KIKO COSMETICS

I have been wanting to try out Kiko cosmetics for ages now and today I finally got the chance to visit the Birmingham store today. I don't think there are many stores in the UK currently, so I has very excited to visit it. If you have not heard of this brand before, it is an Italian Professional make-up range and it is super cheap for the amazing high quality products they sell. They also have an amazing deal on at the moment where if you buy six products, you will get the three cheapest ones for free! How good is that?

All of the workers in the shop were so friendly and helpful and they all had amazing, crazy bold makeup to show off the colourful, highly pigmented products. One of my particular favourites was one girl who had bright green eyebrows and spotty eye-shadow! I loved the fact that they all embraced these brighter colours and it has made me consider using more colourful products in the future (although I did stick to my typical neutral colours today!).

 

I purchased six products today (three of them being free!) and although I haven't tested them out yet; I wanted to swatch them for you and show the amazing pigmentation and great quality.

I chose two eye-shadows as I had heard about the good quality so I wanted to try them out. The two colours that I chose (139 and 129) were quite light neutral shades and weren't the most pigmented there, however I think they are very pretty and shimmery. These are the types of colours I wear for an everyday make-up look so I am excited to use them. They were also only £2.90 each so you can't go wrong really! Next time I would like to try out some of the different eye-shadows, specifically the ones you can add water to.

I also picked up two pencil lip-glosses which is something I have surprisingly never tried before. I like the idea of a pencil lip-gloss as I think it would be more pigmented and less sticky than a normal lip-gloss whilst still giving a nice shine. The lighter nudey-pink colour caught my eye first of all as it looked like a natural shade I could use every day. The darker pink has a lot more shimmer in it but it was too pretty to leave there! These were also very cheap at only £3.90 each.

These 'long lasting eye-shadow sticks' have to be my favourite purchase of the day. The pigmentation of these is insane! They are supposed to last for eight hours so I can't wait to put them to the test! I thought the lighter gold shade would be good for a simple wash over the eye if I can't be bothered or don't have enough time to create a whole eye-shadow look and the darker taupey-brown shade would be good to blend in with the gold and make it a more interesting darker look for nights out! At £6.90 each, these were one of the more expensive products in the shop but they are soo worth it!

I will definitely be returning to the Kiko store and hope to have a look at the wet/water eye-shadows and the nail varnishes as these are said to be very good as well! Let me know what your favourite products are if you have tried any Kiko products!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

CHANEL SPRING/SUMMER 2016 COUTURE

I am one of those people who are instantly drawn towards any type of sparkle, glitter or gems so as soon as I noticed this gorgeous collection on my twitter feed I instantly fell in love!

The shapes and structures of the garments are amazing however I wanted to specifically focus on the detailing as that is what instantly drew me to this beautiful collection. I particularly loved the 'gem-encrusted insect broaches' which I thought looked so realistic for a sparkly broach! I also loved the uniqueness of the 'intricate wood-shaving appliqué' which was almost used as a substitute for beads and sparkle- a really interesting concept.

If you go on over to the Vogue website they have posted a video 'behind the scenes' of the show, showing them sketching, sewing, styling and adding last minute touches to the pieces, I found it really interesting and you can see how much work and effort went into each garment. It was also lovely to see how the dresses moved and sparkled when worn.

I love the fact that bees and insects are incorporated into the pieces and look so realistic, it really goes well for spring/summer and I feel as if flowers and particularly insects are going to become a trend on our clothing this spring-summer, whether it be printed on clothing or added onto jewellery. However I also think the neutral and pastel theme will be popular once again this year!

  

I love the subtle hints of spring-time influenced greens, yellows and pinks throughout the neutral coloured garments. The flower shaped sequins are so pretty and delicate and really girly which is just my style!

 

I adore some of the textiles elements in the clothing, they are so interesting and unique, I would love to recreate something similar of my own.

You can see elements of wood in some of the dresses (like the one above) which is amazing and is a really interesting and different take on sparkles and embellishments.

There was even a life-sized dolls house for the finale which I absolutely loved, it's so unique and lets you see all of the amazing garments created!

I hope you enjoyed the sparkles in this collection as much as I did. Let me know what you thought about it!

Thankyou for reading.

Love from Georgia

xxx

Photo credit: www.vogue.co.uk and Google images.

YOUTUBERS WORTH WATCHING

Okay so YouTube is definitely an obsession of mine, I'm sure we all spend hours and hours watching countless videos on YouTube.  I cannot believe youtube was only founded in 2015, it seems like we have been using it forever! I have watched YouTube videos for many years now and although I am subscribed to many different YouTubers, these are my favourites at the moment. I mainly watch beauty and fashion related videos however I also love to watch family vloggers such as the Sacconejolys, the Shaytards and the Bratayleys.

Samantha Maria

Sammi is one YouTuber I have watched since day one and has always been one of my faves to watch. She posts daily vlogs on her seperate vlogging channel 'SamanthaMariaVlogs', taking us around London, to the gym, on holidays, to lunch dates, she even does vlogmas! What more would you want?  She creates a variety of videos on her original channel reviewing new products, doing simple makeup tutorials as well as giving great trend and style advice. Her blog 'A style diary by Samantha Maria' is also something I have become obsessed with, the photography is insane (im soo jelous!) and her outfit choices are so unique and inspiring. If you are into fashion and styling, I would 100% reccommend her channels and blog to you!

