Claire | Vanity Claire

ClaireMay 27, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Laura Ralph Two-Piece

Two Piece: Laura Ralph Designs / Shoes: Garage / Bag: Primark

HIYAAAAA! Just a quick OOTD for you today to show what I wore out this bank holiday. If you follow us on Twitter or Instagram then you’ll may have already seen this amazing co-ord as I’ve banged on about it, ooh, approximately 73 million times since I bought it. It was made by the super fantastic Laura Ralph, who makes shorts, skirts and trouser sets to order in a range of different materials and prints. Considering how much brands like Motel are charging for co-ords at the moment, I think this is absolutely amazing at only £25.

If you fancy ordering yourself one then Laura’s co-ords are stocked at The Little Deer or you can check out her Facebook page, where you can see all her latest fabrics and place your custom order.

Necklace: Primark / Rings: ℅ Zara Taylor, Primark

I kept accessories pretty simple with my beaut new shoes (dribble dribble drool drool), silver jewellery and of course lashings of fake tan. This was after I had somewhat of a fake tan disaster earlier in the day, as I woke up Sunday morning to find that when doing my tan before bed on Saturday, I had only tanned one of my arms. One arm was beautifully blorange, the other looked like a corpse’s. Thankfully Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan came to my rescue, thank the lawwwd!

What do you all think of this outfit? Let me know in the comments below!

ClaireMay 25, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Vague Crop Tee

Crop top: eBay / Leather look leggings: River Island (old) / Chain: eBay / Bag: Primark

Good afternoon, ladies and gents!

Now this look is what I call ‘hoochie chic’ (no, I’m not really sure where the chic bit comes in either) and features my new crop top which I picked up from eBay this week. I may have explained before that despite liking slogan tees, I am quite fussy about what said slogan says. I don’t like t-shirts that say anything about partying – because I’m clearly not a party when I’m filling my car with petrol at 9am on a Sunday – or love, or dreams, or anything remotely shit like that. This, though, I like. I also like the loose fit and rolled sleeves. Top marks all round, eBay, top marks!

Sunglasses: Primark / Shoes: Garage Shoes

I am also in love, yes LOVE, with my new shoes. I went on a search high and low for these babies, after seeing similar ones either sold out everywhere online or versions that were not quite right (ie a lot have white tops but black heels whereas I was after the full white). I finally chanced upon these on Garage Shoes, which I hadn’t visited before but definitely recommend for some cheap and cheerful new foot friends. I’m aware that sounds a bit like a club that foot fetishists might join. That is not what I mean. ANYWHO, these only cost £30 and literally make me so happy I could do a little cry. Whether or not they survive a night out in Birmingham tonight is fully another matter. Alas, we shall see.

What do you all think of this outfit?

ClaireMay 24, 2014

What The Idiots In Our Office Think About… SS14 Trends

Claire and I work with genuine ~~fools~~ delightful people. In an office of 6 boys and only the two of us to defend ourselves against football and their horrible pulling techniques, we have to keep ourselves amused by forcing them into girl talk. While this often involves us pestering them about their ~~tragic~~ love lives, it also can get fashion related. And safe to say, they don’t quite understand it. Just the other day, Claire wore a crop top to work and they began asking invalid questions like, ‘did you shrink your tshirt in the wash’ and ‘did you buy a baby’s tshirt by accident’. Sigh and sigh again.

So obviously, we thought that it would be a jolly good laugh to ask them some questions about the current SS14 trends and get some boys’ perspectives on all of the fabulous things us girls are wearing at the moment.

Cleated Soles

First off we showed them a picture of a pair of white cleated platforms. Safe to say that they weren’t particular fans of our summer staples. And here is what they thought:

“Errr they are rubbish”
“These are basically for the summer hooker, and in black they are even more hookery”
“I think my nan used to have a pair” and “they look like granny shoes”
“They cause an immense amount of sadness within me”
“They look like you should be in prison or a desert”

Co-Ords

Claire and I love co-ords at the moment. Unfortunately, the boys didn’t much like them. At all.

“Who the fuck is going outside in their pyjamas”
“Whether you wore a long or short version, you are going to look like a tit”
“I would stamp on someone in the street if they wore that”
“It looks like a joke”
“These are like meggings and should be illegal”
“It looks like a hospital gown”
“It’s like bananas in pyjamas, except it’s a lady”

Baby Pink

Baby pink is the must have colour this summer, and this was a SS14 trend that the boys liked the most.

