Glow To Go with facialist Abigail James

Recently I spent the evening in the company of 'the Queen of skin' Abigail James, a facialist who works on the likes of Rita Ora and Poppy Delevingne. She's collaborating with healthy food hangout Squirrel as part of their 'Best in Field' series, launching a 'Glow to Go' salad.

The Secret Garden and lessons learned

Our final day, we slowed down and took on the role of the flaneur. Which is just a fancier way of saying wandering aimlessly, i.e. being a tourist. After a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast, we headed towards another recommendation: The Secret Garden.

Love Surgery at Urban Coterie

There are a handful of journalists I really love. To win me over, their writing has to be witty, funny, clever and ever so slightly self-depreciating to compensate for the fact they're terrifically eloquent. Two of these journalists are Dolly Alderton and Cosmo Landesman.

My rhinoplasty: Q&A

Oh hey! It's my (fake-tanned) face. Lil disclaimer: these answers are all personal, and not at all from a medical point of view. In terms of the more technical ins and outs of the procedure, or any cosmetic procedure, please seek a consultation with a medical professional. That aside, let's crack on.

Life as a beauty intern: the debrief

My month as a beauty intern at Marie Claire is over. So, that happened.

So, you want to work in media?

Now, I know this post won't seem very legit, since at present I don't have a permanent job in the media. Let's gloss over that... But what I do have is almost one and a half year's worth of experience job searching, so I like to think I know what's what, especially when it comes to the job hunt.

The best lessons are the hardest to learn.

Yes, that's right - I'm going to get all serious on you. You have been warned!

The end of the upcoming week will mark my 8th week milestone of my year-long internship.

As it stands, the internship has not gone as smoothly as I could have hoped. It's had it's perks, but it's also had its lows. 

Last week, everything got way, way, WAY too much, and I learned some very important lessons that I'm still struggling to accept.

If you don't already know (and most people that have met me even a few times will know this, because it's pretty much ingrained into my character) - I'm a perfectionist. In my mind, if something isn't done to its full potential, and it's not something I can be proud of... what's the point?

This characteristic has been my downfall - my hamartia, as good old Shakespeare would say - in the workplace.

In my position I really strain myself. I have so much to do, so many things to prioritise, remember, chase up, complete, move, etc, that I am stretched out too thinly. The problem is that with a million things on my to-do list, I can never do anything to its full potential. Consequently, what I end up doing is putting all my efforts into two or three things, and letting minute details of other things which are just as important fall down by the wayside.

I won't go into detail, 1. because it's boring, and 2. because I'm not sure if it's considered "Private and Confidential" and I don't want to get into trouble, but I made some pretty hefty errors in the last few weeks.

It all came to a head towards the end of last week, though, when I came back from a brain-melting task which had taken me close to four hours, and it was 6:15pm (I'm meant to finish at 5:30, but never do), and I still had at least 6 things to action which would take me a good while. I was exhausted, my eyes hurt, I had a headache after squinting at letters and numbers, and I really, really just wanted to get home. I was so stressed, I wanted to cry.

"Go home" my colleagues said. "I can't" I said, "I still have loads to do!"

At this point I could have just happily put my head on the table and screamed in frustration. How had I let things pile up so much? How had I gotten so behind? Why do even the smallest tasks take so long? WHY am I still here with so much to do?

But I didn't, because I couldn't. So as the aforementioned colleagues gathered around my desk and had a look through my extensive to-do list, I sat there, torn between a state of being emotional numb and mildly hysterical, and tried to breathe as they told me how they were going to help me with the sticky situation I'd gotten myself into.

"This isn't me!" I wanted to shout, "I'm a hard-worker! I try my best at everything! All I want to do is be the best intern ever and not mess up! I can do better!"

I felt like I'd failed. I felt like I wasn't cut out for the job, even though I remindede myself I was chosen out out a rather large number of candidates.

But I hadn't actually failed. I'd just tried to do everything and I hadn't communicated my problem, which was as simple as: I'm too overwhelmed.

Even though I ask questions pretty much all the time, I never actually admitted that I had too much on my plate, because I thought it was expected of me to just do what I was given and get on with it. But the issue was that I'd gotten so many things to do, and gotten into such a state that I didn't know what to do, so was consequently at a loss at how to handle everything. All I'd needed to do was metaphorically stuck my hand up and say "Help me before I get majorly overwhelmed and want to curl up into a ball to let the magic fairies sort my life out."

