Down The Rabbit Hole - Monday's Outfit & The Royal Ballet's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.

Bonjour mon petite poulets! Yes, I did just call you 'my little chickens' in horrific french, and I'm not really sure why, but there you go... Also a big hello and thank you to my new followers, you guys really have no idea how much it means to me that people actually want to follow my ramblings!

Anyhoo, today I was a very lucky girl and got to go to the Royal Ballet's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' at the Royal Opera House. To be honest with you, only a few months ago I could not imagine myself being a fan of ballet - the idea of hours with no talking and trying to grasp a story through skinny girls prancing about did not appeal to me. This was until I saw The Nutcracker at the ROH last December with my mother, and that was it. I was hooked. So when 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was listed in their Spring Season, I was determined to get tickets to one of my all time favourite stories. After over a three hour queue online to try and grab any tickets going a few months back, I was booked in some mighty fine seats, to go see Alice on stage!

 My high expectations were not disappointed, neither were anyone elses. It was spectacular with the music, the props, costumes and choreography that just emulated the hours of work put into it - everything worked perfectly and stayed true to the Lewis Carrol's story, that even had the audience laughing! If my glowing review wasn't enough, this should confirm it to you: even the boy loved it, and he is NOT a ballet man. 

Here are some pictures I sneakily took (sneakily meaning like a tourist):

The Big Egg Hunt in Covent Garden

One of the things I love about going to the Royal Opera House to see the ballet (and one day, an opera) is that it is one of the few places where the audience still dress well when they visit. I will never turn down the opportunity to dress up when going out, and love that everyone else makes the effort as well - I'm an old fashioned girl at heart. So I took this opportunity to take the new ASOS dress out for a twirl:

Dress: ASOS; Belt: New Look; Tights: M&S; Pumps: New Look; Jacket: H&M

As you can see from the bottom picture, the rain had hit and I am being swept away by the wind of the Amphitheatre Balcony - but it was such a pretty view from up there! Anyway, I have really fallen head over heels for the midi length dresses now and lost all inhibitions that they make me look like a pale oompa loompa. This dress I think is one of my all time favourite dresses even though its a newbie, it just completely embodies the 1950s look I adore with its bright red fabric, high neck and full skirt that when you twirl around in it spins out and makes me feel like a ballerina hehe! 

Anyway here's some more pictures from today's rainy day out:

 Have you ever been to the ballet? What are your thoughts on midi dresses?

Love,

The Recent Haul: ASOS, River Island, Topshop & Vero Moda.

Happy Easter lovelies! Hope you have all had a lovely day, filled with lots of chocolate! Today's post is just about the recent goodies I have added to the wardrobe, pushing my dress count over 70 now... I'm starting to think I might have a liiiiiiittle bit of a problem...But dresses are just too pretty!

These first two dresses came from some sneaky sale-shopping & grabbing an awesome deal in Oxford Street's Vero Moda & River Island stores:

Vero Moda Jersey Stripe Dress: £16

River Island Skater Dress: £12

These two beauties are enough evidence for any shopaholic to realise not to turn down the offer of a spontaneous shopping trip - if I hadn't been convinced to make a trip to Oxford St after the Aussie Event, I would never have found these dresses! I've always been a fan of Vero Moda items, especially their dresses because of their cute patterns & shift dress style, so finding this cute nautical style strip dress just re-affirmed my love for this brand. Even better, it was £16! Bargain and bought. 

ASOS Full Skirt Midi Dress: £32

I was treated to this stunner by the bestie Dani, after it had gone down by 20% in the ASOS Easter Deal. We both spotted it on another blogger at the Aussie event (can you see a pattern emerging here?) and fell in love instantly. Dani bought it the moment she got home from the event, and after seeing it on her, I was desperate to get one. Sadly, the bank balance disagreed and I thought I would have to say bye to it forever. Luckily, my fairy god-sister-in-law treated me to it and all I can say is, if you get it, just twirl around in it and you'll understand why I love it so much. As always, I have found ASOS being one of my go-to dress shopping sites.

Topshop - £11.50

For months now I have been dying to find the perfect cherry-print dress for spring/summer - its one of the patterns that I don't have a dress in, but have always loved because of its brightness & vintage style. After trawling through endless fashion sites & eBay pages, I stumbled across this dress from Topshop. I was in love. It was everything I had imagined in my head for the perfect cherry-print dress, and after some manic bidding it was mine. Cannot wait for the sun to start shining again so I can take this baby for a wander!

On a little side note, I am selling some items on the wonderful world of eBay - a few dresses (boohoo) and other bits & bobs, so if you fancy a look just click here. 

