3 good things

During term time I'm so busy with work that regular posting seems to fall by the wayside. To keep myself in the groovy, I want to start a mini-series on my blog called 3 good things, in which I share the things I'm loving and the things keeping me busy. Some style might even creep in!

So without further ado, 5 good things this week:

1. Egg and avocado breakfasts



From The kitchn



I adore avocados and eggs together - the perfect, filling way to start the day and completely delicious. In a sandwich, on a flatbread, wrapped up in a tortilla; it's delicious. And fuels me for...

2. Getting a bit sweaty

I have always been a notorious fitness-dodger and the only exercise I ever had was running for the bus. However, in the lfast few months something has clicked and I've started attending weekly kettlebell classes (still sore from yesterday!) and I've been going for runs around the park. To give me something to aim for, I just entered the Great North 5K, which is a brillient bit of motivation for a beginner. I'll be posting more on this soon - maybe even some scary pictures of me in my running gear!

3. Earrings

I was a bit of a punk in my younger days and had stretched ears up until Christmas, when I took them out. The holes quickly shrank and I'm really enjoying wearing a variety of stud earrings. I have a real thing for brushed metallics so I snapped this H&M set up without hesitation.

What are you loving this week? Any other wannabe runners out there?

Skin, Hair and Beauty: Spring 2013

I've really been enjoying reading a blog called Into Mind lately, and particularly the articles on hair, skin and beauty. Into Mind has encouraged me to finally clear out the Drawer of Doom (c'mon, we've all got one) and think about what I actually need and use. For example, I own twelve nail polishes - what do I actually use? Three. A clear nail hardener, a mushroomy colour and a poppy red for summer. The rest? Totally superfluous.

Inspired by this, I decided to take a serious look at my beauty routines and get rid of the excess. I feel like I've really hit my stride with my hair at least, so why do I own all this extra? In this post I want to write down my essentials, mostly as a reference so I can look back and see what was really working for me.

 Hair

• Bumble and Bumble Creme de Coco shampoo
• Naked Bounce Kelp and Avocado Oil Curl-Defining Conditioner
• Tigi Bed Head Totally Baked Volumising Hair Meringue
• Tigi Catwalk Session Series Salt Spray

This combination of hair goo is really working for me. These products are light, long-lasting and smell amazing - I only need to wash my hair once per week at the moment, which is brilliant. My Mum gets a lot of free products from the salon she goes to, so I can usually get the Tigi products for nowt!

Skin

Daily:

• No7 Soft and Soothed Gentle Cleanser
• Lush Breath of Fresh Air Toner
• Dr Hauscka Normalising Day Oil
• Sanctuary Lift and Brighten Eye Complex (I think - the writing wore off the tube almost immediately. It's lovely and oily, so I'll have to figure it out before it runs out!)

Every few days (or when I remember)

• A mask of greek yogurt mixed with honey and something exfoliating - usually ground oats or almonds but currently Balm Balm Organic Hibiscus Face Mask, which is a powdered exfoliator that you mix with liquid to form a paste. Mixed with greek yogurt, I get the exfoliation plus the plumping and moisturizing of the yogurt and honey (not pictured).

I'm not totally sold on all these products. When things start to run out I'll probably replace a lot with Sanctuary products - they use lots of natural oils and I've never bought a bad product from them. I also don't plan to buy any more face masks - greek yogurt is amazing and very versatile.

Makeup

I really like Into Mind's concept of having layers of makeup for different occasions. I was inspired to write down my layers, and it really does simplify your routine.

Layer 1 - casual daytime

• No7 Beautiful Skin BB Cream in Fair
• Benefit Brow Zings in Medium
• Either Burt's Bees lip balm or Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle

Layer 2 - work or dressier daytime

• Any old Mascara, usually Great Lash
• Eyeliner on the top lid
• Soap and Glory Marvelips (a fantastic nude crayon) or one of my many red crayons

Layer 3 - dressy daytime or night

• Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Shadow in Permanent Taupe
• Bit of eyeliner on lower lid
• Translucent powder

When you think about it, that's about 10 products in all (I have a few lip products). That's so easy! I don't wear loads of makeup so I really don't need any more than this. I love all these products except the BB Cream - I'd like to try Kiehls BB Cream or Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. I'm working on getting rid of any extras and really streamlining my collection. I was a bit of a teenage punk and used to wear very bold eye looks every day (think tiny leopard print painted on using liquid eyeliner and glitter) so I do have a lot of makeup, but most of it gets very little use.


So, that's my Spring beauty roundup! Do you have any trusty items or secret products to share? I'm still looking for my BB cream/tinted moisturizer holy grail...

