Hello again! I've just gotten over a pretty bad week of bronchitis so I am pretty thrilled to be back to blogging. And I was even more excited to bring you this awesome collaboration with Pretty Dress! You might remember that I've worn one of their beautiful retro-inspired dresses before (to a hot rod show, no less) and this particular dress from this post will be styled up by a bunch of other Perth bloggers as well.

It's a really nice, unfussy dress by itself, but I really wanted to pair it with a skirt. This beautifully printed one felt very Roman Holiday! Or maybe that's just me. I think this dress will be perfect to wear on summer picnics, or out to brunch, or to outdoor cinemas... clearly I have a very specific list of things I want to do when the weather gets warmer! I really love the bow at the neckline. Because it has an empire waist that is probably meant to sit under the bust but for me sits in the middle of my boobs, I think I'll definitely stick to wearing it as a dress so I don't get the little pouf of fabric around my middle. I mean, it looks like a pouf of fabric but is actually... more boob. Geez.




I'm living out of a suitcase at the moment (and when I say suitcase, I mean pile of clothes that have been unceremoniously dumped in a pile) while my house is getting re-wired. For some reason I brought a flamingo-printed skirt, a pie-printed dress and a Halloween themed cardigan, but forgot the essentials like another pair of shoes. And a toothbrush. And pyjamas. I guess you can see where my priorities lie.

Oh and I do have to say a huge thank you to my friend Ana in Pigeonhole Shop 9 for taking my photos! It's always a bit awkward having to ask someone to take a photo of yourself for your blog which is filled with photos of yourself. Oh well.

{This dress was sent to me for a collaboration with Pretty Dress; however all opinions are my own}

I haven't done a review for so long, so I was pretty thrilled when Firmoo contacted me to try out their fancy frames. I do actually have a prescription for reading glasses, and since my Oliver Peoples frames were stolen I was in need of some new specs! Here's my experience with Firmoo...

Recently I had the opportunity to use $50 Groupon credit on something and report back to you guys. So here's how my experience went down...

The site is pretty overwhelming at first. There's a lot of deals for things like teeth whitening, weekends away, fancy dinners, LED lights... just a ridiculous amount of stuff. Once I signed up, I would get three emails a day - one for shopping deals, one for Perth deals, and one for getaway deals - but I think you can tailor the emails so you only get alerts for the categories you're interested in. And the coupon page makes it quite easy to see all the deals at once, too.

So after a couple of weeks I finally got my coupon sorted. Aidan and I don't really go out to dinner all that often - well, unless you count all the sneaky trips to Nandos - so I thought it might be fun to go out somewhere new. I ended up picking a voucher for an Indian restaurant in Scarborough called Spicy Nights.


Now, as for the voucher itself, I have to say that the savings would be pretty incredible. For $39, we got a tasting plate of entrees, a main each, and naan bread and rice. I think the average for one main would be about $25, so it was definitely worth using the voucher! The only extra thing we paid for was $8 corkage.

And as for the food... oh man. I didn't want to be "that guy" who has an SLR camera out when people are eating, so I just took some sneaky phone shots. So for the appetisers we had chicken tikka, vegetable samosas and tandoori prawns (we swapped the lamb in the entrees for extra chicken), then we got a beef masala curry and good ol' butter chicken, with garlic naan. THEN for dessert we had this weirdly delicious condensed milk-inside-donut-batter kind of dish (it just tasted like a warm donut with syrup, yum) and some pistachio ice-cream. Which is all included in the deal.


I was a little reluctant to try Groupon because I didn't want to be one of those 'extreme couponer' people, but there's actually quite a big range of deals. To be honest, most of the shopping deals didn't really interest me - lots of Swarovski diamonte pendants, genie bras, that kind of thing. The holiday ones are pretty great, but I guess you'd have to be pretty flexible on where you wanted to go.

I doubt I'll use it regularly, but I do think the local deals are worth checking out. I thought that most of them, especially the food deals, would have a million terms and conditions like "Can only be used between 4:30 and 5:15pm", or "Deal  is only valid for next two days", or "You have absolutely no say in what you order", but all the ones I checked out seemed pretty reasonable. I don't think there would be many big name restaurants on the list, but if you don't mind giving somewhere new a go, I'd definitely recommend it.

