Temporary:Secretary Blog

GlossyBox: Valentine's Day Edition

2012-02-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

First day of February and I thought I'd blog about the latest edition of GlossyBox which is a Valentine's Day special. I couldn't resist this box, I did unsubscribed (had to sacrifice a few things in order to save up) but I would have subscribed again after seeing the review! GlossyBox sent me a complementary box to review. This is the January edition.

This special edition of GlossyBox is bright pink. As usual, there's a few variations - I know some boxes will have Clarins samples - but mine contained Eyeko Eyeliner, Murad Primer, F.A.B body wash and Davine's cleansing nectar and moisturising balm. I am pleased that there isn't any perfume samples in the box, I am not a big fan of them. Amongst the samples, I've yet to try the cleansing nectar and moisurising balm. These are dual use so can be used on body or hair. I love that there's make up in the box, and especially from a brand like Eyeko who have recently re-branded, but the shade of the eyeliner isn't one I would go for or buy again. It is still nice to try something new, though! I will still try it and make the most of it, and who knows, maybe I will end up liking it... and I guess that's the whole point of GlossyBox! I tried the Murad Skin Perfecting Primer straight away, it is light and dewy and I really like it and I will repurchase when the sample runs out. I didn't expect it to be tinted but it's not an overpowering colour, and it blends with my skin tone really well. It gives your skin a natural looking radiant glow and it is also nice alternative to high lighters/illuminators which can sometimes feel quite heavy and sticky. I have a few other primers in my make up bag, but I often use Benefit's High Beam on my cheeks under foundation and powder blush, this is to make the colour of the blusher last longer throughout the day but it can sometimes feel too much, especially on a sunny day! I'm happy to have discovered Murad via Glossybox! Especially as it's not widely available, I would never have known to try it.

I think it's really nice that GlossyBox does these special edition boxes in a different colour to their usual pale pink (The December box was red). It is a nice touch, and the change makes people more intrigued about the contents of them. I even prefer the hot pink to the usual mute pink. A great marketing idea!

Disclaimer: This was gifted by GlossyBox for review

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White Floral Dress

2012-01-29T08:16:00.000-08:00

Dress c/o Pop Couture / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Blazer Topshop / Shoes Miss Selfridge

Looking out the window right now, I can see it is snowing! So, to start with, I want to say that these photos were taken at the beginning of the week, when it was sunny but SO windy! (see picture below for a *blog blooper*) Last week, I introduced clothing brand, Pop Couture and here is another dress from the same brand. I have been wearing it recently with a chunky cardigan but it will be a great dress to wear in Spring/Summer. I like making the most out of my clothes, I'm not one to wear for "one season". Makes me sound so economical, but truthfully, I am such a hoarder! I hate throwing or giving away clothes! I try to keep them all forever! I'm wearing the white floral dress here with my trusty old white peter pan collar vest as an extra layer for warmth. The neckline of the dress is quite high so the collar looks like it is part of the dress. (stylish and functional! I just wish it was vest was thermal as well!)

Recently, I have been trying to look for an alternative to Instagram. Yesterday, I found an app called Molome. It is in no way better than Instagram but I use a Nokia phone so the alternative will suffice. I will be uploading these quick snaps on my Twitter. I don't know about you, but I love seeing life through other people's eyes in an instance - like you are seeing exactly what they are seeing (via phone pics/Instagram). Anyway, if you are on Twitter, my user name is @TempSec.

Lately, I have been actually been a bit confused as to how I want to use my Twitter account. I joined in 2008 and I thoroughly enjoy interacting with customers and getting feedback from people, I am on it all the time! But recently, I have been feeling like some people follow me because of my business, some follow me because of my blog; so now I am stuck between both. I don't know what sort of tweets people prefer. I haven't promoted the shop on Twitter for a while or offered special offers, and of course, I can only be myself, but I always try to remain professional and impartial on Twitter because it is, after all, under my business's name. That's probably why I didn't ask for votes for Marie Claire Blog Awards, I didn't want to jeopardise and take advantage of those who are following me for my business. I wish I had two Twitter accounts but there's no way I'd be able to maintain both! The business and my customers are my first priority - so rest assured, you won't be ignored and all tweets will be replied to! :)

Here's a funny outtake photo - hair in my face (WOW SO SEXY!) - Happy Sunday!! x

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Womenswear Buyers Magazine

2012-01-26T05:37:00.000-08:00

WWB Magazine is a trade publication for the fashion industry and covers retailers, buyers, manufacturers, agents and suppliers to offer insight on womenswear trade in the UK. They wanted to do an editorial piece to introduce some up and coming fashion blogs and also established fashion bloggers. I am, of course, not the latter! A few months ago, Carey from the magazine emailed me to ask if I'd like to be featured. Just before Christmas, she kindly sent me the pdf and I was happy to see it! I am so super pleased and honoured to have been included in this feature, but I feel a little bit embarrassed because everyone else included in the feature are so experienced and so professional. I feel a little bit out of place. To begin with, I don't even have a proper domain for my blog, I am the only one! So amateur! However, I am extremely happy and thankful to be part of this, and thank you to Carey and WWB mag for the opportunity! (Also very sorry to WWB for posting about this a month late!)

If you would like to read the full article, click the image below to enlarge.

Credit: Carey Whitwam / WWB Magazine Dec 2011

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Own The Runway / win this dress!

2012-01-24T06:11:00.000-08:00

Dress Own The Runway / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary

I haven't done a blog giveaway in 3 years and now two comes along in one month! A couple of weeks ago, I launched a giveaway that was not a sponsored one. You can see it here and there is still time to put your entry in. As you can see from that post that I had bought some things to treat my lovely, supportive readers and I do feel really bad that some people have said they won't be entering because there isn't anything in their size. So when a clothing company called Own The Runway contacted me to host a giveaway, I agreed because the good news is that you can win the dress I am wearing in the photos (above) and they will sent you the size that you want! So, if you like the Peter Pan Collar Pleated Dress I am wearing here, then feel free to enter the giveaway! The pleated detail on this dress is my favourite part, and as the colour is not so garish, it is easy to wear. We have timed it so that both my own (non-sponsored) giveaway and this giveaway will be ending at the same time, winners will be randomly selected at the end of this month.

How To Enter:

* Follow Temporary:Secretary blog via GFC (This is the widget on the side bar "Join This Site" button)

* 'Like' Own The Runway's Facebook Page

* Leave a comment on this blog post about anything you want, or even if it's just to let us know you'd like to enter the competition. Either way, let me know what you think about the dress :)
* Don't forget to let us know your email address or twitter ID so if you are the winner, Own The Runway can contact you.

* For an additional entry, details are over on my Facebook page. Details will be announced over there shortly.

On a slightly different note, as I have been wearing this dress with my faux fur jacket (got it ages ago from ebay for 99p ages ago!), I thought it would be funny to show you this plus a photo of me from when I was little wearing a similar coat! The photo on the left was taken about 25-26 years ago! Circa mid-80s! What do you think of my little handbag? Not much has changed, right?!

Giveaway Terms and Conditions: One blog (one comment as entry) and facebook entry (one tag) per person / One winner chosen at random on 31st January 2012 / Winner will be contacted via email / Entrants must 'like' owntherunway's Facebook Page and follow Temporary:Secretary Blog via GCF / Prize is non-refundable and exchanges are not available on items sent out / The giveaway is open to UK residents only / owntherunway will dispatch the dress directly to the winner / No payment was given or accepted for this post but this one dress was gifted to me and the winner will receive the same design in their own size (Jewellery, belt and faux fur coat are not included in the prize)

UPDATE: Winner is Harriet Gunner

Year of The Dragon

2012-01-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

Dress Pop Couture / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Nail Polish 17 Boots (mint choc chip)

I don't think I own a red dress, but I do now thanks to Pop Couture! I find it difficult to find a nice and suitable red dress. Thankfully, Pop Couture sent me this dress and I really like it but I have rolled the sleeves up as it was too long and flappy for me! The length is just right for me but bear in mind, I am 5ft, so it might be too short for those who are taller. The dress is perfect for Chinese New Year for when it is traditional to wear red as the colour represents prosperity, luck and fortune (yeah, I totally just googled this! Gee, I should really know more about the culture my parents come from). Do you own any red dresses? This red one also comes in black and orange but I thought I'd may as well go for red as I own far too many clothes that are black. I almost bought another black skirt the other day, I'm a little addicted to buying them. I've been good recently and haven't spent much! I was saving up to buy a Polly Push Lock bag from Mulberry next month as a birthday treat to myself but they have discontinued it which is actually good news because I would've just felt bad for spending so much money on one thing. I'll just buy myself a box of chocs and maybe some new make up!

Chinese New Year is tomorrow and traditionally lasts 2 weeks; honouring something different each day of the holidays. Honestly, it is really bad how little I know, I haven't really embraced it. Embarrassingly, I'm on wikipedia right now reading up on it. We're not so traditional here in this household, you see. I'd love it if my family immersed themselves in to it, it's such a big deal in Chinese culture. We just celebrate with a family dinner (if that!) and then the "grown ups" (parents, aunties, uncles and grandparents) gives us red packets with money inside them. There's so much more to the festivities but that's the extent of my knowledge of Chinese New Year! We don't even go to see the dragon/lion dances anymore. Although, when I was little, the combination of loud drums, firecrackers and the dancing dragon used to scare me and make me scream, then I'd eventually cry hysterically clutching on to mum and dad! I am still a big wimp! No surprises here but I'll be lacking in Chinese New Year photos - I don't think we have any plans - so I probably won't be blogging about it, but I know Winnie from Diamond Canopy won't let me down! I really like her food posts! I trust she'll have some good CNY blog posts in the next week or so!

Wishing all of my family, relatives and friends a happy Chinese new year!

xxxx

Little Fille: Jasmine Hairband

2012-01-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Another really lovely head band/turban from Little Fille. This was in the same parcel they sent to me before Christmas along with my favourite Kiki/Minnie Mouse red bow! I also have some detachable collars too but haven't found anything suitable to wear them with yet. Probably because most of my tops and dresses have already got collars. I'm going to search for a nice top to wear Little Fille detachable collars with. You can check out this purple hand band here, and the rest of Mari's creations on her website. As I mentioned last time, everything is handmade by her. You can quote TempSec upon checkout and you will receive a free gift with your Little Fille order! Support the indie retailers! :)

I stayed up the other night to watch The Golden Globes, and now I am excited for awards season! I love the glamour of it. Admittedly, I don't have the best taste in films, so the big Oscar nominated ones don't really appeal to me! However, I was keen to watch Inception, only for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Leonardo DiCaprio though! And I did enjoy Black Swan! I am the first to admit that I have the worst taste in movies, though - Clueless is my favourite! - and I love all Hugh Grant films, even though I don't even like him!? I love a good romcom! This past week, I watched Bridget Jones 1 and 2, Notting Hill and About A Boy. I have to watch Notting Hill every time it's on tv! I just have to! I should just buy it on DVD...

It has been so icy these past few days, I am itching to get some outfit photos done. If I look a bit blue in the next few outfit posts, then it's because I have actually frozen in to ice!! For now, I will just snuggle up on the sofa and edit millions of product images. Is there a Hugh Grant movie on tv tonight? :)

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GlossyBox For Men : Review

2012-01-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

I'm letting a boy take over the blog today to blog about a GlossyBox For Men and review it for you. Niki is usually more comfortable behind the camera, so I've had to persuade him to let me upload a photos of him! With that battle over, without further ado, here he is with his own photos of GlossyBox For Men, and his own honest review:

What Niki Says:

First of all, thank you GlossyBox For Men and Sarah for letting me guest blog! In this guest post I’ll be reviewing the service, products and overall first box. To me this is a fantastic concept, I hear from Sarah that original Glossybox (for the ladies) is highly successful and it is great they have expanded the brand. I’m not a rough macho man who is afraid of grooming products but on the other hand, I also find it difficult to know what to choose from the vast array of skin and body care products out there! I have very little knowledge of men grooming products! The Glossybox for Men offers a selection of 7 deluxe-sized samples of grooming products for men, from both well-known luxury brands and trendy, specialist niche brands. The products themselves range from hair styling, skin care, fragrances and body care. The box is delivered every 3 months and costs a very reasonable £15 per box plus £2.95 P&P.

My favourite product out of the selection was the Vitru Conditioning Body Wash, which is formulated specifically for male skin, and it shows. Immediately after using it, my skin felt much cleaner than the Dove stuff I normally use, maybe that was the “mild foaming agents” at work, but it definitely made a difference to how clean my skin felt afterwards.

The most eye-catching samples are of course the YSL fragrances from their L’Homme product range. Basically what we have here is two fragrances that complement each other, L’Homme which is a woody, masculine scent for the casual daytime and La Nuit De L’Homme which is a spicier more oriental smelling fragrance for the evening. I personally prefer more citrus, fruity and younger smelling fragrances such as Bleu de Chanel and the Boss In Motion (White Edition), but I still found the L’Homme daytime Eau de Toilette very pleasant for everyday use. I also disappointed to say that my least favourite product in the box is YSL La Nuit De L’Homme fragrance; the reason being it just isn’t to my taste. Fragrance and smells are such a subjective thing so this is not to say that the YSL La Nuit De L’Homme is a bad product, its just that it smells and feels a bit too spicy and mature for me and what I’m used to wearing.

Murad Clarifying Mask is an excellent product that left my skin feeling cleaner but Sarah suggests to try this mask again with exfoliator beforehand the next time I use it to maximize the effects. I'm probably not the only guy to say this, but the grooming products I am generally most interested in is hair products. I am willing to spend £10-£15 on a tub of hair wax. The small pot of Goldwell Lagoom Jam Volume Gel that we received in the box is an interesting product. It looks and feels very much like a conventional hair gel but actually holds a lot stronger and is much more versatile. I have really thick hair so I normally use stronger putty/wax so I didn’t use too much of this “jam”. Goldwell Hair and Body Shampoo was another interesting one. I’m always fascinated by hair and body shampoo combos but Sarah always tell me to stay away from them! This one is a decently competent cleaner, as a body cleaner it wasn’t as good as the Vitru Body Wash but it is a brilliant product as a shampoo.

All in all, the Glossybox for Men has proved to be extremely good value, especially considering how much these products retail for and it gives cosmetics rookies like myself a chance to explore and try new products which we may not have had the opportunity to do so! I for one will definitely be considering subscribing to the next Glossybox for Men. -NIKI

We hope you, your other half, brothers and male friends find this review helpful! Niki has a blog too - I am always telling him to update it more! Although it is not fashion or style related, there are some awesome photography, car design and other cool arty farty stuff to look at! You can check it out here > http://heroandcape.blogspot.com

GlossyBox For Men website: http://lp.glossybox.co.uk/men/

Silk Blouse from Lavish Alice

2012-01-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

Blouse Lavish Alice / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Nails Boots No.7 (Minty Fresh)

I have spent the whole weekend watching films, and looking on RightMove website for places to rent. The thought of owning a house is miles away, in dreamland! I always end up looking at the houses worth millions of pounds, you know, just for fun! Just to see how the other half lives!

My top here is from Lavish Alice, and I'm wearing them with a pair of black shorts. I am not sure if they quite go together! I'll probably stick to skinny jeans next time I wear this top, or maybe buy myself a pair of those shiny leggings! The Cross rings are back in stock on the website. The Temp:Sec January Sales are still on, which means new jewellery will be arriving this week. Sales items start from £3.00! Such a busy couple of weeks!

I think I failed to mention that Oscar was a runner up in a fun pet photography competition on Tigerprint. Such a scatter brain! Tigerprint is the business who supplies greeting cards and gift wrapping exclusively to Marks & Spencer. They also featured me on their website in November which was really nice of them! If you fancy letting out your creative side, check out Tigerprint's competitions. They often have photography ones. The latest one is to capture Teen Years. Definitely worth looking at if you are in to photography, surface patterns, illustrations, painting and/or graphics. The winner(s) gets paid £200 and a possible placement, and perhaps a chance to see your work being used on M&S greet cards and gift wrap! With Oscar being a runner up n the pet photography competition, they sent me a huge box of postcards as a prize. I'm obsessed with stationary so thanks to Oscar for winning me some! Of course, I bought him a bag of treats for being such a cutie pie! Here are some new pictures of him! Grumpy as ever!

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Newcastle Quayside

2012-01-12T05:12:00.000-08:00

Dress Dahlia / Jewellery Temporary:Secetary / Jacket ASOS / Nail Polish 17 from Boots

A change of scenery today! And also a little image heavy on this post. It is my second month blogging for Dahlia's website, and I thought I'd step it up and venture out of my comfort zone, so that is why I have a few extra pics to show you all this week! I hope you don't mind! I'm wearing the Ann-Marie dress in these pics, but I really also love the Jessie skirt at the moment. The dress I am wearing in the pics above does not come with a collar, this is the same white top as I'm wearing in the previous post. The blog post on Dahlia is now on the website so please pop over to their blog and check it out when you have a spare moment!

We travelled up to Newcastle yesterday and took a walk around the Quayside. This was one of my favourite things to do when I used to live in Newcastle. Sundays were the best as there's a market. As you can imagine, yesterday was very very cold and windy so taking the photos was challenging! We also visited the Baltic Contemporary Art Gallery where The Turner Prize awards exhibition had just finished on Sunday! To be honest though, I don't get modern art! But The Baltic is nice place to visit and there is a very lovely gift shop! I have so much love for Newcastle, it is a lovely city and I miss living there. I now only live about 45 minutes away from Newcastle, so I'm not too far to visit more often!

