Inspiretty #140

I'm getting back into Inspiretty this week, I promise! I've been stalking this dress since it first landed on the Dorothy Perkins website. Not closely enough though, because it sold out in the ink colour (it's deep navy not black-even more gorge) before I had time to buy it. I've been checking several times every day since in the hope they'd restock it (which they have, but not in my size) and their 25% off promotion ended on Sunday, so I just grabbed the green version (extremely pretty too, but I want both) and will hopefully get the other at some point. I'm rather obsessed with lace, so this is one of these no-brainer types for me. I'd probably love it even more if it had nude lining under the sheer bodice section, but then that wouldn't work on all skintones so I can understand why they didn't do that.

Swatches: Soap & Glory Lipstick & Foundation

I completely forgot I took these photos for you of the new Soap & Glory cosmetics last week. To be honest I just had a very quick look because I had a million other things to do and a member of staff was walking around looking at me suspiciously after I took these images (!) or perhaps I'm paranoid (as my mother says "if you're no scabbit, you winnae claw").
In this particular store, the stand could easily have been missed, had I not been on the look-out for it. It's just kind of dumped on the end between Max Factor and Une (stands I rarely look at). There's no current promotion or offer, which I think is a pity given that's it's a great new launch. I'd have liked to see a little more promotion and something along the lines of '3 for 2' or a GWP such a cosmetics bag with every 2 or 3 purchases. Boots offers change on a Wednesday, so I'm hoping for something new this week (I know No7 will be running their usual GWP starting then).
There's testers for all items, including the eyeliners and eye-shadow palettes which you don't always get. As I said I didn't hover long, so I managed to completely miss trying out the Supercat pen liner and looking at the mascara brush. I did swatch the light foundation shades and lipsticks though which were the main items I was interested in.
Show Good Face foundation and primer in one, £11. As you know, I often struggle to find foundations pale enough and regularly have to settle with something slightly darker just because there's nothing better out there. The lightest shade 'The Fairest Of Them All', although it maybe doesn't look like it from my camera pic, it was very yellow but seems quite pale. It was hard to tell under the shop lights and because I was having trouble with the colour match, finding it so yellow, I couldn't see past that to see if it was light enough. I blended it over my hand though and it did seem to disappear so could most probably be alright for me. Next to that is the second lightest shade, 'A Good Light' which wasn't quite so yellow, more peach and definitely had too much colour for me.
You'll also see on my hand the lipsticks. Super Colour Fabulipstick, £9 comes in three shades. I was disappointed with Naked Beige, it wasn't anywhere near as nude as I would've liked or expected. I'm a nude lips obsessive and although I literally own hundreds of glosses and lipsticks in much the same colour scheme, a perfect looking nude or beige will always win me over. This wasn't it, it was just not really one thing or the other, slightly brown, slightly bronze, slightly pink, slightly dirty. The more pinky shade next to that is 'Perfect Day' and the final one is 'Red My Lips' which as the name suggests is red, a very wearable one at that. I feel S&G have really played it safe with the lipstick colours not going too pink, too nude or too red and that's resulted in them being a little uninteresting and in no way unique. On the whole there's actually very little difference between the three shades which was a huge disappointment. Yes, they are probably very wearable though and likely to appeal to any skintone, there just wasn't anything unique about the colour or a fabulous finish (like shimmer or shine) to entice me. Have you bought anything from the cosmetics line yet?

ASOS Purr

Another super quick post though....my ASOS mag came in the mail today and the first thing I spotted and wanted were these babies. The 'Purr' demi-wedge. I loooooove the print to pieces, I'm not overly keen on the shoe shape though. What is it with the slipper-like footwear trend right now? Where I'm from it's only chavs (or 'schemos/neds' as we say) that go to Spar in their baffies! If it takes off, we'll all be walking around looking like Hugh Hefner, just missing the paisley print dressing-gown! I feel in this instance my love for the print could exceed my dislike of the actual shoe and I could buy it. They aren't available yet (will I have to get on high-alert looking for them like the Ablaze wedge?), but they will be £75. Opinions purlease x

