Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Ariel & Belle Tights Review

[Tights provided for review consideration.  Words and photos my own]

Earlier today the final Disney Princesses instalment launched; Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Belle from Beauty And The Beast and it's the final in the very long line of Irregular Choice Disney collaborations over the past few years. Today I have the last lot of tights to show you (2 Belle, 1 Ariel), so let's get stuck in.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Beauty & The Beast Teaser

Today we meet the 6th and final princess in the Irregular Choice Disney Princesses line, Belle from Beauty & The Beast! Did you spy Lumiere and the rose on the packaging? Belle will be launching alongside Ariel this Friday, so let's take a look at the final teaser.  Another big reveal today, with a brand new character heel.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: The Little Mermaid Teaser 2

Last week Irregular Choice announced their 5th in the Disney Princesses line as Ariel and I have more (amazing) teasers for you this week. Once IC were a few Disney collections in, I started to think of what I'd most like to see. The Little Mermaid topped my list as that's my favourite film and my vision was for a water globe heel with Ariel sitting inside (that scene on the rock right before Sebastian launches into Under The Sea-I wanted them to play music too!). Last year when the carousel and snow globe heels launched, I got super excited as I realised it was possible to create a wearable globe heel and I hoped and hoped for an Ariel release and here she is and the heel is almost exactly as I imagined (sadly no song)! Just Me & The Sea are a brand new character heel, similar to those I just mentioned with the large wedge containing liquid and multi-coloured flecks.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: The Little Mermaid Teaser

It's here, time to meet the 5th Disney Princess! Irregular Choice told us months ago that we would be visiting 6 princesses before the end of the year.  So far we've had collections from Snow White and Mulan, then Jasmine from Aladdin and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty and now it's time to go under the sea, for my favourite, Ariel from The Little Mermaid. I was so, so excited when I realised she was going to be included in this series and today I have the first teaser, which isn't quite Ariel...
We're starting with the villain of the story, Ursula. I think this will please those that were seeking a more villainous theme, but weren't satisfied with the 'sharing' in most items from the last collection (Maleficent with Sleeping Beauty). Here's Ursula all on her own in the Elegant Evil shoe.

Irregular Choice Collection: Square Bags

I've been in the process of doing collective Irregular Choice bag posts for ages now. Honestly I have folders of photos from years ago and every time I take a group shot, I either forget to include something or buy a new one, so feel I need an updated photo and months later I do that and the same happens again! I've finally found the energy to compile this post and I'm starting with an easy one, as this is a newer bag shape, so I don't have that many of them.  I'm calling this the 'square bag', it's ever so slightly off being a square (maybe 1cm taller than wide) measuring around 24cm and it's 10.5cm deep.  
So the thing with this bag shape is, the front is one big, uninterrupted, clean space which allows a really decent sized image or applique to be the focal point without any flaps, fastenings or oddly shaped bits getting in the way. That also means that inside, you can fill that whole space, there's nothing encroaching on the storage of these ones and I really like the size. As with most IC bags, they come with a short fixed handle on top (my preference) and a longer strap is included which can be attached to D-rings either side of this. The only negative is I find the opening fiddly. The zip unzips maybe 3/4 of the bag, but the flap then doesn't open very widely. I feel I'd like a gusset at the sides, not only to stop contents falling out, but to have that extra pull so it's easier to get my hand in. I'd also prefer a double zip pull than just the one (the round bags tend to have gussets and a double zipper), that's just a minor gripe though. For that reason it isn't my most favourite shape, but I like it enough that I've bought most of the variations it's come in and I have to say every colour or theme I've bought, I really love, they are gorgeous.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Aladdin & Sleeping Beauty Tights Review

[Tights provided for review consideration. All words and photos my own.] 

Today sees the second Disney Princesses launch this season at Irregular Choice. In July we had Snow White and Mulan and the 3rd and 4th Princesses are Jasmine from Aladdin and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. There's still two more to come before the year's out and most people have managed to guess who they are from the clues we've been given on the packaging. Today I'm reviewing tights from the latest drop and there's one style in each collection.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Sleeping Beauty Teaser

More news regarding the Disney Princess release at Irregular Choice this week. Princess Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty, will also be launching alongside Jasmine from Aladdin! Today I have a couple of sneak peeks from that collection, but as with all the ranges, expect a variety of heel heights, bags, accessories and some kids styles too.

