AFWL African Fashion Week London 2013

Hi everyone,

I know its been a while since I last blogged, many apologies. I went to AFWL African Fashion Week London last weekend in Brick Lane. It was a great event, it started fashionably late 2hrs+ lol, but it was worth the wait.

I went on the saturday and the day consisted of a series of fashion shows. Below are some pics I took, I'll do my best to say who the designer is:

The following are designs by "Ella & Gabby":

The following are designs by "Zizzi Cardow" (In the blazer):

The designers are pictured but I don't know the name :/

This girl was hot: the lady below in front of all the male models is the designer here. Her designs were very wearable so if any guys are willing to put a bit of african in their wardrobe she would be a good person to take inspiration from.

Set of designs below from I'm not sure who the designer is sorry! I got caught up in the excitement. I'll do better next time I promise guys.

Baah by Jessica Baah was the show stopper of the day in Kente cloth I had major envy and respect for this model all at the same time! (She did have more wearable designs too):

All in all it was a decent event I paid £25 for a standard seating ticket, There was a fair bit of queuing and a delayed start but it was worth the money. I believe they could of had staggered seating for better viewing and an AC machine as opposed to just the odd fan because it was hawt! Would I go again? I think so because of the uniqueness of the event. Designers came from all over the world: Nigeria, Ghana, Sweden to name a few.

If anyone has any comments please feel free to put them below. 

Fi xx

Shoe Dilemma (Shoe Haul: Clarks & Office)

Hello everyone! I bought some shoes recently: 5 pairs to be exact!...Eeek!! Obviously I cannot keep all of them as I'm not that rich ;) They were on sale and I couldn't resist...This is what happens when you're idle lol. So how does one go about eliminating the shoes they don't want, or like the least?

1) First off I start by casually taking pics with my phone and sending them to mates via whatsapp...don't sound so shocked :O You do it too! So don't judge me lol. I agree it is more difficult as with clothes you have the privacy of a changing room.

Below are pics of the shoes:

 So I love the wedges on the left (£30) and I kinda liked the boots on the right (£40), both from office.

2) Check they actually fit! The boots were a size too large but I thought you wear boots with thick socks so it should be fine...welll guess what? It wasn't! So they got returned.

3) Expectation do your new shoes meet your expectation/vision of what you would like them to be?

Below are some Clark 'brogue'-type shoes that look and feel nice but they don't meet my expectation of what a brogue should be. Don't get me wrong they are high quality real leather and £35 so reasonable for Clarks but I want those proper brogues with the patterns and everything like these ones from asos link (but I want them to be matte).

Next up are these flats also from Clarks (£35)

 I like the cute design at the back and they seem very versatile for both smart and casual occasions.

Next up are these shoes I got from office they were £24, I'd previously bought the same pair a week ago for £33.50 but after seeing the further reduction I had to buy them again and I'll return the more expensive pair. I like the woven detail, which gives an ethnic feel to it. They're also a unique colour a burnt orange/teracotta as you can see better on the picture on the right.

Let me know what process you go through when shoe shopping and your thoughts on my purchases? Thanks for reading.

Fi xx

Haul Skincare Boots Botanics and Good Things 07-06-13

So I went to Boots yesterday to restock on my go-to exfoliating face wash and buy some face cream with SPF. On arrival they were having a 3-for-2 offer so I also bought a rosewater toning spritz to try.

Everything cost £4.99 each but I saved some money with the 3-for-2 deal. From L-R: Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz, Boots Botanics Mattifying day cream SPF-15 shine away and Good Things Deep Clean Blackhead Exfoliator.

I bought the Botanics Mattifying Day Cream with SPF-15 on the recommendation of ZooBayDah check out her blog here: http://zoobaydah.blogspot.co.uk/. I just used it this morning and it is mattifying and doesn't leave a white cast like some SPF creams do. I'm getting to the age where you start thinking about preserving your youthful look rather than wanting to look older. Also I went for a run twice last week in the sun and was only out for an hour at a time but I saw the immediate effect on my skin: dry, tan and my lips even peeled a bit! Who knew the English sun could do that?! I mean, don't get me wrong I like a bit of colour but the sun ages you so everyone should put on a bit of SPF on their skin and lips regardless of ethnicity. See a blog on skincare here: http://www.beautymouth.com/search?q=spf So SPF15 will still allow you to 'tan' but it blocks some of the harm caused by sun overexposure. For my lips I use Mac's lip conditioner which I highly recommend, but I'm sure anything with SPF would do.

I will post on my Summer skin regimen if anyone is interested let me know in the comments, also if you have any tips for my oily/combination skin let me know! My skin is normally well behaved but I still avoid heavily fragranced products.

Fi xx

Haul Sleek (Candy Collection), Barry M & Rimmel Nail Polishes 06-06-2013

So I went to town this reasonably sunny summer afternoon and headed to Superdrug to check out Sleek's new Candy Collection. I ended up purchasing the blush palette and the pout paint. I skipped the eyehsadow palette as although the colours were beautiful, they are so bright that they gave me a fright lol...bad joke :/ I also ended up buying the pumpkin blush-BY-3 palette and a few summer nail polishes as I have some free time and want to paint my nails to match the weather ;) Check out below for pics:

1st row L-R : Sleek Candy Collection candy blush palette (£9.99), Sleek Pumpkin Blush Palette (£9.99)

2nd row L-R: Rimmel lasting finish nail polish in 060 Hot & Spicy (£1.99 on offer normally £2.99), Barry M nail polish in Cyan Blue (£2.99), Rimmel lasting finish nail polish in Pear drop (£1.99 on offer normally £2.99)

3rd row: Sleek Candy Collection Pout Paint in Lol-Lip-Pop (£4.99)

Above is the sleek products out of their boxes. L-R: Sweet Cheeks, Lol-Lip-Pop, Pumpkin

Now for the swatches, firstly the candy blush palette and the pout paint. From L-R the blush palette is called 'sweet cheeks' first is the cream blush in 'candy floss', next are the powder blushes in 'dolly mix' and 'cupcake', then lastly the pout paint in 'Lol-Lip-Pop'. I have to say these are really sweet! The pigment is full on just what you would expect from sleek. The colours are also very complimentary to any lovers of pink/purple. The pinks are all blue based so quite complimentary. A tip for using the pout paint, exfoliate your lips first, then moisturise then apply a thin layer (a little goes a long way), wait a few seconds for it to dry and apply more lipbalm then finally another layer of pout paint and you're good to go with a block of opaque colour. If you are only after a tint then stop at one layer.

 Next up is the pumpkin palette: from Top to Bottom: 'Lantern', 'Squash', 'Pumpkin Pie'

I'm going to have fun trying these out over the summer. I will give a review once I've had time to give these a proper go. In the meantime let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Fi xx