Simplicity

Forget elaborate wish lists and practical purchases: this dress is all I need this summer, with flat sandals, a light cardigan and a big bag of fruit, books and sun cream.

How would you style this?

SS13: Plan

All images from my Pinterest.

So, spring and summer. Not a long season in this rainy old country so it doesn't necessitate many clothes.

1. Slouchy trousers
2. Boxy breton (maybe in a red and white stripe)
3. Chunky cardigan for cold summer nights
4. Outfit for a summer wedding

I already have trousers - the mustard pair seen a few posts ago. The breton I have included because I get so much use out of my thick boxy Topshop breton and I usually end up buying a breton every year. The chunky cardigan would be useful too - summer nights are cold here and I want to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

  

So, most of my list is perfectly sensible and easy. However, the final item is not.

In August I am going to the wedding of two very close friends of mine. This is complicated by a number of factors:

• The wedding and wedding breakfast are in a Medieval restaurant, which will probably be quite cold, and the evening do is in a basement bar, which will be very hot
• My boyfriend is the best man, which means he'll be very formally dressed
• They've asked my band to play a short set during the evening, which will means my clothes have to be very practical and breathable
• I do not like wearing heels

I've made my peace with not being able to wear this outfit again (at least until the next one) - such is the nature of wedding outfits. As such, I don't want to spend a fortune on it. I'd like it to be loose and comfortable like this, but fitting the occasion - it's a small wedding but I'll be sitting with the wedding party. I'm starting to think I'll have to make my peace with heels if I want to wear a loose dress.

 

What do you think I should wear? Does anyone want to place a bet that I'll end up in Marks and Spencer? Love a bit of M&S.

Parklife

I obsessively stalk the year's first flowers.

Just chillin'.

Distracted by a squirrel.

Another outfit to wander around the park and stuff our faces with coffee and choc-chip shortbread from the van. We're heading to a saxophone concert later so my face is bare aside from a slick of Revlon lip butter. I decided on my favourite burgundy cable beanie to disguise the fact that my hair hasn't been brushed or washed in a week - I'm sure I read that washing your hair is bad for it and I'll cling to any excuse for poor hygiene. My current haircare routine seems to keep grease at bay pretty effectively; I think I'm due a hair and beauty update so I'll go into more detail on that soon.

This outfit is a pretty standard variation of my uniform: straight-leg Levi's, brown nubuck boots, slouchy jumper and a jacket or coat, always in navy. These pictures are also a pretty good illustration of one of my style issues: I have a very long torso and legs that don't match. I like my long body but jumpsuits are just wedgie city for me. I really enjoy not carrying a bag and when we go to the park I'm more likely to stuff camera and coins into my pockets. Speaking of which, why do women's jeans have such tiny pockets? We need somewhere to shove our hands/bus tickets/lip balm too.

What's your everyday uniform?

AW12: Recap

I realised this morning as I flipped through my blog archives that I haven't recapped on my winter purchases yet. I started my first post-grad job as a teacher in September and though I knew I'd be saving hard for a car and a house (ha!) I wanted to make a few solid investments too. My list was short, but carefully thought through:

1.  A very warm, soft boxy coat.
2. A pair of ankle boots.
3. Black skinny jeans. 

4. A beautiful leather purse.

Well, I think I did pretty well!

1. A very warm, soft boxy coat. I found my oversized navy car coat on the Marks and Spencer website of all places, reduced from £120 to £50. It's made of an Italian wool blend and felt like the bargain of a lifetime when I picked it up from the store. The picture on the website made it look awful - the furry bits were a totally different colour to the rest of the coat and it looked like it belonged to the Muppet-slayer. In person, it's much more subtle and deliciously warm.

2. A pair of ankle boots. See above! After much deliberation, I settled on the nubuck Clarks boots shown above. My initial hesitation was because my Mum has them in black, and it didn't feel very cool. Turns out, she's a smart lady - 26 year age gap means nothing when it comes to style. And they're really comfy!

3. Black skinny jeans. Hmm, sort of. I had a look in my wardrobe and realised that apart from a pencil skirt and some cigarette pants for work, I never ever wear black. Instead, I plumped for a pair of Levi's straight leg jeans in a dark indigo wash, which have been worn almost solidly since then. I much prefer straight leg to skinny (comfort, always) and Levi's jeans just fit my body right.
 

4. A beautiful leather purse. This one was never meant to be - I thought about it, but couldn't quite part with the cash in the end. I'm thinking that this ASOS purse might be a good compromise, on price and quality. My hatred of fake leather can make shopping tricky, which is why I've only bought two bags since I was 18!

