I recently showcase this ring set from Urban Outfitters on my Instagram and after admiring them all on my jewellery stand for weeks, I finally actually wore them! I had been after a few midi rings for a while, so I put my birthday gift card to good use and finally found some. I love that this set comes with the large geometric-style ring too - perfect addition to my growing geometrically aestheticized collection of necklaces, one of which I am wearing below!
Cheeky cupping of some Cookie Dough!
I'm also wearing Barry M's 'Spring Green' on my nails at the moment. It's definitely not a colour for the faint hearted - green means green! But I personally like the brightness of the colour and my favourite colour is green anyway, so win-win!
Jade x
I can finally say that I have satisfied my penchant for crystal pendants!
After browsing and blogging for ages about a nice gemstone pendant necklace, I can finally say I own one! Thanks to the combined efforts of a Dutch branch of quirky store Brandy Melville, it was definitely worth the wait. I can't think of 10 euros having been spent any better way! What makes it even more special is that there are, to my knowledge, no Brandy Melville stores in the UK. They do have international deliveries but in the near future at least, I won't be able to afford paying delivery! Which is fine because it means I'll remember the story behind this purchase even more.
Nail varnish - Gotta Have It | Urban Outfitters, $5
I wear this silver bracelet every day. Mostly because I like adorning myself with accessories but partially because of its message too!
"Wish it, Dream it, Do it"
Which is exactly what I'm trying to do: achieve everything I've dreamt of since I was little. I kept the little bag the bracelet came in because it's the perfect way to transport my rings and earrings back and forth from uni. I'm not always a big fan of slogans but this bracelet is so shiny yet so subtle that it fast became part of my every day jewellery. We can all do with a little motivational push now and then!
Jade x
I recently found myself reading an article, thanks to a photo from Beyoncé's Instagram, about a 4.4 billion year old crystal which is suggested to be one of the oldest pieces of Earth in existence. Maybe this is the History student in me, but I find things like this really fascinating. This is the article on CNN which goes into a lot more detail about the finding of the zircon (most of which goes over my head - I like history, not science!) It was an interesting read though and did kind of reaffirm my love for crystals and gemstones.
Jade itself is a gemstone, so I've always had a penchant for looking for green, Jade-coloured items as I was incidentally named after one. Amethyst is the other gemstone I tend to veer towards, as I'm a February baby (although growing up I always wished I was Emerald or Sapphire!) As a child I also tried (and failed miserably) to grow my own crystals with one of those science kits for kids, but regardless of how many attempts I made, nothing ever grew! More recently though I came across the seriously cool campaign Mila Kunis did for Gemfields, as seen below. How does anyone look that good without make up?! Anyway, after looking into the work of Gemfields I started browsing around for a slightly more affordable, yet equally ethical company from which to buy some glittering gemstones.
It was in a magazine that I first saw an advertisement for LoveBullets, who turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. They have the most beautiful range of gemstone jewellery, ranging from my type of price range all the way up to items costing over £200. My favourite unsurprisingly is this little Lovebullet Amethyst crystal which is encased in a silver bullet. I'm gutted that it's currently sold out but I'm waiting with eager fingertips for it to come back in stock!
At only £18, with £1 from each sale going towards the War Child charity, I am more than happy to wait my turn. I love that Lovebullets are making an effort to sell fashion with a conscience and although they do have two other Amethyst related products, I don't think the money I received for my birthday is quite going to stretch to these prices, as nice as the products are!
There are more than just Amethyst crystals on the website, as well as products catering for both men and women. Definitely my new favourite jewellery haunt and well worth a look!
Jade x
I'm procrastinating. Surprise, surprise! To be fair, I'm suffering a little bit with what I'm (not so) fondly calling "Final Year Fatigue". It's really just general all-round tiredness and feeling a bit rundown but I love me some catchy alliteration! So instead of tapping away trying to redraft my essays whilst I'm not feeling 100%, I thought I'd turn my attention to some things far less academically tiring (and, if I'm being honest, much nicer to look at than articles on sonnets!)
I've been quite good with purchases recently and have been trying not to spend too much money on clothing for myself with Christmas just around the corner. Still, I am finding myself being drawn more and more to the collections of long line necklaces every time I have a quick browse online. Now I love high, chunky necklaces. I think they're so versatile and great to wear both during the day and out at night. However, I also love a collar and recently I've been feeling that a longer style necklace would just revamp a couple of my favourite shirt/jumper combos. So I've browsed around and found a few of my faves.
Now I love all of theses a lot but I feel like the Zara necklace needs a special mention (and also a special place on my dressing table!) because I don't think I have ever wanted to buy something more in my life! It has everything I love in life: the classic pearl, the mix & match colour scheme, the edgy impact of the skulls, spikes and pins.. what more can I say? I think I actually love it! I'm even considering asking for it for Christmas!