Have had some good news this week! On Monday morning, Marie Claire announced the "longlist" for their Blog and Twitter competition. As I didn't even mention it or ask for nominations, I didn't think I would have a chance! My blog has made it on to the list so now you can vote which blogs to be shortlisted. It would be really awesome if you could visit this link and vote for me (only if you want to, of course!) but I know that the competition is really tough! Marie Claire has published the list so you can check out who else made it. When I found out about this on Monday, I was really happy but about 20minutes later, there was a negative vibe about it on Twitter - all within reason - so I've been quiet about it as I don't want to annoy anyone under my only (business) Twitter account! But I guess that if you don't ask, you don't get! I'll pluck up the courage to ask before the deadline but, of course, I won't rabbit on about it.

Another thing to let you all know is that one of you who are reading the blog now may receive an email from The Fairy Hobmother soon! The Fairy HobMother is from a website called Appliances Online. She stopped by my blog and offered me £50 voucher to spend on Amazon. The only catch is that I have to mention this link for Washing Machines. Those who are unfamiliar with The Fairy HobMother will find it very random. I guess this is just like an advertised link for an appliance company and I wouldn't normally do this.... BUT she will be reading the comments on this blog post and has promised to pay a visit to one of your blogs and grant you a wish, this may be vouchers which I think is nice as you can treat yourself to something to beat the January blues!

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Coral Jumper

2012-01-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Clothes TopShop / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary

You'll probably notice that when I blog, I often say that I bought something ages ago or even years ago! I am not one of those bloggers who are on the ball with the latest trends and the newest collection that the high street has to offer - I haven't got the money to keep up! I always feel bad when someone asks me where I bought something, knowing that they want to go to the shops to check it or maybe even buy it, and I will end up telling them eg. "River Island...... in 2009". Well, here's another outfit that's not available to buy anymore (I am so last season). I bought all of this outfit with a TopShop gift card. I'm wearing a white crochet Peter Pan collar top underneath the chunky knit 3/4 length jumper (I'm still feeling festive?!) and a pair of polka dot burgandy shorts. My nail polish here is Pink Grapefruit by 17 from Boots. Both the nail polish and the coral red jumper was difficult to photograph, they're so bright!

I have taken baby steps back in to drawing and illustrating, which is my new years resolution. Another one of my new years resolution is write letters to people more. I based my final major project on promoting letter writing. The white dress I am wearing on my blog header is actually a paper dress with hand written letters on it. Sounds a bit strange, but you can see some photos of my paper dress design(s) here and here. You can see more of the illustrations/designs and flat work in this post from April 2009.

Anyway, I think I've got pencil and paper phobia, you know when you look at a blank piece of paper and you just can't bring yourself to make a mark! I've forgotten how to write, and draw! That aside, I have managed to fire up Adobe Illustrator on my laptop and have made a start on a couple of digital illustrations. They will probably be completed next time I blog, so will have something to show you all. I hope to collaborate with Hero & Cape again and get more involved in the graphic illustration side of things. I still haven't bought myself the Temporary:Secretary T-shirt! I WILL buy it at some point! It's a scalloped peter pan collar graphic with a detachable black bow neck tie. I've seen some of you wear it on your blog and it makes me so happy!

Temporary:Secretary T-Shirt from Hero and Cape

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GIVEAWAY: 4 prizes to choose from

2012-01-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to host a giveaway for a few months now. I didn't have time during December, and I also didn't know what format to use. Anyway, I had been given a lot of vouchers by the very generous Look Magazine and I felt greedy to spend it all on myself so I bought duplicates and extra items. So here it is! Here is what I am giving away:

Prize A is a Floral Dress in size 12 from Paprika Fashion

Prize B is a Chiffon Blouse in size 10 from Paprika Fashion

Prize C is an Aztec Dress from Lavish Alice
Prize D is Cream Bow Embellishment Dress from Paprika

There are 4 prizes and ALL of them are brand new with tags; the garments I am wearing the first two images are clothes in my own size (which is an 8) which I have kept for myself. This is not a sponsored giveaway, and I was not contacted by these brands to host the giveaway to promote them. I never have giveaways on my blog (mainly because I give TempSec jewellery away every week on Twitter and Facebook. See the competition page for examples). I used the vouchers that I won and I chose these dresses myself to offer them as a giveaway, as a Thank You for all being such lovely readers and blog friends!

To Enter:

- Follow the blog via GFC and Leave a comment to let me know which one you would like (Prize A, B, C or D). I have a spreadsheet with 4 columns ready so you can choose more than one and I'll add your name under A, B, C or D. You only need to leave one comment so let me know.

(Don't forget to leave a form of contact, either email address or Twitter name)

Extra Entries:

- Follow TempSec on Twitter and tweet There's a #competition on @TempSec blog http://www.temporary-secretary.blogspot.com. 4 prizes to choose from! Please let me know in the comments if you have tweeted and I'll add your name to the entry list twice.

Rules:

Must follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
Giveaway open worldwide
Competition will run until end of January. End date 31st Jan 2011 midnight
Maximum of two entry per person (blog comment and twitter tweet)
Multiple comments and multiple tweets will not be counted
Four winners chosen via Random.Org

New Year

2012-01-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Coat Topshop / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary

Firstly, Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all celebrated in style! I wanted to blog sooner but I got a bit stuck on how to follow up my last blog post. I wasn't sure how to make a smooth transition from that, back to blogging about style/fashion. I was going to upload some photos of Oscar as my first blogpost of the year - something lighthearted - but I couldn't find any new photos of him! I was nervous to write about it (I even did a "back up" post in case I chickened out) But I think that it is comforting for others to know that they're not alone in any situation. Thank you so much for all the lovely and kind messages; I am ok now. The bad days are less frequent, and when I am feeling panicked, I know how to deal with it now. The only thing that I still get a lot is the rash, but Sudocrem stops it straight away! I think a lot of you will find me very approachable anyway but just to reiterate that anyone can email me any time about anything, especially if you have any questions about anxiety or CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). Anything really! I am happy to listen.

I hate to talk about the weather but it has been so miserable these past few days. The coat I am wearing in the photos above was one I bought a couple of months ago. Being so short, I find it difficult to find nice coats that don't dwarf me. I love coats from Topshop as they seem to be the perfect fit, but they're so expensive! This one is the right length. However, the sleeves are a tad too short! Awkward. The velvet necktie comes with the coat. I don't think they stock it anymore but have seen a green one on the website.

I am thinking of ways to improve the blog, so let me know if there are anything that you'd like to see on the blog this year. Maybe I will be more open to questions - but formspring scares the hell out of me! I've just joined We Heart It, so if you're on there, I'm www.weheartit.com/tempsec. I've also just realised how to use Tumblr properly (i think!). I'll try and put more photos on there, ones I've not used on the blog. I am going to try to feature more of my illustration work on the blog, too. I must've said that loads of times before! I have been meaning to start drawing again! If it isn't for a project, I never feel the need to do it! Maybe that can be my new years resolution! I think there's so much pressure for this year to be the best year yet. Does anyone feel that too? x

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Farewell 2011

2011-12-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

This is my last blog post of 2011, so I wanted to round things up and let you know how the year was for me. Some part were awesome, and those were the bits I chose to share with you. It has been both good and bad, in equal measures. This post is a bit personal, but I think it's a good way to end the year this way - be open, and to put things behind us. A new year, a new start!

This time last year, I wasn't feeling very well. I know it was all my fault! Firstly, I overworked and wasn't taking care of myself. You can probably see this in the way I blog. (work work work work work!) My daily life last year was 12 hours a day in the office and I did nothing else but work. I never took a single day off. My friends will tell you, they never saw me for over a year!

Last August, I sporadically took ibuprofen for a chronic headache caused by slight tension problem on one side of my jaw. I wasn't aware of these things at the time, that the tension headache caused neck pain and back ache too. For two years, I never felt right and I thought I was dying. I really did. I wasn't eating properly (not intentional. I have never had an eating problem) so when I took the tablets, it was often on an empty stomach. This eventually gave me stomach pain for 3 months. During that time, my anxiety went in to over-drive, I began to think there was something seriously wrong with my health. Part of me knew I was absolutely fine, I was being a hypochondriac but the other half of me would convince myself that there was something seriously wrong. Either way, it kept triggering panic attacks. It was a constant battle with myself. I felt stupid and awful because I knew that there are people in the world with bigger problems. Real problems. Anyway, I would stupidly google the symptoms (you should never do this!) and started to panic from what I was reading. In result of this, I was too scared to see the doctor because I always fear the worst, but when my stomach pain got too bad, I booked an appointment. I got medication for the problem, and they also put me on the list for some therapy to help me with the anxiety. It varies from person to person, but mine lasted the standard six months and I completed the sessions in June, this summer. The coping methods the therapist taught me were simple things. Things I had forgotten to do, like learning how to breathe to prevent panic attacks (fight or flight mode), how to organise a balance of work and leisure, re-training the brain to think positively, and learn how to deal with negative thoughts. Generally how to stay calm. I recognised that one of my problems was that I didn't have a healthy balance between work and play. All the pain and aches I had was due to stress. If I could find a way to manage this, I will be able to relax and breeze through day to day. I'm already quite shy too, so I developed a bit of social anxiety aswell. The more I avoided things, the worse it got. I couldn't go out by myself and do things on my own, I always had to have someone with me. To make things worse, my whole body gets red, and itchy with an awful rash when I panic. It never used to be like this. I decided that this year would change, I would take time out for myself; To go shopping, buy things for myself, visit friends, and just chill out. In my head, I still sometimes think I "can't do things", I do still avoid doing things if I feel like it might give me a panic attack but whenever I challenge myself to do it, I feel better for it. A bit like going to the dentist, it's never as bad as you think!

Although I started the blog in 2008, I never thought to put myself out there. I'm a girl of few words. At first, I was careful not to post pictures of myself and my personal life. I was worried that if I got negative feedback, that I wouldn't know how to handle it! During Spring this year, I took time off to do some fun things and took a few trips. I wanted to blog about it as a distraction from work. I decided to take on blogging as a hobby, and I only started style posts in June this year! I know it feels like I've been doing it longer, doesn't it! Of course, the highlight of my year has been winning the Look Magazine blog competition. A lot was beginning to happen in a very short space of time. It has all been a great experience. But even when I got to London the day before the Look Show, I really started to panic. I got nervous and wondered how many people would be there, how I would handle it, and how I would be perceived, how I would cope in general. Pretty normal and natural reaction, but I was worried I'd get the rash due to stress and I didn't want people to think I was weird!

This time of year is difficult for a lot of people. Anxiety is really scary. It starts with the tiniest of concern, then you begin to obsess. Suffering from anxiety makes you think and do stupid things, a paranoia cycle which can spiral out of control. I know some of you have had CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) and everyone suffers from anxiety on all different levels. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that no matter how bad things may seem, we can always get ourselves out of the situation. Help is always available, from friends and family, or professionals. We all have a blip, it is possible to work it out turn things around completely. This time last year, things were so different. Like with most of people, I don't get things handed to me on a plate and I don't have a lot of self-belief but I know that if I want something, I can work hard to achieve it. You have all actually helped me in your own little ways to get better this year, and you did it without knowing. Thank you. I am so grateful that you've all been so nice to me. Let's all welcome the brand new year in with positive thoughts and fresh start! Wishing you all the very best in 2012! I've lots of exciting things to share with you all in the new year! Enjoy the new year celebrations and the rest of the festive season!

I couldn't do a post without some visuals, so below are some photos I never got round to using, plus a round up of my fave outfits and favourite posts of the year, ones which I consider turning points (except the Oscar picture. I just couldn't resist!). To re-visit my fave posts with me, you can click them photos below and it will take you to my fave blog post/photos of 2011! x

Favourite Outfits

Photos that didn't make the cut

Favourite posts

(click on photo)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

(Keep calm and carry on)

With love

New Look Lace Dress

2011-12-28T07:04:00.000-08:00

Dress New Look / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary, Jon Richard, RubyGold / Nail Polish 17 Boots

Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas! It has been so cool to read tweets and messages from those who recieved Temporary:Secretary jewellery for Christmas! The Fox Bag has also been popular this month too. I've loved reading and seeing blog photos of what you all got for Christmas. I didn't get much this year but I am going to save up and buy myself a new bag. After I've paid off some bills and a dumb old HMRC invoice, I will treat myself to something in February (my birthday month). I have totally over spent on present shopping this Christmas, too! I daren't add it up, I know it is a lot. I am not going shopping until at least end of February! :(

I bought this blue lace dress a couple of months ago and it is very similar to this but I am more comfortable with sleeves. I wanted it in a different colour but so many dresses that I want recently are blue (Kate Middleton effect). This New Look one is not as tight as the River Island dress, there's no way I am ever going to wear a bodycon dress on the day of an epic dinner! After failing to find something new to wear for Christmas, this New Look lace dress was what I chose. I don't know why I made a big deal out of my Christmas day outfit, because by 8pm, I ended up changing into something baggy and comfortable anyway!

What are everyone's plans for New Year's Eve? I'll be back to blog once more before it's 2012. (2012!! WHUT!) This year has gone really quickly. I don't have any NYE plans apart from spending it with family. I never have big plans for it anyway, but spending it with family is the best way! Another big dinner and lots of chocolates! YES! x

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T07:18:00.000-08:00

My sleepy little buddy wants to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Coolest Christmas card from Hero & Cape

Have a fantastic Christmas, everyone! Lots of love, Sarah and Oscar x

Last Box Of The Year

2011-12-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

Contents: Rituals Foam Shower Gel / Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish / Bionova Eyecream / Blink and Go Palette / Cargo Lipgloss

I blogged about the first box that I received and now I'm blogging about my last one. I am unsubscribing because I am going to cut down on a few things in the year in attempt to save money, and I have to sacrifice a few things in order to do so. I really do love Glossybox though and I thoroughly recommend that. I've tried other beauty boxes but Glossybox is the one I love the most! They are doing gift box subscriptions for 3, 6 and 12 months at the moment, so I will sign up again for a few boxes next year, as a treat to myself!

This is the last Glossybox of the year and I think it's safe to say that everyone that has received the December issue is happy with this edition! I got mine about 10 days late due to the hectic Christmas post, so I already knew what was in this month's box due to blogs and YouTube reviews. I don't mind, I like spoilers! (I'm one of those annoying people who wiki a film before going to see it at the cinema. I like to know what happens at the end before it gets to the end!).

I am pleased with this month's Glossybox, I know there's a few variations. I LOVE it when there's make up in the boxes! There's 3 this month (eye/blush palette, nail polish and lipgloss) Some got a mascara instead of the palette, and some got a face cleanser instead of eye cream. There two different palette colours too, but I go the dark coloured ones. This is the picture of other one and it looks lovely but I wear dark eye shadows because I don't suit bright ones so I'm glad I got the one I received. I am looking forward to use the the purple glitter nail polish, I haven't worn glitter polish since late 1990's! I used to buy them from Miss Selfridge, back in the day when they stocked make up (true story!) and I've been put off ever since because I dread removing glitter polish. Usually with a hammer and chisel! The Cargo lipgloss is amazing in that it isn't sticky, I tend to stay away from lipgloss because I wear my hair down usually, and it's horrible when the wind blows and hair gets stuck to my lips. Then my hair goes sticky and tangles together! I have been using the Rituals shower foam since I got it and I am definitely going to repurchase, and possibly try out their other products too! It smells really nice and it is nice that we got a couple of full size products too! Not always the case and that is fine as the concept is that you'd receive five luxe samples each month but full size products are such a treat!

*I purchased this box with my own money and it was not sent to me by Glossybox as a sample to review. All images are taken by me for the use of www.temporary-secretary.blogspot.com

Beige Sweater

2011-12-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

Sweater Topshop / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Nails Pink Grapefruit by 17 Boots

I got this top in September from TopShop, and it reminds me of the 90's. (Like something Eternal would wear or something!) I don't know if it's still available to buy, but it came in a few colour choices. I'm not sure what to call it. Sweater, jumper but basically it's a knitted top with holes in it!

So.... FIVE DAYS until Christmas!!! It was my last day at work yesterday. I always set my last post date a couple of days before Royal Mail's last post date for First Class, and this also marks my last day of work before Christmas. I worked throughout the entire weekend until midnight to get things done and dusted and my office is a complete bomb sight in result of that. It's an absolute mess (as was I!) can't bear to look at it right now! It feels strange that I have finished work. I am still replying to all emails and preparing for the January sales but I feel guilty for having this time off when some people are still working and struggling to meet deadlines. I will offer my help next year to anyone who needs an extra pair of hands to pack orders and run errands!

I got an early Christmas present yesterday from Mum. I asked for the new Prefessor Layton Spectre's Call game. I'm not in to games as much as I used to be but Niki bought me a Nintendo DS about 5 years ago and I only really play Mario games, Zelda's and Professor Layton. The new Zelda game that they've bought out is on 3DS and I hate anything 3D so I won't be buying that just to play the game. Gutted! Has anyone played it? Please let me know what it is like! I think I just need persuading that this 3D thing isn't a novelty that will wear off quick.

