2011

I turned 21, I was dumped, I was diagnosed with Coeliacs Disease, my car was broken into, I went overseas for the first time, I spent 2 weeks in Singapore, I started a Masters in Laboratory Medicine, I hated my new uni, I didn’t make a single friend at my new uni, I was heart broken, I was in lust and for the first part of it I was in love, I got part-time work, I had a stalker, I was no longer friends with my best friend and I followed through with the new years resolution that I had made for that year.

DIY: Tassel Earrings

Tassel earrings are pretty big right now, even Gwen Paltrow has been seen wearing them (and if you’ve read GOOP you know that woman has no clue what’s going on). So I thought I’d do a tutorial on how to make your own set.

Cost: ~$1.50-5 depending on materials selected

Time: 15-20 minutes

Materials:

-         Scissors

-         Earring hooks. These pictured are for non-pierced ears (as I don’t have mine done), they cost around 70c a pair and are harder to find than normal ones. Good craft stores or beading stores will have them and costume stores such as Diva stock them but you have to ask (they won’t have them on show). Hooks for pierced ears can be found at all craft stores and cost around 30c a pair.

-         Cotton in one or two colours. Metalic cotton can also be used, it’s usually about double the price of normal cotton and can be brought from craft and fabric stores.

Step one:

Wrap the cotton around a soda can until there is a thickness of the cotton about half of the desired thickness that your tassel will be. Some people use their hand to do this, I find wrapping around a can results in fewer tangles and even length cotton pieces after cutting the loop of cotton.

Step two:

Pull the cotton off the can, being careful to retain the shape. Tie a piece of matching cotton around the width of the loop; this will be the top of the tassel.

Step three:

Fold the loop in half where the cotton was tied in the previous step then tie a piece of the other coloured cotton around both sides of the loop as shown. Wrap this piece of cotton around until a band is formed then tie this off.

Step Four:

Cut the opposite end of the loop and give the tassel a quick brush with a comb or brush to detangle the treads.

Step Five:

Attach the earring finding to the tassel using the overhangings from step two. Then cut all extra treads and even up the bottom of the tassel.

Step Six:

Wear and be fabulous!

The Little Black Dress

It’s Christmas time again and we all are starring at our closets with no idea what to wear to all these Christmas parties. With all your money spent on presents and cocktails the best thing to do is accessorize the hell out of your staple items that you own so it looks like you’ve got a new outfit to every event.

I’m one of those people that love to wear black so I have at least 3 little back dresses in my closet and I try to mix things up so I don’t always look like I’m wearing the same thing to every event. I figured I’d crack open Polyvore and give you an idea of some of the ways you can ‘dress up’ a little black dress!

 For the purpose of this post I picked just a standard one off Polyvore.com, whatever you have already in your closet is a perfect substitute for this plain LBD.

Madina Sleeveless Skater Dress ($404.25AU)

This look is great for night event, or for anyone that loves to be the life of the party. Pair this look with some metalic eyeshadow, nude stockings to hide any imperfections on the legs and a black clutch with silver trimmings.

Topshop Swagger Block heel Platforms (£62)

Tasha crystal stretch bracelet ($50.51AU each)

If your style edges on the gothic or you just want to mix things up for the night, your LBD is perfect. Add some dramatic eyeshadow, dark stockings or fishnets and a chain-strapped bag to complete this look.

MAC lipstick in Dubonnet ($14.50US)

Warrior Eternal Blood Vial Test Tube Necklace ($16.95US)

Runway Wedge Boot ($771US)

Topshop Square Pyramid Ring (£10)

Adding gold to your LBD gives it a retro feel, while the sparkle heels of this look make it perfect for a night out. Keeping your makeup natural and jewellery to the minimum for this look keeps it from being too over the top.

