector, and then the studio finish or moisturecover, depending on your needs. But the search will continue on as I realise this is a problem that will only get worse as the years go by. Le sigh.

What concealers do you recommend? Do you have any other remedies for horrific bags?

Kat x

All pics are lovingly borrowed from here, here, here, or my own

Millions of Peaches, Peaches For Me

2012-03-26T23:44:00.001+01:00

Hello internet,

At the moment I seem to be spending Monday evenings snuggled up in my dressing gown, nursing a cup of tea, and generally regretting my revelry of the weekend. I know everyone hates Tuesdays, but for me its Mondays, I really need to live in a 3 day weekend world. And if that happened, then I wouldnt have to put up with people who insist on calling Wednesday "Hump Day". Urgh.

But anyway, really must stop complaining. Time to talk of all things good... My wonderful friend gave me a blush today, for no reason except that she is lovely. Oh and she said she was fed up of my cheeks being so plain. Weirdo.

So I thought I'd share it with you & do a quick review!

So, drumroll please; she got me Mac's powder blush in Pinch O' Peach. And here are some pics:

And now a swatch:

It is a sheertone blush (so obviously not a strong matte colour) and mac describes its colour as "A wash of warm peach". Well, I suppose this could be true, but it is definitely more pink than peach (to me at least). I have been wearing it everyday for the past week & I absolutely love it. It gives a natural wash of colour without screaming "Look at my cheeks I'm wearing blush!". And because it is quite natural, I have been wearing it with a variety of different eye looks & colours. I was quite cautious about it as I had not heard much about it on the blogosphere/youtube, and apparently I am a massive sheep and tend to only part with my dolla if people have raved about a product!

I have never been a big blush wearer, but I have been trying to change this as I get ~~older~~ further away from my teen years. But whilst looking through my itsy-bitsy collection I realise I have been acquiring a variation of a theme, the theme being peach! I didn't even realise I liked peach blush!

Stereo Rose, Pinch O' Peach, Peaches

I already had Peaches blush (pure peach) & Stereo Rose MSF (coral/peach hybrid). These are my most reached for blushes at the moment, but I have to say Pinch O' Peach is now my new favourite. It's a bit girlier and more natural flush-like than peaches, and I find I have to work a bit harder to blend Stereo Rose in to decrease the shimmer factor. So, this is now the one to beat!

Time for swatches:

Pinch O' Peach, Peaches, Stereo Rose

Here are some photos of me wearing Pinch O' Peach & Peaches. Please excuse the quality as I put this on before bed & am quite looking forward to sleeping! Oh and also I really piled it on to show the colour, I do not wear it this strong in real life.

Pinch O' Peach

Peaches

So, that is that. Pinch O' Peach costs £14.50 for the palette refill pan (don't you hate how mac keep putting the price up!). So now it's time to scrub my face, watch Skins (and wish it was as good as the first generation) and sleep perchance to to dream.

Goodnight chicks

Seeing as I clearly have a thing for peach blushes, which ones would you recommend? How do you wear Pinch O' Peach?

Kat x

All pictures my own & from here

Embellished Snuggly Goodness

2012-03-21T17:33:00.000+00:00

Another day, another Oasis purchase. I blame House of Fraser for being within a 5 minute walk from my room. Sometimes I wish I lived in the middle of nowhere, my bank account would be less vacant.

But I bought this for my ski trip. A trip in which I always envisage myself looking all healthy & snuggled & chic, when in fact reality forces me to look like a burnt panda & be bloated from way too much booze, bread & cheese. But yes this jumper (which is in the sale) seemed perfection for me.

It is a round necked cream jumper with 3/4 length sleeves and it is embellished with little studs across the front. The back of the jumper however is plain, this is obviously a cut-costing strategy and it always irks me slightly, but oh well I don't have to look at my back!

It is lovely on, very soft (100% cotton) and I love that I can make it casual or smart, by pairing it with boots or killer heels. I of course also plan on pairing it with my leather shorts, as I love the contrast of slutty leather with comfy jumper.

