Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

Categories: Fashion, North East, Pixie, Uncategorized

Blog At The Beach with icelolly.com

Each year, the lovely humans behind holiday comparison website icelolly.com host a big bash for Bloggers and Influencers called Blog at the Beach.  It’s one of those events that I’ve heard about, but never attended, that is until now.  Yes that’s right Voyeurs, the UK’s best Bloggers, Influencers and Content Creators are hand selected by icelolly.com to attend the event which aims to educate Influencers and improve blogger networking and 2018 is my year, the year I found myself on that very list…

Obligatory lanyard shot

So, what’s it all about?

Well, Blog at the beach, despite setting out a pretty crammed agenda is actually a chilled out, fun event for people like me to learn more about the things that really make us tick.  Whether you want to up your photography game, learn how to pitch to brands (I say that through clenched teeth after White Moose-gate), or just pick up some real world tips from super successful Bloggers, Blog at the Beach and icelolly.com hold consultation in advance about which topics are the most important, and the most current it the whole wide blogosphere, then seeks out industry experts to speak about them and pass on their best tips for success.

Where the hell is it?

The event has taken place in various different locations across the super cool city of Leeds meaning that if you’re travelling from afar, there’s plenty you can do to make a day, or even a weekend of it to maximise your Insta goals.  This year’s event took place at Duke Street Studios which was super easy to travel to, and a pretty well equipped venue for 80 or so Influencers.

Blog at the Beach??  It’s bloody January!

This year’s event had a Ski Lodge theme, but seeing as the name is pretty cool and has a nifty little following, it just had to stay, for continuity.  The venue was dressed to match the theme with fairy lights, ski accessories and even mulled wine to stretch out that post Christmas hangover.  There was even a cute little moving cable car theme projected on to the wall behind the stage.  I wrapped up in my favourite faux fur coat and met up with some of my best non-North East Blogger pals and you’d be forgiven for thinking we were cosying up in a chalet somewhere up in Val d’isere for the weekend – the attention to detail was pretty damn sweet.

Blog at the Beach with icelolly.com Fashion Voyeur Blog props including ski goggles and a Charles Conrad watch

What went down?

Three awesome speakers that’s what!  First up was Kirsty Leanne who gave an impassioned talk on how to write the perfect pitch to brands with sound advice on how to lay out that all important first contact.  Her talk included tips such as letting the brand you’re pitching to know just why it is that you love them and including what made you want to work with them, but also making sure that you never over promise on what you can deliver when you make your pitch.  Looking around the room there was a 50/50 split on those frantically jotting down notes in notepads covered with inspiring quotes, and those taking screenshots of the words of wisdom displayed on screen.

KIRSTY LEANNE

Next up was Queen Beady, a Blogger you’ll no doubt recognise from my own social media as she’s my Ice Queen hair icon, sporting silvery white tresses I fawned over her hair and her awesome teadress whilst on stage.  Her talk was inspiring, the biggest thing I took away from it was learning how to translate your top five achievements into your outgoing USP and making them work as hard for you as you did for them.  Simple, but super relevant.  Bee talked about putting money back into the thing that makes you money, whether it’s your blog or your chosen social media platform, put effort into making it look as awesome as it can, after all it’s an extension of you and well, we’re all pretty damn amazing right?!

QUEEN BEADY
JUST LOOK AT THAT HAIR…

After a lunch break and a chance to network with the people we think we know but we actually only “online know”, gasp at each others outfits and just generally seek out the people we adore and admire, it was back to our seats for the final talk of the day from photographer extraordinaire, Kaye Ford.  Kaye is a great public speaker, she’s super laid back and had everyone engaged as she spoon fed us tips on both cellphone photography and DSLR photography and how to make it work for our own websites.  With tips on how to shoot snow (for reals, it’s hard), to using tourists as part of the field in our photographs, Kaye told us to travel lots and to look away from the regular tourist hotspots for show stopping images.

KAYE FORD

But what about icelolly.com?