Topshop Skinny Eyelet Belt (£28)

Limited Edition Armour Fan StudEarrings ($27.27US)

Lisas Satin Studded Heel Evening Pumps ($34.90US)

Melina SG Clutch ($28US)

My favorite thing about wearing a black dress is that it makes a perfect platform for wearing crazy colours and statement pieces. I would team this up with some black stockings in the winter or nude in the summer to keep my legs looking perfect and lots of black eyeliner.

Dinosaur Designs Feather Fan Chocker ($346AU)

Topshop Sultry High Platform Courts (£65)

Glint Pleated Frame Clutch ($71.56AU)

And there you have it, 4 ways you can dress up your LBD to take it from boring to fabulous!

Myers have the BEST shoe sales!

Today I bought another $20 pair of Wayne Cooper heeled boots from Myers. The RRP of these were $249! Wearing them out this Sunday, so excited!

Two-toned Lipstick!

Usually I’m very conservative with my fashion choices as I don’t really have the money to spend on single-season trends, but the new makeup trend to hit the runways (as seen at the Vivienne Westwood and Emanuel Ungaro’s latest shows) is two-toned lipstick and personally I love it!

Finally a trend where I already own everything I need to pull it off! Plus if I'm wearing my glasses my makeup won't look boring due to my frames hiding my eyes.

I played around and gave it a shot:

Top lip: Topshop Lipstick in Pillow Talk (Smoke and Mirrors collection)
Bottom lip: Laura Mercier in Romance (discontinued line)

Top lip: Savvy by DB in Mulberry (only available at Priceline stores)

Bottom lip: Topshop Lipstick in Pillow Talk (as I don't own any other light lipsticks lol)

Do:

• Have fun and experiment with this look!
• Use very pigmented, creamy colours that are unlikely to smudge.
• Use lipstain under any darker colours to make the colour last and stand out.
• Exfoliate dry lips before using any colour, I use Lip Scuff by The Body Shop. The colour tends to bleed into the cracks and soak into dry skin if you skip this step.

Don't:

• Use shiny or glossy colours, it makes the two-tone effect less obvious.
• Rub your lips together or you'll loose the effect.
• Wear over the top eye makeup with this look (none works best) and use minimal blush

Topshop Melbourne

Yesterday was the opening day of the first Australian Topshop in Melbourne. Today I visited the store in the hope that it was better than those that I saw in Singapore. The ones in Singapore were either much smaller or much larger than the Melbourne one and carried many of the same lines at the same price (taking the exchange rates into account).

The disappointing aspects of the store:

• The Topman section was very small when compared to all of those in Singapore, for me this isn't a problem but I can see many men visiting being underwhelmed by the hype as a result.
• There was no maternity section that I could see, again this isn't a problem for me, but why should the mum's to be miss out on this range?
• The Shoes! There was a big range, don't get me wrong but all the over-the-top styles and colours that were available in Singapore and online were not there, there was a huge selection of flats and boots (considering Australia is currently in Summer) but I didn't see all the stripper-heels that I loved in the Singapore stores.
• Like all other women's clothing stores there were huge lines for the change rooms.

Reasons to brave Chapel st. to visit the store:

• I found out from one of the makeup staff that ALL of the Topshop brand makeup is made from the people that make the MAC makeup. This means pigmented eyeshadows, long lasting everything and creamy, dreamy lipstick.
• All year round 10% discount to student card holders.
• No line for the checkouts!
• Melbourne-exclusive designs in the store that you can't get online or in other countries (the floral dress exclusive to Melbourne is TO DIE FOR!)
• A very good range from the UK topshop on offer, and when taking to account the exchange rate, not too much more expensive than the UK stores.
• The staff are wonderful. Seriously you guys, they are. The women helping at the makeup area was so friendly and helpful I wanted to give her a cookie and a pay-raise.

I didn't buy any clothes, for my current financial state I couldn't afford the dress that I liked, but not to worry, I'll be back next year with my birthday money :P
I bought some makeup though because the quality is so amazing and it is so insanely cheap for how good it is (and how it doesn't aggravate my contact dermatitis) I bought more than I planned to.

