Dotting Tool

I've been on a mini-hiatus from the blog due to a mix of craziness and laziness - craziness referring to work and uni and all the other things that take up my time. Also, my camera has been misbehaving, hopefully I'll have an outfit up real soon! In the meantime, here are some pictures of my recent endeavours with a dotting tool. It has taken me a bit of practice to control the sizes of the dots I'm placing, but I'm getting there.

I've used Essie Playa Del Platinum as the base, the dotted using Orly Luxe and Essie Chinchilly.

 

 I also seem to be gravitating to this neutral colour palette for my nails too often, simple because it matches my neutral closet. Hoping to get a bit more adventurous with the nail art, any suggestions are welcome!

=D xx 

PB&J Slice

Anyone who's been a long-time reader of my blog would know I have a slight weakness/addiction/obsession with peanut butter. Team this with jam, or jelly as they say in the States, and I might as well stop buying all these itsy bity skirts. The moment I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew it was fate. I must confess I did make this a while ago, but looking at the pictures now I'm convinced I should make it again. I should warn you though, it is REALLY peanut-buttery and REALLY filling. The base itself is like some intense cross between fudge and shortbread. Crazy.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Slice

Ingredients
2 sticks (250g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (510g) creamy peanut butter

 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups (510g) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional - I didn't add these)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350F).

2. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with baking paper, then grease and flour the pan.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

5. Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

=D xx

Minimum

Jumper - American Apparel | Shoes - Pull&Bear | Bag - Zara

Most of the time, I like to keep things simple. The less items to put on/carry, the better. The jumper I turned into a dress cos its so damn big, but so damn comfortable....plus it eliminates the needs for jeans. These shoes are heels but again, so comfortable and I think the cut-out detail adds a bit of something to the look. And of course, the Zara tote, huge, but luxe, and big enough to carry all my crap =P.

=D xx

Snakeskin Diamonds

I attended a wedding a couple of weeks ago, to which I wore this dress I picked up on my last trip to Melbs. It was reduced to about $30 from about $100+ which is a steal! I cut off the label since it was irritating my back, but unfortunately I can't remember the brand :(.

The design reminds me of snakeskin, which of course looks like a tiny diamond pattern. I love to match my nails with my outfit, so I painted my nails an abstract matte black and gold to go with the dress =D

I used a few pictures just to show you how the black parts are actually matte. It's not very neat since I haven't had much time to do my nails these days, quite rusty. I started off with a base of normal black polish. After this dried, I placed the striping tape (I used this in a previous mani) to create the lines. By placing them randomly it made each nail look unique. I then quickly painted over one part of the nail gold and the other matte, and quickly removed the tape. I did this to each nail SEPARATELY one after the other. And that's it!

=D xx

Hair

First of all I just wanted to say thank you to all my readers, I've been getting a few comments and emails from you guys and they just make my day :). It's great getting feedback cos then I know I'm doing something right ahaha! 

The one thing I get complimented on the most is my hair, especially when it was longer. I used to have straight poofy hair until I was about 15 and one day I woke up and suddenly I had curls and waves.  Yes, that is my natural hair in the pics below.

Of course, I chopped it all off at the start of last year, and while the bob-cut looked nice, I still missed my long locks and I'm eagerly awaiting their return. Especially after digging up the photos above to make this post :'(.

I'm always asked how I get my hair looking like I either just took a dip in the ocean or I curled the crap out of them. Well to be honest, most of the time I simply wash it in the morning and air-dry it (sorry people haha =P). It just naturally dries like that. At the moment the only things I use on my hair are my straightener (rarely), curler, Moroccan Oil and hairspray. And no, I don't use these everyday. 

Moroccan Oil has been a staple of mine for a couple of years now and I swear by it. I only use a tiny 5 cent size amount which I run through my hair after I wash it and it's dried out a bit (i.e. still damp). It really has reduced the frizz in my hair and made it looks neater. I won't wax lyrical about all it's magical effects since they have been documented extensively, but I will say that it smells divine.