Do you have any bargain hunting tips? Or a dress addiction?

Love,

"That is Mahogany!" - My Step-by-Step Effie Trinket Look from The Hunger Games.

Ever since seeing The Hunger Games trailer and then of course the film, I have absolutely loved Elizabeth Banks' portrayal of the villain you can't help but love, District 12's Capitol Escort - Effie Trinket. From the Capitol accent, to the tittering stilletto walk, Elizabeth Banks brought the Effie that Hunger Games fans had imagined, to life in front of our eyes. But it wasn't just the acting that made Effie real, but the incredible work of the make-up & hair stylists that were put into creating the perfect Capitol look:

Taken from Google Images.

After seeing the film for the second time, I was set in my mind that I wanted to try and recreate the fabulously dramatic style of Effie for myself, so basing it on the picture above, this was my first attempt at that with my limited make-up resources (damn not having my own make-up artist/studio):

Here were the majority of products used

Step 1:

Mix of 'Stargazer' White Foundation & MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC15

To achieve that off white paleness that Effie has, I had to mix my normal MAC foundation with quite a lot of white foundation that I bought last year for my Bride of Frankenstein make-up. Then using my fingers, I rougly applied it in two layers covering my lips & eyebrow as much as possible to create the 'sand-papery' effect that Gary Ross (Director of Hunger Games) wanted to achieve for Effie's skin. 

Step 2:

Now looking rather ghostly, it was onto preparing for the most time consuming part of this look - the eyeshadow. Using Boot's No7 'Stay Perfect' eyeshadow base/primer, I completely coated my eyelid & eyebrow to ensure that the eyeshadows to come would have a good base to start on.

Step 3:

This was easily the longest part of creating an Effie-esque look. It looks like just two colours right? That will be eaaaaasy... No! 

First, I coated my entire eye area in a light, glittery green shade that had yellow undertones from the Sephora Palette. I then mixed it with another yellow eyeshadow from my Colour Works palette to lighten the green further. Still not happy with the result, I used a shimmery white cream-based eye colour to get that all over shimmer to brighten it up further. Finally, after several applications of this green-yellow-white mixture, I could move on to the middle colour. I used my Sephora palette for all these colours, and went for a teal-blue mixed with a little emerald green shade, using two different eyeshadow brushes - one hard and angular for the first application, then a blending brush to soften it. Eventually, and I mean about 20-30mins later eventually, I could move on!

Step 4:

Onto the eyeliner portion! Using my Urban Decay angled brush, and a dark navy shade from the trusty Sephora palette, I did the first lining around my eyes. To add the shimmer effect that is key to Effie's style, I then blended the first liner with a glittery teal shade to just give it that extra effect. Finally, the look was starting to come together - woooohooo!

Step 5:

The final part of creating the eyes - a few lashings of Diorshow Iconic mascara on both the top and bottom lashes. Now, gladly burying away all of the eyeshadows it into the make-up bag, it was onto the cheeks & lips!

Step 6:

Using Benefit's 'Thrrrob', I focused on the apple of the cheeks for the flushed pink look that Effie has to show, you know, she's not a vampire. I then brushed it out a little across the cheekbone just to emphasise the angular look that Effie has. 

Step 7:

The lips - the ultimate Geisha influence with the small cupid-bow lips. I used Benefit's Cupid Bow to create this minitaure cupid bow lip look, and then sadly not having a bright lipstick about, used my pink Chanel lipgloss to add that bit of brightness.

And... Voila!

My amateur attempt at Effie Trinket's Perfect Capitol Look. Do you think I would blend in alright? I am thinking this is going to be my look for the next night out... Now wear to get that wonderful wig and couture wardrobe??????

What do you think? Do you like the Capitol look?

Love,

 

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Friday's Frock #2 - Ain't Nothing But a Houndstooth!

Happy Saturday! I know it's not Friday, but after having a bit of drama yesterday with the boyfriend that meant I didn't have time to blog my 'Friday Frock' post so here it is today:

Today's frock was a little gem that I found after some post- Aussie event shopping with the lovely  Tabitha and Dani in Oxford Street's River Island:

As any shopaholic knows, sale-shopping is essentially a sport - and a vicious one at that! There was shoving, clambering over one another, snatching items off the hangers from the grasps of another shopping - it sounds like a slightly tame version of the Tributes at the Cornucopia (Yeah, I am a Hunger Games geek).

 Luckily, I avoided this bloodbath when finding this cute, hounds-tooth skater dress discarded away from the dress section! There was only one left and that was a sign. I couldn't ignore a sign, could I?!

