Vanity Claire | Birmingham Fashion and Beauty Blog

ClaireMay 14, 2014

The Best of the Highstreet: The 90s Trend

Ahoy hoy,

I don’t know if any of you clowns are anything like me, but approximately 2 years ago I laughed with much mirth and scorn about 90s fashion and pretty much decided that it would never come back ever. I waved goodbye to the days where I enjoyed a half-up-half down ponytail and somewhat sadly packed away my plastic tattoo choker.

BUT ALAS I WAVED AND PACKED PREMATURELY. Not only are the 90s back, but they are freakin’ brilliant. I have embraced them with a heart of the Britney who loved Justin. But even I, the 90s firmest supporter, admit that there are some 90s trends best left alone. Frosted tips on boys for one, should be banished to the depths of fiery boyband hell. Another 90s trend that can be banished is the lack of bra. While I am all for lady freedom, there was just too much nip for me to feel comfortable with.

But anywho, here are some 90s inspired snaps to get you ready and raring to go ~~and play on your Tamagotchi.~~

Yes, I know. I want a Union Jack leotard too.

But what’s about on the highstreet at the moment 90s wise? Pretty much LOADS and there are some brilliant bargains to be had for the poor girls up in here too. I’ve picked a few of my favourites to share with you all, and I hope that you love them as much as I do. Just call me a massive 90s pervert. I won’t mind.

Oversized Denim Jacket – Topshop | Ribbed Halterneck Crop Top – Missguided | Pink Cleated Platforms – Boohoo | Off the Shoulder Croptop – Asos

Mesh Jersey – Elsie and Fred | Strappy Bodycon Dress – Missguided | Clear Jelly Shoes – ASOS | Pink PVC Skirt – Boohoo

So my excellent homegirls, I hope that you have enjoyed this excellent 90s edit and you should definitely go out and source some beautiful 90s pieces, because they are so worth it. More worth it than wearing a plastic choker, and that is saying something I can tell you that chum.

Don’t forget to vote for Stylingo in the Company Style Blogger Awards in the ‘Best Blogging Duo’ category, we will love you forever. No joke. Need a reason why? Here are 5 sob story reasons.

ClaireMay 13, 2014

5 Sob Story Reasons to Vote for Stylingo in Company’s Style Blogger Awards

If you follow us on Twitter, Instagram or just in real life (Lauren’s convinced there’s someone living in our loft – is this you?!) then you will no doubt have heard us harping on about the fact that we’ve been shortlisted in this year’s Style Blogger Awards with Company magazine!

This is a huge, HUGE, H U G E compliment and we’re really grateful to everyone who nominated us as the Best Blogging Duo. We’re up against some fantastic other bloggers and don’t expect to win at all, but we would still love for you to vote for us if you think we deserve it!

While you should of course base your voting decision on which blog you think is the best, we’ve decided that it can’t hurt to up our chances with some good old fashion X Factor-inspired reasoning. Here we present to you our:

5 sob story reasons to vote for Stylingo as Best Blogging Duo

1. I’ve tried a dress on in Primark, only to find I’m unable to get it back off over my big man-shoulders and so have been trapped in the dress for a good ten minutes while I attempt to claw my way out of it … not once, but TWICE.

2. Lauren was recently hoping nobody had really noticed her skin during a bad eczema episode, only to have a homeless man yell “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR FACE?!” at her in the middle of a large crowd.

3. I failed my driving test not once, not twice, not even three times… but SEVEN times. I had one instructor simply say “Don’t ring me for lessons anymore”.

4. You know how you’re meant to ‘mind the gap’ when getting on a train? Lauren failed to do this once and her shoe fell down the gap. She had to walk around with one ballet pump for the rest of her journey.

5. When I was 7 I drew a dog’s face on a balloon and called my new dog Sheba. My sister then played rounders and used Sheba as the ball – Sheba popped and I cried for about 8 hours.

There… are your heartstrings thoroughly tugged at? If so, or if you just happen to like our blog, then PLEASE feel free to vote for us by clicking on our badge at the top or here. You can find us in the 4th category along, and be sure to cast your votes for all of your other favourite bloggers too! A huge THANK YOU if you do vote or have voted already, we love you very much and would butt-bump each and every one of you if we could.

