Fuji Instax - Be still my beating heart!

Oh Polaroid photography, what a thrill.
My memories of people using Polaroid cameras are somewhat foggy, I can remember them a little, I can see a cool artsy type in the 90s holding one up to my face telling me to smile, maybe it's a memory from a past life, but I am pretty sure it's this one.
I am no photography enthusiast, I like a pretty picture the same as the next person, if I'm feeling particularly artsy I might ramp up the 'contrast' setting on a photograph for a thumbnail on YouTube. But that is as artsy as I get with this sort of thing.
Two weekends ago, at a party I saw a big white camera that looked like a marshmallow on the counter, picking it up in curiosity the owner retrieved it and told me to 'Smile', I grabbed a pal, the owner looked through the viewfinder and there was a flash and a clunk.

Several seconds later a credit card sized photo churns out the top.

It begins white and takes a few full minutes to come through- What a dream! How exciting! What fun!

Yes I was quite enchanted by this little clunk-o-matic and I kept thinking that I might like to own one. I have a rule with shopping (usually for clothes) that if I am still thinking about a garment that I put back a week ago, then I should go back and purchase it, and if it's out of stock then our relationship was not meant to be.

These cameras however were coming up pricier than the average dress, jumper etc so I'd need to think about it a little while longer...

I was browsing through ebay and by stroke of chance a white Fuji Instax was up for auction, ending in under a day. I pondered about what to do, and whether it should be mine to have and to hold!
I thought about what my top bid should be and shortly before the auction ended I placed a bid.
To my delight, the camera was sold to me for the humble price of £30-ish
I was delighted!
Coming from ebay it was second hand, but I decided that I didn't mind too much if I didn't have a new one. (that's what a hipster would think, right?)

So here it is! All mine!

The film is not cheap, maybe £12 for 20 shots and that's the cheapest I could find. So I am quite determined not to waste a single one on 'test' shots and go all 'snappy happy'. I will just have to test and experiment with different settings as I go along. So far it seems very self explanatory, I have taken two lovely photos. The first try was with my friends and it was such a treat to take it, and we all sat waiting as it slowly, slowly developed.

The next photo is taken in front of the Coca Cola truck, I had to ask a stranger to take it and she looked a little baffled by the prospect of having to 'look' through a viewfinder in this day and age.
The photographic result is very forgiving of imperfections. The photo effect is completely and utterly charming!

I am not the cool-artsy type but I do hope that the novelty of this doesn't die and that I continue to hold it up in peoples faces and tell them to 'Smile'

Maybelline Color Tattoo Gold Bronze Rose-Gold Taupe ~ Swatches

Superdrug had 3 for 2 across all of it's beauty lines, so even though I had a less than magnificent experience with my first Color Tattoo in Eternal Gold, I decided I wouldn't give up on them as a concept altogether.
I got the 'On and On Bronze' which is called 'Bad to the Bronze' outside Europe I think, Pink Gold and Permanent Taupe.

They look so pretty all stashed side by side, I like how there is detailing on both sides of the container so whether you store them lid up or lid down you can still see what they are and the shades inside.

You can see all the beautiful colours, they're all shimmery except for Permanent Taupe and can be used on top of an eyeshadow base but I think they work just fine as a base in their own right for other eye colours, or you can use them simply as a cream eyeshadow.

Here I've swatched them down the inside of my arm, no primer just on bare skin

At the top is Permanent taupe which was the most stubborn colour to remove from my arm, it took around three washes which bodes well because my eyelids can get oily shifting my eye makeup throughout the day.
Next down is Pink Gold which is my favourite colour based on how gorgeous it is, however it was similar to Eternal Gold to swatch which you may have rad in my previous review that I did not especially like as I felt it wasn't that pigmented and kind of flaky.
Next is Eternal Gold which is clearly the weakest of the swatches. It doesn't have the gorgeous craemy consistency of Permanent Taupe.
Finally, On and On Bronze which is a warmer version of Permanent Taupe and is a perfect every day colour.

I love how all swatched down my arm they look like ice cream colours, I can't wait to create some beautiful looks for you guys using these!

Hello kitty dreams!

Sometimes, when I can't sleep or feel bad the best thing that I can do sometimes is to look through some of the prettiest pictures.

