Shop Your Stash 3

Welcome to the Shop Your Stash Challenge. This is all about finding a gem in what you already own and creating a blog post on it. This is to let go a little of the stress that comes with being a blogger - even if it is just once a month. Rummage through your beauty products and climb through those clothes draws. You might surprise yourself!

For today's challenge we are looking at what you use to cope with the heat of the summer months.  For this particular post I decided to go down the makeup/skincare route and show you what I tend to use during the summer.

Hot weather is always rough on my hair because the sun rays usually turn my hair lighter and I am always throwing my hair up and out of the way giving myself endless split ends. To combat this (as well as using my usual John Frieda Brunette Shampoo and Condition) I tend to use the Tresemme Split Remedy which you put on after washing your hair but you can also use on the ends when they are feeling a bit dry.

For body moisturising I love the Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Butter but at £13.00 it is a bit pricey and a bit heavy to lug around in your bag during the day so I carry the Vaseline Spray & Go which is both a lot lighter and also only £5.00 and it lasts for ages.

For my face I am a follower of the god that is Clinique but again, you can't always afford over £20.00 for a moisturiser so sometimes I turn to the pound shop to see what they have.  Typically their beauty products only have six months or less to go (hence the cheapness) but hey, when are you ever going to make a tube of moisturiser last so long?  I am using the Johnson & Johnson Morning Energy Moisturiser in my morning routine which works a treat and only cost me a pound.

The last in my arsenal is the NYC setting spray which I put on after I have finished with my makeup.  I think I paid £8.00 for it but you can probably get it for less if you hunt on Ebay.

A couple of things I use for my summer makeup routine:

If at all possible I try to avoid foundation when I can in the summer, during the day at the very least as my skin really disagrees with it on a hot day.  Instead, once my skin is properly moisturised I just use the Barry M Natural Dazzle at £5.99 which lasts forever and also the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder which you can pick up for around £4.00.

Finally, the favourite thing is my makeup bag is probably also the cheapest which is my Natural Collection Crushed Walnut Eyeshadow which cost me £1.79.  I use this all year round in order to fill in my eyebrows with a slanted brush which I have found more effective, and has more staying powder, than any pencil, wax or liner that I have used.

So that's it!  Some of my skincare and makeup routines for the summer!  What do you use?

Please check out the other ladies in the challenge and also my blog competition to win some Pamela Mann Tights, linked here

Guest Post from FashionWorked

As I am away this week I was hoping to be able to bring you an exciting guest post from someone I admire and I am happy to bring you the voice behind the fantastic FashionWorked

I love anyone who writes with passion and giving him the free reign that he kindly affords me on his blog every month, here he is talking about what is important to him:

Vicky blogs for me once a month and has asked me if I’d like to guest with her and well yes I would. You may all know me as the guy behind FashionWorked, but the other me is a committed activist for human rights and today I’d like to talk about that part of my life and the anger and upset I feel right now at what is happening to Gaza.

I should make it clear that I hate the rockets from the militants, deplore violence, especially against the innocent, the attacks from Hamas members are wrong, so very wrong, and the killing of three teenage boys was a disgusting tactic for which the guilty should be punished.

However the current attacks on Gaza are the latest in a history of violence and collective punishment. Thousands of Palestinians are locked up without charge, with out legal process and without legitimate cause. What we see is the vile actions of a minority used to give a reason for collective punishment of every single Palestinian.

We hear the news talk of “aggressors” and “swapping fire”, we don’t here about the breaching of over 400 UN resolutions by Israel, the starvation, lack of clean water, free trade, or rights of Gaza and the West Bank, we don’t hear how the IDF kills children for playing near its security wall that steals land from the farmers of the West Bank, we don’t hear of the refusal to allow building supplies needed to repair and build the infrastructure blown away by fighter jets, the destroyed hospitals and sanitation plants.

We might occasionally hear of the IDF soldiers posing for trophy photos with people they have arrested, we don’t hear about the children who are no longer allowed to go to school because its on the wrong side of a check point, we  don’t hear about the huge unemployment because the jobs people had are on occupied land or they are not allowed papers to get to them, we don’t hear about the segregated buses or the lack of equality.

We hear Israel say it won’t deal with Hamas because it’s a terror group, it can’t work with someone that doesn’t recognise its right to exist, well lets ask this question also, why does Israel condemn the democratically elected leaders of Palestine for seeking their own statehood, why does it ask the UN to refuse them any sort of status, and use every request as a reason to say Fatah have broken peace accords?

It talks of wanting peace when it occupies The Golan and The West Bank, has turned Gaza into a prison camp by land, sea and air, and has only just left Lebanon. It sends its agents out to the rest of the world to execute those it sees as danger. 

It is time to recognise that there are men on both sides that are men who kill indiscriminately, but that the IDF destruction needs to end, the attacks on civilian targets, the deliberate destruction of hospitals and schools must end. We must demand that both not one side lay down their guns. We must demand that we put the people under the bombs first, we must demand a Palestinian state as a real option to end the slaughter.

