Claire | Vanity Claire

ClaireDecember 10, 2013

Clothes Show Live | Fashion, Beauty & Half Naked Men

Hey there you sex bombs. If you read my outfit of the day post from Sunday then you’ll know that Lauren and I attended The Clothes Show Live in Birmingham at the weekend. We were grand masters of the blag and managed to nab ourselves press passes for the day, giving us access to the show, superb seats at the Fashion Theatre and free tea and biscuits in the press lounge (if you know us then you’ll know that was the bit we were most excited about).

Upon arrival at the NEC we were directed to the press area where we were given our fancy passes for the day. As you can see, they looked uber profesh and fancy…

Even if our blog name was spelled wrong on mine (Claire from Style Lingo still had a tip top day though)…

The press lounge was full of important folk with laptops and expensive photography equipment – and we were also lucky enough to bump into the lovely Nokhuthula from Crystal Cosmic Chic (hellooooo if you’re reading!)

During the day we attended the Fashion Theatre catwalk show, which was sponsored by Alcatel One Touch. Our press passes ensured us superb seats for this – we were almost frowing, except some berk with a camera as big as my head nabbed the seats before us so we ended up one row back. We decided to keep our diva personalities in check and resisted the urge to biff him with our handbags though. The show was extremely theatrical and impressive, with lots of amazing looks and strutting interspersed with uh-mazing choreography. And fit men. Quite a few fit men.

The main lure of The Clothes Show is obviously all of the amazing fashion and beauty brands that are there flaunting their wares and coercing us to part ways with our funds. On the fashion side of things there was a strong vintage and streetwear presence with bargains a-plenty, though there were also recognisable brands such as Glamorous. Lauren and I bought one or two bits, but in the interest of intrigue and suspense we’ll make you wait to see what those pieces are.

I think we can all agree that this is a great new look for Lauren.

A huge area of the exhibition is dedicated to the world of makeup and beauty. A lot of the big brands were there, including Rimmel, Bare Minerals, Barry M, Models Own, Fake Bake and so on and so forth, as well as the smaller brands that are big in social media and the blogosphere including Sally’s Glitz and Glam, Lauren’s Way and Jelly Pong Pong.

The main bargains of the show were definitely to be found amongst the make-up brands, a lot of which were offering goodie bags for around £10 that contained products worth up to the £60. These were being snapped up all over the joint, though we managed to show exceptional self control and run past these stands at a Mo Farah speed.

Other exhibitors also included universities, Select modelling agency (obviously our little 5 foot nothing bodies were signed up IMMEDIATELY) and a smorgasbord of other companies – which might be my way of saying I’ve forgotten who else we saw. Honestly, there was so much to take in that you can and do spend hour after hour browsing all of the aisles.

Throughout the day, there were also a number of other catwalk shows going on, from high street to designer to graduate shows. Overall it was a really fun day, and I definitely recommend The Clothes Show to anyone who hasn’t been before. At £28 a ticket, I do think it’s a tad pricey for essentially a day of shopping, but it’s certainly an impressive exhibition and the shows and ~~TOWIE stars~~ celebrity photo opportunities are all bonuses that give the event that little something extra.

Oh, and here some photos of half naked men for you to peruse. You’re welcome…

Have any of you been to The Clothes Show Live before? What do you think?

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ClaireDecember 9, 2013

The Jolly Christmas Jumper Edit | New Look

Hello you big ho-ho-hoes,

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m feeling festive and great at the moment. So much so that I even took a trip to Poundland and treated myself to some gold tinsel. Which I plan to wear on my head while singing ~~I’ve brought these gifts for you, they’re up in my bum~~ Jingle Bells and dancing around my house.

No Christmas would be complete without a Christmas jumper, am I right? Last year I had a very exciting one that depicted Santa smoking a pipe. I managed to lose it in the midst of mulled wine and revelry last year, so I’m having to have a browse of the delights on offer this year and buy myself a new one. There seem to be hundreds all over the place at the moment and I’m having a bit of a time trying to choose one. New Look have a fabulous array at the moment, so I thought I’d put together some of my favourites as well as my top tips for picking the perfect Christmas jumper.

Stylingo Top Tips for Christmas Jumpers:

Find the most ridiculous jumper you can get your festive hands on.
Wear it to every Christmas event in your calendar.

Christmas Pudding Hoodie – £10. Penguin Polkadot Jumper – £27.99. Pale Blue Polka Dot Jumper – £27.99. Skiing Robin Jumper – £22.99. Jolly Fluffy Jumper – £24.99. Snowman Jumper – £29.99.