“We like baby pink”
“Although not if you wear all of it at the same time, you would look like a skeleton”
It’s ok, but it might look like you’re naked if you stood far away”

Unfortunately, the lads weren’t fans of girls with pink hair, with one commenting that he would “spit on people with pink hair”.

Holographic Accessories

Holographic accessories make me and Claire hugely happy. We both love it with a fiery passion. Again, the lads weren’t keen. When shown a picture of a holographic bag, they said:

“What the fuck is that”
“Erm, it looks like a condom packet”
“It looks like someone can’t afford a handbag and has to use kitchen foil”
“It looks tacky”

Jelly Shoes

We are also fans of the jelly shoes here at Stylingo. Again, the boys were not. We showed them a number of different colours of jelly shoes and none of them appealed. Here’s what they said:

“…Oh no”
“If you are over the age of 3, you should not be wearing these”
“Do you want to look like a child?
“If you wear these, you need to have a sit down and have a long, hard think about your life and where it is going”
“Why can’t you afford real shoes?”

Well, I think that all this can prove is that boys genuinely know nothing. Let’s all just ignore them and go on put on our baby pink co-ords, match it with a holographic bag and cleated platforms. Good day.

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ClaireMay 23, 2014

Mainline Menswear Father’s Day Competition

Aw, so here’s a photo of me and my dad on the day that he sold me as a child bride.

I kid, of course – this is obviously my Holy Communion. ‘Great Catholic memory, Claire’ I hear you say, ‘But what does this have to do with fashion?’ Well dear readers, we were recently contacted by Mainline Menswear to see if we would like to enter their Father’s Day competition. Lauren and I love a good competition, but we liked this one even more because for once the prize isn’t for our greedy selves, but our dads, who can win £250 to spend on the site. Nice, eh?!

I decided to give this competition a go because I happen to be quite fond of my dad. He’s a nice fellow, often doing helpful things like dropping snacks off to me and mowing our lawn. Not that he really offered to do that – it was more of a “Oh thanks for lending me your lawn mower dad… do you fancy giving it a whizz round the garden while you’re here?” sort of situation – but he was a good egg and helped out nonetheless. He’s also notoriously difficult to buy presents for, and usually asks for either nothing or something painfully dull like a torch or a map (planning his escape perhaps?) – so I quite like the thought of handing him a voucher and letting him do his thang.

To enter the competition, all I need to do is pick my dad out an outfit from the range of clothes available on Mainline Menswear. Here is the little ensemble I’ve come up with:

As is kind of indicated by his flowing locks in our photo, my dad used to consider himself a bit of a Bon Jovi-like rock man. And he took this quite seriously – when I was born, he had a bleached blonde mullet. No. I am not joking. I suppose it was always inevitable I was going to end up a bit obsessed with my hair when some of my earliest memories involve watching my dad get highlights…

Anyway, I digress. So I opted for a kind of rock-ish outfit, consisting of some slim-fit Levis (because nobody wants to see a man over the age of 50 wearing skinny jeans, nobody), a Diesel t-shirt and these Dr Marten Bentleys so he could stand on people’s toes at a gig. And of course, his hair is a bit mousey these days so he can have some hair bleach too. Heeeeeheeeee.

If any of you would like to enter this competition then you can visit this page on the Mainline Menswear blog. I’d rather you didn’t though, because I want my dad to win so I can bribe him into continuing to mow my lawn…

What do you all think of this outfit?

ClaireMay 22, 2014

Top 5 Makeup Fails In Pictures

Wearing makeup is basically second nature to most of us tip top girls. Most of us have been wearing it since we were horrifyingly embarrassing teenagers in gypsy skirts and those weird crotchet slipper shoes. While I’m no makeup expert (erm, just throwing it on your face counts right?), there are some makeup fails that you simply can’t ignore. Some of these we may have experienced ourselves (before we became better people, obvs), and others we have witnessed from afar, shedding a tear for the unfortunate girl with too much blusher on.

