21st April 2013

Hat: Ebay

Top: Primark

Skirt: River Island

I love this top! I'm a big fan of Peter Pan collars, and of bows, so this ticks a lot of boxes for me! I am still in love with the warmer weather. Let's hope it hangs around for a little longer! 

Review: John Frieda Luxurious Volume Shampoo, Conditioner and Blow Dry Lotion

I am a big advocate of John Frieda. The Frizz Ease range is basically my life. There was a time when I owned every product in the curly range. Yep. So when I was contacted to review the latest John Frieda Luxurious Volume range, I was pretty excited.

I'm sure you've all seen the adverts announcing that you can finally love your fine hair, complete with gorgeous Scarlett Johansson-style curly bob. The products promise "touchably full" hair, which sounds pretty good to me. I was once told by a hairdresser that I have a lot of fine hair. The hairs fly away, which gives my hair its signature frizzy bulk. Not exactly the look I go for. Cue photo of fluffy hair:

The shampoo immediately gave me a surprise because it was transparent. I'm not sure why this pleased me so much but it did. I'm such a child! It has a lovely fruity scent- A mix of apple and watermelon. As I applied it, I was struck by how well it lathers. A little really does go a long way with this shampoo. It rinsed out really well, and left my hair feeling particularly clean.

I followed up with the conditioner, which has a rich, creamy consistency. It feels especially smooth and moisturising as I applied it. When rinsing out, I was aware of how soft and smooth my hair felt. 

I was also sent a sample of the Blow Dry Lotion. I have to admit, I don't actually own a hairdryer, since I've found they tend to exacerbate frizz, but I sprayed a little just to give you an indication of the initial application. It has a pretty strong chemical smell, but it has a fine spray and applies evenly across the hair. 

As my hair was drying, I noticed that it was a lot less frizzy than usual. Always a good start! As you can see from the before photo below, the frizzy bulk has disappeared and has been replaced with bouncy curls. I'm pretty impressed! 

52 Shoes XIV

I absolutely lived in these mint Primark ballerinas last summer. In fact, I loved them so much that when the sole fell off one of them, I bought a brand new pair and kept the odd one just in case the other breaks. This week, finally, the weather has been nice enough to crack them out again. Yippee! 

National Poetry Month

I recently found out that April is National Poetry Month in America. Ok, I know I'm not American, but I love poetry so I'll take any excuse! 

When I was 6 or 7, I wrote an entire poetry book, complete with overly-threatening blurb ("If you don't like this book, the author will find you") and classics such as "Tap your hand, tap your feet, tap the meet, tap run the bath!". Yeah. What can I say? I was a poetic prodigy!

When I got to secondary school, I developed a love of poetry and, in college we studied Philip Larkin, who I mentioned here. These days, teaching poetry is one of my favourite things to do. 

So, in honour of National Poetry Month, here are some of my favourite poems.

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This gives me chills every time I watch it. 

What's your favourite poem? 

20th April 2013

 Scrunchie: New Look

Cardigan: Primark

Dress: Primark
Sunglasses (Below): Vogue

Shoes (Below): Primark

Ok guys, can we just rejoice at the weather right now? It is beautiful! It was such a lovely day that we decided to pop down to the park around the corner. 

I lowered my bun a little for comfort. Behold, my natural hair:

There's a reason why I always wear it up! 

 I love the reflection in Rich's glasses.

Finally, I leave you with this beautiful portrait of me:

FF XXXV

I've just discovered super cute blogger Jodi Pops. Seriously, look how adorable she is! 

This is pretty much my life! 

Let's take a moment to appreciate this jumping pug. 

Rebuilding the world with Lego. 

Such a beautiful graphic and, as Cristin points out, especially pertinent in the world right now. 

I can't even tell you how much these posters of terrible client comments made me laugh. 

Kaelah's blog redesign for Uniqueness of Being is absolutely gorgeous! 

Book review: The Virgin Suicides

The Virgin Suicides- Jeffrey Eugenides

When I read the blurb of this book, it seemed right up my street. A macabre subject matter, an almost poetic writing style, a tale of loss and desolation. Yes, please! 

The Virgin Suicides tells the story of five teenage sisters who all kill themselves in the space of a year. The boys in the locality, who are infatuated with the beautiful and mysterious girls, tell the story of the year of the suicides, and the destruction that they bring to the neighbourhood.

With influences of Romeo & Juliet, the book opens with a prologue that reveals the ending of the tale, leaving the reader with constant foreshadowing throughout the whole story.

What's interesting about this book is the way that the story is told from the perspective of one of the boys on the estate: Someone who was somewhat removed from the events that unfolded and instead relies on hearsay passed down from other residents on the street. This leaves the reader in the situation where they never know the true story of the girls and begin piecing together the clues to reach their own conclusions. This also adds to the feeling of the girls' isolation- Nobody knows what happened except for each other, and when they have all gone, there is nobody left to reveal their secrets.