Lipstick in Moccasin. This isn't as dark as it looks on the lips, it leaves a light bronzed colour on the lips and looks amazing ($15AU).
Eyeshadow Quad in Smouldering. The dark purple in this quad needs to be seen in person to be believed, it has the most beautiful dark red shimmer to it I couldn't convince myself not to buy it ($19AU).
Single eyeshadow in Dirty Martini. This may look brown in the image, but it's a dark green/khaki colour that I was wanting in Singapore. The name alone was enough to draw me in, not to mention how amazing this will look with some gold eyeshadow mixed with it ($12AU).
Eyeliner brush and Eyeliner ink. I couldn't find an image of the eyeliner ink pot itself but according to the sales assistant it doesn't smudge and will stay on all day and all night (Brush: $8AU, Eyeliner ink: $15AU).

I think I'll be getting much of my makeup there in future, at the moment I swear by Lancome, but it's very pricy, if these items are up to the MAC standard I'll never have to pay $50 for an eyeshadow pot again!

How to: Leather care for Shoes

I’m a bit of a whore for leather, most of my shoes are leather and my accessories are mostly leather too. I know that with love and care these items are worth every cent as they’ll last a lifetime provided that they get regular maintenance. I realize that many people don’t even polish their shoes (which shocks me to be honest ‘cause I’ve always been told that the best judge of a person’s character is the state of their shoes) so I thought I’d give a basic run down of leather care for the shoes that are the leather items that probably get the most abuse.

Suede

What?

The most important thing when you get suede shoes is to seal them from water. I use Diana Ferrari’s “Water and Stain Protector” (available at Diana Ferrari stores and factory outlets), however all stores that sell leather shoes will stock a similar product, three to four sprays over the shoe with an hour between coats is usually more than enough. Make sure that you redo this every so often to keep up the protective layer.

Why?

Suede shoes are easily stained and water darkens the leather permanently. They need to be sealed incase there is a spill or it rains when you are wearing them.

Normal Leather

What?

Normal leather shoes are fine to wear straight away, unlike their suede counterparts, however they do need regular upkeep to keep the leather in top condition.

1. Leather treatments can be bought from all places that sell leather goods; I use Tana’s “Zanolin Quality Conditioner and Cleaner”. To use this, squeeze a small amount onto a soft cloth and rub it over the leather.
2. Leather polish is available at some leather retailers and most supermarkets, I use Kiwi’s “Kids Scuff self shining polish” in black (available at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets). Make sure you’re only using the black on black leather and the brown on brown leather, etc. If you’re using a self-shining polish like I do, just rub the applicator over the leather, for those that are not, rub the polish onto the leather using a soft cloth, then with another clean soft cloth buff the leather for shine.

Why?

Over time leather can dry out, using the leather condition it moisturizes the leather while water proofing it, so that it isn’t able to dry and have the surface crack. Polishing is important. Polishing leather is especially important with items that take a lot of wear, such as shoes and handbags, it evens the surface of the leather, restores water resistance where the leather is scratched and covers and discoloration due to wear.

Patent Leather

What and why?

These shoes are already waterproof due to the finish of the leather, a regular polish will keep the shoes shiny and in top condition.

So there you go, hopefully that was helpful!

Shopping conquest.

Today I was at the local shopping plaza getting contact lenses ('cause I've got glasses if I haven't mentioned that already) and I went to Myers while I was there. They had a table hidden away of $20 shoes, all leather, all designer, all stunning shoes.

I picked up these:

They are Wayne by Wayne Cooper in "Misty", RRP is $239.95 and yes, I got them for $20!

A.D.D.; the Worst Disease to Have if you Want to be Taken Seriously

As a baby I hardly slept and I cried substantially more than babies are meant to, but as I was my parent’s first child, they didn't know any different. They knew having child was tiring and hard work, but it wasn't until my brother was born that they realised something wasn't quite right with me, that the sleeplessness, the quirks and the over the top tantrums weren't normal behavior; that was when I was diagnosed with the anxiety disorder, but that was only half of the picture. When I was 6 years old I was diagnosed with A.D.D.