Jade :)
I was running a little bit low on inspiration for a blog post this week as I am nowhere near rich enough to constantly bebuying things, and I'm enjoying my days off work too much to wear anything other than leggings and baggy tops. So as I sat watching re-runs of HIMYM on E4, rapping my knuckles and wracking my brains, I little bit of inspiration seemed to be staring me in the face.
I've been wearing my charm bracelet every day (dance competitions and these photos aside) for the last 3 years - I received it as an 18th birthday present and have been adding charms to it ever since. It's a Chamilia bracelet, which I believe is essentially the slightly cheaper version of Pandora but in all honesty, I don't think there's that much difference between the two any more. The prices are actually fairly similar for some beads and though I don't have a Pandora bracelet to compare it to, I've been very impressed with the quality. I have been a little bit cheeky in recent years and bought a few really cute beads on Amazon instead of from Chamilia directly as they tend to be way cheaper than the actual site. (I'm a student, what can I say!)
My favourite ones are probably my little pair of silver ballet shoes, the one engraved with daughter and the creamy paw print. Since I've been putting off my dissertation lately (very bad Jade) I figured I do something a bit productive and had a quick browse on the Chamilia website. I picked out a few I'd love to buy if money were no object!
There's a big price range on the Chamilia website depending on the materials used. I love the pattern on the City Lights bead and there are a number of varying colours with the same design. I thought the heart was really cute and I like the quote a lot too. I'm a big fan of blue - I already have a few blue beads on my charm bracelet so the All That Glitters bead would fit in nicely. And as someone who spent most of my adolescent life obsessed with watching Gossip Girl, how could I resist the XOXO charm?
Anyone else have a charm bracelet they're still adding to?
Jade :)
It's a known fact that I have been graced with hands larger than your average female. As a result, I spend an inordinate amount of time painting my nails trying (and mostly failing) to beautify my massive, manly hands in any way I can. And in a more recent attempt to mask the manliness, I invested in a set of stacker rings from New Look.
I still had some money on a gift card from my birthday and as a little post-essays/pre-exam pick me up, I saw these shiny little (or large, thanks to my chunky knuckles) rings that I hope will do the trick.
There are ten rings in total and I love that there are so many different combinations to be worn (it's the simple things.)
I really like the detail on these three, the ring at the bottom in particular. These will be the ones that I envisage I'll be wearing more regularly because they're pretty yet plain, so should compliment most outfits.
The ring on the left (and on my middle finger below) is very similar to a ring I used to own but sadly broke. This one is a lot chunkier which hopefully will mean my man hands won't completely demolish it. I have a very bad habit of twisting my rings around my fingers when I get nervous (and I get nervous a LOT) and I swear my fingers see new rings as some sort of a subconscious challenge.
The two below are perhaps my least favourite of the set. I'm not a massive vampire fan (I was going to try and make a pun on the whole fan/fang word play but I figured I've made you endure far too many bad puns in the past. I hope you appreciated my restraint.)
They are kind of cute though, perfect if I'm feeling like embracing my soft grunge side. But my absolute favourites have to be these three below.
The classic pearl, the geometric print, the dark and mysterious one on the end. Yep, I love them ALL.
Definitely worth waiting to spend my gift card on and as long as I can make these last long enough to wear in Paris, I'll be happy!
Jade :)
Or, in other words, how to put a sting into spring.
I love, love, love that Spring has finally decided to make an appearance but that does not mean I'm leaping straight into summer dresses and frilly bikinis. So how better to toughen up a nice, bright outfit than with a couple of well placed studs and spikes?
New Look have got a great range of chunky necklaces in at the moment and I've been searching for a nice, spiky gold one to wear with an outfit I'm planning on wearing to an upcoming ball at uni. I love the blue triangle one but the colour would clash with what I'm wearing so I'm keeping an eye out for any others that take my fancy. If that fails, I'm definitely considering popping into Topshop to see if the spiky ball earrings are in store - such an easy way to go from girly to down-right gangsta. Nearly.
I'm sorry for such a short post - the first week back at uni is always a bit of a busy one and I'm trying really hard to get into a solid fitness regime which I'm looking forward to blogging about soon. Hope everyone else is having weather as nice as I've had the last few days - it makes everything seem so much better.
Jade :)
I prove, so often in life, to not be trusted with beautiful things. Beautiful, materialistic things I should add (my dog is alive and well and - I'm probably biased - beautiful too.) I got given a ring when I was born which I managed to break several years later; I got a bracelet as a small child which I later lost at a netball match; I got a necklace for my 21st which I broke the very day after and I got a ring also for my 21st which I lost a mere two days later.
Soooo, getting the cutest pair of Pandora earrings from my aunt, uncle and cousins filled me with delight and dread in equal measures. (Sounds dramatic, still very true.) I just can't help it - I'm a clumsy, slightly boyish person. Having said that, I absolutely love my new little earrings and I've been wearing them all the time.
In an effort to try and make these last at least until my 22nd birthday, I have (so far) been very good at putting them back in their box after I wear them and not just chucking them in my designated earring box which, very often, ends up tipped upside down as I rush to find a rare pair of matching studs.
