finding my inspiration

Lately I’ve been finding it hard to decide on what to write, I haven’t been feeling super inspired and like I’m just having a bit of a creative block. It’s super inconvenient and always leaves me feeling a bit down. Over the years though, I’ve found some ways that seem to work for me in getting me back on track and starting to create things again.

Usually I use this blog to talk about fashion or beauty, but there’s only so much I can do of that before it starts getting repetitive. This space is always going to be one where I can talk about and share my love of those things, but I think it should also be one where I can talk about whatever I want, just my own little space to rant about anything.

Creativity is a tricky thing. It can be so up and down, and it can seem like either way can almost always be an extreme. I’ve always loved art, and over the last 2 years I’ve fallen back in love with drawing, but for the last 6 months I haven’t drawn. It’s a very upsetting thing, for me it feels like I’m losing a part of myself. Over the last week though, I’ve started painting again.

I think for me, inspiration comes from everywhere. Things as small as seeing a location, to things like visiting galleries can get my mind going.

The overall point of this post is just to talk about ways that can get me feeling like creating again, and maybe give anyone who needs a bit of help to feel a bit inspired again.

Tumblr is something I’ve used for years, and it almost will always have some images on it that I will fall in love with, and that will give me some ideas. Images in general are a major source of inspiration for me. Tumblr I particularly find useful for finding beautiful images of visual arts and photography.

Blogs are a huge inspiration, for obvious reasons, and there’s a few fashion bloggers in particular that are massive style loves of mine, but also just their whole aesthetic really speaks to me in one way or another. All of their instagrams I stalk on a regular basis too, and the feeds are beautiful.

Here’s a little list of some of my favourites:

Lizzy Hadfield – www.shotfromthestreet.com – @shotfromthestreet

Lucy Williams – www.fashionmenow.co.uk – @lucywilliams02

Lindsey Holland – www.ropesofholland.com – @ropesofholland

Yan Yan Chan – www.yanyanchan.com – @_yanyanchan

Devon Carlson (not a blogger, just an insta I love) @devonleecarlson

Something that always seems to help me with blogging, is just going out and taking photos before I even know what I want to write about. Sometimes I’ll think of the idea before I take the photos for the post, but with me it’s very common to take the photos first, and then what I want to write about will hit me.

I think it’s pretty obvious to say, but I do different things to inspire myself in each creative area I undertake. So for fashion and blogging, I love looking at instagram accounts like the ones I mentioned earlier. Each of those women really seems to have their own aesthetic, and seeing the way the outfits they wear reflect that is something that I always admire. A few of those girls have youtube accounts, and I love watching the videos they upload.

I’m a big believer in retail therapy (which is kind of sad to admit), so I am always checking asos’ new-in section and just looking around in stores to see if there’s any new styles that I fall in love with. Majority of the time at least one of these options will get me thinking about outfits and clothing again, and getting excited about them. And sometimes I just need a classic salvos trip to get me to really think more about what I want to do with clothing. I think it’s maybe the fact that sometimes the pieces you find are so unique that really excites me.

When I’m having a complete creative block in terms of making art, the main social media I look at is tumblr. I guess like all other forms of social media, tumblr is really all about what you make of it. I follow a lot of blogs that post visual art and beautiful photos, so for me I find it really inspiring. Things like magazines and books are of course also good, honestly any reading can help me.

Like everything in life, I know that each and every one of us has our own ways of dealing with the issues we encounter, but I just wanted to share some of the little things I like to do when I’m feeling a bit stuck in a rut just in case there’s anyone out there who needs a little nudge. I’m sure to a lot of people these things might sound very small and trivial, but they tend to give me the little bit of help I need to get things started. The biggest thing though I think is trying to clear your mind as much as possible before you try and bombard yourself with information. Don’t try and force creativity on yourself, just try and get inspired and the creativity will come to you. Trust me.

