Monday, December 13, 2010

Style for the Snow!


It baffles me that as a country, we seem to cope amazingly with the usual miserable clouds that hang over us 11 months of the year. We resigned ourselves long ago to the fact that we jinx ourselves if we leave the house without an umbrella, and we’ve adapted fashion wise by coordinating our little bag-sized brollies with our outfits and jazzing them up with cute frills and polka-dot trends. We’ve just about mastered jumping (in a very lady like way) over puddles in our black peep toe heels too. Yep, we’ve adapted to our climate in a very stylish way indeed.

How is it then that as the first little snowflake falls from the sky, the whole country stops functioning. Nobody makes it into work or school, traffic chaos is worse than a regular Monday morning and people stock up on food as if they’re settling into winter hibernation. Other countries seem to cope with the white weather just fine but as a nation we seem to panic at the first falling flake!

Now at first we do all get a little over excited – putting up our Christmas trees and sculpting snowmen whilst humming Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ to ourselves, weeks ahead of the festive schedule. But it’s only after the joy of building snow people wears off and the cabin fever sets in that we realise we actually can go about our daily business after all!

It’s what to wear that is my biggest conundrum in this weather. I’ve tried work wear boots and whilst they look the part, they’ve less grip than an old sleigh. Boots with good grips just don’t go well with skinny jeans and woolly hats and scarves just don’t do anything for my little leather jacket. So what can we wear that will keep us warm, safe from the ice and free from fashion malfunctions?

Taking this season’s faux fur, rock chick trends on board, here are some of my favourite snow-friendly items from the winter collections: 

Faux fur hat from New Look
Faux Fur from Republic


Cream Headband from Oasis

Long Grey dress with black frill River Island

Longline Cream Cardigan from Penneys

Black Leather gloves New Look

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas Shopping at Brown Thomas!

I'm not sure if it's because I had a tradition as a kid to go and visit Brown Thomas on Christmas Eve, with their magical window displays and the last minute shopping buzz, but Christmas shopping just wouldn't be the same for me today, if I didn't take a little visit into the Grafton Street store!

So if you haven't managed to start your Christmas shopping yet, thanks to the lovely white stuff hanging outside our homes for the last week and a half, then maybe this weekend will be the time to start it as Brown Thomas are celebrating the festive season with a 20% off (almost everything*) sale.

If you are a Brown Thomas Black loyalty card holder or have a Brown Thomas Platinum or Mastercard, you can avail of 20% off most of the store from tomorrow, Thursday 9th December until close of business Sunday, 12th December. And if you're not already a loyalty card holder, you can sign up for one when you visit the store!

Now although it says 'almost everything', a little * appears after the 20% off which means there are exclusions to the offer. The sale doesn't include Spring or Summer 2011 merchandise, beauty products, items from The Marvel Room, luxury accessories or jewellery boutiques. It doesn't include Stella McCartney or Burberry accesories, Christian Louboutin or some selected designer footwear. It also excludes the restaurants instore, Laduree and Nespresso.

So what does it include?? Everything in BT2 (yay!) with the exception of Ugg boots, most of the second floor at Brown Thomas including selected footwear and clothing lines.

There is also 10% off watches, Links of London, Alessi and the Electrical and Coffee Emporium. Some cosmetic counters and designer brands may also have their own special offers on over the weekend so keep an eye out!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

5 Reasons why I love Rockstar Tan!


1. It’s made with organic ingredients and is animal-testing free!
2. It adjusts to your skin tone so the result is a natural, unique sun-kissed glow!
3. With Aloe Vera in purified water and vitamin ingredients, it allows for even, gradual fading, so no patchy tan marks!
4. After one year of trading they have over 400 stockists and have won 2 highly regarded beauty awards - they must be doing something right!
5. With all the products in the range under €30, the price is great and not only is the colour long lasting, but the bottles too!  

To read about the whole range - tried & tested, see http://www.onoffer.ie/blog/post.aspx?contentid=21668