This is Halloween

Halloween is here once again and I have to admit that it my third favourite day of the year (after Christmas and my birthday)

I've been in love with the event since I was about five, I was probably considered a strange kid as I was obsessed with witches and magic (it probably all kicked off with Harry Potter and spiralled from there) so I loved taking the opportunity to dress up and go trick-or-treating around the local houses. I've been known to make "Halloween food" the most memorable being a pudding that was supposed to be a brain (but was actually a pink chocolate brain-shaped shell filled with marshmallows and Rice Krispies)

These days I still love dressing up, and deciding what I'm going to be for Halloween is a yearly question that I take great joy in answering. This year as you may know (and if you don't, read here) I am going as a sheet ghost to a party tomorrow night, and last Saturday I attended a party dressed as a witch. Fancy dress is something of a minefield: I want people to know who/what I am, but I still want to be original, and I don't want to look slutty but I still sort of want to look nice. I usually end up fashioning my own costume because the packet ones are so expensive, and where is the fun in just ordering something from the internet?

Ride with the moon in the dead of night

Dress (with attached belt) - Primark

Shoes - Boohoo

I know Halloween isn't for another week, but I couldn't resist having a little game of dress-up today while everyone was at work, and it's always a good idea to try everything on and check it all looks okay before the big night.

I love Halloween, after Christmas and my birthday, it's my favourite day of the year, and it hurts me so much that in this country we don't feel obliged to celebrate it! Thankfully this year is the return of the sixth form Halloween party, and I am going as a sheet ghost. 

The idea came to me when me and my friends were discussing costume ideas, and we had the idea of going like a set of proper trick-or-treaters, like the ones you see on American cartoons, and what band of trick-or-treaters is complete without a sheet ghost? Although the idea is something of a "classic" Halloween costume, I am yet to see anyone over the age of ten show up at a party with a sheet over their head, so I'm pretty happy that no one will show up in the same costume as me.

I'm pretty sure that the sheet will only last about 30 seconds when I get into the party (how am I supposed to have a drink with a load of fabric over my head?) so I wanted to still look sort of Halloween-y underneath. I found this lace dress at work which had a sort of "dead-doll" look to it, and worn with my silly Boohoo heels (which I regret to say made my feet ache in the time it took me to take those photos, so I dread to think what state my feet will be in after the party!) and a bit of white face powder and red lipstick, I hope I'll look the part. 

This is also my entry for the annual Spookbook competition on Lookbook - so if anyone who has an account could log on and hype me (I won't win, but it's nice to join in) it would be very much appreciated! 

Autumn rituals

I really love the time of year in which you go out and see people's hair and scarves blowing across their faces, and their cheeks glowing a rosy red colour. In my head, I imagine these people are shopping for sticks and fur, to make their home warm and comfortable for the Winter! I know people don't hibernate (damn!) but, we all have certain hedgehog-like rituals, as much as us humans don't like to think of ourselves as animals, we are - and it shows!

My ritual is to go out and buy a festive dress, and here it is! A Primark bargain at £15, I love it! I feel like I want to sit my family down around our piano so we can sing carols (who is Carol anyway?) while I play it.

Thanks for reading! Happy Autumn!

Sad

Boys are stupid by hollyarrre featuring a tea mug

Accessorize blue shoes
£24 - accessorize.com

Happy Jackson tea mug
amara.com

Movie Night Popcorn Treats Goodies Gift Basket Tub
£19 - amazon.com

TOPSHOP Koala Novelty Onesie
£42 - topshop.com



Today I'm feeling pretty lousy because of some stupid boy who turned out to not be 
worth the effort I put into him, so I'm going to have one of my best friends over and 
we're going to watch films (any we can find that don't have a boy-meets-girl 
storyline, and they're more difficult to find than you think) and eat pizza and sweets 
and chocolate and drink loads of tea and bitch about how stupid men can be. 

If you have a man (or woman, I don't discriminate) in your life I hope that they are 
wonderful and make you as happy as you deserve to be.

Birthday

So it is less than six weeks until I turn 18, and for the past few months I haven't been that bothered about my birthday, in fact I've been sort of dreading it! But turning 18 means I get a pay rise at work (yay!) and even though I'm not that bothered about drinking, I can go out if I want to. Since my university stuff should be pretty much organised by then and turning 18 will feel like a big step towards actually going to university which I am very much looking forward to.

Last weekend me and my mum went into town to buy my 18th birthday present, a Pandora ring.

I'll admit that it is a little more formal than my usual style, but I think your present on your 18th should be something that lasts and I think this is a classic style that I'll be able to wear for years to come. Pandora rings are designed to be stacked so the ring itself is rather thin, but personally I think my fingers are far too short and stubby to have three rings stacked up - I wish I had beautiful hands.

Everyone else keeps asking me what I want for my birthday and the infuriating thing is that I have no idea! I think the pressure is on for each gift to be meaningful because it's a "milestone birthday" but what I really want is a mustard Jack Wills hoodie and lots of money.

