Chocolate Afternoon Tea at Hilton Park Lane

For the concluding part of this year's birthday festivities, I made my way to the Podium Restaurant at the Park Lane Hilton to sample their much-feted chocolate afternoon tea, along with Mummy and Nana Muses, Uncle Roger, my cousins Martina and Mark and our family friend Peter (sadly, my BFF and Uncle Martin had to pull out due to illness/teething troubles). 

I decided to style a nu-vintage monochrome look around my new cropped eyelash jumper from Primark (yes, that one) for the occasion... It's soooo snuggly, although, on an unseasonably mild early October day, it caused me to swelter a little bit on the way there! The ensemble also provided the perfect canvas for my amazing new monochrome wedge shoes, discovered in the Dotty P's sale last week: comfort + style + absolutely no compromises = hurrah!

Top, Skirt, Blazer and Bag: All Primark, Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

As for the tea itself, although the surroundings weren't quite as elegant as at The Savoy (and we had to pour our own tea and place our own napkins in our laps - for shame!), the setting was great for a more casual bite. The individually plated open sandwiches (including my specially prepared veggie versions) were delish, and the warm scones (plain and chocolate chip), with choice of warmed chocolate spread or double cream and strawberry jam, were divine. Sadly, we weren't given enough "fancies" to be able to try one of each, but Martina and I got around this by, rather messily, cutting each treat on our stand in half! Not all were quite as exciting as the delicacies on offer at The Savoy, but the elderflower cupcake and milk chocolate cremeux deserve a special mention. For a chocolate tea, there wasn't quite as much chocolate as we expected, but most of us agreed that a bit of variety was a good thing, and the chocolate chip scones and co-ord spread alone made it worthy of the title!

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Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You...

You may or may not have noticed that I've been a bit quieter than usual lately - this is partly due to my furthering my thespian aspirations by going back to school (acting school, this time), and partly due to my partaking in various prosecco, tea and shopping-related festivities in honour of my 28th birthday. The first part means that I have committed myself to spending at least 2 days a week wearing black clothes in which I am happy to roll around on dirty floors if required (boo - it's not all corsets and crinolines, sadly). The second part, though, means I have lots of lovely new things to wear on the other 5 days, like this ridiculously cute pussycat skirt from my BFF, the latest bundle of joy to join my kitty clothing cache - yay! Here's to many more years of not acting or dressing like a grown-up.

Skirt: H&M, Shirt: Primark, Blazer c/o F&F, Shoes: Boohoo

Anyone else still a crazy cat lady?

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Review: Rimmel London ScandalEyes Thick & Thin Eyeliner

It's not all that often I'm moved to write a beauty post, but, if there's one beauty product close to my heart, it's liquid liner... When my trusty Rimmel Glam'Eyes Liquid Eye Liner finally dried out recently, I decided to try out one of those enticing felt-tip types... Although, after many years of practise, I felt pretty much at home with traditional liquid liner brushes, I couldn't resist finding out whether these lived up to the hype. With the additional promise of fingertip control over line thickness (apparently even changeable mid-flick, if so desired), this one sounded too good to be true...

So, was it?

The Good

I'll start with one thing I loved - I found it fantastic for lining my lower lids. This is something I've never managed satisfactorily with a standard liquid liner applicator - my lower eyelashes tend to cause "splatter", and I have trouble getting underneath them to apply close enough to the lashline. With this product, I experienced no splatter, and easily managed to get right up to the lashline, and even between lashes. So, instead of having to rely on pencil for under-eye definition, I can finally manage a perimetric graphic liquid outline if I so desire - hurrah!

The Not So Good

However, I didn't find it so useful for lining my upper lids. Weirdly, I found it more difficult to get close to my upper lashline than I do with a standard brush! I'm also having trouble getting the hang of the "thick & thin" thing, and even figuring out which end is meant to be which, to be honest... I find that the line tends to "feather" (only on my upper lids, though!), making it hard to get a good result in one sweep.

The Ugly

The worst thing about this product, though? When I opened it, the liquid dispersed easily, and had a strong, opaque quality... but from the fourth application on, application has taken significantly more effort, with intermittent shaking needed, skin drag becoming noticeable, and a translucent, patchy quality to the final result! I've since noticed other reviewers complaining about how quickly the product dries up. For around the last year, I have alternated between Rimmel Glam'Eyes Liquid Eye Liner in Black and Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Liner in Brown. Neither showed any sign of drying until more than 9 months had passed (or the equivalent of 4.5 months of daily use), and I am, in fact, still happily using the Brown liner! In comparison, a lifetime of 4.5 days seems downright ridiculous!

Would I Buy it Again?