I am seriously planning on getting that Christmas pudding hoodie. Because nothing says festive like donning a brown garment with a cherry on the hood. I’m thinking Christmas jumper day at work will be made infinitely better by something this ridiculous paha. I’m also a big fan of the pale blue polka dot Christmas pudding jumper, it’s really cute but I’m not sure if it’s quite ridiculous enough (I’m not sure if it’s socially acceptable to wear a nice looking Christmas jumper. Where are the light up Rudolf noses? Where are the 3D snowmen?). Thankfully, New Look have a good selection of skiing birds, scarf-wearing penguins and fluffy snowmen for everyone’s enjoyment so you don’t need to worry that your plain Christmas jumper will be a laughing stock. If you want to have a nosey at New Look’s array of Christmas jumpers, just have a little click on that link right there. You won’t be disappointed, chums!

On a completely unrelated New Look note, has anyone checked out the Reborn jewellery? I’m loving it! I noticed it in the Birmingham Bullring store and it’s full of beautiful, budget friendly, statement accessories. Well worth checking out if you’re nearby.

What do you think of these jumpers? Where will you be buying yours from?

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ClaireDecember 8, 2013

Outfit of the Day: The Clothes Show

Jumper: New Look / Skirt: Primark / Boots: New Look / Rings: Primark / Nails: Barry M in ‘Watermelon’

Good afternoon ladies and gents! This is just a ~~lazy~~ quick post for you showing you what I wore to The Clothes Show today. Lauren and I were lucky enough to blag press passes (I know, they’ll let any old riff raff in) and we had a fantastic day swanning about with our name badges, spending money despite telling ourselves that we wouldn’t. We’ll have a full post all about the show coming tomorrow – there are loads of pictures of topless men, if that does anything to help persuade you to come back then.

Oh, and for anybody still interested in my quest for white/silver hair, I recently used La Riche Directions Silver Toner as opposed to the White Toner that I used before, and I think y’all will agree that this is the best colour that it’s turned out yet. I edge slowly closer to the hair of my dreams (shame about the outgrown fringe, to cut back in or not to cut back in, THAT is the question).

What do you all think of this OOTD? Were any of you at the Clothes Show?

ClaireDecember 6, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Missguided Jewel Print Skater Dress

Hi chums,

Things have all got somewhat unusual recently and Claire and I actually have quite a busy social calendar. You can usually find us Stylingo gals discussing the pros and cons of sweet potatoes (there are no cons) whilst watching Catfish on the sofa. However people have suddenly decided that we are not mad and invited us to things. December is a sooooooper busy month for both of us and of course with any busy month comes the insatiable need for new threads.

We both went to an absolutely excellent party on Saturday night, complete with a buffet and cupcakes (which we very nearly sprinted to as soon as we arrived). I picked out this Missguided skater dress a few weeks ago to wear to the disco party – and I am of the opinion that it’s a corker. I love the gem/jewel print and the colour is quite unusual for me (PARDON, YOU ARE NOT WEARING CREAM OR CHIFFON, LAUREN). Unfortunately, I had to size down as they only had smaller sizes in stock – which meant I couldn’t eat as many cocktail sausages as I would have liked.

Missguided Jewel Skater Dress | Asos Chain Bag (old) | New Look Black Wedges (old) | Forever 21 Hoop Earrings

And this was what my face looked like. I apologise for looking so dead behind the eyes. We had a work’s Christmas party the night before and safe to say, wine/jaegerbombs/vodka/who knows what else were merrily drunk. As was I.

Lips: Rimmel Apocolips in Big Bang.

What do you think of this outfit? How lovely is that jewel print!

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ClaireDecember 5, 2013

A Week In Instagram #4

A while ago we started our brilliant new feature ‘A Week in Instagram’, designed to give all who care (i.e. nobody, not even my mum) a glimpse into our lives away from the crazy world of blogging. We began this feature back in October and then, er, forgot. For quite a while. What can we say, it’s been a long week…

1. How bloody adorable are these three rings from good ole’ Primark?! t only cost about £4 for the pack of 3 if I recal. Now they just need to bring out some even gaudier gold ones and I’ll be happy as that Larry fella.

2. How bloody adorable is my hair first thing in the morning?! Answer: not very. Extension problems.

3. Sometimes we disappear round the back of the ~~bike sheds~~ office building to ~~snog~~ take OOTD pics. Here is a lairy outtake from that yobbo Lauren.

