Work OOTD & iPhone 4!

Aloha.
Been such a busy week at work! Here's a work outfit of the day from early on in the week:


Top: New Look, current stock
Leggings: New Look, old stock
Long Black top underneath: New Look current stock

Payday yesterday! Purchased these little beauties..




Obviously my background is Fernando Torres...swoon.
Hope you all have a wonderful bank holiday weekend!

Outfit of the Night: Kanaloa

Last night I ventured to Girls Alouds Sarah Harding's club in London, Kanaloa.
This bar operates on the same kind of shallow policy of most of London's 'celebrity' clubs; girls go complimentary, guys pay to get in, guestlists and tables, vodka served with sparklers....but with a Hawaiin theme! Think tiki bars, girls in hula flowers, bamboo and tiki statues, not to mention cocktails served in pineapples!

For this joyous occasion I ventured out in a dress I mentioned in a previous post that I hadn't worn. I figured the corally colour and the shoulder frill was the closest I had to a hawaiin outfit;


Dress: New Look, current stock, around the £20 mark


Eyes:
Sleek eyeshadow palette (Storm), using the top and bottom colours on the far left of the palette.
Sleek Kajal eyeliner
Miss Sporty mascara (cheap and cheerful and achieves the same effect as some of the high end mascaras I have tried!)

Face:
No 7 Tinted Moisturiser
Rimmel Hide the Blemish concealer in Sand
Revlon Photo Ready Foundation
MAC Style blush
MAC Bronzer
MAC Finishing Powder

Lips:
Bare in this photo...don't tend to wear lippy due to my dry lip issue I mentioned in a previous post, so I just applied Nivea Lip Balm and off out to play I went :)

Hope you all had a fun weekend!

Celebwatch #2

So I was at work, getting dinner in the Studio Cafe as we had an evening show. Me and my friend Rich were at the counter...when a lady walks passed accompanied by two people either side. Immediately I recognise her, and Rich turns to me and says:
"Was that...?"
"Yeh I'm sure it was..."
"Whoopee Goldberg?!"
None other than Sister Acts' own Whoopeee Goldberg walks past!
We then sat outside (a glass window separates the inside cafe seating to the outside) and Rich points out 'there's Alan Carr' so I look in through the window, midway through eating jelly, spoon to mouth, and my jaw drops. Then even more embarassingly, Alan Carr LAUGHS at me being gobsmacked by him. What a day!

Work drinks to follow...so I am relatively tipsy right now.
Have a fun weekend!
xx

Office OOTD #2

Top: ASOS
Trousers: New Look

Went into work this morning and Diversity were just chilling in reception, as y'do.
Also got photographed by a crazy papperazzi man outside while I was minding my own business waiting to meet a friend. Not best pleased!!

Train Ramble #2

Tonight I sat in a tunnel for fifteen minutes..in the dark, next to the cheesiest most gag-enducing loved up couple. Damn signal failure hold-ups!
When the train eventually got going, I hopped on the trusty Victoria line and a woman got on..accompanied by the cutest boggly eyed dog. I think it must have been some kind of pug, but it was SO adorable. Most people get gah-gah over babies, but I am a sucker for animals. I didn't even know dogs were allowed on the train so I was chuffed when this happy pooch sat down next to me, wagging its stumpy little tail.
No sign of Train Hunk, sadly.

More Office OOTDs coming your way shortly :)

Office OOTD #1

I'm quite lucky in terms of my office dresscode; smart-casual.
Most of the men come in wearing jeans and shirts, and the women wear jeans and tops, but I like to try and dress it up a little bit and make a good impression as I am still the 'newbie'!

This is what I wore today (apologies for bad quality photo/messy background...need to get the hang of this self photography lark!)



The entire outfit is basically from New Look lol.
Red ribbed vest top
Black drop pocket cardigan
Short black high waisted skirt with gold buttons
Black tights
and I wore it all with black pumps and gold accessories.

Nothing too exciting today but come payday I will be expanding the officewear element of my wardrobe..hauls to come!

Dissertation Help

This may be a little bit of a longshot, but one that would be much appreciated.