Well, they’ve just overhauled their website to make it way more user friendly.  If you’re not familiar, it’s a comparison site for holidays; in the same way that you might use a comparison site for your car insurance, icelolly.com scrapes the web to return the best vacation deals based on the criteria you set and then refers you out to purchase from the seller direct.  You don’t pay them any money and they don’t sell you anything.

Any thing else to report?

Well yes actually!  Throughout the day we were informed that #BlogAtTheBeach was the trending at the top spot and that the icelolly.com bods had been scanning our posts to find their favourites.  At the end of the event two winners were announced and given a Charles Conrad watch from Watches 2 U and I just happened to be one of them!  I was given a pretty smart looking watch with a rose gold bezel and black leather strap which I promptly slapped on my wrist for the journey home.  Yay me!

THE CHARLES CONRAD WATCH I WON!

Was it worth it?

Hell yeah!  The great thing about the Blog at the Beach event is that despite being hosted by icelolly.com it’s impartial and non-biased.  The speakers were given free reign on their topics and on the rare occasion that a competitor came up they were never stopped from speaking about it.  The Bloggers and Influencers selected to attend the event were friendly and accommodating – something you sadly don’t always find at networking events, and the speakers made lots of time for questions afterwards to make sure that everyone in attendance took something away that they could use and apply to their work.  Icelolly.com were open in asking for feedback, or suggestions on where the next event might take place and they worked their way round the room in the recess periods chatting to everyone.  It was definitely an unexpected vibe, and in a positive way.  Given the chance I’ll be all over the next one.

So what’s next?

Well, as you know Voyeurs, I have both Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks right around the corner straight after London and I’ve got a pretty awesome idea for a Fashion Month Diary pitch formulating in my mind.  I’ll keep you posted…

As you were.

Pixie xo

 

Categories: Beauty, Fashion, Pixie, Uncategorized

Body Confidence: Free to be ok with me

Whether you know me IRL or not, you’re bound to have an opinion of me and it’s likely to be a strong one.  I’m known for being outspoken and having a love of quirky fashion, but otherwise I play my cards pretty close to my chest.  What you might not know is that I’m pretty lacking in the body confidence department, sure, you might look at me and think that I’m not an obvious candidate for low body confidence, I’m not big and I’m not small, but I’m far from perfect or even where I’d like to be.

I’ve felt like this to some degree for my whole life and veered between two main eating disorders before discovering a love of exercise and joining the clean eating movement which looking back, probably exacerbated my orthorexia but hey, I was happy.  The happiest I’ve ever been in fact.  I had a strict regime that I loved and it kept me sane, I was boxing and fighting within my weight division at a fighting weight of between 64kg and 67kg and maintained this lifestyle pretty happily.  If you’re waiting for me to tell you I spiralled into something the you’ll be disappointed, that’s not what happened.  This time in my life is when things were good, I felt happier with my body than I have in a while and although I had my issues, they were in check to a degree and my body was strong.

Image by Chris Ord
Image by Chris Ord

After my last fight I dislocated my shoulder, not something that’s uncommon for a hypermobile person, the problem was that it was reset on-site by non medical professionals and that caused a problem with ligaments, tendons and connective tissue as well as with the joint itself.  So began months and months of rehab, cortisone injections, physio and a massive pause on my boxing career until we knew exactly how much this injury could impact my ability to fight or even just do regular stuff.  I was ordered out of the gym until scans, MRIs etc had been done and a second opinion from an expert was sought.  This expert told me I’d never fight again, not only that but I’d never box again, my shoulder and wrist had weakened as a result of the damage and the risk of surgery far outweighed the benefit.  I still believe I’ll defy this expert and regain the control I once had, but that’s a whole other story.

During my health MOT I was also told that a trapped nerve in both my neck and lumbar spine and a torn but ill repaired hamstring would further impact my recovery.  To speed up the story, 18 months passed and I got fat and depressed.  I lost the muscle tone that I worked so hard for, the control over my hypermobile joints and the little bit of body confidence I had in my strong body.