Lavender

My favourite colour of the moment is the beautiful soft colour, lavender.
I don't know why, but I've always been very drawn to things of this shade. My Year 2 pencil case was a lilac tin. My bedroom walls at age 13 were no different. A dress I chose for my cousin's wedding. You guessed it, lavender!

As well as the colour, I love the plant. I remember me and my Grandma making lavender bags to put in my drawers when I was little, from the huge lavender bushes she has on her front garden. The smell is so soothing and calming - I used to spritz lavender spray over my clothes before an end of unit test at school.

I was always pleased by how the shade pulled the blue undertones out of my skin, instead of highlighting the rosy cheeks I've always hated. I guess I owe lavender a lot! So why not wear it this Winter?

I really love this dress from New Look! It is an Online Exclusive, and was £27.99 last week, and when I looked just now it has gone down to £11 and also sold out of my size! Gutted! Hopefully I can find one on eBay. I love the raised embroidery over the chest and the simplicity and vintage-ness of it!


The Cambridge Satchel Company have made this exclusive 'Lavender' bag for Asos, and at £115, I really can't justify it, as much as I love the colour!



Both of these jeans are such pretty colours, and look really good quality. The above being £20 by Dr Denim, and the below being a sale price (what were they before?) of £72.49 from Rag and Bone.

 

 

These sunglasses are from House Of Harlow although they are around the £70 region (too much), I just wanted you guys to see how nice the lavender colour looks with navy. Practical!

  

These are so pretty, I really love them! And at £23 at YESSTYLE.COM, how can I argue? Except that I really don't trust that website one bit.

These cool crystal studded tights are very expensive, like £30! Way too much of a ladder risk for me, and I'm sure it would be a pretty simple DIY for such a nice idea! 

How cute is this PJS set from Topshop?! £20 and it's yours!

 

Although these are down as 'Blue Lavender', how awesome are they? I love the geometric thing they have going on, completely brought down to earth with the black leather strap. Unfortunately they are $200 and sold out.

 

As much as one can not imagine any male wanting to see herself in these cheekies, I can still have the enjoyment of wearing lovely underwear, and have it all to myself. The bra is from Topshop and is £18, the pants are from GAP and are £7.

Okay and now I really am getting stupid. This amazingly pretty dress is like £1,500 at Avenue 32,  but I can still admire it! 

While I'm at it I may as well show you this amazing one-of-a-kind ring, the colours of the gems are so pretty, and I wouldn't have thought it would have looked so nice on gold. Well, it's over £10,000, so, yeah.

I hope you enjoyed my little lilac line-up! Thanks for reading!

Stop being a dick

I am sure that I am not the first, and will by no means be the last girl to be confused by boys. They say that we are the complicated beings and that they are simple creatures, with simple minds... if only they knew how confusing (and aggravating) their behaviour could really be.

The one thing though that really annoys me, that grinds my gears, creams my corn and makes me want to throw my boot at them, is when they treat girls like property. What kind of thought process leads a guy into thinking that he can go behind his girlfriend's back and tell a guy not to talk to her?

He doesn't tell his girlfriend it bothered him, or even ask her to stop talking to the boy. No, he completely skips the part that might actually involve a girl's point of view, and tells the boy not to speak to his girlfriend again, and his girlfriend has no idea. If he does it over Facebook, then he has a small wena and no more can be said. I applaude the boys who don't listen to these stupid, immature boyfriends and continue to talk to the girlfriends, because atleast you realise that we are entitled to our own opinion and this is 20-bloody-13, not 1823, and girls are not a boy's property, they'll talk to who they damn-well like.

It's so chauvinistic, and all just a battle of egos and "don't go talking to my woman" - it's bollocks! Haven't we come far enough now that boys might just realise that girls are entitled to their own fucking opinion and have the ability to actually make their own decisions about who talks to them and who doesn't?

I don't know if any boys are reading this right now, but if you take anything from this post, let it be this:
If you are feeling insecure about your girlfriend talking to other boys, just talk to her about it. Not so difficult, is it?

Dark Angels

£.635 for 100g pot - available here

I recently invested in a pot of Lush cleanser, and I have not been disappointed.

My skin is really bad - it's very oily and needs so much care and attention; if I have a couple of "a make up wipe will do" days it really shows and my skin is red and riddled with spots. I also have to be rather careful with the products I use, I stick to the same faithful products that I know don't mess with my skin, because it's such a careful balance between making sure it isn't oily and making it too dry.

This cleanser is perfect for someone like me who suffers from oily skin. You simply take a pea-sized piece and mix it with water to make a paste, then scrub it into your face. It's made with black sugar so it's really grainy and you really feel like your cleaning out all your pores when you use it. Ofcourse the charcoal gives it its signature black colour so be careful to rinse properly so it's all washed off! But afterwards my skin is left feeling so soft and it helps get rid of the annoying clumps of spots on my chin and forehead. 

At £6.35 for a pot it might seem expensive, but one pot goes a long way, since you can use a tiny bit of cleanser and mix it to a milk texture and it will cover your whole face, it's not bad value really. And because it's Lush it has no nasty chemicals so you know it's all good stuff that you're putting on your face.