I would have repurchased this product for under-eye use, had it had a longer shelf-life. However, taking this into account, I will almost definitely be returning to Glam'Eyes and/or Exaggerate instead. I have no wish to tar all "felt tip" type applicators with the same brush, as it were, but I will be checking out existing reviews more carefully if/when I consider trying another!

Have you tried any of the new breed of eyeliner pens? What did you think?

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Review: Daisy Street Mom Jeans

Following weeks of hope, prayer and cross-country wailing, Daisy Street's stocks of their sell-out Grayce mom jeans were finally replenished recently, with a frantic 2am transaction securing me the last acid wash pair in my size! Since I'd already tried out the Topshop versions for research purposes, I thought I may as well give you my thoughts on how these measure up...

In terms of fit, I'd say these come up quite small - significantly smaller than the Topshop versions (which I know are generally considered a small fit themselves), so, if you're unsure, curvy of hip or thigh, or between sizes, definitely size up (my Daisy Street disco pants are size 8; these are size 10). They're also cut fairly slim for mom jeans - slightly relaxed rather than baggy and oversized - personally, I quite like the more streamlined feel, although, in an ideal world, I'd have an oversized pair too. What did scare me at first, though, was the effort it took to squeeze my heels through the tiny ankle holes!! Thankfully, they soon loosened up sufficiently... however, I did find it a little strange that the turn-ups are actually sewn up (the probable cause of the heel issue)! You could quite easily unpick the stitches if you wished, but, since they are still long enough to tuck into boots come winter (I've turned them up once or twice more for the pictures below), I am leaving mine alone for now. They sit slightly higher on the waist than the Topshop versions, which I like, and I believe they are also slightly longer, even with the enforced turn-ups, which may make them more cold-weather-friendly.

My pair appear slightly darker than the image on the website, with the acid wash less pronounced than I expected - however, the actual shade is very "wearable", and not at all disappointing.

The denim is very thick, much like the Topshop versions. It takes some time to get used to the unwieldiness of "real" jeans after so many years spent living in stretch fabrics, but, once you do, they're pretty comfortable... If you're after the '90s look, they definitely feel authentic! Actually, the first thing that struck me when I tried these on was how much they reminded me of something I would have worn a decade ago... Swap the heels and hi-tops for Adidas Superstars, turn down the turn-ups and these photos could be of me at 16! Is anyone else over 25 struck by a faint sense of ridiculousness at the notion of clamouring for the very things we threw off en masse when Britney Spears introduced us to the excitement of thong-flashing in elasthane-enhanced denim-hybrids? Back in the dim and distant past when "mom jeans" were simply known as "jeans"... In any case, this realisation doesn't in any way diminish my excitement at finally getting my hands on these, or my enthusiasm for trying them out with every other item in my wardrobe!

Hi-Lo

Jeans: Daisy Street, Top: Primark, Blazer: F&F, Shoes: Boohoo

Varsity Casual

Jeans and Jacket: Both Daisy Street, Top: Topshop, Trainers: River Island

Have you welcomed mom into your wardrobe?

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Missguided Mesh Panel Playsuit

A few days ago, I was delighted to be contacted by the lovely Becca of Fashion Train, telling me that I had won her Missguided playsuit giveaway! It arrived today, and, well, let's just say I didn't waste any time getting to grips with it!

I'd been intrigued by the geo-mesh-panel thing since Nicole Scherzinger stepped out on stage in that Missguided jumpsuit (still available here), but this short white version jumped out at me even more... I loved the way the cute high-waisted A-line shorts section balanced out the graphic lines and daring cut-out panels of the top half, giving it a softer, easier-to-wear quality.

Cut-outs and sheer panelling can easily equal "trashy", especially when they're located around the chest area, and especially if said chest is larger than a D cup, so I'm not sure I would have tried this style out if I hadn't won the giveaway. However, the sizing and positioning of these panels, at least, rendered such concerns superfluous, securing a position on the right side of the Urban Edge vs. Dancing on Ice spectrum. Although it would be pretty much impossible to wear anything but stick-on-cups, should you be so inclined, under this, there's no danger of a "wardrobe malfunction" should you choose to go au naturel, either.

Perfect timing for summer's promised encore this weekend, accessorised with my trusty knee-high glads, but definite potential as an AW wonder accompanied by opaques (not pictured - I refuse to relinquish my legs to nylon just yet) and Litas too!

A word of advice re: sizing, if you are contemplating investing in one of these playsuits or jumpsuits - all the other playsuits and jumpsuits in my (somewhat Herculean) collection are a size 8, but this is a perfect fit in a 10 - so probably worth sizing up if you are over 5'7 and/or a D cup!

Playsuit: Missguided, Gladiator Sandals: eBay (see this post), Boots: both pairs c/o Boohoo

Have you given the Scherzy look a whirl?

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