Under the needle: Skulls

Under the needle: Skulls

It's been a few months and I've been itching for a new tattoo for a while.

My favourite studio, Skingraff is where my  whole family go to get inked. I have recently started a huuuge Alice in Wonderland piece on my back but at roughly £65 per hour, it's been a bit of a struggle to save. This is what happens when you live in London.

When I saw on their Facebook page that their newly qualified apprentices were offering £20 per hour tattoos, I jumped at the chance. I couldn't have more of my back done because I would only ever want Louis to do it. I have wanted a sugar skull for a while and booked myself in straight away.

The artist  and I agreed to avoid the tacky sugar skulls people normally think of and to go for a more old school look. He had a lot of suggestions and I trusted him completely to just go ahead!


Apparently I went for a really hardcore place and after 2 hours of lots of swearing and pulling pain faces, it was over and I couldn't be happier.



Time to get more of my back done and to plan the next one!!
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My festival essentials

My festival essentials

I am lucky enough to be going to Reading Festival this year. The plan was to only go on the Sunday (purely for Nine Inch Nails) but then I found out my ticket was for the whole weekend. I'm all over that!

Excluding the basics like tent and sleeping bag, there are a bunch of things I will not be able to cope without, they are mainly toiletries because I'm not one of those people who doesn't wash for 4 days (I'm looking at you, Gary). Here are my top 5.

1. Bikini

It's rumoured to be nice, sunny and hot this year (It will make a nice change from 2010 when our campsite was basically flooded!) so I'll be spending the majority of the time in a bikini and hotpants in the vain hope that I might get some kind of tan. It'll probably just be freckles though!

2. Ultimate shine solid shampoo from lush

I love this stuff anyway and because I have a lovely little tin to put it in, it'll take up next to no space and my hair will still be amazing. Plus, this stuff lasts FOREVER and it has glitter in it. This pleases me.

Ultimate shine shampoo from lush - £5.50

3. Batiste

Everyone will be taking it as it makes life so much easier. Plus it somehow manages to make me able to actually do stuff with  my hair! Win.

4. All my face stuff

The last thing I want to happen while I'm there is to have a massive break out. I'll be hiding my face from everyone and would just be flat out miserable. I'll be taking with me my favourite face wipes, Tea Tree toner from Lush, my new Nivea day cream and all my makeup. Can't be going around with a naked face!!


5. Medical alert bracelet

I WILL be seeing Nine Inch Nails after all! Can't be stupid



(sneaky number 6) At least 3 Nine Inch Nails t-shirts.

Yes, I am that sad.

What are your top festival essentials?
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea

I disappeared for a bit. Sorry about that. Because I start my new job in just over a week, I have been so bloody busy it's insane.

Last weekend, my wonderful flat mate and and I got to experience the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea at One Aldwych. I am going to struggle to find words to explain just how good it was. You have to book this while you still can, you honestly won't regret it!

Most of these photos will be courtesy of Charlie my phone as my wonderful SLR has given up on life :'-(

Although we didn't have to, Charlie and I had so much fun digging out our afternoon tea outfits. I went for my favourite dress of all time EVER and I was thrilled to discover it still fit me. It's a tiny size 2 and I bought it 5 years ago!!

From Charlie's photos

When we arrived we could see all the food people were receiving and we were amazed. It looked too much to handle. It turns out we could have had refills on anything we wanted but considering our outfits, I don't think we would have been able to cope!!

The very exciting menu!

Starter!
Dessert!
Now you can see just how much we struggled to cope!

Some of my favourite parts of this are the HOME MADE candy floss and the golden egg with vanilla cheese cake and mango filling. After having this, Charlie and I agreed that we want all of our food covered in gold dust from now on!

From Charlie. I am SO attractive :-p


Yes, it is as delicious as it looks!
To complement the amazing collection of desserts, it came with the cutest little bottles of caramel chocolate milk. I need more of it in my life.

From Charlie. YUM!



As I am a massive tea fanatic, I'm going to make it my mission to go to as many of these as possible. Next on the list is the Mad Hatter's tea party!


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Cruelty free hair dye

Cruelty free hair dye

Out of sheer boredom I have a tendency to dye my hair. Sometimes it works, sometimes it really doesn't and I end up looking like an idiot.

I recently blogged about cosmetics I had found that proudly show the cruelty free bunny as I'm against animal testing and I have recently found a hair dye that's also cruelty free. Sadly, my heart broke when I found out the brand I had been using for years weren't bunny friendly. My hair has gone unloved since.

Superdrug are also against animal testing and all of their own brand products have the happy little bunny which makes me extremely happy whenever I go in there. I always end up leaving for a basketful of things even if I just went in to buy lip balm.



It's been a while since I dyed my hair. I've really been wanting a pink rinse for a while but the usual monetary issues have prevented this. This beautiful shade of 'Fire Red' was a bargain price at £4.49 so it was a nice, cheap alternative.

'Fire Red' from Superdrug

For the people who have used box dyes at home, you know how messy and awkward the whole thing can be. Another reason why I love this new product is because they've considered everything down to the tiniest detail. You know those rubbish gloves you get with hair dye? Well these ones are longer and thicker so you stand less of a chance of staining your finger tips (every time. The gloves can't take my talons!) and getting dye all up your arms when you reach around to the back of your head. You know those pathetically tiny bottles of conditioner you usually get? Well not with Superdrug, you get a bottle big enough for at least two weeks' applications. Obviously this depends on hair length but it's still pretty damn cool.

Awkward hair dying face
The only downside to this product is the smell. I have been dying my hair for years, so much so I'm pretty sure that my hair will never go back to it's natural colour (whatever that is), so I'm more than used to the smell of hair dye but this was really strong. I had to leave the bathroom once just so I could breathe.

I'm so so pleased with the overall result. When my flatmate came home she said it had really good coverage. I don't think it's down to my finally being able to dye my hair properly. The instructions for this dye are a bit more intense than your standard box dye. It requests that half way through you take your hair down and blend it more evenly to the tips of your hair and to do this again 10 minutes before you wash it out. This creates a more even colour from root to tip and makes sure you get all of those stragglers.

I'm so happy I have found a cruelty free hair colour and I recommend you all try it. It's all shades of wonderful.
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What I've been reading: The Princess Bride

What I've been reading: The Princess Bride

'Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die'


Everyone knows it, if you don't then I'm sorry to break it to you but you must have been living under a rock for the past 20 years :-p

I have been in love with the movie since childhood and after spending about an hour in Waterstones, I'm weird and was craving that book smell, I thought it was about time I read it. Purely so I can fall in love with the fictional Westley even more...

Yes, that is a rubber duck in the background!
Written in jest as an 'abridged version' of a book by S. Morgenstern, the book flips between the fantasy tale and and Goldman's comical footnotes making sure you are never bored. Which is awesome.

From the second I opened it, I was hooked. I have even been one of those awkward people who read while walking down the street. Sorry to all the people I walked in to! It is just one of those rare finds you can't put down and you just itch to be reading it instead of working.

Holding the whole thing together is the perfect love story between Westley and Buttercup that makes any single woman out there scream 'Why, God? Why!'. We all want him but we can never have him. He's the swashbuckling version of Mr Darcy. 

It was nice to be able to discover more about the characters we had grown up with, I was personally shocked that Prince Humperdink actually does love Buttercup and the friendship between Fezzik and Inigo is more than heart warming. 

The only thing that annoyed me about the book is that it ended on a cliffhanger that I did not expect as the movie comes to a spectacular happy ending. However this does leave it open for the sequel Buttercup's baby which, after reading the first chapter, I'm praying will finally be ours. Come on guys!
You can read my last book review on Dangerous Girls right here.
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