Merci and goodnight.

ClaireMay 10, 2014

Makeup Revolution: £1 Lipsticks | Review

Now, I’m genuinely not usually one to hop on a beauty blogging bandwagon. It definitely would have been a nippy day in hell before I forked out £37 for the Naked 3 palette, for example – I mean, do you know how many tequilas that can buy you?! Sheesh. But over the last couple of months there’s one brand it’s been hard to ignore: Makeup Revolution. With dirt cheap prices and a shockingly good amount of reviews online, I eventually caved. It’s being stocked in Superdrug, but I assumed that if the stand was anything like the MUA stand in there then it would be virtually empty (is this the same in your local stores or is it only in Coventry that people see £1 makeup and thoroughly lose their shit?) so I decided to place a little order on their website. And for those of who are remarkably unobservant, YES, those 3 lipsticks up there were part of the order!

I opted for the shades Crime, a striking Barbie pink; Fusion, which seemed to be a vampy plum; and The One, a classic nude (aka my go-to lipstick shade of dreams). At only £1 it was definitely tempting to get more carried away and order all 30 shades, but I realised that was the behaviour of someone whose priorities are not in order, so settled on these shades to give me a nice range.

On first impressions, the packaging is of course similar to MUA but a bit nicer – the rose gold writing definitely gets a thumbs up from this rose gold lover. And then onto the swatches…

I LOVE Crime and The One with a fiery passion. Both are really pigmented from the first swipe, and feel moisturising when applied. Crime will be perfect for so many nights out (I’ve always been a sucker for a Barbie lip) and The One will most definitely become my new everyday nude. However, I have no idea what happened with Fusion. Not only is the colour much lighter than you’d expect, but the colour pay off is also pretty weak and it felt a lot more dragging to apply than the other two. Please see Exhibit B:

Overall though, I’m SO impressed with the other two shades that I’m going to overlook Fusion as some sort of fluke and still declare these lipsticks to be the tits. For £1 I’ll definitely be stocking up on more shades if I ever bother to venture into Superdrug and find the stand hasn’t been too massacred.

In my order I also picked up a foundation, brow kit, highlighter AND received a lipgloss, blusher and a couple of nail varnishes as a free gift (I don’t know why either, but THANK YOU Makeup Rev!), so stay tuned for more Makeup Revolution reviews over the next couple of days. That’s if the suspense doesn’t kill ya anyway.

ALSO if you follow us on Twitter then you’ll definitely have seen us harping on about the fact that we have been nominated in this year’s Company Style Blogger Awards under the Best Blogging Duo category! It’s a huge honour and we’d like to thank everyone who nominated us and has already shared their support by voting. We don’t expect to win at all as we’re up against some fabulous blogs, but it’s honestly just so nice to have made the shortlist. If you would like to vote for us then you can do so by clicking here – you can find us in the fourth category along. Thanks in advance if you do, and please let us know on Twitter (@StylingoUK) so we can send you loads of loveheart emojis to express our gratitude.

What do you all think of these lipsticks? Have you tried anything from Makeup Revolution yet?

ClaireMay 9, 2014

Outfit of the Day: New Look Kimono & White Platform Sandals

New Look Kimono £19.99 (similar here) | Topshop Acid Wash Jeans (old) | New Look White Chunky Caged Sandals £24.99 | Black Scalloped Vest (old)

Ahoy there maties,

It has bean a while since I’ve done an outfit of the day. This is partly because I have had really scabby skin that has involved me looking like a crocodile for an unusual amount of time in my life. But thankfully, I am slightly less lizardy now and can take photos that don’t involve me looking trollish (…kind of anyway).

I bought this jazzy kimono from New Look before I went away to South Africa. I absolutely love it, from the floral print to the tassels at the bottom. Being a short girl, it’s quite long on me but I actually really like that as well. My only real beef with this kimono is that the tassels keep unravelling. I’m not sure if this is just an unfortunate side effect, or because I stuffed it in the washing machine without a second thought, but it means I keep trailing bits of thread everywhere. Nevertheless, this isn’t enough to put me off in the slightest.