Dreamer Vs. Evil are something a little different from previous Disney releases. This wedge heeled bootie isn't a classic or common style and although the shape itself isn't exciting me too much, those gorgeous uppers are. There's a tremendous amount of detail in these. The right and left shoes are slightly different, though both feature this pastel rainbow upper in a glitter finish. "Sleeping" is embroidered across a banner on one foot, with "Beauty" on the other.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Aladdin Teaser 2

Greetings my friends! I'm back with another teaser from the Irregular Choice Disney Princesses line and it's...another Aladdin sneak peek! I feel that may be a surprise to some. So last week we saw matching Aladdin and Jasmine mid heels and bag, this time it's the turn of the Genie.

I'll be honest, I'm a bit muddled by this. On the one hand, I realise the Genie is a super popular figure in the film (and big part of it), ergo people are going to want a piece of him. However remember this isn't a general Aladdin collection, it's Disney Princesses, therefore the focus, in my opinion, should be on the female lead, Jasmine. We were told from the start that villains, friends etc could be included and really who is Snow White without the Seven Dwarfs? However Jasmine and the Genie have very little interaction from what I remember (it's a while since I've watched it), he's more Aladdin's sidekick, no? Regardless, I'm sure these pieces will be popular and I like the materials used. Starting with a kids style, Geniebopper.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Aladdin Teaser

Today I bring you news of the next Irregular Choice Disney Princess release. In the original announcement, it was revealed there would be 6 Princesses throughout the rest of the year, with Mulan and Snow White already dropping in July. Today I can tell you, Jasmine from Aladdin is coming next! Did you see Abu and the magic lamp in the box clues?
What I love about Jasmine and the whole movie really, is the rich, jewel colours and the first teaser doesn't disappoint in that department. The A Whole New World Bag features a beautifully lit twilight scene in pinks, purples and yellow.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Fairest In The Land Bag (Snow White) Review

[Handbag (and tights) gifted, views, shoes and photos my own]
As I eagerly await the arrival of my Irregular Choice Disney Princesses order from last Friday (DPD is keeping me hanging until this evening unfortunately), I'm reviewing the Fairest In The Land Bag from the Snow White range.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Mulan & Snow White Tights

[Tights and bag were provided for review consideration, this does not affect my opinion.  All words and photos my own.]  

Today the first two Disney Princesses collections launch at Irregular Choice. The range will visit six princesses in total, the other four to follow throughout the rest of the year. Mulan and Snow White are the princesses available from today and there are three pairs of tights altogether, all of which I have to show you in more detail. Let's start with Mulan and the Growing Up Brave Tights.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Snow White Teaser 2

Today I bring you the last Irregular Choice Disney Princesses teasers before the full collection launches on Friday (26th July) at 12pm (UK time). The range will include all the teasers you've seen thus far for Mulan and Snow White and more! Kid styles for the first time, adults (as always, a mix of heel heights) alongside bags and accessories. The final preview today is Snow White.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Mulan Teaser 2

I have another preview for you this week of the Disney Princesses collection launching at Irregular Choice on Friday 26th July at 12pm. Both the Mulan and Snow White ranges will includes adults and kids styles, along with accessories and this week we're taking another peek at Mulan.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Teaser Snow White

After the teaser of the beautiful Be True To Who You Are Mulan boots last week, I have an even bigger reveal this time for the Irregular Choice Disney Princesses collection. We already know there will be six princesses overall, however I can tell you two will launch on 26th July and alongside Mulan, we're going way back to the original princess from 1937, beautiful Snow White. Like Mulan, this collection will feature both adult and kids styles along with bags/accessories. I have four styles to get through today, so let's get started.

Irregular Choice Disney Princesses: Teaser Mulan

On Wednesday Irregular Choice announced the latest in their Disney collaboration portfolio, the Princesses collection. The first launches on July 26th, but there will be further collections throughout the rest of the year. Today, I have the first of the previews of what to expect at the end of the month and the first princess is Mulan.
Be True To Who You Are (already loving the name), are a jaw-droppingly beautiful ankle boot. The detail and materials used in these is just stunning.

