A Week in Instagram #3.

‘Sup sexy ladies!

Claire and I have lead very boring lives in the past week or two (particularly as I have been lame and ill SNORE) as we’re still saving our pennies for our beautiful new crib. Nevertheless, we have been doing lots of eating and reviewing of fun things, so life hasn’t been too pathetic! If you’re keen to see what we have been up to in beautifully filtered picture form, then BY GUM you have certainly come to the right place chicas!

This was the start of the dreaded flu and of course, the only way to feel better is to eat ice cream and stock up on the vits. Because cookie dough is known to have many vitamins, fact.
Claire was giving a bright pink Barry M lipstick a whirl, doesn’t her pie hole look delightful?
Claire’s beautiful OOTD (which you can read in full right here) and her amazing quilted leather skirt from Primark. I am quite upset that she has it because I now want it. Biatch.
More food in our lives, this time in the form of meeting snacks. Because a meeting of 6 people warrants this level of sugar.
Meet Claire’s eyebrows, they have been lightened and looking WUVVERLY. Read her post about eyebrow lightening here.
Me and my favourite Jamaican man tshirt, which I pretty much wore for the 4 days that I was ill.
As most of you know, Claire’s a big fan (as am I) of putting other people’s hair on her head – she’s getting her weave redone this week and purchased some new extensions in silver to match her new ‘do.
One of the guys in the office is called Kevin and he made us a cake. He is now called Kevin Bakin.
Claire being both fit and funny, gymming it in her ‘You Can’t Sit With Us’ tshirt (which is from eBay if you’re a keen bean).
My new stiletto nails, which I also got from eBay. They take quite a lot of trimming and filing BUT I LOVE THEM. Unfortunately I can’t do anything with them and am a genuinely useless human being at the moment. I couldn’t even open my soup today.

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ClaireSeptember 23, 2013

The Pale Gail Revolution: How to Make the Most of Pale Skin

Today, dear readers, I come to you with an announcement that I never thought I would make: I am giving up fake tan.

Ever since I recently bleached my hair and made the decision to try to achieve a very white/silver colour, I’ve been thinking about what this means for my skin. Considering that my inspiration for the new colour was definitely a combination of Iggy Azalea and Daenarys from Game of Thrones (shut up, fictional mothers of dragons ARE legit beauty icons), I had to ask myself:

Is it time to become a Pail Gale?

I’m not the most extreme fake tanner in the world, but I’ve consistently applied fake tan at least once a week for several years now, and before a night out will usually aim to make my skin at least 26 shades darker before I’m happy leaving the house. Being tanned for me is practically synonymous with being healthy, groomed and ‘ready’. Pale is something that only happens to me if I’m ill or depressed or dressing up as a porcelain doll for Halloween (which, FYI, was the worst, fugliest fancy dress idea ever). To put it simply, although so many people pull off light skin beauifully, I just don’t know how to be pale and look nice. Here are some of the burning questions I have vis-a-vis the matter:

how do I avoid looking ill?
can I still contour or will all bronzers and dark shades look atrocious?
how can I make bare legs look nice and not like flabby pieces of ham?
what do I do if I walk past a white wall and become camouflaged and get run over by a passing bike?

Confused by all my questions, I took to Twitter and let out a cry for help to fellow pale beauty bloggers. The response was excellent and so below I have a huge amount of advice, both for myself and anyone else who might be interested in taking the pale way of life.

Vickie from Stone’s Got Style

I may not have always embraced it or been as accepting of it through out the years, but the fact is ladies and gentleman that I am, and always will be, a pale, practically translucent skinned young lady (careful I’m not that old).

Yes it has taken me many years to be able to happily and confidently say that sentence out loud. Actually that’s not exactly true up until I went to university I had a Twilight phase in which I tried to be as pale as ‘humanly’ possible (not a hard task) and didn’t brush my hair for a good 6 months in the hopes of achieving the Kristen look!

However awkward, embarrassing vampire phase aside I have always been a little embarrassed by my as my Dad would lovingly say (thanks Dad) English rose looks. Meaning I was the girl in the playground with freckles, dark hair and pale, pale skin. Sounds ideal nowadays right? But back then well they just didn’t get it (must have been the lack of Twilight).

Now like with everything first you have to find your own unique ‘look’. It took me a very long time to tell myself that it is OK to look different from everyone else. It’s all about what you feel comfortable in not about what’s in trend at that moment. I suggest trying the different trends and styles to see what feels most like you. If you feel uncomfortable in something chances are people can tell. So dare to be different be you, be pale and most of all… be proud!

Now to the first and possibly biggest problem with being as pale in my opinion is…LEAVE THE OOMPA LOOMPA’S IN THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY! Or in normal terms pick the right foundation for your skin. Let’s face it ladies no one loves a bright orange face especially when your neck is ten shades lighter! Pick a foundation that is the closest shade to your own skin tone. Something very tricky for us pasties I know, however just remember that mixing is your saviour. If you can’t find the ‘perfect’ shade for you then why not mix a couple of the closest shades you have.