It's a hard lesson to learn, but I understand that it's an important one. I let my pride get the better of me, and as cliched as it sounds, pride definitely comes before a fall. The workplace is a constantly challenging environment... no one expects you to be able to silently slot in and become a super robot whizz and never say a word. Not only am I learning new skills and techniques and adapting to new routines, I am learning to help myself and communicate that in fact, no, I can't do X, because I'm still devoting a lot of my time to Y.

On a lighter note, I am lucky to be attending Fashion Scout as part of London Fashion Week between the 13th and 17th of September, which I'm very excited about. My next post will hopefully be more positive! As far as I know, I'll be helping out backstage with models and assisting our make up artist with various things, and escorting guests around the site. Wish me luck, and thanks for reading!

The dog days aren't over... and that's okay

So I've realised a few things in the last couple of weeks:

1. I have a tendancy to romanticise the past, which makes the present seem a lot worse than it actually is.

2. A healthy body is the first step to a healthy mind.

and possibly the most important thing...

3. To feel more confident, sometimes it's all about the little details.

The Easter holidays has, and will continue to mean for the duration, university work and paid work. At first this notion filled me with dread, but then I realised that I'm a complete sucker for organisation, and the holidays were the perfect opportunity to spring-clean my life and plan things to the last detail... which is a little bad sad, I'll admit, but that's just me.

So when I'm doing university work, I'm semi-content because it means I'm getting things done and a few hours closer to being FINISHED, and when I'm doing paid work, I welcome it as a chance to use my brain for practical means, not just focusing on the lovely topic of incest (which I've managed to base both my essays on, and I don't know what this says about my state of mind to be honest!)

Oh, and when I'm not doing work, I split my time between mindless TV - think New Girl, The Mindy Project, The Carrie Diaries and TOWIE - and the occasional outing to the gym. I'm determined to get there three times a week, even if it kills me.

Within this essay madness I've had my down moments, and moments where I feel like I can't be bothered anymore, and I put minimal effort into my appearance because hey, who am I trying to impress, the librarian? Somewhere along the way, I lost a bit of self-esteem, and started to wonder whether I could actually look NICE anymore.

You'll be happy to know I've found the answer, and sorry, but it IS shallow. I don't care.

My solution? Lipstick and some boot heels.

Even if your hair isn't styled, and you're wearing minimal make up, lipstick makes it look like you've made an effort (even if you haven't), and brightens up your complexion. I'm an absolute sucker for the bright pink lipstick I bought from Topshop about a month ago (it looked red on the website, but I'm glad for the mistake!) I wore it for my step-dad's birthday outing to The Shard, and it instantly made me look half decent, even though I was exhausted and stressed.

And boot heels... it shouldn't need any explanation, really. Heels automatically make me feel more grown up, make anyone's legs look longer and slimmer, and if you're wearing boot heels they're not nearly as painful as regular heels, and they are on the dressy side of casual - or casual side of dressy - without making it look like you've tried too hard.

The combo took all of about 5 minutes, and that's because to this day I still can't tie my shoe laces up very quickly, and I am rather challenged when it comes to applying lipstick. It would probably take most people less time than that.

Here are some pictures of my Easter weekend including my step-dad's birthday meal in Chinatown, The Shard and our Easter Sunday afternoon tea, although if you're following me on Twitter/have me as a friend on Facebook, you'll probably have seen them already:

 

 

 

 

 

Complete with a very strong G&T, courtesy of M&S

 

So I guess what's I'm trying to say is that even when you're feeling pretty darn unattractive, it's the little touches that can go a long way. Do something for yourself, indulge a little in the superficial, and let yourself be selfish. It feels good. And if it makes you look good, even better :)

Peter Pan Collars.

I do love myself a peter pan collar, I have to admit.

They make a shirt more feminine, and immediately prettify dresses.

The first celebrity that comes to mind in the classic word association game if you yelled PETER PAN COLLAR at me would be the lovely Zooey Deschanel, followed by old-school Blair Waldorf. These girls are adorable and their dress sense isn't too bad either.  What I'm trying to say is that you could do a lot worse than being compared to Zooey and Blair donning a peter pan collar.