4. Never one to stick with the same look for long, Lauren recently dyed her hair black. What do we all think y’all?

5. We finally, FINALLY decided to bite the bullet and spend our cash on something useful as opposed to endless lip glosses and Curly Wurlys. We formally introduce you to our beautiful new camera, which will hopefully make our dreams of having decent photography on the blog a dream come true. For those interested, it is the Nikon l820 Bridge Camera and we bought it from Argos where it’s currently almost half price. Also, it’s purple!

6. Little LOTD (Leg Of The Day) from work last week. Leather look leggings from River Island and my much loved (read: ancient and smelly) studded pumps from Primark.

7. We received this amazing present last week from GingerFox.co.uk. We think this ‘Vanitea’ mug (you know we love wordplay like this, be still my beating heart) is the perfect Christmas gift for any beauty-loving girls in your life. Firstly, the mug is mirrored so that you can check out how smokin’ hot you look while sipping your tea, plus it comes with a little lipstick pen! Ginger Fox specialise in novelty gifts likes retro games, mugs, gadgets, keyrings and a whole host of moustache-themed bits and bobs, so definitely check them out if you’re stuck for ideas this festive season.

8. Last Friday we had our work’s Christmas party at a restaurant followed by a comedy club in Birmingham. Sounds quite sophisticated, yes? So of course we had to destroy this image by drinking gin on the train over there. Well, Lauren had gin… I had a blue WKD. Stay classy, San Diego.

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ClaireDecember 4, 2013

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation & Radiance Powder Review

Good day to you fine ladies.

Who else gets a bit overwhelmed and excited about free gifts when it comes to makeup? I may or may not have shouted ‘FREE GIFT’ and grabbed the nearest products when I went to Boots recently. And those products happened to be the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and Bourjois Mineral Radiance powder. The free gift was amazing (worth £30 with full size products), so I wont be offended if you stop reading this review and leg it to your nearest Boots to invest.

I know there are loads of reviews for the Healthy Mix foundation and a lot of bloggers absolutely rave about it, so I was really keen to give it a go and see what all of the fuss was about. Without further ado (there is always so much ado), here we go:

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation

My usual foundation routine involves slapping as much product as I can on my face and hoping for the best. In fact, I tend to wear so much that strangers who feel like the need a bit of extra coverage may as well stroll up and take a scoop off my face. Saying that, I have been slowly trying to alter my habits and wear less – so I was a keen egg to see what Bourjois could do for me.

I bought the Healthy Mix in Dark Beige (or beige fonce – oooer). Here’s what it looks like swatched and blended.

The Healthy Mix foundation promises to:

Give a healthy glow.
Give a flawless complexion
Hydrate
Give luminous skin
Provide fruit therapy
Last for 16 hours

I can safely say that my skin usually has none of these things (especially fruit therapy. Although I can see why my apples might feel a bit depressed, I do tend to leave them to go off in the fridge in favour of biscuits).

Overall, I think that the Healthy Mix foundation delivers as much as it possible can with my skin. I’m never going to have lovely flawless, radiant skin but this foundation tries its best. I find it has great coverage, I don’t have to use too much product and it also lasts brilliantly. I wouldn’t say I quite look luminous, but it definitely gives me a fresh feeling and also feels brilliantly weightless. Overall, top marks for Bourjois. I can see why our #bblogger pals love it so much.

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Powder

This was a bit of an impulse grab. I needed a new powder and wanted a free gift soooo…

However I’m actually really loving this! I’ve heard it’s a good dupe for Mac’s pressed powder and some beauty bloggers even claim it lasts a lot longer. I’ve not tried the Mac alternative, but overall I’m very very happy. I bought the Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder in shade 02 Vanillé. Swatching just wasn’t working out for me, but I hope you can see the shade alright from the pictures.

The packaging is sturdy, so if you’re cack handed and an idiot like I am – you’ll be happy to know that it would be very difficult to smash this powder in your handbag. It also comes with a mirror and a powder sponge, of which the powder sponge is a bit useless (does anyone use these?!) but the mirror is very handy.

What is most noticeable about the pressed powder is the smell. It’s absolutely gorgey. It smells a bit vanilla-ish but also a perfume that I can’t quite place. I know putting perfumes on your face probably isn’t a good thing, but as our dear pal Drizzy would say, yolo. I have been spending many an hour just sitting at my desk sniffing this pot of joy.

In terms of actually powdering my face, it works very well. It lasts me around 4-5 hours before I need to reapply, which is actually very good considering I have a horribly oily complexion. The colour range is ok but there are only 4 shades to choose from. Saying that, they should match most skin tones. Overall, it may not be one I’ll purchase every time I need a new powder (at £9.99, it’s not the cheapest powder), but it’s well and truly on my list of favourites.