The only downside I have found is that it reports to be hand wash only. But fear not my little chickadees, I have risked it for a chocolate biscuit & washed it successfully in the machine. I put it on the cool wool cycle with bio detergent and dried it flat & it came out perfectly (though don't sue me if this doesn't work for you!).

As I said it is in the sale for £38 (still on the expensive side, though it's way better quality than any Topshop jumpers I have tried which are in the same price bracket). And it also comes in red (which I also am coveting, but alas it is no longer stocked in my size). Ooh, speaking of; sizing wise I am a 10/12 on top, though I find Oasis runs on the larger side so I opted for a Small which fits perfectly.

So what do you think of my pointless buy just before spring/summer? Have you been buying anything in the sales?

Kat x

All photos my own or from here

So... Was it worth the wait?

2012-03-21T00:15:00.002+00:00

Hey guys how was your weekend? I am still recovering from mine, which depressingly enough means I am definitely getting old! But enough self wallowing, something near on miraculous has happened! After months of trawling around various Chanel counters in countless cities I have finally found Vitalumiere Aqua in my shade (20)!

So what else could I do but wear it for a fortnight & then write a little review...

Well my first thoughts were that of shock. I took it out of its box & I saw its size & I automatically thought I had been swindled. But hopefully you lot aren't as dense as me! Yes it looks smaller than the original packaging, but it holds exactly the same amount. Magical, huh? I do think it is more practical packaging than the bulky & heavy glass bottle, but it definitely doesn't look nearly as impressive. Oh well, it will have to just sit in my drawer as opposed to pride of place on my mantle! What a tortured life I lead!

So what do I think of the foundation? I have used it for 2 weeks now, and I have to say I love it. So what does Chanel have to say about it?

A new-generation texture. An unprecedented sensory experience. A unique makeup result. Rapid and easy application. Apply your makeup without thinking about it. Its soft and evanescent ultra-fine fluid texture is a real surprise: although exceptionally delicate and light, it offers an incomparable “second-skin” perfecting result. The complexion appears amazingly even, fresh and energised. The skin glows with seemingly nude beauty. As if lit from within. Bathed in light… Its formula, enriched with a UVB sun filter and mineral sunscreen, protects the skin from damaging sun rays (SPF 15). Its crystalline fragrance accentuates the sensation of freshness and pleasure on application.

And I have to say I have to agree with this shamefully pretentious description. Its formula is quite loose (that surely can't be the correct term, but I honestly can't think of a better description), in fact you have to shake it up before each use to avoid dispensing a water-like substance! But despite this, it provides a gorgeously natural finish. It gives enough coverage create a flawless finish, yet it is light enough to still look natural. The finish is similar to the original Vitalumiere foundation, but it is slightly more natural finish and less of a dewy one. I have tried it out with all my brushes and I think my LY02 (big flat brush) gives it the best finish.

Odd choice for photo I know,
but I was too tired to photograph my face today,
and this was the only face shot I had!

So would I recommend this product? Definitely yes!

Has it replaced the hole in my heart left by the now discontinued Pro Lumiere? Hmm.. tricky question. I love it, yet it is not anything like Pro Lumiere, so I don't think it could ever be go to replacement! So even though I am definitely a happy camper, the search definitely still continues.

It costs £31, which is expensive, but Chanel is such high quality I am more than willing to repeatedly part with my hard earned dosh.

So have you tried out Vitalumiere Aqua? What did you think? What have you guys found to replace my long lost Pro Lumiere?

Kat x

All photos my own

Forever In Blue Jeans

2012-03-14T00:02:00.001+00:00

I've finally jumped on the colourful jeans band wagon. Though I did take quite a safe option, so really it's more of a girly plop than a jump.

But anyway, I digress, yes I have finally given in & bought some bright blue jeans (I just couldn't bring myself t buy red jeans ever since I saw a middle aged father wearing them). Guess where they are from? Yes surprise surprise, Oasis. They cost £45, which I think is pretty reasonable considering they are good quality.

Please excuse the oh so sexy socks & slippers combo, I was just mooching round the house, and honestly couldn't muster up the energy to put shoes on.

