Archive for January 2014

Dreamy Denim

Dress: Topshop | Stripy Crop: Miss Selfridge | Boots: Dorothy Perkins

The most inconceivable incident took place right in the middle of my outfit pictures today; the sun began to shine. After weeks of grey clouds and drizzle flood-inducing downpours, the sun put his hat on just in time to mess up the lighting for my photos. How inconsiderate. Weather-related gripes aside though, this is what I wore when I popped into town with Mama Bear today - if you understand 'pop into town' to mean going with the intention of refunding a couple of bits but then browsing for 6 hours and coming home with more than I went out with, then yes, that's exactly what we did. And it was awesome.

The premature Spring-like sunshine persuaded me to head out sans 50lbs coat, which turned out to be a mistake. Brr. My efforts to layer up with this long sleeved stripy top were futile, but I'd do it all again for the sake of wearing this dress! My new Topshop-flavoured infatuation: the denim shift dress of dreams. Dreeeaamy. I must admit, I bloody love a shift dress - and not only because it's my unremitting mission to morph into (faux) 60s sexy Megan Draper - I just think they're so flattering and you can stuff yourself with cake in the M&S cafe until your heart's content and no one will be any the wiser. Winning combo.

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DIY: Decopatchin'

So last week my sporadic spending habits escalated to a whole new level of crazy in the form of a cardboard 'N'. Although I had every intention of whipping out the paint brush and transforming it into something fabulous for my bedroom, with my horrendous track record of randomly purchasing things and never using them, this was a pretty risky purchase #LivingontheEdge. However this time, ladies, I surprised even myself.

I've tried to make my room pretty and girly with French phrases in perfect pastel pinks and purples or perfume bottles adorning any and every flat surface, but when you have one bright green wall (see this post) - a blindingly obvious telltale of your inner garishness - there's only so far les français can take you. So I've decided to embrace The Green and add some beautiful gaudy garnishing to my room. I think it actually suits its gentle surroundings, in a weird, opposing kind of way.



Basically I decopatched the heck out of the N, which is essentially the art of ripping pieces of paper up and sticking 'em on with glue. You will need a cardboard shape (I bought this N from Hobbycraft for just £1, but you can get all sorts of animals and objects), a paintbrush, some specially formulated Decopatch Glossy Glue and, of course, decopatch paper. I bought the latter three from The Decopatch Place (cutest little site ever) for less than £6. They have a huge range of papers to choose from or you could purchase one of their starter packs and delivery is super quick.



As the name would suggest, traditional decopatching consists of patches of paper being stuck on to create a patchwork effect. I bent the rules slightly and did strips of paper, which I think works just as well. Rip the pieces up in your desired shape, whack some glue on your cardboard...whatever, stick down your paper and glue over the top to give it a glossy finish when dry. And repeat...1,000 times.



This took me about 30-45 minutes to complete and I'm so pleased with the results. Usually when I set out to do something even remotely creative, my efforts never quite turn out how I imagined (see Halloween spider costume), but my decopatched N has become one of my few successes. I love how it's completely personalised and it only cost me £6.98 altogether - I still have loads of paper left over too, what should I decopatch next? I kind of want a zebra/leopard printed animal head??

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Candle Shopping and Such

I've always found there's an undeniable tranquility about garden centres. I don't know if it's the sweet scented candles or the serene background music...or perhaps it's the higher levels of oxygen from all the indoor plants making me feel a bit light-headed. Either way, a little wander around the garden centre with my best friend browsing all things materialistic and unneccessary (read: pretty stationary, pretty candles, pretty bedroom bits), lunch and a hot chocolate seemed like the perfect way to spend the morning after a fourteen hour shift yesterday. Of course, I took my camera.

I confess: the main reason I ventured to the garden centre (the very same one my parents had to pratically drag me to during the summer holidays as a child) was that I knew they had Yankee Candles. On sale. I picked up 'Warm Spice' after thoroughly (and quickly) enjoying 'Vanilla Cupcake'. I'm pretty late to the party when it comes to scented candles, so please let me know if you have any favourites. I love anything sickly sweet! I also bought this mug for about £2 because it reminds me of Chanel No.5. It will go on display somewhere in my room when I've thought of something to put in it (suggestions?). Finally I bought a cardboard 'N' with the intention of getting a bit creative with tissue paper and the ol' PVA glue. Whether or not that will ever actually happen is yet to be seen. Standard Natalie behaviour.

