Lock the doors and don't let me out

So this morning I had my alarm set for 8:30 and thought that was a reasonable time to wake up and have a little browse of the internet but no. I woke up this morning at 7:40, my mam was up for work and my brain was to busy talking to me 'Lucie, wake up there's deals out there you can't miss'.

Wear your favourite band T-shirt to work day

So today is the day you get out your old band tour T-shirts and wear them to work.

I wore mine to uni today and although it's not a tour shirt- as some of mine are slightly embarrassing- I wore my Topshop Def Leppard T-shirt. I'm unsure of the original pricing of the shirt as I bought it from Depop.

Psyche winter event

Deadlines are taking over at the moment but I managed to get myself to the Psyche winter event last Thursday at the Linthorpe Road store in Middlesborough. I've been working so hard lately I decided to glam myself up a bit and have a short break. It was fun while it lasted. The event started at 6pm however, I didn't end up arriving till half past due to a major traffic jam on the A19. I'd call that fashionably late right? To make my arrival slightly longer I couldn't find anywhere to park and then my shoe just so happened to break. It's not the first time either.

Me and my good friend Jess headed to the store and were greeted with champagne and prosecco. Unfortunately for me I was driving so I made one glass last the full night. There was also a cocktail bar and canapés on the first floor from The Keys and time to wonder around the shop itself.

A hint of yellow

Yesterday was the funeral of little Jacob Jenkins who sadly passed after choking on a grape in Pizza Hut, Hartlepool. Being a born and bread Hartlepudlian myself it's amazing to see how much our town has come together celebrating this little ones life. Yesterday York Road was filled with members of the public to show their respects to Jacobs family by presenting flowers and letting yellow balloons off. Yellow was Jacobs favourite colour and balloons were also released the night Jacob sadly passed. It's times like these that I'm proud to be a Poolie. We turned the sky yellow for the little man.

I couldn't attend yesterday due to University so I would like to show my respects through what I know best which is fashion. Although everyone doesn't have a huge interest in fashion like others, clothes are something everyone wears every single day and It's something I have a huge passion in.

Yellow isn't such a popular colour when it comes to clothes but I hope this gives you some inspo that'll make you possibly wear the colour more. It's a statement colour when paired with black. Ladies, here's a couple of outfits perfect for this season and on trend for Christmas 15.

R.I.P Jacob Jenkins, gone but never forgotten.

LooseC X

OOTD: Monochrome with a splash

Ripped jeans are one of my most worn pieces of clothing in my wardrobe. I have lots of colours and plenty of styles but I love them most because I rip them myself. To do this I use scissors and a cheese grater, yes you read that correctly. It's so strange being at university and not carrying around a sketchbook, scissors and fabric as it's what I'm so use to but change is never a bad thing and I'm absolutely loving my course. On the subjective of university, here's another outfit that I put together. It's getting that little bit colder so I added a pair of gloves, that are a recent purchase and one of my all time favourite scarfs. Monochrome is definitely a favourite trend of mine but unfortunately I don't own a black or white scarf (any suggestions would be great) so I added a splash of colour.

From top to bottom:

Jumper with split sides- Ebay £3

Oversized detailed cape- H&M £26

Ripped Jeans- Primark £12 (ripped by myself)

Jewellery- Cassio, Pandora, Vivienne Westwood

Gingham scarf- H&M £8

Fur gloves- Asda £6

Peep toe boots- Everything5pound £5

One of the girls on my course said to me today 

'You must have so many clothes I never see you in the same thing'

well... what can I say I like to shop, my bank balance however doesn't always agree. 

What's your favourite monochrome piece in your wardrobe?

Tweet me @looseC_simon

LooseC x

OOTD: Every girl has a wild side

Today's Uni outfit consisted of the wildest pants I own. Culottes are becoming a favourite of mine and these leopard print ones are the latest to add to my collection. I literally felt like I was wearing my Pj's all morning, they're so comfy. I paired them up with my trusty black turtle neck, lace ups and leather jacket. I added a little bit of detail with my gold and black necklace and red lips. A pretty simple outfit but bold enough to turn heads. These culottes are definitely a statement piece, although it is getting slightly too cold to wear them. Boo hoo!

Please excuse the dog bowl

From head to toe:

Turtle neck- Primark £8

Necklace- Matalan £7

Fur collared, Leather jacket- River Island £45 (20% off deal)

Leopard Print Culottes- H&M £5 (sale)

Lace ups- River Island £28

I also visited the library for the first time today. It was pretty hysterical, me and Alysha were there for ages. And after checking out 3 books, turns out I picked the ones that have to be returned within a week. Looks like I'm going to be busy.