I have a few links for you this today. I was Blogger of The Month on Lyndsey's blog where she interviewed me about my blog. Jessica has done a similar feature where she interviews bloggers in a weekly feature called "Find Out More". Here's mine. Some will also be interested in this Small Business feature. People often email me with business questions, and truth is, (and this will sound stupid), I learn as I go along. I am not a business advisor, but I have tried to help with FAQ's posts but as there wasn't a lot of interest in them (less than 50 views) so I stopped doing them. To be honest, I should've persisted, I know. The most common question I get asked is how to get the word around about your business. Answer: a) work super hard b)know the right people and c) have a lot of money saved up enough to carry out your promotional and marketing strategies long term. Take risks but think them through and question why you're doing it. Don't do things on a whim and be careful of those who seek to take advantage of you. I haven't been so careful in the past and I am still trying to financially recover from this.

25 Handbags of Christmas

2011-12-18T05:25:00.000-08:00

I love seeing What's In My Handbag posts and YouTube videos but I have never done one myself. I have always wanted to but I haven't, mainly because my bags are such a mess and I am sure you don't want to see post-its and bits of tissues with chewing gum stuck to it! I recently collaborated with a website called What's In My Handbag, to be launched in early 2012. It focuses mainly on beauty products from industry insiders; beauty directors, make-up artists, skincare experts, beauty PR's, beauty editors, perfume designers, high end beauty buyers (Harrods) and those who founded companies like Diptyque and Eyeko! I can't wait for the completed website to launch. I really like it already and I think you will too!

Since 1st December, they've changed their website slightly to adopt a Christmas advent calender theme. There will be a new handbag to see every day until Christmas. 25 Handbags of Christmas! I was day number 14 where you can read what products they are, and below are the pictures of the bag and the products that I submitted. I knew that I was going to be amongst proper beauty professional (I'm far from it!) so I knew I had to step it up and make my submission really good to keep up with the standard of the others. It's really cool to be part of this, I know I have been lucky to have had these opportunities, I want to do a good job of it! I panicked a little bit when they asked me for a "title" for my bag. I went for "products I use everyday" when I should have said that they were my favourite products to use. I wear lipstick and lip balm every day but I don't always wear red lippy as pictured. I wanted to blog about it on the same day so it coincides with the WIMH website, but I am so behind on blogging!

The Lancome primer shown below is the best one I have used. They always discontinue beauty products that I like! Fluide Illuminateur being one of them. Was my absolute favourite! I sampled a primer from Benefit last month but it felt quite sticky. The consistency and finish of the Lancome La Base (oil free) primer is similar feel to Benefit's Porefessional. My skin isn't the best but the primer makes it so easy to apply make up for a flawless look. I don't use it often as I usually only wear foundation when I go on a night out. The primer leaves skin smooth and silky, and make up applies on like a dream. Also, sometimes I get asked what blusher I use and the one I use all the time is the one pictured below, it's shade Pinch Me from MAC. Then amongst that, we have the usual hand lotion, lippy and lip balm, Brow Kit, liquid and powder foundation, eyeliner and mascara. Bag is Mulberry's Tillie Satchel which was an impulsive treat for myself when there was a Mulberry Spring discount! Apart from my MacBook, the bag is the most expensive thing I have bought for myself! Suffered from buyer's remorse for a little while!!! But... it feels good to know that I bought it with the money I earnt myself.

And yes, that is a Nokia. I like it! I do feel like the only person who hasn't got an iPhone or Blackberry. My entire family, relatives and friends have one. People always laugh at my mobile phone and I am now a little self-conscious to use it in public. ~"Oh my god, what.is.that? Is it a DS?"~ ~"Jeeez, is that a laptop?"~ I even got tutted at by someone who worked at the Apple shop!! I am a Mac user; once you go mac, you won't go back! But I refuse to get an iPhone. I know they are awesome to use (all Apple products are) but I actually don't like iPhones (I am old fashioned, I need buttons!) and it's too expensive for me! I only use mobiles to text, and tweet! I don't even make calls on it, I hate talking on the phone. Every phone I've had is a Nokia! Nokia til I die!!! I'm so freakin' loyalz!

Missoni Scarf

2011-12-15T07:12:00.000-08:00

Scarf Missoni via Style-passport / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Jacket ASOS / Dress River Island

This scarf arrived in just time from Style-passport to keep me warm, it has been SO COLD these past few days. Our heating broke for a couple of days too so this scarf and my faux fur coat saved my life! It arrived so neatly but admittedly, I ripped the packaging and wore the scarf straight away! I have a lot of scarves, about 20! But none of them keep me all that warm, they're all sheer "decorative" scarves, an accessory rather than functional! Stylepassport have a few Missoni Scarves and this is the one I am wearing. I didn't expect it to be so big and snuggly! I like that it's different shades of grey, I am not so keen on garish wooly scarves. Style-passport also has blog with lots of lovely images and fashion from other cultures. Style-Passport is an stylish website (magazine and shop) for those looking for fashion and beauty for holiday destinations, this may be ski holidays, beach, spa or outdoors. I'm eyeing up some beachwear already. It's out of my budget but a girl can look! Like lots of others, I have had troubles getting photos taken due to lack of daylight. Makes me miserable. It was so lovely and bright this morning, even if it was a little misty. I can't wait for summer again!

I am giving away one of those Fox Bags via Twitter. These bags are from my own shop Temporary:Secretary, I stock the light brown and dark brown ones. I have also got new things which you can check out here. The winner will be selected via Random.org at the weekend and they will receive an orange one as pictured below. I will also give one away on Facebook too at some point! My twitter is @TempSec, look out for the tweets detailing how to enter the competition. It's just a "retweet" to enter sort of thing. And here is the one that's up for grabs. The orange foxes will be available in the new year!

*Sponsored

Christmas Shopping!

2011-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

shop for all these things at www.temporary-secretary.com

It has recently occurred to me that most readers will not know that I have a website (shop). It is weird, as I am always linking back to my website! All the jewellery I wear are from my own shop, apart from the things that Look Mag sent me via Accessorize. I just wanted to introduce the website to some of you who have are not aware of the jewellery shop. It started the business almost 4 years ago now and that is my full time job. A very small percentage of my followers will have known about it since the beginning back in 2008. In fact, this blog was originally started for the shop. I only started doing "style posts" in July.

The .gif above is the new homepage picture that I added yesterday. I have also given the website a festive make over, head over there when you have a spare moment and let me know what you think! I wish I decorated the site earlier in the month, I quite like the Christmassy look. It isn't here to stay, and it will go back to normal as soon as Christmas and New Year is over. Sad. :(

Just a small post to let you know that there's lots of new things in the shop, and there's still time to get those Christmas presents! Our last post date is 19th December. The fox bags will be back in stock tomorrow (Wednesday) and the Egg and Soldiers will be on the website soon!

I always leave Christmas shopping to last minute but this year, I bought some Philosophy gift sets from Boots, as part of their 3 for 2 offer. I thought I could be one of those smug people, for once! "Finished my Christmas shopping in Nov. Did it in 5 minutes" I said. Well.....I have ended keeping (and using!) half of it, so I'm pretty much back to square one. As usual, I will probably leave it all to last minute!! Hope you're all much more organized that I am!! Happy festive season!

PS: Free delivery until Friday! Type in code FREESHIPPINGDEC at checkout :) Applies to UK orders only. This offer ends on 16th Dec 2011 at 6.00pm

Glitter Platform Shoes

2011-12-10T05:31:00.000-08:00

Shoes Barratts / Anchor Scarf Temporary:Secretary

It has been a while since I posted about shoes! had been waiting for these chunky glitter platforms for a while and was so happy when Mum discovered the parcel outside! The postie left them outside my house but forgot to leave me a notification card! Anyway, knowing that I love these types of shoes, Barratts/VoucherCodes.co.uk sent me this gold glittery pair. I haven't been feeling so festive, I usually dread December as it means that work gets busy and I'm in the office quite a lot packing and wrapping parcels, more so than usual! When I saw these shoes, I knew they'd be perfect for the festive season. Glitter shoes are huge this season, Miu Miu glitter boots being the most well known. Other designers who have glitter shoes as part of their A/W collection include Acne and Sergio Rossi. Chunky platforms are easier to walk in than a stiletto heel. I have a similar black pair that I wear all the time, they are so comfy, light and easy to walk in due to their bold, chunky heel and large sole surface. I think these brown/gold glitter platform shoes will be worn just as much as I wear my black pair, they are also available in black/silver glitter. I am instantly drawn to shoes like this because I so desperately want to be that little bit taller! The quality of the shoes are good but it came with a note in the box that informs people about shedding of the glitter.

Of course, it is that time of year where we're spending money on all people and if you're like me, you'll be looking for those all important discounts and bargains! There's a fab site called Voucher Codes where you can search for exclusive online discount codes and print vouchers off to be used in store. There are some offers for Barratts at the moment which you can view here. Always good to browse for a good deal! (A heads up for you all because I know a lot of you are huge fans of this shop... there's a Body Shop offer on there which ends on Monday; 40% off!)

I can't wait for Christmas break so that I can catch up with you all and blog more regularly! Haven't had time to do that this week :( x

Kiki's Bow

2011-12-04T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hair Bow Little Fille / Dress Dahlia

I know you're going to love this brand. They go by the name of Little Fille. Some may have already heard of them, but for those of you who haven't, I am excited to introduce them to you! I love nothing more than to shout about a fellow independent retailer. I feel like I have discovered a gem, and I need to tell everyone about it! Being an indie business myself, I like to help out in spreading the word. Times are tough and we are all in the same boat. I like having friends whom I share a common interest (Plus, who else do I cry to about bookkeeping and spreadsheets!) I have known about Little Fille for a while now, they held a concession pop up shop in TopShop Oxford Circus earlier this year. They sell the most beautiful hair bows, all made from the hands of Mari Santos who runs Little Fille. Mari is such a beautiful person inside and out! She is there when I need her help. I don't ask for help a lot and there aren't many people I feel that I can go to for advice in business, but sometimes when I get in to some troubles, I have a few girls that I trust and I go to them for advice. Mari is one of them.

I am so happy to be finally blogging about Little Fille! It is something that I should have done a long time ago. I just know that all you girls will go mad for Mari's beautiful creations! So many lovely hair bows in an assortment of colours! Check out the archive for a snippet of what's available. This A/W, Little Fille have chosen a few bloggers to collaborate with, and I am looking forward to see how we all look in our new accessories. I haven't worn hair bands or hair accessories for a long time and wasn't sure if I could pull this off, but I was SO happy when I got this red hair bow through the post last week! There's a few ways to wear it but this is how I've styled it. I emailed her to gush about how happy I was to receive it because I mentioned a few posts back that I've been watching Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service a lot since my mum and sister bought me the dvd as a present, and I have been channeling my Kiki ways ever since! I love the bow so much, that to me it feel like it's costs a million dollars and if I ever lost it, I would be so upset! It feels extra special because I know Mari makes each one herself.

To chat to Mari about all things pretty, you can follow her on Twitter @SariMantos. Pop over to Little Fille webshop and let us know what your favourite item is! I'll be featuring more of Mari's creations soon, more fabulous hairbows and detachable peter pan collars! She knows me so well! Furthermore, if you decide to purchase something from Little Fille (I definitely recommend it!), you can recieve a free gift by entering code TEMPSEC upon checkout (type code in on "note to seller" on PayPal)

Little Fille details:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

Finally, I couldn't end the post without showing a photo of Kiki

I'm A Dahlia Girlfriend!

2011-12-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

I am really excited to tell you all that I am one of the new Dahlia Girlfriend. Fashion brand, Dahlia contacted me whilst I was on my little break from work and I was thrilled to hear from them, it was such a lovely surprise! I will be blogging for them each month and I can't wait! I am really excited about this! I love their designs and their styling, and most will say that this is just the sort of style I go for.

They sent me the nicest dress; large polka dots and an oversize doily collar! My new LBD! I wore it to the Hanson gig at the weekend and then I wore it again the next day with a big red hair bow from Little Fille!

My first blog post for Dahlia is due tomorrow, and I'll save my usual babble for then! In the meantime, here are some photos of the dress and a first preview of my collaboration with Dahlia!

Dress Dahlia / Jewellery and Bag Temporary:Secretary / Hair Bow Little Fille

There's so many pretty designs to choose from at Dahlia, but here are some more of my top picks:

Harriet / Tallulah / Georgia / Felicity
(Not an official Dahlia artwork. Graphics done by me)

Dahlia Info:
Website | Twitter | Facebook

MMMBop

2011-11-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is a very girly outfit. I think I should probably start dressing my age (almost 27). I used one of these photos as my Dahlia profile pic. I will talk about it more in my first official blog post for Dahlia, I am one of their new Girlfriends which means I will be blogging for them once a month! I am really excited about it because I am such a huge fan of the brand. Will speak more about it this week!

As mentioned in my last post, I went to the Hanson gig yesterday. For some reason, I expected them to play lots of the oldies but of course, they sang a lot of recent songs. We got to hear them play one of my faves, Penny and Me. I forgot that the girl from The OC is in that video. I have forgotten what her characters name is now, but it's the blonde girl that went out with Seth. We were treated to MMMBop, possibly right after Janet sang her version on XFactor. Zac told us that that "Apparently, someone just did a really bad version of this song so we are going to sing it now to redeem it". Poor Janet Devlin forgetting the words. But if we're looking on the positive side of things....At least Hanson know who she is now! Ha, yay! *Thumbs up* Janet...

Hanson were really good, the set was minimalistic. Just guitar, drums and piano. No fancy lights or anything. Really low key. My point and shoot camera failed me (in that I couldn't find it!!) so I have no photos apart from the one we took outside the venue (seen below). If you were at the gig, and you have uploaded them to the internet, please send over the link! :)

I just found this from YouTube, MMMBop at this year's V-Festival - to erase your memory of Janet's perfomance!

Happy Weekend!

2011-11-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

I have a never-ending To Do list which has bogged me down this week. I haven't had time to draft and schedule blog posts this week. I tried to take some outfit photos yesterday but it was so windy! I'm so glad it is the weekend, I can catch up with all things bloggery! I'll be spending this weekend in my slacks, slippers and duvet! Although tomorrow, I will have to make a bit of an effort because I'm going to Newcastle to see the love of my life! (Taylor Hanson). I have been obsessed with Hanson since mmmBop so when I heard that they were going to be touring, I had to buy tickets! I'm so excited! I don't love anyone as much as I love Hanson!

I shall be back with some news soon! Have a lovely weekend everyone! x

The Last One!

2011-11-22T05:41:00.000-08:00

Alrighty roo! This is it! My final Look Mag Prizes blog post! After 4 weeks of ensuring that each brand has been given a mention, I have now finished blogging about them all. So sad for it to finally finish. This marks the end of my Look Mag Blog comp experience! I have been extremely lucky that Lara has organised such an AMAZING prize package, I can't thank her enough. I have wanted to do the brands justice too and to impress them with the way I blog about their products. I have really enjoyed responding to the brands and getting their feedback on my blog, especially from Miss Selfridge, Lavish Alice, RubyGold and Paprika. I look forward to speaking to them again soon!

I have waited until last to show you these prizes so I can do a collective post on all the things I couldn't wear in an outfit post. I was going to do a video on these products as it would've been easier to talk about it and show you how things work. I also have some hair products that would've been better to review via video. The JOBY camera accessories will come in handy when I have more confidence to upload vlogs! The camera accessories are so useful. I got sent an JOBY ipad stand too, which my sister has "borrowed". I've been playing around with the WAHL hair tools but I am going to practise curling my hair more before I show you all the results. I've yet to use the OSiS hair products, my hair is in need of some TLC right now so I'm sure they'll be used up in no time!

To look back on all the prizes I have won, you can read and see the photo by clicking the Look Magazine Prizes label. To say a last thank you, here are the brands that so generously sent me prizes:

Warehouse - A dress of my choice
Miss Selfridge - Leather Satchel
NEXT - Star Scarf
Lavish Alice - £100 voucher

Accessorize - Jewellery, fedora hat, scarf and leather gloves

River Island - Two dresses, and a large bag
Paprika - £100 voucher

Lingerie Please - £100 voucher

Jon Richard - Necklace

RubyGold - Necklace

JOBY - Camera Accessories

Monsoon - A top and a large bag

WAHL - Hair tools

OSiS - Hair products

As well as that, Look Magazine treated us to £200 gift card to spend at Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, Vue Cinema tickets, Bowling vouchers, 3 course dinner at Bumpkin, a complementary hair cut at Toni & Guy, one night accomodation at the new Premier Inn on site at Westfield Stratford and of course, front row seats at the Look Show!

So who is thinking of entering the competition next year? Everyone has a fair and equal chance - it's a great opportunity to work with a national magazine and big brands. Remember, it doesn't matter how many followers your have or how long you've been blogging, the team at Look Mag will judge you on the quality of your writing and creativity. I'll be here if you need any help with your submissions! For a final plug, here's my entry and here are my Show reports. I resume to my regular blogging ways now! A final THANK YOU to all the brands, Look Magazine, and most importantly, Lara (marketing executive at the magazine) and her team! Want to know what it's like to work for one of the country's biggest selling fashion magazine? You can read all about it on Lara's blog at I Feel Like I Dreamt It, and you can follow her over on Twitter @LaraLain - she'd be happy to hear from you! x

Lingerie, Please

2011-11-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

(Photographs by me / Lingerie from www.lingerieplease.co.uk)

I was really stuck when I knew I had to blog about my Lingerie, Please prizes. Part of the terms of winning the Look Mag blogging comp was that I had to agree to blog about the prizes that I have received and mention the brands and say thank you. No problems there, happy to do that! Until it came to the underwear post. I got stuck on what to do with this as a blog post. I knew I wouldn't want to be photographed wearing my underwear and posting it on my blog! (Like poor Sharon O' Brien......I feel so bad for her!) Anyway, I have put this off until I could think of a tasteful way to post about the underwear I'd been gifted, and do the brand and designs justice! I have got around it with the use of my photography skills and some subtle editing. Dreamy!