I wore my New Look kimono with my standard Topshop acid wash jeans, a super old Topshop scalloped vest and my New Look white platforms. All in all, I’m pretty pleased with this outfit and I’m enjoying wearing it right now (now you know what I’m wearing, you perverts).

I also have on my tip top fave lip product at the moment, Revlon’s Colourburt Matte Balm in Sultry. Can I get a ‘yes, I agree, these are heaven sent’?

So, what do you think? Get involved in the comments below, you scoundrels.

Don’t forget to vote for Stylingo in the Company Style Blogger Awards 2014!

ClaireMay 6, 2014

#TheStruggle: 10 Terrible Things That Happen To Women

So. Without belittling genuinely terrible things that happen to women around the world everyday, there are a number of horrible, NAY DISTRESSING, everyday things that happen to us lady humans. These are things that are rarely experienced by our male counterparts, and they are definitely more upsetting than when the Spice Girls broke up or even when Brit shaved her hair off (albeit barely).

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to do in these situations. In fact, it can be downright soul crushing. Whether it’s embarrassment, horror or just plain discomfort, Common Lady Problems (CLP) are a grief that many of us have to deal with on a regular basis. But what are these terrible things and more importantly, how can we avoid them – and ultimately avoid looking like raging lunatics? In no particular order, here’s what and how.

1. Applying too much hair oil

I’m sure this has happened to every girl at some point. In fact, it happened to me just this morning. I thought to myself ‘yeah, it’s hair oil day’ and BAM. I put too much in, and now I look like Severus Snape. This also goes for not washing conditioner out properly in the shower.

How to avoid: Unless you are a girl who gets up at a normal time and can afford to re-wash your hair, you’re going to have to deal with the situation pronto. One option is to wear your hair in a tight bun while pretending it is raining outside. Another option is to douse your hair in dry shampoo. This actually works quite well and you will look relatively normal until you have time to wash your hair properly.

2. Clocking someone in the same dress

No matter how much of a nice person you are, seeing someone in the same dress as you is mortifying. Yes, you could do the bigger person thing of ‘hahahah haven’t we both got great style?!’, but inside you are likely to die a little bit/a lot. Unless you know the girl in question, you can’t really demand they leave and get changed. With this in mind, there are a few options available to you.

How to avoid: Sit scrunched up in your chair and cover your body with your handbag until the girl leaves. Alternatively, never buy clothes from the high street but if you do, make sure your customise with rhinestones. Failing that, just don’t go out anywhere.

3. Tripping over in public

For some reason, girls trip over in public more than boys do. And while tripping over after 20 jagerbombs is a bit more acceptable, falling on your face in daylight hours/completely sober is not. I mostly blame our tripping over tendencies on the fact we wear complicated clothing like maxi skirts and flatforms, which are definitely tricky things to navigate. And when you do trip over (it will happen one day), the best course of action is to grab the nearest person and laugh hysterically until they laugh with you to make it all ok.

How to avoid: Don’t leave the house.

4. Sneezing after applying mascara

This is one of my personal life troubles. Whether you are a hayfever sufferer, ill-time your perfume spraying or just having ticklish eyelids (errr…just me?), sneezing after doing your mascara is THE WORST THING EVER. If I have spent a load of time getting the rest of my face right, faffing about blending things and dabbing at stuff, the last thing I want to happen is a god damn sneeze to ruin it all. And it does ruin it all. Panda eyes, having to do strategic wiping and absolutely ruined eye makeup are just a few of what we have to deal with. Three words: not cool, nose.

How to avoid: Don’t look at bright lights, don’t spray perfume just after you have done your mascara and, please for the love of Pete, take your antihistamines.

5. Orange Face, white body (and vice versa)

For the fake tanners amongst us, this is a very real concern. Getting your face and body the same colour is surprisingly difficult and there has been many a night where I thought I looked bangin’, and it turns out I looked like a white faced ghost poo body.