Have you guys used Groupon or any of those other deal sites before?

{Groupon kindly sent me a $50 voucher to use on their site, but all thoughts and opinions are, as always, my own.}

As you may know, I bought a Diana F+ a while ago. I had the chance to use it at my sister's 21st, but when I went to get the roll of film developed and put on a disc, the people at the camera place totally stuffed it up and ended up bleaching the film and totally destroying it. I know that's a risk you take with film, and I'm not even sure if the photos I took would be any good, but it was still heartbreaking! I actually was so upset (both with the film incident and with the awful way the people dealt with it) I wrote a rather angry letter to the camera place, which is as yet unanswered! Grr!

Anyway, I'm a bit hesitant to use film again, but I bought a SLR adapter and a Diana wide focus lens to use with my Canon. I gave it a try this morning and I was quite pleased with the result!










So would I recommend this lens? Hmm. I do love the photos, but I found the lens would be better for either portrait shots or wide angle photos, rather than just everyday use. I had to stand quite far back from the subject of the photos, because then lens made everything an EXTREME CLOSE UP. I imagine that it would be great for taking photos while travelling, though - imagine a scenery shot with that Diana effect! I do love the dreamy, soft focus effect, but I think I might try using the normal Diana lens with my SLR next time (or, you know, just my Diana, when I get over my 'film' jitters!).

If you're interested in trying it out, I used a Diana F+ lens adapter for Canons, and a Diana+ 110m soft focus lens.

What do you think? Do you use a Diana (or any other film camera)? Got any tips on where to get it developed in Perth? Please don't say Crystal Pictures in Morley :(

This is a VERY overdue post (one of many!...) from when I went to the Hot Rods show at Devilles a couple of weeks ago. I brought my camera (yay!) but forgot my memory card (boo!), but luckily the lovely Lisa took some photos for me.

I was very excited because I thought the awesome old cars would go very nicely with my new dress from Pretty Dress that I was sent to review. I think I was right! We were taking photos next to this awesome 1956 car and the guy who owned it said "Do you want to take photos inside it?" Um... YES! Never mind the fact that I don't even have my license in real life...



And... onto the outfit details!



I really love this dress! It's made of that soft kind of jersey fabric, so it's really comfortable to wear, even on a really hot day like this one! It also has a pretty simple shape, so it's easy to dress up or down - I actually wore it for a night out at Devilles a couple of weeks ago. I also like the little white detailing around the collar (so it looks kind of like a fake Peter Pan collar) and the hem - although it is actually sewn on top of the fabric and I'm not sure how well it will stay on after a couple more washes.

If you're between sizes, I would recommend sizing up (like I did) - it's not uncomfortable or tight, but I think if you got it in a smaller size then the fabric would cling to all the lumps and bumps! I'm also not crazy about the tie around the hips, because I don't really like anything that emphasises my hips, but I can deal. All in all, for $40 it's a really great little dress!





And these are some Instagram photos I snapped on the day. The top one is of my dream car (imagine driving around in one of those! Beep beep!), the second is a hula girl swizzle stick from the pretty dangerously lethal cocktails, and the last one is of a bike that was just hanging around. I don't know if it was meant to be on display, or if someone had just left it there, but I was very tempted to hop on and just ride off with it.

Because there was an awesom Beach Boys cover band, I'll leave you with one of my favourite Beach Boys tunes. It's raining here this week, so maybe this will get you in a summery mood!

x

Recently I had the opportunity to review Element Aveda Concept in Subiaco. I love featuring Perth businesses and this one definitely deserves to be written about! My fantastic hairdresser Bree booked me in for a cut and colour and makeup treatment, so I prepared myself to be very spoiled indeed.

For the uninitiated, Aveda is a hair and skincare brand that uses sustainable, plant-based products. They use 100% wind power at their factories and responsible packaging, with 80% post-consumer recycled materials used. I've never been hugely influenced by claims like this before but it is pretty impressive how far they've gone to improve their product in such an environmentally friendly way.