The bras were purchased with a £100 voucher for Lingerie Please (via Look Magazine) and a lot of ones I initially chose were out of stock, so I opted for other designs instead. If you haven't heard of Lingerie Please then pop over to the website over at www.lingerieplease.co.uk and have a browse, and maybe start adding things to your Christmas wishlist! Lingerie Please are dedicated to offering you the best brands and beautiful lingerie in a full range of cupsizes. Their customer service is excellent, they were really helpful when I contacted them. The parcel arrived quickly too! All the 4 pieces that I chose are Gossard Bras, I went over the £100 limit and happily paid the difference. Gossard are known for comfort and expertise. Their lingerie are always of the highest quality, and their philosophy of great design and comfort fit always guarantees that women get a boost of confidence. ....Did you know that Gossard was founded by a man? I never knew until yesterday. You learn something new every day!

Lingerie Please info:
Website | Twitter | Facebook

Scalloped Collar Blouse

2011-11-17T04:34:00.000-08:00

Shirt Lavish Alice / Skirt Topshop / Shoes Kurt Geiger / Nails No.7 Minty Fresh

I remember seeing a picture of Fearne Cotton in a similar blouse from Lavish Alice so when I saw this sheer blouse (pictured above) as part of their new range, I really really wanted it! The buttons are on the back so I find it difficult to fasten them myself! Admittedly, everytime I've worn this, I have worn it back to front (with the buttons at the front!)... No one has noticed yet.... or at least they're too polite to say anything. Especially when the tag is sticking out of my neck!!

I got a few other things from Lavish Alice. I know everyone loves free delivery, and all orders over £40.00 qualify for free delivery! They are another one of those lovely brands who offer a good range of designs and affordable prices. We recently shared a piece of press coverage in Love It magazine as seen here! Temporary:Secretary Lucius Ring was featured, and below that these Lavish Alice heels! A proud press moment for both of us!

Talking of which, the lovely Laura from Bella Magazine has included me in one of her pages, I will get that up on our press blog and show you all soon! As well as being a fashion writer for a national publication, Laura is also a fellow blogger, you can visit her blog over at Passion About Fashion.

The shoes pictured above are the ones I got from Kurt Geiger. Definitely an early Christmas present to myself! I had wanted a pair of Allegra Chelsea Platform Boots from Topshop but I'm reluctant to buy TopShop shoes because they always hurt my feet. The Kurt Geiger pair are my alternative to Allegras! They give me the height I so desperately need!

Lavish Alice info:

Website | Twitter | Faceboo k | Blog

Disclaimer: The blouse was bought with gift vouchers sent to me via Look Magazine. Everything else in this post was purchase with my own money.

Paprika Florals

2011-11-15T05:01:00.000-08:00

Dress Paprika / Jacket ASOS / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Belt Primark

I am packing orders and printing postage labels out right now whilst watching Kiki's Delivery Service. My mum bought it for me, it is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli film. My other one is My Neighbour Totoro, such a cliche I know. I watched Kiki when I was younger - she is so cute!

In so much of a rush today because I am going out in a bit to return dress and exchange a pair of shoes. I treated myself to a pair of Kurt Geiger shoes (an early Christmas present to myself!) I bought the last week but last night, I got a newsletter email from Kurt Geiger with a 25% discount code. Might treat myself to another pair.......... No. I can't. I am suppose to be saving up. I'm hoping that they will be worth it, really want to have a pair of shoes that don't hurt my feet. If anyone was considering a purchase, the discount code I got through the newsletter is WRAPUP (ends 19th Nov)

The dress I am wearing in this outfit post is from Paprika. It's a lovely dress, I will wear it more often in the summer. But I couldn't wait until then! Good news....I have bought another one in a different size for a end of year/New Year giveaway to celebrate the festive season. I have bought garments in size 8, 10 and 12 for the giveaway. As I mentioned previously, I got given lots of vouchers via winning the Look Mag blog competition and although I have bought lots for myself and my sister, I also wanted to treat my lovely blog readers too! I felt greedy if I didn't share some of it! In regards to the blog giveaway, I think I'll get work out of the way and then have a huge giveaway in the new year. I am going to be too stressed out in December to function like a proper human being!! I've struggled to get back in to "work mode" since my 2 weeks off! It has taken me ages to do one thing. I feel like I need someone to slap me in the face to get back to reality!

Video: Oscar and His Bro

2011-11-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

Setting the scene: Me and Oscar are staying at Niki's house. We're in Max's territory. Oscar takes a fancy to Max's little house, and settles himself in. But Max is not happy about him being in the house, and playing with all the toys. And he's about to make that known!!! (Poor Oscar)

It has been an extra busy week trying to catch up with work so not had the time to blog. Sorry for such a brief post but I'll be back tomorrow with a better update! I will get some blog posts scheduled for next week - I promise. Above is a video of Oscar (my cat) and Max (Niki's cat). Oscar is so happy in the house, so cute! He is completely oblivious to what Max is up to! He's, like, climbing the thing like frickin' King Kong! Rawr! .......And then Oscar fell out of the house!

Hope you like video. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone! Speak to you all soon! x

End Scene: Max "Is he outta my house yet!"

Pleats and Bows

2011-11-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

Dress Paprika / Jewellery Temporary:Secretary / Nail Colour: Rimmel

I have seen lots of cool black pleated skirts lately and I want every single one of them! I'm always buying black skirts in all sorts of styles, they go with everything! This dress is from Paprika and it is also available in cream and white. I like the girly details (pleats and a bow). I thought I'd choose black as it's probably the easiest colour to wear during winter. The dress arrived a couple of days after I ordered it (with a voucher), such quick delivery. When I first tried it on, I felt a bit "Morticia" in it. Especially when I had my hair down at the time! I tried it on again but with lighter make up and hair in ponytail. Once I start wearing dark colours, I find it difficult to wear brighter colour again! Will try stay out of that rut. It will make a nice change to wear darker colours now anyway, I keep standing out like a sore thumb with the autumn florals and bright fabric that I've been wearing recently. Can't seem to get away with dressing like that up north! Especially not in this conservative yorkshire countryside town! (Someone get me back to the city, please!!!!)

I have had some emails and tweets enquiring about what camera I use, what lens I use, and how I get my photos looking bright during a dark day without using flash. I use different equipment for different things (namely blog, webshop, and landscape) but I do usually take a lot of outfit photos all in one go mid week, I pick a day that is bright. I'm not sure how I go about doing a tutorial as I'm not a professional. Far from it! I learnt a lot when I started doing product photography for my jewellery website. I know how things work but I don't know how to explain them, technical things like aperture/f.stop, depth of field, all the different lenses, shooting format, etc. At uni, we had a few photography modules but I wasn't interested at the time, I didn't think it was something that would benefit me (after all, how would I ever afford a DSLR after uni! I was getting on just fine with my little silver point and shoot) Everything I've learned with DSLR is typically either self taught - by that, I mean turning all the buttons and pressing *everything* until I get it right - Failing that, I'll phone Niki (heroandcape). But he will tell you, whenever he tries to teach me photography, I zone out from the boredom!

Basically, in brief: For the blog, we both shoot with Nikon D90 (Niki's camera) or D40 (my camera) using a 50mm lens. If I remember correctly, Niki says you can set a lower f/stop and this will let more light in to the lens - which gives you brighter images. Our preference is to shoot in RAW format, which allows you do adjust the exposure, white balance and brightness with more versatility. For instance, on a gloomy day (overcloud), if you shoot in RAW, you can correct the white balance and exposure afterwards. Feel free to tweet us if you have any other questions, I'm @TempSec and Niki is @HeroAndCape - you're best bet is to ask him. I might get him to do the tutorial for you all. In the meantime, pop over to Gem's blog because she is a professional photographer, she knows what she is talking about (unlike me!) and this tutorial that Gem posted is really useful.

Leopard Print Satchel

2011-11-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

I have just got back home and the first thing I did was take the photos for this post. I had promised Miss Selfridge and Look Magazine that I would blog about this as soon as I got back from my annual leave. Miss Selfridge very generously sent me this well detailed bag as one of my prizes. It is a Limited Edition real leather satchel with faux leopard fur. They also have it in a reverse design. It's currently in store and retails at £65.00. I'm really pleased that Miss Selfridge chose this one for me because I've been wanting a new bag and this prize came at the perfect time. The bag I use for casual outings has broken (ie. the one I use every day), the buckle broke. So this new Miss Selfridge bag is the perfect replacement. I can't usually afford real leather goods! So I am pleased as punch with this!

I've almost finished in the Prize series. I will resume to my regular blogging ways after this fortnight. So sorry to keep this so short, I'll be working through the night to get up to date with orders. My family are currently on the flight back to England, I am excited to see what they have bought and what pressies I get! I asked for snacks, really funky flavoured snacks. The weirder, the better! Talking of which, are you all following Winnie's blog? She has the best food and travel posts, and she's also a fan of weird snacks!

Disclaimer: The posts that are labelled Look Magazine Prizes were sent to me as prizes and gifts. Clothes in this post were purchased by my own money. In this post, only the bag and scarf was gifted to me.

Cat Dress

2011-11-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

Cat Dress H&M / Rings from Temporary:Secretary / Nail Colour: Boots 17, Sea Breeze

I think everyone knows by now that I am a cat lady! Loud and proud! I know a lot of you are fellow cat fans too! However, my real life friends will burst my bubble and tell you how scared I am of animals but I do like cats. It takes me ages to warm to them but cats and bunnies are my favourite animals! When I saw this dress with a repeated cat print, I picked it up in my size and went to pay for it as quick as possible. I wanted to own this dress! It's about £15.00 from H&M and I bought it last month so I'm unsure whether it will still be in stock. Snap it up if they still have it, we can all wear it and start a cat club............!!! (Even I can't tell whether I am joking or not......)

I am having troubles getting photos taken as I shoot them outside. The main problem is when the photos come out dull and dark, this really bugs me, but some will be overexposed, some may be a dull grey colour and if I'm lucky, some will have an autumn orange tone to it. I shoot in RAW format aswell so that the exposure can be adjusted but sometimes even that doesn't help! It's just that one second it will be so sunny and literally, the next minute the cloud will cover and it will suddenly turn grey and the settings on the camera are constantly being adjusted. I've learnt so much about DSLR and photography since I started doing outfit posts on the blog. I'm still learning as I go along. As long as it doesn't rain, I will continue to do style posts!

It is the final day of my annual leave. I go back home to Yorkshire tomorrow morning and it's straight back to work in the afternoon. I just want to say thank you to those who have placed an order this past fortnight as you have been so incredibly patient and understanding. Being the workaholic that I am, I did go back to the office midweek to collect some jewellery and pick up post from post office, I packed some orders this weekend and this was my temporary desk for a couple of days! I best go and tidy up now! Toodles! x

Wrap-Over Tulip Dress

2011-11-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Dress inlovewithfashion / Necklace Jon Richards / Ring Temporary:Secretary / Nails: Rimmel

It is almost the end of my annual leave, two weeks holiday passes by so quickly, doesn't it! All I've done this week is pig out on junk food! Really haven't wanted to do anything - so good! Maybe next time I will treat myself to a proper holiday, go somewhere abroad. I've spent the past two weeks in Billingham. It's not the most exotic place in the world, but all I know is that it's really nice to be out of Richmond (the one in North Yorks, not the one in Surrey).

I wore this outfit (pictured above) when we went out last weekend. The dress is from inlovewithfashion.com, the hem is interesting, it's tulip shaped! The lovely black and gold crystal necklace which was a gift from the lovely team at Jon Richard Jewellery (via Look Magazine). I don't have anything like this in my jewellery box so this was a good choice, I really like it! To see the rest of Jon Richard range, their website is http://www.jonrichard.com/. Their designs are also stocked in Debenhams. I've layered it up with another necklace that I bought from a small shop in Portugal.

Last weekend, my sister and her fiance went to a wedding fair and then we met up for some dinner and drinks afterwards. We headed the bar and ordered cocktails; mine was a frozen margarita. I took a few sips and I bit in to something that was really crunchy. The cocktail was blended with lots of chipped ice with sugar around the glass so I thought it might either be ice, sugar or even rock salt! I thought I was being super paranoid, but then I had another sip and got a mouthful of tiny pieces of glass!!!! I spat out about 5 pieces and it made me feel really funny for the rest of the night. I won't mention the restaurant we went to as they obviously didn't mean to feed me ice! And I did get about £10 off the bill. Looking back, though, now that I've had time to think about it, it could've been worse and £10 off wouldn't have been enough! We should have gone somewhere else after that, but we didn't make a fuss about it. I don't like being an awkward customer (although I had every right to kick off....I just stayed quiet and let my sister sort it out for me! I'm useless!) Luckily, I didn't swallow any glass, I just crunched it with my teeth and some got stuck in my gums :( But it could've been much worse, at least it wasn't sharp or cut my mouth! Always looking on the bright side....!

Star Scarf

2011-11-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Dress Warehouse / Scarf NEXT / Leather Jacket ASOS

Have been wearing this scarf since I got it. It is from NEXT and it's got the trendy star print that we're seeing a lot of on the high street recently. It is the same one I'm wearing here (the giant biscuit was well trippy!) I have so many scarves, you can never have too many of them when you live in good ol' Britain. I sometimes wear two if it's really cold, I do look stupid but I don't care!! So, the clocks went back at the weekend and the days get darker and colder! The countdown to Christmas has started and we're bracing ourselves for the return of the snow! A good time to buy new scarves, gloves and wooly hats!

Another occasion I always look forward to is Bonfire Night. I'm not sure what the plans are this year but back at home in Richmond, there's usually a firework display at the castle. I live in one of those old towns that has a castle and a river! I should appreciate it more, I hardly ever go. I remember the castle's firework display being quite good but I haven't been in years and I'm not in Yorkshire this weekend, such a shame!

Just going to keep this post nice and short, I do tend to ramble! Happy November, everyone! x

Floral Blouse

2011-10-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Blouse Paprika Fashion / Skirt H&M / Jewellery Accessorize & Temporary:Secretary / Nails Rimmel

I've not heard of Paprika Fashion until recently and it is nice to have another fashion website to shop at besides the usual ones that I've bookmarked. Variety is the spice of life! For anyone who isn't familiar with Paprika, they're a brand aimed at 16-26 year old women. They are an affordable brand who promises to provide stylish designs at an affordable price. You may have spotted Paprika's designs on ASOS or New Look. Recently, I received £100 voucher (I had won this via Look Magazine) to shop at Paprika and this was one of the items I chose. Of course, I would wear this with a coat if I was going out, I can't stand the coldness! But I never go out and I work at home (it's like a sauna in here), so generally no need to wear more layers! Paprika's customer service were extremely friendly and you receive a response so quickly and efficiently! The Paprika parcel arrived the next day too! Plus, it's free standard delivery when your order is £20 or over. I wanted to treat you all to something too so I purchased a few extra things for a giveaway. I got so many awesome prizes sent to me recently, I feel greedy for keeping *everything* and I really wanted to spend some of it on you guys! Ideally, I'd love to buy something for each of my readers but since that isn't possible, I bought some clothes in a few different sizes and I'll have a big giveaway at the end of the year. I have a few good prizes already ...admittedly, it's all jewellery at the moment! Need to venture out a bit more on the variety of prizes!! I promise there will be more than just jewellery!

The picture below isn't of Oscar - I figured that you may be sick of seeing his grumpy mug for now! The photo is of Max, Oscar's brother. We tell them apart by the fact that Max has got a MASSIVELY HUGE thick neck!! (ha. You're glad I said "neck" and not something else, right!) But for realz, Max's neck is really big. Like a polar bear! All your comments on Oscar's latest post made me so happy. If Oscar could read, he'd be smiling too. But since he can't smile (or read), we'll just have to accept him as a grumpy sod. Honestly, he's not as grumpy as he looks. He is so loveable, and affectionate! I just have to take one look at him and I burst out laughing, I love him so much!! We carved our pumpkins yesterday, I made mine a cat but I haven't sorted the photos out yet. Niki has posted about it though, below is a preview the preview of Max (Oscar's brother) in his new Halloween costume! Pop over to Niki's blog to see more photos of Pumpkin Boy and his brotherly sidekick The BEAST!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Love from Me, Oscar, Niki and Max! xoxo

National Cat Day

2011-10-29T03:54:00.000-07:00

Dedicating this post to my little Oscar, it is national cat day today! So sorry that this post is so image heavy - I've got so many photos of Oscar on my phone so I thought I'd share them with you, some are recent and some of them are from when he first came home to us. This week, he has been staying with his brother, Max. Double the trouble! They've been having a bromance! We have made them little Hero&Cape tshirts - and I made them both a superhero cape. Below is a preview, the cape isn't finished yet. We have the dreaded task of putting the tshirts on them, and taking some photos! What is that they say?... Never work with animals!

Here are some of the funny things that Oscar gets up to! (And yes, he really did tuck in to bed all by himself! He looks really embarrassed about that!)