How to avoid: Get a foundation that matches your tanned self. Alternatively, give up tanning. Being a Pale Gail is much more preferable.

6. Drunk lipstick application

We all know the situation. It’s a Saturday night, you’ve got a fierce dress on, you’re sipping on ~~gin and juice~~ Lambrini and life is generally brill. You slip off to the water closet to reapply your lipstick and after smearing some on, you stroll back into the club like you’re fluent in Swaghili. Unfortunately, you now look like a clown. And you don’t notice until you get tagged in pics the next morning.

How to avoid: Don’t wear lipstick when drinking. Ever. Lipgloss all the way, suckas.

7. Flapping fake eyelashes

See above. Instead of clown face, it’s the flappy eyelash scenario. If you want to look like a wonky faced fool or, god forbid, you look like you’re winking at miscellaneous strangers, then the flappy lash isn’t too much of an issue. However, it is an issue if you do mind.

How to avoid: Use lots and lots of glue. Bring glue out with you. If in doubt, rip your lashes off and roam eyelash free. It’s better than winking at people inadvertently.

8. Fringe separation

This one goes out to my fringed homegirls. Claire and I have both had full on fringes during our time on earth, and we can both tell you that they are the biggest faff known to man. If it’s not too long growing into your eyeballs it’s separating so you look like Peter Andre, Ben from A1 and Kim Jong Un all rolled into one. And I can tell you this my friends, this is not a look you want to be channelling. The 90s are not quite that back yet.

How to avoid: Hairspray your fringe. It doesn’t matter if you look like a Lego man. Just do it.

9. Dress stuck into pants

Another one of life’s classic woes. After nipping to the piddly diddly department, you accidentally get your dress/skirt stuck into your knickers. It is potentially one of the most embarrassing things to happen to us girls, and you have to hope you have a nice friend who will point out your bottom is on show. Alternatively, they will just laugh at you until you finally realise that you have been flashing everyone for approximately half an hour. It just depends what kind of mates you have.

How to avoid: Wear trousers. Or don’t wear pants, but if you go for the second option, you better hope there is no gusts of wind. Because you might get arrested.

10. Smudging nail varnish

Waiting for nails to dry or dipping into a bag of Doritos and hoping for the best…? I know which one I would chose (yes, obvs the Doritos). This is definitely another one of life’s woes, and I don’t really know why they haven’t created instant drying nail varnish for £1 yet. I will never wait long enough for my nails to dry and will always regret that I bothered to paint my nails at all. C’est tragique. Tres tres tragique. What is the point in life?

How to avoid: Be patient and actually wait for your nails to dry. Alternatively, glue on false nails. MUCH easier than the trauma of smudged nails.

SO ladies – agree, disagree? Let me know in the comments below!

And of course, this is completely meant to be a light hearted blog post, but if you are a fellow woman who is struggling with any form of terrible thing – here is a list of help lines and here is another that you might find useful :).

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

ClaireMay 4, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Monochrome and Mint

Blazer: Primark / Crop Top: Topshop / Trousers: Primark / Juju Jelly Shoes: ASOS / Bag: Primark

Hello there you delightful little chimps. I hope we’re all enjoying similar levels of Sunday hungoverness and that I’m not the only one who demolished a McChicken sandwich and large fries before noon? Good good, that’s what I like to hear.

Last night before heading to the pub I asked my housemate if wearing a crop top and a blazer was ‘a bit Scary Spice’, to which she replied “Hahahaha, yeah it is” before pushing me out of the door anyway. Mel B-esque or not though, I really like this combination of the two new items I bought yesterday (check out my haul post here if you haven’t already); it looks fresh and summery but still kept me warm enough on my drunk walk home. Reeeeesult.

I also chose my cigarette trousers – which I bought months ago but I’ve seen in store again recently, FYI – my beloved JuJu jellies and Lauren’s fit holographic clutch bag.

What do you all think of this outfit?