Ireland Diary: 1st-11th January 2018

I haven’t posted in a little while, the last post I did right before I went over to Ireland. I know I said in previous posts how after I went to New Zealand I was going to write a big post full of my film photos, but me being me, I never got around to it. So I thought I better get onto doing one for my little Ireland trip nice and quickly before the same thing happens.

I flew out of Canberra on new years eve, which kinda sucked (I hate being alone on nye), but really was completely bearable considering I got to go to Ireland. This was the first time I’ve ever traveled overseas alone, and I’m not gonna lie, I was kind of nervous about getting around airports I didn’t know, but it was all fine. I’m the type of person that really enjoys doing things alone sometimes (I’ll often go grab a coffee and read by myself for a while), so for me it wasn’t a strange or difficult thing for me to just be by myself.

My dad had flown over a little less than a week before me, and it was definitely nice having him there, and already with a hotel room and things of that nature that you really don’t want to have to try and deal with after travelling for 30hrs already all set up.

Dublin is such a lovely city from the places I went and saw. It reminds me in a sense of Melbourne, another city which I love. There’s the few touristy things to do around (which of course we had to do a couple of), but just walking around and taking in the city is enough to fill a day. There’s pubs scattered all over the place and so much wonderful shopping.

Honestly the weather was not as bad as I’d thought it was going to be. It was definitely cold, but it was a nice break from the super hot days we’d been consistently having in Canberra. I was expecting to absolutely freeze to death, and while some nights I did get very cold, I found that with a couple of layers, a good jacket, and pair of gloves, I was more or less fine. I think my biggest piece of advice to anyone traveling to Ireland or the UK over the middle of winter would be to ALWAYS have a pair of good tights to put on under your jeans/pants (it makes such a big difference).

Trinity College and the Book of Kells exhibition was the first ‘touristy’ thing that me and dad did when we were in Dublin. I was really interested in seeing this exhibition, and to be honest it was kind of a let down. There was about a half an hour wait in line, so if you’re thinking of going to see the Book of Kells I would definitely suggest booking your ticket online so you can skip pretty much the whole line. The actual exhibition was very small, and only 2 pages from the books were on display. The standout of the college is definitely the old library, which is so beautiful, and looks like something straight out of a movie.

After our first little stay in Dublin, we headed to Galway for the next couple of days. Galway was a beautiful place. It’s quite a bit smaller than Dublin, but what it lacks in size it absolutely makes up for in charm. Like Dublin, it’s full of wonderful pubs and good food, however, it just has a completely different feel to it. I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is that makes it feel so different, but I would say that the much more intimate size of the city has absolutely got something to do with it.

There’s lots of places to go to and look at while in Galway, and something that I really loved about it was that almost everything is in short walking distance from each other. Walking was something that we did a lot of while we were in Ireland, and I really enjoyed it. It sounds kind of strange to say that, but just being able to go to almost all the places in the city that you want to get to by foot is definitely nice. Plus, once you get going in the cold it’s really not bad at all.

While we were staying in Galway, we did a day trip out to Kylemore Abbey, and the Victorian Walled Gardens that are also out there. The Abbey itself didn’t have much to offer, most of it’s roped off, so you don’t get to wander around as much as I would’ve liked to. The grounds and the history of the place however, are really interesting. The gardens are about a 10-15 minute walk from the Abbey, and have been restored and up kept well over the years. The drive out there is also really pretty, and I’d say if you don’t have much to do while in Galway, it’s definitely worth a look.

We stayed 3 nights in Galway, then we headed out to stay in Killarney for a night, and stopped by the Cliffs of Moher on the drive over. I really think that going to see the Cliffs of Moher is something that you absolutely should do while you’re in Ireland. It’s such a beautiful view, and it’s well worth the cold and intense winds that are around at this time of year. I feel like there’s not much that I can say about the Cliffs other than that they’re just beautiful, and they’re one of those landmarks that you should definitely make the effort to see.