You can check out Oscar's other posts HERE

Giant Biscuits!

2011-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Dress inlovewithfashion.com / Ring and Bracelet Temporary:Secretary / Necklace Hero & Cape

This red dress is from inlovewithfashion.com - I'm trying to stay away from dark coloured clothes because the dull and dark weather is already depressing enough! I wanted to buy so much from the inlovewithfashion rails at TopShop the other day! I am definitely going to try control my spending and attempt to start saving up for Christmas. Some of my followers on Twitter have been retweeting Santa's countdown to Christmas. Makes me panic a little bit! When Hero & Cape showed me their new jewellery range, I bought this Art Nouveau necklace straight away which is not a great start to the spending ban but I did get a small discount! I can't say no to things! Ever! And just a heads up for you... Hero & Cape are having a flash sale on the jewellery collection for the next few days. Follow them on Twitter to obtain the 30% discount promo code.

I'm finally starting to get things ticked off on my To Do list. Have had lots of things on there that has been on the list for about two months! So bad! I'm so excited to finally have new products in the Temporary:Secretary shop now - you can see them in the New section. I'm adding more new products each day for the next week. This also means that some of the old designs will be on sale. Some people were requesting Keep Calm and Carry On rings so there will be some available (like the one I am wearing in the pictures above). There will be more colours available and they're suppose to be big. Nice big statement ring!

So I mentioned before that I was getting woken up really early by the cats talking to each other! I went grocery shopping that day after very little sleep, and it became one of those slow and dragging days! I felt delirious! Imagine how giddy I got when I saw giant biscuits (this was actually just a biscuit tin with regular sized biscuits inside!)

(Star scarf NEXT / Leather gloves Accessorize)

Fedora and Leather Jacket

2011-10-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

In the last post, I said I would post some photos of the black Warehouse dress styled with leather jacket and a hat. Now, I am not a hat person at all. I buy berets and floppy hats but I won't ever wear them! So I have given up buying hats because it's a waste of money if it just ends up at the bottom of my wardrobe! Accessorize sent me this feather trim fedora hat (LOOK Prize) and I had to find a way to pull it off so that I could picture them and blog about it for them. I really like it but I don't have the confidence to wear it out! I got some questions in the post before asking where I got this leather jacket. It is from ASOS but I bought it 3 years ago. I like that it's cropped and there's lots of details.

Hope you're all having a good week so far. I am staying at Hero and Cape's house for two weeks. I got woken up really really early this morning by two screaming cats! Chloe told me that it's National Cat day on Saturday so we will attempt to get some photos of Oscar and his brother, Max (Hero&Cape's cat) We're thinking of making them little cat tshirts with Hero And Cape artwork on, and their little outfits wouldn't be complete without little superhero capes!

Sheer Black Dress

2011-10-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

(Nail Polish Rimmel. Earrings Accessorize. Rings Temporary:Secretary)

Warehouse generously asked me to choose a dress from their website (LOOK Mag prize), and I chose this black midi dress with gold buttons, and it came with the fuscia pink belt. I've wanted one of those sheer layered skirts for ages and I bought this one in cream but I am not quirky enough to pull off the drop back hemline so I returned it. When I received the Warehouse dress through the post, it didn't come with the undergarment as shown on the site. I've just double checked their website right now and it appears I should have got the underskirt. Anyway, at the time I didn't think twice about it, I was over-excited to try it on. I improvised with a black leotard and a bodycon skirt, and that is what I am wearing underneath the dress. It has created the original look I was going for with the "quirky" skirt that I had returned to the shops. I love it, and so does my Mum. We are fighting over who is keeping is. I think we'll share it! I've styled the dress up with a leather jacket and a hat that Accessorize sent me. I will put the photos up of this in my next post.

Thank you for the lovely comments on my new necklace in the previous post. RubyGold very kindly featured my blog on their website after seeing that post, you can read their article here. I am just so pleased that they like it, it's nice to be able to communicate with brands and hear that they are happy and impressed with my blog, content or photos. I've learnt a lot in the past year, as a blogger and as a brand myself. I enjoy the "fashion marketing" side of things. I am a fashion marketing graduate after all!

I am on annual leave this fortnight (Any customers reading this post, I will still be around to answer emails, and queries on Twitter. I am also heading back to the office at the weekend to pack orders) Anyway, I'll have lots of times to schedule a few posts in the next two weeks and I'll make sure I'll blog more than I have done recently! Lastly, special thanks to Laura for this lovely write up. It was such a lovely surprise and it's so nice of her to write this. I've just realised that we exhibited at Graduate Fashion Week at the same time in 2009! I wish I'd known back then, and we could've met up for a drink!

(Disclaimer: I chose this dress from the Warehouse website http://www.warehouse.co.uk/, but this was part of the Look Magazine blog winner's prize package. All items gifted to me as part of winning the Look Magazine blog competition will be stated and the post will be labelled Look Magazine Prizes)

Blue Lace Bodycon

2011-10-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

It was announced last week, I was the winner of this year's Look Mag blogging competition, Lara at Look Magazine informed me of the prizes I was receiving. I know she has worked really hard to arrange the best winner's prize package and I am going to blog about them the best that I can throughout the next few weeks. I don't want to bore you with "show and tell" product posts, so I've photograph them in interesting ways (most likely to be in form of an outfit post). I also want to show how appreciative I am to the brands who have been so generous by blogging about the prizes they sent me. It's only right that I put in 110% effort in to blogging about them as a way of saying thank you.

Getting photographs taken for the blog is getting difficult now that it's cold. I take all photos outside because a) I prefer the lighting and b) the main reason is that I don't have anywhere suitable to take photographs indoors, no white wall and very little space inside the house! I took advantage of the sunshine today and spent the entire day taking photos. So, as it's unlikely that the temperature will rise until March, I think I will cheat a bit and take lots of photos of different things only once a week (...Providing it's bright and sunny!). It was really cold today but the lighting was good so I just photographed some of the prizes during the day and now all I have to do is write up the content. Please forgive me when it may look confusing if it happens to snows in a few weeks time and I'm still blogging photos I took in the Autumnal sunshine!

Here's the first of the "prizes" blog post; River Island sent me a gorgeous blue lace bodycon dress. I love it! This is the sort of thing I would buy, I love these sort of dresses and I actually wear these during the day with a blazer or cardigan, really thick black tights and a pair of flat ballet pumps. A little bit like this outfit. Of course, this dress is also perfect for nights out. In the photos above, I have teamed it up with some black wedges that I purchased from New Look a few days ago. All the jewellery (apart from the Cherry Ring which is an old one I made for myself) were part of the prize package too. Since running my own business, I haven't bought jewellery from other brands in YEARS so it is really nice to have some new pieces to add to my jewellery box. One of my favourites prize is necklace is £150.00 from RubyGold, from Award winning designer, Henriette Loftsrom's Golden Symmetry Collection. The gorgeous olive green feather earrings and statement black ring are from Accessorize. I'll be wearing these all the time, it is really really nice to have some new jewellery! I was very excited about this part of the prize when I saw it on the list in Lara's email! Thank you Lara, River Island, RubyGold and Accessorize! x

Disclaimer: There will be more prizes to blog about so I will be labelling/tagging these blog posts as Look Magazine Prizes (as seen below) during the next 4 weeks, you will know what was gifted to me and what purchases I have made with my own money.

Grey Knitted Dress

2011-10-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

Very.co.uk sent me this lovely grey knitted mini dress in the middle of September. I have accessorised with an Autumn owl ring (soon to be available in the shop). Keeping it nice and simple. It received the dress through the post during the week when it got ridiculously hot, so I haven't had a chance to wear this dress until now. It is from Dee V by Diana Vickers range. I've had to take the hem up slightly, the knitted dress was too long on me. The dress looks lovely on Diana Vickers, the dress is the perfect length on her. I've sewn the hem up to emulate how it looks on her. I'm glad I chose this dress, it's going to be an staple A/W piece every year! I was going to get the playsuit but I changed my mind because I thought summer was over! (I guess it is now! These photos were taken when it was drizzling with rain. I almost slipped on a wet tile and fell on my butt!) I have always experienced good customer service at Very.co.uk but I often forget to look on the website, usually only when I am reminded by the television advert or when I have read about it on the internet. I have bookmarked the website now! I now remember that there are so much to choose from, and there's lots of gift ideas for Birthdays and Christmas! Definitely a virtual destination to visit, if only to avoid the Christmas high street madness!

Feather Magazine featured this look on their website, you can read this here. It's a fantastic write up, thank you, Feather Mag - it was such a nice surprise! I can't wait to read more on Feather Magazine. It was founded in July 2011, so it's fairly new. I think it's lovely how they have stated: "Feathers symbolize freedom and the pursuit of wisdom. We believe that's what your twenties are all about" They are a magazine that writes about what you want to read about, you can tweet them your suggestions, they would be glad to hear your ideas!

I think it might time to go back to my natural hair colour. My hair is all kinds of colours right now. You can see that it is streaky colours of black, brown and ginger! I wonder if it would be too weird if I dyed the top half of my hair dark brown and leave the ends as it is. Like a backwards ombre job!? Then I could just disguise the roots but still keep a bit of colour and leave it to grow out completely back to it's natural colour. I love dying my hair and I don't want to go back to boring old black/dark brown but I think that if I continue to dye my hair is going to disintegrate and that I'm not going to have any hair left!

OSCAR!!!

2011-10-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a little dose of Oscar! It has been a while since I last posted some photos of him! He's getting so big now. For those of you who are new to my blog, here are my previous posts of Oscar. He is a 3 years old short-haired persian breed (house cat), his legs are really short and stumpy, and his face is flat as a pancake! (Bless him!) Sometimes, he looks like a teddy bear especially when he is hyper because his eyes widen and he looks SO cute like this. I did have some new photobooth photos of him, which I promise I will blog but I can't find the pics right now! I'll post the photos as soon as I have found them! Definitely lolcat worthy!

I am always looking for boy blogs for Hero&Cape to read so I thought I would ask if anyone has any recommendations? Some that I have found are: Boy Meets Fashion, Sick By Trend, SchoolBoyCouture, OneHundredandSixtyEight, Style Stands Alone, and Style Salvage. If anyone knows any other ones, tweet them over to Niki, who has become an avid blog readers!

I'll keep this post nice and short, and I'll let Oscar take all the attention! There will be more of him and Hello Kitty next time! We hope you're having a good week so far. Lots of love, Sarah and Oscar! xoxo

Thank You!

2011-10-11T04:48:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to blog again until Thursday, and it was going to be a post about Oscar! I will still put the post up, I know how much you all like seeing his fluffy flat face! I just felt like I needed to do a post today to say THANK YOU for being so nice about the good news I got yesterday. Look Magazine announced yesterday that I was the overall winner for Look Blogging Competition A/W 11! I am so happy and it is so overwhelming. Thank you so much, LOOK Magazine!

I'm not sure how I feel about featuring my family or friends on the blog, I don't mind sharing info about myself but I am a bit scared the consequences of over-sharing on the internet. But I guess maybe nothing bad can happen from it, and it adds a more personal touch as opposed to something like an outfit post. I like to think of my blog as a visual diary too, I want to look back on my past posts and remember certain things and this will be a nice one to remember! My short term memory isn't so good! Anyway, I hope you like this post. I thought I would blog about something a little different to celebrate the good news, just like I did when I found out I was chosen in the final five. (You can see that post here. I'm pulling funny faces, not on purpose though. I was very scared by a bee).

After I had finished work yesterday, we went out because little sis wanted to buy a new camera. She'd finally saved enough money. Now she's got a job where she works one shift a week, she has been saving up for an iPad 2 and now a camera! It takes her forever to save up for something like an iPad, but I am very proud of her for having the willpower to save up at such a young age! Whilst we were out, we decided to go for dinner at TGI Fridays. It wasn't really a celebration for the good news I had received, we just wanted some dinner! Mum and dad had never been to TGI's before, and I hadn't been since 2003! I don't remember them having such an extensive cocktail menu. So much to choose from! I had the ice cream cocktail with the Oreo's in it. It's so good!

Listed below are the brands who are generous enough to send me some prizes as the chosen winner, and I will blog about the prizes when I receive them to let them know how grateful I am. Thank you to Look Magazine judging panel for choosing me as the winner, and special thanks to Lara. You can read my Look blog posts by clicking the hot pink button on the side bar or click here. I'll blog about the winners prizes when I receive them, but I am going to make sure I buy something extra with the vouchers and have a blog giveaway. I never have blog giveaways, only because I do weekly ones on Twitter, but really want to make it a good giveaway to celebrate this and a thank you present to my lovely readers! Going to look for some some really good prizes to buy!

(Prizes will be received from: JOBY, Jon Richard, Lavish Alice, Lingerie Please, Miss Selfridge, Monsoon, Next, OSiS Design Mix, Paprika, River Island, Ruby Gold, WAHL Hair tools, Warehouse)

New Favourite Dress

2011-10-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Hope you're all having a good weekend! :)

Another autumn floral dress which has become one of my favourites! I love this one because it's got sleeves! I love dresses with sleeves, because I hate my arms - they're so stupidly long, like a monkey or Mr Tickle! I like to hide them whenever I can. This pretty dress is from a small independent company called Sosolo and I think it suits the current Seventies chic trend, I really like the fit and the flattering length for a short arse like myself. The parcel was perfectly wrapped, indie retailers go that extra mile :) Sosolo are a fashion company that offer a range of vintage clothing, and also stock one off items from up and coming designers. I am happy to announce that we provided Sosolo with some stock and is now Temporary:Secretary's newest stockist! They have been so fantastic to work with. I have been so unorganised these past few months and they have been incredibly patient with me. You can visit them at www.sosolo.co.uk, or interact with them on their Twitter or Facebook page they have a blog too, there's some really cool posts on there and their enthusiasm for fashion really shows. (Quick side note: Jewellery from TempSec shop and the nail colour is Bubblegum from Models Own)

This weekend, I did a quick interview for Florrie from British Style Bloggers which you can read over on the site. Hope you find it helpful. She asked questions about what it was like to have own business, what tips I could give and some chat about blogs.

I'm sure I say this every month, but I can't believe it's October! I have a lot of birthdays to remember in October, so got to remember to keep track of the dates. I have no concept of time these days. I wake up most days not knowing what day it is! My family are going on holiday at the end of the month but I have decided to stay here and work (gutted!), it gets hectic this time of year what with the run up to Christmas and I want to keep track of things. At times like this, I wish I had a real temporary secretary to cover for me! In two weeks time, I am taking a mini break to use up annual leave days, though. I will still be working (although not able to pack orders as promptly), but I am going to be staying with Hero&Cape for a few day, he lives about 30-40mins drive away. I'll be helping him with his work, hopefully giving screen printing a go! I can't leave Oscar home alone whilst the family is away, so I'm taking him with me! Me and the cat are taking a break, we can't wait to get away from this town for a few days! Niki (Hero&Cape) has a cat called Max, and Max just so happens to be Oscar's brother! ...Yes, we have "his and her" cats!! Oscar is way cuter though! :) I haven't done a post on Oscar in a while, I'll get some pictures up this week! I'll be sure to take lots of photos when we get Max and Oscar together! But if the past is anything to go by, they will just fight all day long, cat hair will be shed, I will get scared and we will end up separating them in to different rooms!

Oscar sat in our suitcase!

Autumn Florals

2011-10-05T05:16:00.002-07:00

This dress is from inlovewithfashion.com. They have got a lot of new arrivals on their website right now but this is my favourite from the range - it's one of those dresses that you can wear both daytime and evening. The blazer makes it look smart for the daytime, I wear that blazer with everything! The floral print suits the Autumn season. Nice and bold, as opposed to a summery ditsy floral print. They're currently offering free delivery at the moment, everyone's always a fan of free delivery! You can check their collection out at http://inlovewithfashion.com/.

I've recently realised that actually a lot of people prefer the winter months but I am definitely a fan of the warmer weather. Unfortunately, Niki's little pet hamster died of heat stroke last week and now I feel bad for having enjoyed the Autumn sunshine because it killed the little hammy. I had bought the hamster as a present to Niki earlier this year. Hammy survived the summer so we never thought he would suffer over the few days we had hot weather. Poor thing. Even though people will think "it's just a hamster", (I get sad even when I see roadkill), I can not bear the thought of anything or anybody suffering. He was so cute and tiny, and it's just so sad.

After two weeks of blogging about The Look Show, I am now returning back to my usual blogging posts. Last thing to say about the event is that if anyone has any doubts about entering the Look Magazine competition next year, then my advice is don't think twice. I wasn't going to enter because I didn't have that many followers and I didn't think that Look Mag would even notice me. I actually remember saying to Lara and Conny that I would "leave it to the proper bloggers". The best thing about this competition is that everyone gets a fair chance. It isn't a popularity contest, and your blog isn't judged on things like amount of followers or statistics. I would definitely encourage people to go for it! Nothing to lose!

The Keep Calm and Carry On necklaces were featured in Fabulous Magazine last weekend, you can see the coverage on our press page - it is a fantastic piece of coverage thanks to our PR. I am working on new colours for the pendants, and also a few more to add to the range. We've been getting feedback from Twitter on what they'd like to see and the most popular so far is "Keep Calm and Drink tea". I am giving away a purple Keep Calm necklace on our Facebook page. To enter, all you have to do is Like and Share the picture on there. If you're feeling lucky, then head over to Temporary:Secretary facebook page or click the image below. It's free to enter the giveaway!

