the wasson effect

Today i will be speaking to you about a style crush i have, i refuse to say girl crush because i tend to cringe when i read those words in a magazine as they come across as stalker-ish. Style-crush i believe is more appropriate because i'm not loving this young lady's bad habits of smoking and pulling the finger coz she's just that damn cool, so i'm not fully committed to the title you see.
The girl in question being Ms Erin Wasson, i always feel silly saying her name out loud to someone because her last name doesn't seem right, it sounds unfinished, but i don't mind typing it...

Moving along, after seeing countless amounts of pics of this lovely model 'off duty' as they say, i have built a respect toward her styling ways, of course as all hot looking stylish ladies, she just looks as if she's thrown her outfit on, which in seeing her body language in other photos, she actually might have.
This girl just looks awesome, she's got that smouldering pouting look on her face like "i just stole your lipstick, what are you gonna do about it?", hence why she's one of the faces of Maybelline, and a glorious tan that is so not fake, and lastly a wicked sense of sexy/cool/dishevelled and sometimes homeless looking style that isn't too over the top, alot of the time she has barely any jewellery on, just her tatts, boots and hats (now i'm into rhyming it seems). She's like, so totally hot right now...

oh and her hair is just what i'm liking at the moment, a bit o' balayage it's called (fading from dark roots to light ends), so Mum, this is why i won't colour over my apparantley scraggly looking hair, coz i'm going for this look orright?

I have loved and tried to copy pretty much every look i've seen her do, the pic just above provoked me to purchase animal print boots - so worth it...
Also, this little chickie has been busy designing (and obviously modelling) her own jewellery line in her 'spare time'. Her pieces are similar to her, simple yet cool and a little bit American-Indian influenced too i reckon, so you may see her wearing a piece or two every now and then, it's called Low Luv, and i would like to get my hands on one of them (i see it and want it remember), this is her below with some of it on for the campaign, and if you look at the tatt on her arm that's where i think the American-Indian part comes in.

of course there's some boobie, it wouldn't be classic Erin without any, so this is the lady i think has great style and can be basic black dress one minute and hat and fur coat and man-style pants the next. Kudos to her.

make me up

So as i discover the perils of being a young adult and coping with budgeting, my 'wish list' grows and grows...
As i matured i also noticed a keen interest in beauty- not so much personal grooming, that's way too hard! ( don't worry, i am hygienic), but make-up. So i indeed get all giddy about the idea of a new beauty product or a colourful range, one of my more affordable favourites is Kit cosmetics. Although they only have two stores in the city which makes it hard to get to, i always enjoy my visits and all the lovely collages on the wall and pretty smells, i also like the emails they send me about new products...

As you would have read previously, i like the bold/pop colours, so when i saw their new range i took a mental note (and a physical one).

so this is what i am wanting, already a fan of the cute juicy glosses ( i have 2), and i loooove fuschia lipstick right now, this one caught my eye, especially considering the lipstick alone is $24.95, and this pack is $29.95, so the gloss is only $5! baaaaaaahhhhgan

The other beauty item on my list isn't rather a product, but a book, by Mr Francois Nars.
i do like to visit Mecca every now and then and i always head straight to the Nars display, i have a gorgeous brownish/gold shadow duo that is an amazing little thing, the colour comes out exactly like what you see on the palette and i constantly get compliments, but i don't have to tell you about Nars, you already know how damn good it is! so i'm excited to go have a look at the book and add it to my collection. The book takes a look at every-day women (from the before and after pics personally i think these women are naturally gorgeous anyway), and how they have transformed them to highlight their best features, something i would very much like to master, here's a mini peek at what's inside:

looks crafty don't it? it's what i would imagine my inspiration wall to look like if i were also a make-up genius.

and here be the diagrams, easy peasy i say, can't wait to try it out!

this week in the wardrobe

When it comes to fashion I do like trends, whether I can pull them off or not is another matter...
If the trends i am liking at the moment were lovers, i would be a very unfaithful girl, as i like to do the rounds and try them out week by week (yes, very promiscuous indeed).
Say for example i like the pop colours at the mo, but the trend is to wear it with basics and minimal accessories and pretty much no black, but then i want to wear black and accessories other times, do you see my dilemma? i cry at night thinking whatever shall i do!? (for the sarcasm challenged readers, no, no i don't).

These below are my two favourite looks currently and i have almost all the items this girl is wearing embarrassingly.

it's nice when you see a look that is literally easily thrown together, rather than it just looking thrown together and effortless when the girl in the picture actually took two hours the night before deciding her 'look' just incase she gets photographed by the sartorialist on her day trip to new york (it's not a dig, just pure jealousy). oh and i'm buying those shoes in 2 days, they are just such an awesome colour!

now this one is a little tricky, i do not own those leggings and can't say i find them flattering, but if they were pants and a different colour then yes, thumbs up to this look. i have the top and admit it can look a little like those groups of people you see wearing all black and long capes and platform boots in the city, a bit on the goth side, so you must be careful and be minimal with the black and not do the head to toe thing.

i'm liking all forms of wrist crosses too as you can see.

and the final touch, the pop colour nails, inspired by the blue stripes on a bag at work, fun fun

Mr. Wolf

So one thing about working in a shopping centre (or retail in general), is that you always walk past temptations.
These temptations may come in the form of a lovely coloured macaroon, a sale sign, something sparkly that catches your eye...or even just the plain old window display where you want to immerse yourself into the pretty world they have created- Peter Alexander being a main culprit, yes i would like to walk around a room of pillows with rockabilly-style hair and make-up flaunting knitted undies and a slick haired guy over my shoulder...