Irregular Choice Family Reunion: Old Versus New Character Heels

Following on from my post last week on the changes made to the dinosaur heels, I've photographed the rest of the Family Reunion heels I bought and compared them to their predecessors. It's less technical and more about cosmetic changes this time. Starting with the bunny heel, Hunnie Bunnie.

Irregular Choice: Dinosaur Heel Comparison

So it turns out I didn't have a long wait for my Irregular Choice Family Reunion order as it arrived yesterday (Saturday), almost 24 hours after ordering. DPD said they didn't have many parcels that day so took some extra, I suspect he wanted rid of the box that was the size of a house!  Either way, I'm delighted.  I've had a quick try on, but I've been really sore and knackered this weekend, so I want to properly look and try them all next week. I wasn't disappointed with anything though!  I did immediately find the dinosaurs easier to walk on, so grabbed my old pair and it became apparent there's been a couple of big adjustments to aid this.

Family Reunion: Viva Irregular Choice Character Heels!

So it's the moment I've been waiting for. The moment I didn't realise I was waiting for until this week, but still! To celebrate 20 years of Irregular Choice, they've been bringing back select archive styles from the past decade or so, every Friday throughout May. For the final week (brilliantly there's been 5 Fridays this month), they were instead launching some older character heels with all new uppers, alongside accessories, trainers and flats. I never bought any of the archive revival (either already had the originals or didn't want them) and besides some bags and the Bellissima shoes, I haven't bought anything from SS19. There's some I've liked, but nothing has been a "get it or regret it", must-have moment. Until this collection!! On Wednesday, we got a sneaky look at the heels in this range, but even from that little glimpse, I knew this was the collection for me.

Irregular Choice Family Reunion: A Character Heel Comparison

So, very exciting news earlier in the week with regards to the Family Reunion collection launching this Friday at Irregular Choice. Yesterday we were treated to some teasers (video here), which appear to show 8 different character heels being revived and rejuvenated for this wonderful collection. I thought I'd put together some details of the heel heights and sizing if you don't already have these in your collection to compare. Please note, I've photographed the original heels from my collection, assuming that the same heel mould will be used this time. I'd say the only thing that looked slightly unusual to me in the video was the polar bears (originally pandas) seemed quite a bit taller than the lambs. In reality, there isn't such a notable difference (a quarter inch). I can't see them having changed that heel though (obviously it's had a makeover in regards to finish to instead look like a polar bear), so it's maybe just the angle in the video. I can't help on sizing of the new styles as I haven't tried them and 6 out of 8 styles aren't fully visible in the video, so we don't know shapes of toes and things.  What I can do is give you a guide of what I've previously bought, but the uppers are or may be totally different to those launching tomorrow. We all know styles can fit differently within the same collection, nevermind a completely new release, so it's all a guessing game I'm afraid.  I reckon I'll be buying my usual size, as character heels tend to fit me best in that size now.  Older releases though, I mostly sized up.  
Overall, the lamb heels are the lowest and along with the panda (or polar bear now) are the only ones in this collection without some sort of platform. The pandas are next in height and the dinosaurs are the tallest. All the others are roughly the same. The biggest platform is again on the dinosaur shoe, with that huge rubber sole. Mostly these heels are wedges or at least wedge-like (i.e. perhaps not touching the sole all the way down the arch, but mirroring that shape) with the gnomes being the most separated heel and the cat and bear following. The gnomes also have the smallest base (heel tip), literally just being the soles of his feet and I'd say the dinosaurs come next with a T shaped tip. The fawn heel probably has the widest, biggest base, though the others all have big, solid bases too. Here's a more in-depth look at each one.

Charlotte Olympia: Birthday Shoes

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I started a birthday custom a few years back of buying myself a pair of designer shoes. A bit indulgent, gifting yourself something, but I suppose that was the point.  I guess because I buy Irregular Choice all year round, it didn't feel out of the ordinary to do that, but this felt a little special. Last year, I bought Vivienne Westwood boots. Well actually, I bought myself 2 pairs of shoes, but sadly these Moschino Couture heels were too big, so I'm selling those. I'd lusted after something in that traffic cone and floral print for so long, so it was really disappointing, though the boots softened the blow.

