Ink Me Up Pretty Please

Tattoos.

Loved by some (me), hated by some, however I do think a lot of people have a love/hate relationship with them though. Many 'wants' to have them done but do not have the courage or can't due to religious reasons or work related situations.

Some beautifully tattooed men. Just because.

Good old David never lets us down with his tattoos



Mr Macintosh. Purely for the tattoos,
but of course.




FIT.

Yes yes we all have our different reasons for hating him
but I love his tatts.

You are welcome.

 I myself have always loved tattoos, on women and men. It probably has something to do with my father being covered in them, down to the back of his hands. Not nice ones either (sorry dad), on one of his hands he has a odd flower with round green (maybe they were once black) petals and a pinkish middle. He also has a charming collection of names of his wives (yes plural) on his arm whereby he has crossed out the previous wives name when a new one came along. My name is also somewhere on his body. Not crossed out I might add.

He sounds a bit like a sailor. I can assure you he is not. He is just my dad and the reason why I love tattoos.

I have always been a fan of Kirsten Leanne's tattoos

Absolutely stunning. I want this.

I get so tired of hearing people saying 'make sure you don't regret your tattoos in the future' or 'that won't look very good when she/he is 60' and maybe I am naïve but if you decide to get a tattoo, you do have a certain personality to go with it and unless you are 15 when you get the tattoo done, surely you will more or less have the same personality later on in life..? The only thing I would say is, if you are planning body tattoos, make sure your body is looking good first, no ink is going to cover lumps and bumps. Harsh but true.

Exactly what I'm going to do when I grow old.
Especially the epic beard part.
Can't wait.

This light-hearted view on bodily art might also have something to do with how I feel about my own tattoos. It does sound crazy, but I don't take them seriously. I get an idea of a tattoo I want to have done and I just go and do it, right that moment if I can. People always say 'don't do a spur of the moment tattoo, you'll regret it after'. I have never regretted any of my tattoos, but then I don't regret much in life. Its just your body after all, life goes on.

And, if people are going to judge me by my looks, which always happens anyway, I'll just give them more ammunition. Knock yourself out sweetheart.

Bet he regretted that though.

My first one I had done 10 years ago was on the back of my neck. I had designed a beautiful intricate Z. I took it to the famous Frith Street Tattoos in Soho (Rihanna's choice when in London). I was met with the worst arrogant attitude by the tattooist, she bluntly said you cant tattoo intricate details like that and instead made a really blunt Z only resembling my original sketch. Due to being naïve and a bit shy I just went along with what she said and had her tattoo what sometimes looks like a Z and sometimes look like a 2 on my neck depending on how you look at it.

Thankfully I have long full hair and can't see it, and it seems after searching everywhere I don't even have a picture of it... Life goes on hey...

Not nice.

Nice :)

 About 5 years later I came up with the idea that I wanted to have a tattoo down my spine. I have always liked the Swedish saying 'Alone is strong' as through my life it has proven correct.

I designed it as a diagonal scribble in Swedish covering my exact spine. This time I went to Diamond Jacks, the longest running tattoo parlour in London's West End. I love the tiny little entrance in the middle of all the seedy strip clubs and massage parlours in Soho.

After showing them my sketch, they made it just as I wanted it and an hour and a half later I was done and pleased with the result.

My spine tattoo which is normally flat on my spine if I don't try to turn and pout.
Temporary brunette too.
And a side boob. Pure class.

A couple of years later I was visiting a friend in Poland. On the plane I came up with an idea of a cat on my wrist. I love cats since I had my first one at the age of one so it seemed right to have it inked.

My friend even brought over a tattoo artist that evening to do it, however she couldn't get around getting the sketch exactly how I wanted it so I left it. My patience is low but not as low as walking around with something that resembles two balls on my wrist. A week later I flew to Stockholm and had my friend's tattoo artist do the job.

My pain threshold is really high so I am never concerned with the pain but this was by far the most annoyingly painful one as the skin is so delicate on the wrist. It's a kind of pleasurable pain though I'm sure you'd agree if you've had one done.

No it's not testicles. It's a cat.
And no, its not Nalaya, it's Shamballa.
Still lame.