But more to the point, some centres have more higher price pointed stores where you just stare on your way to the lavatory with your head held high in case the shop assistant sees you, and you don't want to look desparate. Or is that just me? Anywho, there is a certain jewellery store that sells Thomas Sabo. If you aren't sure of it, it's basically like an edgier, funner, more colourful Pandora (well it's a similar price point).
I have loved this brand for years and get ever more excited each time I see Thomas pop up in a jewellery store or see his ad in Vogue magazine (name dropping a tad?)

So when i get time, i like to update my product knowledge of the store and basically i wander in, always looking at Mr Sabo. I do have a few pieces of my own, a charm bracelet (what he's best known for are his cute intricate charms), and a few charm necklaces, and the bf is starting to convert aswell with a ring and a watch. But unfortunately the shop assistant is unaware of my belongings and only sees me at my worst - dirty crinkled (but oh-so stylish) clothes due to the fact that retail can also be a sweat-provoking physical endearment aswell as a fun colourful happy place.

Now, i have recently discovered the new coloured Thomas Sabo watch range, at first i saw a gorgeous bright yellow number in the jewellery shop window, and i got quite excited as i have had a sudden interest in pop colours from work, but wait no, a yellow watch can go out of fashion quickly, and you don't want that to happen if you're paying that much for an at-the-minute item. But then i flipped a page in, yes, Vogue, and there they were, beautiful dramatic dials of time. Black-a never out of style colour, with an orange stripe down the middle-a little slice of pop colour i'm loving. And then after some research i learnt it's a little out of my price range, so i think i shall just add it to my wish list *sigh* after all that....

And below, an even more spensive but more classic style i would equally enjoy:

"iiiiisn't she looooovelyyyyy? iiiisn't she wooooondeeeerfuul?"

This is a little cheeky one i snuck in, by the lovely Chanel. My 'if money weren't an issue' watch.
Technically this is three items added to the wish list...

my favourite things

As per my blog title, i believe i should write about my bits and pieces i have around my house, because it seems to make sense yes?

I do like to collect pretty and cute things and of late black and white things, just to have, not to use....u know, stuff like that. For example, i have a black squirrel money box that i will not use because i spend every cent in my wallet!, or my 3 piece salt and pepper and...third item shakers that are shaped like ghosts, that i think are too cute to use for their fit purpose.
But more to the point, i have them, they are mine, they give me a little bit of joy every time i stop to touch and feel them and re-arrange them and that is why i buy them, they are like my chocolate (even though i buy that too), they make me feel good, and that is all.

Darwin markets - what i found and why its a must

Hello blogger-land, i have finally crossed over into a realm of  gen y-ness that i probably should have cottoned-on to a long time ago, seeing as i have never used twitter and started using facebook years ago only due to the fact none of my myspace friends were using their accounts anymore...(i then understood why i stopped getting replys!((i keep telling myself that's why)) ), so it's about time!

Okay so the reason i thought of creating this blog is that i seemed to have an itch for telling people about things i found/bought/just love and have to have, this began annoying my boyfriend, friends and mother to the point that they would role their eyes and simply just wouldn't understand why i HAD to buy that ceramic gun vase because i saw it in the lifestyle section of SHOP magazine months ago and decided to collect all quirky white ceramic objects from that moment on and it would go perfectly!
So for anyone who shares my love of things from anywhere and little gem finds around the place, hopefully you can become as excited as i get when i post my new must haves and kinda already boughts up on this website.

So for my first blog i will begin with a 'haul' of what i found and then purchased at the Mindel beach and Parap markets whilst in Darwin for a mini work trip/holiday, i will vouch anyday that the Mindel beach markets are a must due to the fact that not only all the locals love it and go regularly (which is always a good sign), but you can get so many cool souvenir's along the way.
There are plenty of hippie style stalls with tye-dye shirts and gypsy looking bags but even if you aren't into that it's just nice to roam around, grab dinner at one of the many food stalls (think greek/italian/seafood/oysters/thai/mexican), then head over to the beach to watch one of the sunsets that Darwin is famous for.

When the sun goes down the place seems livelier, that's why it's recommended to go on a Thursday over the Sunday for Mindel Markets, just be prepared for alot of slow paced walking as it can get very busy and squashed! Now, in a matter of 2 weeks, i went 3 times i just loved it that much, but my favourite stalls were the pearl jewellery and photography ones, i found one that had a freshwater pearl bracelet for $41, and i stocked up on photos of Darwin to put up around the house and a little bracelet for mum. The brown book thing in the picture below i got from the Parap markets that are on Saturdays which have alot of similar stalls but a different variety of food, and i tell ya, a freshly made apple juice smoothie is ah-mazing first thing in the morning! The book i got is Indian leather with recycled paper and pressed flower petals inside for $35, and i like to collect notebooks, but that's another blog to come...

The book on the right is a photography book by a Darwin photographer Paul Arnold, my boyfriend and i wandered around in his shop in the city and were just amazed by the gorgeous pics but couldn't purchase as they were a wee bit spensive! so we thought we'd cheat and have this as a coffee table book. Lastly the little shells/coral pieces i scrounged from the just as pretty Fannie Bay, we loved it so much we went most evenings and i spent most of the time with my head down collecting these and watching the little crabbies run around as it's low tide and the rock pools emerge.

So that is my first blog, probably more advertising Darwin than purchases but it's still a must! i shall have another blog up soon with more pretty buys later in the week,thanx for reading, ta ta for now!