The Great Frog- Jewellery That Rocks!

Hello all!

Jewellery is a great way of personalizing an outfit, expressing your personality or making a simple outfit more dressed up. As with my usual colour scheme, my jewellery choices are often predictable. I own a fair amount of jewellery, often spending a fair bit for sterling silver, or silver plated jewellery as I hate the tacky green stain of cheap jewellery. I have swarovski, Vivienne Westwood and Thomas Sabo pieces for 'special occasions' but I have my 'statement' jewellery that I wear on a daily basis; my 'Jade' name necklace and my beautiful, chunky claddagh ring from The Great Frog.

I've worn a claddagh ring for a long time, largely due to my Irish heritage. The one I wore for the longest was bought for me by my Grandma, but unfortunately I lost it when throwing a bowling ball (something that would only happen to me!)  Then I came across 'The Great Frog', an amazing, unique jewellery design shop with stores in London, New York and Los Angeles. 

The London store, just off Carnaby Street, is a gothic haven. Dark and mysterious, the store is full of skull embellished, thick silver pieces that are all so beautiful. The decor is as amazing, with a real romantic goth, under ground rock bar feel to it.

I have a confession. My name is Jade and I am an inner rock chick. I love wearing black and you'll rarely see me without lashings of black eyeliner. The first cd I ever bought was Avril Lavigne and I will always chose studs over sequins. So finding this place was amazing!

You may have heard of 'The Great Frog' as it is where Deadmau5 designed Kat Von D's engagement ring. 

I hate the word 'alternative' when describing a fashion sense, but I'm failing to find a better adjective. The jewellery is so gothy, alternative, rock-chick, just plain beautiful. 

As well as tattooed beauty Kat Von D, other celebs and musicians such as Alice Dellal, James Heptfield and Slash also don their Great Frog statement jewellery. I believe they were also featured on a Vogue Italia cover.

I love most of the jewellery on the website, and try to pop into the shop whenever I am in the area. Unfortunately, as funds are limited lately, I haven't been able to add to my Great Frog collection. But my lust-list us huge! Although quite expensive, the jewellery is such good quality and so unique, I feel the craftsmanship (the jewellery is designed and made beneath the London store in the workshop) justifies and is reflected truthfully in the pricing. 

 As you can see, the jewellery is solid silver, with crosses, skulls, roses and heart detailing. There are also animals, eyes and other symbols used in the mainly silver jewellery. I really love how solid and not delicate they are. Although McQueen use skulls in their jewellery, the quality just isn't the same. I also love the finish of the jewellery, which isn't highly polished or shiny or smooth. You can see the chiseling and workmanship that has gone into designing it, which I think makes it more personal and fits with the feel of the shop. 

I cannot rave enough about The Great Frog enough! 

Have a look on their website or pop into their London store and release your inner rock chick!

5 Nail Shades Everyone Should Own!

Hello all!

I've really got an interest in nails at the moment. Browsing tumblr and instagram, I find such amazing nail art, from 3D bows to full on illustrations on your digits, nails are definitely a huge focus in beauty at the moment!

Although crazy nails are in, I think a simple coat of polish completes a look. As I have said before, unpainted nails, to me, make you look unkempt and like you haven't made an effort (a bit like when people put foundation and blusher on, but no mascara and eye make-up..why?!)

I like Chanel on Facebook, and they very recently posted about cult nail shade, and it get me thinking about 5 shades everyone should own. 

 

Like building a staple wardrobe, the following 5 shades should be in everyone's collection. Classic shades that will either blend into your outfit or give a classy pop of colour. I have also selected 3 brands for each shade: Save, Spend & Splurge.  