When I got to primary school even though I was considered 'gifted' (a term they use for children with an IQ well and above average) and was found to have the intelligence of an average 20 year old I was unable to pay attention. It wasn't because I was bored like most gifted children find themselves; it was because I was so easily distracted that I couldn't listen long enough to learn along with the other children. By the time I was in grade 6 my reading level and spelling ability was that of a child in grade 3 and I was unable to do any division or multiplication. Even with supportive parents and years of psychiatrist’s appointments I fell through the cracks.

I never really had any friends, I had people that would hang around me, but none that cared about me, or really knew me beyond the tough front that I put on. I couldn’t read other people and when they would try and have a conversation with me I would often space out mid sentence. I became very good at filling in the gaps and reconstructing their sentences with the fragments that my mind blanked out on. I guess the best way to describe it is hearing someone talk, but not understanding that they are forming words only that they are making noises.

I spent all of highschool scraping a pass, or an average grade. I never read any of the prescribed books, did any homework or could listen to the teacher explain a concept which the rest of the year’s work would build on. In V.C.E I went into my exams having never opened a book, and having skipped most classes. I didn’t care, because I know that had I tried and did the work I still would have failed to learn anything. I was just going to wing it and hope for the best because after 6 years guessing the answers they hadn’t made me repeat a year yet.

I got an ENTER score for my V.C.E of 70.61/99.99.

I considered myself the superman of pulling good grades out of my arse.

My first year of uni, I still struggled with reading and couldn't do basic math without the aid of a calculator (some of the more complex things I could manage with the calculator). I was doing a Bachelor of Science in one of the universities in my city that were known for having poor quality students and I only choose to go because I felt like it was what my parents wanted. I didn’t expect good grades, as I knew that all I needed was a pass to get my degree

In the third and final year of my degree I realised what I wanted to do with my life; I wanted to be a microbiologist. That was when it turned around for me, by that stage I knew how I learnt after so many many years of trial and error, of failing and of pretending that it wasn’t because I couldn’t learn like the other kids, it was just because the tests when I was young were wrong and I was a stupid child.

As I was at that time only just getting a credit average by that stage I was able to apply for post-graduate study after finishing my degree.

I'm now in the first year of my Masters in Laboratory Medicine and today I decided I want to do a phD. I want to be the best I can be, I want to achieve that potential that I had when I was a small child, the one that was gifted, the one without A.D.D. I want to achieve something great and I want to show other children, other teenagers, other parents that it is going to be so much hard work and they are going to spend a lot of time questioning themselves and failing but there is hope if their willing to persevere.

I’ve learnt over the years how to trick my brain into letting me study for long periods, sometimes this means sleepless nights so I can get an assignment done because I just can’t sit long enough to do it during the day, it also means that I don’t force myself to lectures, I let myself listen to the recordings when I feel that I’m going to be able to absorb the most information. I’m not strict with myself when it comes to my study, because it’s then that I do poor quality work or I become stressed so that I have those stereotypical violent outbursts that people think of when they hear A.D.D.

I still struggle to read, something that I never expect I’ll be good at. I still cannot to basic math, even my 7 year old cousin is better than I am these days. I am unable to sit through an entire movie and I still struggle to hold a conversation. I know how much this disease has effected my life, I know how much I’ve had to struggle with my education and I know that if I wasn’t such an intelligent child I would never have gotten as far as I have.

This is why I get upset when people throw around the term ‘A.D.D’, this is why I loose all respect for them. They are making my struggle worthless, making it a joke. If it weren't for my A.D.D. I could have been brilliant, one of those kids that aces every test and never seems to really make any effort. Instead I'm me; too old for my years, no close friends and a future that I'm really going to have to fight for.