Dilemma

Not had a good day today. I'm in a lot of pain right now caused by something outwith my control which I'm rather hesitant to get into here, after fighting with a friend (of 20 years) of mine on Facebook about it today. I'm now grouchy and tired and that all sounded very cryptic but I've handled it and if she de-friends me in life and Facebook then so be it quite frankly. I'm at the age where I think I'm entitled to voice my opinions and not succumb to somebody elses point of view purely to keep the peace. Nobody has the perfect life, we all have stuff going on and so I'm sending out virtual hugs to anyone who wants or needs one, mwah! Leave your rants in the comments, what's pissed you off this week? Let it all out! Anyway, I'm 2 days behind on TSGD posts and have completely forgotten about Inspiretty recently and have a backlog of posts I need to do. My parents get back from their cruise tomorrow-fyi they super loved it. I also need to colour my hair again before this weekend when it's my cute little ball of fluff nephew/godson's christening. The thought of managing to be all perky for a full day fills me with dread right now, but hopefully this pain will subside. I have a question though-which shoes will I wear?
I'm wearing my Peggy prom dress (Pearl Lowe, above) and tights with it...was thinking the large spot pair I got the other day? Do you think the KG Fashionista's Corso Como (below) are too much black? They have a spangly section on the front and mega sparkly heel. I didn't necessarily aim to be all-black though (although the dress does have a light lining), but I want something that compliments it, so don't want to pick something too bright and tacky. If I wear the CC, I need to break them in over the next couple of days because I haven't worn them before.
I have these lovely Michael Lewis chess heels I've never worn before, although I'm feeling the dress is better suited to silver accessories than gold?
I would love to wear these Kurt Geiger satin courts which I couldn't wear to my mates wedding last year after the 'skinny heel' debacle! However, I think they would look too light against dark tights and dress and they are extremely difficult to walk in and uncomfortable!
Which leads me onto the perfect pair, my Kandee Diamonds. However we have a really plush carpet in my church and I don't completely trust myself in these and falling on my ass in front of an entire congregation and dropping my little baby is too much to handle, lol! Same story for these River Island platforms I think.
Can you think of anything else I have? I want a special pair that aren't too difficult to walk in and I can take some discomfort. Ooh, or another alternative are the Prada peep toes with pink heel in the middle of the image up above.

Video: Primark Haul

Hi ladies! I popped through to Primark today because a) I haven't been for a while and b) I was after some large spot tights. £35 later, out I come with a clutch bag and loads of tights! How is it even possible to spend 30 quid on tights? In all fairness I did get lots, so here's a little video of my haulage. The sound is much better on my sisters camera, so you don't have to turn it up as load as usual. I think posting about hosiery is dodgy territory though as I've already had 2 comments which I figure could be quite smutty, but I chose to gloss over that in case they were genuine (which I seriously doubt). I've just uploaded the video to YouTube this evening and was surprised to have those comments already and one 'like', but logging in just now there's one 'dislike'. Probably from a perv because I'm not prancing around in stockings like they hoped. Grrr! Had a few immature comments about my hair today too...one girl OMG'd and laughed really loudly, so loudly I turned around (and must've unintentionally given her the Gemma-death-stare) then she got all embarrassed that I'd heard her (what did she think the dye had run into my ears and deafened me?) and said to her mate 'oh it's bonny isn't it?'. Yeah right! Then later, a girl came over to talk to me because she loved my hair. She said she was really into gothic lolita clothing and had ordered a wig in pink and blue, but thought my hair had the perfect colours she was after and so we chatted a for a few minutes and that made up for the other losers of the day! Anyway hope you enjoy the little vid, sorry about the chipped nail polish, but I was too excited to get the video up quickly!

Oh and this bird dress that I quite fancied was the only item of clothing that caught my eye in Primark. Unfortunately they had loads of 16's and 8's and 10's but none my size, so I had to leave it. It's a really pretty print though.

Review & Swatches: Soap & Glory Lid Stuff

So I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the eyeshadow palettes that's part of the new cosmetics line by Soap & Glory last week. Honestly, I'm really intrigued by the whole line because a) I love Soap & Glory and b) I always like to check out new makeup! I haven't had a chance to pop into Boots yet to suss out the whole line, but I'm very interested in knowing if the palest foundation shade will be light enough for me and I'd like to swatch the lipsticks and check out the liquid eyeliner too. There are three different shades to choose from in the eye palettes called 'Lid Stuff', and mine is named 'Off The Wall Flowers'.