Killarney is of course another beautiful little place, smaller once again than Galway. We only stayed there one night, so we didn’t get to see a lot while we were there, but in all honesty I don’t think there is an extensive amount of things to do while in Killarney. We got in quite late in the afternoon and left pretty early the next day so all we really did was go into the town centre, have a look around and grab some dinner. The bed & breakfast we stayed at was so cute, and the people working there were super lovely too. I think while Killarney is definitely not the most exciting place in Ireland, I think it’s still a lovely place to just relax and I’d love to go back at some point for a longer period of time.

From Killarney we drove back up to Dublin, stopping along the way in Blarney. As well as seeing the Cliffs of Moher, I think kissing the Blarney Stone is something that you just have to do while in Ireland. The Blarney Castle is now just a massive ruin essentially, but it’s still very interesting to read all the plaques about the family that had lived there and what each room had been used for. The walk up through the castle to get to the stone gets very small and thin near the top, buts it’s nothing that’s too hard to manage. Kissing the Blarney Stone was one thing that I knew I wanted to do while I was in Ireland, and I’m really glad that I did it.

We had a few days in Dublin before we had to fly home, and we spent 2 of these 3 days just around Dublin. We went down to the Guinness Storehouse and did the self guided tour through there, which was definitely very irish, and also pretty interesting. It’s very easy and enjoyable to get through, and the gravity bar at the top has a really cool 360 degree view of Dublin. Our second last day we spent doing our one organised tour of the trip. The trip we did was a one day tour up to Northern Ireland; to Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge, The Giants Causeway and Belfast. I would say that doing a tour like this is a really good way to see a couple of amazing landmarks, and spend a little bit of time in Belfast too.

Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge was a really beautiful place. The bridge was originally used to travel across to the small island which was used for salmon fishing. In my mind I thought it was going to be a much more hardcore and dangerous rope bridge, that we’d have to be harnessed up to in order to cross it, but it was nothing like that at all. It’s quite a short bridge, and has a wooden boarding so it’s much easier to cross than I thought it would be. If you have a fear of heights then this is not for you. Although it is a short distance across the bridge, it’s a 90 foot drop into the Atlantic Ocean below, and if it’s as windy as it was the day that I went, it could definitely be quite scary.

The Giants Causeway is only a 15 minute drive from the rope bridge, and both places have around a 15 minute walk from the car park to the actual landmarks. Neither walk is difficult, but the Giants Causeway has a couple of different walking paths you can take to get down to the causeway, as well as a bus that will take you down there. The causeway is really beautiful too, and you could easily get lost in time just walking around and taking it all in. While the walks up onto the cliffs above give you some stunning views, the causeway is absolutely better looked at from close up, so that you can actually see the shape of the rock formations.

We were only in Belfast for around an hour and a half on this tour, but for me that seemed to be enough. The most interesting thing that I think you can do while in Belfast is learn about The Troubles. If you haven’t heard of the troubles then you should definitely look up what happened in Belfast from the 1960’s-1990’s, it’s very interesting and sad, and the effects of it are still visible throughout the city today. You can take what’s called a black taxi tour through the city, which are driven by people who lived through the troubles and will give you a small history lesson on what happened. Our tour bus driver was really great and gave us a quick tour of some of the most significant locations from the troubles, and he knew a lot on the subject which was super interesting.

After our tour, we had one day left in Dublin in which we really didn’t do much other than do some last bits of shopping. We had to leave our hotel for the airport at 5am of the morning that we left, so we got dinner pretty early then headed back to the hotel to pack and then get to sleep. The shopping in Dublin was definitely the best of all the places we visited, which wasn’t surprising really considering it was by far the biggest city. Shops like H&M and Top Shop which I’ve never been overly impressed with in Australia, had a lot of great stuff over there. H&M I was especially impressed with, and of course the vintage shops I visited in both Dublin and Galway were all wonderful too.

We flew out of Ireland on the 11th of January, and already can’t wait until I can go back again. It’s a beautiful place filled with wonderful and friendly people, and if it’s somewhere you’re considering going then my advice is to absolutely do it.

november favourites 2017

I haven’t posted for a little while, but I’m back again now with my favourite things from november. Obviously, my number one fav from this month was andy and I’s little New Zealand trip, but I’ll share more of that once my film gets developed. But for now, I’ll start off with the best beauty goodies from the past month.