Personally, I used to be freakin’ terrible at eyebrows and any form of liner. I don’t know if I was just permanently nervous or had an unusual fear of eyebrow pencils, but my hands used to shake in ways not yet witnessed by the common man. Resulting in a Picasso-esque look on my face, when I just wanted to look like Avril Lavigne.

Mostly for my own entertainment, Claire and I decided to recreate some of the worst makeup fails. From orange caked on foundation to frankly alarming lipliner, here are my top 5 makeup fails. And 5 pictures of me and Claire looking like right knobs.

1. Tragic Eyebrows

Ok, so eyebrows are a thing now. I love it, I love eyebrows and I love nothing more than drawing mine on every morning. But you know that well known saying, ‘she who hath bad eyebrows, hath failed at all that is good’? Well it so rings true with me. Whether they are misplaced, too big, too small, wonky or downright horrific, bad eyebrows need to be stopped. Call in her Maj’s army, because this is of national importance.

2. Mismatched Foundation

Another one that stresses me out more than Amanda Bynes no longer providing us with comedy gold, is mismatched foundation. I’ll actually rephrase this, because I don’t really care if you want to wear foundation that doesn’t quite match your skin – it’s the whole not-blending-into-your-neck thing that grates on me. Foundation doesn’t stop on your chinny, and there is neck blending to be done.

3. Unblended Eyeshadow

Yes, blending is really boring and yes, nobody really enjoys doing it – but the horrors of unblended eyeshadows are too many to count. Not only do you look like you’ve attempted a rubbish Black Swan fancy dress, but you look like a goddamn fool. Stylingo top tip: just blend until your hand aches, and then blend some more. For the love of pete and his dear mother.

4. Too Much Lipliner

The 90s may be back, but they will never be lipliner back. The whole lined lips with nude inner bits MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. Why. Just why. How did this ever happen? HOW?!

5. Clown Blusher

A nice blusher goes a long way. The point is to look like you’ve been for a casual jog down the road and/or like you are a healthy country girl who enjoys spending time in the great outdoors (when we are actually bloggers who like sitting at home and taking pictures of our shoes). The idea is not to look like Ronnie McDonnie.

And now Claire and I would like to cry about how beautiful we look in these snaps. If you haven’t had a chuckle at the tragedies that are our faces, then perhaps you have learned some valuable makeup tips. You’re welcome.

Don’t forget you can vote for us as Best Blogging Duo in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine! Click the icon below to be taken to the voting site:

ClaireMay 20, 2014

A Week In Instagram #9

I know what you’re thinking: ‘Hey, hasn’t it been a while since they posted one of their completely inaccurately titled ‘Week in Instagram’ posts where they actually just wedge about a month’s worth of photos inat once in a shameless attempt to beg more followers on yet another social channel but actually just bore us to tears with their boring faces and lives?’

Well YOU ASK, WE PROVIDE, my little friends. Here’s a nice little summary of some of our activities recently, as told by squares:

1. The weather has finally picked up and this means sunglasses recently began dominating my thoughts for about 80% of the day. I was after a round pair but a lot of the ones around looked like they were bordering dangerously close to being part of a John Lennon fancy dress outfit – and then my eager eyes rested on these steampunk-esque babies and my life was complete. They cost a mere £3.99 and can be found here on eBay.
2. You may or may not know that despite looking every inch the pale English idiot, Lauren in fact hails from the exotic land of South Africa (I know – she’s from Africa, why is she white?) She recently took a trip back to the homeland, but before she arrived she had a small mare when she, err, missed her flight. I don’t know what idiot was in charge of taking her to the airport. Oh wait, yeah I do, it was me. This is a cheeky mirror selfie taken the morning before catching her re-booked flight, though, so all was well that ended well.
3. Look, she made it! Another mirror selfie, this time from SA itself.
4. Oh yes, the 90s are well and truly back my friends. I wish I’d had the good sense to keep the tattoo choker I had when I was 8 but alas, I had to fork out a whole 99p for this one to re-live my youth. Poverty, nice to meet you.

