NoPolka, NoWorries.

Hello all! Hope you're all having a lovely day. I for one have spent mine dissecting all the new websites I've come across over the past month. There's one site in particular that I am head over heels in love with. It is, without a doubt, nopolka.com. Their clothes are super fun and different to anything I've seen on the high street in both Galway and Dublin. A huge contributing factor is also their prices! When you look at some of the clothing, you might find yourself double checking the prices. They are so reasonable and you're getting something that looks amazing. I have big spending plans with nopolka and it is my absolute go-to summer website for 2013. Follow nopolka HERE on facebook or pay their website a visit on www.nopolka.com.

Here are my top twelve must have nopolka items for summer 2013.

1.The maxi.

2. The Boy jumper.

3. The platform.

 4. The pinafore.

 5. A new take on the LBD.

6. The bowler hat.

 7. The lace shirt.

8. The studded leather jacket.

9. The skater skirt.

 10. The Aztec dress.

11. The superman jumper.

12. The American sports jersey.

I've started to develop an infatuation with superhero themed clothing (like the batman and superman items above). My Dad is a HUGE Marvel comics fan and actually owns over 10,000 comics. He converted the upstairs floor of our house to an entire open room which is used as his bedroom and storage area/presentation room of all the things to do with marvel. I actually have a serious amount of respect for him keeping his childhood love alive (as strange as it may be). I was thinking of doing a quick video about the upstairs room and just give you a tour of where I live and what my family and I are about. Let me know your thoughts and ideas.

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

Nail DIY #1

Good afternoon everyone! Well today I am here to give a tutorial on DIY professional looking nails for just €5! I've said before in the past that I really don't see the point in getting your nails done every three weeks considering how expensive it can be. I'd love to be able to do it but it's really out of the question considering the price. So I took it upon myself to try and learn how to do my own nails. 

For this €5 look you will need falsies (available in Penneys for €1.50), nail glue (typically comes with the falsies), tweezers,  Black nail colour, clear nail colour, nail varnish remover, and nail art studs. The price may vary depending on how much of this you already own. I already had varnish remover and black nail polish. I use the falsies from Penneys because they are brilliant and you can paint over them. I couldn't find a black set so I got a red one and painted over them. I bought the nail studs off ebay and will put a link to them at the bottom of this page. So here we go!

1. Gather all the things you will need for this nail art activity!!

2. Put the red falsies on and paint them black with the varnish. Give them at least two coats and let the completely dry. Don't forget to push back your cuticles before applying any nails. This helps them sit better and gives a more natural effect.

3. Now that you have allowed your nails to dry, it's time to apply the studs using the tweezers and nail glue. Be sure to take your time because it can be messy. You can do any design you like but I'll be doing a cross design on one finger. Sometimes if you over power your nails with nail art, it can look really tacky.

4. Wait until the glue has dried and the studs have settled. You then paint a clear coat over the studded nail which kind of acts as a seal to keep the studs extra glued. You can get a clear polish from essence in Penneys for only €1.75.

5. Wait for the polish to dry. If you have any polish on the skin surrounding your nail, just dip a cotton bud into the varnish remover and give the skin a quick clean.

AND YOU'RE FINISHED. If this worked for you then good job and if not, you just need a little practice. The studs are tricky especially when putting them on the hand you don't use as often. I hope this gave you some ideas. To buy some studs, CLICK HERE.

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

New Purchases!!

Good evening all you lovely humans! I'm super excited today because I finally got a job!! YAY!! To reward me for my persistence and hard work, my mum took me shopping :D I bought a load of new jewelry from New Look. I am in love with all of them. All of the jewelry items cost me €7 in total!! Bargain!! Got to love a New Look sale ;) So here are the things that my lovely mummy bought for me.

Cross earrings: €1 New Look

Who's loving the American sports top trend? I sure am. I picked these two tops up for €8 in Dunnes and €20 in New Look. They're also available on boohoo.com and nopolka.com.    

Got these cute sandals in Penneys for €8.

 Flower ring: €1 in New Look.

I love having my nails looking pretty but I for one can no way in hell afford to get them done professionally every three weeks. Penneys have an amazing range of falsies and they last so long! They're fun, quirky and only €1.50! I also paint over them if I want to do something different. 

Heads up: Nail DIY tutorial coming up next week. Get a professional look for only €5.

I love maxi skirts! I hate showing my legs and I can't go around in winter clothes for the whole summer? Maxi's are cool, light and you can style them in so many ways. This one was €20 in New Look. It's my summer must have.

I was able to pick up some more cool jewelry from the New Look sale that I will put up on my blog facebook page later with the prices. If you haven't already, give it a little like and share it with your friends.

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

I Heart Her

I have no shame in admitting that I LOVE DEMI LOVATO! She's a great singer but most of all, her style is out of this world! I absolutely adore everything that she touches.  Her style! Oh my God her STYLE!!!! I just love it. Mostly because It's kind of like mine (well.... what I'd like mine to be if I had the money). I'm in love with leather studded biker jackets and she wears them like she was born to. She has a really edgy glamorous look which is the general theme of my blog and my way of life. I love glamorous looks but I think that they always need a hint of raw edge to make the POP. Overloading on accessories usually does it and Demi pulls it off just beautifully. I also lover her effortless hairstyles that she usually teams with heavy eye makeup, sunglasses or a bowler hat (NEED ONE! But unfortunately I have a HUMONGOUS head). I'm lucky in the way that I have long enough hair which allows me to do loads of different things with it (like Demi). Lovato is also a true inspiration. I love how real she is and how she's used her difficult experiences to bring awareness to the other millions of people who seek the same care. She genuinely loves her fans and knows that she owes a great deal to them. It's a quality I love seeing in celebrities.

