Things I Love (and Loathe) Thursday

Things What I LOVE...

1. Still obsessing over this ideal combination - bright orange and blue. Wish my hair was this colour! Stole this picture from Kirsty. I have a great blue Lipglass from MAC that I've yet to experiment with properly. Perhaps tomorrow's night's Hot Mess Club in Edinburgh will be the place??
2. My new iPhone apps: Instagram - a super easy to use photo sharing device with lots of cute filters. Good for when you're on the go and bored. I'm baroque_boudoir of anyone wants to add me! Next up is mappiness - basically a a research project at the London School of Economics whereby participants receive alerts to their phone throughout the day and have to answer a few basic questions about how happy they feel at that present moment in time. Quirky, and makes me feel special when I hear the beep! Sure I'll get bored of it soon though...
3. Welsh accents. I watched a whole episode of Don't Tell The Bride last night just because the couple had really cute welsh accents. Maybe it's a throw-back to my Manic Street Preachers-loving days, who knows, but I just can't get enough of the Welsh twang. Bootiful!
4. Munching on Rice Crispie Squares - nom, nom, nom
5. Being cured by Boots Max Strength Cold and Flu. A few people commented on my post yesterday that Lemsip (and it's cheap Boots knock-off) are not available outside the UK. You poor souls! I've took my full days dose yesterday, which includes a night-time dose with sleep aid, and another few today and I feel 100 times better! It NEVER fails me. On the flip side, folks outside the UK can easily get their mitts on Advil PMs - a god-send for anyone who suffers from sleepless nights and doesn't want to feel like a zombie the next morning - like Night Nurse - which knocks me out for 12 hours straight and takes me about 2 days to really wake up from again.
6. Looking for a suitably geeky new tattoo? How about one in Quick Response Code? Apparently Levi Smith from The Jade Monkey Tattoo in Phoenix, Arizona is ahead of the game:

 
Things What I LOATHE...
wind that totally rapes your hair // eating noodles while watching TV with your specs on - steamy // not having enough hours in the day to get through all the wonderful updates on my Google Reader :-(

Caffeine Injection

Feeling poorly today :-(

Got dry, sore throat, tickly cough, blocked sinuses and a runny nose - eeurrrgh! Today my best friends have been Diet Coke and Boots Max Strength cold and flu capsules.

Pics taken using my new favourite iPhone app - Instagram!

I've documented my Diet Coke addiction in the past, but it's comforting to know that I'm in good company. Karl Lagerfeld has designed a second set of DC bottles which go on sale from June. According to Glam UK, “Karl took inspiration from the Diet Coke heroines- Bernadette, Eleanor and Irene. Polka dots match Bernadette’s romanticism, swishy swirls for Eleanor’s fashion forward stance and rock drama to tally with Irene’s persona.”

I like them, but much prefered last year's limited edition boxes with a bottle opener hidden in a secret drawer.

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

It looks like yesterday was the last 'holiday' that Mr G and I are going to have together until the end of August (my work is crazy busy just now), so, I was determined we weren't going to spend the day moping about the flat. Instead, we packed ourselves off to visit the zoo!

**WARNING**

Image heavy post alert. Who needs words when you have photos of parading penguins, lazy lions, thieving squirrels, one-eyed tigers, sleepy koalas, tiny monkeys and a cheeky chimp

All Saints boots // Topshop 'Pippa' jeans // grey blouse from New Look // Warehouse army jacket // Orla Kiely bag

This outfit was determined by the only pair of boots that I could comfortably manage in with my blisters from the weekend!

All photos kindly shot by Mr G x

This could open a can of worms, but what are you thoughts on zoos? This is Edinburgh Zoo and it has greatly improved since I last visited when I was about 10 years old, but I felt it still had some way to go. The tiger and leopard enclosures left a sick feeling at the back of my throat, but I have a feeling that the zoo will not replace the two animals they currently house after they die. It was very clear that animals such as monkeys and even the lions (who all live in groups in the wild) seemed to be thriving, but solitary animals have no place in captivity. 

Blisters, Booze and Brilliant Choons

Zana Bayne 3-wing shoulder harness // Vivienne Westwood choker // Christopher Kane for Topshop dress // Betsey Johnson belt // fishnets // Swan sock garters // New Rock boots // Illamasqua Flame lipstick

Saturday night really was a blast from the past! Bedlam at the QMU was freakin fantastic. I danced so much in my 15 year old boots that I am now completely crippled with blisters. Luckily I didn't have to cross the door yesterday and face the dreaded pain of squeezing my wrecked feet into another pair of boots. So, if I didn't leave the house yesterday, why has this post taken so long to appear? 

The Hangover From Hell had me curled on the couch clutching a glass of orange squash and the TV remote all day long. Obviously my 30 year old liver can't take the heady mix of wine, cider and Jack Daniels like my 19 year old one could. I was DYING!

Anyhoo, Mr G and I have a holiday from work today, so I'm up, bright as a button and ready to rock! It's a pretty glorious Spring day outside (forecast for the rest of the week is pishy rain) so wanna make the most of it. To the zoo me'thinks!

Have you all had a good weekend?

