a year in outfits

Pretty much, seeing as everyone else and their mum seems to be doing this sort of post- I thought I'd write a blog post looking back at some of my favourite outfit posts from 2013. You can click on all the links to be taken directly to the post and information as to where I got the items from will be on there! Alternatively all of these posts along with quite a few more are all under the OOTD tag so you can easily read through them all!

Stripey top and skater skirt
Winter floral dress
Light wash jeans and floral kimmono
Skater skirt with a fluffy cardigan and tartan scarf
Black paisley dress

Floral playsuit
Mint green dress with cream lace blazer
Grey skater skirt with polkadot top
Lemon yellow lace dress
Levi shorts and burgundy shirt

Floral jumper and jeans
Pencil skirt and tartan scarf
Jeans and burgundy top
Skater skirt and Celine top
Celene top and patterned cardigan

So that's a years worth of my outfit posts from here on islaay.com and I hope you liked this post! I think I remeber last year making a resolution that I wanted to do more outfit posts in 2013 and I think I achieved it! Can we all take a moment to look how long my hair used to be, I didn't realise it was ever that long and I want it back- waaa!

I made a short fifteen second video looking back at some of my instagram photos which you can see below! My username is @islaay if you wanted to give my account a follow!

Also, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and you have good New Years plans! I will be putting up a Christmas haul on my YouTube channel islaayx in the next few days so subscribe so you'll see it when I upload it!

Which outfit from 2013 is your favourite? Don't forget to check out the links!

A cosy winters night in

Although Christmas is now well and truly over, it's still winter time and its nice to have a nice cosy night in every once in a while so I thought I'd do a post showing you what I enjoy doing on my nights in. After having a nice long bath (preferably with a Lush bath bomb or bubble bar) I pop a face mask on, change into my pjs and get into bed. A hot chocolate is the perfect drink to have whilst reading blogs, tweeting and watching YouTube videos and is a good treat to have every once in a while! My favourite 'chill out' music is probably London Grammar- their album If You Wait is very relaxing so I usually have that playing quietly in the background.

I'm wearing my floral pyjama bottoms which I was recently sent from Surfdome. They are floral and if you know anything about me then you'll know that anything with a floral pattern on is my favourite! Surfdome have lots of Joules clothing on their website and I think I'm eyeing up a pair of slippers to match the pj bottoms next!

What do you like to do on a cosy winters night in?

My body tells me no

Jumper: Choies*
Skirt: ASOS
Brogues: Russell and Bromley
Necklace: eBay
Earrings: Pia pearl earrings
Nails: Penguin nail art (click the link for my blog post on them)
Lipstick: Chanel 327

I feel sort of sailory in this top- I'm not really sure if it's a top or a jumper actually. It's too thick to be a top but too thin to be a jumper, hmmm! I like how it's cropped though as you don't need to tuck it in when you're wearing it with something high waisted like this ASOS skater skirt. I'm wearing my favourite Russell and Bromley brogues as per usual and my chavvy eBay chain necklace which I honestly wear on a daily basis! I've got on my new Chanel lipstick in these photos, it's so fancy and I love the shade of it!

Christmas penguin nail art

I haven't done a nail art post in so long (probably because I literally can't remember I did something interesting on my nails!) I did them late last night so I didn't take step by step photos because of the lighing but I thought I would post them on my blog anyway! I decided to do penguin nails because they don't take too long to do and they look quite cute- I got lots of compliments on them from customers at work today too!

What do you think of my Christmassy penguin nail art?

 

Walking in a winter wonderland

Surprise, surprise I'm with Carissa again in these photos! We were off buying a Chirstmas tree for her house last week and I happened to have my camera on me so we got her dad to kindly take a few outfit photos for us. The place we went to get the tree from had some really cute decorations up and they had mince pies and mulled wine too which was really nice and festive!

Also I reached a quarter of a million page views yesterday, that may not seem loads to some people but to me that seems crazy- thank you everyone!

Our outfits are both really plain and boring but here's where a couple of the bits are from

Me: 

Coat: Zara

Boots: Clarks

Lipstick: Mac 'hang-up'

Carissa:

Boots: River Island

Coat: Zara

Flawed to fabulous: an easy guide to the ultimate twenty minute makeover

Spending time indulgently primping in front of the mirror is one of life's little luxuries, but sometimes it's just not possible. Whether it’s impromptu after-work drinks with the girls, oversleeping thanks to a faulty alarm clock, or running late because you’ve been running errands, there are plenty situations where you might need to give yourself a shot of glamour as quickly as possible.

Thankfully, you don’t need to spend hours on hair and makeup to look your best. In fact, you can go from slob to sleek in twenty minutes - if you know what you’re doing.

Put your hair up

Ladylike up-dos are very much on-trend this season, and although some require you to spend a lot of time fiddling around with hair clips, others are extremely low maintenance. Sling your hair into a loose low bun, like the ones seen on the catwalks this season. It's a good idea to learn a few simple up-dos and practise them when you have more time to spare. That way, you'll be able to achieve a great look in a few minutes without even using a mirror. Elle UK have a great video showing you how to achieve an elegant and classy look quickly and easily, simply by twisting your hair and pinning it up.

Pop on some lippy

It’s amazing how much difference a bit of colour on your lips can make. Deep and vibrant shades of lipstick always make the wearer look as though they’ve made an effort, even if they’ve actually spent less than a minute applying and blotting! Dark colours, like red and burgundy, are an easy way to look chic and classy - as long as you've put the time in to select a shade that complements your skin tone. Keep a nice lipstick in your handbag at all time, for emergency situations and for top ups while you’re out and about.

