What A Beauty - Frankie Diary 2012

I've had my eye on the Frankie diaries for a while now and today mine finally arrived. I'm a long time reader of the magazine as it is so beautiful so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed and I was right.

The cloth bound cover ticks all the right boxes for me and inside it is even more beautiful. There's section for everything inside including birthdays, to do lists and even calling cards. Frankie always work with an illustrator on the diaries so they are extra beautiful. I love that they even have an illustration at the back to depict the time worldwide.

I believe they're sold out now but head on over to Carrie's blog to win one as well as other goodies in her Xmas giveaway!

Introducing..... Baby The Stars Shine Bright

BTSSB is a Japanese clothing brand specialising in the sweet lolita style. Lolita is a fashion subculture influenced by the Victorian and Rococo eras. Key elements of the brand are bows, frills & lace so it is the perfect style for the feminine lover in me.




 The brand is based in Shibuya, Tokyo but also has a store in Paris. Lolita fashion is gaining popularity in the west and BTSSB is quickly gaining a cult like status. The complete range includes dresses, skirts, blouses, headdresses, jewellery, shoes & coats.

Visit the Baby The Stars Shine Bright website for the full range.

Lime Crime Magic Dust in Medusa

Today I'm bringing you the second of my Lime Crime reviews (you can see the 1st one here). I've been wanting to try the magic dusts ever since they first launched. I opted for a dark shade as I'm a massive fan of the classic smoky eye but the range comes in almost every colour of the rainbow.

 

 The packaging is cute and kitsch with the Lime Crime unicorn adorning the lid. I often have problems applying loose eyeshadows but this one applied smoothly and easily. I wouldn't advise applying without the help of a brush. Like all loose shadows be careful of excess falling powder landing under your lower lash line. I avoid this issue by placing a little loose face powder under my eyes then brushing it away after. This shadow has a slight shimmer but it's not overwhelming and it stayed put all day long which in my experience is a rare thing for loose shadows. I'm really keen to try the other brighter loose shadows and maybe try mixing colours to create my own custom colour.

 



 

Overall A high quality easy to apply loose shadow with great staying power. This colour would be excellent for nights out to achieve a dramatic smoky eye. Highly pigmented. A little goes a long way. Available online from the Lime Crime website. Price - $14 (£9-10)

Kawaii Goodness - Chicki.co.uk

Kawaii is a popular subculture from Japan which literally translates to 'cute'. Hello Kitty could be classed as cute but kawaii is used to describe a wide variety of items. Finding kawaii clothing, jewellery & stationery in the UK can be a bit of a challenge. But I've found the answer to mine and other kawaii lovers prayers. Chicki is a UK based online store dedicated to kawaii. It not only sells tonnes of kawaii goodness but they also sell those cultish Blythe dolls. My fave discovery on the site is the amazing clothing brand Tokidoki. I've been a massive fan of this brand for a long time but haven't seen it on sale in the UK until now. I've picked out a few of my favorite items from the site below (by the way the items that looks like Japanese momiji dolls are actually erasers
- incredible!)      

 For more kawaii goodness visit the Chicki website.

Loving.... Japanese Artist Takashi Murakami

 

 My love of Japan has been documented widely throughout this blog but I've mostly focused on the fashion side of Japanese culture so today I'm going to introduce you to my favorite ever artist - Takashi Murakami. So who is he? Takashi Murakami was born in 1960 in Tokyo and studied at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts & Music. He is one of Japan's most well known artists and his influence is wide ranging and universal. This is an artist that doesn't limit himself to one particular medium. His body of work includes cartoon characters, sculptures, album artwork for the likes of Kanye West, balloons and graphics. His work has been shown worldwide at prestigious galleries including Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York. He's even dipped his toes into the fashion world through collaborations with Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton. Last year he guest styled for an issue of POP magazine which included styling Brittany Spears into a life like manga character. His work is amazing and entirely unique. He doesn't limit himself to one particular medium and his influence on Japanese modern art is undeniable.

Shoes Glorious Shoes

Like a lot of women out there I'm obsessed with shoes but with a shoe size UK 8 my choices can be fairly limited. I've been hankering after a pair of wedges with a modest heel that tick my style boxes but a pair that don't kill my feet after 5 minutes wear. When online shoe superstore Zalando got in touch and asked if I'd like one of their gift vouchers so that I could choose a pair of my choice there was only one possible answer hell yes! I of course already knew and loved the store but it took me forever to choose a pair as their selection is so extensive - even for a size 8 like myself. In the end I opted for these Seven Seconds wedges as I loved the details like the wool front panel, the buckles on the side and the laces on the heels. I also loved the wedge heel in a contrasting colour to the boot. I've worn them quite a lot now and they're the comfiest wedges I've ever owned.

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Zalando may be most well known for their footwear collection with brands such as Blowfish and Birkenstock available on the site. But they also stock Butter London polishes as well as other well known beauty brands (much to my joy & surprise) and a vast selection of clothes. I'm overjoyed with my boots and if you were at the London Xmas blogger meet you'll have spotted me wearing them. Have any of you shopped from Zalando before & more importantly what do you think of my beautiful booties?

Katy 'n' June - Quirky Korean Stationery in the UK

Whenever it nears the end of the year I always get an overwhelming urge to buy cute stationery. I'm a stationery addict at the best of times but at this time of year I'm even worse. So on Friday I decided to hunt down some beautiful high quality stationery. After extensive googling I was still no nearer to posessing my dream stationery. I was tempted to give up but instead I turned to the font of all knowledge - twitter! From my addiction to her blog I knew that like me Carrie of Wish Wish Wish was a stationery geek so I sent her a quick tweet and she sent me a list of sites to try. Thanks Carrie you rock!