Now I’m going to be a little controversial here and say that this is the same with picking and using fake tan. Sometimes you’ve just got to say no! I’m not saying you can’t tan if your pale but take the proper precautions and don’t load on the extra dark shades as I have done in the past (who else is guilty here?) and ended up looking like a basted chicken! Instead stick to gradual tanners in lighter shades so you can control the ‘orangfication’ process.

Find out what colours really pop against your skin. I am personally a huge fan of dark contrasting colours against a pale base. My pale beauty crush/ actual girl crush (you know you have them) is the stunning Rooney Mara! Oh gosh that woman can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. Since dropping the American girl next door look of long light locks and bronzed skin, Rooney has in my opinion never looked better. I love the contrast of her jet black hair and fair skin against her most often make-up choices of simple black liner and a dark berry or bold lip! I am a huge, huge fan of dark lip colours on pale skin and personally this is what I will be seen wearing nine times out of ten.

So ladies and gents my ultimate rules of the pale go something like this, embrace your natural beauty, pick the right shades for you, do not reach for the extra dark self tanner, slather is not an appropriate way to apply tan either (you know what I mean) and pick colours that really pop against your complexion. And most of all have fun with it!

A few of my favourite products.

Revlon Colorstay foundation- I wear the 2^nd lightest shade! (can you believe it)
Dainty Doll and Sleek Blushers.
Tom Ford Black Orchid (a bit of a luxury but the perfect berry lip colour)
Kate Moss for Rimmel shade 04 (a cheaper alternative)
Sleek contour kit- light
Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion- fair to normal skin.

Katie from Katie Guilding

Like you Claire, I haven’t always embraced my pale skin and have used fake tan and sunbeds in the past. But over the past 2 years I have avoided hitting the bottle and the beds.

My first bit of advice would be don’t think pasty, instead think glossy and dewy. Use your lighter foundation shades to create a really flawless and creamy finish. In my opinion red lips look most striking against pale skin, think Dita Von Teese.

Embrace your inner old Hollywood Glamour goddess – pale was sexy (and sign of wealth!)

Looking pale and flawless is just as easy as looking bronzed and beautiful once you know how. You can still use bronzer to contour your face just don’t use as much on your brush and make sure you blend the product in to your skin. Build the products up gradually.

I also think being pale blusher is a must! It brings the colour to your face, leaving you looking healthy and fresh. You can go a pink as you wish, think the brightest pinks as well as the most pale pink shades.

Don’t be scared of flashing pale pins – tip from me always shave the night before, as well as moisturising regularly will keep you legs looking smooth. If you still feel a little uncomfortable or feel your legs have some pigmentation you want covered just lightly dust over your legs with your face powder. And a light brush of highlighter straight down the middle of your legs will create a lengthening illusion.

Over the past few years I have noticed the change within the makeup industry, more and more brands are producing many different shades of pale (instead of the one shade!) So this is the perfect time to forget the fake tan.

Use pale stars such a Nicole Roberts for your inspiration. Best of luck!

Amy from Purse Friendly Pretty

Fair skin is possibly one of the biggest pains to work with. It burns easily, and it’s hard to find foundation to fit just right. However, there are ways to work fair skin and stop hiding it behind fake tan and bronzer and learn to love and embrace your fairness.

Personally, I aim to add colour to my fair skin without overwhelming, washing out and distracting from my features with a rosy blush, light contouring with a cool toned matte bronzer, a neutral eye, and a cool champagne highlighter polished off with a glossy nude peachy pink lip.

When you’re going for a night out, don’t forget to make any exposed pale bits (particularly legs) look great, too.
I like to conceal my body imperfections with a body foundation to get rid of bruises, veins, etc., then mix a good moisturiser with a little highlighter to make them really glow without the tan and bronzer!

My most used products for my pale skin which I recommend include:

Revlon Colourstay foundation in Ivory
Dainty Doll Loose Mineral Foundation
Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
MUA Powder Blush in Bubblegum
Laura Geller Blush in Nude
NYX Highlight and Contour Powder
Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Notting Hill Nude + Pink Chic

Natalie from The Blonde Ethos

I have been blessed with very fair skin but cursed with terrible blemishes. My skin was clear throughout my teens but since I have entered my 20s, I have experienced the nightmare of acne. I understand that skin troubles can make anyone feel very self-aware but I feel that having fairer skin accentuates the extreme redness of blemishes and pigmentation even more.

Because of my problematic skin I have been forced to hunt down good coverage makeup, whereas I would have previously survived with a little concealer and bronzer, but being so fair, this has proved tricky with some of my favourite brands not even making a foundation light enough (Origins and No.7, I’m talking to you). The brands that I have researched, tried and tested (several times) and eventually invested in are:

Estee Lauder: I use Double Wear in shade Ivory Nude and would recommend it for all skin types.
Bare Minerals: I use the shade Golden Fair and would recommend Bare Minerals for normal, oily or combination skin.
Laura Mercier: I used Creme Smooth in Porcelain Ivory during a dry-skin phase.