These jeans are so comfy, skinny fit (called Cherry in store) without being obscenely tight. I also love the colour, as it's bright without screaming "look at me I'm wearing coloured jeans. I'm such an individual!". I love them & definitely want some more colours now:

I think I definitely need mustard jeans in my life. I have a love for all things mustard right now, except for actual mustard which I hate. How ironical.

What colour jeans are you rocking? What colour do you suggest for my next pair?

Kat x

Photos my own, or from here

What I Wore: Gold Sequins

2012-03-12T21:01:00.002+00:00

A few weeks ago I met up with some old uni friends. We went out to The Breakfast Club, Spitalfields & had the most unhealthy but delicious selection of food (mostly consisting of cheese and grease). If you haven't been go & make sure you go through the Smeg! (I promise it'll make sense when you go!)

I was wearing yet another Oasis purchase and got a few compliments on it, so I thought I'd share it with you!

I am quite like a magpie & love anything glittery or sparkly so this jumper really was love at first sight for me. Oasis tend to run quite large so this is a bit too big for me (I got a medium in the sale, which is not the 10/12 that I am), but I don't think this really matters for a winter jumper, it just adds to the snuggly look! I also love the soft colour of it & think it is ultra flattering for us pale-ies!

As I'm still not used to taking photos for the blog I only have slightly weird ones, but you can get the general gist! I paired it with my leather shorts again (which I am still slightly obsessed with), and my v v high black heels. Here is how it looked:

Yes this is the only normal picture of me! And yet I still look like I'm posing for a school photo. Le sigh. Also, this photo shows how the jumper is quite thin & thus sheer, so I always wear a vest underneath, I don't wear black anymore though as I think it creates a slightly ugly colour, now I wear a very un-sexy skin coloured vest!

Not entirely sure what I'm doing here, all I know is that I thought tiptoeing over to open the drawer was absolutely hilarious. However, this is the only (almost) full length shot, so beggars can't be choosers.

I think I need to try and keep clear of Oasis for a while, I think my love is beginning to turn into obsession.

Do you have problems with locating normal photos? Do you love all things sparky as much as me?

Kat x

All photos my own

My Favourite (but boring) Louise Young Brushes

2012-02-28T22:22:00.000+00:00

As every perfectly normal make-up addict, over the years I have procured an alarming number of make-up brushes. In the early years (when I owned only 3 brushes and thought that was excessive, ah the innocence of youth), they all came from Mac (as did all my collection). But recently I've been wanting to branch out and use other brands, but I wasn't sure where to begin. I have been watching Jemima's video tutorials & she always praises Louise Young, so I thought I'd try them out for myself. I have a few now, and I'm a complete convert, but I thought I'd share my top 3:

3. LY31

Angled Brown Sable Brush (£13). I know what you're thinking, how could a brow brush be in my top 3? But I seriously love this brush. I also own mac's 266, 263 and 208 (I told you I was an addict!), but I never use them from my brows anymore. I don't really know what I can say about this brush, it's lovely and firm without being too harsh, and applies & blends nicely to define the brows.

2. LY02

Foundation Taklon Brush (£24.50). This is quite simply a flat foundation brush, but its defining quality is that it's bigger/wider/thicker in all dimensions. This is what makes it better than any other foundation brush I have used. I have a massive head and face, and it provides coverage very quickly with minimal effort.

1. LY34

Super Foundation Brush (£24). Yes, yes I know another foundation. Boring. But this is my absolute favourite brush, it is round in shape and it beautifully buffs in foundation for a more stippled/airbrushed effect. I absolutely love it, and it works wonderfully with every foundation I own. Its shape means it's also perfect to be used as a contour brush. So, if you are to buy any brush from Louise Young, or are looking for a new foundation brush, then look no further and get this right away

Have you tried Louise Young brushes? Which are your favourites?

