OUTFIT | #100

coat, blouse, jeans: Topshop; boots: Clarks; bag: Zara

This post is less about the outfit and more about the fact that I'm standing in front of the freaking Louvre (It's way in the back there, trust me). I just got back from a few days in Paris with my family and it was seriously the best. As in, securing a place in my heart as one of my favourite cities ever, kind of thing. Can I go back? Like, right now? When I've recovered from New Year's festivities and have some time, I'll sort through the pictures I took and share them with you all. 

While I was swept up in wandering around Paris and constantly going 'wow, holy shit, this is beautiful, oh my god, wow', I totally forgot to take any outfit pictures apart from this one. (Plus a few of me with my hair in my face, looking pissed off, because it was super windy that day, but I decided not to include those. Soz.) It is, admittedly, not the most exciting outfit I've ever worn. I unearthed that coat from a pile of abandoned things in my mum's house. It was a January sale find from the start of the year that I forgot about but I brought it on this trip and now I love it. It's wool, so still very warm, but more lightweight than my big ass winter duffel coat. A winning find.

LIPSTICK | Favourite Vampy Lipsticks

l-r: Revlon Colorburst 'Plum', Topshop Lipstick 'Inhibition', Kate Moss for Rimmel '#04', MAC 'Rebel'

Tonight, Matthew...I'm masquerading as a beauty blogger. Look at me, taking swatch pictures and posting my weird-looking fist all over the internet. Who am I? I had wanted to do more outfit posts while I was home for winter break but I keep accidentally waking up at 1pm and my room is super dark by the time 2pm rolls around so it just hasn't worked too well. (Apart from when I can rope family members into taking pictures of me in the back garden. ~Life of a blogger.) So let's have a lipstick post instead. I've bought so much of it lately, it seems appropriate.

This winter I have officially become the owner of more vampy lipsticks than any one person can ever need. They are my weakness. You know I love a bold lip. Phrases like 'wearable colour' or 'my-lips-but-better nude' do not enter my lipstick buying vocabulary. Recently I've been all about the dark, scary ass purple vampy shades. Bring 'em on. I want them all. My sister thinks I have a problem but look, they're all different! As long as I'm not buying identical shades, I'm good.

Yes, Revlon Colorburst in 'Plum' and Topshop's 'Inhibition' may look somewhat similar. They're probably the closest match to each other that I own. But they are different. The Revlon is probably more red than purple, and definitely has a sheerer finish. I prefer to blot it on a bit since it can look a bit glossy for my taste straight out of the tube. They're all beautiful colours though. I've basically worn no other shades all month.

OUTFIT | #99

jacket, jeans, boots: Topshop; sweater: Next Menswear; lipstick: Revlon Colorburst 'Plum'

We don't go and see extended family over Christmas. Hence I never really 'dress up' (By my standards, at least. I get 'You're dressed fancy, going somewhere?' comments most days so I don't know, this may be dressy for some people. To each their own, and all that.) Instead I opted for my new holiday sweater on Christmas day this year. It's my answer to those obnoxious knitted monstrosities with kittens and holly wreaths all over them. Don't get me wrong, I'd love one of those. I just haven't been able to find any for a reasonable price yet. In the mean time, I have this blue patterned number that I found when I stumbled into the Next Menswear section. I'd been looking for home wares and new bed sheets but ended up leaving with a sweater. 

I finally got my Topshop 'Alexy' boots on Christmas day. After missing out on the 'Allegra' the other year, I promised myself I'd get my hands on the 'Alexy' instead. They're going to be my pride and joy. This year has definitely been a good year for ankle boots. I've bought a couple of wonderful pairs. They're all I live in during the colder months. Now if Topshop would only restock the oxblood 'Phelvin' boot on their website, I'd be set. Come to me, my pretties. I really don't want to pay the inflated eBay prices but I'm getting so, so tempted. Be still, my credit card.

OUTFIT | #98

sweater, skirt: H&M; blouse: Uniqlo; boots: River Island; lipstick: MAC 'Rebel'

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how red my hair looks here? This colour is like the gift that keeps on giving. I've been using the same box dye since I first went red in May and it's gone from a barely perceptible reddish tinge to this. I guess it's the build-up of colour over time? I don't even know but whatever it is, I'm liking it. Dyeing my hair is definitely up there among my top 5 decisions of 2012. I'm sure I'll go back to my natural colour at some point but it certainly won't be any time soon. 

Onto the outfit. I guess I went for some kind of super-preppy-with-chelsea-boots vibe here? I do that sometimes. Gotta love those chelsea boots. They're reaching the end of their days, I fear. The scuffs on the toes got so bad I had to fill them in with black Sharpie, a la Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Poor babies, I've worn them so much. I'm also wearing MAC 'Rebel', a.k.a my new favourite lipstick, here but you can't really tell how incredible it is. Maybe I need to try and do one of those 'Face of the Day' style posts to show you its true beauty? I'm not the best at those but for 'Rebel', I'll give it a go.

Since I've been back at my mum's house I've done a massive wardrobe clear out. Think 5 bin bags full of old clothes to be donated to charity. I got sick of 1) having so many damn clothes and 2) knowing I didn't wear half of them but keeping them anyway. My clothes rail is no longer groaning under the weight of millions of dresses I'll never wear again. It felt pretty good to throw out that much stuff (if not a little bit sickening that I owned so much clothing in the first place, eek) plus it makes finding something I do want to wear so much easier. 

RECENT PURCHASES | Christmas Bonus Style

cardigans: H&M; Topshop Leigh jeans; MAC 'Rebel' lipstick

Now, I tend to abide by that old blogger pro-tip of never doing the annoying 'Sorry I've been away so long, guys! Shit got real and I had no time to blog, soz' thing that people do after an absence. I won't bang on about it too much but I did take a little hiatus this month because shit did get kind of real in my non-internet based life. Now it's winter break though and I have 2 weeks to chill out, sleep all the time, and enjoy doing sweet nothing all day. It's going to be beautiful.

As soon as all my assignments for the end of semester were submitted, I went shopping. I literally sent off all my essays, pulled on something that wasn't my pajamas, and went into the city with my Christmas bonus burning a hole in my pocket. I had a list, so I wouldn't go too wild, but the H&M sale did get me and I ended up buying two cardigans in there. I've had my eye on that leopard print one for months but kept telling myself I couldn't possibly justify owning any more leopard print since I had already surpassed the quota for any normal person. But it was reduced to £7 in the sale and I have no self-control. It's so wonderfully tacky; I couldn't help myself.

The Topshop Leigh jeans and MAC 'Rebel' lipstick have been on my wishlist for a long time. I've been needing new jeans for a few months now and I had to restrain myself from buying a million colours of these. They're such a good fit. None of that annoying low-rise, hip-grazing style here; these sit at your natural waist which is so much more comfortable. I am a convert. Why didn't I buy these sooner? (Probably because I didn't have a job and was really poor, but anyway, moving on) 

MAC 'Rebel' lipstick joins my growing family of awesome vampy lipsticks. It really deserves a post all of its own since it isn't as dark as it appears in the tube (which I know some people will prefer, but I don't really mind - I'll wear any colour. Gimme all of those dark shades) but it's still gorgeous. Look out for this in an upcoming outfit post or something like that. Who knows. I'm feeling a little rusty with this whole blogging business. The majority of the pictures I took for this post were just a blurry mess, it wasn't pretty.