Basically I'm doing my MA Marketing dissertation..15,000 glorious words infact, on what most influences young men and women to purchase cosmetic products.

I'm just going to put this out there to the blogosphere in the hope that anyone who wants to aid me in my comparitive study can do so...by clicking HERE.

Also if anyone knows anyone who might be interested in participating in some beauty-marketing related questions, do feel free to pass on the link:)
(http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HHH6SMQ)

I'd be so grateful to anyone who takes the time to fill it out!

Getting to know each other

This is one of those fun tags (that I spied on Fernlaura's blog) that I thought I'd join in with, considering I'm a new blogger and all!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 12:05...that's really lazy isn't it?!
2.How do you like your steak? Medium please
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Toy Story 3D! Fantastic.
4. What is your favorite TV show? 90210...hurry up and grace my TV screen again!
5. Where would you like to live if you could choose anywhere in the world? Los Cristianos, Tenerife; I love it there. Such a laidback lifestyle, and oh so beautiful. Plus their alcohol measures are bigger! Triples for the price of a single anyone?!



6. What did you have for breakfast? Victoria Sponge cake that my mum made..nice and healthy haha.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? Italian, nom!
8. What foods do you dislike? Onions. I don't see why everyone insists on putting them in everything!
9. Favorite place to eat? An Italian restaurant near where I live called Studio Pasta, their passionfruit creme brulee is to die for.
10. Favorite dressing? Not a dressing person!
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXI...called Badboy:) I'll take a picture of my little beast at some point
12. What are your favorite clothes? Hmmm toughie. I have some dresses that I am in love with:

This was from New Look fairly recently, havn't worn it out yet but I plan on wearing it to my boyfriends work Masquerade Ball

This one is also fairly recent from ASOS.com...I'd advise that whatever size you normally are, purchase this in a size up! It is super tight.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Valencia, Croatia, Paris and Venice
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? I used to be a very half empty girl..but as of late I am trying to be a half full girl
15. Where would you want to retire? Somewhere warm, Tenerife perhaps?!
16. Favorite time of day? about 5pm on a Saturday...this would normally signify time to get ready for a night out, which is my favourite part of the day!
17. Where were you born? In a town just outside of London
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, moreso now that I have to watch it as part of my job. Particularly when Liverpool play so I can perve on my lover Torres in his shorts haha.

19. Bird watcher? Can't say that I am
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? 100% a night person
21. Do you have any pets? Yessir. 3 dogs, a cat, and a terapin called Cuddles (don't ask lol)





22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Nothing to report
23. What did you want to be when you were little? A marine biologist
24. What is your best childhood memory? playing with Barbies! I loved Barbies so much when I was little. I love how companies like ASOS are making it acceptable for us oldies to indulge in a bit of Barbie love again!
25. Are you a cat or dog person? Both :)
26. Are you married? Nah
27. Always wear your seat belt? Of course.
28. Been in a car accident? Yes, but touch wood never again. What a horrible question!
29. Any pet peeves? Far too many to list! Bad manners and uncouthness..and people who completely abuse the English language (innit, blud, wagwan...shut up!)
30. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Standard cheese and tomato :) I love Domino's Dominator base though!
31. Favorite Flower? Roses
32. Favorite ice cream? Kelly's Clotted Cream Vanilla
33. Favorite fast food restaurant? Dominos
34. How many times did you fail your driver's test? I passed on my 6th attempt haha.
35. From whom did you get your last email? Facebook notification
36. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Ohhh tough. I worked in New Look for two years and got so used to only spending my money in there so I don't think its fair to answer this question without shopping around first and seeing what other shops have to offer!
37. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nope.
38. Like your job? Love it!
39. Broccoli? Yeh it's not bad
40. What was your favorite vacation? Tenerife and Ibiza 2008..so many amazing memories and met a lovely friend who I've kept in touch with since.
41. Last person you went out to dinner with? The Boyfriend, we went to a new place called Bistro, not bad not bad!
42. What are you listening to right now? Usher ft Pitbull - DJ got us fallin in love. LOVE IT.
43. What is your favorite color? pink
44. How many tattoos do you have? 3 pink stars on my lower back
45. Coffee drinker? I'm a hot chocolate gal. We get free Starbucks at work but Starbucks hot choc is rubbish. Costa all the way! (with whipped cream and caramel syrup..try it!)

