About a month ago I purchased the book #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso, who is the Founder and CEO of Nasty Gal. I had heard alot of hype about this book so really wanted to read it and see what all the fuss was about. This book isn't a traditional Self Help book, it's written more as a life guide and basically tells you how Sophia has navigated her way through numerous obstacles and created a really amazing business. She started from the absolute bottom, homeless and 'dumpster diving' to becoming the CEO of a multi million dollar company and the way she got there is really inspirational. It begins right back when she started Nasty Gal and how brought second hand clothing and styled it, in such a way that it would sell really quickly and for a profit. You then follow her journey to when she comes successful on eBay and moves on to starting her own website and employing her own staff. The way she writes (and I can imagine talks) is quirky and straight to the point. She is a no messing around kind of woman and doesn't take the decisions she makes lightly. I love the way you watch her business grow, as well as herself and the way she develops the business into what it has become is really inspiring. While I am making this book sound like it's a really heavy, serious read it's really not. The way it's written is easy to read and also really enjoyable. She has heaps of little quotes and pictures that capture the moment really well and you can not finishing reading this book without feeling completely inspired. I highly recommend this book! Nicole xx
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I haven't done many fashion related posts, buts it's something I really want to get in to! I have seen alot of styling videos and pictures everywhere of tartan. I love the way tartan looks and all the different colours it comes in. I love red though, especially when it comes to clothing I love the way any shade of red looks against my skin tone so it's something I always gravitate towards. So today I though I would write a post about the Tartan pieces I have and how I style them. The first piece I've got is a tartan dress which was from Cotton On. This dress has a square neckline with little buttons on each shoulder for detail. It is a baby doll shape but shows the silhouette alot better. It hits a couple of inches above the knee so it's really easy to wear. It is sort of a faded looking red with a dark navy blue and black checkered pattern. In Winter I style this with my leather jacket, tights and my grungy looking boots (these are featured in my Top 5 Shoes post) I always wear my hair down and big and curly! If I want something a bit more casual I'll wear just a cardi, tights and plain ankle boots. In summer I'll wear it really casually with just either jandals or slip on shoes and probably no cardi. If it is a cooler day I think it would look great worn over top of a plain white tshirt. The second piece I have is a Tartan shirt I found at Temt. This is a basic shirt that tapers in slightly at the waist, has a high collar and rolled up sleeves. This has a black chiffon/polyester material for pockets and I wasn't sure about this when I brought it but now I quite like them! I love how vintage a tartan shirt is, so for Winter I love wearing this shirt with my hair up and some over sized cat eye glasses. I usually wear these with a plain pair of blue denim jeans. I recently got a pair of really high waisted black skinny jeans and I really like the way the shirt looks tucked into them. I have also worn it open over a plain black maxi for a more casual feel. In Summer I am going to style this shirt open, with a pair of cut off denim and white singlet. I definitely want to get a pair of high waisted black shorts so I can recreate my Winter look too. I think a shirt is such a staple piece in the wardrobe and I love the fun that the tartan brings. This shirt is also a pretty bright red which I absolutely love. So these are the only pieces of tartan I have but I have to say I'm hooked!! I've seen a gorgeous bralet and kimono that I NEED but haven't quite yet justified ha ha. Let me know if you love Tartan like I do and how you style it. Nicole xx So today I thought I would write about shoes! I love shoes and especially boots so I thought I would let you know what my top five are for this winter! For work I love wearing flats. I actually find cheap flats the most comfortable and find I buy a couple of pairs, wear them until they are worn out (usually only three-ish months!!) and then either replace with the same or something similar. These ones are in a gorgeous Magenta and are from Rubi Shoes. I LOVE Rubi Shoes, it's one of the only places I can go where I can put the shoes on and get no blisters. I usually get these in plain black but I recently have opted for some coloured ones to brighten black outfits. I usually wear them with tights for that little extra warmth too. This is probably the most common style of shoe in my closet and this is what I call the Grunge Boots. I like the style of a pretty girly dress with some grungy boots..I just love the contrast. These particular boots are mid calf and are loose at the top, they have two gun metal coloured buckles that are just for decoration and a zip on the inside. I got these ones again from Rubi Shoes and I love them. I did have to stretch them though so be careful with sizing. Also if you would like to know how to stretch boots I can do a post about that, just let me know in the comments. These are the most amazing ankle boots! They have a high wooden heel which is quite thick so makes standing