What do you guys think? Have you tried the Healthy Mix foundation or the Mineral Radiance pressed powder? Let us know your thoughts!

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ClaireDecember 3, 2013

Latest Trend: Velvet | Best of the High Street

As we approach the Christmas season each year, there’s always one material that re-surfaces to get us in the festive mood: velvet. There’s something about the plush texture that seems to scream Christmas louder than Noddy Holder (who, as a side note, basically ruins Christmas for me. Annoying berk).

Now, I’ve always been a bit wary of velvet. I think this stems back to a rather shocking fashion faux pas I committed when I was younger. My mum re-married when I was around 10, but I used to be scared of dresses and so, for some reason God alone knows, I thought it was appropriate for me to wear at the wedding – please brace yourselves for this horrifying image – a purple velvet suit. I kid you not.

So ever since that frankly traumatising time in my life, I’ve given velvet a bit of a wide berth. However, this year it’s interesting to see the various forms that velvet is now appearing in. For the last few years it’s been pretty exclusively reserved to dresses; but with this A/W’s focus on texture, texture and more texture, there are a huge number of options on the high street for different ways to wear velvet.

Here are some of our favourite pieces:

Velvet Playsuit – Boohoo

A velvet playsuit is a nice alternative to the usual velvet dress. Cami straps and loose swing styles have been really big the last few months, so this one manages to tick quite a lot of boxes with one massive pen.

Gold Foil Velvet Tube Skirt – Topshop

If you thought that Topshop reached it’s peak of gaudiness with the pale pink PVC skirt that everyone was loving recently, then you will see that you’re wrong. This shamelessly extravagant skirt is Christmas opulence in sartorial form.

Velvet Cropped T-Shirt – River Island

Moving away from the traditional blacks and burgundies that velvet usually appears in, this electric blue cropped t-shirt is a slouchy alternative to the trend.

Floral Velvet Bodycon Dress – Miss Selfridge

Patterned velvet is emerging strongly this year, and the winter hues of this dress keep the floral from looking too summery.

Velvet Leggings – Missguided

If you’re a bit unsure about how wearable velvet is, then these leggings from Missguided are a very easy-to-wear take on the trend. They can be teamed with a baggy tee or chunky knit for a daytime look, or dressed up with a crop top or body. Versatility, eh, got to love it.

What do you all think of this trend? How would you choose to wear velvet this winter?

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ClaireDecember 2, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Missguided Bardot Playsuit

Playsuit: Missguided / Belt: Primark / Bag: Primark / Shoes: Asos

Okay, so remember how a while ago I made a vow to give up fake tan (and even wrote a whole post on it)? Yeah, well, safe to say that’s gone out the window…

On Saturday night one of my besty pals had a party as she’s leaving to go travelling in a couple of weeks. Naturally I wanted to wear full black and a black veil to show how devvoed I am about her not being around for the next year, but in the interest of not killing the party vibe I instead opted for this Missguided playsuit. It was only £19.99 but is currently in the sale with a whopping 30% off so if you like it then GO GO GO!

Rings: eBay and Primark / Nails: Barry M ‘Lychee’

I kept accessories pretty simple with a skinny tan belt from Primark, a couple of cheapo rings and my beloved but much abused nude heels. Although I love them, I have to admit they’re not the comfiest of heels, meaning that by half 3 I was doing the ‘help I have been cobbled like the man in Misery‘ dance – which no, does not attract the boys, funnily enough.

Eyelashes: Eylure 202 / Lipstick: MAC Creme D’Nude

It was an all round tip top night that resulted in a seriously zombie-like state for the majority of yesterday. Eventually the only cure was a takeaway pizza. That I ordered alone. For one. At half 4 in the afternoon.

What do you all think of this outfit?

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ClaireDecember 1, 2013

My Spring 2014 picks- Guest Post from JessicaWabbit

Hey homies,

Today we have a fabulous guest post from Jess, one of our favourite bloggers and all round top gal. We’re super pleased she’s sent a guest post our way and it is FABULOUS. Read on chums, it is a great one!

Hello beauties,

I feel like introductions are in order before throwing you into my chaotic mind. I’m Jess and I blog at www.jesscaedmunds.com on my lonesome (how much cooler would it be as a duo…anyone?!) Stylingo was probably one of the first blogs I ever read, and have been reading it everyday since so they’re pretty much a massive inspiration for me. I’m glad that they’ve allowed my disorganised and wordy Spring ’14 favourites to grace the pages of their blog.