My 4th and last one I only did a couple of months ago, my friend Honey and I had been talking about tattoos and she gave me the idea of tattooing a round circle on my lower arm stating 'what goes around comes around'. That lunch break I brought the idea to Frith Street again, completely having forgotten my first experience there, however I was quickly reminded of it as I was met with the same stinking attitude and the words 'nope, can't do that'. Again I reversed out shocked, this time thankfully without a new tattoo.

I remembered Diamond Jacks around the corner and went there. The nice young man with tattoos across his face told me the tattoo wouldn't look good going in a closed circle as the muscles on the arm would make it look wonky. He said he would work on a design similar to it and see what he could come up with. A few days later he presented me with a design which instead of being scripted in a closed circle, it spirals slightly down my lower arm, which actually looked a lot better.

A week later I had it done; after calling him every day to see if he had had any cancellations to fit me in, of course.

Little bit of my semi spiralling circle kind of thing.
Is that a face of regret...?
;)

My friend told me as late as yesterday when I was running a new tattoo idea past him that I have to be careful or I'll look like a scribble pad soon. Which is true. If I was left to my own device I would have a sleeve guaranteed, tattoos up my shoulder and neck and probably half my head shaved.

But I just want one more... then I'll stop...tattooed pinky promise... 

Watch this space. ;)

Revived Work Wardrobe

No matter how many clothes and shoes you have there will always be moments when you feel you have nothing to wear. I find it especially if you have more than you need. I tend to forget outfits and rediscover them a year later when spring cleaning my wardrobe.

So, this morning was one of those days. I was bored of all my work clothes, especially as I have to wear black (that's the biggest punishment for me; pay me less but let me wear colour!!).
Trying to be imaginative with only black options can test even the most creative mind.

I was digging through my wardrobe, literally, when I came across an old black little number from Zara.
A dress, that I had shrunk, so it could no longer be worn as a dress and definitely not in a working environment, unless your work involves curb crawlers.




So she wears it without accompanying leggings. Each to their own.

It has sharp  shoulder pads that makes me look like I'm channelling the husky voiced Hilary Devey from Dragons Den. Since the hem line is nowhere near the accepted length without accompanied leggings, I opted for exactly that.

 

Teeny weeny picture of the outfit on me; cant really see much apart from the outline of my shoulders which is the main feature anyway.

Since I was going for the revived look I also decided to wear some shoes that had been forgotten about; my bejewelled and studded Jimmy Choo's seen in the picture below. These definitely don't deserve to be forgotten about, but with so many other 6 inched options they tend to fade in comparison unfortunately.

Bought these when I had a Jimmy Choo event at my old work place.
Not a fan of Choo as he normally makes the heel too low, but these were ok.

Other details that completed my work look for the day included a thick eyeliner, high pony tail and my All Black Big Bang King Hublot. I reckon I'd fit right in with the Dragons Den crew, only missing the millions... all in due time...;)

I wore my All Black Big Bang King Hublot.
All black on black on black.

X

High Street Robbery

Another day, another work outfit. In black. Sigh.

However, I found this beautiful dress whilst Wholefoods shopping with a friend in High Street Kensington. We walked past Karen Millen which I am not normally a fan of, I find most of their clothes looks like cheap prom dresses or mother-to-the-bride dresses.

 

Anyway, there were big classy sale signs all over the shop so we ventured in to see how much it was reduced to.

To my shock it was still £200!

£200 for a high street dress on sale!

Its atrocious, so of course, I bought it.



Total concentration to keep balance.

It fits super snug and doesn't have much give in terms of stretch due to having tiny panels of I'm guessing plastic all down the front, but its oh so pretty with a bow at the front of the waist. That also fits without much give.

The shine of the plastic panels allows for no lumps or bumps. Except where they are meant to be.

Definitely a dress for a no carbs day.

 

 

Add a bit of height they do.

I wore it with my grained calf

 Daffodile Louboutins , the dress needs height as it goes just below the knees and only my Hublot as jewellery as there is so much happening already with the details of the dress.

 

 

 

Nice bit of bling to finish off with.

X

Country side chic in Knightsbridge

Contrary to what it might look like, I do have a social life, so the other Sunday night, I was headed out to Pizza Pomodoro (I die for their garlic mushrooms) in Knightsbridge for a over due catch up with my super stylish fashionista friend Michelle (check out her blog; FashionGluttony.com).

 

 

Massive claw hand is optional.

Now, this will more than likely make me lose a few followers, but here goes.

The blazer is from Primark.

There, I said it.

