Pantone colour of the year: Emerald Hair

Yep, you read that right, Emerald hair!

How about any of these lovely greens from Manic Panic for your locks?

Manic Panic - classic cream formula in green envy (link & see it in action)

Manic Panic - classic cream formula in enchanted forest (link & see it in action)

Manic Panic - classic cream formula in electric lizard (link & see it in action)

Manic Panic reminds me of high school. For me and my friends, Manic Panic hairdye was *the* thing! I can remember using a hot bright pink, which actually looked amazing, as well as a bright orange, which I could just pull off (maybe) and a black which didn't end well for me. I knew little about hair dye and colouring in those days, so when I dyed my blonde hair black, it looked black goth for about one day, then slowly faded to a dark green colour. If only I had added some red to correct... but it was just as well I didn't know that then. Black really didn't suit me!

For the commitment-phobic there are always plenty of options from temp dyes to clip in strands to full on wigs.

Manic Panic - Electric Lizard Dyehard Temporary Hair Color (link)

Creative - comb-in hair colour (link)

Manic Panic - micro glam strip in electric lizard (link)

Hello Cosplay - green cosplay wig (link)

Would you go green with your hair or do you think this colour should be reserved for anime characters and punks?

Sailor Pluto could always pull off her green hair.

I'll punish you in the name of second winter

I dunno about you, but it's freezing here. Like, ridiculously cold. It was snowing the last two weekends. We're going to change our clocks to British Summertime and it's 0 degrees C (that's 32 F) out there! This is not right. Not right. It should be spring.

In attempts to keep warm, I've been cranking the heating up, which kinda sucks, cos heating is really expensive, so that means less money for shopping. Boo. But I did manage to buy some new mugs. Well... I am drinking all those extra cups of tea to stay warm.

Here they are, my latest purchases - 3 Sailor Moon mugs of Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus. There are actually 6 in this series (that I could find), including Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Tuxedo Mask. I couldn't resist the full set, but for some reason I couldn't get the others sent to the UK, so my Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Tuxedo Mask mugs are awaiting for me and my mom's house in the US.

However, thought I'd share with you.

The mugs are white with some grey scale and a bit of colour on each mug. They're pretty muted in terms of colour. From looking online I really thought they might be grey, rather than white, but there ya go.

Each mug features a Sailor senshi/scout/soldier drawn in one colour (Mars was in light blue, Jupiter in green, and Venus in yellow) with the official Sailor Moon logo, and the planet symbol on the 'back' They also have the text 'I'll punish you in the name of Mars/Jupiter/Venus' running across the top and bottom.

These retail for between $15 to $25 USD. Are they worth it? Hm, maybe not. They aren't amazing. I would have preferred to see brighter colours and a more colourful design, but they are official Sailor Moon products and the release includes more than just Sailor Moon (other senshi/soldiers feature equally) which is a real plus for me. So they were worth it for me. I recently cleared out some room in my kitchen cupboard and I think if I hadn't bought these, it would have bothered me. Plus I'm obcessed with 'cute' crockery. I have so many mugs, bowls, and plates with kitties, bears, Snoopy, Hello Kitty, or Miffy on them it's unreal.

Conscious about the environment

So, H&M have announced a release of new clothes as part of their Conscious Collection.

The Conscious Collection is for the fashionista who really cares about how her passion for fashion impacts mother earth. In the words of H&M, the Conscious Collection is a more sustainable fashion. You can read all about H&M's sustainability and efforts to be more green on their website here.

The collection looks lovely and really makes me want to go on holiday. In fact, given the arctic weather and snow we're getting in England, I don't think I *could* wear any of these lovelies without a plane ride somewhere else first! Is anyone else having trouble coping with the endless winter?

Anyway, here are some of my favourite pieces from the collection.

top £14.99 (link)

shorts £17.99 (link)

dress £19.99 (link)

What do you think of the spring release or the Conscious Collection?

Staying... erm, Getting in shape!

On the topic of health and staying getting in shape, which I view as a type of beauty regime, I want to share some of what I've been up to lately. Yes, it's important to feel good as well as look good! Well, I sadly piled on some unwanted pounds, like over 2 stone (that's 14 lbs in American) in the last 18 months. And not really sure what the reason was.

Okay, I did pig out majorly - I call it treating myself. I wasn't exercising as much as I was before. I also had a series of minor ills that needed me to take a lot of antibiotics (seriously I think I was on them for like 3 months straight). I used that as a pretty good excuse for not getting my workout on.