Pre-Fight May 2016
On Vacation June 2016
Halloween 2016

Today I’m around 30lbs heavier than what I would consider my ‘best’, I’m a whole lot weaker and a lot less confident.  I don’t like the way clothes look on me and I whinge about it non stop behind closed doors.  See success breeds success, when you feel good you’re more willing to work to maintain it.  The gruelling schedule I had at my gym, with my trainer and at The Barre were good for me, they made me infinitely happy at the time.  When all that went away due to injury, I felt bitter and ultimately was the architect of my own destruction, sabotaging anything I’d previously achieved and slipping back into a cycle of bingeing and then starving myself.  Age, injury and a self destructive attitude are a dangerous mix.

On Vacation September 2017

Over that 18 month period I had six surgical procedures, not all of them related to this particular raft of injuries but each of them requiring anaesthetic, recovery and rehabilitation and every single one of them a pain in my ass.  I got chatting to a Blogger who specialises in body confidence and really loved her posts on how every single body is ok.  See now here in lies my problem, I support the body confidence movement, I see people out there doing stuff and championing the cause and I think its amazing, but I’m a little different because my body isn’t ok, it’s failing me.  At least that’s the way I feel.

Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome are all invisible illnesses that cause chronic widespread pain and fatigue and I am the not proud owner of all three.  It makes me furious that one day I can do something and the next day I can’t.  That I can run out of energy just climbing the stairs, worst of all is that it’s become a dirty secret, pushed further and further underground because people doubt you when you have an invisible illness, they see you moving and think ‘nah’.

So, when I joined the Free to Be Ok movement, I wasn’t the typical candidate.  I read up on the project and loved the images they post daily to their Instagram account and the massage is simple, everybody is entitled to feel good about themselves no matter what.  If you like your body and it’s not what society deems as perfect, so what?  If you don’t like your body, that’s ok too but you’re most definitely free to be ok with you.  Now as you now know, I’m not ok with me, but I’m with the movement and when I took my Summer vacation this year I set myself a challenge which would push me out of my comfort zone.

I decided that I’d create and post images of myself in ways that I wouldn’t normally, in order to force myself to see my body.  You’ve read about my breast surgery and so that was one area I thought I’d focus on as it’s one I never show, you may or may not have noticed that I only wear t-shirts or high necked tops and never expose my chest.  Another was my ass.  This is one part of my body I’m very uncomfortable with, when I was training every day I’d travel to and from the gym with something tied around my waist to hide it.  So with tits and ass, the industry faves high on my agenda, I set about creating some images that I could use to maybe feign some body confidence in the hope that seeing it would make me believe it, and to maybe inspire others to realise that being you is ok and was interested to see what the reaction might be.

Still got the chair marks on my ass cheeks

Incidentally given the rise of social media, nobody reacted differently than they would to my regular type of social media post.  It seems to be the norm to post this type of shot, particularly during a vacation and it turns out that it’s actually me just being a dick about it.  Showing my body in this way made me nervous and I wanted to delete the posts many times but held strong on it.  Why is a big deal?  I don’t know, but it is.

I had mixed feelings about my self assigned project.  Seeing it just made me self critical and yearn for what I used to have but I also realised that other people were looking at me and wishing they had what I have now.  I guess you could say that I learned that the statement The grass is always greener….. is true for everyone and not just me and we can all take some comfort in not being the only ones to wish for something that isn’t ours..  So what’s next?  I don’t know, maybe a little light gym work and more self love, it’s a tough one because wanting body confidence doesn’t mean you get it but hey, I’m working on it and that’s the best anyone can ask for right?

Pixie xo

Categories: Fashion, Pixie, Uncategorized

What I Wore: To Watch an Epic Sunset

Finally, after three days of running to Sant Tomas Beach, we caught a sunset, and you’ll know by now from my What I Wore: To Attempt To Catch a Sunset post that it’s taken me around five days to catch one of the most famous sunsets in the world.  It’s not my first rodeo, we visit at least once per year and I can vouch for those beautiful pink waters and red skies, they really do make for one killer combo.

