An Ode to Collars

Hey Everyone!
Guess what?! My March to-do list is complete -gasp- -woop- -falls to floor in relief-. It's safe to say that this month has been a crazyyyy one in terms of school work. I'm actually surprised I've published a whole 4 posts- albeit most were written on the bus to work. On a completely random side note: an English teacher pointed out my incorrect use of dashes today and its made me so conscious of how often I use them. I did though look up an online grammar rule book (my life is simply riveting) and for informal use, the dash is ok. So the verdict is: they will permeate my blog posts as always but will be kicked out of my essays. It must always be so easy to tell what time of day I'm writing posts because at night I get completely side tracked; providing you with random and entirely pointless snippets of my consciousness.
Anyhoo, if you have read Julz' Obsessions for some time, you will know of my love for collars. On anything. Dresses, tops, playsuits, by themselves. I am pretty much attracted to every item of clothing with a collar. They featured in this wishlist, this haul and this one too. I even made my own collar in one of my infamous Julzy DIYs. Collars were really big around 2 years ago, and since then I have kept them closely on my radar. So, when I noticed that they featured on the SS14 catwalks, specifically sharp white collars, of course I felt the need to spread my joy. I'm loving this alternate approach of contrast. Just when you think there's only so much you can do with a collar, bam, it reinvents itself. The contrasting white collar strikes a happy medium between cutesy oxford style and crisp lawyer. Basically, it says 'ooh hey I'm so sophisticated- not only am I wearing a super-swish outfit, I'm setting it off with this bad ass collar'.
Two of my favourites featuring on the SS14 runway are Alexander Wang and Valentino.

Image Source

I'm particularly liking the Alexander Wang look. The powder blue is perfect for spring and I love how the outfit is tied together with pops of white. Lately I've been lusting after a co-ordinate. Also, the lazy, pyjama-esque clothing is balanced really well by the killer heels. 

Valentino's offerings do not disappoint either. One word: monochrome. I'm still loving it, as I'm sure many of you are, and I'm glad it has resurfaced this season. These laid back sandals give the look a relaxed vibe and the necklace perfectly compliments the collar. 

As always, when falling head over heels with a trend, after analysing the catwalks (and sadly admitting to myself that the outfits are too out-there for everyday wear), I look to see how my favourite fashion inspirations are werking it (how are we feeling about that phrase- I'm kind of giving it a test run?)

Source 1, 2 & 3

Now, being the busy lady that I am, due to having school 5 days a week and work for 2, I don't have the time to trek in and out of high street shops looking for the perfect dress to satisfy my collar needs. This is where online shopping comes in. I've lately discovered ark.co.uk, whose collection of collared dresses has caught my eye. At reasonable prices and a wide range of styles, its difficult to pick a favourite, so I thought I'd share the selection which I am currently lusting after. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Trying to convey my love for this style of dress is near impossible besides writing asdfghjdfdfhef. I could definitely see myself wearing everyone of these. They seem versatile yet suited to my style. The first two are perfect shades for spring. I really like the orange as its a really unusual hue of which I own nothing of the same shade and I'm a total sucker for a skater dress. Imagine these with white cat eye shades,  flip flops and some fake tan on a summers day. I would style the other three for the last remnants of winter: tights, chelsea boots and a leather jacket. When its sufficiently sunny enough to sport a dress but not warm enough to get legs out. 
Which is your favourite from the Ark line up and how would you style it? Do you have any fashion obsessions to match my collar infatuation? *Compensation was received for this post*

My Go To Winter Lipstick 2014

Hey Everyone!
It is becoming a bit of a tradition to post a review of my favourite winter lipstick- just as winter is pretty much over. On one hand this doesn't give you much of a chance to wear it as a winter lipstick, but on the other the fact I've left it so long to post about emphasises just how much of a test run I've given it. 
Last year, I was all about the Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in shade 107 (as was everyone and their granny). This year, I needed a purpley lipstick to match my Christmas dance dress as the Kate Moss was too red-burgundy. I searched Superdrug high and low- honestly it is mission impossible to find a good vampy lipstick in there- anytime I thought I'd done it it swatched berry-pink. I did later discover that Collection do a few good dark shades.
In this desperate search, I popped into Topshop to see if they had any offerings. Within a few minutes, I was at the checkout paying for their lipstick 'Depth'. There's actually a bit of an embarrassing story associated with that: when the checkout girl asked me if I wanted a bag for the lipstick I said 'Oh no I'll just poop it in here'- POOP?! *hangs head in embarrassment and doesn't return to Topshop for several weeks*

Anyhoo, the lipstick turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. It is a rich, creamy, oh-so-pigmented formula which looks scary in the bullet but amazing on the lips. In fact the colour is so bold that I often dab it off then reapply to make it a smidge more subtle. I always thought that for pale kids like myself dark lipsticks were a massive no-no but surprisingly I think this works with my skin tone really well. For being such a daring shade, I don't experience any bleeding off the lips and touch ups are required only after about 3 hours. I won't go on about the packaging too much as you can pretty much see it in the picture and I'm sure you're aware of the standard cutesy Topshop lipstick packaging. I will say though that it makes a lovely little click when you close it which, sad as it may sound, I find huge satisfaction in. The formula is non drying and has a slight shine. This lipstick blends really nicely with other products so is pretty versatile.I think this bold lip brings together every make up look and just says 'hi I've made an effort'. An all round winner in my eyes. I'm now super eager to try more bold lipsticks, especially Topshop ones.
What was your go-to lipstick this winter?

Another Spring Primark Haul

Hey Everyone!

