Refreshing

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This is as nude and natural as makeup gets! I absolutely love it and i'm currently having a serious case of hair envy, i love the curls and shine on Rosario Dawson's hair. It's not just with her though, but i'll save that story for another time. I haven't slept since yesterday so my eyeballs sting quite a bit. I'm off to bed now to try and see if i can sleep tonight :)

Are Shoulders Still In?

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I'm not one to buy into trends and i'm not good at keeping up with them either. My way of dressing is too simplistic for all that fuss. But i've been looking for a good blazer that can work for me as a cover up to uni when it's a bit chilly and also for evenings where it's necessary that i have a jacket with me. I do have a black blazer but it's ill fitting due to sizing issues and with this in mind, i've been stalking ASOS to find a nice simple blazer or a jacket as a close substitute.

I like the blazer pictured above from ASOS and it does come in 5 different colours; i'm currently going between the navy blue and black shades. I'm not going to purchase it now, but i do have it at the top of my list for purchases. My only tiff with it is the shoulders. It was a trend last year and i'm not sure if it is this year. At £65, it is something that i have to sleep on for weeks.

But i'd love your opinions on it, so please feel free to leave me a comment. And if you find a single button blazer or a nice jacket, feel free to send me a link :)

Boys In Red

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Happy Australia Day!

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When In Paris...

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...thou must be chic and Jessica Alba certainly complied to that rule. I love the entire ensemble including the odd chunky ankle boot she's got on :)

Agnes In Despicable Me

I just can't get over this video :)

Tangled

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I love Mandy Moore's LBD, but i feel like there too much going on here with the necklace, satin heels and that hair do. Her hair looks too messy to go with such a chic dress and i don't feel like that necklace is appropriate at all. What do you guys think?

DIY

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I miss my Mum. If she were here right now, i'd convince her to make me this dress and i'd fix the beading up myself. This is where my love for the internet comes in. I've already sent her a picture of the dress and told her how much i'd love her to make it for me. I've also added it to a list of dresses i want her to make me ha! So, fingers crossed, if she comes for my graduation in July i'm going to buy myself a sewing machine so she can make them for me. It's been almost 8 years since i used a sewing machine so i'm a bit lost on it at the moment. I'm definitely going to need a refresher course on that. On the other hand, i'm pretty good at making dresses with a needle and thread thanks to my Mum. And i still adjust some of my clothes using the 'double stitch' method as my mum loves to call it.

Lost An Entire Folder!

Last night my laptop crashed while i was reading some notes i have on my laptop. One of my folders was open when this happened and i didn't think anything of it. Today i decided to go through everything on my laptop so that i could update the back up documents i have on my external hard drive. To my disappointment, i found that the folder i had opened last night has completely disappeared from my laptop. I'm a 110% sure that i didn't mistakenly delete it. I've also checked all the other folders on my laptop to see if it moved somewhere or if it got renamed but none of the above happened.

I'm one of those people who likes to make notes of everything i read that interests me. This includes notes from things i've watched on TV, books i've read and also posts that have been written by online bloggers. Every single note i've taken in the past year or so went to this folder. Unfortunately for me, this is one folder that i forgot to back up on my external hard drive so i've pretty much lost all my notes. I tried restoring my laptop settings to an earlier time and all i get of my lost folder is a shortcut that isn't working. I'm trying my best to stay positive about the whole thing and not let this ruin my beautiful Monday or be a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the week.

As my Mum always likes to remind me, everything happens for a reason. Maybe my laptop is helping me do some much needed laptop cleaning and revising. Maybe this is a sign that i should go read some of the books i have again. In any case, the good thing is that i still have my favourite books with me so i'm going to read them again. And most of the online notes i got were from The Happiness Project, The Simple Luxurious Life and The Moptop Maven. So i'm going to take my time and slowly go through each blog and take notes again. And this time, i'm going to back up each document as i save it on my laptop.

This experience actually made me back up my entire laptop so now everything is safe. Being my paranoid self, i'm tempted to back up some documents on my MP3 player just in case my external hard drive goes mental.

A Lacy Forest

I'm absolutely in love with the lace detail around the chest and how they brought it round to the back of the dress 

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My Tomato Tins

As a follow up from my '7 things' yesterday, Adrienne asked if i could post a picture of my tomato tins so here they are! The tin on the left is exactly how they look before i cover it up with silver card stock paper to create a nicer look as you see with the two other tins. I have to say there's a new addition to the family in the form of the maple syrup bottle you see in the picture. I actually finished it last night but decided not to get rid of it. It's all clean and waiting for a designated job. I still haven't decided what to do with it yet. I usually mix in ingredients like hydrolysed keratin and silk amino acids into my cheap shampoos and conditioners such as Herbal Essences because these two ingredients play a key part in the JOICO hair care line. You can find these online from New Directions and i believe they also have an American website; Lotion Crafter is also a good place for US and international customers. So i was thinking i might put my mixed conditioner into the maple syrup bottle. But i'm very much open to ideas :)

I think i might end up making my own leave-in spray for my hair and see how i go with it. I still haven't decided if i will or not. But if i do, you guys will read about it.

