Jingle jangle

 

"Jewellery takes people's attention off your wrinkles" Sarah Phillips

 

Light H&M Denim Shirt

Striped Jumper Topshop-Similar here

Zara Navy Blazer

Navy Topshop Leigh skinny jeans

 

 

For a girl who used to get ready in 3mins flat as I was too lazy to get out of bed before quarter past 9 when I start work at half 9 & it takes 12mins to walk to work, the fact that I was out of bed was as amazing as when moses spread the red sea. Why you ask? I was lucky enough to be asked to attend the Argento Summer Catalogue shoot for a sneak peek at some of their gorgeous jewellery. A known favourite on the high street in the UK and Ireland showcasing the finest jewellery including Alex and Ani, Pandora, Pilgrim, Thomas Sabo and many more. All girls love a bit of sparkle and bling bling, as I type this I am jingle jangling with my Alex and Ani bracelets so an opportunity to have a trying on session with the up and coming pieces for the summer was worth getting out of bed for.

 

 

However, this smiling face is not someone you want to see early on a Tuesday morning when your eyes are still puffy and you feel groggy. The lovely girls from Argento had a brief for the shoot and simply put, it was to be as natural as possible. Promoting the products and helping to enhance them with laid-bare beauty, no fuss, no frills. Soft, simple but defined who better to compliment the jewellery that the gorgeous Naoise Tan. Now I have worked with Naoise before, (I actually did a catwalk with Naoise and 3 other girls were I was driving & I went to pick them up & all of them were wearing their school uniforms. God did I feel the mummy of the group.) A regular at BFW & face of BT2 in Dublin, not only is she gorgeous, lovely to talk to but she is smart. We had a quick catch up as she is trying to decide on degrees or to take a year out, medicine and law were mentioned. (Yesterday morning I had no hoover bags left so sat outside picking the dust out of the old one. The joys of picking a PR degree!!)

 

 

My main man, Mr Paddy McGurgan was doing the makeup. As natural as possible, Paddy focused mainly on the foundation as he wanted to reflect the light & having Naoise skin glowing. Hair was soft curls gently styled into place by the legendary Joe McGivern. The photos were being taken by the genius that is Khara Pringle.  Now less about the gorgeous model and more about the jewellery!!!

 

So here's a sneak peek of the jewellery for the morning part of the shoot.  All of Argento's own brands, gorgeous bracelets by Karma, Nakamol wrap bracelets, Dirty Ruby rings, I wanted to steal them all. I fell in love with this arrow ring (ignore my grubby five year old style dirty nails).  One of the girls on the shoot, Sarah then pointed out that she had designed it herself.  Imagine that feeling of seeing people wearing and loving your designs! Def going on my wishlist!

 

 

Below are photos from the afternoon shoot including jewellery brands like Alex and Ani, Hely designs, Antonio Ben Chimol and Nakamol. All of these are available in Argento stores and online.

 

 

 

Stacking bracelets is totally in this season.  Check out these gorgeous colours of aqua, silver and beige, perfect colours for coming into the mid season! I loved these wrap bracelets paired with Alex and Ani bracelets. To have a nosey at the full collections, check out Argento's website: Argento Website or keep an eye out for the Summer catalogue featuring the gorgeous Naoise. 

Sucking in to the Max

"I tried for modelling work but it was a bit slow and that's when I took a part-time job at McDonalds. It gave me income while I was waiting for my big break and at the very least I could eat." Sharon Stone

 

Topshop Strip Monochrome dress-similar here 

So what do you get when you put 5 female models & 2 male models together? Why the West Coast Cooler Belfast Fashion Week Trends shoot for Spring/Summer 2013 of course! So last night, I hightailed it across town from work to Paddy McGurgan Make up Pro Store on Royal Avenue to get my hair & make up done.  I actually took inspiration from one of the key trends for this season in what I wore yesterday! Black & white striped monochrome dress! Totally on trend even though it's a good 4 years old! I think at one point last night Eve Brannon, the gorgeous stylist for the shoot had a still freak out cause she saw this dress bunched up & rolled up like a ball lying on the floor and thought it was one of the dress from the shoot!

I don't want to give too much away as you will have to wait to see the fabulous photos!  So to give you a backstage peak into being a so called "model".  If you think modelling is fun and glamorous (Ok, maybe it is at some points) but honestly it is a lot of sitting around.  It is unavoidable especially on these types of shoots as there are so many looks and other models to shoot as well.

