Pretty Polly x Hello Kitty

So after discovering Hello Kitty is British, I have to admit I was shocked. I had always imagined she was hanging out somewhere in Japan with the super kawaii Harajuku girls. I have always had a soft spot for Hello Kitty and the new tights and socks collection from Pretty Polly are to die for.

At 24 I have to admit I no longer feel as daring as I once had at 17 worshipping scene queens Audrey Kitching and Hanna Beth. In the days of My Space, I was rocking tutus and Hello Kitty inspired fashion on a daily basis. Now I am a little more 'mature' I still find a lot of space for fun fashion and I believe everyone should. This Pretty Polly collection, if worked in correctly, could add a splash of youth to any look without looking like your little sister.

I personally feel that both of the mock suspender tights are the obvious choice for the less daring amongst us. They also do a collection of socks if you're looking for something more cosy. The knee high socks would look cute with boots for a festival look.

You can find the whole collection over at ASOS.com or Prettypolly.com ranging from £6 to £8.

My obsession with Rock 'N Rose

Since I spotted Pixie Lott in a cute Rock 'N Rose ring some years ago, I have been infatuated with British jewellery brand Rock 'N Rose. Anyone who knows me knows I have WAY too many flower crowns and in my opinion, Rock N Rose make The. Best. Flower. Crowns. Ever! But until recently I didn't even own one, which is shocking now I know the amazing quality of them. Usually they're quite pricey because of the quality at £30+ but Asos have some amazing deals lately and I've managed to bag myself two of them!

Above is my most recent purchase, I got this lilac Lydia crown on Asos for £16. Side note: I also snagged those Mink Pink mirror sunglasses for £6! I am going away to Los Angeles again in November so the accessories sales have been fab. Even I usually wouldn't have the guts to wear those sunglasses but at £6 I couldn't resist them.

I also got the Lydia crown in yellow for £9! This was the first one I got, I fell in love the moment I got it out the box. What I love about these crowns is they are actually crowns and not just flowers on elastic headbands. Elastic flower crowns pull in your hair where as these ones just sit on your head as a crown would so you wont have to sacrifice your hair. This might not make sense if you're new to flower crowns but trust me, flowers attached to elastic headbands can be a pain. Especially when you have spent ages back combing or curling your hair.

Other Rock 'N Rose bargains I got were the gold pentagram choker reduced from £29 to £8 and my Bitch ring reduced to £9. I am over the moon with all of my things. The next on my list are probably the new folk style chokers you can see on their website by clicking here!

Also, before I finish the post I absolutely have to show you my new cat eye sunglasses also from Asos for £12. For what feels like forever I had been lusting after cat eyes from the Australian brand Quay. I was so sad to find they had sold out on UK sites in black but these ones are pretty much exactly the same! I am so excited with them. I wish I got as excited about everything as much as I get excited over sunglasses... Thank you for existing Asos!

How to do Los Angeles in under 24 hours

So, you have just a day to spend in the beautiful City of the Angels. A day might not seem like long enough to explore what this city has to offer and I'll be honest with you, it's not long enough at all. However, with my handy guide to the place, you will be able to squeeze in as much as possible! With this taste of Angelino life, you will want to keep going back for more!

8-10am - Breakfast at Mel's Drive-In Diner on Hollywood Boulevard

No trip to Los Angeles is complete without a visit to the walk of fame. Why not grab breakfast while you're there at Mel's Diner. Not only is it convenient but this place has a lot of history in California. Their menu is pretty extensive and full of American favourites. Visiting the walk of fame in the morning is perfect as it is emptier and you wont get stuck with the masses of other tourists.

10:10am-12pm - Farmers Market & The Grove

Los Angeles famous Farmer's Market dates back to 1934. With it's long list of amazing food vendors and market stalls we can see why it has made such a huge impact. The Farmer's Market is adjacent to shopping mall, The Grove. The mall is jam packed! It boasts a cinema, dozens of fashion stores such as Topshop and Forever 21 along with many restaurants. Oh and you absolutely must visit Dylan's Candy Bar to unleash your inner child.