So, what did I wear?  Well, my vacation wardrobe is very different than my regular, at home wardrobe.  On vacation I’m a boho, care free rock chick with sand in her toes and salt water in her hair.  I favour sliders by day and cowboy boots by night and I tend to wear a mix of Daisy Dukes, beaded jackets and tunic style dresses.   When it’s super warm late into the evening I like to be more covered up with something loose and leaving the option of layering something like a vintage denim jacket, or a tasselled lightweight jacket.  Basically, something cool looking.

This night time beach mess around called for easy dressing in the form of just that.  An easy dress.  This one is a simple tunic style in black with red flower embroidery inspired by the Sicilian princesses on the Dolce and Gabbana runway, it’s a total steal too at around £18 from Primark.  I teamed it with my old faithful, battered cowboy boots and RayBan Aviators witch mirrored lenses, which Bo says are my best sunglasses, even better than my Dior So Reals, allegedly.  No outfit would be complete without my precious Pixie necklace and I love how it works with simple necklines like this one.

We managed to catch a pretty damn awesome sunset, one with spectacular pink skies over Son Bou and as it was our penultimate night on the island, it made it feel all the running around feel worthwhile.  After a little scrabbling around on the rocks with Plankton and walking back to our house tracing the sea along the shore, we made the trip up to Alaior to eat at one of the best and most well hidden restaurants in the little town on the hill.

After a super late night spending time with Mama Tenenbaum we tucked ourselves up in bed safe in the knowledge that we had absolutely zero chance of catching an awesome sunrise.

Pixie xo

Categories: Fashion, Models, Pixie

What I Wore: For Mama T’s 60th Birthday Dinner in Menorca

I’m back with another easy vacation outfit post for y’all!  I love vacation dressing, it’s different than what you might wear in your home country so it gives you a chance to experiment a little, I have two main styles when I’m livin’ it up abroad and those are Boho Festival Unicorn, and US Seventies Rock Chick.  Sure I like to mix it up and throw a little boho 70’s in there, or 90’s raver, but these are the old faithful styles that I come back to over and over again.

Most of what I wear on vacation is pretty easy to recreate on the highstreet, especially if you shop at the end of the Summer, around the beginning of September when you can pick up items in this style pretty cheap.  I like to wear Daisy Dukes in stretch denim when I’m away and my favourites are aptly named Daisy by Topshop, the lycra in the denim means they don’t sag around the butt giving you shape and lift all day long and keeping everything where it should be.  These ones are £36 but be warned, they’re short!  Topshop now do a Kiri short which is cleverly cut to your shape so that it’s higher on the outside thigh, but lower on the butt and very flattering.  Wanna check them out?  You’ll find them here.


I wore this outfit to go out to dinner for Mama Tenenbaum’s 60th birthday in Menorca so looking back at it will always make me smile.  The tee is a tour tee from Beyonce’s Formation world tour in 2016, it’s got a drop sleeve leaving me pretty exposed so underneath I’m wearing a bright orange non-wired bralet from the Victoria’s Secret Pink collection which costs around £14.

The cowboy boots (which I take everywhere I travel) are from Topshop (you can find similar ones here) and this cute little fur bag is a super bargain from Primark that I picked up for just £7, it has a gold chain handle too so looks pretty cute with anything, it’s in store now in two different colour ways.

My boho tasseled jacket is River Island, it rung in at around £90 from what I remember but I’ve since seen non branded ones on eBay form way cheaper, it’s a velvet burnout with yellow and orange tones in it as well as a tone of heavy beads and I bloody love it, I get tonnes of compliments on it every time I wear it.  You’ll find something similar at a vintage fair, or at Rokit vintage in London and if it’s a little battered it looks even better.

The necklace I’m wearing is a local designer to Newcastle called M.I.A which stands for Mirror Image Accessories, you’ll remember I shot a campaign with them recently and their laser cut jewellery is produced in limited numbers so you’re not getting something that everyone else has.  There’s an Etsy shop where they sell their jewellery and pin badges and they’re over on Instagram too.