5. . No, that’s not a boil. Lauren got her nose pierced, the groovy shit.
6. I’ve been lusting after a Laura Ralph two-piece for what feels like approximately 73 years now, and finally treated myself to one. Laura makes co-ords to order from a range of unique fabrics, meaning you get to be all fancy and unique. You can take a look at her Facebook page here and order your own – because, why wouldn’t you?
7. HOW beaut is this ring from Zara Taylor? Very beaut, that is the answer.
8. I’m still loving this lipstick in shade ‘Crime’ from Makeup Revolution. You can read my full review here if you haven’t already.
9. My outfit of the day from a recent press day I attended in Manchester. My beloved Primark blazer teamed with a Topshop cami, River Island pleather leggings and Marc B ‘Giselle’ bag.
10. Yes that is a leopard print CAKE. With our faces on. This little beauty came courtesy of Baker Days, who deliver personalised cakes right through your letterbox. They’re perfect for special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries… or Mondays. Or Tuesdays. Probably Wednesdays too. ALL THE TIME, OKAY.
11. My current favourite jeans from Boohoo – rips galore!
12. A huge thank you to House of Fraser for these little bracelets. Lauren’s worn them almost daily since receiving them, and you can see them in her most recent Outfit of the Day if you’re a wrist pervert.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this little look into your day to day life! You can follow us on Instagram at StylingoUK.

Don’t forget you can vote for us as Best Blogging Duo in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine! Click the icon below to be taken to the voting site:

ClaireMay 19, 2014

The Best of the Highstreet: Palm Tree Prints

Good evening dear pals,

I have a confession to make. I have developed an unhealthy obsession with palm trees. Don’t ask me how, don’t ask me why but there it is. I have been desperately searching for some kind of ‘palm tree print anonymous’ groups but apparently they don’t exist. If there are any fashion bloggers out there who would like to create a palm tree print obsessed group, I would be more up for that than Miley Cyrus is for twerking and/or being a lunatic.

So, feeding my obsession and also giving myself an excuse for yet more shopping, I have been perusing the old internet and found some of the best palm tree prints on the line. You are all welcome, you stunners. Don’t blame me if your bank rings you in palm tree print anger.

I don’t know about you all, but I love that New Look cami especially, it’s beauuutiful. I’m also keen for the New Look clutch bag, it is more than jazzy.

Is anyone else mega keen for palm tree print at the moment? The only thing that I am sad about is the fact that I’m not off anywhere on holiday again this year to fully take advantage of these tropical print beauties. I’m going to have to force Claire to buy loads of these so that I can live through her when she goes away later on in the summer. I’m pretty sure she won’t mind.

What do you lovely ladies think? Are you a palm print fan orrrrrr?

Don’t forget you can vote for us as Best Blogging Duo in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine! Click the icon below to be taken to the voting site:

ClaireMay 18, 2014

Karora Tinted Self Tan Mist | Review

Happy Sunday chicas! Today’s review is for all my fellow fake tanners out there (shout out to the girls for whom white bed sheets can only ever be a dream – the struggle is real, so real).

Last week I was invited to an event in Manchester by CiCi PR, where I was lucky enough to come away with a bottle of Karora Tinted Self Tan Mist to try out. I hadn’t heard of Karora before, which actually isn’t too much of a surprise as it’s quite a high-end tanning brand and I considered myself to be quite the fancy Nancy when I progressed from £3 St Moriz to £6 Cocoa Brown. Karora retails for between £14.99 to £26.99 so is out of my usual price range, but I was crazy excited to give it a go.

Karora prides itself on being a ‘botanical bronzing range with skincare status’. The Tinted Self Tan Mist which I tried is packed with skin-benefiting ingredients including aloe, acai berry, argan and coconut oil, meaning that you get the bronzed glow without any of the chemicals found in other fake tans. Usually I’d be all ‘chemicals schmemicals’ about claims like that, but I’ve got to admit that the tan did feel much more moisturising and nourishing to apply than any other tan I’ve used before. It goes on light, but with a handy guide colour, and leaves a faint citrus-y smell.

I applied before bed and then when I woke up in this morning, ta daaa! I know these photos were taken at different times of the day and even the carpet looks a tad anaemic but I assure you the difference was as prominent.

The colour was beautifully even and, dare I say it, natural-looking (not that I have any memory of what a natural tan looks like, so long has it been since my pasty body graced a beach). I tried out the Light-Medium shade and am still really impressed with the colour; for a night out I would probably prefer the Medium-Dark shade, but as a day-to-day tan for the working week this is absolutely perfect.