I spotted it on a colleague which let me in on the secret; and you can actually find some gems if you look closely enough through all the piles of clothes whilst simultaneously elbowing other bargain hunters out of the way.

 

I guess I'm not really selling it to you with this picture.

This gem is made of navy wool with a delicate gold thread(read polyester thread) making a check pattern. It is really fitted with pleats on the back which can be seen on the only picture I managed to find (wonder why) of the jacket. Leather patch details on elbows and shoulders, probably sown on by a really skilled 5year old.

See how down to earth I am? Mother would be proud.

I teamed it with- more shock factor- a pair of highwaisted navy skinny jeans from H&M.

Again, I have the other shoe too.

On my feet I wore my cognac coloured YvesSaintLaurent calf TribToo's which perfectly matched my knackered Hermes belt.
My camel haired poncho from Joseph covered my shoulders along with a raccoon stole.

 

 

 

Can you get more country side than a checkered blazer and an orange Birkin?
I think not.

To keep it country side chic, I opted for my orange Birkin, it rarely gets to come out so I thought id treat it ;)

 

 

 

Country side watch.
Or not.

X

Shoe Shopping

So everyone who knows me knows I love my shoes, and when I'm not in the gym you might well find me scouring the shelves of Harrods Shoe department like an addict searching for his next crack rock.

 

Now, I've kind of come away from my beloved Christian Louboutins a bit, due to the fact that- every man and his dog is wearing them nowadays. And with man, I mean the girls that can't walk in them, and by dog I mean... well, you get the drift.

 

I have had a bit of an on-going affair with Giuseppe Zanotti for a good while now, and this is the section I was sniffing around today.

I make sure I match the interior wherever I am.
Not really.

For the occasion; I chose an attire that would easily blend in with the furniture of Harrods Shoe department. I do tend to get jumped as soon as they see me as they know, like a crack addict, I simply cannot resist.

The longer I can go undetected, the better.

 

My white Gucci trousers I am absolutely in love with, they are from SS13 and beautifully tapered with a stitched seem at the front finished off with the typical Gucci buckles at the bottom, making it look like I'm going riding. Radi-Dah.

 

 

I matched the trousers with a taupe fitted poloneck from Zara, and a pair of Yves Saint Laurent TribToo heels in cream suede, the most comfortable shoes to date I have ever walked in.

Naturally my etaupe Birkin came in handy to finish off my chameleon outfit.



Watch of choice. Cappuccino rose gold Hublot.

My cream suede TribToo. I have two.

 

 

The 35" Etaupe Birkin. A necessity for all mankind.

Oh, and the shoes I came away with?

These beauties; they are sure to be featured in many a posts very soon ;)

 

Fringed, studded, heeled suede beauties.



 

How high can you go?
These are literally making me walk on my tip toes and for this reason I love them.


X

70's casual glam attire

First of all; I would like to apologise for the statement in my last blog post; about us not having had a winter. I am surely paying for that now with all this snow...

 

During drier times, not too long ago, I was headed out for a Eggs Benedict with my dear mother in Kings Road.

 

My chosen attire for the day was my burgundy leather look jeans from Gina Tricot in Sweden. I wore an off the shoulder loose tee from Sandro and my beautiful fox fur coat, also from Sandro.

 

I have absolutely worn my nude 'Dolly' canvas Charlotte Olympias down to the ground but opted for them yet again; they are just so comfy; I can walk up and down Kings Road all day in them!

I can't actually believe I have not featured them in this blog before!?

Welcome to my fashion land my 'worn but hanging in there' beauties x

 

My green birkin broke up the slightly nude theme which included my big floppy sand coloured hat.

 

Voila ! 70's casual glamour!

 

 

I blame my mother entirely for this blurry picture. She sends her apologies.

My Sandro fur has seen many a cold nights; it also makes me feel like I have my cat PussPuss with me at all times ;)

 

 

My lovely green Birkin. Love you long time.



My Olympias are in no way in as good shape as these beauties but they still serve the purpose.

Sharpen your nails

Nice & Neat

Nails have always represented cleanliness and feminity for me and well kept nails says a lot about a person.

If a girl is dressed up to the nines and made up in all areas but with unkept nails, even just nails with no varnish, it will just ruin the whole look for me.