 

One particular site stood out a mile due to its beautiful collection of Korean stationery. The site was Katy 'n' June. They import and sell a wide range of high quality Korean stationery. Now if you know me at all you'll know that I'm a huge fan of Japanese & Korean stationery. I was overjoyed to discover that Katy 'n' June stock my favorite ever stationery brand that I haven't been able to find in the UK until now. The brand is O Check Designs. So of course I placed an order that included 2 notebooks, deer design sticky notes and a zipped folder with handles that I'll use to store all of my favorite stationery. Delivery was super quick too I ordered on the Thursday and received my order early on the Saturday. Actually very early on the Saturday, the postie actually woke me up and witnessed my magnificent afro! I love the items I ordered but my wishlist of items from this site is as long as my arm so I thought it only right to show you my wishlist!
 Check out Katy 'n' June here

Review - Lime Crime Opaque Lipstick in Countessa

I've been a fan of the Doe Deere Blogazine for a long time now. The writers personal style is immennsely feminine and very frivolous - I adore frivolity. But she doesn't just write a blog she also runs her own beauty business which includes lipsticks, glosses and eye dusts. The colours in her collections appeal to my attention seeking side with shades such as yellow and green. Odd colours for lipsticks but so up my street. I've admired the range from afar but a couple of weeks ago I finally placed an order. I ordered one of the glosses, one of the eye dusts and of course a lipstick called Countessa which I'm reviewing for you today.


     
   

 The first thing you notice about Lime Crime makeup is the super cute packaging emblazoned with unicorns. I absolutely love it. Its a lot more fun than your average lipstick packaging and it looks so pretty and as you know I adore pretty things. The lippy applies smoothly and easily and quite evenly. My main problem with very opaque lip colours has been getting the colour even around my lipline but no such problem with this one. The colour is very bright so of course this colour won't suit everyone but the Lime Crime lipstick collection isn't all about super bright hues they also stock a lot of colours suitable for daily wear. This lipstick wears so well. I didn't need to touch it up for about 5 hours and I don't get that kind of wear from many lipsticks not even MAC. The only negative that I can find is the rather long delivery time as my order had to be sent all the way from the USA. Obviously this wouldn't prove to be a problem for my US based readers (which is about 50% of my readership). To view the whole range visit the Lime Crime Online Shop here. Lime Crime is also stocked at UK based Space NK and their site can be found here.

Christys Hats - English Heritage

I'm obsessed with hats. This has become especially true since cutting my hair short. A hat is a stylish finishing touch and there's a hat out there that goes with practically any outfit.

So when I discovered Christy's Hats I was overjoyed. The brand has been around since 1773 and makes the best hats in classic styles. Trilby's, pork pie, top hats - they make them all and more. They're handmade in the UK by experienced craftsmen so the quality is top rate. I love English heritage brands, it's always preferable to buy British even more so with the current economic situation.

Christy's Hats have been seen on the catwalk too for designers such as Kenzo and Paul Smith and they've been worn by the Queen so they have the royal seal of approval.

In the Uk they are available at Liberty, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. They're also available online at www.christys-hats.com

Friends of Couture - Vintage Inspired Style

Friends of Couture is an Australian based label that specialise in vintage inspired fashion. Founded in 2008 by Mark Zander who was already a keen collector of everything retro or vintage. He decided to put his vintage obsession to good use by forming Friends of Couture.

The label takes inspiration from the past to create a collection that is both classic and stylish with a vintage look. Designer Jo Matheson came on board to create looks based on Mark's vision. She takes the playfullness and cuteness from the past and transforms those elements into fun, wearable, vintage inspired pieces.

Friends of Couture has created collections that are timeless yet they give a nod to decades past. Fabrics are carefully selected to ensure the pieces last and full care and attention is given to the shape and fit of the designs. They manage to get the balance right between vintage style and modern wear.

FofC can be visited online here or if you're an Australian native you can find their stores at the following locations:

225 Chapel St, Prahran
186 Sydney St, Brunswick
311 Swanston St, Melbourne
306 - 308 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

Aftershock Autumn/Winter Collection 2011

I discovered UK brand Aftershock London when I attended Fashion Press Week earlier this month. I was immediately drawn to the stylish, high quality designs that the brand offer. Their clothes are trend influenced but not catwalk copycats.

For their A/W collection they've gone for designs that feature good tailoring, ladylike elegance and easy glamour.

The collection is split into 4 mini collections:

The new perception which updates the classics. It is a truly feminine range in designs that compliment different figures and shapes. The colour palette takes influence from the orient with hues ranging from blue to black.





Retro chic is the 2nd of their mini collections and is a nod to the 70s. Emphasis is put on clean lines, embellishment, metallic trims and satin details. The colour palette is fairly neutral with black and camel playing a key role.





The 3rd mini collection is entitled 'Winter Scarlet' and is high in the glamour stakes. Like the name suggests the key colour here is red.





Lastly comes 'Leopard and Lace' which is an Italian influenced mini collection. Partly influenced by screen sirens of decades past ala Sophia Loren. This collection has an edgy but romantic feel to it and utilises leopard print and black lace.





Aftershock's A/W collection can be found online at www.aftershockplc.com