It’s also definitely worth pointing out that I only used a couple of spritzes for each part of my body to achieve this colour, so I think the bottle should last a fairly long time. When you compare that with a cheaper brand like St Moriz that I used to plough through at an alarming rate, the higher price tag suddenly doesn’t seem so bad.

The Tinted Self Tan Mist retails for £17.99 and can currently be found online or in Lloyds pharmacy.

Have you ever tried Karora?

ClaireMay 16, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Primark Mint Skater Skirt & White Platforms

Hi huns,

This is a super quick OOTD for you all. I am working from home today, waiting for the landlord to come and check up on our humble little abode. Thankfully, she came about 2 minutes ago, which is lucky because I have been desperate to lurk out to get some food. I am wasting away (….).

I bought this Primark skirt for my holiday to South Africa, and safe to say I absolutely love it. It’s got embossed what I suppose are polka dots (not gross ones though) and is the most beautiful mint green colour. It’s also made in panels, meaning it’s not just a regular skater shape, which is nice.

I wore this lovely skirt with my rip off Celine tshirt (that I got at the Clothes Show). If you can’t see, it says ‘Feline MEOW’ which isn’t really normal behaviour. I quite like it though, even if it is a bit embarrassing.

House of Fraser also sent me some absolutely beautiful bracelets, which I love with the fiery passion of a girl who likes bracelets. Cheers HOF, you babes. You can buy the bracelets here and here.

On my feet, I have my New Look white chunky platforms, and on my lips I have a Makeup Revolution lippy. Read Claire’s review of them, they are great and cost £1. Pardon. My holographic clutch bag is from Primarj – around £8 I believe.

Now I must go and get myself some form of sustenance before I pass out on my laptop, get eaten by the neighbourhood cats and alarm Claire when she gets home from London. We don’t want a Stylingo funeral now, do we?!

What do you think of this outfit? YAY OR NAY?

Don’t forget you can vote for us as Best Blogging Duo in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine! Click the icon below to be taken to the voting site:

ClaireMay 15, 2014

Makeup Revolution Eyebrow Shaping Kit | Review

It is a well known fact that Lauren is to eyebrows what Katie Hopkins is to being a big grade A bitch – i.e. an expert. Over our time in the blogging world she’s reviewed many an eyebrow kit on Stylingo (Lauren I mean, not Katie H… that would be strange) so I feel a bit like I’m treading on her tiny hobbit toes here, but please bear with me and my idiot opinions.

Makeup Revolution are my new favey brand at the moment thanks to their super cheap and super fantastic lipsticks (which I reviewed here if you fancy a read) so I was excited to give their eyebrow kit a whirl too. The kit’s available in two shades: Light-Medium and Medium-Dark. Favouring a strong brow, I opted for the darker of the two. And here is what the little devil looks like inside…

Weeeeee, pretty isn’t it? Three eyebrow powders, one wax, a brush, some teeny tiny tweezers and a mirror in a compact, all for £2.50? You really can’t argue with that sort of value, unless you’re a div. The three shades of powder aren’t hugely different from each other, but this is actually useful considering it can be just a slight mis-match in shade that can make the difference between a good eyebrow filling job and a pure disaster. The powders are also meant to be blendable so you can find the best colour for you, but I found that the second colour along was a pretty good match for me as it is.

In terms of quality, the powders are brilliantly pigmented and apply easily. I initially took a stab at using the brush that came with the kit but it was just too little so I reverted to my normal eyebrow brush (the E7 by MUA) as the longer handle gave me more control.

I hadn’t used a wax on my eyebrows before as I don’t usually find I have much problem with them falling off my face anyway, so I can’t say I’ve noticed a big difference applying this over the top of the powder. But I think it does make the final look appear a bit more groomed and sleek.

Overall I think this compact is amazing value for money. At £2.5o it’s cheaper than it’s other bargain rivals, and it’s the perfect sturdy little kit to carry around with you. You can buy it either via the website or at Superdrug, and I highly recommend you do.

Another thumbs up from Makeup Revolution from me!

Have any of you tried this product? What do you think?

Don’t forget you can vote for us as Best Blogging Duo in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine! Click the icon below to be taken to the voting site: