Bank Holiday Hair

Pretty self indulgent post but my hair fell quite nicely today without me really doing much to it. 

I just put some dry shampoo and L'Oreal Studio Salt Spray et voila! 

-PB 

Fishtail Plait - How to

I'm really not intending on making videos a regular thing, but I've had a few people asking me how to do fishtail plaits, and videoing how to do it seemed a lot easier than trying to explain it through pictures and words. Sorry about the the editing and if i'm confusing, doing it in the mirror image was quite difficult! But I hope i've explained things well enough for you to find it useful. 

If this doesn't work for you, there are some much better vids on youtube! 

-PB

Outfit Of The Day

Wee bit bored on a Sunday afternoon (my parents are out at a festival while i'm stuck at home babysitting 6 dogs, how's that for role reversal), so thought i'd do a little OOTD. Nothing particularly special, but I really love this top with fringe detail on the back, a total barg from TK Maxx where I don't usually shop. Scarf was probably about £1 from Primark years ago, teamed with standard leggings and my bargain boots that I got from some Brick Lane cockney geezers. Had a couple of strangers ask me where I got my necklace, which is only New Look - proper alternative... Lipstick is Rimmel Kate Moss in 107. 

Sorry for the lame pics, I don't own a decent camera with timed capture so Mac photobooth sufficed!

-PB

A Weekend around the Capital

A bit lost at London Bridge

I spent my weekend wandering around what felt like quite a lot of London; After going out on Friday night and spending most of Saturday hungover with my friend Ed in Watford, I made my way across to another pal Hannah who lives near Greenwich. A combination of part of the northern line being closed and my ineptitude with anything that involves a sense of direction got me a bit lost, but central London does look quite pretty at night time and it was actually quite funny working out where to go. I eventually got there (despite going too far on the 422 bus), and on Sunday Hannah took me up to Shoreditch for cocktails and shopping.

Cocktails at the Drunken Monkey 

We went first to a bar called the Drunken Monkey, which does half price cocktails all day Sunday and were some of the nicest i've ever had. If you ever go, i'd recommend the Strawberry Lemonade and Pigeon Rumba.

Next we walked over to Brick Lane, and like tru indie galZ we hit all the vintage shops and markets. It's an absolute treasure trove for good vintage garments and one off pieces; I find the disorder of some vintage stores quite annoying and I lose patience with finding the hidden gems (I also find some of it rather overpriced...) but a couple of places were really reasonable and I managed to pick up a great floral print shirt for £5! Hannah also got a couple of great shirts from an underground vintage market which I think were no more than £15 each.

Slightly pokey changing 'room' in the underground market

I also picked up some desert boots, which i've been after for a while. These were real suede and only £19, only made better by the fact they were sold to me by three hilarious cockney geezers, one of whom told me my shirt did nothing for me because it detracted from my 'piercing blue eyes' - apprentice worthy sales charm!

And finally, probably the funniest thing I saw all weekend (apart from a drunk woman in Watford who was talking to her flip flop...) - won't be stealing from Brick Lane market stalls!!

Perhaps a bit extreme...

-PB

Holi Festival of Colours London

Last weekend (11/8/13) three friends and I went to Holi Festival of Colours at Battersea Power Station in London. None of us had ever been before but all went to Bestival together last summer, so thought we'd do something a bit different as Mel and Ewan (the lovely couple to the right of me in the above pic) can't come to Bestival again this year :-(

The idea of the festival is based around the Hindu religious festival of Holi, everyone comes in white clothing, then every hour throughout the day you throw coloured powder in the air and get absolutely covered in it. There were also some great DJs to have a little boogie to and it was so much fun! I'd definitely recommend it if you like getting a bit messy, but bring plenty of money, it was quite an expensive day out...

I brought a disposable camera with me but my photography skills were held back a bit by excessive cider consumption, so I've used some of the ones that Ewan took. Ewan's a bit of a pro at taking pictures and has just graduated from Newport Uni with a degree in Photography for Fashion and Advertising. Check out his blog here http://this2.tumblr.com

-PB

Things I'm loving

Here are a few general fashion/beauty things i've been into recently...

Midi ring - Urban Outfitters, Blue Aztec ring - Claire's Accessories, Hearts ring - River Island

1. Rings - I've not always been a massive jewellery person. I definitely go through phases of wearing them, especially when i'm regularly doing sport I tend not to bother with the hassle of taking them all off. But with the summer upon us and sports season over for now, I thought i'd try my hand (har har) at wearing some rings. I really love the look of midi rings at the moment; they take a bit of getting used to at first but look really cute with a more colourful normal ring below them!

My battered old Nike Blazers... I think I got these from Office?

2. Trainers - I'm absolutely obsessed with wearing trainers at the moment. To be honest, if I have the choice of wearing them as opposed to heels on a night out I'll choose trainers every time, because they're just so comfy and I am completely over the pain of wearing 4 inchers! (Think i'm getting old). I have a gorgeous pair of hot pink Nike Blazers that I've worn to death, also a pair of blue vans that pretty much go with anything. I have my eye on a pair of amazing Nike Pre Montreals at the moment... watch this space.

Earrings - Topshop/Claire's Accessories (Ears look odd up close!)

3. Mismatched earrings - Why be limited to matching earrings in each ear eh? I think wearing different ones is really fun, i've also managed to put a dangly earring through the same hole with a stud already in...!

Body butter - Boots

4. Soap & Glory 'The Daily Smooth' body butter - this was a godsend after overdoing it a bit in the sun on holiday (whoops) and I have almost run out. It's not particularly cheap but it smells absolutely divine and has lasted me quite a long time.

My perfect foundation... - No7 at Boots

5. No7 Stay Perfect foundation - so after months of my mother telling me my foundation was either too dark or that I looked orange I decided to go to boots and get the strange cyber scanner put on my face and find out what colour foundation I should actually have (as much as it pains me to admit). Needless to say I was 'prescribed' a much lighter tone which actually matches my skin perfectly possibly for the first time in my life. It's really light and goes on very evenly, lasts a long time and has even got an SPF 15 in it which is an added bonus. Would definitely recommend giving No7 a whirl.

Cringey first blog post...

I'm Polly. I am (yet another) aspiring journalist/publisher just about to enter my third year at Cardiff University studying Music.

I thought it was probably about time I started a little blog so I can stop being so opinionated on Twitter (@PollyVBartlett if you're interested) and write it all on here. Maybe bit of writing practice while i'm at it? Who knows.

I'm unsure as to whether this will be directed at one area in particular, but going on what i'm passionate about it will probably be a mish mash of fashion, beauty, and popular/classical music.

I hope you enjoy what I write about :)

Polly