So to conclude, Demi is really my style inspiration. I love the colours, shapes and fabrics that she wears. Hopefully I'll be able to stock up on some new accessories soon and maybe ask China to make a bowler hat big enough to fit my head :P
<<<<<<<<Demi is being featured in the June issue of Company magazine (one of my fave mags) for any of you who want to read a lil' something about her.

                 

DIY Diva #1

Good evening on this bank holiday weekend! Hope all you pre LC's are chilling and getting some well deserved rest before the big week ahead. T'will be grand so don't be worrying. For the past two hours, I've been doing some DIY on a blazer that I've had for years now. I was watching Beyonce's Life is But a Dream documentary last night and there was a scene where she was wearing a blazer with safety pins on the collar. I'd seen this trend before but I got really excited when I saw Beyonce rocking it. Needless to say, I was inspired. You can get the safety pins from the pound shop for only €2! And you get loads in a pack. Here are some different ideas regarding the "Pin Trend".

Designer duo, DSquared2, have also tackled this trend.

Okay, so all I really did was just start pinning! You can assort them in a repetitive manner or you can just completely lose your mind by sticking them anywhere that will take them. I opted for an assorted design in the colour silver. I think that gold would look really cool on a plain black blazer. You could also mix it up with some studs as well. I decided to use a chain from an old clutch bag to act as a little necklace descending from the top pins. It just adds a bit of variety. So here is the process that I went through to get to the finished piece. 

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo

Surprise Surprise!

Lately I've seriously been considering what the hell my future holds for me. What I'm gonna be, who I'm gonna be and where I'm gonna be. At the moment, it's all a blur. Trying to find a job doesn't make it any easier. It tends to make you feel like you can't really achieve anything if you're not even able to bag a job. That's how it made me feel anyways. I was getting all freaked out about how I was meant to succeed in the future if I wasn't able to succeed now. Typically, I talked to my parents about what the hell I was meant to do and I was asking them about what they were doing at my age. Well, what I was told after that ended up to be a huge surprise that really could have worked to my advantage.

All I've been doing with my time is baking......

1. My Grandmother use to work for some Spanish Duke's (or some sort of political Spanish figure's) ex-wife. When my Dad was younger, he spent years in this huge mansion that belonged to a divorcee. Her name was Mrs Greenlaw and she had returned from Europe to London after her ex-husband had died. She had two adopted girls and my Nan was the housekeeper (what they called a personal assistant back then). During the summers, she would bring my Dad with her to the mansion. Mrs Greenlaw grew quite fond of my father and ended up asking them both to move in with her. They said NO?!!?! But it turned out to be for the better. She was a very intense woman. She had a huge ballet studio installed in her house so that her two daughters could train everyday. My Dad says that to this day, it was the most beautiful room he had ever seen. The eldest daughter became an successful actress and the youngest daughter became a ballet dancer and joined the Russian Ballet. Mrs Greenlaw adopted another little girl but for some bazaar reason, announced that she was giving her back two weeks into the adoption. My Grandmother ended up adopting the little girl who is now my auntie Lorraine. I never found out what happened to Mrs Greenlaw but when my Nan died, I was left some of the jewelry given to her by Greenlaw. 

2. My Mum use to holiday with two french Designers in Paris! Yes, you have read correctly. The woman use to vacay abroad with these two designers. Do you think she remembers their names? No of course not................ they could be Dolce and Gabanna for all we know!!! But anyway. She met them through a friend. Lets call her Kim. Kim had a rich boyfriend at the time who needed to go to Paris for a business trip. Kim didn't want to be left alone while he was working so he said that she could bring a friend, my Mum. they drove from London, to the ferry and to Paris in a convertible Porsche (good for some) and stayed with the two men Kim's BF was working for, the designers. My Mum says that they were so down to earth and extremely modern. They stayed there for a week. I'm still picking her brain to see if there's any chance that she'll remember their names. I could totally be working for D&G right now......

3. My Mum use to work in the London College of Fashion. I know right..... convenience that she's left that job. She wanted to "explore" the world. Yeah great job Mother you got as far as Ireland! Wishing that she still worked there. That way there would actually be a chance that I would be able to afford the course. I think she use to work in admissions or in the students files office. She can't really remember that either :P 

4. Both my parents know the editor of Bridal Magazine in London. This is the only story that is of any help to me at the moment :P Irony that the editors name is Bridie (I laughed so much). She was apart of the group of friends my parents had when they started going out. We're trying to get her number and actually get in contact with her so fingers crossed!! How good would it look on your CV to say that you worked for a London based magazine. I think it's pretty exciting!

So there you have it. Some pretty big things that I didn't know about my parents until recently. As for me, I'll be doing a Level 6 in Fashion Industry Practice in the GTI come September. Maybe I'll then take a year out to work and save up to do the course in London. Hopefully it will all work out. All I know for now is that I love what I've started and that I'm going to make sure that I love it just as much whenever I finish. Lord knows what the future holds. But I guess that's what makes life worth living.

Much Love,

Shannon.

xoxo