No more can the world stand by and watch this killing, as I write 156 people have lost their lives, including civilians and children, some are militants yes, I’m not naive, but many are the victims of the philosophy of collective punishment.

If the West continues to hand military aid to the IDF it says it is alright to kill instead of talk, it should use its influence to drive both sides back to negotiation, With Arafat and Rabin we had a chance to see that, we can bring back that day. If we don’t do something soon there will be no land and no people left for a state to be built with.

Hamas were in trouble, they had lost their backers to the south, Iran had fallen out with them over Assad, the butcher in Damascus, never in decades had there been a better time to force Hamas back into a deal, no money, no weapons, losing ground for the forthcoming elections, they were weak, now they are the Lions of Defiance once again and the innocent bleed and die for this stupid entirely balanced to one side war.

We are people all born under the same sun, the same moon, and we share that planet, its time to stand and say end this killing, end this slaughter and lets help Israel find peace by talking and not annihilation of its enemies.

We remain one world, one people, lets live the ideals of Edith Cavell . . 

“Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards any one.”

And Thomas Paine . . .  

“My country is the world, my religion to do good.”

Exciting News

So, I have some exciting news to share.

I write a monthly column for FashionWorked which started in November last week.  FashionWorked is a fantastic site which I have talked about often which I love not just for the fashion talk but also for the opinion pieces. 

The creator extraordinaire aka Ross wanted someone to write about plus size fashion and very kindly asked me and so The Plus Perspective was born.

I have talked about fashion, body image, had the occasional rant about trolls and most recent about the power of one person's voice and how I combat insecurity via Instagram.  I have an open ticket to write about what I want and for that I am very grateful.

Each month I send in my column and wait with baited breath to see if my post is thrown back at me with "What a pile of tosh, I'm not printing that" but miraculously it never has (yet!).  I am always nervous when writing for other people as it brings in my insecure side but writing for FashionWorked is something that I love and I wouldn't give it up, unless they kicked me out of the door of course!

Yesterday FashionWorked announced their yearly award winners for categories such as Best Independent Designer, Worst High Street Store and Style Icon of the Year.  One of the other categories was Guest Blogger of the Year and guess what? 

I only bloody won it!

Am so very pleased and very touched as the things I write mean a hell of a lot to me and someone saying that they like the things that I write means the absolute world to me.

I'm now going to go off and start a happy conga line.  Toodles! xx

The Power of the Selfie

You may be aware that one of my favourite sites FashionWorked allows me to take over once a month and write about whatever takes my fancy in a column called "The Plus Perspective".  (Not sure if he knew what he was letting himself in for!!).

 

Anyhow this month I am talking about taking selfies and confidence.  Here is an extract:

 

Strangely what I have realised whilst writing this post is that from my neck down I would never dream of apologising to someone about the way that I look. Indeed, my brain is saying to me “What? Why would you apologise you idiot”.

 

You can read more here

I'm Not Here Today

Hello all, hope that you are having a lovely Sunday.

Today is my monthly column at FashionWorked  Now if you haven't checked out this site before I urge that you do.  FashionWorked is a site that covers everything from fashion to opinion on hot topics and important issues.  

FashionWorked is ever evolving, is inclusive to everyone and there is always something interesting to read.

Today on my column I am talking about the power of your voice, where you can check out here

Confident Women

I heard someone say the other day that women were (and I quote verbatim) “Harping on about confidence and sexism all the time because they want something to moan about”.

For some it seems that because we got the right to vote, moved into the workplace and started to voice our own opinions, that we should somehow be content with our lot.  What I see however is a society that still seeks to control women, just in different ways.

We can vote, but the right to our own bodies is in question.  We can be confident, but that also makes us a bitch.  We can wear what we want, but that we also mean that we are “asking for it”.  We can have a career, but are judged for not staying home with the children. 

One thing we cannot do is be whatever size we want, and dress how we want without the media, trolls on the internet, even total strangers telling us that this is not how we are meant to look.  The ideal must be conformed too.

Society in one form or another is constantly telling us how to be, how to look, how to dress, how to behave.  The quest to look perfect has never been more prevalent then it is now.   It isn’t just men telling us how to look either, the pursuit of the right way to look has gotten so huge that women are doing it to each other.  That’s before you even get into the subject of trolls.

What I have noticed however, over the past year especially, is women pushing back against these constrictions and fighting against them.  Everything from the celebrities who speak out against being airbrushed in magazines, to the #notbuyingit campaign against the objectification of women in advertising, to bloggers of all sizes and shapes sharing their images online and being confident in who they are and what they look like.

I have seen the start of so many confidence journeys in the past year and to watch as their confidence grows is awe inspiring.  Seeing somebody who was previously insecure and under confident blossoming into someone who is sure of herself and happy is a privilege to watch.  There is a message that women are sending out which is gathering speed and is getting louder and louder.  You cannot tell me how I should look.

The 20^th century saw women gain the right to vote and step out from the kitchen.  Maybe the 21^st century will be remembered for women gaining the right to be able to look how they want and be themselves, not the image of what they are told they should be.