Obviously I wore my signature star tattoos, I’m not sure Mama T would have recognised me without them, and loose tousled beach hair which had lost the very last remnants of lilac which had faded up to a sandy blonde.  Wearing no makeup on vacation gave my skin a real break and my LVL Lashes by The Wax Bar gave me enough refined polish to not have to wear mascara.

Man it sucks to be back in the UK, gimme this sunset everyday of the week…

Pixie xo

Categories: Beauty, Fashion, Pixie

Pre-Vacation Beauty with The Wax Bar

If like me you’re off on vacation some time soon, you’ll know the prep that goes into getting yourself ready.  I’m not talking about the endless gym hours (which I didn’t do), searching for the perfect vacation fragrance, or the shopping for cute outfits, I mean the beauty prep.  The search for travel sized versions of your favourite products to make space in your case so you can bring back exotic spirits (just me?), the waxing, primping, preening and plucking that goes into making sure your face is as instagrammable as your vacation wardrobe and the gel polish to give you that flawless finish.  Yup, vacation season is almost over but I’m shoehorning in one last trip to see my mama in Menorca and that means a jam packed visit to The Wax Bar for The Works.  The Salon is cool and modern.  With it’s dark, charcoal grey and fuschia pink interior and it’s Ministry of Sound chillout vibe, it’s actually a place that you don’t mind hanging out in, plus the staff are pretty awesome too.

I try to get an appointment as close to the date of travel as possible, in this case, they day before.  This gives you the longest life out of your treatments and ensures they’ll last for the duration of your time away.

When it comes to vacation essentials everyone has their favourite treatments, but these are my absolute staples.  Here’s my guide to the beauty treatments that will have you looking like a natural beauty on the beach:

1. GEL FINGERS & TOES

Orange Gel Nails The Wax Bar
Gel Pedicure The Wax Bar
Gel Toenails Day 4
Gel Toenails Day 2
Gel Toenails Day 9

A gel manicure is probably a staple for some of you in everyday life and not just vacation season so this isn’t anything revolutionary, however it does make your life a lot easier when you’re on vacation and it finishes off your look perfectly.  If you don’t usually indulge, then give it a go right before your next vacation.  If you don’t have a Wax Bar salon near you then go by word of mouth; a good salon and a great Nail Technician won’t damage your nails with gel.  I always have a gel manicure before travelling, I ask for my nails to be trimmed down short and sweet to avoid snags and tears and also because suncream down the underside of long fingernails is just gross.  When I’m taking a Summer vacation I shun my usual black nail polish for something uber bright.

Point of note Voyeurs, if you’re based in either Newcastle or Edinburgh, you’re lucky enough to have some of the most talented manicurists around, right on your doorstep.  A gel manicure from The Wax Bar is extensive; cuticles are cut back, hands are massaged, nails are trimmed, filed and buffed, and they’ve discovered the best combination of gel base, colour and top coat to give you the longest lasting manicure you’ve ever had.  Trust me, I’ve been there many, many times and my last one lasted six weeks and two days before the fist chip.  Yes, I know, mind blown right?!

This time I opt for a sunburst orange with an ocean blue on my toenails.  I’m not a fan of anything pastel or bland, I’m either a gothic queen or a Rainbow Bright (if you get this 80’s reference then can we please be friends?) and there’s no in between.  Short, sweet and super sassy, I feel like if a mermaid had toes, this is what she’d wear on them.

2. LVL LASHES

LVL Lashes Immediately Before & After

Wearing mascara on vacation sucks.  The air is different so our eyes can be prone to watering more, we’re dehydrated so our eyes are more dry and to be honest it’s just a pain in the ass putting on a full face of makeup when you just want to look like a boho fairy.  What if I told you there was treatment that would leave you with thick, dark and luscious lashes negating the need for mascara completely?