Shade 1-Taupe

 Barry M- Mushroom, Nails Inc.- Porchester Square, Chanel- Particuliere

Shade 2-Nude

 

Barry M- Pale Nude, Nails Inc.-Elizabeth Street, Chanel- Beige

Shade 3- Red

 

Barry M- Bright Red, Nails Inc- St. James, Chanel- Pirate

Shade 4- Dark Red

 

Barry M- Red Black, Nails Inc.- Victoria, Chanel- Rouge Noir

Shade 5- Black

 

Barry M- Black, Nails Inc.- Black Taxi, Chanel- Black Satin

Save

Barry M is a fantastic 'drugstore' brand, which I found years ago when going through my goth stage (a stage that I often revert to!) with their bright and highly pigmented dazzle dusts. Their nails paints are great value at only £3 and have a huge range of colours, textures and 'effects' available. 

Spend

Nails Inc, are mid-priced professional quality nail polishes. I really like the shade names of the polishes that are named after streets and places in London. At around £11 a bottle it is more expensive than drugstore brands but is a higher quality and I think the bottles are more visually appealing too.

Splurge

Chanel 'Le Vernis' nail colour are definitely splurge polishes. I have 2 Chanel polishes, and I have to admit they are nice quality. Thick but not stodgy colour with a really nice glossy finish. At £18 a bottle, they are very highly priced, but you're paying for the name. Plus the bottle looks nice amongst your collection.

As you can see all three brands have very similar colours at very different prices. You can easily build a classic nail polish collection, whatever your budget. From taupe and nude if you want your nails to go with anything, to bright red for a classic flash of colour, or dark red or black to release your inner rock chick but with a chic edge.

 

 

 

Manicure Monday #1

Happy Monday all!

Happily enjoying the sunny Bank Holiday Monday on my balcony, so I thought I would start a new (hopefully) weekly post- Monday Mani! 

I always have nail polish on, and I've become quite good at giving myself a regular old manicure due to the years of practice. In fact, in secondary school I was constantly told to remove my nail polish and my form tutor even wrote in my year book: "Now you'll have to buy your own nail polish remover...". I just feel that un-manicured nails make an outfit look unfinished. It especially annoys me when fashion advertisements in magazines have unmanicured nails, even more so if there is a close up on the nails! Argh!

So enough of my moaning! Here is my Monday Mani #1:

 I have combined two nail trends in one manicure. I attempted the 'half moon' manicure, free hand, and on my left it worked rather well! The right however, not so neat, so enjoy my left hand! I also used neutral colours, which is another nail trend at the moment. I was gifted some lovely premium quality nail polishes from Only Fingers and Toes so I wanted to showcase these too. They are so pigmented and give a lovely glossy finish.

 

Shades 'Yummy Mocha' & 'Sheer Nude' by Only Fingers and Toes

(Please excuse the awful quality of the pictures. I'm counting down the days until I can upgrade my very old BlackBerry to join the iPhone bandwagon! Instagram here I come...)

I really liked this manicure, and it goes with almost everything due to the neutral colours. Next time I attempt the half moon manicure however I will get the stickers from a french manicure set to ensure I create a really sharp line between the colours. But for a first, and free hand, attempt I am quite happy with them, and the polishes are great too!

J'adore... Cat Eye Sunnies

Before I got contact lenses, I was never really into sunglasses as a style statement or even a necessity. That was until I was 15 and was treated to some designer prescription sunglasses and I suddenly appreaciated how s good pair of sunnies can complete a look. Unfortunately, my prescription got worse so I only got about a year and a half out of that pair- although I still have them, so I am contemplating getting normal lenses put in them so I can still wear them.

However, although designer sunglasses are nice and are sometimes better quality than cheaper versions, they are incredibly expensive and especially living in England where we don't get the chance to wear them too often, the cost per wear of these high end sunnies don't seem worth it. Luckily, the great British High Street have some great pairs that look great at a fraction of the price!

I can never decide whether I have a square or heart-shaped face, but cat eye sunglasses, and normal glasses for that matter, seem to suit my bone structure really nicely. The upwards design kind of follows my cheek bones and I think they flatter me. I also love the vintage feel they have, and always reminds me of the fifties!