M.E. On: Summer FOMO Without The FO

Ah, it's that time of year again. Beautiful blue skies, sun's out, jackets off, sunglasses on, bare legs, sandals, yep even in Scotland, we've had a glorious couple of days (after freezing our bums off recently, but that's British weather for you) and we're all daring to ask "is summer really here?". I hate this time of year though, because I get serious FOMO. I long to be out there enjoying it too. People often say "oh the winter must be so tough on you"...yeah, snuggled up inside with my cosy blanket, the heating on, cups of warm tea and the gigantic chocolate stash whilst it's snowing, icy, windy and freezing outside, errr no, I know where I'd rather be! Yes I dislike the very long dark days, but I have no desire to go out on days like that. I'm usually pretty thankful that I'm safe and warm inside. That said, I'm not a massive summer fan. Last year was far, far too hot for me and I know people in this country are horrified if you dare diss good weather (because it's not often we get it), but it's the truth, I'm no sun-worshipper. I don't cope well in the heat and go out of my way to protect my skin from burning tanning in the sun because of the harm it does. I get tired much more easily in the heat, find everything more taxing when I'm hot, it's difficult to sleep and trying to stay cool becomes my main life mission (bless you Dyson fan, you saved me last year) and I can't focus on anything but that. However, on days like this (it's about 21 outside) or when it's bright, sunny, slightly breezy, but most of all dry, I get serious envy of people revelling in that.

Irregular Choice IC20: Archive Revival

As part of their 20th anniversary, Irregular Choice are revisiting older styles, relaunching some old favourites in classic colourways with their Archive Revival collection.

Superdrug: Galactic Queen Fantasy Brush Set £20

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I have a bit of a weakness when it comes to pretty looking makeup brushes. Don't get me wrong, I need them to be functional too, but if there's a fancy finished handle or coloured bristles, I'm there! I spied these Fantasy brushes, online at Superdrug and it was love at first sight. Called "Galactic Queen", they live up to their name with a shaped handle in a shimmering green and purple, colour shift finish. The big fluffy heads have black to purple ombre hairs and they just look luscious. Let's be real though, "needing" and "wanting" new brushes are two different things, so in my head, I could only buy them if I was getting a super good deal, so I hung off.

I'd kinda forgotten about them, until the weekend when I had a nosy and each brush had £1 off. Nothing too exciting. Then I noticed, you could buy all 6 for £20, that's better! I got distracted looking at other stuff and naturally by the time I went to checkout, one of the brushes sold out. I was kicking myself. I got my sister to look in our local yesterday (wasn't even sure if it was an online only deal), but no, they didn't have them. Last night I checked again and they were all in stock, so I didn't hesitate and ordered the lot.

Random Ramble & March Haul

Besides a lack of energy or sometimes motivation to blog, I find I procrastinate a lot. Really a lot. I didn't used to be like this, but over the years of blogging, I've become some kind of super perfectionist. If the writing wasn't good enough, the pictures weren't fantastic, the subject matter wasn't relevant, I wouldn't blog it. I'd worry, stress and leave it. Then worry some more afterwards!  Did I want something not up to scratch on my blog? No. I felt my blog was a reflection of me and my abilities and if I posted rubbish, it would reflect badly on me. I want to change that though, because like I say, I didn't used to be like this. I'd write and photograph freely about whatever I wanted, when I wanted and there was something kinda nice about that.  Everything has become less relaxed, very precise, less enjoyable if I'm really honest and that's not a fair representation of me. I'm the type of person that sees a neat row of items and wants to turn one around, so it's no longer perfect. I live in an absolute pig-sty (I call it "organised chaos"), I like my hair wild and messy, my life has been totally messed up and muddled for years.  It's all a little off-centre, disorganised, unpredictable and unconventional.  I'm not saying I want a sloppy blog, but while I love my in-depth shoe reviews and detailed photos, not every post has to be like that and I need to drum this into myself until it sticks. Why don't I open the blog one day and just write about something random that pops into my head? It doesn't need to be so heavily thought-out and produced, just do it! So hopefully, by blogging each day this month it will push me to do just that and I'm starting with an absolute random pairing and irrelevant post to prove it!