As promised (if a little late) here is what I've bought in Primark recently. This is quite a random selection of bits and bobs: they're mostly for summer/ holidays. You see I went into Primark before work a few weeks ago and I wanted pretty much everything I saw. But you know what always happens in these situations. I'd forgotten my purse. So, the next week I went in: card at the ready, and treated myself.

The first thing I spotted was this ditsy floral playsuit. Its very floaty on top (usually the opposite of what I'd go for) but it was a good price (about £10) and I'm a lover of playsuits in general, so I just had to get it. Its actually very nice on too. A great thing about it is the black which means I'll be able to put it over a pair of tights until the weather warms up a bit. I also picked up the navy, floral, pyjama-like shorts for £4 (ish- sorry, in all honesty I can't be bothered moving to find the receipt). They are super comfy and casual and will be perfect for warm days. Next up, a pair of white jeans which I've been coveting for a good while now. I think white jeans are a bit of a love/ hate item and I really want to love them. I think they're great at this time of year and I think they look great on other people so I'm going to make myself love them on me too. They're not a perfect fit, but they're good enough, and for £10 they're good value anyway. I then got this bodycon pale pink skirt with black lace for £3. Primark have a lot of skirts on sale at the minute so definitely have a look. I'm usually a skater skirt wearer all the way but since this was on sale I thought I'd pick it up in case I fancy a change. It is nice on I just feel like I need some sort of suction device to pull me in and smooth me out to make it wearable. Last up, this black and white aztec top. I think this was £5 and its my favourite item from the haul. The collar is trimmed with a little faux soft leather and the sleeves are a really unusual length (between short and medium) but they're soo cute. This top was positioned next to bright yellow handbags and I was very tempted to get one because I want something of that hue but then I said to myself 'Julz, do you really need another bag when you have just bought that bad boy of a Zara mini city bag?' The answer was of course no. 

So there we have it. This haul isn't as coordinated colour-scheme-wise as my last (here) but ah well- I feel like these have ensembles already awaiting in my wardrobe. Something I haven't done in ages is take like an hour to go through my wardrobe to put together new random outfits. I've put myself in the mood for it now. If only I had time!

I always end on a question related to the post, but today I'm going to be different since I have a creative writing piece due and I have no idea what to write about. Since you are all creative geniuses and give me inspiration all the time:

any ideas about what I can write a reflective essay/ drama/ poem on? lol

Updated Everyday Makeup

Hey Everyone!
I've said time and time again that, for me, every extra minute of sleep in the morning is precious. For all my procrastination during the rest of the day, from 7.45- 8.20 my routine is timed to the second. Because of this, I've honed my everyday makeup routine to the essentials so that I don't waste any unnecessary time doing it but I still look (semi) presentable.

Products worn: Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer Bourjois Round Pot in Rose D'Or MAC MSF in Soft & Gentle S&G Archery in Brownie Points No7 Stay Precise Liquid Liner in Black No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara in Black Maybelline Babylips in Cherry Me Avon Translucent Powder
It takes me roughly 10 mins to do this makeup (with the exception of lip balm which is applied while running round to the bus stop). I've been wearing this to both work and school for months and in terms of lasting power its pretty fab. 
The products I'm using have switched up quite a lot since my last FOTD post. I've reverted back to my Rimmel foundation and No7 liquid liner- in my eyes no other liner can compete. As usual I'm switching up mascara pretty frequently and just using what I have opened at the time. I wouldn't describe this one by No7 as 'exceptional', as the name suggests, but it doesn't smudge (which is quite the feat for my oily eyelids) and is good in terms of adding length and not clumping. 
I'm still loving Maybelline Baby Lips- I have countless lip products yet I find myself reaching for this every single day. I love the way it smells and the fact it doesn't do anything weird (like going patchy or leaving an outer line- ew) when it fades. I've started using concealer again because my skin is in quite a state at the moment. I'll possibly do a post with more info on what I'm doing to try and manage that soon. Ooh and big news on the makeup front. During my four month absence, I finally started filling in my eyebrows. I'm planning an in depth review of the S&G brow tint & pencil but basically I'm really loving it- it makes eyebrows so easy to do- even for a complete novice like me. Finally, on my cheeks is my usual combo. I'm getting a bit tired of the Rose D'Or blush since I've not used any other blush in months- I'm looking forward to looking out my cream blush for summer. 
Well that's me over and out for tonight folks. Hope you all have a great weekend. There will be a Primark haul up on Sunday so look out for that :)

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder Review

Hey Everyone!
For a good while I was absolutely obsessed with MUA and would buy pretty much every product they launched. From the affordability to the quality, I was sold. Lately, a combination of their plentiful new products and my building makeup collection means that I havem't been picking up their newest releases quite so religiously, but I am still very much enjoying trying out what I have.
The MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder initially appealed to me because of the surge of hype it received in the blogging community and because, lets face it, it looks great- its so swirly, frosty and shiny. It was actually sold out in a lot of stores upon its launch and the fact that I couldn't get my hands on it made it even more attractive. I was pretty impressed when I eventually bought it.
Pros: The actual product is actually a very creamy powder and I find that it is applied best with the Real Techniques Contour Brush. The colour is a cool, silvery white pink which is a nice alternative to the usual warm, rosy highlighters/ blushes. This highlighter, depending on how much you apply, adds a subtle glow to the cheeks without being disco-ball-like. 
Cons: The powder tends to sit on foundation rather than blend in with it, and by the end of the day the two can completely separate. I don't know if this is maybe just my skin type, it may not do the same for other people.   My MAC Mineralize Skinfinish  is still my HG highlighter, but to be fair, for the £19 price difference- it should be.
Overall: There isn't a huge selection of drugstore highlighters out there, so this is definitely worth a go at £3 a pop even just to give it a go and see if you like it or if you are new to highlighting and don't want to splurge on a high end one straight away.
Have you tried this?