With fairer skin, using the wrong shade of foundation is a lot less forgiving so please don’t settle for ‘okay’ and instead aim for ‘flawless’ – it should look like your own skin, only better! I think it is really important to know whether your skin has pink or yellow undertones; mine is yellow and, it seems, harder to match! I recommend matching foundation with your neck rather than different sections of your face and always asking at beauty counters whether a sample is available for you to try outside of the harsh store lighting and alongside your own products.

In terms of other makeup colours, I think a subtle bronzer is great to add a slight sun-kissed look as well as to contour with and my preference for blushes are pretty peaches.

Rosie from Rosie Alexandraa

First all, pale is the way forward! Especially in A/W!

Fake tan wise, I only ever fake tan on good nights out 🙂 I seem to be the only person who doesn’t understand the logic in just fake tanning your legs?! What about the rest of you?! Hahhaa! Anyway my favourite fake tan is St Tropez Gradual Tan in Light/Medium! As long as you exfoliate about a day/two days before hand, it doesn’t streak! I like to rub the gradual tan in with a bit of moisturiser and then apply it all over except the face because this just gives that even effect! It’s hard finding a fake tan that matches your skin because being so pale, it always looks awful! But St Tropez is by far my favourite! You pay for what you get I suppose!

Foundation wise, my holy grail foundation that i cant rave about enough is Max Factor Face Finity 3 in 1 in Light Ivory. It’s suchh a pale colour but it’s gorgeous. I can’t cope with pale people wearing foundation shades too dark, and having an awful line across their jaw to their neck, it looks awful! My plan is to rock the pale look with a pale foundation, and just make it nice with a bronzer and blush 🙂 It looks natural and lovely! That foundation is the only one I will buy. It’s perfect. It’s about a medium coverage but it’s really light and quite runny which again I find nicer because I hate thick creamy foundations.

To create a flawless look with that foundation, apply it with a brush and then buff it with a brush like RT buff brush or expert face brush or one similar! Then I use a pale powder to set it!

Contour wise, I use the Sleek Contour kit in light because I love the colour 🙂 I then use a bronzer for places like forehead, temples, jaw line etc! My bronzer I’m currently using is the Bourjois Delice de Poudre in shade 51. There’s mixed reviews about this but i love it. It’s gorgeous, smells nice and its a lovely subtle colour that adds some colour to your face. I’ve also heard the Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder from the body shop in Light Matte is meant to be divine! And another contour kit thats great is the Crown concealer palette because it has a ray of brown shades that you can match to your skin 🙂

Blushes are great for pale skin because most of them look great. You can use a dark pink for like a natural subtle look, or a brighter pink for that flushed look. I tend to stick to more subtle blushes!

Lipsticks are awkward for pale people i think. Red looks nice especially in winter, all the dark shades are great! Nudes are good. I don’t think bright pinks are good with me though 🙁 But definitely dark shades. So gorgeous in A/W with this dark ‘gothic’ look!

The Pale Gail Round Up

Firstly a huge thank you to all the girls for helping with this post; I for one am feeling very inspired now I’ve heard all this pale-lovin’. The key things that I’ve picked up are that:

bronzers and tan don’t need to completely banished from my life; instead it’s just about picking the lightest shades for clever contouring and evening out pasty pins
highlighters are also a big part of keeping pale skin looking fresh and healthy. Just because you’re not bronzed doesn’t mean you can’t have a glow
contrast is the key to achieving ‘pale and interesting’ so dark lips and pops of colour should be on the agenda
your new best makeup friend will be blusher

I’m not sure whether I’ll ever be fully over my penchant for fake tan, but hopefully these tips will help me grow used to my actual skin tone and learn to embrace it.

Are any of you pale? What are your tips for making pale skin look its best? Please let me know in the comments below!

ClaireSeptember 22, 2013

Life Tips from Miley Cyrus

Good morning to you, her maj and this fine country we call the Kingdom of Great Britain.

You may have read a post I wrote a while ago entitled ‘Life Tips from Amanda Bynes‘. I felt (and continue to feel deeply) that we can learn a lot from Amanda and by following her lead, we can achieve fulfilled (if slightly set-yourself-on-firey) lives. Unfortunately my life coach and all round favourite top gal has now been sectioned, so I have been forced to find a new leading lady to learn from. And who else but Miley Cyrus to fill the horrible Amanda shaped void in my life?

I’m sure we can all say that Miley is a girl that has had a huge impact in all of our lives. Just yesterday I found myself asking a friend, ‘do you remember where you were when you first heard ‘Party in the USA’? To which they said, ‘no, you are a fool. Go and buy me some crisps’. Nevertheless, Miley’s botty got it’s own hashtag after the VMAs and I firmly believe that she is the reason pretty much everyone knows what ‘twerk’ means these days. But what else can we learn from our Miley?

Have love for the ugly things.