*Truly Wow Colour Block Skater Dress

I was recently contacted by Marisota and was invited to take part in their Dressolutions Challenge.

Looking through the new season collection, I wanted to find something which pushed my boundaries and also broke some of the so called fashion rules that are placed on us.

What I found was the stylish Truly Wow Colour Block Skater Dress  Although wearing dresses is my thing, I usually tend to go for prints and haven't been able to make colour blocking look right on me.  Also, the whole high neckline is one of the things I am told to avoid.

The coral and black make a bold statement and I love the clean lines of the dress.  I decided that with a long necklace, there was no reason why I couldn't make the dress work for me and so here it is, and I absolutely love it!

Dress - Gifted to me from Marisota

Shoes - SimplyBe - new season

Necklace - charity shop find

Question Time

As I have mentioned previously, once a month I write a guest post on Fashion Worked.  Fashion Worked is a fantastic fashion and opinion site which aims to be inclusive and promote a better body image for all.  As such, they kindly asked me to be their “Plus Perspective” guest blogger once a month.

For my next post with them I wanted to do an open question and answer session.  What I have noticed since starting fashion blogging myself is that there always seem to be questions when it comes to plus size fashion bloggers.  Whether it be about the fashion we choose, confidence levels, or the body image that we have of ourselves.  I know that I was mystified to see confident, happy in front of the camera women when I first started myself, until I grew into one.

For example I was once participating in the weekly #psbloggerschat when I saw someone ask why it was that plus size bloggers felt the need to hold their own separate chat, aside from the regular #fbloggers chat.

If I remember rightly a few different people answered her, my answer being that with only certain stores available to shop in, it made sense to have somewhere where you can pool your information to find the best fashion.  Also for people just coming into fashion blogging or in need of a place to grow your confidence, it was a great resource to have.

The girl asking the question had never thought about it in those terms before and said as much, adding that it seemed to separate us apart when there was no need.  If only everyone in the world thought this way!  

It made me wonder, what other preconceptions/questions/wonderments do others have about plus size bloggers and their fashion blogs?  Are there questions that people want to know but are afraid to ask?  Is it really them and us or can fashion blogging move on to being totally inclusive? 

I certainly don’t have all of the answers and my knowledge in this subject only relates as far as my own experiences, but I would be really interested to find out the views and questions of other fashion bloggers and readers.

So, whether you are a blogger yourself or a reader of fashion blogs, if you have a question can you send it in the below ways.  If you know someone who may be interested in this, I would be grateful if you could share the post.  

Tweet Vicky_Coop, or FashionWorked

Email: thecurvedopinion@gmail.com  

or cComment on this post

This may be an interesting experiment!  The Q&A post will be up on the FashionWorked in early February.

GFC Go ByeBye

As you have no doubt noticed, we all woke up this morning to discover that the GFC had disappeared from our blogs.

If you were previously were following me on GFC and would like to continue doing so (no Chinese burns to convince you, promise!) here is where you can find/follow me:

Bloglovin

 

Twitter

 

Facebook Page

 

Instagram

 

 

xxx

I Feel Good Challenge

I’m writing this post on Wednesday 11th, ready for the I Feel Good series on Sunday. 

I came up with this challenge because I wanted to share pictures that weren’t all camera ready, those that you just looked in the mirror, whatever you happened to be wearing and thought "I feel good today".

I want to extend that and do something a little more off piste.  I see many people on Twitter say "If only people actually saw me when I wasn't posing for blog pictures".  That is partly why I started the challenge but I want to take it a step further.  Because today, I am not the happy, smiling blogger you always see; and I'm sharing it on my blog.

Because today, I don’t feel good; not mentally anyway.  I am having a dark day, which I haven’t had for months now.  Today is not the sort of day that I would take photographs of myself because I look sad.

But the aim of this challenge is to share both the good and the bad and to find the positives.  So I’m using a photograph of myself today and yes, I look unhappy (and more than a little pissed off that I am forcing myself to take this photograph at all).  But I am acknowledging that today is a dark day.  All I can do on these days is hunker down and ride it out but I know that at the end of it, I'll be back to my smiling self.

 

No doubt by the time this post is live on the blog on Sunday I will be happy again and the shadowy fog will have lifted.  But I feel that it is important to acknowledge to myself that this side of me exists too. 

I am the happy smiling girl you normally see in my photographs but I am also this too.  Today, this is who I am and that is ok.  I don't have to always be the perfect version of myself.  On here, I share all of me.

Sorry if I have depressed anyone there.  Check out the other ladies involved in this challenge and hopefully they will have a happier face for you.

The Plus Perspective

Today is the start of a new project collaboration with Fashion Worked.

I will be guest posting once a month on a series called 'The Plus Perspective'.

I think that this is going to be an exciting new project. I will be talking about body confidence, learning to love your own body image and of course, plus size fashion!

You can find my first post on the 'real women' debate here.

http://fashionworked.wordpress.com/2013/11/17/the-plus-perspective/

Hope you had a great weekend!

Vicky xx