I'll leave you with this brilliant 8 Tracks mix which I was asked to contribute to a few weeks ago. Lots of cracking Indie and Rock choons chosen by fellow fashion bloggers. Feel very privileged to be counted among them.

Get Your Goth On

Photo from Tumblr

I may have just bid farewell to my raven-coloured locks, but this Saturday night is calling for a return to the goth. It's Bedlam at Glasgow University Queen Margaret Union. It's been nearly 10 years since I last got my goth on for a night of silly dancing to the Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Depeche Mode and Siouxsie and Banshees all washed down with copius amounts of cider and black and shots of Glayva. Needless to say, I CANNAE WAIT!!

Me, c.1999, with Robin Guy from Rachel Stamp (note lip piercing, dog collar, lace and badly dyed hair - eek!)

Blogger Style Inspiration

Since changing my hair I've been on the hunt for some new style inspiration.

Sure, all the new lookbooks are out and they're very pretty 'n' all, but I'm much more interested in what other people are wearing, so I've decided to do a wee post on some of the ladies whose individual style has been floating my boat as of late. If you like what you see, please check them out!

These two lovely ladies have featured on my blog before as two of my favourite colourful creators:

Stella Rose from Seattle	Maria from Sleekit, Melbourne

Next up we have the cute as a button SJ from Cowbiscuits, a girl who knows exactly how to rock a tshirt and strong lippy:

And finally, over the past few months or so, these stylish vixens have all popped up on my radar:

Haru in Wonderland from the Czech Republic	The globetrotting Lady Croissant from Oslo, Norway	Dodo and her wonderful Wardrobe Stories

I'm also a little obsessed with Style Like U at the moment. But who am I missing? Got any good personal style blog recommendations for me? Should you be on my radar?

Lady Bags

I need a new bag - for the spring. I'd like it to be ladylike and it must be leather. It's mainly for work and so far, I've got my eye on these two. Both of them are from ASOS both have 20% off at the moment (Green and Mustard). Swithering about buying a bag over the interweb as I usually like to parade around the shop with it slung over my shoulder for a good ten minutes or so. I always think that buying a bag and getting a good feel for it is as important as trying on shoes. A wee trip to TK Maxx first I think before I take the plunge. There's always good wee bargain bags to be had lurking in there. Anyone spotted a good bright coloured leather satchel for under £50?

To The Max

H! by Henry Holland maxi dress // Pamela Mann mustard tights // Topshop leather biker jacket // Tie Rack scarf // really old Topshop grey sleeves // All Saints boots that are past their best :-( // Orla Keily bag // Tarina Tarantino spider hairclip // nail varnish Temptress by H&M

Lipstick is Flare by Illamasqua // Cardigan H&M

Had fun this weekend mixing up some new clothes (maxi dress by HH and mustard tights) with some old favourites (grey sleeves, All Saints boots and biker jacket). Took the outfit shots after a very lovely day in Largs visiting my mum and nana. I did have the Illamasqua lipstick on throughout the day, but it's so shit and dry that I gave up trying to reapply it. Took the picture above the day before. Anyone else find this with Illamasqua products? I'm really disappointed with them and won't be buying any more :-(

On a more positive note, I ADORE Aveda products and managed to swap a full tube of Black Malva conditioner that I bought in January but never opened, for a tube of Madder Root - for red tones. I could bathe in this stuff all day long - smells like sweeties! Shampoo is about £18 and Conditioner is about £22 BUT, the 'poo will last me at least 6 months, the conditioner up to a year. If you can afford the initial splurge, it's actually very economical! I can't recommend them enough.

**Excuse my wobbly fringe - shoulda check the mirror before demanding Mr G take some shots!**

Go Go Ging-er!

Warehouse army jacket // Primark black top // H&M leopard print leggings // Doc Martens

So here's the big reveal. I've been literally gagging to go ging-er for ages and today it finally happened! I was more nervous than I expected to be as I sat on the bus on the way to the hairdressers this morning. What if it all snapped off? Fell out? Went BROWN??

Vivienne at GVR was an absolute star. She had already done a good strand test for me back in February and resassured me she'd be able to bring it up to a really good shade.

Step 1:

A good dollop of bleach and a lot of TLC. Vivienne bleached each section separately so that it was nice and even. This took about 90 mins in total.

Step 2:

Rinse, dry and check what colour it turned out - practically there already! A few of you have asked me to document the colour change, so I thought this was the most important part. There was NO WAY it was gonna lift any lighter, so if you have visions of going blonde, forget it. I think a ginger stage is pretty much  unavoidable - sorry ladies!

Step 3:

Vivienne used a bright orange stain to darken my roots (about an inch). They had obviously bleached up to a very light blonde. Next, she used another bright orange (this time a proper dye with some peroxide in it) to add some highlighted sections (hence the foils). Finally, she used a slightly darker tint all over to try and match up the lighter root sections and the longer bits which hadn't lightened up so well.

It took 4 hours in total, but that included the cut as well. It feels in great condition and I'm chuffed to bits!

All that's left to do now is sort through my wardrobe and make-up to see what still suits me! I'm looking for some good tips from all you beauty bloggers out there.

What shade of blusher/rouge should I be using?
Any good lipstick shade recommendations??

Hope you all have a great weekend,

Madame Ginger x