They come housed in a palette reasonably similar to MAC with a clear lid, gold lettering, black plastic base and 4 round eyeshadows each 1.5g. Each colour has an individual name and that's written on the back of the compact.
I'd like to think by now that you know me well enough to realise that shimmering teal shade is the one that sent me cuckoo for this particular palette! It's called 'Wild Blue' which I don't think is the best description I've ever heard, as it's definitely more in the aqua, teal, turquoise camp than straight blue or green.
Anyway after having a quick swatch, I was first of all struck by just how soft these shadows are. Velvety soft in fact and after applying on my eye yesterday I can say they are very easy to work with and blend beautifully too.
The lilac shade Sugar Violet is a soft matte. Minky (the one with the logo) was probably my favourite when swatched, a shimmering dirty champagne colour. Wild Blue is a shimmer too, but less pigmented than the others, I was a little disappointed by that. I had to apply much more shadow than the rest to get a decent amount of colour in the swatch, but it does appear to be buildable. The last one is Dandy Plum which is more a glitter than shimmer, as the name suggests it's deep plum with sporadic silver glitter.
All images are taken without the flash on the camera I borrowed from my sister (nope still not bought a new one yet)! The top row of swatches is applied over Too Faced Shadow Insurance and the bottom is alone. As you would expect the colour is more intense with the base, but just slightly.
Finally, here's the look I created yesterday using the palette. I took Minky all over the lids as a base, stopping just before my eyebrows (above the crease). Sugar Violet was then applied up to the crease with Dandy Plum in the outer corners and blended into the socket. I also took a little along my lower lash line and some Minky in the inner corner.
They mostly applied as expected with the exception of Dandy Plum which didn't show up any glitter. I expected the odd sparkle, but I couldn't see that. I really found the colours to be buildable, Sugar Violet wasn't quite as vivid once I had finished my makeup, so I swiped another couple of layers over the top and it really intensified the colour. The shadows lasted all day and when I took my makeup off at night (after maybe 12 hours), there was no creasing at all and no fading that I could see. The palette claims to last for 8 hours without fading, creasing or flaking, so I can wholeheartedly verify that. In this instance, I wore Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath.
I think I'll try out the teal shade today and see how that goes. In the meantime, here's a rundown of yesterdays makeup. FACE: Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation (IC1 Shell) with Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation (115) worn sparingly as a concealer, Pout Loose Powder (Translucent) and Models Own Blusher (Warm Glow). EYES: Urban Decay Primer Potion, Soap & Glory Lid Stuff (Off The Wall Flowers) as detailed above, Lancome Crayon Khol (01 Noir), L'Oreal SuperLiner (Carbon Black) and No7 Exquisite Curl Mascara (Black) and I also took a little through my brows too. LIPS: MAC Lip Pencil (Naked Liner) and E.L.F. Studio Matte Lip Colour (Tea Rose).
The Lid Stuff palettes can be found in Boots for £10 along with the complete Soap & Glory cosmetics range. There's also a handy list of which stores launched when on the S&G Facebook page if you'd like to check that out. I hope you enjoyed this post and let me know if you've spotted the new line in your local and if you're considering buying anything.

Zalando Shoe Shopping

If you live in the UK and haven't seen the Zalando advert on the telly, where have you been hiding? Or do you just watch BBC?! Advertised as the shoe shop you shouldn't tell your girlfriend/wife/sister about because of the many benefits and unique customer service and therefore likelihood of owning an entire room filled with shoes...hmm, where have I seen that before? Oh right it's called my bedroom! Well, I just had to check it out!

It's part of this new breed of what I'd call 'easy shop' sites, that house numerous brands (600 in fact) under one roof. This is obviously great when you're buying across different brands as you would only pay postage once. However the price you see for the shoe is the price you pay-there is no delivery charge and all returns are free (30 days) which I strongly root for when it comes to buying footwear online.
So what do you get? Well there's actually more than shoes, there's clothing, beauty and accessories (men's and children's too), but for footwear you'll find brands such as Feud, Fly, Miss L Fire, Melissa, Iron Fist, Shellys, Minna Parikka, Miss Sixty and even Jeffrey Campbell.

There's the usual ease of searching for a product whereby you can narrow it down by category, size, brand, colour, price and even heel type or fabric/material. You can also hover over the style to see which sizes it's available in, without having to click on it and lose your place in a long list, which I find very helpful.
Once on the individual shoe page you get a multi angle view as well as being able to magnify every detail. I got quite upset though when I realised these gorgeous green Menbur courts in this image had sold out, as I've had my eye on them since first visiting the site (would've gone lovely with my Pearl Lowe lace prom dress too). Anyway, there's also a section about the brand and customer reviews as well as other related items you may be interested in.
There's also a handy notification service if you like an item, but it's out of stock in your size. Just click your size and input your email address and name and you'll receive an email when/if the item is restocked. I've already used this service for these beautiful Minna Parikka 'Dahlia' platforms.....gorgeous aren't they? Oh and did I mention there's a matching bag? Damn that 'you might also like' tool! So anyway, I can vouch it does work. I can't speak for the overall service or speed of delivery though, as I haven't yet placed an order. Note the word 'yet'!!
They also have a Facebook page, YouTube channel (which I haven't yet checked out) and twitter, along with their own blog. There's international sites available, so it's UK only peeps for purchasing through the UK site. You can also sign up to their newsletter and you'll receive £5 off your next order. I'm very much in favour of these easy-shop websites, shopping should be hassle free and it's great to add another one to my favourites. Have you or do you think you'll maybe purchase from there in the future? Let me know.