Spring ’14 seems to have recycled and reincarnated old trends; some from SS13 and some true ‘Throwback Thursday’ trends. I’ve been most enticed by the holographic fabrics & prints which have already been sampled this year so far. It almost seems wrong to showcase shiny metallics in a casual environment but it can work (I promise!)

Holographic bags seem to be zipping out of stock everywhere already so I would nab one whilst you can. They fit in perfectly with the feminine metallic trend, but also slot into the ‘Glam Sports luxe’ look. With the ‘New Look holographic clutch‘ stepping in at £12.99 you can’t really go wrong.

The Shoreditch pointed heels are a perfect accompaniment to a pair of white trousers in Spring ’14. I’m hoping to be brave enough for wide leg trousers especially as I adored palazzo pants this year and last. If not they’d match perfectly with a tea length skirt. They are what I would describe as ‘Sensible shoes’ with a futuristic twist!

I do sometimes wonder how futuristic are these outfits when we keep seeing a lot of ‘space’ and ‘holographic’ inspired outfits this year, but I was still impressed by the ‘UNIF gamma ray Moto jacket‘ which truly does remind me of a spaceman, and makes me reminisce about David Bowie (as if I was even alive then!)

You may be sceptical but I am adamant that the ‘Asos holographic backless t-shirt dress’, the ‘Skylar metallic bralet’ and the ‘Trixie lilac pu circle mini skirt’ can be worn in everyday life. You may have noticed that I have included a lot of lilac amongst the silver selections but once again pastels really are big again. You may be fed up but I’m far from it, and love seeing very sickly sweet feminine trends channeled. My perfect accompaniment to the metallic skater skirt would be a high neck cropped fluffy sweater as I’ve been crushing on them for a while. This can probably be tracked back to my Lana del Ray crush and her previous H&M campaign.

Contrast collars are shaping up to be a big trend alongside tea dresses and prints. I did set my heart on some gorgeous Victoria beckham dresses but I thought that I’d try and keep my selection a little budget friendly (especially as I would like to purchase this at some point!)

My favourite pick has to be the Ukelele Cage Dress which I discovered on Etsy. It’s sheer and easily layered with a small top or leotard underneath, and just has the most perfect skirt shape fit for a tea party.

Picks 3,5 and 6 were all scooped up from Topshop’s website as I just couldn’t resist. I try and steer clear from Topshop so I don’t look like ‘everyone else’ but the dresses were too good to be left behind. They’ve replicated some fantastic trends from the runway such as the shirt dress, the high neck mid length tea dress, and the textured print jacquard dress which I’ve been lusting over for ages.

The Chain print shift dress was a necessity as I love the art print fabrics and the apparently ‘unlikely trend’ that is Cathedral! The contrast collar dresses are available everywhere at the moment from Boohoo,Missguided, and designer but once again Asos triumphed for me.

Of course I naturally have a lot more Spring favourites from Art Pop, to extreme ripped jeans, bomber jackets and collarless coats but I could go on FOREVER. Spring & Summer are my favourite for fashion and Winter seems to see me disappear like a shrinking violet. If you did want to see more I will be posting a part two on my blog this weekend

Anyway enough of my jibber jabber on all things pretty, if you wanna chat, or just simply drown in my madness follow me on Twitter – we can be friends. And if you haven’t seen Stylingo’s guest post on my blog why not?! It’s fantastic.

Big thanks again to Jess – definitely check out her blog/Twitter, her OOTDs are amazing and we love her lots! xx

ClaireNovember 30, 2013

Outfit of the Day: The Big Massive Fedora

So I recently decided to branch out a bit and buy myself a fedora. I’d seen them gracing the heads of many a fashionista and thought, yeah, let’s give that a go. However because I am an IDIOT I failed to buy one of the reasonably sized fedoras that the likes of Lily Melrose have been sporting,and instead accidentally ordered this massive hat from eBay. Honestly, it looks like a frickin’ sombrero.

Hat: eBay / Dress: Topshop / Sleeveless Leather Jacket: H&M

Boots: New Look /Rings: Primark and eBay / Nails: Barry M ‘Lychee’

While I do enjoy the drama that the big massive hat brings to an outfit – imagine, for example, how emotional my train station goodbyes would look if I wore this – I’m unconvinced of the ultimate wearability of the big massive hat. I mean, will my head even fit in my car?

What do you all think of the fedora trend? Do you have any tips on how to wear them?

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