CelebWatch #1

Like many people, and unlike many others, I am very much into the whole celebrity culture that the UK has become obsessed with. There are even academic journals focussed on 'the cult of the celebrity'! The celebrity lifestyle is just so glamourous to us onlookers that we can't help but be interested. Don't get me wrong, I don't go as far as purchasing OK! magazine to get the details of the latest celebrity wedding (nothing wrong with that though!) but I do love a good celebrity spot!

Luckily for me, the last two jobs I've had have involved a level of interaction with past-it celebrities, not so past-it celebrities, and downright current celebrities.

Take Tuesday last week, for example. I was wandering down to the work cafe to purchase a sandwich, minding my own business, when who do i spy sitting at a table right in front of me? Frankie and Mollie from The Saturdays! Only to be joined shortly after by the rest of the gang. They were taking a quick lunchbreak from the studios where they were filming some kind of fly-on-wall type of thing (according to my boyfriend, who is evidently more clued up than I am!) I'd met the Saturdays at my old job in promotions, and sadly hadn't recieved the best impression of them (bar Frankie, she was a sweetheart and kindly posed for a picture with my friend who loves her more than life itself)


I am still amazed at how teeny tiny they all are in person!

Then yesterday, kids TV presenters Dick & Dom (lovely chaps who i also happened to meet in my old job...need some new celebs for CelebWatch please!) were randomly lurking outside my office, as ydo.

'Citing stuff.

I am crossing my fingers and toes for the day that Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Enrique, or John James from Big Brother 2010 happen to poke their head round my office door. Wishful thinking, perhaps?!

Who would be your ideal celebrity sighting?

iPhone 4: To buy, or not to buy?

{image courtesy of Google}

It's quite the beauty isn't it?

For so long now I've been torn between getting on board with the Blackberry Hype or joining the iPhone masses, and after careful deliberation I have decided upon the iPhone for the following reasons:
1) Commuting; iPhone is far more interactive, with games and clearer, more userfriendly internet, which would be ideal for my train journeys to London (although it will distract me from people-watching!)
2) Music; Although I have an iPod, it would be annoying having to lug two lots of technology around with me all day when I can just carry one multifunctional device that allows me to communicate with the world and shut myself off to the sounds of music should I choose to do so!

I think the Blackberry is definately better as a work phone, but the iPhone overall will probably be better suited to moi. Not to mention I can get a pink case for it..hurrah.

If you own an iPhone/Blackberry or know someone who does, I'd be interested to hear some pros/cons to aid my purchase decision!

In's & Outs #1

IN.

Swedish House Mafia - One
This song gets my heart going the way only an epic clubbing song can! When Tiesto played this at Victoria Park this Summer...amazingggg!




Employment
Absolutely loving my new job working in TV production, not to mention the celebspotting! Love the feeling that I'm actually doing something worthwhile with my time is great, and of course payday!

Hot Officewear
I have come to appreciate how amazing officewear can be, and I'm trying to take inspiration from everywhere. Office outfits of the day potentially soon to come?!

Exercising
So good for de-stressing, and such a good feeling knowing your keeping fit and healthy. Thinspiration at its best!


OUT.

British Summer
So many people I know are raving it up in Ibiza this Summer, and I'm stuck here having a standard British summer...in the rain!! I miss the White Isle :(






Early Mornings
No thankyou! Especially as it's getting colder..my bed doesn't seem to want to let me leave in the mornings!

Holy Grail: Foundation

Thought I'd share with you what I would, hands down, class as my holy grail foundation:



Revlon Photoready Foundation!

The only negative I have with regards to this product is that the bottle should be bigger...don't get me wrong, it's not small (30ML) I'm just being greedy!

I purchase mine in 003 Shell Coquillage, and I absolutely adore it. I love applying it, it is super easy to apply and blend and the finish and coverage for me are both fantastic. I have just reached the end of my bottle and payday is still a little way away so I'm a sad panda..going to have to revert back to my old foundation (17 Skin Perfecting Shine Free Foundation) which I think is good but Revlon Photoready is in a league of its own!