I’ve been trying to get my hands on the Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer for the longest time, but they’ve always been sold out in my shade (the lightest one). I finally snatched one up though at the end of october and I’ve used it every single day since then. I completely understand the hype around this concealer; it’s got really good coverage, blends into the skin beautifully, and has a wonderful finish that is just really smooth looking.

I am super pale, and sometimes I can have a hard time finding concealers that are actually light enough for my skin. I’ve got the shade Chantilly and it’s perfect for me. I use a little elf flat shadow packer brush to apply it from the little jar (my fingernails are too long and it’s just a hot mess if I don’t use a brush), and then blend it out with my beauty sponge. I hope I’m not speaking too soon but I think I’ve found my holy grail concealer.

The other makeup product I’ve been reaching for non-stop is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure. This is one of my all-time favourite makeup bits. Hourglass powders as a general rule are all gorgeous, but this blush is my number one of all of them. It’s such a beautiful, natural mauve shade. Like all their powders, it’s so finely milled that it just blends and sits on the skin so nicely, and never looks cakey in the slightest. If I could only keep one of my blushes for some reason, this would be the one.

Lately, my skin hasn’t felt or looked it’s best, so I thought I’d try a couple of new bits from La Roche Posay and see if they’d help. I thought La Roche Posay would be a really good brand to try when my skin was acting up because their products seem very straightforward, get the job done sort of products.

This month the two products that I think have actually made a difference in my skin are both from the Effaclar range and are; the Purifying Foaming Gel and the Unclogging Purifying Sebo-Controlling Mask. They’re both made for oily sensitive skin, so they’re really gentle but still work very well on my skin. I’ve been using the face wash pretty much daily after I’ve taken off my makeup, and then the mask I’ve been using about 2-3 times a week.

Lastly, before I get on to my two fashion favourites, I want to talk about the Jo Malone fragrance that I spoke about in my what I bought in New Zealand post. This cost me a fortune. I’ve never spent close to this much on a perfume before, but honestly, in my eyes, this is worth every cent. It’s the Jo Malone Oud & Bergamot Cologne Intense and it is gorgeous. I’m shit at describing scents but I feel like it’s deep and kind of masculine, but also sexy at the same time. It also lasts amazingly on the skin, which is absolutely what you want when you’ve spent a crazy amount on your perfume.

My first fashion favourite this month is a pair of swimmers I bought closer to the start of the month and took over to NZ with me. They are the most amazingly me swimmers I’ve ever seen or owned. They’re an electric blue velvet one piece with a super low back. I saw them months ago but held back from buying them because it was still way to cold to think about going swimming, but I finally got them and I’m so glad I did.

Velvet is my thing. I love velvet so much and I own so many different pieces of clothing made from velvet, so of course when I saw swimmers I had to buy them. I’m not really a bikini kind of girl, I love one pieces so much more, especially when the back is super low. I think they’re so understatedly sexy, and I always feel much more confident in pieces like this than in a bikini. I’m obsessed.

Swimsuit: Blue Ruby by Bras N Things / Jeans: Rollas / Belt: Sportsgirl

And lucky last is the bag that I’ve used more than any other one this month. This bag is from Decjuba, but it is obviously a massive rip off of the Loewe puzzle bag, which I would love to own but I’m 19 and work in retail so it’s definitely out of my price range for handbags at this point in time. Anyhow, I used this bag as my carry on, and it was the only bag I took overseas with me. It fits quite a bit more than you would think in it too. I carried my SLR camera, a book, wallet, passport, disposable cameras, plus all my random beauty products and I was impressed that it hold all of that.

It’s just a safe bet too, I feel like it’s one of those bags that you can put with any outfit and it’ll look great but also hold all the goodies you need. It’s starting to wear out a bit, but considering it’s a $70 bag and I use it majority of days out of the week, I’m really not too fussed.