Freddy My Love

Freddy's videos are a new find of mine, I don't know how I never noticed her before! She does a variety of videos from beauty to fashion as well as chatty updates and the occasional vlog. You can just tell how much of a lovely, genuine person she is from her videos, I particularly loved the videos of her and her little sister Coco, their relationship is soo cute! Her instagram 'freddycousinbrown' is also something I love about her purely because it is themed with pinks and pastels and every image is bordered and edited perfectly, if you are a girly girl like me and Freddie, you need to hit those follow and subscribe buttons!

Dolly Bow Bow

Kate is another YouTuber who I discovered a long time ago, I grew up loving her girly style and loved the way she decorated her bedroom (and now house!). She has also recently started a family and includes many videos for mums and updates on her little boy Archie who is adorable! One of her more regular videos she does are primark hauls, I don't usually shop in Primark as I find the stores so annoying to search through and they don't always have the best quality materials in there, however I love these videos of Kates as she picks out some really great, tasteful and affordable pieces which is handy as the Primark website is just rubbish!

In The Frow

Victoria has such amazing style and a wardrobe to die for! My favourite videos of hers are her unboxing hauls and lookbooks where she pairs together her recently purchased clothing items. She gives great, trustworthy advice on different topics and visits a lot of blogger parties and events which are a dream! I also love how Victoria expresses her optioni on on Fashion as a Degree/ PhD as many people seem to put it down and make it seem like an easy option for less academic people and as Victoria expresses, this is so not the case!

Fleur De Force

I really love Fleur's beauty advice and her natural, very simple makeup tutorials; she tends to use more luxury products in her videos which I love if I am on the search for some new, expensive products. She also has a really great vlogging channel 'FleurDeVlog' which she posts regularly on, we really get a insight into her lifestyle and hilarious peronality which I love and as a fellow dog lover, it's also lovely to see her three adorable dogs in her vlogs.

Glitter A Little

I have to say, Chloe is definitely one of the best beauty YouTubers out there. Her makeup tutorials are so easy to follow and the looks she creates are soo unique and bold, I love them! Her reviews on recently discovered and new beauty products are so helpful and honest (she is to blame for my ridiculous wish lists and lack of money!). I would kill for her makeup collection, it's like a dream! If you need any advice or tutorials on makeup, head right on over to her channel, you won't regret it!

Let me know who your favourite YouTubers are! I'm always looking for new people to watch and subscribe to!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia 

xxx

Photo Credit: All images are from their personal instagrams.

DESTRUCTION OF BEAUTY TEXTILE SAMPLES

I thought I would keep you updated with what I am doing on my art foundation course! At the moment I am looking at the destruction of beautiful things, this idea came from me researching how we tend to ruin things around us such as the pollution in the sea, burning down rainforests, killing animals etc. I was advised to create beautiful intricate designs and patterns which I then had to destroy in different ways.

I have really enjoyed this week as I was able to try out so many different new techniques and materials such as screen printing, transfer printing, stencilling, latex and liquid resin (just to name a few!). Below are just a few of my samples but it gives you an idea of what I have been doing this week!

Print screening samples with bright colours before being destroyed.

Bright transfer print dipped in contrasting shiny black paint. Inspiration taken from oil spills in the sea.

Transfer print dipped in red latex. Inspiration taken from the blood of slaughtered animals. 

Intricate transfer print design on delicate silk spoiled by metal and the sanding machine.

Transfer prints sanded and stapled together with ugly metal added.

Simplistic transfer print ripped by a wire brush and scissors for a distressed look.

Transfer print with red 'blood' paint, sanded with a sanding machine to create the rips and holes.

Transfer print with ugly bold tape added to the edge.

Transfer print with latex drips running down it. Inspirations taken from oil spills in the sea.

Transfer print dipped in liquid resin with a scrunched liquid resin sample added on top.

Now you may think these samples are a bit strange and a bit rubbish but this is just me trying out different techniques before I begin creating my garments! (though i'm sure they will be a little bit strange too haha). I am hoping to carry on using these techniques throughout this project and already have plans to try out other techniques such as lino-printing, laser cutting and embroidery, so be prepared for more posts!

Thankyou for reading,

Love from Georgia

xxx

DOLCE AND GABBANA A/W 2016 ACCESSORIES

Whilst browsing on Vogue's twitter page the other day I noticed Dolce and Gabbanas new autumn/ winter collection which instantly drew me in, the accessories in particular caught my attention.

The fairytale inspired collection includes beautiful detailed embroidery, dreamy unique bags and amazing shoes which don't exactly look wearable but are absolutely gorgeous to look at! If you are a girly-girl like me, you will LOVE this collection! The gems, sparkles and flowers are just my style.

I feel as if the whole fairytale theme can be quite overdone and has been made to look tacky in the past however this collection adds a real 'sophisticated, royal couture' element to it. Kate Middleton was even seen out in one of their skirts the other week; you couldn't get much more royal than that! The designers said this collection was inspired by 'the new generation of princesses who are not only independent, but possess a keen perspective and point of view'.

What do you think about the whole fairytale theme? I sure would live happily ever after with this collection!

Thankyou for reading, 

Love from Georgia 

xxx

photo credit: vogue.co.uk