Pearl Lowe Peacocks Christmas 2011

I've just received the latest press release and ladies...mark the 10th of November in your diaries right now because that's when the 8th installment from Pearl Lowe hits Peacocks!
The Christmas drop is always a hit and there's some absolutely gorgeous dresses among the collection. The range as always, is available in sizes 8-18 and you'll find some of the prices are a little higher than we've seen before, although I'd like to think it's justified. First up we have the soft burgundy lace dress as modelled by Daisy above, £50. You may recall the Christmas 2010 collection featured a sell out version of the black lace bridesmaid dress Pearl designed for Daisy to wear at her wedding (the one I'm going to wear to my nephews christening), shown below (top). Well this new dress is an interpretation of the red lace dress (below, bottom) that caused a stir when Daisy was photographed wearing it last winter (sans slip). Obviously the Peacocks version includes a slip underneath to protect your modesty! This has been tipped as the 'star' dress of the collection and initial orders have been increased to avoid customer disappointment.
If I'm completely honest, I love the idea but I'm not sure the quality is up to scratch on the Peacocks version (obviously I'm basing it on these images alone), I can only hope it is better in the flesh. I'd have liked to see more fabric in the skirt for £50 and the slip and dress generally look quite flimsy (I know it's lace which is light and delicate, but do you know what I mean?), the lace fabric looks slightly cheap. I would've liked a fuller look but not necessarily to the extent of last years dress with the netting underneath. The details at the waist are nice and it would've been finished off perfectly with a scalloped edge at the cuffs and hem (like last years dress), rather than the straight hem. Overall though, I'm sure it's the type of dress you'd get a lot of wear out of (could dress it up or down) and the colour is very nice for winter.
This next dress is much more daytime I'd say. Sheer black with little stars all over, £40. It's almost a continuation of the types of dresses we've seen from previous PL collections, you'd wear this all the time. There's something a little 'long in the body' about it that I'm unsure of, but it's a cute enough design, just not one I'd be rushing out to get.
This is one of the slightly more expensive ones at £60. It's very unusual, I love the crochet back and almost faux halterneck design, even if it isn't entirely practical for those of us that require to wear something underneath. I've never much been a fan of velvet though, especially crushed velvet, it just seems too dodgy 80's rock video for me. However, I think because of the shape of this dress and the fact it's black, it may just get away with it. This is a much fuller skirt, which is what I'd have liked on the lace one. What do you think?
Ok, can anyone actually see me in this next one? I can! I love the overall shape, the flattering centre lace panel and button shoulder detail. This one is £45.
This is quite freaky because I saw a spookily similar emerald dress on River Island today, but it had an asymmetric hem. The colour is fantastic for festive party time and it's got a pretty shape to it and I like the draping and corsage from the shoulder. I'm just not sure it's the type of dress I'd get a lot of wear from as it's very statement-y on it's own. And that one is £50.
For this collection, Pearl took inspiration from her all time favourite Christmas movies combining her love of fifties fashion with individual 70’s prints to add her own stamp to the style showcased by Hollywood legends including Deborah Kerr in ‘An Affair To Remember’ and Debbie Reynolds in ‘Singing In The Rain’. She has continued to base her collection on two dominant silhouettes, the fifties inspired prom, and full length bias cut, which is where these next two dresses come in. I don't think we've ever seen a maxi from the PL range and there's two in this collection! Firstly, I kinda have a slight hatred for bias cut, I'm not in the camp that believes it's universally flattering (especially on curvy girls), I personally reckon it clings in the wrong places, widens my bum and hips, accentuates my tummy and doesn't really show off my small waist. However I could forgive all that to try out this oriental maxi, £50. I like the colours, the print and love that shoulder detail. I also think you're getting a bargain for your bucks if that price is correct. It has that genuine vintage feel to it and I saw an image of Daisy modelling it and it looked utterly fabulous, sumptuous even!
Now for me this next dress is the 'star piece' of the collection. How freakin' fabulous is that for the high-street? I'm not going to lie, I'd look a right state in it I'm sure. That unforgiving shade of ivory and the very satin, very bias cut would make me look 9 months pregnant, but I love it to look at. I'm also just going to put this out there...how lovely would it be as a wedding dress? It could definitely pass for the 'real deal' that you'd pay hundreds or thousands of £'s for (why do they add zeros to anything with 'wedding' in front of it? Scammers!), anyway it would look luscious as a bridal gown or special party dress and the price (although the most we've ever seen from PL) is £80. Which I think is justified in this case with the embroidery detail and type of dress it is. Oh and you could have your bridesmaids in the green corsage dresses! Look at me all wedding planner-y!! So what do you reckon? Anything catching your eye?
images Peacocks, candids source

