The ELLE Grey- Mavala

I am absolutely loving the The ELLE Grey from Mavala that came free with the recent issue of Elle Magazine (the one with Kerstin Dunst on the cover). It takes a lot to prise me away from the many shades of assorted reds I own and I'm so surprised at how much I love this shade! I love it so much I'm seriously contemplating what the hell am I gonna do when it runs out! Not only is The ELLE Grey a new colour adventure for me, it’s also the first time I've used Mavala. I normally stick to Revlon and the occasional No7 polish, courtesy of those brilliant £5 vouchers they give out and I have to say I'm really impressed with the quality. It's not gloopy, has great consistency and goes on evenly with the need for only one coat. Despite the one coat it doesn't chip and has serious staying power. I even like the dinky-ness of the bottles (they're only 4.5ml not your average 14ml), the smaller brush is easier to manage and for once there is the possibility that I might actually in my life empty a bottle of nail varnish!  Also the graphics on the MAVALA site are too cute...

The other thing I love about this nail varnish is that it has widened my office mug colour game from clothes to nails, endless office fun!

Teanest - Jody Leach

Images: Jody Leach

I love this design.  It makes living in a small, cramped flat with no storage all the more appealing. it is so ingenious, lets just not mention the price £995 http://www.jodyleach.com/

Stop the Riots

It is absolutely shocking to see and be surrounded by the acts of vandalism which seem to now be invading all parts of London and further afield.  I'm just glad that everyone in Camden is safe, it was pretty scary last night hearing things via facebook and twitter and literally only being 5 mins down the road from it all.  The strength of Londoners this morning cleaning up, opening their shops and getting on with life makes me proud to a be Londoner and part of this wonderful city.  Today I'm wearing my Dove Ring (yeah I know it's really a hummingbird) as a symbol of peace in this absolutely crazy and uncertain time.

I don't know what else to say about it all, it's just so unbelievably shocking, upsetting, thoughtless and distressing but I'm glad that Londoners are chanelling their anger towards it into defiance, we won't be beaten.

V&A Summer Sale

I always love the V&A's sale, it makes all those expensive little treats that little bit more desirable and affordable. So here are my choice picks from the summer sale

Trompe L'oeil Raffia Sunhat (One size) Ladies' floppy raffia sunhat with trompe l'oeil stitching.

Raffaello Bettini have been producing stylish hats in Firenze, Italy since 1938. Now £20!

Peacock brooch Inspired by a ninteenth-century novelty Peacock brooch with a clockwork mechanism. Now £11.25!

White Flower Ring (also comes in black). The design of this ring is adapted from a pair of coral hair ornaments and matching brooch made by Carlo and Arthur Giuliano for Edith, the wife of the painter William Holman-Hunt. Now £9!

Liberty 'Hera' Silk Scarf (Blue) Square silk scarf in the iconic Liberty 'Hera' peacock feather print, exclusive to the V&A. Now £100!

Liberty Rocks!

Liberty Rocks! is a great collaboration between designers, artists and musicians who are passionate about print and pattern.  There is a whole array or patterns and colours and before I even knew the story of this bird fabric it was my favourite, but as soon as I read about it I love it even more...

"In 2005 Edwyn suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage that he took six months to recover from. As part of his rehabilitation he drew a bird a day, each of which has been used by the Liberty Fabrics Team in this remarkable print. The design created pays homage to Collins’ dedication, like a sketchbook on fabric complete with names of birds and dates when they were drawn."

There are some other beautiful fabrics that you should defintely check out, a metre is £21 which is ideal for making a scarf, which I think is what I might well do!

Festival hair = Plaits

In preperation for next week's Secret Garden Party madness I'm a studying these

It's a ring thing

This ring has been a permanent feature on my finger recently, doesn't quite come across in the photo but it is one hell of a sparkly thing. I'm having a bit of a ring moment and recently went on an ebay ring splurge so I'll post them up as I get and wear them.  Got to love a bit of statement jewellery!

Rene Magritte Wooden Pipe Ring

I'm having a bit of a ring moment.  Came across this one by Tatty Devine for the Rene Magritte exhibtion currently at Tate Liverpool.  It also comes in perspex but I like the added detail in this wooden one.  Very surreal (see what I did there!) priced at £19.50

Also came across this tote bag which I think is adorable, I'm tempted....

Wimbledon & Alex Noble

I'm lucky enough to be off to Wimbledon and Centre Court again this year! Last year we saw Federer and Djokovic on opening day and tomorrow hopefully we'll see Nadal (swoon) and Murray (not at all swoon).   I am eagerly waiting for the order of play to come out and planning my ever so english picnic/packed lunch.

With the whole wearing whites at Wimbledon and it being a sport there really isn't too much to see fashion wise.  The Williams sisters have always made an effort with their earrings and necklaces, and in recent years Federer has been getting into the spirit with his white blazer, but until the arrival of American, Bethanie Mattek- Sands we didn't know what we were missing.  Aparrently she's been making fashion waves on the circuit but it wasn't until she turned up for the pre Wimbledon Ball that I think any of us knew who she was, we sure do now...

So the dress was designed by Alex Noble who also works under Haus of Gaga.  He also designed this jacket for her first match, which she lost, so now we'll never know how she would of evolved over the two weeks. I like to think it would of got even crazier, nothing wrong with a bit of craziness! Great little article with Alex Noble about these creations can be found here

I knew that Alex had designed for Lady Gaga but I wasn't too sure exactly what, so after some investigation these are my favourites.  I really like his work, it's very diverse, but then I guess for Gaga you need to be!

Alex's blog can be found her http://allisalexnoble.blogspot.com/

Now all I have do is keep praying it doesn't rain tomorrow, fingers crossed

Resisting the urge to spend

I made a pact with myself to try not buy any more clothes/shoes/jewellery etc this month as I have far too many clothes that I dont wear and I want to save as much money as I can for fun summer adventures. 
So god knows what I was doing looking at the Topshop site, at winter jackets! I know! Madness! Actually not sure whats wrong with me, I just love coats so much.  But I seriously should know better when it comes to Topshop, especially having worked there that one dip into the waters and you suddenly want and need everything you see.  I'm feeling particularly proud of myself though as I resisted, I mean I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy.  So here are my picks that I need to stop lusting after, especially the top two...

Topshop £68

Topshop £85

Topshop £80

Topshop £70