Here are my personal favourite cat eye sunglasses:

Clockwise from top left: New Look | BooHoo | River Island | Topshop | Chanel (a girl can dream) | Forever 21

 

So, as usual they stick to my prefered colour palette of black and white! But the River Island cream and leopard print did catch my eye! I fell in love with the Chanel pearl sunglasses recently, they looke a-maz-ing, but at over £400 I definitely couldn't justify them, however the BooHoo ones are a lot cheaper and are really lovely too. I do pearls! The Topshop glasses are more cat's ear that cat's eye but they are adorable and quirky so I had to include them.

 

Now I just need to book a nice holiday, or the weather in England needs to imporve so I can wear them!

 



 

 

J`adore... Charlotte Olympia Cosmic Collection

I adore shoes. Fashion is something I am so interested in, from clothes to bags, but my weakness is definitely shoes! Due to health issues I can't really wear heels, so I love finding beautiful flats to ensure even in a dressy situation my shoes are still fabulous!
I love Charlotte Olympia`s slippers, especially the kitty pumps. But the new cosmic collection really caught my eye. I'm a believer of astrological signs, and believe I have almost every trait of a Scorpio, good and bad! They also feel quite personalized, as you pick your own sign.

These pumps are perfect for spring/summer as they are all soft pastels. I think they are so cute and I'll be saving up for a pair!

GlossyBox's 2nd Birthday Covent Garden Give-away!

GlossyBox is a really fantastic idea that I have been contemplating signing up to for quite a while now. I absolutely love cosmetics and beauty products, so discovering new products every month at such a good price is an amazing idea.
On Wednesday this week, GlossyBox celebrated turning 2 in a brilliant way- setting up a huge glossybox in Covent Garden, giving away Birthday Boxes, cupcakes and guest speakers including Made In Chelsea star and My Flash Trash jewelery designer Amber Artherton.

I really feel I have an incredible habit of being at the right place, at the right time! I work right on Covent Garden and happened to pop out to Starbucks right when the GlossyBox 'Big Birthday Box' opened. Wrestling my way through the crowd of women, and I say wrestling as it was quite violent!!- I managed to grab myself a box, a cupcake and the card of the PR women (this is to do with work so I won't say anymore)

Rushing back to work with glossybox and soy caramel latte in tow, I opened my box and found products I'd never heard of but were all my taste and colour preference. I especially appreciated the sleeping mask as I am very light sensitive, but find if I wear a sleeping mask I manage to get at least an hour more sleep.
Here is what I recieved in my Birthday GlossyBox:

This coincidental coffee run solidified my urge to sign up to Glossybox, so they definitely succeeded in the publicity to bring new customers- even if it only worked on me!

Although as of yet I have not done that much beauty on my blog, that is about to change. I always had a love affair with beauty and makeup. But until now I had kept it to myself, keeping it as my little hobby. Whereas I do love fashion, hence why I blog, beauty is just something that I always come back to, whether it be in my career or out shopping. So look out for a lot more beauty based features very soon!

J'adore...Boucle

Although I missed 'The Little Black Jacket' exhibition last October, the coffee table book hasn't slipped passed me! The selection of models, singers anf fashionista's chosen to model the iconic 'Little Black Jacket' has resulted in some equally striking fashion photography, reviving the classic boucle jacket for the modern audience.

I love my black leather jacket. I feel it's a timeless piece that should be in anyones wardrobe. However, looking further into it, I know feel that having a little boucle jacket is as important. The book proves that you can style the elegant classic jacket to be park avenue or punk and all the styles in between.

Thankfully, boucle is all over the high street at the moment. Probably largely to do with the release of 'The Little Black Jacket' there are black, grey and monochrome styles for a classic look that you can keep no matter what the season/current trends. But there are also an abundance of pastel boucle out there too. In London, even in spring a jacket is necisary, so adding a light pastel boucle jacket can embody the trend in a spring/summer way. However I'll be keeping with the monochrome as I'm a bit of a colour-phobe!

Here are my best boucle of the high-street...

Clockwise from left: ASOS cardigan | River Island biker jacket | Mango dress | Miss Selfridge cardigan | Lavish Alice jacket and shorts | New Look jacket | River Island jacket

 

How would you wear a boucle jacket?