Kat x

All pictures sourced from here

OOTD - leather shorts, flower top

2012-02-26T17:31:00.000+00:00

A few weekends ago I went out to Brixton Electric for an old friend's birthday. I was always planning to do an OOTN post, but I really suck at getting people to photograph me (probably because an old boyfriend once said my photo smile made me look like the joker, thus causing me to pout in all my photos!). But I still like this outfit, so apologies for the very obvious decline into an embarassingly inebriated state, but here it is:

The tee is from Oasis (suprise surprise!), and the faux leather (nice term for PVC/pleather) shorts are from Warehouse, I would have loved real leather ones, but couldn't justify the price. I absolutely love the shorts, and am now very rarely seen not in them. Their only down-side is that as I keep announcing they are wipe clean and people tend to enjoy spilling things on them to test out this theory. But if your friends aren't like the knobs that I associate with, then I don't foresee this as being a problem! I was wearing very high silver stud black platform heels from New Look from years ago so I was ever so tall, which I love. Here are the web photos of the clothes:

I decided to keep the makeup neutral as the shorts + slightly stripper-esque shoes can be quite slutty. Something terrible happened to the hair. I didn't have the time to wash it as it takes 2 hours to dry, and it was a frizzy state, so put it in the conical wands, and forgot to brush it. So I have the same hair as a Victorian doll. But, if you just ignore the head I like this look.

What are your feelings on pleather? What are your go to night out essentials?

Kat x

All photos are my own

If Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, Does Presence Makes the Heart Grow Indifferent?

2012-02-15T14:24:00.002+00:00

Three theatre shows in a week and I think I've reached my limit (though it wasn't quite as bad as when I saw two shows in one day!). But my week was capped off by going to the diddy Harold Pinter Theatre to see Absent Friends.

Ayckbourn tells the story of three couples coming together for afternoon tea to cheer up their recently widowed old friend. Sounds simple enough, but within the first five minutes, you realise to put on an appearance of support requires a lot of masks to be put on. You quickly discover that one of the women (Kara Tointon) is having an affair with the hostesses (Katherine Parkinson) husband. They are soon joined by the third woman (Elizabeth Berrington) who is married to a perpetually ill and seemingly useless husband. The two husbands joining this trio are the neglectful philanderer (Steffan Rhodri) and the useless fidgety man who knows his wife is doing naughty things with his host & business partner (David Armand). It soon becomes clear that this is a very five-some is all very unhappy with their lot in life. In fact the only happy person in the show is the man who has recently lost the love of his wife in tragically abrupt circumstances (Reece Shearsmith).

This play can only be described as tragically funny. It is a very British thing to try to ignore the elephant in the room and keep things pleasant (especially when there's tea involved), and Ayckbourn demonstrates this brilliantly. There are plenty of cringe-worthy funny exchanges with the grieving man, which ring very true to life. All in all it must be difficult to bring out the comedy in such awful circumstances but this achieved by a brilliantly stellar cast. The women definitely play their parts well (putting the men somewhat to shame). Tointon plays the young, common, cheating wife brilliantly and without a hint of empathy, Berrington is a wonderfully lovable ditsy housewife and provides much of the comedy, and Parkinson has a brilliantly powerful breakdown (involving a jug of cream) that makes your heart break for her. Don't get me wrong, the two husbands do a good job, but the true tragedy of life is brought through by the women. Shearsmith is brilliant as the ever cheerful mourner. I saw him last year in Betty Blue Eyes, and I much preferred him in a straighter role. Your heart bleeds for him as he is stuck in-between all these incredibly tense group of unhappy people, telling them how lucky they are to have such wonderful lives.

The set is fine, though nothing to write home about (so why am I?), and is just of a typical house in the 1970s. Above them on the wall is a clock that continues to tick away in real time (I assume to accentuate the passage of time in their lives, and also to further highlight the awkward silences).

The story is essentially about the inevitable death of love in a relationship as opposed to the death of a lover, and the disenchantment unfulfilled life expectations. With a sprinkling of comedy mainly focused on societies feelings on death and mourners. Both aspects of these are captured brilliantly, both by good direction (Jeremy Herrin) and an excellent cast. I did enjoy it and would recommend it if you are a fan of straight plays, but I wouldn't say it's a must see.

Score : 6.5/10

Have you seen Absent Friends? What did you think?

Kat x

Images from google image search