Anyway, back to the salon. My first impression of Element Aveda Concept is how bright and busy the salon is. At the place I usually go to get my hair cut, there's only room for one client at a time, so it was a bit of a shock to see SO MANY people bustling around and chattering excitedly!


Pretty much as soon as I got there I was introduced to Reece, who took me to my chair, made me a coffee (my white-wine afflicted head very much appreciated this) and gave me a shoulder massage using Aveda's Blue Oil, which has chamomile and peppermint to give it this minty, tingling sensation. Now, about the massage. I am someone for whom massages are very important. Boyfriends and friends are sick of me whining about how knotted my neck and shoulders are (very often) and they're well used to cringing whenever I crack my neck (very very often). If you read the reviews on Blue Oil then you might get an idea of how good the product is, and I pretty much blissed out for ten minutes while I got the massage - which is complimentary, may I add.

After Bree got my hair ready for some cuttin', we talked about what we would do. It wasn't that long since I got my hair done, but the fringe was already growing out a bit wonkily and there was STILL a greeny tinge to my lower layers, leftover from my blue hair. Thankfully Bree loves my fringe as much as I do - in fact, she told me that one of the big hair trends at the moment is to have a really bold, statement fringe or to have them grown out. So, she decided to make it a bit more messy and shaggy, and have the fringe start from the very back of the head so I didn't have to worry about my part; so it's very Penny Lane in Almost Famous, 70s bohemian gypsy child inspired. Here's a picture from halfway through:


Next it was on to the colour. Since I've decided I want to keep my hair dark for a while to get it back to some semblance of healthy, Bree decided to do this really subtle ombre effect. "The word balayage is banned in here," she announced, saying that while it's admittedly a cool hairstyle, she thinks that there are much bigger things happening in colour at the moment and that balayage has been done TO DEATH in Perth. So here are some photos of how she coloured my hair:

It's a really dark, almost black on the top (which you can probably see from yesterday's outfit photos), then goes to a nice velvety brown and a lighter colour on the ends. I think the mix of colours is really pretty and kind of lightens up my face. Bree also cut some choppier layers into my hair, which means that it takes away the emphasis from my cheekbones a bit and makes it easier and effortless to style in the mornings - which I'm always a fan of.

I forgot to mention that while all this hair cutting and colouring is going on, Element Aveda offers ANOTHER complimentary massage, this time focusing on the hands, exfoliating them and making them like they've never done any work in your life. Even my boyfriend noticed  (admittedly after I shoved my hand in his face and yelled HAY LOOK HOW SOFT MY HANDS ARE AREN'T THEY GREAT FEEL THEM). The Aveda Hand Relief (hee hee) products left my hands feeling a tiny bit greasy but my hands still feel lovely and soft a few days later.

The lovely Reece did my blowdry and makeup as well. He curled my hair into a kind of pin-up, retro look that made me feel a little bit like a Vargas girl, I loved it. For my makeup, instead of going for what he said was the "expected" retro look of winged eyeliner and deep red lips, he went for a kind of '30s look with this absolutely gorgeous eye makeup (if I were more of a beauty writer I would write it up, unfortunately pictures will have to suffice for now!) and a lip colour that was a bit more plum toned than just straight out red (unfortunately that pretty much came off when I devoured a burger on my way home). I am so obsessed with the eye makeup, I'm going to try and recreate it on my next night out!

So, my final thoughts on Element Aveda Concept. The whole team is really professional and obviously passionate about what they do, but this isn't some stuffy hair studio where people would be intimidated to go. I only got my hair cut a few days ago so I'm not totally sure about the difference that the Aveda products have made to my hair, but I'll report back and let you know! I would recommend getting a consultation first (with Bree if you can - she really knows what she's talking about and is amazing at making her clients feel so comfortable) and then spending the whole day there - it's not really a place where you pop in for a quick haircut, it's a place where you go to get properly pampered (I was there from 11.30 until about 4). And also make sure you try the organic tea because it is amazing and I would have smuggled some out if I could. But I digress.


You can find Element Aveda Concept at 17 Rokeby Rd in Subiaco. Call them on (08) 9382 3004 or book online at www.elementac.com.au. Cuts start at $77.

