OOTD: H&M Floral

TopShop 3D sequin top - eBay
The White Pepper Sunglasses - The White Pepper
H&M pleated floral skirt (trend) - H&M

Patent & Fur Haul

These items were all bought earlier this year so there is a chance you can find them on eBay, links are to help you find a bit more info on them.

L-R

Baby blue furry Topshop Jumper - eBay
These came in a few different colours, I recently picked up a lilac version too which can be seen in one of my posts. If you invest a bit of time searching under just 'Topshop jumper' on eBay you might be able to find one on the cheap. Sometimes people don't make use of the keywords and miss out on people being able to find their item.

PVC Caramel Brown Midi Skirt - H&M
This skirt is from the H&M premium 'Trend' range which I have loved for a long time. Here it is being worn on chictopia. Its not so easy to find online, but I've seen the 'nude' version on eBay.

'Mardi' Patent Shoes from Topshop
Here is an old listing from eBay with a few keywords to help you track them down. You can often pick up shoes quite cheap on eBay. I have a UK 7 pair and found them true to size, albeit...squeaky!

Soft Furry Blue Bomber Coat - Topshop
Boyfriend style zip up jacket as seen here very Monsters Inc

Silver/Grey knitted snood from H&M

Foxy Locks Hair Extensions

I normally wear hair pieces when shooting pictures as I'm letting my hair grow out after much bleaching. I've got a natural shade of Dark Brown 400 in my hair at the moment and have invested in some clip in extensions for when I'm feeling a bit impatient.

Today I got my Foxylocks Hair Extensions in 'Darkest Brown' cut to fit with my current hair. They come in 20" pieces which some like to wear as they are. However my natural hair is about 14-15" long at the moment so I got them cut down to suit. I think it makes extensions look a bit more 'believable' if they are shorter and easier to manage too.

My hairdresser Paul at Uber gave me my usual trim and clipped these in for me. Considering I didn't want to feather my actual hair at the ends to suit the extensions he managed to blend them really well. Thanks Paul!

The best way to keep them looking natural without sacrificing your cut is to opt for curls and waves and consider putting them over one shoulder or styled half up if you want piece of mind when you are out and about.

The formation I've gone for is:
Nape of neck upwards
3 clip
4 clip
3 clip
Sides of head:
2 - 2 clip (left)
2 - 2 clip (right)

which left one 3 clip unused.

The extensions are really soft and great quality, these are 230g 'superior'. I have owned 2 sets in the past (other brands...can't remember the names) and these are the best so far I reckon, comfortable enough too.

Bell x

Before & After

Phone camera used: Google Nexus 5
Black and White striped dress is from Monki
Green dress is second hand River Island (eBay)

OOTD: Floral Midi

Lil' Odie got involved in today's OOTD

I've been picking up lots of cashmere/angora mix jumpers off eBay at the moment, they go great with midi skirts and feel NICE. This Cream/beige sweater is originally M&S - search for cashmere or angora sweaters on eBay. You can sometimes pick them up in auction for less than £10

The skirt is H&M and chiffon layered, I found this on eBay too, I love the illustration on the bottom half.

The black and white brogues are Miss Selfridge, picked them up recently on eBay, brand new too

Green ribbon in hair is just from a fabric shop - 70p!

The Whitepepper

I think I first came across THEWHITEPEPPER through the TopShop website. I ended up on their official site this weekend (thanks to Tumblr) and bought their Button Through Midi Skirt and the Retro Round Frame Sunglasses in Leopard.

I've been looking for a high waist denim skirt on eBay for a bit but not found the right one. I think I will get a lot of wear out of this one as its not heavy or restrictive. I'm normally a 28" so went for the 10-12, thought it might be on the tight side but I still had room to spare so *thumbs up.

I really liked the design of the shades, not sure many will think they are the easiest to wear/carry off, but I do like awkward shapes and cuts..even if they are not the most flattering.