Miley has shown us that judging a book by its cover is wrong. We need to remember to show love for the uglier or less attractive things, just like she did in her ‘Wrecking Ball’ video. Who knows for how many years that wrecking ball was waiting for a naked hug? Who knows how many nights it spent crying because nobody loved it? Treat everything like you would like to be treated yourself and you are guaranteed to be happy in life. In fact, go a step further and whip your clothes off to hug people and/or things. Studies have shown that naked hugs are far more beneficial than ordinary clothed hugs. If there are no wrecking balls handy, just take a look around your town. There are bound to be many found objects that you could show love to – perhaps an old plant pot or a neglected bench.

(Giraffes aren’t ugly FYI, this is just funny)

Short hair, don’t care.

I have to say, I’ve never personally been a fan of short hair. I have quite a round face and short hair would make me look vaguely like a potato in a David Bowie wig. I’ve also always felt that short hair is a bit boring – there is very little you can actually do with a cropped ‘do. HOW WRONG I WAS. Thank goodness I have Miley to show me the way. I think what she has really shown me is that all you need are a few tiny bobbles and a lot of hairspray to look like a ~~twit~~ hot homegirl with short hair. She is such a trend setter <3. I’m attacking my head with scissors as we speak, so keep your eyes peeled for my ‘DIY Miley Haircut’ post.

People will take you seriously if you talk rubbish.

I’m going to put my hands up in honesty right here and right now. At first, I thought Miley was a rat in Doc Martens. But as time has progressed, I feel like I’ve really got to know the real Miley. And let me tell you, she is deep and thoroughly intelligent. Did any of you guys read her interview about the ‘Wrecking Ball’ vid? You can read it here, but she basically said this:

‘If you look in my eyes I look more sad than actually my voice sounds on the record. It was a lot harder to do the video than it was to even record the song. It was much more of an emotional experience.”

‘If people can take their minds off the obvious and go into their imagination a little bit and see kind of what the video really means and the way that it is so vulnerable.’

Wow. I mean genuinely wow. I really get what she means…’Wrecking Ball’ is not only art but it is such a wonderful expression of ~~attention seeking~~ vulnerability and emotion. This is definitely a life lesson to be learned. If you waffle on about things that don’t really make sense but sound impressive, people will 100% believe in what you say. It’s one that can easily be transferred into your daily working life, especially when you use fancy employment terms that no one really knows what they mean (e.g. “ah yes, let’s get those kpis actioned by close of play tomorrow so we can determine usps, logistics and WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT”).

These are just a few life lessons to be learned from Miley. In fact, we could all probably learn many more (like how thigh high boots and hotpants are a classy daytime look or how nude underwear doesn’t make you look about 80 years old), but we will leave it at that for now.

Let’s all remember though…when in doubt, ask What Would Miley Do (WWMD). If it doesn’t involve foam fingers, sticking your tongue out, twerking or getting nakey, then you are probably doing the wrong thing.

All images sourced from Google!

ClaireSeptember 18, 2013

Superbreak Competition | What to Wear on an Autumn City Break

Hey amigos! We’ve got something a bit different for you today in the form of a competition. Superbreak are offering the chance to win a city break for 2 to Paris, with a 4* hotel and travel included. I BEG YOUR PARDON?!

Now, we would absolutely freakin’ LOVE to win this competition. Not only because we’re huge fans of baguettes, garlic, men called Pierre and stereotyping…but also because it’s been over a year since the first and last ~~lesbian getaway~~ weekend city break we took together.

It was a magical day last year when we were bored at our old job and Lauren casually mentioned that she’d heard of someone getting a really cheap flight to Frankfurt and that we should do a trip somewhere sometime. The next thing you know, we had booked a trip to Brussels for five days later (and Drake thinks he invented yolo? Get real Drizzy) and were soon off on our merry way. We spent a few days desperately searching the city for a cup of English breakfast tea, doing tequila shots with vikings (who were actually very nice Norwegian boys, one of whom was a rapper) and ~~sightseeing~~ lurking around laughing at statues of urinating boys. It was a wild old time…we witnessed robbery and managed to use a map. Here are a few snaps from our adventures and as they would say in the old country, plane vodka is excellent vodka.

Now, onto the competition!

What to Wear – Day One

Sightseeing is a very tiring business and all that stained glass can take a toll on your eyeballs. With this in mind, city break daywear needs to be comfortable, practical but also tres stylish. Us Brits have a reputation to uphold as global fashionistas (apparently, although my collection of cow onesies begs to differ), so us homegirls have to be sure to be on the fash ball at all times. I’m thinking comfy flats, oversized coat and a dash of dark lipstick is an ideal way to make the foreign boys shout ‘zut alors’.

I’m a huge fan of these tartan trousers, they’re so wearable and genuinely perf for strolling around a city and looking at boring fountains etc. Pair with a simple white blouse, cut out comfy brogues and MEGA BLING. A hint of winter pastels and you are ready to rock not one but two of this season’s trends. Il en a bavé des ronds de chapeau!!