I'm really happy with my planned purchases - they've had a lot of wear this winter and all have held up beautifully. I've also bought a few slouchy jumpers - my love of boxy tops has taken off this winter and I have three new slouchy sweaters to show for it. I also bought a leopard furry coat from ASOS on sale which I'm still umming and aahing over, but it was really cheap so I don't feel too bad and I have a feeling it'll do well on eBay should I channge my mind.

Coming soon: Spring/Summer 2013 plans! I don't wardrobe plan as much as I used to but I still find it useful to think about things that I need or want to replace, particularly if I know I have plans - our best friends are getting married in August and that will call for an awesome dress.

Do you wardrobe plan? Why/why not?

 

FOUND: Slouchy Trousers

 

After posting my wishlist yesterday, we went on a jaunt to Ikea to buy an armchair for our sparsely-furnished flat. A trip to the Metrocentre always involves a quick visit to Zara, where I found an awesome pair of trousers. Slouchy, tapered, elastic-waisted - everything I wanted in my elusive pair of comfy pants. And a beautiful buttery shade of ochre. I wore them for a wander around the park today with a cappucino and some chocolate chunk shortbread (yum) and they were perfect - heavy enough for the cold weather but loose enough for summer, and the colour is just murky enough to disguise the inevitable dirt (I picked up a white dress yesterday and my boyfriend remarked that I'd stain it before I even got it home). Now, I just need an excuse to buy the matching jacket (apart from it being brilliant).

P.S. I've been reading some really good new-to-me blogs lately - have a look at my sidebar and see if there's anything there that's new to you. I've been really enjoying all the new perspectives.

Summer is Officially Never Coming: The Wishlist

Scremerston Beach - beautiful but very cold.

Funny title, right? Sadly, it's all too true - the sun may be shining outside but there's ice on the ground and it's absolutely freezing. I spent the weekend sleeping in a yurt and if it weren't for the log fire burning away all weekend, I think I'd be frozen to the ground in my sleeping bag. It is cold.

So, in the spirit of when-life-hands-you-lemons, I am making sartorial lemonade and getting right back into enjoying winter clothing and pastimes. Reading Australian fashion blogs is getting me in the mood (at least their seasons are meant to be topsy-turvy) and I'm focusing on cups of tea and hearty cooking. In the spirit of this weird in-between season, I've compiled a little wishlist:

1. Large saddle bag
I have a small brown saddle bag that I carry almost daily, purchased in a souk in Marrakesh two years ago. It's been my faithful companion ever since but it is a little on the small side, though no longer as stiff as a board. I need space for gloves and sunglasses! Just in case! Zatchels are made in the UK and you have the option of sizing up to a slightly larger size. Not a huge difference, but I like the chestnut colour and the extra few centimetres would help.

2. A Christy's fedora
I love a good fedora and own two: a black wool number from Urban Outfitters and a gentleman's straw fedora with a leather band. The ultimate maker of the fedora, as far as I'm concerned, is Christy's, another British brand. What I really want is a camel-coloured fedora with a slightly floppy brim, but there's plenty of food for thought at Christy's. The rich colours and playful feathers will make up for my Vitamin D deficiency and frostbite.

3. Slouchy trousers
I have never been a sporty person. I can't even pull off a ponytail. But I suddenly have a hankering for some really soft, slouchy jogging bottom-type pants. What do I want? Sporty? Prints? And how awful will my bum look? Would I actually wear them, or would I just grab my jeans off the top of the pile as usual? Big questions. I blame Hannah-Rose and her amazing taste in trousers.

4. Macaroons
Maybe it's part of my larger disenchantment with big-name fashion, but those fancy little macarons ain't doing it for me. Today I'm planning on proper coconut macaroons, made a little healthier and a little more chocolatey. I'm trying to get a little healthier, back to natural foods, but I'm not willing to give up the occasional (okay, not-so-occasional) treat.

5. Pyjamas
I've never been a pyjama-purchaser, always a pyjama thief. Why buy little girly pyjamas when my boyfriend has chunky flannel pyjama bottoms and a variety of jumpers? My resolve was broken when aforementioned boyfriend gifted me a pair of Topshop pyjamas (like these but with a cat!). They're warm, snug and it feels like I'm hardly wearing anything (bonus!). Is this a hint? You can have your pyjama bottoms back. Thanks.

How's the weather where you are? What seasonally-appropriate things are you craving?

mmmmm...

Ahh... I love school holidays. Nothing like a great burger (bacon, avocado and dolcelatte) and a bloody mary to celebrate two weeks off. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

grey wool and brown leather

Time for a quick outfit photo between beers. I want to start documenting more of my outfits but the light and mirrors in my flat are awful, so dingy pub toilets it is. Happy Easter weekend!