Thanks so much to the Element Aveda Concept team for putting up with me and my camera for the day!

x

{Disclosure: I did not pay for my services at Element Aveda Concept but was offered them in exchange for a fair and honest review. Read my Advertising Policy for more information on my reviews.}


p.s How cute are Bree and Reece?! I couldn't resist snapping some street style pictures of them... this is a fashion blog, after all.

What they say: "Some of the most beautiful of nature’s elements are found in this scent, including the rarely used nectar of liquorice flower, anise seeds, violets, iris roots, tonka bean and hints of vanilla. Poetic, passionate and a true masterpiece."
This scent is light and floral, but has a bit more lasting power than other floral scents I've tried before. Like its namesake, it's quite light and pretty but very alluring. When you first smell it, it's kind of sweet and almost spicy? It fades to a really nice vanilla smell, though - any scent with vanilla is an automatic favourite for me! It makes me think of wearing a white, cotton dress with socks and Mary Janes (though that's probably the Lolita reference more than anything). This is my favourite to wear, in fact I'm almost out of it so I'm rationing it out! I can't seem to find another bottle anywhere though, if you see it please let me know!
What they say: "Sexy and musky, Naughty Alice enlivens the senses and leaves you with a naughty twinkle in your eye. At the heart of Naughty Alice is black rose, ylang ylang, and violet."
This is quite a bit heavier than any perfume I've tried before. It's more in the "floriental" perfume family, I believe.  It's pretty much what you'd expect from a Vivienne Westwood perfume - something that's really powerful when it first hits you, but then you notice all the complexities and softer details. While the musk is definitely one of the dominant notes, the violet is what I smell first of all. To be honest, I'm not sure how "black rose" differs from any other kind of rose smell, but thankfully it's not too overpowering, like it is in Lovely.
What they say: "A flirty top note of apple martini opens this dynamic fragrance, to remind us of those sassy, cocktail-drinking ladies of the big apple. It’s followed up by an eclectic mix of radiant rosewood, lush lavender and creamy orchid and rounded off with sexy musk. It’s cheeky and little bit fun, while still managing to be ladylike."
This was actually the first perfume I ever bought, back in high school for my school ball, and to be honest I mostly bought them for the Sarah Jessica Parker connection (and the ad campaign was pretty gorgeous too, from memory!). It's a little bit more mature than the other two scents, probably because of the combination of the lavender and rosewood. The rose is definitely the most powerful note It also makes me really nostalgic - damn those olfactory sense being linked to memory!


{All "What they say" reviews from the Perfume Connection site}

x

When Button n Thread asked me to review their online boutique, I was happy to, but also a little hesitant. You see, I have had to cut down on my working hours somewhat, and I really don't need another excuse to spend my money. I have actually perused their website a few times, but they have some gorgeous new pieces in for summer. There are plenty of cute items for sale, and here are my favourites...

1. Polo Long Dress in Light Blue, $49

Lately I've had a bit of a thing for longer length dresses and skirts. This polo dress is very Ralph Lauren, and in my opinion, has an "Oh, I'm just coming home from the country club" kind of vibe to it. It looks very grown up, crisp and sophisticated. I would wear it with tan, high heeled, peep toe clogs and a tan skinny belt - perhaps with a blue and white striped shoulder bag.

2. Barbie Dress with Ribbon, $53

I may be a bit biased - I saw this dress in a post from Le Blog de Sushi and thought it looked absolutely stunning! Unfortunately the navy is all sold out, but the gray is just as lovely (just quietly, I do have a soft spot for that gray marle colour). I think this dress would look adorable with a pair of clogs and a straw boater hat.

3. Casual Blue T Dress, $49

I think this dress is one of those "Looks weird on the hanger, looks great on" kind of deals. I like the whole drapey, loose look - especially for ridiculously hot summers, which I KNOW I mention at least twice every post but COME ON IT'S FREAKING HOT - even though I'm not one hundred per cent sure that I can carry it off with much aplomb!