The Look Show: The End

2011-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is the final blog post on The Look Show A/W 11. As well as showing everyone what was in the goody bag, this post is also a big THANK YOU to everyone who made our Look Show weekend an awesome one. Things like this don't ever happen to me and this will only ever happen once. I am glad I entered the competition (You can see the submission post here), it seems like so long ago now. The eventual winner of this competition will be announced by Look Magazine soon. I'm so glad they've given us this time to put all the blog posts together, it has been a lot of fun. Back to regular blogging after this! :(

The latest issue of Look Magazine is filled with Look Show gossip. I spotted myself in one of the pages, but I have my camera over my face and I've got my big head hiding Hero And Cape (my plus one). You can see a portion of his face in the latest issue, we were sat 4 seats from Kelis.

Our Look Magazine goody bag was filled with cosmetics and vouchers, as seen in the photos above. Each of the final five blog winners got £200 to spend at Westfield Stratford City, which I split this spending money with my plus one. Shopping at Westfield Stratford City was a different experience to what I'm used to up north, it was so busy. Metro Centre near Newcastle is still the biggest shopping centre in Europe, I used to go there once a week when I lived in Toon, but I've never ever seen it as busy as it was in Westfield Stratford City. I bought some clothes and also stationery with the money. Look Magazine also covered our travel expenses and accommodation, which I am so grateful for. We stayed at the brand new Premier Inn which is located on site. As part of our prize package, we were kindly given Vue cinema tickets, All Star Lanes bowling vouchers, a free cut and blow dry at Toni and Guy, and complimentary three course meal and cocktails at Bumpkin, a restaurant who sources their produce from British farmers. The restaurant has a friendly and very welcoming atmosphere and the food was so well presented. Below are the photos we took at Bumpkin, it was lovely to have dinner there and the service was excellent. I highly recommend it, especially the cocktails - they've got a great selection of yummy cocktails! I can't wait to go again next time I'm in London. Thank you for having us! It was an amazing weekend and we were spoilt rotten, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you to everyone at Look Magazine, especially Lara. I hope my lovely blog readers and all of the team at Look Mag have enjoyed reading my about my Look Show experience. Congrats to Look Mag for putting on a fantastic event. Hope to see you again next year!

The Look Show: Main Event

2011-09-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

As I said in my submission entry post that if I won the competition to sit front row at The Look Show then I'd blog about it in a way that makes the readers feel as if they were there with me. So the first thing I packed was the camera, and several camera lenses. I was worried that I'd look stupid with carrying such a big heavy camera around but I wanted to take the good one with me so I could get some clear photographs. It was worth it as I managed to get some good snaps, and I have been excited to show you these images since last week!

So what's fashionable this season? At the main event, many of our favourite high street retailers showed key pieces from their A/W collection, highlighting what the key trends are for this season. Instead of putting them in to category of each brand, I have sorted them in to trend categories and each section will feature a few looks from each retailer (sorry that this post is image heavy, I didn't want to split this one in to two parts as I am already blogging about the event in 4 sections, didn't want to drag this out any longer either as I really want to show you everything in one go!).

To find out where the clothes are from and where you can purchase each individual look, you can click on each photos and it will direct you to more information on where can buy the outfit. I have linked all the images up, so click on the image and shop away! Hope you enjoy this post! x

(All photos in this post are shot by me at The Look Show A/W 11 for the use of this blog temporary-secretary.blogspot.com and for Look Magazine. The camera used here is a Nikon D90 with a Tamron 18-270 lens)

A prominent trend that we saw on the Look Show catwalk this season was Androgyny. Vogue called this trend "Femi-man", a mixture of boyish silhouettes with feminine details. Neck ties and pussy bow blouses teamed with classic tailoring. Put your own edgy twist on it by wearing leather trousers, as shown by Mango and River Island.

Miss Selfridge displayed bold and bright colours, adding some vibrancy of jewel colours to your Autumn wardrobe. My favourite was the pleated midi skirt in jade green from Miss Selfridge. This season's colour block trend is combined with Seventies Chic; Faux fur, feathers, flared trousers, maxi dresses with fluted sleeves and floppy hats. Dorothy Perkins styled up to this trend very well but this outfit from New Look was my favourite.

We were all pleasantly surprised by the collections from Dorothy Perkins and Limited by Marks & Spencer. Dorothy Perkins collection looks bright and fresh, whilst Marks & Spencer stuck with their classic shapes but managed to appeal to a more youthful market with the Limited line. To see all the collection from every retailer that were involved in this year's Look Show, you can find out more by going to the Look Website (http://www.look.co.uk/microsite/the-look-show). You can also view the video of the catwalk here. Special thanks to Look Magazine (http://www.look.co.uk/) for putting on a good show this year.

The Look Show: Backstage Reception

2011-09-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

VIP Area
Following up from my previous post, these photos were taken before the actual show where we went to the backstage area for pre-show party with drinks and some nibbles. I'm going to keep this short in writing and let the photos speak for itself, this bit of the day was brief and I think we were all eagerly anticipating the show! We networked with other bloggers and it was here where I met up two of the final five, Jade and Sarah. When I walked in, I immediately recognised a few people but it took me ages to pluck up the courage to go up and speak to them. I did eventually speak to some lovely people and I am pleased that I did. I shouldn't be so nervous and next time in a situation like this, I will just go for it and mingle. I was really excited to see Jen, Lily (LLMLRS), Lily (LilyPebbles), Kate, Gem and Sara. I always read their blogs and bugging them with my comments. They're all so awesome, I knew they would be. I love their blogs even more now I have met them in person! I'm gutted I didn't get to see my other faves, I never ever get to go to anything like this but I really hope there'll be another time when we're all at the same place at the same time again so I can speak to the girls I didn't get to meet this time.

The Front Row

After the drinks and food, we all shuffled out of the VIP area to get our seats and wait for the show to start. We were a few seats away from Kelis and I didn't even know she was there when I took these photos (see if you can spot her amongst the crowd). Each guest got a LOOK goody bag and it was filled with lots of cool things which I will blog about in a separate post. I am really grateful I got to sit front row and I made sure I took the opportunity to get some good snaps of the beautiful models in their gorgeous clothes. The best bit is that after seeing the photos, you can go and shop for the very same outfit that the models are styled in. It's easy to forget that we don't usually get to see high street clothes in this format. Sure, there's visual merchandising which is important to draw people in to the shop in the first place but once we're in the store, the majority of clothes are usually on hangers hung up on the railings, and that's their point of sale. We don't ever see these high street garments on live on a model on a runway, so I think that the team at LOOK Magazine (www.look.co.uk) has done a great job in coming up with the concept of putting the affordable brands we see every day on an attractive catwalk in all their fashion glory for everyone to see. Seeing the clothes this way certainly made me want to buy EVERYTHING! Even from Marks & Spencer and I'm not someone who typically fit the M&S customer profile. I'll reveal more in my next post, as this is what I will be blogging about next. I just hope that everyone is going to be pleased with the photos! I can't wait to show you!

Below are the Final 5 (Cassie, Jade and Sarah) and their Plus 1's. Fritha and Selina joined us shortly after this photo was taken, but I'll make sure I include another pic of the full set of the Final 5 in the next post so you get to see us all together. If you were at the Show, drop me a comment and let me know, I shall pop by to your blog and say HI! :)

These images were taken by me or Hero And Cape for the use of this blog www.temporary-secretary.com. If you would like to use any of these images, please email sarah@temporary-secretary.com

The Look Show: Pop-Up Lounge

2011-09-20T04:31:00.000-07:00

I will be blogging about The LOOK Show in four parts because I have taken almost 1,500 photos this weekend so I need to narrow things down and show you it all in four short instalments. Being one of the final five blog winners for the competition, I got to go to the event which was organised by Look Magazine and I feel like I must show you everything. I want to share it all with you and I am bursting with excitement to show you the photos! I am absolutely dying to show you the catwalk collection, it was going to be the first post, but I will refrain and show you everything in order; The second post will be the pre-show VIP reception, the third will be about the catwalk show, and the brands that were involved. The fourth and final part will be dedicated to the fantastic companies who were so generous with the prizes and I'll also show you what was in our Look Show goody bags.

We started the day by making our way to Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. Congratulations to Westfield Stratford for a very successful first weekend, as you can tell from this photo I took! The regeneration in East London is really exciting and E20 is going to be a very desirable postcode in the near future. When I arrived at Westfield, I made a beeline for The Look Magazine Pop-Up Lounge. As soon as I got there, I rang Lara, the marketing executive for Look Magazine (www.look.co.uk) who kindly came to meet and greet us. She introduced us to the team, and they told us that they could set us up on the laptop so we could blog and tweet from the Look Lounge and so that was what I did.

The Look Lounge looked really good, so eye catching and very glam! There was such a positive buzz around it. The queue for the Lounge was massive and I was excited to recognise some people from the blogs that I read on a regular basis. I'm sad that I missed out on meeting some girls who I was expecting to see there due to timing but hopefully we'll meet one day! I am so grateful for the opportunity, and I'm happy that I got to experience such a good weekend. Look Magazine reiterated that we had blogger duties throughout the day and I was keen to fulfil them. After some twitter updates from the Look Lounge, I took some photographs before I popped out to get some lunch and then promptly headed over to the the Pre-Show reception where I met up with the others from the Top 5 Finalists, which is what I am going to blog about next. I really can't wait to show you the photos, I won't upload all 1,500 images (I think both of our computers will get mad at us and punish us by freezing and crashing!) but I've been through them ALL and have selected the best out of the bunch, so please come back and visit the blog for the next few posts which will be dedicated to #LookShowWSC weekend!

Lily (LLYMLRS) | Me (Temporary:Secretary) | Fritha (The Fish Tank) | Gem (Gem Fatale)

(What I wore: TopShop dress, Miss Selfridge shoes, Models Own nail polish in Bubblegum, Mulberry Bag (Tillie), Rings from Temporary:Secretary)

GlossyBox: September Edition

2011-09-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I said that I would blog post on What's In My Bag because I was packing and I thought I would get some photos but that didn't happen! I just shoved everything in a suitcase and that was that! Not exciting at all. What is exciting, though, are the parcels that I've been getting! It's so nice to be the one recieving exciting mail, as I am often the one sending them out.

There are lots to write about for the next couple of weeks but for today, I am excited to show you these photos that I took of September's Glossybox. I really like photographing products (apart from jewellery! They're so difficult to shoot and it really stresses me out!). A lot of bloggers will already know what Glossybox is and I have enjoyed reading everyones post about it. The more I read about it, the more it has tempted me to subscribe! There are also a lot of girls who aren't aware of the company Glossybox, or what it is exactly. When you subscribe to Glossybox for £12.95 per month, you will receive a parcel each month which contains five beauty samples from niche brands to try out, and if you like them then you can go ahead and purchase the full size when you've finished the samples. It's also nice to receive a little treat through the post. It's like a little present to yourself.

I'm happy with what I got in this month's box which contained HD Brows Kit, Loreal Professionnel Mythic Oil, Nuxe Oil, Plum (eau de parfum) by Mary Greenwell and StrVectin eye cream. My favourite item was immediately the HD Brows Kit which also doubles up as eyeshadow, I had to try this out straight away. I really like it and have been wanting a new brow kit for ages but was never sure which one to buy and I've pondered about it so much that I just didn't bother buying one in the end. So I am pleased I got this product in the box. The boxes may vary, some will have got different samples to others. I'll test these products when I am back home next week and will be more informative on the products. If you have a question on anything to do with Glossybox, their services or their products, you can get in contact with them and they are so helpful. I experienced really good customer service and I really appreciate that. I recently unsubscribe to another one of these beauty sample box company, unfortunately due to poor customer service I received when I asked about a product I got in their box. It really makes such a big difference when you feel like a valued customer. If you haven't signed up Glossybox yet and you want to, or if you are interested in what they do, the details are below:

Glossybox details:

Website | Twitter | Facebook

All images in the post are taken by me for the use of this blog, www.temporary-secretary.blogspot.com

Red Maxi Skirt

2011-09-15T05:09:00.000-07:00

I took these photos at the end of August but had forgotten about them until I spotted the images on the computer yesterday when I was making space for the product photography I've been editing for the shop this week. I don't have any new photos to show today apart from these, I felt so cranky and tired yesterday so it wasn't productive at all. I like the top (Miss Selfridge) and the maxi skirt (River Island) but I probably won't be wearing them together again because it's got the whole Maid Marion vibe going on here!! I love River Island maxi skirts, and I also have it in black as seen in this post. I especially like this burgandy/cranberry one which is a key colour this A/W. Will be wearing this maxi dress with tights and these Miss Selfridge boots this winter, instead of those wedges.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be travelling to London. We're having ourselves a little road trip! We decided to drive down, it will take approximately five hours to get there. We're going to do a few touristy and business things on Friday, the Look Show on Saturday and then go to the market on Sunday. I will schedule a post for Friday but I've never done this before and I've heard it's a bit glitchy. As I will be packing for out trip at some point tonight, tomorrow's post will probably be a huge "What's in my bag/wheelie case" sort of post!

I think one of the requirements on Saturday (The Look Show) is to tweet throughout the day for #LookShowWSC and keep people posted, which I will definitely do. Usually, I try not to tweet too much so not to annoy people and clog up their timeline with my updates. After all, my twitter account is under my business name (@TempSec) and I don't want to lose followers for being annoying! Anyway, please feel free to follow me if you want updates on the show this Saturday. I do normally reply to every single tweet I get but as I'll be tweeting from my dumbass Nokia this weekend, I can't guarantee that I will be able to reply directly (Someone buy me an ipad!). I'd hate anyone to think I was ignoring them, especially if it's a customer asking a question about a product. Please re-send the tweet on Monday if you need me, I'll be sure to get back to everyone when I am back home.

One last thing before I publish this post; THANK YOU for everyone comments on the Typewriter Ring. In regards to the non-letter keys, I'm so pleased to have got feedback on them and because of your comments, I will be putting the full set on the site so the Tab key, Backspace or "shift key" (etc) and all the numbers and punctation marks will be available as well as the letters. Below is a picture of a selection of them:

Typewriter Ring

2011-09-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

I didn't sleep until 6am and I woke up at 10am so I am not feeling good right now!!! I stayed up to do some work, I had a bunch of photos to edit from the product photography shoot I did yesterday. I know I should have left it until the next day but once I start doing something like this, I just like to get it finished in one go so that it's easier for everyone else! I think I will need a nap shortly!

The dress here is from H&M and I'm not sure if I like it but it's too late to return because I bought it in May (or something like that!) and this is the first time I've worn it. It is nice and there's a lot of pleat detailing and lace trim but the fit isn't quite right on me. Nothing a belt can't fix, I guess! I liked it when I tried it on but you know what it's like when you're shopping, and you get that buzz and the feeling of desire to spend some money just takes over! I think I just got over excited on payday!

In reply to the comments in previous post, the nail varnish here is Parma Violet by 17 from Boots. It's a nice pastel lilac shade, and 17 is always cheap and cheerful. They always have good promotional offers and free gifts too. I also use these same photographs of my hands for the ring products on my website to give customers an idea of the sizes of the design, and so I want it all to be presented in the best way possible, and that's why I think it's important for my nails to look neat and colourful for the photographs. I know it looks like I paint my nails everyday .... But I don't - I wish I had the time to do that. I leave them on for about a week unless I am doing a product shoot within a few close days of each other. However, that is why I like the 17 polishes because they are so quick to dry, it takes 5 minutes to change colours or to re-paint them. (I got Niki and my sister to time me once, and it literally takes 5 minutes) I couldn't do that with the Models Own polishes though... they take about half an hour to dry completely! Good job I got a few bottles of 17 nail polishes then! :)

The jewellery I am wearing here are pearl art nouveau style ring, a green pebble ring and my new favourite which is an initial typewriter ring, and an Ampersand Necklace that I made in the summer. It's all lasercut from wood (I didn't cut this). I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the typewriter number keys or the "Shift" ones, but I'm sure I will come up with something.....!

I hope you're all having a really good week so far........I might go for a little nap now! x

Stripes

2011-09-13T05:21:00.001-07:00

Bit of a race against time getting these photos taken. Was in a rush with these photos and didn't get many clear photos to choose from apart from a "moody" one followed by a dorky smiley one! And it got too cold, that wind was really strong yesterday! It's getting more difficult to get good natural light as it gets dark after work. There's so many new outfits I want to show you, I'm going to have to find another place to take the photos!

It's getting too cold to be wearing dresses like this with tiny teeny sleeves! I need a jumper to go over it but most of what I've got is 3/4 length sleeves. I look a mess during the months of September through to March! A mess like a troll. A troll who hibernates! I don't make an effort but I really want to look like a normal human being this winter. I've bought a few coats on the internet at the weekend to try and they've yet to arrive. (Should be any day now!) I bought a few to try on and I am only going to choose just one to keep! (Under no circumstance am I allowed to keep them all! Don't let me keep them all, ok? Just the one!)

How am I doing with blogging every day for the week? I think it's because I have set this as a challenge for myself that I am able to think that I must take time to blog each day. Like I am being competitive with myself!

I'm off to take some product photography of the new things that have arrived for the shop, and then I am packing orders. Really need to get up to date with everything in the next couple of days! See you again tomorrow! :) x

Back To School

2011-09-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

Outfit Inspired By:

This outfit I am wearing does resemble a school uniform, it was unintentional! "School girl" was definitely not the look I was going for! I think it's because I look a bit younger (I am 26 years old - and I still get ID'd. Even for a ordering a cup of tea at a pub once!) and because of that, I can't pull off it off in the fashionable way like Alexa Chung. I'm wearing it with a black skirt here so a little bit boring but will style it differently next time.