First things first, straight in to the make up chair.  I had the gorgeous and sexilicous Gemma Garrett (Former Miss Great Britain and all around hotty) do my make up last night.  Gemma is currently taking part in Paddy's very exclusive and sort after Make up Academy that he runs for 8 weeks, twice a year. As she is away in Thailand over Belfast Fashionweek (B**ch), she got roped into painting my face. 

So for our make up, Paddy wanted a pale, doll like complication.  There was no contouring (basically creating angles on our face), the foundation was a shade paler than our own skin tone and a illuminating base was applied to our cheekbones to give a shine when the light hit it at certain angles.  Our eyes, cheeks and lips were a coral colour, a very in colour for this season. A gloss was placed over our eyes to really make the colour pop.  This kind of made my eyes sticky but it actually helped as I was tired from working all day too so they stuck open. 

Out of the make up chair and into the hair chair. Andrew Mulvenna and his highly experienced team were in charged of hair.  I have worked with Andrew a couple of times on different project and each time my hair is completely different.  I don't know where he gets all his ideas from!  Check his website out, his salon in Belfast was voted one of the top 10 salons in the UK by Cosmo readers. Andrew Mulvenna Hair   Our hair was to be shiny, sleek and poker straight.  Now a style I would go for myself as I like my hair big and bouncy when I can be arsed to put effort in but it looked fab flicking through the images.

So hair done, upstairs to Kharas studio to where all the styling and photos will be done. All the Cmpr team have all hands on deck and the lovely Eve is styling. 8 different trends, nearly 16 different outfit changes for 5 females models. That's a lot of clothes, I don't envy Eve trying to pick different looks for each of theses trends. Clothes off, sexy nude underwear on and as usual I'm being told off for having my triple gel bra on! Being called too busty doesn't happen too often for me.  Of course, Connor is on this shoot as well as one of the male models.  How are you meant to look sexy in front of your boyfriend wearing nude underwear and a pop on over your head????? (A pop on is basically a see through shower cap for your face, it protects the clothes from getting make up on them)  It's simply not possible. Sexiness is left at the door to be picked up on the way out again so it is firmly back in place for when we are back home again.

4 hours later, 1 make up change, 1 new hair do, 16 outfit changes, numerous poses, 23 conversations about what food to get when we were done (you see models do eat, Jayne & I got a chippy sooo good) and we were finished. At one point, I had to get my nipples rubbed as they were standing to attention & could be seen very clearly through the dress. You see!! Modelling isn't that glamorous!! Do you think that the Victoria Secret models have their own personal nipple rubbers in case that happens to them?

Back, sack & craic

"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder" Kinky Friedman

 

Asos Army Jumper 

H&M Denim Shirt 

Topshop Midi Black Skirt 

Lovely name for a blog post but I think it explains exactly what I will be doing tonight.  Tomorrow after work, I will be sprinting straight to the lovely Paddy McGurgan Make up Pro store to get my hair & make up done then upstairs to Khara Pringle photography studio to shoot the West Coast Cooler Belfast Fashionweek S/S13 Trends shoot! Its a friendly affair as my annoying poohead yet gorgeous boyfriend Connor & another of my housemates, the gorgeous Jayne Higgins are shooting it too.  Incest is best as they say.

So tonight, eyebrows need done, nails cleaned (I am like a five year old, always dirt under my nails), a lot of areas need shaved (sorry about that last night, Connor!) & my whole body needs exfoliated and washed. Sometimes I hate being a girl.

It's really great to be involved with Belfast Fashion week in any way possible. I've gone from attending it to West Coast Cooler Promo girl to walking in it to the face of Spring/Summer 2012. So tune in tomorrow where I will be blogging directly from behind the scenes with all the craic & goss.

As yesterday was a review blog (skin is getting better & better, fingers crossed! Thank you Medi Comestic!), just a quick update on my going on at the weekend. My lovely Furby aka Ciara, my housemate had a big birthday bash at her house in Newcastle! Aw I hate dressing for house parties! Here's what I wore.

 

Zara Neon Blazer 

H&M grey Vest 

Topshop Black Skater skirt 

Topshop Black & Gold neck- similar here 

Ok so I probably over dressed. But better to over dress than under dress. I was green with envy, not only by ciaras gorgeous legs all night which turned into me just taking pictures of them all night but also of her gorgeous skirt that her boyfriend had got her for her birthday! 

It was £175 down to £50 in All Saints Victoria Square at the minute.  And according to Ciara, there are loads of sizes in the sale and I should def go buy one.....yeah thanks ciara.  Not shopping for a year, remember?!?!?!?! So yeah, still haven't bought anything, still haven't saved any money and not feeling enlightened at all. Please some one remind me why I am doing this again???