PS: I like to cover my shelves with paper (gold as you can see in the picture above). It reduces the possibility of damage to my clothes or to the actual shelving if something spills on it

The Stylish Blogger Award

Hey guys, i've just received the 'Stylish blogger Award' from the beautiful Adrienne of The Rich Life (On A Budget) and i'm quite chuffed by it. Thanks a lot Ma'am :). I need to share 7 things about myself so here we go :)

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1. I have 6 given names but i only use 2 of them in all my official documents

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2. I have a phobia for treadmills. I'm really scared of that conveyor belt thing that keeps going round and round. The few times i've been on a treadmill (in England) i always had someone standing next to me and making sure that my paranoia doesn't get the best of me

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3. I've been living away from home and travelling since i was 15. The first 2 years, i went back for a few visits but i haven't gone visiting in 6 years now. I'm not sure that i'll let my kids do this though but i'm grateful for the opportunity my parents have given me and the independence i have :)

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4. I learnt how to read using my dad's car magazines. Growing up, i've always been obsessed with looking at magazines and my dad felt it would be best if i read his car magazines to him as a way to practice whatever English i learnt in school while he relaxed in the evening. 

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5. I'm currently learning how to speak French and Italian with the help of my trusted iPod

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6. For some unexplained reason, i find it really difficult to throw away tomato cans. I pretty much put everything recyclable in the recycling bins. But when it comes to these, i always find an excuse to keep them after using its contents. I always end up wrapping them in some fancy paper and using it as a pencil holder, makeup brush cup and anything else that's longer than the can. I currently have all mine covered in silver paper.

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7. I've been collecting stamps since i was 12

Phew! Those were hard to come up with. I'm meant to pass the Stylish blogger Award on to other bloggers and i've picked 7 of my favourite.

The Simply Luxurious Life 

xoxo Avs

Bursting at the Seams

My Republic of Fashion

A little fashion romance

Of moments in moonlight

Confessions of a Cookie Monster

The Feet Speaks

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Sorry about the corny title, but i just love this picture. The first time i saw it, my eyes were immediately drawn to the different sets of shoes you can see underneath the coffee table :) I'm loving how cute Jennifer Lopez looks here. Her hairstyle makes me feel like she stole her daughter's hair clip and put it in her hair. Although there is a 99% chance that its not the case.

Rock N Roll

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I really can't imagine anyone else being able to pull off the pants she's wearing. I'm not even sure what they are but she looks so cool with them on :)

Just A Video

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Last night, one of my friends came over to hang out at my place as we haven't had much time to catch up. I have to say i was pretty tired before she got here as i had a really long day and didn't get much sleep the night before. But it's always fun hanging out with her and watching silly videos and just laughing at ourselves. Well, she brought up the topic of getting Sigma brushes and showed me this video of someone's review on it. Seeing the brush set in the video was all it took for me to get interested in the brushes. They look so pretty in the case and it looks to cute for words...yes, that's my idea of cute :) I'm not much of a makeup wearer at the moment so i know that i should not be spending $100 on a set of 12 brushes no matter how pretty they are. Plus, i do have the staple brushes i need to do my simple makeup so this Sigma brush is being relocated to my wishlist. I know my MAC brushes will die at some point in the future as i've had them for over 5 years now and when they finally die, i'll be checking out the Sigma website to see if they have anything pretty that i might be interested in. I heard that they're just as good as a MAC brush but without the hefty price tag. Has anyone used Sigma?

On another note, if you want to see what my hair would look like in its natural state without any hair straighteners or chemical straighteners, you should take a look at this. It's pretty much the closest i've found to my hair texture although the curls on some part of my head are much tighter than this.

Quick Question

I'm looking to get a vegan protein powder to incorporate into my diet. The two main reasons are (1) I haven't been consuming much protein as i don't eat meat often anymore as it takes too long for me to digest and (2) I'm lactose intolerant so i can't use a protein powder that has any form of diary milk/products in it cause i'll get sick. I went to the health food shop in town today and they had a pea protein isolate powder. While doing a search online i also found a soy protein powder and now i'm not too sure which one i want to purchase. The pea protein one has the option of flavours while the soy protein one only comes in the natural flavour. I haven't really done the whole protein powder/shake thing so i actually have no idea what to expect from it. The lady at the health food store told me she uses the vanilla flavour of the pea protein powder.

But i'm looking for more options/suggestions/ideas if i can get any which is why i'm posting this. I also want to start out with a small size (500g is the smallest i've seen) just in case i absolutely detest it so i can use it without feeling like i have to wait for forever before it's finished. 

For those who might be interested, i found some recipes on using protein powders as a meal replacement and you can check it out here. This site actually sells protein powder as well but theirs is 1kg

Opinions Please

What do you guys think of their outfits? I'm still unsure of how i feel. I'm hating Jennifer Love Hewitt's big bow on her dress (above) as its hiding her beautiful curves that i absolutely love. Everytime i see a picture of her, i remember my uncle because her shape is his idea of a perfect bod :) 

I actually love everything on Kirsten Dunst including the dark makeup; but i feel like something's off with the whole package.

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Refreshing

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I love green so for me this is an absolute win. I'm not too sure about the chunky black heels though. I would have preferred something along the lines of gold.

Dark & Lovely

I'm slowly beginning to have a love affair with Jessica Biel from her new darker hair do to her banging bod. But today, i'm more interested in what she's wearing. There's no need for me to pick apart her outfit because i love the entire ensemble. Yes it's really simple; but that's what i love because it's totally ME. Here she's pictured leaving a salon after having a pedicure done and whilst she's wearing flip flops (with her Chanel heels in hand) her outfit still looks really laid back and chic. This is the look i'm hoping to get for the coming Autumn and Winter seasons. All i need is a jacket and pants like the ones she's sporting in the pictures. Suggestions are more than welcome :)

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Groceries

I wish i could look this good whilst doing my grocery shopping, Charlize Theron looks so chic. As a matter of fact, i tend to look the exact opposite 

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