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B&B Thickening Hairspray

Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray - £21.50

Everyone, I have found my soul-mate. He's seven inches tall and comes lightly fragranced. Over the last four weeks I have been indulging in the Bumble and Bumble Thickening Hairspray and I am totally in love; he knows what he's supposed to do and he does it very well. Honestly, it's been an absolute pleasure. I have thin, very straight hair which, when left to dry naturally (which I rarely allow), looks flat/lank/a bit crap. For years I have trialled pretty much every volumising product going and, until recently, I was convinced the only way to add volume to my hair was by using a mousse, which left my hair very stiff at the roots and quickly made it look greasy. The BB Thickening spray is 250ml of pure heaven for thin hair, really. I usually spray a generous amount all in the roots and lengths of my hair before blow-drying upwards with a round brush. The result: a seriously volumed barnet which leaves hair feeling natural and non-producty. It's so refreshing to buy a hair product which actually does what it says it's going to do. Although, for £21.50, it's definitely on the pricier end of the hair product spectrum, but I've been using it for four weeks (washing my hair 2-3 times a week) and the line is down to the top of the 'Bb', which I suppose is about a quarter of the bottle, so I expect this to last a good two more months at least. I really can't recommend this product enough!

What are your volumising must-haves?

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The Way You Make Me Feel

Jacket: Pronto | Top: Primark | Trousers: Topshop | Shoes: Topshop | Necklace: Primark

It doesn't seem so long ago that I'd refuse to leave the house wearing anything but my super low-rise, super flared, super long Levis. When I first saw skinny jeans in Topshop, I remember thinking "I'm NEVER wearing THOSE". Of course these days the exact oppostite is true; if they're not high-waisted and ankle-baring, the chances are I won't wear them, which is why I am head over heels for these check trousers. I wasn't sure when they first arrived, but I'm so glad I decided to keep them. They'd be perfect for the office too, but seeing as I don't have an office to go to, I'll just continue pairing them with my leather jacket.

You may have noticed a difference in the quality of my photos - I have finally invested in a new lens for my little Nikon. I've had my camera for over a year now and I've slowly been learning more and more about it by playing around with the various knobs and switches (all technical terms here!) - I've even been experimenting with the manual mode. After a little research on one of those 'Cameras for Stupid People' websites and a lot of luck finding a good deal on ebay, I purchased a 50mm f/1.8 which has improved depth of field and lets SO much more light in - particularly good for dull winter afternoons! I'm having so much fun playing around with it, although my camera looks scarily professional wearing the new lens.

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Maybelline Dream Touch Blush

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush - £6.49

I'm not really one to smother my face in make up on a daily basis. Here's a fun fact: during the last few months of my degree, I ventured to the library everyday completely make up free. Oh yeah. To be fair, I had a few more important things to be worrying about at the time, such as the impending 10,000 word dissertation but the less said about that, the better. Even now I don't like to wear too much make up unless I have to, so when I do, I like to keep things nice and natural looking. In my opinion, a light, dewy base is imperative for natural-looking make up - my latest addition to which is this perfectly pretty little blusher. The Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 06 is a lovely mousse consistency in a beautiful shimmery pink/coral shade. I usually dot it along my cheeks then blend it in using the MAC 109. It creates a beautiful warm glow perfect for a natural looking base and because it's a mousse, you have control of the intensity of the colour and the shimmer depending on how much you blend it.

Overall, it's a nice little edition to my make up bag and at only £6.49, you can't really go wrong. What are your favourite products for a natural looking base?

