Thursday 26 August 2010

Gettin' lippy with it

I have full lips. Fact. And do I like being well-endowed in the lower-face region? Well that's easy - absolutely!
I have to say, full lips are definitely a great attribute to possess, providing they are in proportion to the entire face, of course! They also appear to have become quite the coveted facial feature in our modern times: celebrities injecting their 'smackers' with the latest substance that happens to be 'in' with the hopes of achieving ultimate opulence. (I've always actually found this just a little bit amusing).
 I've heard more recently that you can have a substance that naturally occurs in the teeth and eyes injected.
Then, of course, you have your plumping effect lipsticks/lipglosses to pump up that pout!
Admittedly, I have caught myself smuggly grinning and thinking to myself "I don't need that..haha!" as I've scanned over such products in Boots.

I used to think that there was a down-side to having full lips (and I tell ya, there aren't many!) and that would be that it is not really possible to rock absolutely every shade of lipstick - especially the whole bright red, golliwog-esque look? Not.Great.

As my fellow full-lipped females may be able to testify, certain shades can actually give the illusion of an over-inflated lip which then appears to be disproportionate to the other facial features. So what you then end up with is more Professor Klump rather than Heidi Klum! No. No we don't need that.

All of that was just my introduction to the reasons for my initial reluctance to wearing lipstick - ever. Well actually, firstly, one reason is, I'd just never really been into it, nothing wrong with it, I've always thought that it looks great on others. But it's just that I can be quite lazy when it comes to applying make-up - I do tend to opt for the fresh-faced look on a daily basis.
But in addition to that, the feeling of horror that would grip me at the thought of potentially choosing the wrong shade and thus resembling a caricuture was just a little too much to contend with. But if by a stroke of intuition I did manage to make a good choice of shade, you then have to consider: do I need to apply lip liner? Do I go for a matt or glossy finish? It just seemed too complex!
However a wave of courage seems to have overtaken me this summer. I also think the simply fabulous hues that are currently 'in' this season has inspired my decision to be bold and wear bold - lipstick, that is.
After some experimenting I realised that I can actually get away with wearing a wider range of shades than I first thought! So I made myself a "must-have" list of 3 on-trend shades that have been gracing my lips this summer: hot (Barbie) pink, light lilac and a warm golden coral.

The images of me modelling these lipsticks (below) is all in aid of giving you fuller-lipped femmes an idea of what these shades can potentially look like on you, if - like myself once upon a time - you are unsure of entering the world of lipstick. 
Well, allow me to model them for you.

Now the pink was easy to find - these shades are everywhere. I fell in love with one from the Topshop make-up range:













 Looks as though the bright pink can work afterall!
The lilac, a bit more tricky to track down, but by a stroke of fortune, my mother presented me with a fairly good offering that she had never worn and deemed worthy to be tossed aside. But it worked rather well for me:




The coral had me hunting high and low. I'm talking about a good couple of weeks of searching! So imagine my elation when I found this! 








What's great about all of these shades is that they are versatile, they can be worn with an array of outfits during the day and evening.

I now officially have a newly-found, fab relationship with lipstick!













Wednesday 11 August 2010

Jumble and Pearls

"Oooh! I am so there..!" Was the first thought that darted into my mind as I read an e-mail from a friend last Wednesday afternoon at work. She’d forwarded details of a vintage and designer sale taking place that coming Saturday!

She had aptly entitled the e-mail: "WE SOO NEED TO DO THIS!” And, I couldn’t agree more! 


Either a designer or a vintage sale would’ve been great. But designer and vintage! Oh yes, that certainly did perk me up during my mid-afternoon, mid-week slump!

I envisioned all of the cute little trinkets waiting for me to get my vintage-loving, fashionista hands on!

In the e-mail my friend had very clearly instructed me not to tell the whole world... I wanna grab my deals! Well I’m not going to argue with that! I thought. More stuff for us!

However, I did give my colleague a bit of a heads-up – she is a “die-hard” vintage fan and sports vintage outfits literally everyday! So during the ritual “so what are you up to this weekend?” Friday afternoon confab, I mentioned the vintage and designer sale and I felt a little mean not to offer to forward her the details. Especially as I noticed the look of hopeful expectancy on her face, which I no doubt would have had on mine had the (vintage) shoe been on the other foot.

And so, I woke up early on Saturday morning (forfeiting my lie-in – you know I must’ve been eager!) and I was all geared-up for my vintage and designer fix!

Determined to be the first through the doors of the Horatia pub where the sale was being held (pictured below) my friend and I rocked up about half an hour early! We were on a mission!






We peeked through the window of the pub at an attempt to get an idea of what was in store for us and presumptuously claim certain items that appeared to catch our eye! 
When the doors finally opened, admittedly, I did have to stop myself from being overtaken by enthusiasm and running in there!  


There was an abundance of items on display and I hardly knew where to begin!




A range of colour and texture in shoes, hats, clothes, jewellery.

Here's a peek at what we discovered once inside...
Engrossed: Some shoppers browsing through the merchandise


My friend Keda with her cute little leopard print bargain
 It certainly was quite fun to dash from rail to rail. But ultimately, it was the huge table full of vintage jewellery that really had me hooked!


I had a good wander around filling up my arm with treasures as I went along! Here are my 3 favourite pieces that I grabbed:


 

Ahh..the chic leather skirt. The fact that it is a vintage leather skirt is obviously a huge part of its appeal!
As you will note, it is A-line in shape and the length is approximately 2 inches above the knee. Perfect.
It will have its debut at a friend’s Birthday Do in a couple of weeks.

I’ll maybe team it with either a taupe-coloured or black silk embellished wide-sleeved top or a burnt-orange top with thick straps and ruffle detail around the chest area. Not sure which I'm going for yet. Hmm…decisions, decisions! Either way, once this skirt is on – woo! Instant fire!
Now, I’m thinking, either black shoe-boots or another pair of heels infused with vibrant colour will do the trick.

And now, the beautiful, beautiful earrings and bracelet! (above). These are at the top of the list of my great finds!
It obviously makes sense to 'don' these beauties as soon as possible, wouldn’t you say?
What doesn't make sense to me, though, is why the previous owner would want to let these go in the first place?! Well, I guess as they say: “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure”.
Ideally, the earrings would work well with an LBD, the hair in an updo and keeping all other accessories to a minimum to extenuate these statement pieces.
Now the bracelet caught my eye in particular because of how unusual it is. The fusion of coloured stones (which I was informed are real) and tiny pearls is what won me over.
Definitely a “one-off” and different from the everyday costume jewellery you come across on the High Street.
The berets were just an impulse buy as I have challenged myself to collect one in every colour! I have at least 10 berets of various colours in my wardrobe!


Here are the other things I purchased:


 

Oh, I did feel quite chuffed when I left!