When it comes to nails, im a girl of a simple nature; I either like short and pristine in a block colour or maybe a thin french manicure (nothing worse than long nails with thick unnaturally white lines) or long well kept nails in perhaps a dark burgundy or rich red.

 

I am yet to understand the trend of yellow and green varnish, as to me it represents unhealthy fungus nails... but maybe that's just me ;)

Even Chanel gets it wrong sometimes

 

But as much as I like kept neat nails; here's the short of it; long nails are now.

I have from the start of this "claw-craze" in 2012 had a bit of a love hate relationship with the talon like nails that everyone from Rihanna to your local Tesco check out girl is channelling.

I was completely against the trend as it started with the likes of Nicki Minaj & Lady GaGa working it in with their odd, attention seeking images.

Soon enough I started seeing it all over media, on sales assistants in stores (depending what store you went to mind...), and even on some friends of mine.

Devotees swear the pointy phalanges are wearable- they just acquire a little adjusting to. The knuckle, not the nail, becomes the means for pushing an elevator button. And the finger pad, becomes the tool swiping a smartphones screen. There are solutions for everything.

Lady Gaga's (or Marilyn Manson?) famous stiletto heels nails with black matte Minx.

Love Rihanna's nails like this- so glamorous and womanly.

There is the relatively subtle approach taken by Adele & Fergie from Black Eyed Peas; painted nude and nudged just beyond the finger. I much prefer this style to the extreme hoodrat version vamped by Minaj, Rihanna & Gaga (although I have to admit I like them on RiRi, but then everything looks good on her).



Fergies Wet and Wild collection launched in September, not suttle but equally gorgeus.



Love love love Adele;s nails





 I remember back in the days when I used to be in to nail art. I dare say it was about 10 years ago when I used to get my fake square nails airbrushed with white patterns with a little diamond stuck on each nail, I thought it was so pretty. It was around that time I also realised that I wasn't black, and I never would be (the cane rows in my hair soon came out and my grey tracksuit bottoms also got pulled up). Thank goodness for that realisation.



Aryclics with rhinestones and airbrushing .So 10 years ago.

Nowadays I wouldn't dream to get nail art, it just doesn't suit my style. I do my nails in subtle colours, burgundy red, soft white and pink, and I almost always do them on my own. I am admittedly the pickiest client ever, I scan my nails for slight blemishes and unevenness. Plus I just do not have the patience for pampering, I feel like leaving after the poor technician has only done 2 nails out of 10. Its torture.
I admittedly go through this torture every time I set down in Dubai though, my first stop is always N Style in Dubai Mall where I get a manicure and pedicure in soft white. It looks so fresh with a tan its worth the pain of sitting still for an hour.

 

N Style Dubai

 

                                            

My nail art opinions changed somewhat when I saw the talents (talons) of my colleague at work- her name is Bianca (check her instagram- BeeBee_X) and she always has the prettiest nails with all kinds of imaginable things on them. Too much for me but then she showed me a new technique called gradient nails and I immediately agreed for her to do mine in a soft coral pink grading out to a soft light pink. She used Essie nailvarnish & I love it and I get so many compliments for my nails wherever I go, from young as well as old. Im so exited to see what other colours she can grade on my nails; thinking my next colours will be burgundy grading to a soft darker pink. Ooh the possibilities!

 

 

My sausage fingers with Bianca's beautiful gradient technique.

When im on holiday I love to do Minx nails in gold, it's fabulous when on the beach in Ibiza or in a party in Dubai. It always draws attention to your nails and you dont really have to worry about the nails chipping.

It lasts for me about 2 weeks and I do the gold ones on both my fingers and toe nails.
It looks amazing with a dark tan!

 

 

I am admittedly the queen of tacky, and most likely a magpie in previous life, so of course I love these gold Minx nails!

One of the nail techniques I do find hard to understand is the Caviar (but I do love the name!) that are applied to your nails to give a look of..well, tiny balls on your nails. It falls off constantly which is not very attractive and it looks like something you would do at the age of 5 (although do not recommend at age of 5 as balls will probably be eaten.)

 

 

See what I mean... strange fashion.

 

Nails can do for your hand what the stilletto heel can do for your leg- it adds elongation and sleekness.

And whilst I love all new styles and experiments with nail techniques, unless you are Rihanna (and if you are; i'm flattered) be careful of what suits you and your hands and not least, your style and profession ;)

 

 



Kiss & goodbye for now x