in them for long periods of time bareable. They are a browny taupe colour and have a lace up detail at the front. They are surprisingly comfortable to wear and were quite cheap! They are from Number One Shoes and I believe they also come in black. I like wearing these with nude tights and dresses it playsuits to give it a more dressy look. I do find that the material doesn't tend to wear well in water, it tends to go a weird texture and dries with some marks. I just suggest to not wear them in the rain so they last longer. These are another pair of my favourite ankle boots. These ones have a cut out detail on each side and are done up with a gold buckle. They are quite hard to get on but really comfortable when on! They have quite a pointed toe which I like (as I have tiny feet so like to make them appear longer whenever possilble) they are quite narrow at the heel though so be careful of that. These are actually from Dotti and I picked them up in one of their sales for around $20.00 which I thought was a steal! I wear these with tights but they also look great with bare legs if the weather is ok. The last are my boring 'Tennis Shoes' these are such a classic though and I swear they can make any outfit more casual. They are so comfortable (and so dirty sorry haha) and they are made of the classic canvas feeling material. The soles are never the thickest but these shoes are extremely cheap so replacing is not an issue. They come in a wide range of colours and I've also seen them in the hi top style. I wear these with or without tights in the Winter are really wear them with anything. I hope you like this post that is something a little different. I am going to try and do a few more of these type of posts in the near future. Nicole xx So late last week I ordered some ELF make up off an online website. I requested the faster shipping (as the cost wasn't too different from the slowest form of shipping) and was surprised when it showed up only 5 days later. I ended up getting 10 items for just under $40.00 and these were all products I have been dying to try for a long time so I've been pretty excited!! The products came really well packaged with not a single product damaged. I got a little excited when it first came (and before I'd had a chance to photograph it all!!) so please ignore any marks in the products, they all came smooth and clean. I am looking so forward to trying it all and reviewing it on here...but so far I am well impressed. The first thing I opened was the Translucent Matifying Powder in Translucent. This is just a basic setting powder that is supposed to give a flawless matte finish. It comes in a sleek compact with the powder to one side and a small sponge to the other. It feels soft and silky and is a great colour. I got the Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder in St Lucia, this I've heard it a great dupe for the Nars Laguna and Orgasm Duo so I can not wait to try this. The bronzer looks like its got a small amount of gold shimmer in it but when swatched it looks matte. It's a great golden tone too, not too orange. The blush is a soft peachy pink with a small amount of gold shimmer which does show up when swatched but not too strongly. Just a nice soft everyday blush. I got the extremely popular Eyebrow kit that Youtuber Shaaanxo uses all the time (which is the reason why it has become so popular) I got it in the shade Medium and in the pan it looks quite light but when swatched it looks like it'll be a great colour. In the pan it has a setting gel, which is the dark brown side and the eyebrow powder. The gel looks really dark but is quite a sheer colour and will add a small amount of tint when used. It also comes with a small brush that has a fluffy end and a tapered end. The fluffy end doesn't look practical at all but the tapered end looks quite useable. I've been after a Kabuki brush for a while and I saw this little kit, a kabuki brush on its own was double the price so I thought I'd give the kit a go. This kit comes with a Healthy Glow Shimmer Powder and the brush. The shimmer is actually a gorgeous golden shimmer with small sand gold and copper looking flecks. This blends out really well and looks like it would be a great highlight. The brush however is tiny, I should have realized this before I got it but I still think i can make it work. Its perfectly dense and extremely soft so would be good for setting under eye powder if not the whole face. I got another product made popular by Youtuber Shaaanxo, this is the HD Undereye Setting Powder in Sheer. This product claims to camouflage fine lines, dark circles and imperfections, and is supposed to be perfect for setting cream concealer. The packaging is very sleek and light weight and the powder is self feels soft and silky. There is a pretty good amount of product too considering the amount you actually need to use. It also comes with a brush which is more like an eyeshadow brush and quite stiff. This wouldn't be ideal for the setting powder but could work for a concealer brush or an eyeshadow brush. Next is probably my favourite product! This is the Matte Lip Colour in Rich Red, I've been after a good red matte lip product for a while and this is gorgeous. It comes in pen form and is a simple wind up. There is actually a good amount of product there too which is surprising. The colour is a deep red which doesn't lean too much toward being blue based or orange based so would be easy to wear on most skin tones. I did swatch this on the back of my hand and its creamy and soft and extremely pigmented. I can't wait to try this on my lips and see what its staying power