What to Wear – Evening

If you’re anything like us then your idea of sight-seeing in the evening will involve seeing the sights of the local cocktail bars, and potentially even the discotheque. Now, the most important thing to remember when dressing for a night out in a foreign city is that you’re representing England and Her Majesty the Queen. This means NO DRESSING LIKE A HOOCHIE. You just don’t know what’s acceptable in another country, and don’t want to risk someone shouting “sacre bleu! Have you seen le hussy over there?! She looks like she’s come straight off le Jeremie Kyle!” It’s a good idea, then, to play it safe in something glamorous but sophisticated.

With that being said, there is no reason why you can’t make your shoes and accessories scream “Bonjour, je suis jazzy!” Also, if your hotel or hostel has a curfew then you will definitely need a wristwatch to make sure you don’t get carried away grooving with the funky Europeans.

River Island Midi Dress | Missguided Block Heels | ASOS Hologram Clutch | Limit Chain Watch

What to Wear – Day Two

You might be feeling a bit fragile after your wild night of partying with Vikings (no, just us?) but that is no excuse to let things slip in the fashion stakes. Remember that this season is all about layers and texture, so throw on as much animal skin as you can while strolling around this wild terrain that is Paris. A wide-brimmed hat will also help you hide your bleary eyes.

More Advice

Here are a few other tips we have for your autumn city break:

try to learn a little bit of the language. If this fails you when you’re trying to order a sandwich in a cafe, then just start gesticulating wildly at bits of chicken. When you end up with a massively weird sandwich, just smile politely like the English simpleton you are
if anybody starts speaking to you who you don’t want to talk to, then pretend you’re a Sim. As they try to ask you where you’re from, just ramble on “aroose chilta? Picawo mellag! Abomba filu!” until they decide you’re too much of a lunatic to bother with and wander off
try to leave some soom in your bag when packing so you have plenty of room for all the snazzy European souveniers. You have no idea how upset I was to not be able to bring back a four-foot tall recreation of Brussels’ famous ‘Pissing Boy’ statue – it would have looked bloody lovely in our hallway

How to Enter

If you would like to enter this amazing competition with Superbreak then all you have to do is create a blog post around fashion advice for a city break in Autumn, including a link back to Superbreak’s city break page. Once this is done, submit your entry to superbreak.community@gmail.com and keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed!

|| Don’t forget that you can follow us on Bloglovin’ and Twitter! ||

ClaireSeptember 11, 2013

A Week in Instagram #2

Hola chicas! We’re back with our second Week In Instagram post. We’re moving house in a couple of weeks and so are on a strict spending ban because of deposits and fees and all those undesirable things – as such, it’s not been the most exciting week ever. We’re still going to force photos on you though. Bahaha.

1. After a couple of years on the dark side, Lauren’s decided to dye her hair back blonde. This colour stripper is the first step in the process – everybody keep your fingers crossed!
2. Lauren’s FOTD from her night out at the weekend. As subtle as ever, I’m sure we’ll all agree.
3. This is basically how I spent my entire weekend after finally setting my internet TV up. Lovefilm, loads of tea and a faint concern that I may start to develop bed sores.
4. Some lovely Manuka Doctor products that we had delivered this week!
5. We launched our giveaway! All you need to do to win a MAC lipstick of your choice is follow us on Bloglovin’ and Twitter, and then you can earn extra entries by tweeting about the giveaway, liking our page on Facebook, and sending us biscuits in the post (okay, that one might not be true – but please, still feel free to do so).
6. Lauren’s FOTD, facing her last day in the world as a brunette.
7. Can you believe this makeover came courtesy of an app? It’s called Perfect 365 and has a variety of makeup filters – it has to be said, this is borderline addictive.
8. We were lucky enough to have some London Fashion Week invitations pop through our door! Of course we’re hugely grateful and would absolutely love to go, but this spending ban of ours means we can’t make it down to London this week. This is where the crying face emoji would go if this were a text message.

ClaireSeptember 2, 2013

A Week in Instagram

Hey there lads and lasses. We don’t know whether anyone is remotely bovvered about what we get up to in our day to day lives, but we like to pretend that you are and insist on telling you all anyway. This is why we thought it would be a good idea to squidge together some Instagram photos to give you a visualisation of what we did last week, just in case you were dying to know (don’t lie, you were).

1. Lauren wore a hat one day, which caused quite the stir in the office. We snuck off round the back of the building to snap her OOTD pictures, which was an experience that mainly involved me shouting “STOP SQUINTING YOUR EYES” (a very annoying habit she has) and keeping our fingers crossed that nobody would come out for a fag break and catch us being idiots.
2. It was Lauren’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, and one of the lovely gifts she received from her… gentleman caller (she may kill me for writing this)… was an amazing champagne and spirit tasting event at Selfridges in the Bullring. While I spent my night at home in the Bitch Shack, seething with jealousy, she spent her evening ‘sampling’ fine wines and spirits – i.e. getting twatted for free. Jammy.
3. Embracing texture in my new fluffy Primark cardigan with my new quilted leather iPhone case at work last week. Yes, that is our work’s toilet.
4. We went on a soup and fruit detox for three whole days in an attempt to clear our bodies of the utter junk we had filled them with. After our carb-less cleanse, we gorged ourselves on sweets and crisps. That’s how it works, right?
5. I went out for lunch with my friend Lisa on Saturday, to a lovely new bar called The Artisan. It is SO pretty, plus they do lethal cocktails, thus I have chosen it as the place I’m going to go for my birthday next month so I can pretend that I’m going to be sophisticated once I’m 23.
6. Lauren’s FOTD for an evening out in Birmingham over the weekend.
7. I bleached my hair! But more of that in a post to come in the next couple of days…
8. Monday mornings… enough said.