So whats your wildest item in your wardrobe? 

What's your favourite book at the moment? 

Tweet me @looseC_simon

LooseC x

OOTN: Grandparents Ruby Wedding Anniversary

Friday night me and my family visited Matteo's for a meal. My grandparents have been married for 40 years so we decided to celebrate at one of our favourite resteraunts. Matteo's is an Italian restaurant based on the sea front in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool. It's only tiny but that's definitely a good thing in my opinion. Every time we go I always eat carbonara but for a change I had a parmo, not very Italian I know. For those who don't know what a parmo is they were apparently founded in Middlesborough, if you also don't know where that is, it's in the North East not worth visiting really. For dessert I had a hot chocolate fudge cake, it was devine.

Sorry for the non-existing Instagram style food pictures, I was extremely hungry. But a photograph that I did manage to take was my outfit of the night. Sorry it's not too clear.

       

     Black turtle neck- Primark £8

Suede look knee length skirt- Primark £12

Green gilet- Matalan £20

Green leather boots- River Island, limited edition £50

Clutch- River Island, previous sale £10

Necklace- Vivienne Westwood £80

Other jewellery Tiffany&Co, Pandora and Cassio.

I'm so into the 70's style right now. Textures are my favourite.

I need help to find the perfect brown top, preferably ribbed but I'm open to anything.

Follow me on Instagram for more style pics and my everyday life

@loose_c

Happy Anniversary G&G, love you!

LooseC x

Beauty Blender Update: Primark vs Real Techniques

After my recent Beauty Blender purchase I realised it was time to step up and spend some more money for a new one as quality is everything and quality is what you get for something with a higher price tag. So my recent blender I bought from Ebay for £1.40 and although it done what it said on the packet it wasn't as successful as I wanted it to be. So whilst on a shopping trip with my new uni friends (we have a three hour gap on a Monday and we shop every time) I spotted a Beauty Blender in Primark. There were a couple of different shapes and sizes so I thought I'd try a different shape blender to see if it made any difference. So this is the blender that I bought and It was either £1.50 or £2, I can't quite remember off the top of my head as I purchased it a while back. 

YSL exhibition @ The Bowes Museum

I've been wanting to go to this exhibition for months but I just never picked a date, so as soon as I heard that I was going with my fashion journo lot during freshers week, well the date was picked for me really. I felt bad because my mam really wanted to go but I made sure I took lots and lots of pics for her and to be honest I'd go again as the tickets aren't that much at all. The exhibition started on 11th July and was opened by Pierre Berge, Yves Saint Laurents life-long partner. The exhibition has gained lots of famous visits along the way from actor Daniel Craig to designer Roland Klein and many more. A lot of people were stunned to find that the 'Style is Eternal' exhibition was to be held at the Bowes Museum in County Durham rather than the V&A in London as it's one of the most popular venue's e.g. Alexander McQueen's Savage Beauty. The Bowes Museum was chosen for their love of French art work as YSL was French himself and also for the light and surroundings of the Museum. It really is such a beautiful place, did you know you can now get married there? It's on my list of venue's just for future reference, just incase.

Beauty Blender Review

Word on the street is that the Beauty Blender is the next best applicator. No more brushes. I first heard about the Beauty Blender through my friend when we were getting ready for a night out, I was really intrigued to find out more about the peculiar shaped sponge so I had a google. The Original Beauty Blender was created by Makeup artist Rea Ann Silver, which can be purchased here for $20 in a pink colour, other variations of the product include the Pure, Pro and Micro.Mini Beauty Blender. The Pure blender is a dye-free sponge for people with sensitive skin, the Pro is black in colour for darker-toned products and self tanners and the Micro.Mini is a smaller version of the Original blender for contouring, highlighting and concealing priced at just $18. Its obviously an American product but there has been lots of knockoff's of this product made, some better than others. As I just wanted to test the product I purchased my Beauty Blender from Ebay for just £1.40, here. It arrived pretty quickly and I used it the next day, I ordered purple but as the product was so cheap I just think the colour options where just what you preferred, they weren't for different purposes. 

