Suit up!

"I couldn't afford a trip to Europe after college so I went backpacking through Ikea to find myself." Dave Grohl

 

Abercrombie & Fitch Shirt 

Asos Grey Jumper 

Navy high waisted Leggings Zara 

I suited up this morning, well as much as I can without feeling like I'm fifty year old bank clerk.  Who am I trying to impress you ask? Can't tell you just yet but I have a meeting today.  Do people even wear suits to work any more?  It seems that now the work place attire has gone very smart/casual.  I have two suits that I bought from Next when I considered doing a work placement during University, these of course have never seen the light of day.

Zara Trench Coat

Balenciaga Handbag

Oh yes, I mean business. Dressed to impress but sadly when I try to be professional, it usually ends badly.  For example, when I went for my placement interview with Diageo, I wore a suit and kitten heels (I think I still have them) but I fell head first going up the stairs and I pushed the interviewer down with me.  I got the placement though but I turned it down! So yes, cross your fingers for me.

PS. Happy Pancake Tuesday everyone!!! If you are about Belfast today, call up to the Wellington Park Hotel today (beside the bot and Eg). My bff Jenny Curran is selling pancakes with all proceeds going to Action Cancer! I will be there the minute I finish work at 5pm!!! She closes at 6pm so make sure you are there before then!

 

Gifts

"I don't want expensive gifts; I don't want to be bought. I have everything I want. I just want someone to be there for me, to make me feel safe and secure." Princess Diana

  

Red Jumper Zara- similar here

Light Denim Shirt Primark - similar here

Topshop Leigh Skinny Jeans

I survived! Friday night was messy but I awoke on Saturday morning with only puffy stuck together eyes and a headache, saved by Dragon again!! (Dragon Rendezvous, a lovely Chinese restaurant in Belfast where drunkards like myself can go enjoy a proper sit down meal at half 2 in the morning.  Have you ever tried to use a knife & fork when you are drunk???)  Keeping with the Spring 2013 key trends, I went for a monochrome look.

White Blazer Zara

Black Leather Dress Zara

As you can clearly see from the top photo, my bedroom mirrors definitely need a good clean!! This dress was actually one of many dresses that is in my wardrobe with the tags on it! I was so excited to wear it as well, as I had got it for Christmas from my darling mother.  However, I didn't even really get to show it off as I didn't take my blazer off all night.  Oh well, I'm sure it will get another outing this year!

This weekend was a big weekend for me, this weekend I got my first clothing items of 2013. Ok, I am going to refer you back to one of my 1st posts before anyone starts arguing with me THE RULES I refer you to rule number 4 and 5, no hinting or slipping people money to buy me clothes but gifting is ok.  This weekend I got my first gifts, both were a complete surprise and unnecessary! But I accepted them with grace (I did not sleep with them in bed with me last night, hugging them for dear life...)

The first was from my dearest & nearest Mr Cocopops aka Connor.  I came back from work on Friday to this sitting on my bed

My first thought was Omg is someone watching me?!? I promise it wasn't me!!! I don't know where this came, please believe me!! Have I been shopping in my sleep??  But no, a cute note was attached & a t-shirt I had pined after was in the bag. (You don't need to know the soppiness this early on a Monday) Completely overwhelmed, it went straight on me & didn't come off all weekend.  Now at the weekends I usually take a break from blogging so it never even crossed my mind to take a photo of me wearing it.  But here it is on the All Saints website. All Saints grey Tshirt Why out of not buying anything for 6 weeks and potentially for the next 46 weeks would I crave a grey t-shirt so much that it penetrated my boyfriend's mind and clicked with him that it might be nice to get this for me?? a) he is an absolute sweetheart *sigh* b) from not buying things and looking up new ways to piece my wardrobe together, you learn the basics that you need to do this.  I did not have a grey tshirt, I now do and can now do 50 million new outfits with this 1 piece of clothing. (ok, maybe not 50 million but I've so many ideas that I may have to write them down so I don't forget)

The second item of clothing I received was a sympathy gift.  On Saturday I went up home as my aunt was visiting my mum and celebrating her 50th birthday!  Sorry I just announced your age on my blog Auntie Lisa!!! I arrived on sunday to my mum's house to be greeted by my mum in her outfit from saturday night, classy mum, classy.  She still looked great though! My aunt had purchased a red dress from Asos, that she wasn't sure about so I got it instead!!!  She said she couldn't be bothered to send it back but I think she just felt sorry for me as I stared at it longingly, the Asos tag hypnotising me, calling my name.  Now it's a size 8, and as I have the body of 14 year old boy, it could potentially not even fit but here it is.