Jumpsuit: Kmart / Jacket: Absent (mens) / Shoes: Nude Footwear / Bag:  Decjuba

tattoos I got & things I bought in new zealand

I just got back from my little trip to New Zealand yesterday, and I’m already sad to be back. It’s so beautiful over there, so I’m completely not ready to accept it’s over, or to get back into my daily routine and work. I have so many photos and I took two disposable cameras with me, so once they’ve been developed I really want to do a massive post including all of them. For now however, I thought I’d share just some of the things I spent my money on while I was there.

In all honesty I thought I’d bought so much stuff, but once I’d unpacked everything I realised the vast majority of what I bought were gifts for other people. I tried to be pretty practical with what I bought, and I was much more so than I first thought. But the most exciting things I got were two new tattoos.

Before I talk about the tattoos though, I wanna talk about the material things I bought. Firstly, these boots are everything. I’ve been after a pair of boots similar to this for ages, but while I’ve found ones I’ve liked, none have really caught me like these ones from Nude did.

These boots have so many details that I’ve wanted in a boot; the pointed toe, the pull tab, the elasticated sides. To top it all off they have the croc-effect on the back, and I always love a bit of croc-effect. They’re also real leather which is a bonus. The basic design elements are super reminiscent of the Acne Jensen boots I think.

Usually, when I’ve been looking at boots I definitely have swayed toward black styles, but I’m actually kind of glad these only came in tan leather. I think because of the colour they’ll be that pair of boots I’ll get to wear all year-round, whereas I feel like black boots can look and just make an outfit feel so heavy over the summer.

Dress: Re-made by Cream / Boots: Nude Footwear

The only other wearable thing I bought myself was this super sweet midi dress from Glassons. Honestly, when Andy asked if I wanted to have a look I really wasn’t convinced I’d see anything I liked but I was still curious so we went in. Really there wasn’t that much in there that interested me, the overall look the brand is going for just isn’t my style. But this dress got my attention straight away and I fell even more in love with it when I tried it on.

I’m really into wearing red at the moment (who isn’t), and I’ve been after a midi dress that looked slightly flattering on, so this really killed two birds with one stone for me.

The little slit up the front under the buttons is a detail I love, as well as the cut-out/tie-up front. I wouldn’t say this dress is sexy at all really, but I still think it’s flattering and shows enough skin to make it less grandma like.

Dress: Glassons / Shoes: Decjuba

I bought myself a few little things that I don’t really think would mesh with this kind of ‘haul’, but there’s one last thing I wanted to share. I finally took the plunge and spent a small fortune on a Jo Malone fragrance. I’m not really a huge perfume person, I’m pretty selective and I only own a couple. Jo Malone colognes are something I’ve lusted over for a while now but just had not been willing to part with that amount of money on a fragrance.

In the end, I splurged even more and got one from the cologne intense range. Although this range is almost double the price of the regular range of colognes, the scent I got is so amazing, I don’t regret the amount of money I spent on it. Oud & Bergamot is so sexy and deep, slightly masculine, and is probably my perfect fragrance.

The best thing I spent my money on though is absolutely my tattoos. Andy found Holy Skin Tattoo Wanaka on instagram and luckily for us they had time to fit us in while we were there. Nathan, who tattooed both of us, was so nice and such a great artist. If anyone reading this goes to Wanaka and wants to get inked, Holy Skin Tattoo has my stamp of approval. As for the pain, neither spot that I had done was that bad at all. Obviously they hurt a bit, it’s a needle going into your skin, but in the places I got them it was completely bearable.

The first tattoo he did on me was a snake on the back of my left arm just above my elbow. I’ve wanted a snake tattoo for ages now, and I’m so happy to have finally had it done. I showed him a picture of a snake tattoo I liked and he drew me up a design and I loved it, so that’s the one I got done.