Living at home for University: Perks & Preparation

Living at home perks

So as most of you know I will be studying at The University of Sunderland in just under a weeks time, to study Fashion Journalism. I'm super excited to see everyone again that I met at summer school and to finally experience freshers... I'm a year behind okay most people in my year went to uni last year, I just didn't have a clue what I wanted to study. Although I will be studying in Sunderland I am going to be living at home and travelling through. Sunderland is about a 20 minute train journey/30 minute drive so it really isn't that bad at all. I chose not to live in halls as I've already got everything here on my plate, speaking of plates I can't cook so I would probably starve or live on pot noodles and look like a whale, I also don't particularly know how to use a washing machine (even though I used the one at work today, shh don't tell my parents). I know University is good for learning all of that kind of stuff but I'm just not interested in that yet, I don't think I ever will be with cooking, maybe next year, plus your parents are the best people to learn from, right?

Interning with AX Paris ft Manqunian lifestyle

Hi everyone!

I'd say i've had a well deserved break from blogging possibly about 3 weeks but whilst i've been away I've been learning some valuable experience in the fashion industry before starting The University of Sunderland in September where I will be studying Fashion Journalism, 19 days till freshers, whose excited? 

After my work experience on Newcastle Fashion week I was eager to learn more about the fashion industry, but through the area that I will be studying in. I emailed around magazine's and online websites and eventually got a reply from the team at AX Paris who are based in Manchester. I originally only wanted to do a couple of days as I've never really been away from home on my own but 2 weeks was the minimum and there was no way I was turning an opportunity like that down. Fortunately, my dad's step sister recently moved to Manchester which is where I stayed for the 2 weeks and boy we had so much fun.

I arrived at Manchester Piccadilly on Monday 3rd August real early and I basically got straight to the busy, city working life, I made my own way to where I needed to be (without my precious car), I met the team at AX Paris and got straight into the Social Media side of the company. I looked for bloggers that they could work with, companies to collaborate with, I did work through Instagram and work on the website itself such as linking Celebrity style steals to the product on the website, linking bloggers and also working behind the scenes so that the new collection went live on time. I also got to write a piece for the AX Paris blog about Rosie Fortescue's style steal, you can view it at the very end of this post. I felt so privileged to be with the team at the time of AW15 launch, if you haven't already shopped the style go ahead here.

London Travels

So I haven't really blogged for the past two weeks because I literally haven't stopped working or going on train journeys, which I quite like doing now, I use to be terrified of trains. All of my train journeys have consisted of getting on the Grand Central to Kings Cross, London. I haven't been to London in over a year I think and I've literally been twice within a week. 

I get a starbucks in Kings Cross every time. 

Transformation Tuesday

Okay so I've kept this quiet allllll day. Everyone knows I've been wanting to change my hair (again) but I wasn't quite sure how. One minute I'm thinking extensions, next minute I'm thinking short, then its 'oh I'll just have a trim. Oh and obviously the colour, I'm always changing that to. So last night I was sat flicking through google images 'Celebrity hairstyles 2015' to be specific and trying to see what I think would suit me and my personality best. I like to be a lady but I've got my edgy way about it. As much as I love long hair and you can do so much with it, it just gets in the way sometimes and especially when its hot and its stuck to your neck, ew. Short hair has its downfalls though, you can't tie it back if its too short. What would I prefer though loads of hair stuck to my neck or little bits sticking down ? Well you can see where this is going really can't you.

I went for short!

Q&A with model EllenJane Robley

My first ever collaboration with model EllenJane Robley. Ellen is based in the County Durham area. We had such a lovely chat last night and found out so much about each others ambitions and hobbies. Any photographers or mua's would be mad to miss out on this lovely lady. If anybody would like to get in touch with Ellen, the link below will take you straight to her page. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/EllenJane-Model/875334295860118?__mref=message_bubble

Chris Hughes photography

Summer Lovin'

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't blogged recently but I've just been having some me time whilst finishing college off and also looking after my lil pup, he's back to his daft self.

Anyway, for those who know me know I'm not a summer person at all, I have thee worst hay fever and it normally just ruins summer because I'm constantly sneezing and my eyes are pouring and its just not fun. However, this year I feel like it's not bothering me as much, although the pollen count is meant to rise drastically in the next couple of days, uh oh! Also this summer I actually have plans and lots of them. 

