BERLIN | JIGSAW SKIRT

This is my final post from Berlin I'm afraid… tomorrow I'm off to Glastonbury festival though so thought it best to get all of these photos up so I can waste no time in sharing my Glasto experience with you when I return next week! Goodness, I'm so excited - even though the weather forecast has already promised rain! :(

Anyway, I almost forgot to show you my beautiful new skirt from Jigsaw; isn't this just the most gorgeous colour you've ever seen!? It's so rich and vibrant, I was drawn to it on the website immediately and felt like it would really compliment a lot of my other clothes. Because it's beaded it feels rather "dressy" but I may bring it to Glastonbury anyway and try wearing it in a more relaxed way... I really love the shape too, it's very flattering.

Farewell, speak to you next week! x  

BLUE BEADED SKIRT FROM JIGSAW

BERLIN | PART 2

You can see part 1 of my German adventure here.

On Sunday evening we went to Tempelhof, a disused airport near Neukolln, to watch the sun set. It was most certainly one of the highlights of my trip, the size of the land was immense and there was a lovely, relaxed vibe where people were running, cycling, walking their dogs, hanging out with friends, singing, dancing, having BBQs…. you get the idea! It just felt so strange to be walking around on an aeroplane runway…. its a big place so I'd recommend hiring a bike if you visit!    

As always I was sporting my tartan Mod Dolly dress, and luckily it was cool enough for a lightweight roll neck too, which I love wearing, (okay okay I do miss my autumn winter wardrobe a little)! On our way home that evening we stopped at a bar that had loads of pretty, colourful lights hanging outside in the beer garden, and had cocktails. I had the strongest rum cocktail I'd ever encountered and then we went and took photos in one of the "Photoautomat" photo booths - best €2 I ever spent.

On our final day in Berlin, we arose at 8am, packed, tidied the apartment and checked out. We wanted to try and cram as much as possible into our last afternoon so started our day on a morning boat tour, which also supplied coffee and cake! We then headed back to Mitte for a while as I'd read that there -were lots of vintage shops there; Made in Berlin was really good.

I did enjoy my time in Berlin, walking around a new city discovering new things is one of my favourite things to do! I would like to go back again in 6 months or a year though to try and experience it in a different light… I would say that it's best to plan when visiting a city like this. We intentionally didn't plan in the hope of stumbling across hidden treasures, but although there are loads of unique, cool places in Berlin they seemed very far and few so we did end up walking around nothingness for a lot of our visit! I'd love to go back and go to more art galleries and museums etc too.

Highlights of my trip included the Santa Maria Mexican restaurant, cocktails in Kreuzberg, the Photoautomat machines, The Mauerpark flea market and Tempelhof airport.  

BERLIN | PART 1

If you follow me on instagram then you'll have seen that I recently visited Berlin! I'd never been to the city before but i had lots of ideas bouncing around in my head of how it would be…. and in the end it was nothing like I'd imagined!

From what people had told me about Berlin I'd expected a vibrant mix of London and Brighton - London's coolness and electric vibe with Brighton's picturesque streets and quirkiness. Berlin however, is most certainly unique! For a start, it's a very slow-paced and quiet city, sometimes when walking through the more residential areas we wouldn't pass anyone for ages! It's also extremely flat, which gave a real impression of vastness, something you don't often come by in London.

I found the graffiti all over the walls fascinating, I'm just not used to seeing so much of it! I think it adds character to the city and I love how colourful it makes it! There was lots of street art in Kreuzberg where we were staying - if you're thinking of visiting Berlin it's a great place to be based. We stayed here in a cosy apartment that overlooked the pretty canal that runs through the area; there were some lovely cafes and bars around too. We also stumbled across a sweet little cafe/vintage store called Sing Blackbird.

On the Friday we went to the Aquarium and zoo before heading to the Jewish museum - it was really interesting and insightful but also extremely sad. We went out in the evening which left us feeling pretty hungover on the Saturday, (apparently there's no law to say when clubs must close… they definitely party hard in Berlin.) We still managed to go for a walk and do some touristy things though, including going to see the Holocaust memorial, which is very beautiful.

On Sunday we went to the East Side Gallery where the remains of the Berlin wall still stand. As the wall showcase is nearly a mile in length, we walked along it and took in all of the beautiful graffiti as we went. We then headed to Mitte for the Mauerpark flea market. There was such a lovely, summery vibe there - it kind of reminded me of a bigger, better Camden market I guess - there were loads of stalls selling all sorts of goodies from vintage clothing to vintage cameras or homemade jewellery.  

I didn't want to bombard you with too many holiday photos in one post so I'll schedule the rest for tomorrow… stay tuned! :)  

SHOREDITCH CHECK

DRESS BY MOD DOLLY

TOPSHOP CARDIGAN

H&M BAG

DR. MARTENS SHOES

A BIT ABOUT "BEAUTY" AND AN EXCITING UPDATE

I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert when it comes to beauty… I'm actually really lazy with makeup and my daily beauty routine. I wish I knew what I was doing but i don't, so I kind of just make it up as I go along and hope for the best! What I am sure of however is that Simple moisturiser makes my skin feel 100% softer, fresher and brighter, so needless to say I use their products on a daily basis.

I start the day by washing my face with a Clean & Clear exfoliating face wash by Johnson's, I only started using it regularly about three weeks ago and I've already noticed a difference. I then apply Simple Hydrating Light moisturiser all over my face before using No7 cover stick, (I have horrendous circles under my eyes), and translucent powder, which gives my skin a matte look. I also recently discovered that Simple have a range of sun protection creams which not only rehydrate your skin but protect you from UVA and UVB rays, so I've been using this one on sunny days.