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Hearts and Crosses

Shirt: Next | Skirt: H&M | Boots: Topshop | Hat: ASOS | Bag: Red Herring | Socks: ASOS

This is just an outfit I picked up off my bedroom floor for a mooch around the shops at the weekend. I seem to have acquired a post-Christmas-spending-spree induced mound of clothing on my floor and thought I'd better wear them, if only to make my bedroom look a little tidier. I really love this shirt; I've been looking for the perfect tartan shirt for the longest time - who'd have thought I'd find it in the mens section of Next? I don't usually shop in Next - much less from the mens section - but I was helping my brother get some ideas for the groom and groomsmen suits for his wedding in March (nothing like leaving it to eight weeks before the event, eh?) and that's when I saw it. I'm trying to ignore that fact that I had to buy a large in mansizes and just concentrate on the dreamy deep greens, blues and reds that make this shirt the perfect winter accompaniment to staple (faux) leather pieces, such as this biker skirt. Does pairing the shirt with my uber cute new backpack count as print clashing? I received this for Christmas and I'm in love with the Burberry-esque velvet heart print. I feel like a little schoolgirl wearing it!

As I sit here typing away in my cosily-lit bedroom with my lamps and my brand new Vanilla Cupcake scented Yankee Candle and my tartan bootie-style slippers (am I a proper blogger yet?), I'm brainstorming a few new design ideas for Just a Thought...something a little more minimalist but a bit more girly, I think. Just a Thought is a year and a half old and, if I'm honest, I'm just a bit sick of looking at the design! Or maybe, as I've recently changed up my room and cut my hair, I've become a borderline obsessive redecorator who just doesn't know when to stop? Actually, although I don't really make New Year's Resolutions, one thing I have promised myself this year is that I really want to put more effort into this blog. Having gone from straight from being a student to interning to working, I haven't always had the time to put as much effort in as I'd have liked. Now I have, and will - starting with a redesign. I want something a little less in-ya-face. We'll see how goes though, I still need to break the news to my boyfriend that I need him to recode it all for me...

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New Year, New Hair


New year, new hair. Cheeeeese. Actually, the decision to shear my head (kind of) has little to do with the new year; I would have gotten the chop weeks ago had my hairdresser not been fully booked over Christmas. The truth is, my long hair and I hadn't been getting on for quite a while. I was constantly making excuses that things would get better - that I just needed a few more layers cut in, or that I'd buy some new styling products and everything would work out fine. In the end it was clear nothing was going to make a difference and after one too many topknot days, I decided the hair had to go.
My hair is fairly thin, so having it long really weighed it down and made it flat. Now, I know I overuse the phrase "there are few things I hate more than...", but seriously, there is NOTHING I hate more than flat hair. Flat hair can ruin my day - and anyone who might have the pleasure of my company on said day. So I decided to get a whopping five inches hacked off in favour of a blunt, messy elongated bob with a few long layers for texture and oomph - and I love it. It might seem weird, but having been bored and annoyed with my hair for such a long time, it feels so strange (and nice!) to have a style that I really like and actually look forward to styling. I've decided I actually quite like making drastic changes to my hair - don't get me wrong, I'm hardly going to dye it blonde or anything, but I find it so liberating and fun going for something so different. I've been playing around with some new products recently which has been pretty fun, so I'll be posting about that when I've perfected my routine. I've always wondered what it would be like to actually like my hair. It's good.

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Room Tour

Happy new year! I hope everyone fully enjoyed themselves seeing in the new year and are now suitably partied-out. I certainly am. In fact, I partied so hard this (last?) December 31st that I've given myself laryngitis. Yeah, how cool am I? So my start to 2014 is considerably more quiet than the end of 2013! I was meant to be doing some extra hours at work today but obviously had to ring in sick, so I've decided to get my thoughts down on a webpage (seeing as I can't vocalise them!) with a little room-tour post.

So this is where I'm usually sat when I'm writing on this blog or doing other internt-y things. Since finishing university and moving back home last summer, I've been doing my room up little by little and trying to give it a bit more character. I never really bothered before because I was always flitting between home and uni, but it's become a fun little on-going project for me! It's still not finished; I'm planning to get all creative and make some DIY bits for decoration, but for now I'm pretty pleased with how it looks.

I hope all are enjoying the last few days of the Christmas period, or if you're one of those back in the office today, I hope that's not too grim. I shall be chilling at home with this bad boy and my newly downloaded "Speak For Me" app. Wahey.

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