 

Asos Midi Red dress

So can I just state that I still haven't bought any clothes or accessoires for myself in the year 2013. I promise, turn around, touch the ground, no comment about it.....

The fear

"Alcohol is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Benjamin Franklin

 

White Blouse Sandwich 

Skinny combats trousers Zara 

Fur lace up ankle boots Zara, similar here 

It is lunch time on a Friday afternoon and I have the FEAR.  It is my best friend's birthday tonight, the gorgeous Miss Zoe J Watson (you may know her as the grumpy face, f**k me boot wearing PR manager of Rain Nightclub but to me, she's the Ron Weasley to my Harry Potter).  Oh I am scared, you ever get that feeling where you know it is going to be a good night but there is going to be a lot of drinking as well. I have nothing planned tomorrow on purpose.  Now I will be the first one to admit, I am a light weight.  I am not the biggest drinker,  never have been and probably never will be.  I don't even think I have been properly tipsy this year yet, I have had a few West Coast Cooler but none of the hard liquor of Apple Sours yet.

Here, we are! Zoe, Miss Jenny Curran and me! The best friends anyone could ask for. We bonded during Miss Northern Ireland 2009 were we drew penises on Jenny's chicken fillets so it would transfer on to her skin during bikini rehearsal. Those were the days! We lived together for 2 years and have now sadly went our separate ways. I can't remember the last time we had drinks together! It's going to be a mad one!

Speaking of mad, Jenny Curran is mad. That's the only way to describe her. I love her to pieces but she is mad. She gives her everything to anything she is involved with. Queen Journo for the Sunday World, she sets herself challenges and writes about them. I've seen her become a female bodybuilder in 6 months, bake for the whole of Belfast and wing walk. Zoe & I think she should call her 1st child Charity as it would be very fitting.

Less than 6 months ago, Action Cancer set Jenny the challenge of turning £1000 into £7000 anyway that she wanted. She opened "Jenny's Baps" a quirky cafe on the Lisburn Road for a week. She baked everything herself, we all pulled shifts in the cafe and thanks to the generous donations of customers and people who donated milk, fridges, furniture; Jenny made an amazing amount of money but she's not quite there yet.

Shove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras or simply Pancake Tuesday is coming this Tuesday the 12th of February. And guess what, her baps are turning to pancakes.  Jenny will be opening her legs, sorry I mean doors to people and baking pancakes for all!! Everyone knows the Wellie Park Hotel beside the Bot and Eg on the Malone Road. Many of us, including me has visited the chippy just outside it late on a Wednesday night but Jenny is taking over this and selling Pancakes for all who passes this coming Tuesday! Get down and get a Pancake, open all day!!! I'm a plain & simple kinda girl so I have already ordered sugar and lemon one.

I might get Jenny to practice on me & zoe tomorrow morning and in turn help cure the hungover that I know I will have.  Question now is, what the hell am I going to wear?  I'm thinking a possible leather dress from zara that my mum got me for Christmas that still has the tags on it! You see, this not buying clothes is easy!!! Happy weekend everyone.

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???

Skin Deep

"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  That or, a kick ass red lipstick" Gwyneth Paltrow

 Asos Navy Skater dress

One day a little girl wrote a blog post about her skin, she sounded moany & whiny but the skin gods took pity on her.  They heard her cries of frustration & answered her.  They directed her to a salon on the Bloomfield Avenue called Medi Cosmetic & all was right in the world again.

If you are a loyal follower of my blog or just a dipper (dipping in & out cause you are nosey), you might have read my blog post about my skin. If not, I have basically hit puberty at the age of 24.  No I haven't finally grown boobs or suddenly become mature, I have developed spots.  My skin was clear the whole way through my teens & then on my 24th birthday, everything went down hill.  It has knocked my confidence to be honest and nothing I am doing or using is helping.  No I'm not stressed, no I haven't change my Pill, no I haven't changed my make up remover are all the answers to the questions you are thinking.  In the great scheme of things, spots aren't that big a deal.  I am now at that stage that I'm just like "meh, there's another one.  Aw well, I haven't lost a leg or I'm not dying, it's just spots." POSITIVE THINKING

So I almost cried when Nikki Marks from Medi Cosmetic contacted me. She had read my blog & wanted to offer me a facial at the Medi Cosmetic salon to help my skin.  Thank you skin god Nikki, thank you.


