A Frosty Sunday

What better way to spend a cold, snowy (well a pitiful, slush down here) Sunday afternoon?

I haven't bought an ELLE in foreevvver! I'm a subscriber and squee with glee when the new issue plonks through the letterbox each month, but I'm not going home until end of March and couldn't wait eight weeks to read the March issue!! So I now have two - and what a blooming good issue to have two of! :) Plus the free Soap&Glory mascara was too tempting to resist - not that impressive though but I'll save that for another time.

How are you spending this wintery Sunday? Please send your snow my way!

Mavala Magic

I’ve seen lots of posts lately on different designs that have been created with the Mavala nail varnishes given out with the September copy of ELLE. So I apologise if you have seen lots of the itsy bitsy cute polish pots around already, as I’m about to show you another...


Taking inspiration from the pic Jennifer Dickinson of ELLE posted on twitter, and from the WAH designs featured on their website, I opted for a patterned look (my first attempt at anything other than block colour). Keeping the design simple whilst I practise more daring arty strokes, I went for popular polka dots. But of course this look is all in the colours you choose!


My Mavala freebie (this is my first experience of the brand) was ELLE Grey: code 26101 which is very versatile. I thought about using it as the main colour and then topping it with glitter but I’ll save that for next time and instead opted for a magenta pink in OPIs Koala Bear-y. However after two coats this does appear as more of a berry red shade.


The bright, fun and feminine colour contrasts beautifully with the muted, masculine shade of the grey. Applying sporadic dots also breaks up the main colour nicely and makes for something a bit more interesting. I can’t wait to try this design against other shades or even reverse it and use some of my brighter, girly colours as polka dots!

Which colour did you receive with your ELLE? What designs did you create with them?

Ps, my beloved laptop is fixed – THANK GOD! – (or rather THANK G who actually fixed it) and my blogger is working properly now so I have started commenting back to all your lovely messages. Also with a bit more time on my hands I have been exploring some of your blogs too and found some new favourites :)

Updates: Elle's Top 10 Key Pieces for A/W...The Highstreet Versions

Together with my fashion bible that is the wonder of ELLE (my secret source to all the hot new trends!) came a fab little accessory named ‘The Runway Edit’ in the current September issue [BUY IT HERE]. A pull-out filled to the brim with all the trends and shows that the team loved for this A/W along with sneak-peeks and juicy stories from the catwalks! Ahh ELLE, how you make fashion lovers lives so easy....

I like learning of the new season’s must-haves in an easy ‘picture-title’ manner, displaying an image of what the piece is, how to wear it and its description...simples! And ELLE masters this every month in an oh so adored collage-style layering of catwalk models donning the latest desirables and a big look-at-me heading.

And once again they have put a smile on my face by including a very plain, no-fuss-needed double page spread on ‘Top 10 Key Pieces for Autumn/Winter 2010’. With a chic and stylish image and numbered trend titles, ELLE has provided me and thus you with a perfect low-down of what we should be buying this season. And here they are...

1. Hold-ups
2. Long skirts
3. Chunky knits
4. Tapered Trousers
5. Aviator jackets
6. Camel coats
7. Teddy-bear coats
8. Lace
9. Capes
10. Evening trousers

(Listing taken from ELLE’s ‘The Runway Edit’)

So what are we gonna do now we know that seductive hold-ups, floor-grazing skirts and Chloe styles capes are the essentials to be wearing?? Well we’re going to empty our purses and scour the shops of course! But for those of you who join me in not yet being quite affluent enough to say hello to the shop assistants at Burberry or Prada (one day...) I have pulled out the best high-street versions from ELLE’s top ten list. No need to thank me...♥


(Images taken from websites 1. Topshop £6, 2. Miss Selfridge £20, 3. River Island £34.99, 4. Topshop £38, 5. Oasis £150, 6. Topshop £80, 7. Topshop 85, 8. Miss Selfridge £20, 9. Warehouse £75, 10. River Island £29.99)

Let’s just hope we don’t bump into each other wearing the same key pieces (cringe!)!

Ps, Does anyone know where I can find a nice tan belt and a black one too? I'm in desperate need of them! Keep your comments coming, I love love love hearing from you...

Recommendation: YOU magazine

As a fashion journalism student (and a girl) I love reading magazines. My favourite glossy is Elle, as you can tell from my profile but I also enjoy the occasional secret peek at the hybrids...Closer, Heat and Reveal being among some of them but sshh don’t tell!

But my favourite one of all would shock a lot of my fellow course mates as it’s not a regular among our reading lists, or a regular among the fashion shelves for that matter, actually it doesn’t even cost a penny (unless you count the big mark up from buying the Daily Mail on a Sunday compared to every other day of the week!). Yes you’ve guessed it, I’m a self confessed YOU mag junkie.


(There's beauty...)

I adore this magazine and was shocked to find that some of my friends had never even heard of it! So in my first Recommendation post, I give you YOU.

Now don’t be put off by its link to the Daily Mail (which is another favourite of mine). Although there are some story links between paper and mag, the supplement is completely established enough to hold its own audience and win the title of ‘Best Supplement of the Year’ repeatedly. It houses everything your favourite magazine does (unless your fav mag is sporty, or photography/car orientated).


(...there's great feature articles...)

There is always a top A lister celeb on the front and a full double-page interview with them inside. The fashion pages are always crammed with the latest trends (albeit slightly pricey products but no more so than those featured in the likes of Vogue, Harpers Bazzar or Marie Claire), and they have a little fashion gem there who goes by the name of Mimi Spencer. Her weekly fashion column is genius and an all anticipated read of mine.


(...there's fashion...)

I also love how they feature articles about real life people, issues and problems and not just on celebs, the ultimate body or fashion, fashion, fashion! The reason I like it so much is because the creators are the type of writer I aspire to be, and they write about the topics I dream to write about.


(...there's lifestyle...)

It may be deemed an older woman’s magazine by some, and they would be right. A twenty-year old student is not the intended reader of a wealthy, conservative woman’s magazine but all the same, I adore everything about it and I’m sure as fashion conscious, open-minded young women, you would too.


(...and food.)

PS. If you have a family member who regularly buys the Daily Mail, just ask them to save the supplement for you. Or simply read it online! There, you have an enjoyable read that didn’t cost a penny...how often does that happen!