These photos were all taken from our blog Instagram @StylingoUK and my personal account. Don’t forget to follow us!

ClaireSeptember 2, 2013

Sexting: Is it really that bad?

I have two main hatreds in life: brown t-shirts and cheating boyfriends/girlfriends. As I have grown wise and old in my old age, I have noticed that more and more people in relationships are ending up in the tragic pool of being cheated on. This month’s Cosmo told me that 47% of men have cheated on their girlfriends, which is quite shocking really – IT’S PRACTICALLY HALF. But what about the murky waters of sexting*? For those of us who have been victims of stupid boys with equally stupid technology, there are always the doubts of ‘…well he didn’t physically do anything’ and ‘maybe it was only harmless’.

Well, I am here to put my foot down with a firm hand and say it most certainly is not harmless. Sexting might be new territory (though I firmly believe that some Victorian sleezes probably quilled dirty letters to scullery maids behind their wives’ backs) but at the end of the day, it can be just as hurtful.

Why do people sext in the first place?

I have thought long and hard about this one and have come up with a few reasons why boys (or girls, no sexism here!) feel the need to message other people while they are in a relationship.

For an ego boost: There’s nothing like a bit of attention from someone you find vaguely attractive to make you feel good about yourself. In theory, the person you’re in a relationship should be there to make you feel good. But for some people, that’s not enough. For some bizarre reason, being told that you are sexy by random boys or girls is a better way to boost your ego than by your girlfriend/boyfriend who loves you. It is a strange world we live in.
To sow the wild oats: This applies to boys mostly, but I think there is some subconscious evolutionary trigger in guys that make them want to make sure that they have lots of offspring. Whatever natural urges you have, laddies, remember: we are not animals. We have thumbs and the capability to learn the words to every Lady Gaga song ever made. Keep your wild oats for your woman only.
Because we can: Technology is great and I love Twitter with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. But it can be our own worst enemy too. Let’s be honest, physically cheating on someone is so much effort these days. You have to actually go out of the house, find somewhere to do the dirty deed AND get rid of the smell of unfamiliar perfume. Snore. Why bother when you can just hop on Facebook or iMessage and get rid of the evidence with a single click?
Out of boredom: This is one that is not very nice to accept…a relationship might just be on its last legs and that can drive people to stray. It’s not a valid excuse in the slightest and it’s still a cowardly thing to do, but it can be a knee-jerk response if things aren’t going well relationship-wise.
They are knobs with no knobs: Some people are just not very nice.

Is sexting really that bad?

My immediate response would usually be ‘yes, with bells on’ but it’s a bit more complicated than that I reckon. It’s easier to forgive a naughty message or text and easier to convince yourself that your significant other only has eyes for you really. But in my mind, if your boyfriend or girlfriend is looking/thinking/describing (ugh, get a grip) sleeping with somebody else, it’s a bit irrelevant if they actually do it or not.

It will turn you into a crazy person: No one wants to be the girl that has to dictate who her boyfriend sees or what he does. But at the end of the day, if he can’t be trusted to behave like a normal human being then it is his own fault if his girlfriend becomes a crazy paranoid stalker.
You will feel like crap: Nothing dents your self confidence like a boyfriend/girlfriend who has to find gratification through a phone or a laptop.
It’s a slippery slope: Whatever your boyf or girlf says, people who sext behind their partner’s back are definitely more likely to cheat physically.
It’s disrespectful: Relationships are about being bothered about the person you are with. If you are willing to risk hurting the person you should in theory care most about, then away with you. There is no place for you here.

What to do if your boyfriend/girlfriend is sexting.

Well, it’s really up to you. I’m a believer that you shouldn’t let what other people think influence your decisions too much. If you’re not bothered about it, then that’s fine. But if you are, have a long and hard think about whether it’s worth staying with him/her. It goes without saying that things are going to be MEGA different if you do, and you’ll have to work at things to make sure it’s all ok.

But also don’t worry about saving face – who cares if a few people think you are an idiot for staying with your sexting boyf or girlf? Second chances are worth it. BUT third chances are not. If they carry on being useless, then no matter how brilliant they are in other ways, they are the dregs of society and don’t deserve you.