 My straighter I obviously use to straighten my hair, which I used to do more often when my hair was longer. Incidentally I use a GHD which has surprisingly lasted me for the past 6 years!


God my hair was long! This pic makes me miss it so much!

Since my hair is quite messy, I'll sometimes have to curl it just to re-define my natural curls and make it look neater.  Alot of people think I use my GHD to do my curls. But since they are natural curls, I use a curling wand, which is much easier and gives me a bit more control. It can be a be fiddly and tricky at first (I still burn my hand), but it pays off. I don't like the wands with the piece that holds your hair in place because that just creates kinks at the ends of your hair. I use a BaByliss PRO Ceramic Conical Curling Wand 19-32mm barrel. It has 25 heat settings but I have to use the highest. The larger barrel creates looser curls and the way I wrap my hair around it tightens the curl at the end. I felt a bit stupid taking these photos but hopefully they demonstrate what I mean!

Always wrap the hair around the barrel AWAY from your face.

And to make them stay I spritz a bit of the good ol' hairspray over it all.

And that's it! Simple! I'm thinking of getting my hair dyed back to it's original deep dark brown, sorta getting tired of the caramel ends. What do you think?

=D xx

Naven

Top - Naven | Skort - Zara | Heels - Siren | Clutch - Collette | Earrings - Accessorize

Some of my closet favourites all in one, what could be better? This Naven top was a steal off eBay, and it's such a nice relaxed fit. It's so shiny in these photos, I think the last close up captures it's true look. I'm still bemused by this skort, it really is such a versatile and gorgeous piece. Ahh Zara I can't get enough!!

=D xx

Met Gala 2013 - My Picks

The 2013 Met Gala official kicked off last night, showcasing some jaw-dropping (and eye watering) outfits. The Met Gala is a celebration of the formal opening of the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute, attracting Hollywood stars and fashionistas from across the globe. As such, it is known as the fashion industry's Night of Night's. So in honor of the vent, stars dressed up to showcase this year's theme - "Punk: Chaos to Couture". I've picked out a few of my fav's from this years outfits... 

Cara Delevingne in Burburry

Doutzen Kroes in Theysken's Theory 

 Anne Hathaway in Valentino

Aubrey Plaza in Marios Schwab dress with Barbara Bui heels

Blake Lively in Gucci

Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney

Carey Mulligan in Balenciaga and Tiffany & Co. jewelry

Dakota Fanning in Rodarte

Jennifer Lopez in Michael Kors

 Jessica Biel in In Giambattista Valli

Karlie Kloss in Louis Vuitton

Kate Beckinsale in Alberta Ferretti dress & Giuseppe Zanotti shoes

Kate Bosworth in Balmain

Nicole Richie in Topshop

 Rita Ora in Thakoon

Sienna Miller in Burburry

Sarah Jessica Parker - headpiece by Phillip Treacy and dress by Giles Deacon

Taylor Swift in  J. Mendel

 Gisele Bundchen in Anthony Vaccarello

 Jennifer Lawrence in Dior

Nina Dobrev in Monique Lhuillier

Rooney Mara in Givenchy

 Absolutely stunning!! I was pretty impressed with this years line-up, hence so many picks! I know alot of people reckon Beyonce stole the show in her intense Givenchy number, but this time I just wasn't digging it. Just a few comments - kudos to Kate Bosworth for turning a top into a dress; not sure about Nicole Richie's hair but that dress is amazing; Carey Mulligan (I need her shoes), Kate Beckinsale and Jennifer Lawrence although all understated, are all still gorgeous; Cameron Diaz pulls off that vampire-esque dress SO well (amazing colour too!), and best out of all in my eyes is a tie - Anne Hathaway and SJP. Absolutely AMAZING. Nailed the brief so incredibly perfectly. 

=D xx