The other one is a small quote that I really love. I get that quote tattoos are something people either like or don’t, and for me, I’m pretty selective about what ones I do like. Mine says “no rain no roses” in all capitals and a pretty blocky but simple font. This one’s also on my left arm, but on the front just below the inside of my elbow. I love both of my tattoos, I love the way the look with my other tattoos, and they both have special little meanings to me.

 

 

dressing down

One of my favourite things to do with clothing, especially in summer, is dress it down. I love taking pieces that are really meant to be worn for evenings, or semi-nice occasions, and bringing them down to a super casual level. The easiest way to do this, in my opinion, is just pairing dresses with trainers instead of something nicer.

This dress I bought to wear out on my 19th birthday, which I did and I loved it, but I haven’t worn it at all since. I think that mostly comes down to feeling like it was a dress that I would only wear if I was going out. To me, it just didn’t feel so much like a casual dress.

I feel like maybe a lot of that could come down to the fact that it’s velvet, and while I’m absolutely in love with velvet everything, sometimes it doesn’t feel just any random day is an occasion to wear a full velvet dress. My shoes as well are one of those things that I really love and don’t regret buying, but I just find that I don’t wear that much.

The shoes really do have a lot going on, and that’s one of the reasons I bought them in the first place. Firstly, I think stan smiths are such a good shoe anyway, so when I saw they had this limited edition that had both spots all over and velcro I couldn’t help myself. I just wish I wore them more, and especially with outfits other than jeans and a t-shirt.

Dress: Reverse / Shoes: Adidas / Sunnies: Le Specs

I like this outfit even more than the last one. The dress is pretty new, I only got it a couple of weeks ago, but still, it’s something I’ve only worn once so far. I’m honestly in love with this dress though. I think that the style and fit of it is just perfect, and I want it in a million different colours and patterns.

Last summer I was super obsessed with slip dresses, and styles like it, but this year I’m definitely getting into styles that are much more fitted and I think they’re really flattering. The colours on this dress suit me well (in my humble opinion), and I think plaid and checkering is something that’s always going to look cool.

I paired it with my regular stan smiths in the white and green colourway. I bought these probably about 2 years ago when everyone had either a pair of these or superstars, and I am so glad that the past me decided to get these over a pair of superstars. They’re super comfy, and you can wear them with pretty much anything.

I think the major thing that turned me off wearing them for a while was that they just wouldn’t wear out. I really like my shoes, especially trainers, to look a bit worn out, and the fact that this pair stayed so stark white for so long definitely wasn’t something I was in to. But I’ve kind of got over it, and they have worn out a bit since I first got them, but I guess the fact it’s been something hard to achieve is a testament to how well they wear.

Dress: Beyond Her / Shoes: Adidas / Sunnies: Vintage

And last but definitely not least, is my new favourite outfit. I can not wait to wear this all through summer. The dress I only bought yesterday, which is when I shot these photos, and I’m already obsessed. It’s from Bardot, which is somewhere I honestly never shop, so I was surprised when I saw it and decided I had to have it.

In my eyes, I think it’s very reminiscent of certain Realisation Par dresses, which is probably part of the reason I was so attracted to it in the first place. I love all the detail. The frilly straps are so cute, and the little dots (I feel like the name of them has something to do with dobby, but I don’t know for sure so I won’t commit to that) add a bit of texture. Plus it’s a gorgeous bright red.

And of course, I couldn’t not include an outfit in this post that had my checkered vans in it. I love these shoes so very much. They could be worn with almost any dress, and just take it down a level and make it such a cool outfit. I feel like I’ve gone on quite a bit already in previous posts about these shoes but it’s so hard to stop myself from talking about them.

I think they’re one of those classic pairs of shoes, that even if they aren’t in style anymore, I’ll still love and wear to death. But I also think they’re one of those items that if they happen to go out of style, eventually they’ll come back in again.

Dress: Bardot / Shoes: Vans / Sunnies: Rubi Shoes

P.S. I’m going to New Zealand tomorrow and I doubt I’ll post anything until I get back, so bear with me because I’m sure I’ll have lots of lovely pics to share on here.