I ordered on Monday and the items arrived next day! Currently there is free UK delivery and 10% off your first buy on the site

Blouse: Vintage - eBay
Skirt: TopShop high waist yellow midi - eBay

OOTD: Lilac Fluff

Navy Hat: Topshop

Fluffy Lilac Jumper: Topshop

Jacquard Cigarette Trousers: H&M (Trend)

Vivienne Westwood x Melissa 'Virtue Shoes' (I live in these shoes)

Acrylic Nails - 1st attempt

I'm trying to get my head around how people are doing all those really good DIY manicures at the moment so I'm going to start with messing around myself. I was quoted £50 (!) for my nails to done in a local nail salon so I thought I would give it a go myself first. It's something that will take a few attempts to get right. I did actually try one time before this and spilt the glue all over my desk - nail fail. So be careful as this glue is lethal if it gets anywhere you don't want it to, it looks so innocent in that little bottle.

Here are the bits I've got so far

False nails: £1.89 eBay
80 grit nail file 80p local Sallys
Acrylic nail glue: £2.79 eBay (2 bottles)
Tweezers (found I didn't use these much in the end)

You can snip the little tabs off these nails with scissors and then file them down to shape, check them against your finger to see which fits best

Some will fit right without any shaping, or at least thats what I found with the little finger, I'm not even sure I was putting the right shape on the correct finger. Prepare to spend at least an hour doing this as these are shaped by filing them with the 80 grit file.

This glue in particular runs like water so be careful, the bottle is light and easily knocked over so I was a lot more careful with it this time. When I knocked the glue over I thought throwing tissue paper on it would clear it up (erm...) and it started to sizzle and smoke (!) so its probably best to leave it to dry if it spills as it should dry clear. 

I thought I would use tweezers to stop the glue sticking to my skin but found just making sure you glue the end that goes to the base of the nail and avoiding the tip (so you can pick it up) works. This glue dries in seconds so you have to be really fast closing the bottle and getting the nail on (hold down for 15 seconds) The brush almost dries and sticks to the nail as you paint the glue on!

Here it is on, you can shape some more on the tip once its stuck. These acrylics seem to be a little transparent

They were done in about 45mins - 1hr, not perfect, but not bad for a first full attempt. I want to work more on shaping around the cuticle. I think I might have to look into gel nails next

They feel pretty secure, although it does feel weird. I filed them fairly short as I've got pretty long fingers and hands as it is! Links to a good tutorial/method are welcome

Bell x

Colour Contact Lenses

I bought some coloured lenses from Pinky Paradise a few weeks ago and have finally got around to trying them out. I got the GBT Green and the Venus Eye Blue.
I normally wear contacts and I'm a -2.50 so I'm use to putting them in (just about) but if you are new to contacts you will find this tricky ( I still remember my first time) so be careful not to drop them on the floor. I also use an alcohol antiseptic hand gel between taking them in and out as I've been told off recently by the eye doctor man for not being nice to my eyeballs.

They arrived to my UK address really quick and you get tracking too. This is what the set looks like when it arrives

You get a little hippo eye case for keeping them in and each pair of lenses come in a jar. Now be careful with opening these jars, because once you lose the metal pull and find you have to prise the rest of the top off it gets pretty dangerous. I cut my thumb doing this, so avoid using contact with the skin if you find you have to pull the bendy metal lid off with your hands. You then pour the contacts into your hippo's and you are good to go.

Photo's have not been enhanced and I didn't Photoshop my skin so you can get the best idea of how they look in natural light. Their website shows real life examples of people wearing them off Facebook too. I naturally have hazel (green/brown) eyes which will be the first pic.



My eyes with no lenses (natural colour hazel)

My eyes with the Venus Blue lenses

My eyes with the GBT Green

Hope this gives you an idea of how they turn out and I haven't scared anyone. They are comfortable enough but not something you would wear everyday more for one off occasions ;)

Bell x

Skinny Dip London

I treated myself to a Skinny Dip phone cover last week. Much respect to this new brand for making covers for Samsung handsets as us androids always get left out! Vannessa at Skinny Dip was quick to respond to e-mails and gave great customer service! I bought from the website. You can also buy their items from TopShop too. My phone is wearing the Samsung S3 perspex Sunset Case. Course I had to do a skinnydipselfie too - Bell x

Phone Case: Skinny Dip London. Dress: River Island. Shoes: Vivienne Westwood x Melissa. Nails: a mess (sorry).