And thus concludes my two cents on the matter. It’s always worth remembering that no matter how great a person can seem, if they’re treating you badly, then they shouldn’t have a place in your life. While it seems that every person ever treats sexting as an ok activity these days, there are certainly people out there who won’t tell a random strangers that they want to have sexual relations with them.

* I’ve used the word sexting, but this post isn’t just focused on whether your boyfriend or girlfriend has sent explicit messages. I think any sort of message that’s flirty or has sexual undertones OR is to someone they have no need to message (i.e. a random gal on Facebook at 4am) is definitely not ok. NOT OK GUYS.

ClaireAugust 6, 2013

Body Image and Self Esteem: what is UP with girl on girl hate?

Hey gals!

Today, I’m doing a slightly different post to our usual fashion and beauty blogging; I’m planning on having a little rant and ponder. It’s not something that Claire and I usually get involved in (unless it’s when we argue about whether she likes metallic nail varnish or not…) but this is something I feel is close to my bosom and something that I feel must roam free.

So, body image, body confidence and self esteem…

I’m pretty sure ALL of us have had fat days and days where nothing seems to go right in the hair and makeup department. There are definitely days when I think ‘UGH, why does everything in my wardrobe make me look like an escaped circus elephant’. Sometimes it lasts just a day but I know there are lots of girls that suffer from long term low self esteem. I’m definitely not out to belittle that at all in this post – whether your body or self confidence issues are caused by pressure from the media, an abusive relationship or something equally as serious, low self esteem can be crippling and it’s not something to take lightly.

What I am out to have a little rant about is girls attacking each other for the way they look. Recently, a friend of mine said something along the lines of ‘I am SICK of seeing skinny girls, they piss me off’. At the time I didn’t say anything but it really got me thinking – why is it ok for us to hate someone for the way that they look just because we’re unhappy with the way that we look? I really don’t think that kind of attitude is helpful to anyone, especially not ourselves. Nobody likes a bitter person and putting other people down for the way they look is not going to make you feel ANY better about yourself in the long run.

What I’ve noticed a lot recently is hate towards slim girls especially. There’s the whole ‘real women have curves’ thing which is just silly; slim girls are not lesser people because they’re skinnier! And on the flip side, if you feel unhappy about your weight or are a bit overweight, it doesn’t make you less of a person either. It’s all about the way you present yourself and to be honest, weight or your looks don’t really come into it that much. People respond positively to a girl who is friendly, outgoing and just generally nice. Even the most beautiful person can have no mates if she treats people like shit (pardon)

Nobody is paying THAT much attention to you…

I’m a size 12 and the grand height of 5ft, so I am definitely not the slimmest gal in the erm…pot of girls?! I used to feel quite self conscious about what I looked like and for a long time, I refused to even go out anywhere with bare legs (it made for very hot summers, I assure you). I used to get massively green with envy on holiday when I saw girls with perfectly toned bikini bodies but at the end of the day I had to realise…no one cares about me that much. By which I mean, while I’m sat there on my sun lounger thinking everyone is staring at my pasty flab, everyone else is far more interested in their daiquiris and whether or not they remembered to put sun cream on their backs.

Do what makes you feel happy…

I’m a firm believer that self confidence comes from within. Remembering that you have friends who like you for you is a big part of this – they obviously like you for a reason so why shouldn’t you like you for a reason too? There’s nothing wrong with looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking ‘well, I have quite nice eyes and my hair is actually quite great’. It’s not about having an ego, it’s just about building yourself up a bit!

Saying that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing things to your appearance to make you feel comfortable and happy. Having good self esteem doesn’t mean you have to skip around in an anorak with unbrushed hair and no makeup (but if you want to do that, then go right ahead). If clipping in some hair extensions, slathering your face in makeup and wearing a pair of heels makes you feel confident, then you should just do it. I’ve had some people judge me in the past for the amount of makeup I wear or because I wear fake tan but to them I say WHO ARE YOU TO SAY WHAT I CAN AND CAN’T DO. I like the way I look with makeup and tan; it doesn’t mean I’m hiding behind a mask of St Moriz and Rimmel – it’s just what makes me feel comfortable.

I also think that if you truly are unhappy with the way you look, then do something about it. Just going to the gym regularly and eating a bit more fruit and veg can do wonders for how you look and feel. Cake is brilliant and I will always happily destroy a tub of ice cream, but nothing gives you a boost like feeling healthy. 🙂

Us gals have got to stick together…

We have GOT to stop being bitchy to each other about the way we look. At the risk of sounding like a hippy, we should all spread the love a bit more. That’s something I love about blogging especially, us bloggers are quick to let each other know if an outfit looks great or if someone is looking spiffing. That’s something I wish happened in real life a bit more. These days, instead of being envious of a girl, I try and think ‘wow, she’s got a great figure. Fair play to her, inspiration’. Let’s face it, we have to deal with so much on a daily basis – lets not fight each other too!

ClaireJuly 31, 2013

SEO Tips For Fashion & Beauty Bloggers Part 1: SEO and Your Blog

Good day you lovely lot! Today we have something very different than our usual fashion witterings for you. Since we started our little blog back in May, we’ve noticed a lot of talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and you all seem pretty interested to know more about it and how you can apply it to make the most of your blog.

