OOTD: new haircut

With the sun finally hitting the UK, I decided my long hair of previous was getting too unmanageable, and thus, in trimming it, I've gone from Alicia Vikander in The Light Between Oceans length to Jessica Chastain in Miss Sloane length! And, in keeping consistent with the Chastain look, I've duly painted my nails black, like Liz Sloane had!

Dress: Marietta dress from Hobbs

Earrings: Amazon

Glasses: Red or Dead

The Marietta dress is now  the third dress from Hobbs I own (the other two: un et deux). Their dresses are perfect for the kind of aesthetic I'm going for at work: elegant and demure.

I find clothes definitely help with the 'fake it 'til you make it' mentality, by which I mean, even if I'm in a sub-optimal mood, if I'm at least sharply dressed at work, I feel better about myself. This then helps to improve my frame of mind, and how I carry out my work.

Mark Twain absolutely nailed it when he said 'clothes make the man'.

OOTD: Wearing my 'Insufferable Emma' dress

My five least favourite actresses are Jennifer Lawrence (eighth worst performance of 2017), Emma Stone (actually not a bad actress tbf, but she stole a role from an Asian actress in Aloha), Emma Watson (worst performance of 2017), Cara Delevingne (fourth worst performance of 2017), and Kaya Scodelario (I don't contribute to her Box Office takings so haven't seen a film she's been in for years, thankfully).

So 40% of my 'Insufferable Women' list consists of women who share the same name as me. What they also have in common is that in the musicals they acted in, their singing was... not the best. This quote from Phantom Thread perfectly summarises my reaction when I heard Emma Stone wail through 'Audition' and Emma Watson's auto-tuned caterwauling in 'Belle':

In La La Land and Beauty and the Beast, the two Emmas each wore a yellow dress. Stone's came in the 'A Lovely Night' dance, and Hermione's was in the scene when she first dances with the Beast.

Not one to be left out, I thought I'd make like my two namesakes and also wear a yellow dress. After all, I too, am an Emma of dubious singing talent, who has far too high an opinion of herself. Hence, my yellow dress is verily named, the 'Insufferable Emma' dress.

Dress: John Lewis

Earrings: from China

Glasses: Red or Dead

OOTD: getting my 50s boogie on.

What I wore to dance the night away in Bloomsbury!

Dress: Warehouse

Review: ALL SHOOK UP! (Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes)

Fun night outs dancing in London were a staple of my late teen and early-20s, and I wished this to be the same for my brother. So last night, me, Tom, and two of my friends hit the London’s 1950s & 60s Party at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes for some good old fashioned rock n’ roll and jive-style boogying.

Product reviews: three shower gels (Radox, Boots own brand)

The Radox Brazilian fusion was 50p from Superdrug, the Zingy Lime Fizz was 75p from Boots, and the Radox lavender and waterlily shower gel was £1 from Boots.

Radox Brazillian fusion was by far my favourite of the three. It had an incredibly fresh smell and I loved the way it left my skin feeling afterwards, smooth and hydrated. There was a spicy edge to its aroma, which I presume is the Brazilian contingent. A.

The 'zinginess' of the Boots Zingy lime fizz was a little too pungent; the smell completed overpowered my nosebuds when I applied some. Unfortunate, as I adore the colour (my bedroom walls are that exact same shade of lime green). C

Conversely, the scent of the Radox lavender and waterlilly was far too faint. No sooner had I applied it to my skin and washed it off, the smell of the product had gone. I know shower gels aren't supposed to linger that much (that's what perfumes are for, after all), but this shower gel was too diluted by half. The picture above, of the watery consistency, can attest to that. C+

---

The rest of my product reviews are here.

Product review: OFFICE DEPOT POP-UP FLAGS

As a research student, I read a lot of journal articles on my topic of interest, articles of which I then file away in ring-binders before staring another one. The problem of getting through so many is that, when, in a Eureka moment, I want to go through an old paper, I waste a lot of time sifting through ring binders not just looking the article in question, but looking for the exact sentence that contained the interesting philosophy I wish to revisit.

OOTD: Gone Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Shirt: Hollister

Vest top (worn underneath): Primark

Earrings: TK Maxx

Glasses: Red or Dead

The best Kanye West album.

Remember when this bellend graduated from her undergraduate degree? Well, yesterday was the sequel to that, in the form of my Masters graduation. I'm a Master of Science now, baby!

Dress: John Lewis

Necklace: Topshop

Bracelet: Miss Selfridge

Boots: New Look

I look fug in this one but my brother's smile is lovely <3 p="">

I didn't customise my nails to match my graduation gown as I did in 2013, but my nice happenstance, the John Lewis dress I chose matched my gown, so that worked!

Graduation nails.

Our graduation robes are the standard black, but the sashes/ribbons down them are yellow and green, so I thought I'd paint my nails accordingly.

Thankfully, as I have quite the arsenal of nail polish colours, I didn't need to buy any new colours to fulfil this, instead drawing on supplies from existing reserves:

 

Colours: Rimmel London in Green Grass, Missguided Mislead (free with magazine years ago) and The Works topcoat

 

I painted four nails yellow, with the ring finger green:

 

I'm undecided about this. As you can see, the Missguided nail polish has sparkles in it, where the green is just a solid block of colour. I actually have Rimmel London in a similar shade to the yellow, but just without sparkles, and I figure I probably should have gone for continuity.

 

Oh well, what's done is done, I ain't removing it! :p