So there's never a good time to start a new workout regime. At least not in my book. But I missed fitting into my clothes. Altho I've never been a skinny b*tch, I am short and have usually had no problem fitting into high street or main fashion retailers' clothes.... until recently, that is. That kinda got me motivated.

So since January this year I've been going all out. Okay, not totally, cos, let's be honest, I'm pretty lazy about this stuff, but I have made some big changes. I started getting meals from Diet Chef, and made an effort to work out even if it's only 10-20 minutes a day. I then started logging onto SparkPeople again. I also did a SparkPeople 28 Day bootcamp DVD which really helped. I also bought Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred DVD but I haven't managed to try it yet. Hey, baby steps right?

I have noticed I have more energy and altho I still find working out totally dull and a chore, I am enjoying the benefits of it. I feel more awake when I erm, um, am, well, awake. I sleep better, and I think I'm genuinely a happier person. Win. I just have to remember to keep exercising. That's the hard part.

Also, I have lost half a stone (aka 7 lbs) since I started. Small victories. Yes, I had hoped to have lost more by now, but I still have the odd cake or entire box of cookies, as ya do. But I also workout now. Or at least try to, twice a week. I promise.

I also wanted to share the latest in my workout escapades. I bought this ages ago, but only got around to finally testing it out yesterday.

It's a game for the Wii called 'Mom-chan's Diet Wii Figureobics by Jung Da Yeon.' Jung Da Yeon is a 43 year old Korean mother with 2 kids who one day decided she wanted to get in shape. And well, Bam! Look what happened!



Before

After

Figureobics is her style of workout that will help you get that killer body that she has. I've only done one full session, which covered all the moves and it was a pretty killer 45 minutes. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a wee bit sore today. I can only hope to look something like that after all the working out! Who knows, maybe I can pursue that Jpop career after all, only time will tell!

I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Do you guys do anything wacky or even completely boring and normal to keep fit?

How do you feel about brown tights?

When I put on brown tights this morning I didn't realise I was making a major fashion faux pas, or that it was a 'frumpy' choice. 

Well, at least it is according to the Daily Mail who criticised Kate and Pippa Middleton, and Zara Phillips for wearing brown opaque tights this week at Cheltenham.

I think they look completely fine. More than fine. In fact, I might even say 'stylish' rather than 'frumpy'. I approve and will continue to wear brown tights.

What do you think?

Photos: source Marie Claire

Pantone colour of the year: Emerald Lips

Another in my series on Pantone's colour of the year, this time focusing on lips.

Emerald probably isn't exactly the colour you'd associate with lips. Actually, I think green lips can look either really high fashion, or really punk rock. Either way, I dig it. I'm not sure I could pull it off though. How about you?

Manic Panic - green envy lipstick (link)

Lime Crime - serpentina lipstick (link)

Lime Crime - hollygram lip gloss (link)

If these greens are too much for you, you could try this 'green' lipstick from Barry M that looks green in the tube, but turns pink on lips!

Barry M - touch of magic lip paint (link)

Spring Cleaning

So it's been a weird Monday. I have some good news at least. I passed my Life in the UK test.

Uhm, actually it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. My brain is full of all sorts of stuff about the UK and I didn't even need it! Ah well, one step down at least.

Other news I have is that I had a clear out of my closet and put some things up on the old eBay. Mostly some dresses and some shoes, oh and a Furla handbag. Most of it's on for only 99p, so there may be some bargains to be had. Most of it I just don't wear, I have something similiar that I wear instead or I outgrew or undergrew it (those are words right?)

Anyway, you can find my things here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/umi/m.html?item=181099455309&ViewItem=&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

It looks like I haven't used ebay in years. I have, but I was just using the ex's account for ages. I made the decision tho if I was going to sell some stuff I should do it on my account, so well there ya go. Plus his user name was lame.

Speaking of cleaning out the closet, it seems to be that way at work lately, in a couple of ways. I've moved office, so have been massively clearing out files and books, etc, but also some redundancies were announced at work. That's not a fun clear out.

Are you having a Spring clear out? Or more importantly, is it Spring where you are? We had snow today. Snow. and. heavy. wind! Swirling around like a blizzard! ¬_¬ I'm not amused. Where are you Spring?  Do you know it's March already?!

Testing my Britishness and some AKB48 puffy skirts

So, it's a bit of a random post today, sorry.

I'm really busy this week. Ya know, it's one of those weeks where literally everything that can happen EVER is happening? One of those. It's like the universe knows and just piles it on.

Ah, well, it's not really that bad. It's just full to the brim with stuff. Mostly work stuff that isn't exciting or something I can share here, but some of it has been personal. This I can share :)

This Friday I'm sitting my Life in the UK test. Wow, that felt like it would be bigger, but there it is. Altho I've been in the UK almost 8 years, I'd had various visas to allow me to stay. Now, after much excitment and hard work, I'm getting ready to get my ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain). It's sort of like a green card for the UK. It means I can't get chucked out nearly as easily as I can now. Woo hoo! Once I have my ILR for a year, theeeeeeeeeeen I can apply for citizenship. But I need to pass the test of 'Britishness' for my ILR, which is why I am taking the 'citizenship' test now. Fun times.

Actually, it's not so bad. It's a bit out-dated memorising stats from the 2001 census and the price of a TV licence in 2006 (it was £131.50 btw), but that's just the way the test rolls. I know all sorts of stuff now. Like how many of you lot go to church, or what a devolved administration is. Actually, the gov't bit was the most interesting as I've taken an active disinterest in politics in general. My view has often been that while I can vote in the US, I don't live there, and where I do live, I can't vote, so what's the point? Stuff's gonna happen and I don't have much say, so why pay attention? Hopefully all that will be changing. Good times.

Wish me luck! If I fail, I'll have to resit the test, and annoyingly they are changing the test from the end of March, so I'll have to study all new stats (or something), yikes, so I'm planning on passing the first time.

I swear, I've been taking the Ami-approach to study and not Usagi-approach! (sorry, shameless Sailor Moon reference there).

Erm, maybe that should read 'Quit reading comic books blogging and study!!'

 



But as anyone who has ever had to study for anything ever knows, you amazingly find more time to do other things that you don't have time for. So I just wanted to share some cute outfits AKB48 were wearing when I was ahm watching Music Station (a Japanese music TV show) earlier when I should have been studying.

 

Well, I think they are cute in a weird way. I am weird, aren't I? I honestly would wear something like this, but I guess it's a bit out there. I'm just a sucker for puffy skirts.

 



If Jpop isn't your scene, you may have heard about AKB48 as they were in the news recently when a former member, Minami Minegishi, broke her agency's core rule of no-dating and so was missing from this performance. She shaved her head and made a public apology (it's available on YouTube). You read about it on the BBC News site here.

Pantone colour of the year: Emerald Shoes

Given that this year's colour of the year from Pantone is emerald and just so happens to be one of my favourite colours, thought I'd do a series of posts featuring this lovely shade.

Today let's look at shoes!

J Crew - miri midheel suede pumps (link)

Banana Republic - Ashley bow ballet flat in mojito green (link)

H&M - ballet flats in dark green (link)

Hunter - original green wellies (link)

New Balance (link)

Puma - glyde low in mint leaf (link)

Converse - Chuck Taylor all star in greener pastures (link)

Sperry Top Sider - AO Pumps (link)

Ugg Boots - classic short sparkles in jade (link)

Luciano Barachini -  Celia (link) 

Paul & Betty - gorly (link)

Personally, I'm lusting after those Luciano Barachini sandals. If only we had the weather here to justify me getting them! I wonder if they're comfortable too. 

Will you be wearing any green on your feet this year? 

Splurge or Steal? Monochrome Roses

There was a beautiful black and white rose dress from Milly that I recall seeing back in early January... I can't find it now. Maybe it's all sold out, or I imagined it.

Okay, I didn't imagine it.

But I can't find it.

I can find this one from Milly tho, that's got the same pattern. The dress is a bit different tho. But it's still lovely.

And expensive. Well, it was expensive. It's on sale for only £150! Bargainus! Okay, yeah that's still expensive, altho it was like £250. Find it here.

Like the look, but hate the price tag? I found a few much cheaper options that I thought I'd share!

The first is from Apricot for only £27 here.

This one is only £22.99 from New Look here.

I also saw a dress in a completely similiar style in Primark for £13.00. Sadly I don't have a pic of it as I'm technologically behind the times. So is Primark, they don't have a website! My phone doesn't have a camera or the internet.  ¬_¬ So you'll have to take my word for it. It was really cute!