12:10-2pm - Shopping & lunch on Melrose Avenue

Melrose Avenue is every shopaholics paradise. Whether it's high fashion or vintage stores you're after, they have it all! Shopping can leave you feeling peckish, so make sure you head to Urth Caffe for lunch. I recommend picking up one of their vegan cookies, they're delicious! They also offer a range of yummy boba tea and smoothies. This place has a lot of celebrity clientele, so keep you're eyes peeled. Who knows? You might be sipping tea next to your favourite TV star.

(Urth Caffe photo credt: www.eyeonweho.com)

2:10-4pm - Beverly Hills

Sample the life of the A-List at Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive is full of expensive fashion stores such as Chanel but if you don't have an A-List wallet then don't worry! You don't need a single penny to people watch and take in the beautiful scenery. The cars on Rodeo Drive are enough to drive any motorist green with envy. While you're in the area don't forget to check out the famous Beverly Hills sign.

4:30-6pm - Venice Beach Boardwalk

I can't quite put Venice Beach boardwalk into words. This place is bustling, there is a lot going on and you wont quite know where to look first.  If you're feeling extra adventurous you can see the sights by renting a pair of roller skates or a bike and ride along the boardwalk with the locals. On my first to the boardwalk, I witnessed a lot of pets in fancy dress, a two headed turtle outside of a freak show, men working out at muscle beach and an array of street performers. Venice Beach has every type of character, which makes it very interesting to say the least. To truly understand this place, you have to visit and soak up the energy.

6:10pm-8pm - Santa Monica Pier & Pacific Park

If you were feeling in the mood for some exercise, this place is easily accessible by foot from Venice Beach boardwalk. The walk takes under the hour and the sights look extra stunning during sunset. Either way, Santa Monica is definitely worth your while. There is an amusement park called 'Pacific Park' situated on the pier. If you only have time for one attraction you should make it the ferris wheel to enjoy the view.

8-10pm - Dinner at Santa Monica Place

(Photo credit: Santa Monica Place Wikipedia page)

With everything from Johnny Rockets American Diner to M.A.K.E raw food restaurant you will be spoiled for choice! Or if it's dessert you're after, there is even a self-serve Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt store. From fast food to fine dining there is something to suit every budget.

10:30pm till late - Sunset Boulevard

The nightlife on Sunset Boulevard is second to none! You can enjoy many a cocktail here (If you're not the designated driver of course!). You could visit Saddle Ranch which is a western themed chop house and bar featuring a mechanical bull if you're feeling brave! Or you could visit the old haunts of late movie stars such as River Phoenix at The Viper Room, there is a lot of Hollywood history here. The Viper Room also used to be partly owned by Johnny Depp! Most of bars are open here until 2am and if you need a place to stay, the boulevard has many hotels. The London and Chateau Marmont are popular choices but if your budget is a bit lower, there are many options including the Saharan Motor Hotel and Grafton on Sunset.

All photographs used for this blog post are mine unless stated otherwise.

L’Oréal Miss Manga Mascara

After being told constantly that my eyes look like cartoon eyes, and that I look like various types of women from Japanese comics, I decided to give 'Miss Manga' mascara a try. It seems as if it had been made for me! I love it when my eyes stand out, they're probably my favourite feature.

I love the bottle of this mascara as I love pink! Girly I know. I love the brush too, it's kind of twirly if you can tell in the photo. It separates your lashes in a cutesy type twiggy way, if that makes sense? So it gives your eyes a fluttery fake lash effect. I love this on my bottom lashes. I always apply my mascara on the bottom lashes with the tip of the brush! It works well with this because it's pointy.

The wand can bend whichever way you want it to. If you've ever used the 'get bent' Benefit mascara then it's kind of like that. It doesn't really stay in position for long, but if I bend it in the lid enough it kind of does. I don't know if it's supposed to stay but you can make it. It does help for applying, I didn't think it would but it does.

Before and after... As you can see, it's quite impressive. It takes less coats than usual, also it's less clumpy! With other mascaras I will admit, I use far too much of them to get the effect I want.

Overall I'd say this mascara isn't the best I've ever used but it is probably one of them. For the price it's absolutely outstanding. I really can't see a difference in this mascara than the ones from higher end brands. I will definitely purchase this product again!

Kelly & Sharon Osbourne's cosmetic line for MAC

As a huge fan of the Osbourne's show when I was a teenager, I was always obsessed with Kelly Osbourne's style. As an overweight eccentric teen, for years I looked up to her as an inspiration. I love her hair, her fashion sense and her make up looks.