I think this week, everyone is back at school or college and normality resumes. For uni students, it will be freshers week soon - I am really jealous! I am, of course, not a student anymore. I miss my student loan! As bad as this sounds, my first stop was always Thorntons and then M&S for food (treats!). Good luck to everyone who are about to start university this September. Regretfully, I did not make the most of my first year. I was very financially unprepared. Looking back, it seems stupid how I had little I did save. I had money but just not enough. The loan went on rent and I spent all my time selling all my possessions on eBay to earn some extra money. I came home every weekend, and I didn't join in with very much as a fresher. It wasn't until the end of 1st year that I came out of my shell a little bit, started going out and then I spent the summer saving money so that I could enjoy 2nd year (which I did!) If I could do first year all over again, I would do it differently.

Thank you so much for the nice comments on mine and Oscar's first video! I might do more vids, but I'm really quite shy (and I hate my own voice!) so I'm not sure, I definitely need to practise! But I would love to show everyone some Temporary:Secretary jewellery because that is something I've always wanted to do. I get emails from people asking if they can have freebies so they can review our jewellery on YouTube, which, unfortunately, is a request I can no longer fulfil. I think this is something I'd like to do myself. Of course, not to review it (it would be so incredibly bias views!) but I think it's nice to see something live rather than as an image, and it is a good way to show people how big or small a piece of jewellery is). If I was to start doing this then I'd start with rings because they're my favourite type of jewellery at the moment and I have SO many that are available in the shop. I would love your feedback on this, whether it is something you'd like to watch, or if you have suggestions on what you'd like to see (more of Oscar?) then I am happy to hear what you think! I'm out of my depth when it comes to vlogging.

I am aiming to blog everyday this week so see you back here, same time tomorrow! :)

Floral Collar

2011-09-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Another top with another fancy collar. The pink top is from TopShop and it also comes in coral. The nail colour is Orange Soda by 17 (Boots). I'm wearing my Keep Calm necklaces which is slightly different to the ones on the website. I forgot to take a close up of it but it is the same one as I'm wearing here. The necklaces got more press coverage on the NOW Mag website.

Yesterday, I found this from Clothing at Tesco twitter. Thank you, Rochelle! It was a really nice surprise and it definitely made Monday a lot more cheerful!

Right now, I refuse to acknowledge that it is now September. But my body couldn't wait because it appears to be thinking "it's September now, time for a cold!". I have got a sore throat and I feel a cold is definitely coming on. FML.

It has been a really busy recently, everything seems to be happening all at once. I don't usually think it's appropriate for me to talk about anything else on the blog apart from work, fashion, make up, and sometimes Oscar. I sometimes try to be a bit more personal but then I get worried and don't ever end up publishing the post. There has been lots of different things have been going on work-wise, but something exciting happened last week (equally as good as the news of getting into the final 5 of Look Magazine blogging competition, maybe even better!) and I don't want to pretend that this didn't happen because it is a big part of who I am and it has got a happy ending to it.

I met up with one of my bestest friends from my school days. It isn't right for me to go into detail about it but in a nutshell; One day, during our last year of school, we fell out and never spoke to each other again. This was difficult and at 16 years old, this had a huge impact on my little life and it completely changed me. After ten years (yes. TEN!) we met up last week and I am so happy that we did. We are both 26 now. I was super nervous to see her again but she was really nice about everything, just like I knew she would be. Inevitably, there was a sense of sadness with the realisation of how much I had missed out on. Ten years is a long time and we have lots to catch up on. I know she'll be reading this, and I have said this before but I just want to say that I am sorry for everything that happened and I'm sorry that I haven't been there for the past decade. I have learnt to seize the day and to be a lot braver in taking the initiative to fix a problem before it gets worse. If there's one thing I've learnt from what happened is to be a loyal friend. And these days, I'm all about the girl power!

I Heart Newcastle

2011-09-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Jewellery I Wore:
(Which will all be available in our shop soon)

Featuring a bit of men's fashion here on this blog! This was the only pic he would let me show you. Betty Buzzkill! But doesn't he look smart!

Last month we went to Newcastle for a night out to meet up with university friends and to celebrate the launch of Hero&Cape. It was nice to remember what social life feels like! I lived in Newcastle when I studied at Northumbria University and I can't wait to move back sometime next year. I really miss it. Recently I have really missed my uni friends a lot.

The quality of these photos didn't come out too good, was taken in the hotel with dim lighting and in a room where everything was brown. Brown walls, brown bed, brown curtains, brown carpet. But I wore a black pleated maxi skirt and a black leotard. I wore the super high chunky black heels from Miss Selfridge. I love them. Niki saw them and hated them straight away! "No way. Take them back. They look like Joey Potter's shoes!" referring to how 90's they look! Then I accessorised with Temporary:Secretary jewellery.

I wish I took more photos of the city for the blog but you can see some of it on these past posts from when I used to live there. I really haven't been out in Newcastle for so long and I had such a good catch up with all my lovely friends from uni. I saw lots boys looking like clones of each other in their TopMan camel chinos, All Saints v-necks and espadrilles. I'm not so keen. I also saw a guy wearing a T-Shirt that said "Nice Girlfriend. What Breed Is She?" In risk of sounding like I can't take a joke, that is one dumb ass t-shirt. Dislike.

Models Own

2011-09-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Models Own for having the huge 50% promotional discount, this was my first ever time purchasing their products. I had always heard good thing about their range of nail polishes so I had no doubt that they would be awesome - I bought 6 colours and my favourite so far is Bubblegum pink. I really love them all but I probably wouldn't buy nail polish over the internet again, I think the colours look a lot brighter on their website than in real life, especially Top Turquoise.

I bought my little sis the nail pen, and some blushers, she loves it. I also got her some brushes, but we were really gutted that the retractable brush lid had chipped. It isn't a big deal but it's still a bit of a bummer because it arrived that way.

I've yet to try the eyeliner pencil. I lost my MAC kohl pencil when I went to Newcastle, I think I left it in the hotel room, but I guess that now is a chance for me to try a new one. I've been using a Lancome one but it's not as soft and dark. I will probably end up buying another MAC pencil, but I like that the Models Own one comes with a sharpener on the lid! Very clever. What do you recommend from Models Own and which colour nail polish is your favourite?

*These photographs are taken by HeroAndCape for the use of this blog temporary-secretary.blogspot.com. He was too stingy to let me use the 50mm lens he's hogging! That's my way of saying that he's a good photographer and thank you for taking these. (Seriously, thanks)

This is not a sponsored post*

Black Maxi Skirt

2011-08-31T04:28:00.000-07:00

I bunny hopped around Metro Centre yesterday. And by bunny hopping, I mean I hopped like a bunny in a shopping centre. I was so excited to hear that I have to be chosen one of the five girls that won a place to blog about the Look Show in London next month. I know I mentioned it last time along with the dorky photos I posted but I really am so incredibly overwhelmed by all the comments on my entry post! Thank you so much. I had stayed up until 5:30am to work on that post; drafting the writing and formatting the images. I was in the zone, and wanted to make sure it was all cohesive so I didn't want to sleep until I had finished it and needless to say, I felt like a total zombie the next day. Now I am so glad I stayed up to perfect my submission for the competition! Feeling like a zombie was totally worth it for an opportunity like this! I am so grateful!

I had to leave the house for a few hours yesterday because I knew that if I stayed home, all I would've done was obsessively check Look Magazine's website and their twitter feed all day long. I've done that before where I am sat waiting for an email and all I did was refresh the page and drive myself insane with anxiety! I went to watch The Inbetweeners and then we went to Wagamamas. Definitely calmed me down but I could hardly watch the film properly because I was thinking about the pending competition result at the same time. I usually reply to all the tweets I get but my twitter wasn't working properly, this has never happened before but I wasn't getting any @ replies even though I spotted them on the hashtag for LookShowWSC. I'm really sorry if you tweeted me yesterday about the Look competition results and didn't get a reply. I hope they turn up on my twitter feed so I can speak to you individually soon! Well done to the Top 20 shortlisted bloggers, I can't wait to catch up with all your bank holiday blog posts! And a massive congratulations to Sarah, Cassie, Fritha, Tara & Jade! I can't wait to meet you!

Did you all enjoy the long weekend? I actually went out this weekend, and this is unusual for me as I often opt to work instead of socialising! (Sad, I know! But as I work for myself, I have no one to cover for me and I hate it when work piles up) So, I went out and saw lots of lovely friends that I hadn't seen for so long. It made me realise how much I have missed them and it has reminded me to put in a better effort in to meeting up with them more frequently. I have relied on Facebook to "stay in touch" with people for far too long. The odd message here and there. This is not the way to go, and I'm sorry to those people - I will make more of an effort from now on, I promise.

Now on to the images above, I have never been a maxi skirt/dress fan because I'm not very tall, I thought it might make me feel short and stumpy (and I want to feel "tall and ream". TOWIE fans will get that joke) but now I like them so much, I recently bought 3 from River Island. This top is one I wear all the time, I wore it here with a short body con skirt. It's from TopShop and it is available in other colours too. I saw a navy polka dot one that I was very tempted to buy. The jewellery is from....well, you know where the jewellery is from, so I won't bore you with that. It's not so clear from the pictures but the bracelet is made of multi-coloured skulls. The nail polish is shade Sea Breeze by 17 from Boots.

Last Days Of Summer

2011-08-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

These photos almost didn't happen because when the sun came out, Hero&Cape panicked and decided it was "too glarey". I told him "I like the glare. Hurry up before it gets cloudy again!!!" The photos above are not digitally edited, it's just Niki's amazing photography skills! However, I'm not as good of a photographer as him so whenever I want to get this effect with my work on photoshop, I'm not sure what it's technically called so I just describe the effect as "Lula Magazine". They always have such romantic, and dreamy editorials. I don't think I've ever read the magazine properly, I just buy them to admire the pretty pictures. I love Lula, the girl of our dreams.

A quick mention of this - Lots of items have been added to the sales section in the Temporary:Secretary shop. Many items 50% off. Making way for the new things for A/W, including all the rings that you've been seeing in my recent outfit posts. The Keep Calm and Carry On Necklaces has been featured in NOW Magazine this week, so really pleased about that because the Keep Calm necklaces are my favourite and they're an exclusive to our brand. You can view the coverage over on the press cuttings blog. I've been making so many of the necklaces this weekend. No rest for the wicked!

I've been trying not to think about it, tried to keep it cool as a cucumber but I am now getting nervous for the #LookShowWSC results on Tuesday as to who the final 5 will be. It's like waiting for exam results.

I'm working tonight, going out tomorrow evening, then working again on Monday, so have yourselves an awesome Bank Holiday weekend and I'll see you back here on Tuesday with a brand new post! x

Chiffon Peter Pan Collar

2011-08-25T07:06:00.000-07:00

I made this top years ago, and if I'm being honest, it looks much better left on the hanger! I remember making this, it was the last garment to sew up as part of my final major collection at uni. One day to go before the deadline, and I was still sewing. This top is made of chiffon and it is the worst fabric to work with. As floaty and dreamy it is, I will never ever use it again! If anyone's been on an industrial sewing machine before, they will tell you how fast they go. Add emotional stress and silk chiffon to that mix and you've got a big mess! I was so stressed out at the time, I actually cried whilst I sewed this up - So dangerous! I am lucky I've still got all my fingers! I lived to tell the tale, and I lived to show you this outfit post! :)

My little sis (she's 13) did my hair here, she's a Youtube fanatic and has learnt lots of new hair styles so I let her experiment on my hair! She's so clever and I like the hair style she's done for me here. I'm not very good with up-do's! She also wanted me to show you all this video she recently found of a baby panda and a momma panda. It's cute and funny. Enjoy!

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An Overwhelmed Dork

2011-08-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

My Monday blues soon went away when I found out that my blog is shortlisted for Look Magazine blogging competition. I was so excited about it all day, even bubblegum flavoured ice cream couldn't calm me down. I couldn't eat it! Was far too anxious and excited! To read my entry post, simply click here to view it. I am so overwhelmed by all the comments on that post. Thanks, everyone! And thank you to Look Magazine! And also a huge thank you to everyone on Twitter who sent such lovely tweets.

I was away from my desk for most of the day, and had very little battery left on my phone, but I made sure I replied to every tweet when I got home! Congrats to the other bloggers who got shortlisted, they're all brilliant, and good luck for the next stage for when Look Magazine choses the finalists bloggers.

Instead of celebrating that with an outfit post, I'm going to embarass myself a little bit here. Why not! Something a little different, mix things up a little bit! I'm going to break it to you... I am the biggest dork in the world. You knew that already, didn't you! Here are some outtakes from the last outfit post, looking far less composed! You know when a bee/wasp is buzzing around your face and people always say "They're more scared than you are!" or "STAY STILL"!! Well, I never stay still (as captured below), quite the opposite, in fact. Once I pulled a muscle in my neck because I (over)reacted so quickly. I really hate the buzzing. Gives me the heeby jeebies! I am truly pathetic!!!!

(#dork)

Denim Shirt

2011-08-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Jewellery worn:
(available at www.temporary-secretary.com soon)

Hope you're all having an awesome weekend! I've got the Monday blues already! There's a lot to do in the next few weeks at Temporary:Secretary shop, so many new products are on the way and I have a final batch of A/W range to photograph at the end of next week, and then the new stuff will be on the site in the next fortnight. I'm very excited about the new range - it's a little different from what is usually stocked. But that would also mean summer has ended, and I'm not keen on the "dark" months. :(

You may have noticed from most of my outfit posts that I am obsessed with a pretty collars and neck ties. I've been online window shopping with Jaymie and Jemma for nice blouses and both girls found so many lovely ones (they have good taste!). There are lots of blouses with neck ties in high street shops. But for something quirky and different, how about this, from our fellow indie retailer Hero&Cape? When they asked me to collaborate with them and design a T-Shirt for their opening collection, I jumped at the chance! Instead of illustrating a graphic for it, we came up with a clean design that was inspired by the style that I'm really in to at the moment. A cute Peter Pan collar graphic and a neck tie! On a T-Shirt! The T-shirt comes with a black bow neck tie brooch that I made for Hero & Cape. But the bow brooch will also be available as part of Temporary:Secretary A/W collection soon. I can't wait to get the T-Shirt, and I hope to collaborate with them again in the future!

Another Shoe Post!

2011-08-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

Remember my previous shoe post, when I showed you shoes I had bought that I totally couldn't walk in? Well, here are some other shoes I bought with the money I got back from returning the first shoe haul. This time, good news - I can actually walk in these! They are all so comfortable and don't made me do THIS! I loved all your advice on how to walk in high heels, and that the main thing to remember is that practise makes perfect. A few of you mentioned wedges too. As you can see, I found a pair in the New Look sales.

I also treated myself to two pairs of chunky heels from Miss Selfridge. I was going to return the Limited Edition pair but I've managed to talk myself into keeping them. Funny that. I love that the heel is made from a rubbery material, so there's more grip when you walk! (Honestly, the things I tell myself to justify keeping things I can't afford!! I have buyers remorse.) Anyway, I feel tall in them so it is worth it!!

Lace and Florals

2011-08-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

I bought this TopShop dress in March and I've worn it so many times (also seen here) I've worn it so much that one side of the lace has started to go really "bobbly"! I am not very good with nail art, but I love florals so I thought I would try this one. I actually did these floral nails AGES AGO but was a bit embarrassed to show you because they're not as good as the other ones I've seen.

Thank you to everyone who has been so nice about my work in my #LookShowWSC post, I didn't want to say in that particular post but I was very nervous about publishing it! I am proud of my work and I used to be fine about showing people but I have such a complex about it now, something I developed in the 4th year of uni, I became such a jittery wreck!

Another thing that I didn't think was appropriate to reveal in the entry post was that before I started college, I couldn't, and wouldn't, draw. I hated art back then. I didn't take art at school, and Textiles GCSE and A-Levels were very theory based, we were provided with templates for any drawings we were required to do. When I started college to study Fashion and Clothing BTEC, I was so naive, I thought we'd sit around talking about fashion and sewing clothes all day long. How wrong I was when I started college on the first day and realized I had enrolled on to an art course! We got a list of art materials to purchase and all of a sudden, I found myself buying every type of paints, and pastels and sketchbooks! I was so determined to teach myself to draw, I bought SO many books! So, what I'm trying to say is that if I can do it, ANYONE can do it! A bit of a cliche thing to say but I really do mean it, I don't have a natural talent for this and it's all from a lot of years of practise. I really hope that that this will inspire anyone to believe that if they want to do something, they can do it!

If I can find some drawings from my textiles course from about 10 years ago, I'll scan them in and show you and then you'll believe me. Honestly, if I can do it, anyone can do it! Plus, my old drawings will provide you with a giggle or two! And I'm all for providing the LOLz!