Use an all in one cream

Burlesque star Dita Von Teese may look like the epitome of high maintenance glamour, but she has managed to shrink her beauty regime down to twenty minutes by using a BB cream. Most of the large makeup companies like Elizabeth Arden produce the cosmetic, which is an all in one sunblock, primer, moisturiser and foundation. Investing in a good one will drastically cut down the amount of time you need to spend putting your face on.

Instant toning

You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to get a sleek silhouette. You can cheat by slipping on some clever new shapewear. Even if you’ve had a big bowl of pasta for lunch, the shapewear will keep your belly looking flat, as well as making your bottom look pert. This takes some stress out of choosing your outfit, making it easier to throw on anything in your wardrobe with confidence. 

Spray on some perfume

Smell is one of the most important senses, so before heading out make sure you spritz yourself with your signature scent. It’s a good idea to keep a small bottle of perfume in your handbag for impromptu meetings and evening drinks, too. And that's it: you're good to go!

*blog post in association with Catherine Lavinia

Want to become a model?

Do you have a passion for the modelling and fashion industries? Would you love the chance to experience what life would be like as a model? If you would like to see whether a career in modelling is for you and would love to find out how to become a model in the UK, keep reading as UK Models can help you achieve that.

UK Models is a model support service based in central London. We have been in this industry for over twelve years and have even been named the “leading model support service in the UK,” so you can be sure that our advice and help will greatly benefit you and your career. We can give you tips on all aspects of modelling including the many types of modelling available and what would suit you best, the different routes you can take and how to stay safe in the industry. If you feel that modelling would be a career you would like to pursue, then we can offer you the opportunity to experience a professional model photo shoot. On the day of the shoot, you will be styled and made over by top hair stylists and makeup artists. You will then have your photos taken by a professional photographer in one of our studios, The Blue Rooms or Pure Space as well as outside on location. This photo shoot will be paid for by us as it gives us the chance to see whether you have what it takes to make it in the modelling world. At the same time, it also gives you an idea of what life as a model would be like and whether you have the posing ability and confidence required for the job.

If it is decided that modelling is for you, then we will give you the chance to create and buy your model portfolio. Portfolios are essential for any model looking for work. They are a model’s version of a CV as they show a model’s work and ability to pose in front of the camera. The images inside of a portfolio range from headshots to body shots and show a model’s versatility due to the different looks shown. Our studios have vast experience of shooting aspiring models and we know exactly what makes a good model portfolio. Ours are made to a high, professional standard and can be used by models to market themselves, whether it be with a model agency or through freelancing.

UK Models will support you for a whole year after the photo shoot. This means that whenever you have a question about the industry, you can feel free to give us a ring and you are guaranteed our professional help.

So if this interests you and you still want to know how to become a model in the UK, then do register with us on our website and we will be in touch.

*blog post in association with UK Models

Winter Wonderland Meetup #WWMeetup

Thank you everyone for coming to the Winter Wonderland meetup that myself and Ellie from Style and Starbucks have been organising for the past couple of months, I hope you all had a good day! We just had a wander round the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland and then lunch at Ed's Diner and a trip around the shops on Oxford Street and obviously a little Selfridges (standard!) before heading home. Oxford Street is so pretty at the moment and they even had some fake snow falling in the evening which you can see at the end of my vlog.

Sorry we didn't get a whole group photo before some of you left but at the top of this post is one with most of the girls in! Below is a little vlog that I did with some video clips from the day if you wanted to watch!

c

and if I recover

Dress: ASOS
Belt: Primark
Boots: Clarks
Necklace: eBay
Lipstick: MAC 'Ruby Woo'
Bag: Tula via TKMaxx

Here is what I wore to the Access All ASOS #TonightIs Christmas party on Tuesday night. I love floral prints so I thought I would go for a winter floral dress as although it's not very Christmassy its still nice and girly! I bought this Tula bag as a last minute thing as I was in Brighton and needed something to go with this outfit for my work Christmas meal the next day and it wasn't a bad price considering it's real leather so should hopefully wear well and last a long time and because it's black it means it will pretty much go with most outfits which is great!

What do you think of winter florals? What Christmas dresses do you have planned for any parties you're going to in the next couple of weeks?

Also I thought I'd go all Christmassy and bring a bit of snow onto islaay.com what do you think of it?

#AccesAllASOS #TonightIs Christmas Party

On Tuesday I was invited to the #AccessAllASOS #TonightIs Christmas party so I took a trip up to London and met up with Perdi before heading along to the ASOS HQ (I've decided that this would be the coolest place ever to work, ASOS is one of my favourite online shops and their HQ is amazing. They even have Batiste dry shampoo, hair grips and face wipes in the loos for touch ups!)

We got to have a look at some of the new Needle & Thread Christmas collection, the ASOS Christmas jumpers and a few presents along with seeing the collections from a couple of ASOS Marketplace sellers. There were people doing Christmassy nail art and we even got to meet @OfficialSanta (highlight of the evening!). There was a beauty pick n mix so we got a couple of bit to take home and some really nice Christmassy drinks and nibbles. It was so lovely to meet everyone and to have a look at the new ranges so thank you ASOS for inviting me!

I will be doing an outfit post with this outfit in a couple of days so look out for it when it's up!