ClaireMay 3, 2014

May Haul: Primark, Topshop, Boohoo & Boots

As the old Chinese proverb goes: ‘when in May, go out and spend your money’. Ah okay then, if you insist…

White distressed jeans: Boohoo – £25
We know it’s all about white denim this summer, and with the light wash, boyfriend fit and distressed rips, these tick so many trend boxes that there ain’t even any ink left in the pen (see what I did there?) I was lusting after these badboys for weeks before they finally made their way from my online basket into my grubby mitts (no seriously, I’m grubby – that’s a chocolate mark on the knee from some rocky road I was eating the first day I decided to wear them) and now I have them I absolutely love them. I featured them in an OOTD post last week so check that out if you want to see what they look like on – I won’t give away any spoilers, but they look pretty much the same except my body is poking out.

Tulle midi skirt: Topshop – £18
Another piece that I was perving after for a few weeks was this midi tulle skirt from Toppers. Now it’s mine I don’t REALLY know what to wear it with, or for what occasion (anyone having an Adams Family style wedding in the coming month? No?) but what I do know is that I bloody love it and I will make it work if it kills me. They also do the skirt in a mini version, but they only had the midi when I sent my sister on a tulle-finding mission for me. Can we also just take a moment to appreciate the price? £18 for a Topshop skirt is really good in my opinion – could the gods of the UK highstreet finally be listening to prayers and making Topshop a bit less batshit crazy in its pricing?! Let’s keep our fingers and eyes crossed, my bargain hunting friends.

Strappy crop top: Topshop – £8
Every time I wear something with thin straps I catch sight of myself and think “Good god, who’s that hulking man with the massive shoulders?” and vow never to let anything spaghetti strapped into my life again. And then I go out and buy this sort of thing. Why? I don’t know.

Floral blazer: Primark – £13
I ventured into Primark earlier today solely for a belt and of course ended up looking around the entire shop. It was one of those really infuriating Primark visits where everyone was getting in my way and I nearly ended up shouting “Excuse me! Do you know your kid is being a dickhead?!” at at least 15 various parents, but then I saw THIS beauty and it was like the heavens opened and angels started singing and all the dickhead kids didn’t exist for a moment. How bloody nice is this for £13? It’s quite lightweight and thankfully for me doesn’t have any shoulder pads (see aforementioned hulking man comments), making it the perfect Spring blazer.

Crop top: Primark – £4 / Shorts: Primark – £3
I made an error here and thought the crop top was in fact a sports bra, but let’s just overlook my stupidity and pretend I actually have the sort of stomach that means I could go to the gym in just a crop top. Oy vey. These shorts are just for mooching about the house in complaining how cold I am while refusing to wear anything that keeps me warm.

Sunglasses: Primark – £2 each
As it’s now May, I can definitely start buying things with the ‘it’s for my holiday’ excuse. Yes I’m not going away for another three months. Yes I’m only going to Tenerife for 4 days. But yes I will still continue to throw things in my basket with gay abandon because ‘it’s for my holiday’. Not that these need justifying because they’re only £2 and they’re FIT.

Makeup and beauty bits: Primark and Boots
ALL of my base products took it upon themselves to run out at once which was simply superb, so a trip to Boots was also needed today. Luckily the 3 for 2 offer was on which meant I got to pick up a Revlon Lip Butter and new nail polish with only small traces of buyers’ guilt.

What do you all think of this mini haul? What have you been buying lately?

ClaireMay 2, 2014

How To Wear SS14 The Holographic Trend

I love shiny things. In fact, things that involve glitter, metallic delightfulness or just a bit of shine makes me infinitely happy. I’m of the opinion that pretty much every girl feels the same too (and if not, why not you lunatic?). So, giving thanks to the fashion gods and so on and so forth, we have the holographic trend to keep our magpie tendancies in check.

But lets be honest, wearing a load of shiny silver material isn’t the most flattering thing (unless you are Kendal Jenner for example) and it is potentially really the most difficult trend ever. While I would like to wear a holographic dress, I’m pretty sure a tiny size 12 disco ball lumbering toward people would both alarm and distress the general public. In fact, I’m pretty sure David Cameron would deport me back to the motherland.

With that in mind, here are some easy options for incoporating the holographic trend into your wardrobe. And while the easiest way would be to whack a holographic bag or pair of shoes onto your outfit, there are actually loads of different holographic things you can put on your body to feel awesome.