Homework, not something I am used to anymore but I love being organised so this was just an excuse to research something & take notes. Medi Cosmetic, a salon which offers a range of skincare & body treatments.  Their website advertises everything from cosmetic surgery to non surgical laser to beauty & spa treatments.  No botox or boob job for me, just a simple facial. Well that's what I thought till I started to read about it.  I will be the first one to admit, I'm not girly at all. Yup, I take my make up off, wash my face, brush my teeth but that is the height of my pamper sessions.  I assumed that I was just going to get a splash of water on my face, a good scrubbing, mask & moisture & that was me. Oh no.

I was greeted at the salon by Melanie & 1st thing I noticed was of course her skin. Wow. I was guided to a lovely warm treatment room, soft music playing, wrapped in a warm towel, tucked into the treatment bed and told to relax. I don't know what Melanie was saying as I was still staring at her skin. Flawless.  We then had a chat about my skin. I explained about the change in my skin in the last 6 months and Melanie helped explain what was happening & how spots develop.  She gave me some tips which I greatly appreciated. Did you know that standard exfoilator actually annoy skin & encourage breakouts!?! She recommended a fruit acid exfoilator. This basically takes away the dead skin cells on the top layer of skin where bacteria breeds.  She also recommended a Vitamin A moisturiser as this helps skin to recover faster & promote cell growth which keeps the skin always regenerating rather than bacteria building up & clogging up your pores & skin. I wanted to be taking notes but she had me all tucked me with a fluffy blanket so I just nodded & stared at her skin.

 Treatment Room

The facial I had was an Omnilux light facial.  Developed to help damaged skin rejuvenate & repair, a light is shone over your face for 45mins penetrating the deeper layers of your skin.  Reading up on the website about the facial I was a bit nervous to be honest.  It stated that it was great for ageing skin due to the rejuvenation process...now I'm only 24 but I am willing to try anything at this point to get my skin back on track.  Melanie reassured me that it assists in everything from acne, helps to moisturise your skin to increasing collagen produced in your skin.  Australians apparently love it, why they need more sunlight I have no clue.

 Ominlux Light Facial

So the facial started like any normal facial, she cleansed, exfoliated, moisturised then she put a suncream on my face.  Now the light used in this facial doesn't have any damaging rays. No UVA, UVB or IPL.  (If you have no idea what these letters mean, they simply stand for the bad rays of light that cause cancer & that are used in sunbeds)  This was one of my worries as I had never done a sunbed nor do I want to start so that was my first question to Melanie.  Poor Melanie was assaulted due to all my questions. But she was great and answered all of them & more.

Vitage Products used in the facial

Goggles on, the light was positioned over my face and it was like I was on a beach in Thailand.  Sun on my face, Melanie massaging my hands & arms, waves in the background, all that was missing was a Strawberry daiquiri in my other hand.  Now the light is uncomfortable for the first few minutes as it is quite bright but your eyes do adjust.  My dog used to sneak upstairs to my bedroom during the day when everyone had left the house as my room always got the afternoon sun.  I felt like him, stretched out, enjoying the warmth as much as possible. For 30 minutes, I sunk deeper & deeper in my little fantasy of Thailand, massages & my boyfriend in speedos.  Too soon it was over.  But oh no, wait... My face was cleansed again, a vitamin C antioxidant mask was put on for 10mins then cleansed again & moisturised.

The facial itself was quite expensive at £65 but you really get your money's worth.  I have had facials before that are meant to last an hour but the time you change, put on your gown & lie on the table counts as 10mins, the facial last 40mins then you have to re-dress and that counts as 10mins too.  I was in Medi Cosmetic for 1hr 10mins, counting the chat Melanie & I had at the start. I have also really noticed a difference.  Call me brave, call me crazy but here is a photo of me no make up on. Left is before the facial, right is after the facial.  Now I know what people are like so both photos were taken at the same time a day apart and at the same position/spot in my flat so light exposure was the same.

You can clearly see my spots but the photo on the left my skin looks dull and I have a redness across my nose & cheeks.  The photo on the right, my skin looks brighter, healthier and the redness of my spots, across my nose and my cheeks has reduced. I look glowing. I really recommend this facial if your skin needs a kick start like mine did and Melanie at Medi Cosmetic was fantastic.  I will def be back in my quest to conquer late on-set puberty.

