One of the sections that I always check when I pop into my local branch of TK Maxx is the book section. I always find a great selection of cookery and design hardbacks ( perfect for the coffee table and to dip into) at much reduced prices. Here is my most recent purchase which I picked up for £8.00 instead of the RRP of £42.00. As a reader of a number of Conde Nast titles, I couldn't leave this languishing in the Clearance section. I love using books to decorate my home, but hardback design books like this are often very expensive, so I have to be very selective. However thanks to TK Maxx I can add a few more titles to my collection.
The pages are crammed with an abundance of beautiful and often iconic images taken from Conde Nast titles over the last century. Here are some of my favourites (Solve Sundsbo, Love 2011; Willy Vanderperre, W, 2011; Corinne Day, British Vogue, 1993; Tim Walker, Italian Vogue, 1995; David Bailey, British Vogue, 1962; Guy Bourdin, Vogue, 1958) :
Today's mid-week manicure is a limited edition nail polish, 'Koliary' which is part of the Nars-Thakoon collection of five nail polishes. The shades in the collection have been inspired by the vibrant colours seen in Indian spice-markets.
I decided to apply this shade, when the winter weather re-appeared at the start of the week. I was feeling in need of a burst of vivid colour to brighten things up! If you like the look of this shade, you can buy it at HQ Hair, for £14.50 (free delivery!) and House of Fraser for £14.00.
On Saturday, I attended the second day of the 2013 WOW (Women of the World) Festival at the Southbank Centre, with a group from Cardiff University, where I work. The #WOWWales group was made up of 30 competition winners, who had all submitted entries relating to their experiences of living in a digital world. It was really interesting to see the creative approaches that the competition entrants had taken to tackle this subject: poetry; graphic design; film scripts, and more. You can find out more about the #WOWWales experience here and here.
There were a lot of fascinating sessions running at WOW, but as a fashion blogger, one of the sessions which I was really interested in attending, was the 'Fashion, Beauty and Style' panel discussion. The panel was comprised of The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman, Natasha Pearlman, deputy editor of
Elle magazine and ethical fashion expert Amisha Ghadiali. Topics discussed included sustainable fashion; the contribution of fashion to the economy; the power of women within the fashion industry, and attitudes towards older women in the fashion industry. It was a fascinating discussion, with some great contributions from the audience.
Although my iphone and its rubbish battery life failed me yet again, thanks to the lovely Amy, who lent me her ipad, I was able to capture some of the event in a series of tweets. Here is my Storify of the event.
It has been a while since I have done a nail polish post, so I
thought that I would try and start a regular feature, ‘Mid-week Manicure’.
Today’s polish of choice is Nails Inc ‘Porchester Square’, which they describe
as one of their hero shades. When I first saw this shade, it immediately
reminded me of Chanel’s ‘Frenzy’, one of their latest limited edition releases.
Although I love the Chanel shades, I am trying to be a bit more sensible with my beauty spending (with
the emphasis on the ‘trying’!), so I have been reluctant to spend £17 on a nail polish,
even if I do LOVE all things Chanel-related.
Therefore, I jumped at the opportunity to try this when I
saw that it is on offer in the ‘Latest in Beauty’ online store for £5 (a saving
of £6). Having read a number of reviews of Chanel ‘Frenzy’, the consensus seems
to be that although this shade has a more lavender tone than ‘Frenzy’, they are
still very similar. So, for now I will be getting my ‘Chanel’ fix thanks to
'Nails Inc' and 'Latest in Beauty’!