My MAC Disney Aladdin Haul

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Last month, I decided I would set myself the challenge of blogging every day...it lasted 2 days, so I'm hoping to try again this month. My health hasn't been great, which is the main reason for the lack of blogging. I've been sleeping a great deal, most days start off with me either needing a sleep after breakfast (yep, really!) or sleeping all afternoon and throughout the evening. I'm trying not to let it get me down, but some days when all you feel is your joints wanting to explode and you're battling to keep your eyelids open, it's a struggle. Today, I was going to say has been extremely lazy, but actually I started off quite well. I checked my emails and stuff this morning, took photos for #365daysofIrregularChoice and showered before lunch. I was backing up my laptop whilst in the shower, but it took a lot longer this time, so I decided to just let it do it's thing and have a lazy afternoon instead. I played a few games on my phone, watched some more of My Love From Another Star, which I'm totally hooked on and wondering why I didn't watch it sooner and then slept. Tonight I was checking my emails and saw MAC Aladdin was out!! I was forgetting about that and didn't realise we were getting it sooner here, so I got a bit sidetracked buying that.

Swatches: Revolution Renaissance Lipliner in Greatest

I realised as I sorted through my makeup stash the other day that I have a little obsession with lipliners. Not as off the scale as my lipstick or gloss collection, but I do own a fair few. I rarely wear a lip product without lining first; it helps shape the lips and usually gives the gloss or lipstick something to adhere to and therefore last a little longer. I'm also very fond of using them as a colour themselves, not necessarily alone, but say a dark plum liner with pink lipstick to create a unique mauve shade. I have a couple of expensive ones I bought in the last year that are sitting waiting to be swatched, but I got this super inexpensive one last week and couldn't wait to trial it. It's the Revolution Renaissance Lipliner and costs £2.50! Rare you find something that cheap in the beauty department these days.

My Irregular Day & Why I Chose What I Did

When Irregular Choice approached me with their idea of Irregular Day, I was really unsure of what to do for it. Initially I read it as a day of doing something a bit topsy turvy until I watched Dan's video where he talked in more detail. I realised yes, it could be something a bit unconventional like walking backwards or eating ice-cream with chopsticks (eating ice cream was the big draw for me there!), but I could see the day being interpreted in a number of other ways. You could choose to do something challenging, something that most people would see as a challenge or adventurous, like skydiving or mountain climbing. You could set a personal goal, something perhaps not as universally challenging, but beating your personal best or something random like seeing how many hats you could knit in a day or how far you could walk in a certain amount of time. It could be something completely new to you or different to your taste, something you've always wanted to try but haven't, like learning a language, eating different foods or wearing something you wouldn't usually and so on. My family were little help as I discussed possible options as the response was "you're already irregular, you'd have to wear/do something 'normal' for the day". Ok, thanks! I toyed with a few ideas, including wearing something "normal" like jeans and trainers (wouldn't you all have liked to see that!), but it seemed a bit wasteful to buy new things I'd never wear again. We considered celebrating Christmas or eating doughnuts all day-a fun concept but not really meaningful to me. There's so many things I want to do in daily life that I'm not really capable of, so it was hard to find something manageable and I did want it to have some meaning, because what I took from Dan's video was that although this day came about to commemorate 20 years of the brand, it was to celebrate our (the IC community) irregularities, what makes us different. In the end I chose something that wouldn't be considered 'irregular' to some people and didn't used to be to me, but nowadays is massively irregular in my world. It's something I've longed to do for years, but been too scared to attempt and that was to sew.

Irregular Day Raffle

2019 marks the 20th year of Irregular Choice and founder, Dan Sullivan wants us all to celebrate our irregularities with the launch of Irregular Day. It's happening this Saturday, March 9th. Up and down the country and all around the world fans will be doing something irregular for the day. There's also going to be events and activities not only in Irregular Choice stores, but some of the independent stockists too. The day is about having fun and either doing something challenging, something a bit topsy turvy or maybe trying something new or different to you, that may not necessarily be 'irregular' to the next person. Everyone can participate, no matter where you are or what your abilities or chosen 'task' may be and you can hear Dan talking more about it here.