4. Summer Jumpsuit, $59

For some reason, I love jumpsuits. I don't actually, you know, OWN any but I've always admired the effortless, just-been-featured-on-The-Sartorialist look that they exude. This would be a good (but brave!) way to get into the khaki/camel or even the military trend, paired with some skyscraper heels, a black belt and a studded clutch.

The good: The dresses, especially, are really cute; they're very on-trend and there are pictures of celebrities wearing them included, so you can see where the inspiration is from. The clothes are well-priced and there's many a perfect little pick-me-up item.

The bad: Not all of the photography is great (and not all consistent, which is a bit of a pet peeve for me!), and I found quite a few of the dresses were only "recommended" up to a size 10. As a 12, this left me wondering a bit if there was anything that would actually fit me!

However, do check out the boutique - your wallet may not thank you, though! Button n Thread are currently offering free shipping to Australia, New Zealand and Singapore until the 31st December, 2010 - what more excuse do you need?

x

{While I was contacted by Button n Thread to do this review, I do not receive any monetary compensation for mentioning them on my blog. Please read my Advertising page for more info.}

I will be honest. I'm not much of a handbag girl. Once I buy one (usually a cheap one from somewhere like Temt or Sportsgirl), I tend to use it until it pretty much falls apart. However, recently I have had to travel between two houses quite a bit, and as I am quite disorganised at the best of times, I do usually forget something important. So, when Borne Naked asked me to review their product, I thought that I would see if I could lift my organisation game!

The liner itself is quite big, about the size of a clutch bag (it's the size 'medium' on the website). Because I prefer to carry quite large bags, it was used more of a pocket containing the essentials than an actual liner that I could transfer between bags, although when I was in a rush, it was easy to just grab out the bag and shove it (...delicately) into another bag.


Here's my 'essentials' that I put into the liner...
♥ Wallet (from Dotti, it's already looking a bit used, does anyone have any recommendations?)
♥ Glasses case
♥ iPhone & headphones
♥ Napoleon Perdis foundation
♥ A pen (usually there are a lot more floating around in my bag)
♥ Sportsgirl sunglasses
♥ My name badge, for work (I work for one of the concession brands in David Jones)
♥ Deodorant
♥ Body Shop lip balm (I've been using this one - the brand, I mean, not the same tub - since high school)
♥ Headphones
♥ Keys (owl keyring from Sportsgirl, Paris keyring was a gift)

Phew! And this is only the 'essential' items. They have to compete with myriad magazines and books, like the Frankie one pictured (I HATE going out without having something to read), stones such as amethyst that I bought in Fremantle ages ago, crumpled up receipts and movie tickets, uni notebooks and handouts... and so on.



I didn't think it would be a necessary product, because I don't switch bags that often, but I was pleasantly surprised at how convenient it was to have all my essential products in one compartment. When you're staying at someone's house, it's a pain to get there and realise that you've forgotten your makeup or deodorant, and having it all in one bag made it a lot easier to find, and to chuck in my overnight bag. I also tend to absentmindedly take off my jewelery and put it in the depths of my bag - putting it in  a clear case made it MUCH easier to find the next day!


I was sent this for review by Borne Naked, I don't think I would go out of my way to buy one if I hadn't been sent it. It's useful, but I just don't think I switch bags enough to warrant the expense. I will continue using mine, though, and if you're more of a bag girl then I would definitely recommend it!

Rating: ♥♥♥1/2 / ♥♥♥♥♥. A useful product that I can definitely see myself using, but probably more suited to someone who changes bags more regularly. I thought the sizing was a little off - it was too big to go into the clutches I own and a little bit smaller than the bags I regularly use. Beautiful packaging (I love the pin-up girls!), and if you go to the website you can actually pick the size which would suit you the most. I would probably recommend a small, the medium is a bit bigger than what I would need.

p.s And in case you were wondering, this is my bag! I got it on sale from Sportsgirl, and unfortunately I am already on the lookout for another bag. This one has studs, as you can see, and the fabric covering the pointy, sharp backs of the studs is completely useless - I've lost count of how many scratches I've gotten from this bag! I think that when a bag MAIMS YOUR HANDS, it's time to move on.


{Disclaimer: I was sent this product to review for Borne Naked. All opinions are my own & not influenced by the company.}