One of Kelly's favorite lipstick shades is MAC's Candy Yum Yum, I got it after seeing it on her so often. It's a very bright pink shade, she wears so many dramatic make up looks and I expect nothing less from this collection. I think this line her and her mother Sharon have created is the collection I have most looked forward to... Ever. I literally stopped what I was doing when I saw the picture of the pretty pink tube on her Facebook page.

I am a MAC lipstick fanatic so I am expecting great things from the lipstick they produce. As we have seen before with the likes of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga, MAC have had some amazing celeb collaborations. By looking at the looks Kelly wears, I think that her products may be too colorful for some. I don't mind going bright on the lips but not so much elsewhere so if there was to be bright eye shadows I might not purchase those. I hope that Kelly's side of the collection will be daring and Sharon's side a little more wearable for my daily routine.

Get saving your pennies as this collection debut's on the 4th June.

Retiring from dying my hair.

So after about 12 years of dying my hair I admit defeat. I have said this many times now but I've had every colour under the sun (it feels like anyway) and I ended up hating them all and going back brunette... every time. Right now as I type this I have a hedgehog hairstyle. Blonde hair just wasn't worth the hair loss and tears.

During the back to brunette process a key ingredient is to dye your hair red. If you are ever going to take the plunge to platinum then please do remember dying your hair back to brunette is no easy task. As you can see above my hair has all fallen out at the back and I am left with spikes. I looked like Johnny Rotten last night.

Today my hair is looking somewhat back to normal at the front at least. I have had two semi permanent browns over it and it is still wishy washy to say the least. However it is on the mend!

With this blog post comes my warning, please do not bleach your hair as much as I do to impress others. For years I have fallen into so many hair trend traps with the hopes I will look better. At the end of the day, what you like the most is what matters. You have to be happy with your colour first, I hope I can take my own advice and stick to my brunette locks. It's better to have healthy happy hair over the sad excuse I have now. You will always have that person who thinks you look better blonde, red, black or even purple... But it's you who has to live with it.

Lush Holiday Gifts

So I haven't posted in a while due to it being the holidays and all. Also I haven't been feeling myself lately, slightly under the weather! However I got a few lovely Lush gifts this Christmas and I must inform you of them!

It's like tradition my mother buys me Christmas gifts from Lush, she usually gets me a gift set of all my favourites but since I already had some snow fairy in the bathroom she thought she would put together her own gift box for me. I am glad since she put together some really great products I might never have tried and now I'm addicted. If you haven't already then you should try them too! It's always good to get out your beauty comfort zone.

My favourite of all the products is this little shower gel called rose jam. I love rose scented things but often they can smell a bit like they were made for your nan rather than a girl in their 20s but this product is different it's very very sweet and includes lemon to spice things up a bit and I can not stop using it. I even use it as shampoo. I assume since you can use other shower gels as shampoo in lush this should be the same. It seems to work fine in my hair anyway.

Another product i got is one I've used before, fresh farmacy is one of my favourite face washes in the world. Whe I first used it years ago it dried my face. Since though, I've realised the less you use of this stuff the better it works. It helps keep spots and oil away.

Rehab shampoo is just really lovely, the smell isn't something I would usually pick but it helps to wake me up and helps me feel alert in the mornings. It really makes my hair feel clean and does it's job well! My hair has been super dry since I've been blonde and it does help using it along side my conditioners.

Hair doctor is an amazing product, it helps not only my hair but my scalp too. From bleaching my hair and scalp becomes so burnt, this helps to sooth your scalp whilst helping my hair feel more full and more manageable again.

I've been using Retread daily and it is a great conditioner, upon first use my hair felt super healthy. I've only had it since Xmas though and I've nearly ran out! I wish it was in a bottle instead of a tub because I think it would help me control how much I use.

Rock star soap is one of my favourite Lush soaps. It reminds me of snow fairy shower gel, it's very sweet and I love the way it feels on my skin. I am also a sucker for anything pink so the bright colour is also a bonus!

I have regained my Lush obsession this holiday period. I can not wait to get the biggest bottle of Rose Jam they sell as it is officially my new favourite Lush product replacing snow fairy.