Inspiretty #139

I pretty much was mesmerised watching this today. I haven't really had time to properly check out all the photos from fashion weeks, I rarely do have time, however this video is definitely worth the watch. It's the Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton show and involves Kate Moss (meh), a carousel complete with horsies (mega yeah), lots of pastel, embellishment and floaty frou frou (yipee). I'm not entirely convinced on the footwear...just not ready for the pointed toe to come back at all personally, but the ombre mint feather creation at 6.22 is fan-freakin-tabulous.

Inspiretty #138

So Inspiretty today isn't actually this shot or the clothes and certainly not the models-they look a little moody no? Perhaps they're friends with Gary Barlow...I'm hating him on The X Factor, he's so boring and moan, moan, moan, for God's sake man, cheer up! And females find him attractive? I do not see that at all, not even close, but then I was always more of a NKOTB fan myself, anyway totally digressing! It's the tights, the ones in the front in particular, the scribble diamond pair. I saw them ages ago (and can't find the close-up pic I had of them) and I thought they were fabby and they styled them with some Lady Dragons, double fabby, however they've never got them in stock on the website yet (I've been stalking for months), which is rather annoying because I'd really rather like them. They are of course Vivienne Westwood if you hadn't already guessed : )

Shoes: L.A.M.B. Caitlyn Wedges

I posted a quick pic yesterday of the L.A.M.B. 'Caitlyn' wedges I'd ordered from Javari that turned out to be too small. I thought you might like to see them in more detail.
Unfortunately when it comes to ordering US sizes from a UK store, you never quite know what you're going to get, as often the conversion charts can contradict one another. I figured buying a UK 5.5 meant there was a reasonably good chance they'd fit. I expected a US8, but what came was a US7.5 which is what I'd usually consider a UK5 (which by rights should still have fitted).
When I measured inside from heel to toe, just 23.5cm, it confirmed they were extremely small and definitely not what I'd class as a UK5 never mind a 5 1/2. It's disappointing that Javari got the sizing so wrong, although when I look at their chart they do say a UK5/US7 measures 23.5cm which I believe to be 1cm too short based on measurements from my own collection and other charts I've looked at. I regularly measure shoes when I'm selling on eBay and they are never any smaller than 24cm and certainly not if they're supposed to be a 5.5! I could just get my foot in them (only with thin socks on, not barefoot), but it was uncomfortable and I'd always have to wear tights. Anyway, just a warning to size up if you're intending on buying them, Javari do have 20% off currently (see their site for code) and there's a different code on their sister site Amazon if you prefer to buy from there.
I printed off the returns form today, so they will be going back this week. I hate when you've drooled over a shoe for so long then when it arrives it doesn't live up to the expectations : ( The next size available in the black is a 6.5/8.5 and measures 25cm which I reckon would be just slightly too big and I don't want the hassle of perhaps returning another pair that don't fit.
I'm also still a bit undecided with the L.A.M.B. t-bars I purchased the week before. They are pretty, but not show-stopping and I'm reconsidering my 'need' for them. I've also changed my mind about the dress I'm wearing to me nephews christening. The ASOS Salon floral one has such a full skirt and I just feel it's maybe too massive and fancy for this and I wasn't sure what to wear over it or which shoes and I just don't think it's as flattering on me as other dresses (it's so huge, it maybe makes you look huge if you know what I'm saying...as much as I love it). Unfortunately I think I'll have to sell it as I just don't see me ever having an occasion to wear it (no weddings coming up) and if I continue to lose weight it's just going to be too big on me anyway.

Instead I'm wearing my lace prom dress by Pearl Lowe which I tried on yesterday and it doesn't have any of the squished boob problems I was having with it when I first got it. I feel fabulous in it and it just seems more fitting for the occasion. I'm probably going to wear it with tights, I just need to figure out the shoes, which is the exciting part! Any suggestions are welcome...I may have to trawl through The Shoe Girl Diaries to remind myself of all the shoes I own!