These are the newest ones to my collection of 'happy pictures'

'Beep Beep' Park your hiney next to Kitty!

I like them especially because they didn't come from google images, I took them myself, so I was right there in that moment and I can go back there in my day and night dreams whenever I want.

But they don't even have to be real pictures, they can be moving photographs in our mind, with rainbow edging and covered in stardust!

They chase the bad shadows away and carry us on a fluffy cloud to anywhere that we would like!

What would be in your collection of 'happy pictures'?

"What'cha Geisha up to?"

I remember being around 12 or 13 years old and deciding that I might quite like to be a geisha when I was older!
I always had a bit of a 'thing' for the oriental culture and I remember my mum buying me lots of pairs of 'silky' feeling oriental pyjamas, with gold stitching of the special writing and special gold toggle fastenings and lanterns that I'd hand from my ceiling, and the red fans to choreograph dances- they were so fun and fancy when I think back!
My nan got me a pair from the charity shop and they came in a red silky case with matching red silky slippers with shite fluff edging and gold stitching. They came from somewhere very unexotic like Marks and Spencers I think, but they ignited my passion to be a Geisha!

They're walking works of art, down to their makeup, wonderfully luxurious clothes, the way they speak, walk, sit, eat- everything! Who wouldn't want to go to parties for a living?

I read an anthropoligst research book on Geisha's that somewhat revealed that it's not all fun and games as I thought... but my love for Geisha lives on!

So, since all my walls are white and blank, I feel as though I'm old enough to invest in some real lovely art, rather than my posters from teenhood!

I tried to describe to a local artist (and friend) what I wanted- I sounded a lot like this
"I sort of want a geisha portrait....with blue skies...a parasol and kimono... pretty....and red lips"
from my jibberish, she recreated exactly what I wanted, as though it had just fell out of my brain onto a canvas.

I'm  trying to cosy on down in my bed but I can't stop looking at how beautiful she is!

It's fun to surround ourselves with beautiful things that can sweep us away to wonderful dreams...

Sister, Sister

Today was my sisters birthday, so we drove on down to see my sister!

One & only and favourite sissy! (She had not been awake long when I arrived and as you can tell, less amused by a camera lens in her face)

She got this fanciful picture of shoesies! All in a pretty and modern frame to jazz up her house! We both agreed pictures like this are way more fun than modern art where you can't distinguish anything specific, just fragments of 'what might be'

 

You are never too old for a Colin Catterpillar cake!

Just wanted to show you these lil' chicks in the mail this morning! They made me laugh so much, the one in the middle on the floor looks as though he went through some real trauma in the post! 

I love spending days with my sissy! It's not like when we were younger and would get to see each other every day! We had a fun day of shopping and picking a pretty dress for her to wear to a wedding, and then we ate lunch at one of our favourites 'Cafe Rouge'

I love wonderful and sunny Saturdays, and Birthdays!!

Jump into a painting!

You may remember a while back me posting about my friend who got engaged under the Eiffel Tower!
It sounded so perfect and fun that I wanted to combine that into what I would get them for an engagement present, I decided on maybe a canvas of the Eiffel Tower.

After looking around and feeling mostly uninspired by what I found I decided to commission a local artist to do the job properly!

Just a few days later I had this:

I love just about every little piece of it. The incredible detail of the structure must have had to have been done with the steadiest hand in the whole world!
Plus, the lush green lawn and blue skies make it seem like such a perfect, quiet place.

I want to be sitting between those neat hedges with you! We could be eating french pastry with the rumble of Paris traffic in the background while the sun shines on us!

Picture THIS!

A few weeks back I went to get some new pictures taken!

It was a long and sweaty day (under all the lamps, they make you sweat) and my face got a little sore from rubbing on and off makeup for the different looks. I talk a little more about it here since that was what I blogged the day of the shoot!

My favourite pictures are the block colour ones! They're so fun!

Here's a little looky at the untouched photos- I haven't cropped them or anything for now:

I'm excited to upload a video about it finally since I couldn't do any uploading while I was away- but I'm home now!

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I got up to!

Which jeans do you prefer? The lemon or raspberry?

Pssst... Everything was from Primark! (except the lollipops! and purple ring)