These are the perfect size for my ears, which is unusual as my massive ears usually dwarf your average pair of earrings. These however sit nicely in my lower set of piercings and bar a couple of exceptions, have worn these little cuties every single day.
I was originally going to save them for special occasions but I figured with my track record, I might as well get as much use out of them before I lose/damage/break them in some way, shape or form. I had only asked for a few new pairs of earrings as an little extra present I thought my brother might have opted for, so I was incredibly touched to have received these. I just hope for once that I can make these last at least until the summer.
Challenge accepted.
Yep, I watched Les Mis and yep, I've been listening to the soundtrack every day since. This isn't about Les Miserables however (because that post would go on forever) but instead about my endless mission to make my man hands look a little less manly.
I did, with the help of Unidays and their 25% off Asos sale, stumble across this little gem.
My man hands and I have managed to break two rings within the last year so I'm always on the look out for replacements. This one was meant to be £7 I believe, but with a cheeky 25% off I could hardly say no.
The gold is actually really very bright and the red is a much richer shade of ruby than my camera has picked up. I have never heard of Susan Caplan's jewellery before but I have a feeling I'll be a keeping an eye out for more pieces in the future if this ring is anything to go by.
Now I'm not about to second guess myself, but I'm pretty sure the main reason I was drawn to this ring over some of the others on Asos was because of a subconcious memory of one Blair Waldorf. Without sounding terribly obssessed by TV, I genuinely didn't even recognise the similarity until a few days after I received the ring and Gossip Girl happened to crop up in a conversation.
But I can definitely see it now. Seems I have, once again, been fully enticed by TV. Whenever will I learn?
Never, if my obsession with Les Mis is used as an example. I think Red & Black is one of my favourite songs from the soundtrack, I'd love to think that in another world, a much braver me would definitely be at the heart of a revolution, really fighting for something I believed in. But until that happens, I shall lie on my bed and listen to this.
Over and over again. Enjoy!
I don't know how many people are familiar with the childhood game What's the time, Mr Wolf? but I seem to remember it being a highly esteemed form of entertainment during my childhood. Maybe that's where my aversion to lateness started..
Despite having such strong feelings (and fear) about being late, it is perhaps odd that I have only just purchased a watch. For the first time in about six years. I used to suffer with self-diagnosed wrist claustrophobia, giving me no desire to own or wear a watch. Bracelets are fine because they allow movement and they can be worn in the shower - bonus. Watches on the other hand, far less flexible.
Tesco - £6
Okay, so it's from Tesco. Not the most fashion forward place admittedly but for six measly pounds, it suits me just fine. My wrists are, weirdly, the only part of my body I really like (mostly because my man hands almost make my wrists look slim and dainty).
I wear all my bracelets on my left wrist because I'm right-handed - there's nothing more annoying than trying to take notes in a lecture and having your bracelets clanging against the desk. So to even my arms up, my watch is being worn on my right arm. Understandable enough. What I don't quite understand is my preference for wearing the watch face on the inside of my wrist. The first time it slipped round quite by accident because I hadn't fastened the strap tight enough, but now I have very much got into the habit of twisting my arm inwards for the time. Nevertheless, I love the colour of the strap - it's a deep brown which contrasts nicely with the gold detail around the watch face.
And speaking of golden little things, here's my little wolf baby.
Dogs are 99% wolf, after all..
Morning all :)
One of my closest friends turns 21 soon and I've been wanting to get her something special to remember it by for a while. So I clubbed together with my other best friend to buy her a Teeny Weeny friendship bracelet as one of her presents because our friend is teeny tiny! It was actually by accident that I stumbled across Annie Haak designs in the back of an old Vogue magazine I had in my bedroom (I keep almost all the magazines I buy - I've actually got a pretty big collection now!) I am so glad I did though because the bracelet arrived the other day and it's so lovely - I just hope my friend likes it now!
The packaging is as cute as the product!
We went for a blue cord bracelet because it was the one we liked the best and then opted for an initial as the charm to make it a bit more personal.
I particularly like how dainty the bracelet is and the fact that it's adjustable means it should fit everyone (time will tell!) I am really excited about giving it to her but as she'll be at her uni on her birthday, I won't get to see her open it (sad face). I might get her to text me a picture with it on to see if it fits!
Anyone else bought anything from Annie Haak before?
For the past five or so years, I've found myself developing some sort of penchant for old vintage items. I steal (read: take with permission!) so many items from my mum and dad's past: my dad's old Levi denim jacket, my mum's old Karen Millen dress, an old lace jacket.. the list goes on. Today, my mum found an old ring she used to wear when she was my age, that she thinks her Nana bought for her. Not only do I love the fact it's being passed down through the family, it's actually pretty on-trend too.
I already wear gold rings all the time anyway, so it fits straight in with my style and I can already see I'm going to get a lot of wear out of it. I do sadly have man hands (I kid you not) so the ring only fits on my fourth finger but I don't really mind, it was the finger my mum said she wore it on too so maybe it's just meant to be!