LVL Lashes are bomb and The Wax Bar are bomb ass at doing them.  The procedure is simple and should be the same no matter which salon you go to.  The objective is to Lift, add Volume and Lengthen.  Simples.  It’s a 45 minute treatment that’s completed with your eyes closed whilst various solutions are applied to your lashes to achieve a soft, natural looking bombshell effect.

When you’re done you sometimes get that momentary sting that you get after a tint but the difference is amazing.  The reason the treatment works so well with your own lashes, is that whilst our lashes often point straight ahead, the LVL solution breaks down the bonds in the lash hair, changes the shape of the natural lash to point upwards instead of forwards, and then reseals the bond.  Et voila, instant doll eyes with no crunchy lash extensions or fiddly strip lashes.  Straight after the treatment they can ‘clump’ together a little but this is temporary and the day after treatment you’ll look like a freaking Barbie doll.

If you do indulge in a spot of pre-vacay LVL remember that they’re just like Gremlins: you must not feed them after midnight, do not expose them to bright light, and never get them wet.  Actually only the latter is true, for 24 hours you gotsta keep those lashes dry so no washing, no crying and definitely no jumping in pools until your 24 hour settling period is up.  Follow these rules and all eyes will be, errr, on your eyes.

3. BROW TINTING

Feeling Smug with this Brow Game
Brow Tint 5 Days After

Thanks to Cara Delevingne (and me of course – maybe…) we now live in an age where brows are king.  A wise and beautiful lady once appeared in my mirror and told me that a good set of brows can open many doors and it’s actually true.  After a painstaking gazillion years of growing them back in, I am now the proud owner of a set or brows to rival Ms Delevingne and I do nothing at all to them except a fortnightly tint.

I’ve had my brows tinted at many, many salons up and down the country and The Wax Bar is home to one of the best.  Different salons use different brands of tint and they often switch up their brands regularly in order to find the best one for their clients.  If your regular salon uses a tint that doesn’t last very long then tell them, they’ll appreciate the feedback and have access to many different suppliers so you’ll be doing them a favour.  I opt for the deepest brown with the tiniest touch of black because my natural brows are very dark.

Take a wax pencil with you on vacation and if it starts to lighten up towards the end of your trip, you can use this to fill in the gaps and create the shape under the arch.  My top pick and handbag essential is Tom Ford’s Eyebrow Sculptor in Espresso which costs £42.

4. LYCON BIKINI WAX

The Aftermath
Totally Worth It

Put down the strip wax, this isn’t the 90’s and step away from the Veet, there’s only one way to wax your bikini area these days and that’s with Lycon Hot Wax.  If you’re a virgin to hot waxing then read this, it’s an indepth review of hot waxing that will tell you all the benefits.  Basically you’ll get a smoother finish, no redness or irritation and way less ingrown hairs.  What’s not to love?  There are a whole range of options with Lycon waxing, you don’t have to go sans bush like me, you can opt for a little off the sides, a landing strip or even a lightning bolt.  Whatever your waxing jam, do it with Lycon, nobody wants an itchy foof on vacation.  If you find a great Waxer then follow her, they’re hard to come by, mine is formerly of Newcastle Hair & Beauty Clinic and her name is Gemma if you’re thinking of booking in with her.  I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth until my dying breath.  Oh, and I’m not anti-bush, if you wanna rock the full Jackson 5 then that’s ok too.

These are my top picks, the essentials I wouldn’t go on vacation without because they make things so easy once you’re out there.  There’s no ongoing maintenance with these treatments, except maybe having a nail file on standby for emergencies, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t wear makeup on holiday so LVL just gives me a bit of polish.

There are other treatments I occasionally book if I can find the time pre-vacay, I like to book in with my chiropodist in the week that I’m travelling to get my tootsies in tip top condition.  There are foot clinics in every major town and city who will be happy to give your feet the once over and you’ll leave feeling like you’re walking on air.  Sadly my schedule didn’t allow this pre-vacation, so I’ll be doing this pre-London Fashion Week instead.

I’m off to Menorca, I’ll see you on the flip Voyeurs..

Pixie xo

 

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