What is your all time favourite foundation?

Train Ramble #1

The first of many Train Rambles!
So i've been commuting to London for the best part of two weeks now, and no two journeys are the same. At the start of the week a girl sat opposite me on the overground train, and I watched her (under the guise of reading my book) root around in her bag, pull out a large pile of rubbish (tissues, paper, and even an empty box of biscuits) and then proceed to lean forward and just throw them under the seat of the train! I was shocked..literally to the right of her there was a bin between the train seats. Yet she chose to throw it under the seat. Shocking. Ironically all the way to work on the underground the tannoy kept announcing 'Please take your litter with you'...shame the message didnt get through to her!

On the journey home the same day, I had a complete palava of a journey. Some rude individual shouldered me out of the way and took the last available space in an already overcrowded tube carriage, so I had to wait for the next train. In a way this was a good thing, because I ended up standing next to where the most gorgeous guy (aka Train Hunk) was sitting. He was very Fernando Torres-esque with amazing puppy dog eyes. He kept looking up and I was too shy to make eye contact. The tannoy then announced that the train we were on wouldnt be going all the way through to its termination point, at which point Train Hunk got up to leave. Damnit. In true stalker fashion I noted that he must get on at one of three stations...if I ever spy him on the train again I will know that its fate haha. Its a crazy feeling knowing you will probably never see someone like that again out of all the thousands of commuters in London. sigh.

Anyway, I was then evacuated off the tube train due to an intense smell of burning. By this point I knew I would be late and miss my overground train so I was fairly irritated. When I eventually got to the overground platform every train was delayed anyway because there had been a police chase in a nearby town that resulted in someone getting hit by a train. Drama!

The joys of commuting! Do share your commute stories, I'd be intrigued to read them

{Image from Google}

This little beauty is a godsend.
I suffer from extremely dry lips...extremely.
As a result of this, I can't indulge in the wonders of lipstick because lipstick on dry lips just looks, well, awful.

However, little miracles like this Nivea Velvet Rose lipbalm are saviours for girls like me. This is by no means a new product, but there should definately be more new products like this available on the market. It is an extremely moisturising lipbalm (I worship at the alter of Nivea's original lipbalm, the blue one) and this delivers much the same results with the added bonus of being tinted a pretty rosey pink. The colouring is very subtle, but regardless it is colour! So I can treat my lips to a splash of pink without emphasising the dryness.
Nivea, please develop this in more colours :)

Are there any other brands out there that offer products like this in other colours?

Bonjour :)

So I did the unthinkable. I passed my driving test & I got myself a job, all in the space of one week! I also bought a lottery ticket thinking I was on a roll. I had the first number that was called and got ridiculously excited, and then proceeded to have no more numbers...you win some you lose some

I never thought I'd see the day I passed my driving test. Six severe attacks of nerves later and the pink driving license is finally mine! I told the boyfriend I failed and embarked on my first solo drive to his house in Badboy (my Corsa), parked outside and called him to come out and 'help me with my bags'. The look on his face to see me sitting in the driving seat unaccompanied = priceless:)

As for the job, I can only pin down how I managed to get so lucky as an instance of fate. Accompanying my mum to visit some newborn cocker spaniel puppies, the husband of puppy owner comes home and general chit chat ensues. "So what do you do?" "Im a student..just finishing my masters..applying for jobs and getting absolutely nowhere.." I thought nothing of this, until the following week a phonecall from husband of puppy owner reveals a once in a lifetime job opportunity for me to work in production for one of the UKs major television channels. Thankyou, universe.

And so, I set off to London (much to the delight of my mum -"London is the place to be, Holly"- and completed my first week as a working girl in the city. Loving it! Although not loving the commute, up at 7am and home at 8pm, if im lucky. People watching on train does however provide me with some level of entertainment, and no doubt this blog will encapsulate the bewildering sights I encounter on my commute in the form of Train Rambles, in amongst any other beauty/fashion/general ranting I choose to unleash upon the blogosphere.

Happy reading :)