Where the concept of calling a rounded collar a "peter pan" collar originates from, I'm not entirely sure, especially because whenever I think of Peter Pan I think of this guy:

They seem to be slowly falling out of fashion in favour of sparkly or statement collars, which seems a shame, so with this in mind I've scouted out some collars that remain flying the flag for all PP lovers out there.

Oh, and did I mention this collar highly favours small-busted girls? I didn't? Well, it does. Busty girls really struggle with this style, so make the most of it!

1. Peterpan Flowery Flippy Dress, £48

This dress is super pretty, and I love the little flower and bead embellishments. Students get 10% discount with an NUS Extra card, and this will be perfect in the spring with a cute cardigan. Wear with boots during the day, and cute flats in the evening. Or vice versa, depending how fancy your respective boots/flats are!

2. Navy Lace Insert Jewel Shell Top, £15

This top is by Kelly Brook and again, I adore the jewels! This would be absolutely perfect with a pair of jeans and heels, matched with a blazer. The lace insert really finishes the whole look off. Make sure you wear a cami or something underneath until it gets a bit warmer, because the back is sheer...

3. Alice Leopard Peter Pan Collar Playsuit, £25

Apologies for the terrible quality, but I wanted the image to be a similar size to the others! I love this playsuit because it's sophisticated whilst giving a nod to the animal print trend. The three-quarter sleeves are spring-friendly, and there's always the option to dare to bare or keep things covered up (I'd personally risk getting the legs out, otherwise you run the risk of looking too conservative).

4. Red Owl Print Peter Pan Collar Peplum Top, £8

Rather awkwardly I have just checked and this product is out of stock... BUT, may I just give New Look a round of applause for managing to incorporate a peter pan collar, peplum, and OWLS into one piece of clothing? Pretty impressive.  This kind of top can easily be dressed up with a bodycon skirt or dressed down with jeans.

5. Limited Cream Pearl Teardrop Collar, £19.99.

And if you're wearing a plain top/dress but feel lost without a cute collar, thanks to retailers everywhere, there is hope. Hurrah!

Let me know if you find any places that take a fancy to Peter Pan Collars, because they really do seem stark at the moment.

Fashion Faux Pas

This post has been almost a week in the pipeline, but it's still very very relevant.

Despite trying as hard as I can as a poor student who really would love nothing better than to slob around in massive jumpers, leggings and big socks ALL DAY LONG (all whilst drooling at Blair Waldorf's wardrobe) to adhere to seasonal trends, I do occasionally get it wrong. Ok, maybe quite a lot.

At the time I'll put an outfit together and think I look good, and then I'll look back and say: "Oh my God, what in heaven's name was I thinking?!" Tagged photos will be swiftly hidden from my timeline, the memories will be repressed, my embarrassing outfit choices utterly dead to me.

But almost a week ago I think I out-did myself. I managed to make the ultimate faux-pas of revealing my undergarments unintentionally.  Nope, it wasn't to give the boys a cheeky sneak peak, or even because what I was wearing was indecently short.  In fact, the irony is two-fold:

1. The dress I wore was a MIDI DRESS.  As in, the dress was cut below my knees, mid-calf length.  And it was clingy, meaning if I had wanted to flash my knickers I would have had quite a job doing so.

2. I chose my underwear based on the fact I was worried about VPL (which, in case any readers are unaware, is an acronym for "visible panty line") - I did match my bra and knickers but was worried my knickers weren't seamless enough, so opted for some big bright pink pants.

After all of this, it seems that my worries were completely unfounded, because it was neither the length of my dress or the texture of my knickers that would be my downfall, but the lining (or lack thereof) that gave me away.

Without flash, in a particular light, at a specific angle, you could catch a hint of my undergarments.

But, alas, with the devil utilised, all was revealed.  It simultaneously brought to light (see what I did there?) my underwear choices and my unfortunate decision to not wear black.

Lesson learned.

To be fair, you CAN wear black dresses with whatever colour underwear you want, usually.  But, if the material is clingy and thin, don't risk it. Just don't.  Otherwise, like me, you will undoubtedly discover your mistake and squeal in embarrassment upon perusing the pictures the morning after, and for a few minutes you'll feel empty and wonder where your dignity has decided to hide.

So, the message is to make sure you think through your underwear just as much as your other layers, and to never ever underestimate the evil powers of a camera.

Here's a picture of all of my friends and I for my friend's 21st, wearing my lovely midi dress (from Ark) with my underwear on show.  Oops!



C'est la vie! Dress safe ;)