Dress: River Island; Tights: M&S; Belt: Jane Norman; Cardigan: New Look; Sequin pumps: New Look.

I love the style of skater dresses - the shift style top, with a mini full skirt that gives it that vintage feel with a modern twist. With the hounds-tooth pattern, it just added to this feel as it looked like something that had been transported out of Joan's wardrobe from Mad Men, with just a shortened hem-line.

The best part about this little beauty is that it was 12:12... £12 and a size 12! With weight-loss being one of my big goals for this year, I was super excited to be able to fit comfortably into a size 12 by River Island's standards - wooooooo, its all paying off! 

Well that's it for today's Friday Frock! How do you like the skater style dress? Are you a River Island fan? 

Love,

Thursday Thinkin' - Working for the Mouse... Mickey Mouse that is!

Greetings my dears!

I thought I would start a new series on the old blog after reading some tweets from bloggers about how they are interested in the person behind the blog - so that's what this is, just a random post once a week with some real random ramblings - let me know if you are interested in more!

So apart from the pretty obvious title, here is a clue to tonight's ramble:

Attractive, right? I know. If only I could have brought this little gem home with me to wear every single day... Well this was one of my two costumes that I wore during my two and a half months of working as a Disney Cast-Member - and despite the wonderful colour choice and parachute pants, I would love to have it back!

Anyway, in 2009, I was one of the lucky UK students who got to spend their university summer in the sunshine state of Florida, being part of the most magical place on earth - Disney World!

 It was no easy feat to get into Disney's International Cultural Summer Program - it took three stages of application through Yummy Jobs - an online application, a phone interview, and a face-to-face interview with two American scouts from Disney, which cut hundreds of thousands online applications down to a handful of successful applicants who actually got to go and spend them summer working for the mouse. But with a little faith, trust, and pixie dust as they say, I got through and received the congratulations email saying that I had gained myself a spot as a merchandise cast member - yay!

Ever since being little I had wanted to work in the place that I had visited thirteen times throughout my childhood... Yes, my incessent begging to my parents  generally allocated each summer holiday going back to the place where one day didn't go by without me having a giant smile on my face! Now, the dream was coming true and I was off to create that magic for someone else - and it was everything you could imagine it being and more!

My name badge that I love and adore - Look at the sparkles!

My bed in our two bedroom flat - had the most awesome roommate ever from China!

My second costume - the favourite. Look at that bow tie!

I left on 21st July 2009 and returned back to Blighty on 28th August. In the two months inbetween I worked fifteen different stores in Disney's Hollywood Studios, started a pin collection, made friends with some incredible people, lived with one of the sweetest girls I have ever known, learnt all new things about the American dating system, and worked literally one of the best jobs in the world. 

In the first few days, even with jetlag, you are not getting a moments rest - running to Traditions for training, scouring Walmart for the necessities to survive the first few days of jetlag, and being allocated into where you will be spending the next couple of months: this is one of the most nerve-wracking moments! As you queue up to have ID picture taken, your hair & make-up checked to ensure that it is natural, and being given forms & contracts to fill out, you finally get to the end checkpoint - the big moment - where you are assigned to fill out your role. Everyone wants to work in a park, where you can create the most magic for your guests and really feel the dream that is Disney-world. I literally jumped for joy at finding out I was working at Hollywood Studios - my favourite park! 

From then on, it was long shifts (sometimes 13hrs or more) in bright costumes, in the searing summer sun that sometime made you just want to have your own personal air conditioning. But despite these small drawbacks, it had nothing on the incredible experience that these two months were - where a shift at work meant spending the day having lightsabre battles with little boys, or singing outside Disney's American Idol with girls wanting to be popstars, and dancing in the daily parades. Yes, there were days where all I wanted to do was come home to my boyfriend & family, but honestly, the moments I had out there and being part of the magic, all it has made me want to do is go back! 

It was an incredible two months, with amazing people in a once-in-a-lifetime job where you made the magic happen. It's hardwork, and Disney expect the very best from you, but it is worth every second - granted all access to the parks, Disney discounts, and just saying that you were friends with Mickey, Minnie and the gang! 

If you get the chance, apply to do it one summer, you won't regret it!! 

My cast members: Americans, Brits, French, Chinese, Mexican.

On my graduation day - Dress: H&M; Jacket: H&M

July 21st Cast Member Gang in Magic Kingdom.

My darling roommate Cindy.

Who I was friends with...

My twin from across the pond! 

What do you think of this post? Would you ever work anywhere else? 

Love,