#LookShowWSC

2011-08-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

Blogging is relatively new to me. I started this blog only three years ago. However, fashion is something I have always had an interest in, even at a young age. Dressing up in mum’s clothes, clip-clopping in her shoes, wearing her bags and stealing her make up! We’ve all done it, girls! I could go on all day about how much I love clothes and shopping, which I so often do. Instead, I will take on a different approach by telling you how I took my interest in fashion to a different level and why I should be given the chance to blog at the front row at A/W 11 Look Show. (#LookShowWSC)

During secondary school, I had made my mind up that I wanted to use my interest and turn it in to a career. I often wished I was good at maths so that I could be an accountant, or wish I was smart (or brave) enough to become a doctor, or a nurse so that I could help people. As a fashion student, we often have to justify what we’re at university for. (Remarks like “How can you "study" fashion?” – “So, all you do is just cut pictures out from magazines and stick them in a sketchbook??” – No, not true.) But I was always realistic with my goals. After all, fashion is one of the biggest global industries. The two things that I had an interest in were learning how businesses work and of course, fashion! So I took business studies and textiles for my A-Levels, then I went to study National Diploma BTEC in Fashion Design at college, which led me to complete a degree in Fashion Marketing at Northumbria University. To me, fashion is more than clothes and shopping. For so long, (8 years to be exact) I have enjoyed learning about how the fashion industry works.

So, why should I be chosen to blog about Look Magazine’s fashion show? From my experiences within both my fashion marketing degree and running my own business, I understand commercial fashion from both side of the fence (as a consumer, and from inside the industry). This has allowed me to have a more in-depth analytical view of how fashion is communicated and marketed to the public. I have an understanding of how to interpretate a concept, and I also understand the technical side of how a garment is made. Also, having a business and from the brand's point of view, I know how to work with bloggers. And as a blogger, I know how to work with, and promote businesses. It is paramount that I show things on my blog posts that are interesting and aesthetically pleasing for everyone to read. And as you have noticed, I am very meticulous with the photography.

If I was given the opportunity to blog for Look Magazine’s fashion show, I would absolutely ensure that I’d do it justice. I'm very dedicated and determined, and I put 100% in to everything I do, I wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect. I always make sure that I engage with other bloggers and that I interact with everyone no matter who they are. I would want to make it feel as if my readers were right there with me!

In addition to that, to show you that I have a “passion for fashion” (my uni tutors would kill me for using that phrase!), below are a few images that show the skills that I have acquired in the many areas of fashion, which I hope demonstrates that I would be a good candidate!

(All images featured in the post are original artwork and photography are created, illustrated and taken by me and are part of my fashion portfolio. These images must not be taken, edited, copied, reproduced or duplicated.)

A Smile And A Ribbon

2011-08-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for bows so when I saw this dress a couple of months ago on Miss Guided website, I thought "why not! I'll treat myself!" - Something I've been saying far too much lately! The nail varnish is Barry M's Mint Green. Jewellery is from Temporary:Secretary! Of course!

Did you all catch my blog post about our fellow indie retailers Night Owl and Hero&Cape? Thanks to everyone who have responded positively! You're all amazing! Both Night Owl and Hero&Cape are new businesses offering an alternative and diversity. I feel that if I can help them in any way whatsoever, then I will try my very best. Recently, I've witnessed some friends close down their boutiques and it's all so sad that they can't survive in this current economic climate.

We all know how convenient it is to grab a quick bargain at Primark. Quirky jewellery for a £1, printed tees and even homeware for a fiver! We've all done it. But every now and then, it's always nice to buy yourself that isn't mass produce. It's also a total bonus when it doesn't come with a designer price tag too! Myself (Temporary:Secretary), Night Owl and Hero&Cape all design and produce pieces ourselves and even though they are not mass-produced, we still price our items competitively against the highstreet. Night Owl and Hero&Cape are particularly fantastic and unique because they use their skills and talent to incorporate their original illustrations into their own products. It can often be overlooked how much effort they put in to just one design. The quality is better too. They don't pull images off google and then photoshop it and notch up a design in 10minutes (eg. TopMan tshirts!!! Totally not impressed with the £16.00/£18.00 t-shirt that just had ":)" << that on. Some of them aren't even 100% cotton) :(

I'd love to know what your favourite independent retailer/brand/boutique, and don't forget to show us what treasures you've bought and how you found their customer service in comparison to the high street. x-x-x

(A Smile And A Ribbon is a song by Patience and Prudence - it's quite a creepy little song, but also quite cute. You can listen to it here)

Very High Heels

2011-08-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

I'm really bad at walking in heels. Other women glide so gracefully in them and I just look at them in awe. The price tag doesn't neccessarily mean that the more you spend on a pair of shoes, the comfier they are (TopShop....I'm looking at you!) and I have low threshold for pain. But recently, I've noticed that I've shrunk! I swear I have shrunk about two precious inches! I'm aware that this happens when you get older (much older!) But I am only 26! At this rate, I'm going to be as small as Polly Pocket in no time! Anyway, I need to start wearing super high heels and I wanted to show you some of my shoe purchases! (I didn't end up keeping these apart from the TopShop pair and that's only because I bought them over 28 days ago and it's too late to return them. If anyone wants to buy them off me, get in touch. They're size 5.)

Recently, I bought so many shoes to try on for a night out in Newcastle, but sadly, as much as I love them, I had to return most of them back as I couldn't afford to keep shoes I'd never wear. I never go out! When I read this post in a few months time, I'm going to regret it, aren't I! More shoe pics to come when I have time to take the photographs! (Yes, I returned these and bought other shoes!) By the way, the black TopShop pair made me do this (see video below). They are really lovely shoes but I'm sooo rubbish at walking in heels, I'm like Bambi learning to walk. I'm such a pathetic excuse for a woman!

Night Owl

2011-08-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

"Night Owl is an ecclectic homewares company run by Jessica Rose Lennox. Upcycling reclaimed

wood and vintage crockery with her hand drawn illustrations of British wildlife."

Being a small and independent business myself, I am always keen to support other indie business. I also like showing and telling people something they've never seen before. Something unique and a little different. This latest one I found is called Night Owl. I was sent some quirky homeware and illustrations a few weeks ago but have waited until I got a chance to take some good photos so that I do Jessica's products justice! She's so talented. Her products feature hand drawn illustrations transferred on to homeware. I'm crazy about homeware! The pictures above are some of the things Jess has made for me when we did a swap last week. I sent her a parcel of jewellery and she sent me some awesome things from her beautiful shop. This includes a gorgeous vintage porcelain heart trinket/storage (which I quickly filled with some Temp:Sec charms!) and a beautiful floral plate.

She also made me some amazing wooden coasters. My favourite is the bunny and the owls. When I (eventually) become a home-owner, I think I'd love to hang the round ones up on the wall. There is one lovely product that I've not photographed yet because I want to share that with you another time! :) I highly recommend Jessica's shop, it's full of unique items that you could buy for yourself, and perfect gifts for others. Her designs are something that you won't find anywhere else. The designs are great, the products are fantastic, the price points are affordable, and in my eyes, Night Owl can do no wrong! I love them and she deserves lots of success! Hop over to their shop and let us know what your favourite item is! x

Night Owl Info:

Shop | Etsy | Facebook | Twitter

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CAKES!

2011-07-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Have spent the whole week eating cake, and now I never want to see another cake again in my life! I've not baked this much since our uni bake sale, and then I got really obsessed and made this lot of jewellery! This week, we made red velvet, mint choc chip, coffee cake, strawberry and white chocolate, and carrot cake! There was also double chocolate but we ate them all straight away! Hope you've all had a brilliant week :)

Paper Aeroplanes & Ampersands

2011-07-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

Jewellery Coming Soon! Paper Aeroplanes, Pocket Watches, Ampersands

We sent out our monthly newsletter over almost two weeks ago, and for the first time we will share the newsletter with our blog readers so you can see what to expect if you sign up. Most of which we have blogged about already but it is absolutely free to subscribe to the newsletter and you can expect pretty pictures, first look of our new range and be the first to know about our discounts and offers!

So, to check out the July edition, pop over to this page. Enjoy!

Bunny

2011-07-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Like Grace Coddington said on The September Issue, everyone wants their photos pin sharp these days but she likes a bit of movement in them. I'm definitely one of those people who likes photographs to be super clear. These outfit pictures didn't come out very well, they're not as clear as I'd like them to be. I'd lost the battery charger and I knew there was about 5% battery left and so these were really rushed before the camera conked out. Later, I found the charger in the camera bag. Major fail.

I just wanted to show you this cute fabric print on this dress, they are little bunnies. I love bunnies and I know you love them too! The dress is from MissGuided. For me, it was a tad too long. I'm only 5ft, and don't really like to wear dresses that are knee length or below the knee. I have taken the hem up about 3 inches to make it look "normal" like it does on the model on the website.

If you got the newsletter on Monday, then you will know that the Rose Hair Garlands/Bracelets are now available on the website. I have been making a big bunch of them! They are specifically made this dainty and small so that you can wear them casually all the time without feeling silly. Great for the day time and a summer evening night out! Perfect for achieving festival chic too! I know I always feel self conscious when I try the big bright ones from the high street, so that's why I made these. When I started Temporary:Secretary, I always promised that we would be offering an alternative to the high street. There's going to be a few more designs, you can sort of see in the last image. It's the plaited braid with slightly bigger red roses. We hope you like them.

Jewellery worn in this post:

(click to buy)

Black bow will be available soon

Best Postcards Ever.

2011-07-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU to Conny (from Love Hearts and Crosses) for sending these to me. Such a treat to be the one receiving fun post for once!! She knows how much I love Mulberry and stationery! They're promo postcards from Mulberry and they will go in my collection of stationery (whilst fueling my desire even more to buy their gorgeous bags!)

Another parcel I got this week is this sparkly phonecase (pictured below). I have to admit that I don't own an iPhone, but my sister would love this case. I'm not sure if I'll ever cave in and get one. I'm a total Apple fangirl, I've had three iPods, two Apple laptops and one iMac (once you go Mac, you don't go back!) but when it comes to phones, I like them with buttons. Big phones with big buttons. Every phone I have ever had has been a Nokia, I can't break the cycle.

I <3 Nokia 4eva. IDST.

Is there anyone else out there that doesn't have an iPhone (or a Blackberry, for that matter!)?

My entire family and the world & his wife all have iphones and I've seen loads of these sort of sparkly phone covers around lately, so I thought I would tell you about a girl who makes these very eye-catching covers! I'm a huge fan of Hello Kitty so I chose this design. They don't have a proper website, it's a Facebook page but it's early days. To find out more about her and what she does, head to Encrusted.

Jewellery Box

2011-07-13T04:05:00.000-07:00

This contents are basically Temporary:Secretary stuff. This is a very kitsch, fun and colourful collection of costume jewellery. I lose things a lot so my mum keeps my fine jewellery safe. I don't actually wear jewellery a lot but that doesn't stop me buying (or keeping one of each thing I make or get a delivery of from the suppliers!) I am a hoarder and I have got plenty more where that came from than this so there'll be more posts like this in the near future! I think you can tell what sort of person I am from a lot of the pieces in this jewellery box. Or at least what interests I have. And that's what jewellery should do, it should show your personality just like most things! I play the piano, I love photography, I love strawberry and chocolate (who doesn't!), My Neighbour Totoro and Alice in Wonderland are a couple of my favourite films, and I used to be a huge fan of Sailor Moon when I was little! I've kept that watch for years. I don't wear it anymore, though - it doesn't work.

I took these images for my very first guest post on Lily In The Labyrinth. I hope you think I've done a good job, Claire did a great job with putting it all together so head over, have a read and let us know what you think! And if you see anything you like, head to the shop - we might just have it in stock! :)

Our Little Tiger

2011-07-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Oscar is the real star of my blog. It is so cute when people ask about him on Twitter. Here he is asleep on an office chair, with his head hanging out, I couldn't bring myself to push him off. Then the noise of the camera woke up him... but as you can see, he shot me a grumpy look and then he just went back to sleep! He knows how to live the good life, our little Oscie!

The next post I'll do on Oscar will make you LOL. I'll show you Oscar like you've never seen him before! (As Yoda and an evil rabbit! No cats were harmed in the making of this!) We hope you visit the blog again soon! :)

Make Up And Stuff!

2011-07-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am not a beauty blogger, so I don't feel entitled to give a "review". I know nothing about make up! I just thought I would take some pretty pictures for my blog! Having said that, if you had any questions, please feel free to tweet me and I will help! This week, I treated myself to some new nail varnish, lipstick and lip "polish". The Lip Polish is from the TopShop sales! All three for £5.00! Such a bargain. They even come with a tiny mirror. I don't like small mirrors, and I have to close one eye to be able to see into these little TopShop ones otherwise they make me go seriously cross-eyed...!! It is a nice touch, though.

I haven't bought anything from the Rimmel make up range since I was a teen. I buy most of my essentials from Mac (eyeliner, mascara, lipstick. I just find that they lasts longer throughout the day.) Call me fickle but ever since Zooey Deschanel has been the face of the Rimmel advertising campaign, I've bought quite a few things. I've totally fallen for it! I love her and I'm so excited for her new show, New Girl.

I also thought I'd try some Eyeko products out for the first time. Such cute packaging. Very quirky. I purchased the Graffiti eyeliner pen and Eyeko Cream with extra glow which is fairly similar to Benefit's High Beam. Ever since Lancome discontinued their Fluide Illuminateur, I've been on the hunt to find something similar. Both Eyeko Cream and Benefit High Beam are great product but it's just not as good as the Lancome one. Anyway, back to Eyeko! I have some news! Temporary:Secretary have teamed up with Eyeko to bring you some fun competitions where you can win jewellery AND make up! A winning combination, right? This will happen every weekend on their facebook for the next 5 weeks. Head over there now to join in! Good luck! Oh, and don't forget to join our Facebook too!

All photos apart from the Eyeko & Temporary:Secretary Facebook competition picture (immediately above) are photographed by me for the use of Temporary-Secretary.blogspot.com. Please do not use without permission. Please also note that we purchased all the products pictured above, and this is not a sponsored post. :)

Crochet Collar

2011-07-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Where to buy:
(images are clickable)

These photos were taken about 3 weeks ago and now it doesn't seem appropriate to post right now because it isn't the most summery of dresses! I bought it a couple of months ago from TopShop, I really like dresses with longer sleeves. It comes in a coral colour too but they didn't have any stock in my size. I think it's also available in yellow too but I can't pull that colour off! Hell, no. I once wore a yellow tee to college (albeit in the middle of winter!) and my friend said it was hurting her eyes! (Sarah Clare! I know you'd be reading this.) I digress. Anyway, the blue dress isn't one that that I can wear a necklace with, but that didn't stop me accessorising, so I have added a red bow brooch instead. The crochet collar detail is cute, and I think the red bow makes a big difference. It's all about the accessories! :)

(The nail colour above is Barry M, shade 304/Mint Green. And the nail colour from the Pleats and Plaits post is Barry M, shade 307/Lemon Ice Cream)

I'm In A Book

2011-06-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to blog about this for a really long time. A really really long time. It has been on my To Do list for, like, ever! I don't know why I have left it so late, when I should have shouted it from the rooftops as soon as I knew about it - but I think I got a little embarrassed about it! I'm weird like that.

So, 2 years ago in 2009, out of the blue, two lovely lady from HarperCollins (Lindsey Kelk and Catherine Such) emailed me about getting involved with a book they were working on. I got so excited and of course, I agreed to take part.

The book was published and has been in the shops since January 2010 (Yeah...I told I had been meaning to tell you all for a long time now!) It was so amazing to go in to WH Smiths and see it for the first time. But then I cringe over the horrible photos of me, I HATE THEM!!! I didn't think this through, I admit this this is mainly due to inexperience, but at least it goes with the whole "fun" Hello Kitty style! Overall, it's such a cute book so next time you're in WH Smiths, look for a bright pink book called Hello Kitty Fashion Journal. Flick through it and have a giggle at my pages. In my interview I tried to be insightful and inspiring. I hope that comes across when the tweens read it.

Enough of talking, here are some pictures!

Hello Kitty Fashion Journal, HarperCollins

There's also another bit of news of something else I was involved with that I've been meaning to show and tell. Keep your eyes peeled! :)

Pleats And Plaits

2011-06-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

Click jewellery to buy:

Black Bow: Temporary:Secretary (coming soon)

So, we have all been waiting for the sun to shine - but June is almost over and it's still cold and windy. Yesterday was just as dull and these quick snaps were taken just before it was about to pour down. In my last post, I showed you the floral headband (which doubles up as a wrap around bracelet) so here I am wearing it both ways. I had been looking for a subtle one but after having no luck, I decided to make my own. I wanted one that I could wear without feeling a bit self conscious! I spent the weekend making different ones and I'm just trying out different materials before I finalize the design, to see what works and what doesn't work. It will be available to buy on Temporary:Secretary soon.

I keep forgetting to mention it but I won the Look Mag weekly style competition - here's the link to their page. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.

So how is everyone's summer so far? Since buying the Dawson's Creek box set three years ago, I make it an annual ritual to watch it back to back at this time of year. No particular reason, really. I just feel the need to reunite with the gang during the summer. (I talk about them as if know them!) I was obsessed with it when I was a teenager, I recorded it on VHS and watched it every day. So watching it now really takes me back! A simpler time before DVD's, ipods, mobile phones, texting, Facebook, and hair straighteners! Evidently, Joey Potter's hair is mental in season one. A bit like my hair when it isn't blow dried. Niki calls that hair style "Dorito Head" because the tips of the hair frizzes out and my hair ends up looking like a triangle! I'm on series 3 at the moment, Joey's hair is straight. This must be the point when straighteners were invented! No more Dorito head! Huzzah!