  
After applying a base I sometimes wear white or silver eye shadow as I find it opens up my eyes, and then I add a black flick using eyeliner to extend my lashes. I bought the Eyeko visual eyes liquid eyeliner last week, (which is what I'm using in these pictures), but i'm really disappointed. It drys quite quickly and then gets sticky! I'll probably carry it with me when travelling for the convenience but I much prefer the Maybelline eyeliner pot that I normally use. I also wear a bit of black or brown pencil eyeliner under my eyes to define them and then add mascara before finishing with blusher. If I have time I sometimes use an eyebrow pencil to darken my brows too!  

For those of you who follow me on instagram you'll have seen that I recently visited Berlin! I had a fab time, it wasn't what I expected but the city was really unique and interesting, I can't wait to show you photos! I also recently found out that I've got tickets for Glastonbury through a family friend, so I'm off to Glastonbury festival next week wooooooooo!

SUMMER DRESSING WITH MONSOON

Hello from my new home! Two weekends ago I moved to a beautiful warehouse conversion in East London; I'm now blessed with more light, space and happiness than I ever thought possible. I was actually contemplating quitting blogging altogether as since moving I've been focussing on other things, this new online project being one of them, but hey, let's give this another shot!

Here I am hanging out in my beautiful new Monsoon dress with one of my new neighbours! Isn't it great being able to leave the house bare leg now? Warm weather makes dressing so much simpler as there are less layers and it's easy to just throw on a dress or t-shirt and shorts. I also bought these sandals from H&M a couple of weeks ago for just £19.99 and I've been living in them ever since - they're super comfy and they go with just about everything!

DRESS FROM MONSOON

H&M SANDALS

SUMMER SPIRIT

You'll have to bare with me whilst I catch up with the blogosphere… since moving house a couple of weeks ago I haven't had wifi! I have so much to tell you and promise to make time tomorrow evening to catch you up on everything!

I was recently sent this cute little outfit by Desire Clothing; I know such a bold statement isn't my usual cup of tea but as I'm feeling rather summery I thought I'd try something a little more colourful. Also I loved the last two-piece set I got so thought I'd try another - this time with a skort! Here I rolled up the sleeves of the top to make it a little "cooler" and I also added ankle socks to the equation cos, well, why not?

OUTFIT BY DESIRE CLOTHING

Admittedly I still don't feel 100% confident in this outfit… it's very loud and I'm not used to wearing so much pattern, let alone acid green! I love the idea of a skort though, it's so practical, and I also really like the t-shirt as although it's super bright I can dress it down with a pair of high waisted denim shorts in the day or a skirt for a night out…. the shoes are fab too, very comfortable!

THE DARK CIRCUS PARTY

A few weekend's ago Harriet and I went to The Dark Circus Party which was being held at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London. As our plans were last minute we had limited time to prepare outfits - we wanted to dress up but we didn't want to "overdress". In the end we worked our magic with black velvet, feather boas and exciting head-pieces, (I was lucky enough to be able to borrow the feather boas from work!).  

I wore a black and navy playsuit, which my Mum bought for me for Christmas a few years ago, whilst Harriet wore a black, glittery jumpsuit; our outfits were completed with feather boas, headbands and ridiculously high black wedge boots. I added a big bow around my waist for good measure and even wore fake eyelashes, a very rare occurence!

Nothing had prepared us for the night ahead - we arrived late, around half midnight I think, because we'd been to a gig beforehand, and we wondered, (or should I say tottered), into the most magical place of dreams! On entering we descended down a large staircase before pushing through a set of double doors into a bar area. Well, we certainly weren't overdressed…. sequins, stripes, feathers, painted faces and top hats danced before us and we both suddenly felt as though we'd fallen through the pages right into one of "Jay Gatsby's" notorious parties.

Double rum and cokes in hands, (the champaign came later), we moved on into the next room where there was dancing, oh the dancing, circus performers and the most fabulous, electro swing music! The rest of the night is a glittery blur, but we had a wonderful time and have already persuaded our housemates to come with us to the next event, which is happening in July - you can buy tickets here. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who loves dressing up, fantasy and theatrics.  

NICCE LONDON

I recently came across a super cool new brand called NICCE. NICCE was founded in East London only a year ago and already it's started to make a name for itself; it's simplistic, unisex designs make it the perfect answer to a stress free wardrobe!

Although I do enjoy putting outfits together for shoots, I actually really struggle when it comes to dressing myself. I get overwhelmed when faced with too many colours or patterns, so for everyday dressing I tend to just stick to a strict palette of black, grey and navy… (unless anything else catches my eye of course), and I like simple shapes that speak for themselves so don't need too many accessories. I LOVE a one or two piece outfit, just a simple a-line dress with a cardigan for example, or a baggy jumper over skinny jeans. That's why I'm so pleased I discovered NICCE, I love how simple their designs are and they hane a very basic palette.

I've already got a wish list of things I want for my birthday, including this great lightweight mac, which is so perfect for British weather, and also these jogging bottoms, which look so comfortable!

As I mentioned before, I moved house recently…. it's a great place with a lot of character and I'm living with some amazing friends so am looking forward to a great year ahead! This road is just around the corner from my new house, it's really pretty with lovely gardens and big houses so great for outfit snaps! I've also planned a shoot in the area for next weekend - cross your fingers for good weather!

JUMPER BY NICCE