If you’re keen, Topshop also have some holographic nail wraps, which I forgot to put on this collage but they look SUUUUPER AWESOME.

So my dear shiny friends, I hope that these have inspired you to become a beautiful disco ball. Claire and I both agree that we would give up our first born children for those Jeffery Campbells, without question. They are incredible.

It’s actually quite hard to put shiny things with anything other than black, but I recently wore my holographic bag with a bright orange dress…so I think the key is to be brave and just embrace the wildness. If you want to be a disco ball, just be a disco ball. PREACH.

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

ClaireApril 30, 2014

South Africa 2014 Roundup

Oh hey there, it’s been a while. I barely recognise you, you saucy wench.

As you may or may not know, I have been off gallivanting around South Africa having a hugey whale of a time. I got back yesterday after 27 hefty hours of travelling and I only slightly have holiday blues (Claire is helping by occasionally making me tea). This is going to be quite a picture heavy post, because I’m sure you’re not too bothered exactly how many times I went to the beach, got sand in my eyeball and acquired another freckle…

After missing my flight because of horrific traffic and spending the night in a Travel Lodge, I was off on my merry way (after an obligatory pre-flight pint).

Port Elizabeth

This is the city I lived in for 11 years, so lots of time spent with family and friends (and their pools). Awooga. As you can see, there was no tan to be had. I also went shopping and they made me put my stuff in a cage, it was very alarming I can tell you.

Kayser’s Beach

This is a mini beach village where my granny lives, it is TINY and there is one shop. And the most perfect beach you will ever come across. Blisssssss.

Addo Elephant Park

It’s not a trip to SA without a trip to Addo. We saw 26 elephants, and lots of other animals. Amazing.

Knysna

After Kayser’s, we started the 10 hour drive to Cape Town. We stopped off at Knysna on the way, which is a beautiful beach/lake town. 6 words: log cabin with a spa bath. If you’re ever in South Africa, you have to try a Rooibos tea cappuccino too.

Cape Town

We spent 6 days in Cape Town and did SO much. A lot of time again was spent with friends and family, but we did see some beautiful stuff along the way. And eat some deeeelicious sushi along the way. If you ever get the chance to visit Sevruga restaurant on the Waterfront, please get one of their massive plates of sushi. And that is me on Table Mountain.

Simon’s Town/Vishoek

We stayed in Viskhoek just outside of Cape Town, and also visited the little village of Simon’s Town a lot too. Such a chilled out vibe and there are also penguins.

Franschhoek/The Winelands

When in the Western Cape, it’s rude not to head out to the Winelands and check out the absolutely stunning scenery and erm…sample a bit of vino. I did both and also had a cheeseboard. I ALWAYS HAVE TO GO TOO FAR.

Anyway lovely ladies (and gents – what are you doing reading a fashion and beauty blog?), I hope you have enjoyed my little South Africa gallery. Have you visited much in the country? Let me know in the comments below. Hoe.

Please nominate Stylingo.co.uk for the Best Blogging Duo award in this year’s Company Style Blogger Awards!

ClaireApril 28, 2014

Outfit of the Day: Double Denim

Sleeveless Denim Jacket: Topshop (old) / Bralet: c/o Elsie & Fred / Jeans: Topshop (old) / Docs: c/o Cloggs.co.uk

Is it just me, or am I shrinking? I mean, I literally look about three feet tall in these photos. There are probably toddlers out there who could get me in a headlock.

Anyway, several years after it became a ‘thing’, I’ve today decided to rock some double denim – and it still felt a bit ke-razy of me. Both pieces are from Topshop several years ago, so you may need a time machine if you desperately want to get your hands on them (or eBay is a cheaper option).

That on the right is what I like to call my ‘flashing pose’.

I teamed the double denim with my favey pastel piece for this Spring, this beaut colour-block bralet from Elsie & Fred, as well as my beloved Docs (which yes, still have the nickname of ‘Claire’s gardening shoes’ whenever I wear them to work – stupid boys).

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