Lee Stafford Chopstick Styler Review

College hand in is finally over and done with, now I'm ready for summer and hopefully a lot more blogging! My recent purchase has been the Chopstick Styler by Lee Stafford, seriously who hasn't got this yet because it's sold out almost everywhere, in store and online. I purchased, well my lovely boyfriend purchased mine for me from Superdrug online (currently out of stock) and it came to £20.00 with free delivery also. Who doesn't love free delivery. Anyway i've seen so many amazing hairstyles from this little device and my god it makes your hair so afro 80's its amazing. I was slightly doubtful as i've only really seen girls with long hair use it but I thought why not, lets give it a try on my mid-length hair and see what happens. Ouh I also loved the little Schwarzkopf leaflet with some lovely bloggers in with some amazing hair, especially one of my favourites Megan Ellaby.

Fashion Futures work experience, Newcastle Fashion Week

Last Thursday I had the absolute pleasure to be apart of Newcastle Fashion Week with Ne1 Fashion Futures. I previously had an interview the week before and successfully made the evening team. To start the day I visited Newcastle with my Grandparents for some lunch at The Slug and Lettuce, it was divine and this was the lovely view of the Quayside.

How to enjoy fitness without being a fan of fitness

It's getting towards that time again where everyone's working on their summer bods and toned booties but I find it sooooooo hard to find the motivation to do anything because i'm just not one of those sporty/athleticy girls who actually enjoy going to the gym or going for a run. I'm the sort of person who watches people run and I'm the one stood stuffing my face, just watching exercise tends to tire me out. I know I'm terrible BUTTTTTT last year I found KR.Dance who has solved all of my lazy problems. KR.Dance has so many classes available for children and adults and the thing I love most is the diversity of the classes they are so different from just an ordinary dance school or boring gym. The classes I have took part in are Adult Flex, Pole Fitness and Trifly.

Whats in my make-up bag

I've recently bought a Primer for my make-up so whilst reviewing it I thought I would share my day to day 'look'. I don't particularly wear that much make-up if i'm honest but always after a long day at college or work my make-up never looks as good as when I left my house on the morning. I've just bought the Rimmel London, Lasting Finish Primer, around £4.00 and it really does do the trick. Yesterday I checked my make-up around lunch and also when I arrived home, around 6pm and it was pretty much perfect as when I applied it. You don't need much primer at all just a small amount to cover the full surface of your face. I apply it before my make-up but you can apply it after.

19 and counting

So i'm 19 now and I had so many good plans for my birthday but I ended up being ill, absolute nightmare. I was meant to go out with the college girls, go to a fashion show and get my new tattoo, instead I laid on the couch for four days straight. Although the few days around my birthday weren't as I planned I got some lovely presents off friends and family and thought I'd share them with you lovely lot. I mainly got money which I am so thankful for but my main present off my parents were my Vivienne Westwood, Melissa Jelly shoes. I'm totally not normally a dolly shoe kind of person but Viv is my favourite and I love them, although they make my feet sweat like mad, sorry if thats too much detail.

Birds of Paradise: Plumes of feathers in fashion

Today I visited the Bowes Museum to see the Birds of Paradise exhibition as I am currently looking at Birds for my final major project at college. I've never actually visited the Bowes before and wow the building is absolutely amazing, so much bigger in person than in photographs. The exhibition is on the second floor in the Fashion and Textiles gallery. The exhibition addresses aspects such as refinement, luxury, freedom, modernism, femininity, lightness but also themes like lost innocence and black romance.

Benefit Roller lash mascara review

I ordered this lovely product as one of my valentines presents and it finally came yesterday. Its not out in stores till 26th Feb, I think but its available online on the benefit website. It is £19.50 and £4.00 packaging. The most I normally spend on mascara is around £10-£12, I normally use Rimmel London Retro Glam but lately my eye lashes have been a nightmare. They cross in front of each other, they're in my eye line and I kind of have this thing with my hands, if i'm bored and have nothing to do i'll sit and pick my mascara off and go and re-apply over and over again, weird I know. I literally love my eyelashes, they're fabulously long and i've never had to wear false eyelashes, i'm just hoping i've finally found the perfect mascara. It wasn't till late last night I realised my Roller Lash had arrived so I couldn't wait to use it this morning.

Rattled rib cage

I've wanted a tattoo for absolutely ages which means I've had quite a while to think of the design. I love quotes, some just make perfect sense to whats happening in your life right at that very moment, others are just very inspirational.

Ladies of last year

Okay so I'm kind of meant to be doing some college work right now but I can't help but want to post about some iconic ladies of 2014. Ones that I think have had a successful year. 

Ella Henderson