For more info or to book an appointment at Medi Cosmetic, call 028 9086 1186 or check the website, http://www.medi-cosmetic.com/ for a list of all the treatments they do.

Medi Cosmetic Salon on Bloomfield Avenue

Standard Friday Night

"The camera photographs what is there" Jack Nicholson

H&M black knit jumper

Tan Leather Skirt - similar here

Topshop necklace

So what did everyone do on their Friday evening? Normal day in my life, I had a half naked photoshoot with my boyfriend after work. Standard...not! Think more Calvin Klein-esqe rather than full blown porno! So why were we posing & making cringe worth yet fab images for? To help out out Northern Ireland's dream team of course!

First up, Mr Paddy McGurgan, the European Make up artist Champion 2012 has opened a Make Up Pro store on Belfast's Royal Avenue. He's trained with Mac, Stila and worked with stars from Mischa Barton, Yasmin Le Bon and me of course! HA! The new store close to the Belfast Telegraph offices provides professional make up applied by professional make up artists who have all been trained by Paddy. Trust me, I've had my make up done by Paddy and many of his angels & every single time I have loved it. From being bodied painted, commercial make-up, fashion make-up, wedding style make up, you name it, Paddy & his Angels are geniuses with a make up brush.

Here are a couple of examples, just to show you the high standard we are talking about:

Not only can you make appointments to be pampered but Paddy is selling make up and skincare brands that haven't been available in Northern Ireland before. Make-up studio, T. Le Clerc, Balance Me and embryolisse are to name a few. My star buy is this little beauty. Does everyone remember this photo of Kim K appearing on her twitter feed?

She looks like she is William Wallace about to go to war! But, actually, she is wearing a yellow primer & Paddy sells the actual one she uses!! It combats redness, brightens the skin and creates an even skintone for your make up to go on. I'm not joking, he used the powder under my eyes & my dark circles were gone! I think all the money I might save this year from not shopping will be spent in this shop!!

Here is the little beauty! It is by T.le Clerc & available in a powder or liquid form depending on your skin type and what you want to use it for.

To take these images all you have to do is climb the stairs to the studio above Paddy's shop & into the lair of the legendary photographer Khara Pringle. If you are a model in Northern Ireland & you get to shot with Khara, you know you have made it. Quirky & striking herself, you can instantly tell when an image has been shot by Khara. They are all stunning & striking! She can make any one look good. Khara makes you feel instantly relaxed & it always turn into a laugh. Honestly, I was nervous about this shot. Of course, I love being in front of the camera but posing all lovey dovey with you boyfriend can be harder than it looks! I felt awkward & angsty & as usual Connor was as cool as a cucumber! But the minute we were in front the camera, Khara made it easy & relaxed. We got some amazing shoots! Can't wait to see them in the Daily Mirror highligthening Khara & Paddy's amazing teamwork! Until then, here are some of my favourite shots Khara has done with me & other models in Northern Ireland.

Last but def not least is the gorgeous Rebecca McKinney, Personal stylist for Victoria Square. Victoria square is main shopping centre in Belfast. It has over 50 shops ranging from House of Fraser, Topshop, h&m, Guess, Hollister, Ted Baker and Cruise to name but a few. Imagine getting to shop, style photo shoots and dress clients in her gorgeous Personal styling booth for a job! She's a lucky girl but she knows her stuff!! Rebecca kept Connor's & my clothes to a casual, chic minimal. Nothing to distracting but the clothes really helped enhance the natural, everyday feel they wanted to get from these images. In one of the photos, I got to wear this outfit from Guess

Now if I was buying clothes this year, I would make a beeline for these nude skinnies! They were an amazing fit and so comfy for a skinny! But sigh, I'm not! Rebecca thinks I'm crazy for this challenge, understandable so. Especially when for £30, I could have a Personal Styling Package with Rebecca in her gorgeous booth & get discounts across Victoria Square to boot!

Well that's the dream team. It is always a joy to work with any of these professionals but together, it was a lot of fun. Don't laugh but here's a wee sneak peak of the images. Standard Friday night.....

For more information on Paddy visit www.paddymcgurganartist.com or call 028 9043 4007

For more information on Khara visit www.kharapringlephotographic.com or call 07979218456 or 028 9182 6000

For info on Rebecca & The Personal Stylist suite, please call 028 9032 2277 / 07850208442 or email ps@victoriasquare.com