Lauren and I work in a marketing agency and SEO is a big part of our daily jobs, so we thought we could put a couple of posts together to give any of you who are clueless about it a very basic overview. I will state that we’re both in the early stages of our careers, and so aren’t claiming to be in any way absolute experts in the field. Our own blog isn’t even SEO’d as much as it should be, mainly because we can’t really be bothered and like to do this more for fun. But there are a few simple steps that we follow to add some SEO benefit to our blog that you can also do to your own.

This first post is going to contain SEO tips in relation to your own blog, but we also have a second one planned. That will be focused on how SEO agencies are approaching bloggers, and what you need to know about sponsored posts, do-follow links and all that jazz – this is something else which we’ve seen spoken quite a lot about on Twitter and various sites recently, and so can help clear up one or two points there too!

So without further ado, let’s get this motherbitch started.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. To put it basically, SEO is about making your blog as search engine-friendly as possible. Ever wondered why some sites always appear at the top of the search pages in Google? SEO is the main driving force behind this.

The two main prongs of SEO are on-page optimisations and off-page optimisations. On-page, as the name suggests, is everything on your blog that can help Google to ‘see’ you and rank you higher in results. Off-page is what goes on outside of your own blog that can still help you, such as having links to your blog on other people’s websites and blogs.

What Can You Do?

Choose Your Title Posts Wisely

You fashion and beauty bloggers are a creative lot, and something we all see a lot are blog posts with imaginative titles. Song lyrics that sum up your mood or outfit are nice from a creative point of view, but don’t help you much in terms of SEO. Try to include some keywords in the title of your posts. For example, if you do a review of the Barry M Gelly Polish, then title your post ‘Review: Barry M Gelly Polish’. We know it’s pretty Snoresville, but people search Google using those words and so your blog is more likely to come up in the results. Quite a bit of our traffic comes from search engines, and we think this is largely down to our boring-but-literal titles.

Also, think about how you personally use search engines. A lot of searches start with phrases like ‘how to’ and ‘what do’, so incorporate these into our post titles if you can. For example, if your outfit post features you styling a pair of dungarees then titling this post ‘How To Wear Dungarees’ or ‘What to Wear With Dungarees’ could really help you.

Include Some Keywords

Similarly, you should try to include a few key phrases within the body of your post. If you want your review to rank higher, then including a few instances of the phrase ‘review of [product]’ ‘[product] review’ can help. This doesn’t have to be difficult or impact on your writing style – just an introductory sentence such as ‘Here’s my review of [product]’ can help.

Avoid the temptation to start over-stuffing keywords into your posts though. ‘Here is my [product] review. I hope you like my review of [product]. I enjoyed writing this [product] review. [Product] [product] [product] REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW’ will make Google HATE you (nothing personal, Google just hates people very easily).

Guest Posting

A lot of beauty and fashion bloggers love guest posting on one another’s blogs. Not only is it a great way to reach a new bunch of readers and spread word of your blog, but it’s also got SEO benefit. Search engines take into account how many sites link back to your blog – it’s generally considered that the more sites linking to you, then the more important your blog must be, and so the higher you’ll rank. So writing a guest post for someone else and linking back to your blog is really useful.

However, there is a focus on quality not quantity. Spamming sites with your link won’t get you anywhere – in fact, sites and blogs that have a lot of backlinks from really low-quality sites, or ones that are completely irrelevant to your niche, can be penalised by the big G (Google, not God… we don’t know where he stands on spam).

Use Your Google+

Some of you may have Google+ and dismiss it as the most boring and useless of the social media accounts. Most boring? Definitely. But most useless? Definitely not. There’s a lot of buzz around at the moment that suggests that the more authoritative someone’s G+ profile is, the higher that whatever they write will rank. This is because they’ll be seen as somewhat of an ‘expert’ in their field, so Google will push their posts to the top. Linking your G+ account to your blog can make your face pop up in results pages, like this:

Yes, I do feel famous sometimes.

Other Resources

We hope you’ve found some of these tips useful, and feel free to share this post out to other fashion and beauty bloggers who might be a little baffled by this SEO business. There are a few other articles dotted around the net that you might find helpful:

Business 2 Blogger – Simple SEO Tips for Bloggers
Pro Blogger – SEO Tips for Bloggers

If you want to geek up and find out more about SEO in general, then this Wikipedia article is a good place to start, while the Beginners Guide to SEO can give you a really in-depth learning.

Stay tuned for our Part 2!

ClaireJuly 29, 2013

Tag: Makeup Firsts & Fails

Good afternoon you foxy devils. Today, the lovely Zoe Georgina has tagged us to do the ‘Makeup Firsts and Fails’ post, where you reflect on your early experiences with different products and the disasters that you had with them. As a person who generally walks through life from one disaster to another, I thought I’d step up to the plate with this one and share some of my memories. View Full Post