is like. I've got a feeling I'm going to love it! Next is an Eyeshadow Duo in Butter Pecan. The container for this is really sturdy and I think it will be great for travelling. The two colours are a soft champagne and what looks like a mid toned brown, they are also both shimmer. When swatched the champagne colour is gorgeous and looks just like it does in the pan, a perfect all over colour. The brown however is much different, it swatched almost like a copper brown. This colour is AMAZING and will be perfect on blue or green eyes. It has a nice amount of shimmer and I think it would be good for day and night. The last thing I'm going to talk about is the Beauty Book in Smoky Look. As the name would suggest this product comes in a book form and is actually great value for the price (around $5.00) on the inside it has a little instruction guide on how to create a day and night look. The book comes with 6 eyeshadows, 3 matte day shades and 3 shimmer evening shades. It also comes with an eyeshadow primer, a Black eyeliner and a brush. This set comes with a great selection of colours, however some of the shimmers and quite chalky but nothing that can't be fixed with a little primer. All in all this is a great little kit and I'm sure I'll get plenty of use out of it. I also got two Hurraw Lip Balms but I am going to do a seperate blog post about them and review them on their own, so keep an eye out for that! These products are all really great value for the price, they are the perfect beginner products and so far I'm really liking what I've got. I also have a discount code so if anyone wants to make an order just comment below and I'll give it to you. Nicole xx I love a good DIY...love, love, love it!! So each month I am going to blog about a DIY I am doing. For this month it is going to be a Home Decor project. I want to make our home feel...more homely so I have started to decorate! So there is two mini DIY's which I think look amazing together and use some of the same materials For the Frame you will need: - A wooden Frame - Acrylic paint (I went for white but any colour will do - Twine - Mini Pegs (I went for natural wood ones) - Small photos/pictures, I gathered mine from my Instagram account and put them all into a word document and printed them like that, I used 16 pictures - Paintbrushes - Sandpaper So to begin I cleaned my wooden frame and removed the glass and backing. I then applied a thin layer of paint to the frame and let it dry. I then applied another layer of paint. I then left the frame overnight to dry. The next day I got my piece of sandpaper (it was about 120 grit) and rubbed lightly on all the corners until some of the wood was poking through and it had that Shabby Chic look to it. I then measured out the twine so it would be tight across the back and measured the placement of each piece of string so they would be equal distances apart (don't rush this part as it effects the end result). I then used a staple gun to attach the string to the back of the frame. Then I pegged all my pictures on and I was done! I love how this frame worked out and I get so many compliments on it. All up it cost me around $15 dollars to make and I think it looks better than something I could have brought! For the bottle vase you will need - An empty wine bottle (I used a clear bottle but a tinted one would be fine too!) - Acrylic paint - A small bowl So I looked all over the internet to find what sort of paint would be best suitable so I could pour it into the bottle so I would still get that smooth glossy finish. I had read that the acrylic paint I already had would be ok so went ahead with that. I first mixed a small amount of water into it to get a runnier texture so it would be easier to pour into the bottle. I then poured it, a small amount at a time, into the bottle until the inside was covered. I placed it outside, upside down on a plastic lid to let it dry. This took HOURS!!! But once it was eventually dry I brought some cheap, fake sunflowers to put into it. I love how this looks and was extremely happy with the result. However with the heat we were having the paint started to run and never really set to the inside of the glass so would go streaky which I hated. I eventually ended up buying a cheap outdoor house paint in white and poured this in over top of the existing paint and so far (a month later) the paint has stayed put! I loooove to DIY and clearly am pretty happy with how my projects worked out. If there are any DIY's you would like to see just let me know in the comments Nicole xxx For this season my favourite colour to wear is Orange, I'm obsessed!! There has been alot of corals, orange based reds and warm tones out there for summer and I'm glad to see this trend is carrying over to Winter. There is nothing worse than wearing dull, monochrome colours for half a year!! So can everyone wear orange? It's definately not for the faint hearted!! But I do think that almost all skin tones can pull this colour off, if you are a little worried about wearing orange clothing, then start off with an orange lippy. There is such a good range out there now, there's definitely a tone to suit everyone. Zooey Deschanel recently wore this gorgeous orange lip on the red carpet and I think she looks incredible! Other options would be to try some orange accessories. An orange heel will give your little black dress that pop it needs! But if your not into orange shoes, you could try handbags, jewelry or even nail polish. There is an option out there for every one, so explore this stunning pallet today Nicole xxx |
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