Girly Girl and Jewellery

I’ve never been a girly girl. Even now when I make an effort its really just for fun. Getting dressed up is a bit of laugh. Sometimes it puts me in a good a mood, sometimes its for meetings or sometimes its just because I have the time that morning to make an effort. Additionally I can go weeks and months without dressing up. When I say it’s a laugh its really can be. I’ve lived with this body of mine my entire life and I actually know how to live with it. I know what my assets are and I know my not so great parts too. Cleavage and legs good. The parts in-between… not soo good. Luckily I’m of a normal ish size. I can fit into airplane seats! No really. I’m just normal. Now back to the laugh sometimes my dresses are a little too low or they just produce cleavage. The funniest thing ever is when I’m talking to men at work and they are so worried about looking that they then don’t actually look at me when speaking and focus on something else. Its just funny. Oh and something my mom said that is sooooo relevant. Never, never expose both. You can do low ish top but then the bottom cant be short. You can also do the reverse but the moment you do both its just slutty.  I don’t even know why I’m talking about this. This entry was going to be about being a girly girl.

I went to an all girls school. ( soooo grateful for this – another blog entry one day soon) I had no one to impress and didn’t give a rats ass about how I looked. My mom did insist on a few things that we had to do to keep the peace, brush your hair, we had to be clean, and our clothing had to be clean and ironed. She was also a stickler for making sure we moisturised our face. (All good advice). Other than doing what I had to…… I did zip. I never fixed my hair, wore makeup or nail polish. I didn’t even get my eyebrows plucked until I was 20. (Should have started the brows earlier – they really do open up a face in a natural beautiful way)

It was only in my mid 20’s that I started to do a bit more. Mainly because it wasn’t too difficult. Once in a while I’ll get my nails done. I truly wish I could do them myself but I can only paint the left hand. If I attempt the right hand it looks like a child has done it… Actually a child could probably do a better job. (Typing at work is more fun when you have a little colour on your hands)

The make up thing was a bit of accident too. I knew I need to get some eventually, but I really didn’t want to go down this road at all. I remember in high school there were so many girls that had cake face. For those of you that don’t know, cake face is when you have so much makeup on that it looks like icing on a cake. Gross. The problem is that most makeup that teens can afford comes from Boots or Superdrug. Ladies if you cant afford the good stuff in department stores then just go without. Save your money until you can afford nice things. Unless you are makeup artist, cheap makeup looks cheap. Back to the high school part. I was a tiny, tiny minority who did nothing and made no effort, what I found interesting is the girls looked their best in gym class or when they had no makeup on at all. High school was between the ages of 12 and 16. Some of them had acne and other hormonal teenage skin things happening, best bet was to have you skin heal and breathe naturally. Back to makeup. I’ve never the same shade for too long, as soon as I’m in the sun I get darker but also healthier. You can tell if I haven’t had any sunlight for a while.

So when I reached my mid 20’a it was finally time to go get some good makeup and you have to start with a good concealer and foundation. I went to the Giorgio Armani makeup counter and have never looked back. The bestest (not a real word) part about my first makeover was I looked great but it was so understated but elegant. I still looked like me!! Yipee. Armani said it best - Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered.

Now… there is a reason I’m yapping away. All this background to explain me and jewelry! I don’t wear a lot. If I do it has to be of a simple design and real. I have had my ears pierced since I was 3 months old and have warn earrings my whole life. They have always been gold and I’m allergic to everything else. So when the other girls when to Claire’s Accessories or Accessorize I couldn’t buy the earring without having a very swollen ear afterwards.

All the jewelry I do wear has been well researched and has taken years to get. The earrings that I wear too 3 years to find. The necklace decades to find and well the new ring has taken only a year.

Lets start with the earrings, some background first. Both my folks did not come from any money at all. When you hear the word poor, that’s really what they were both like in their formative years. Both their respective families worked hard and did well to get to where we are all today. Other than my moms engagement ring she had never had diamonds. Every girl needs a diamond so when my mom turned 50 I got her diamond stud earrings. I’m not making the big bucks, so really you need to use a magnifying glass to see these bad boys in her ears, but nonetheless the girl has some diamond earrings. This then got me thinking…. Its about time I get some too so for my 30^th birthday I finally found a pair that had to be mine. There are from an independent jeweler on Camden walk called Ruberg. Kamilla the designer is from Copenhagen Denmak. What I love about them is that they are so unique, classic, simple and original. Not a circle but oval shape. When I buy something I like I have zero need to change it. I’ve been wearing these earrings for years now.

Next… the necklace. This is a very cool one. I was on twitter and saw a tweet from the singer Adele (I’ve seen her live, she really is great). Adele had just had a necessary made for her with her own handwriting. I thought that was so original and always kinda wanted one with my own name but didn’t want a boring font. The fact that Adele has approx £45 million how the hell am I going to be able to get a necklace from the same designer? Well ladies and gentlemen…. There is no reason to think like that or judge a book by its cover!

I contacted the jeweler LaVerne and my experience with Cherise was amazing! What a nice, genuine, down to earth lady. I took the train to Hove and met her in a coffee shop. Here we discussed what I wanted and how rose gold looks warmer and more natural on my skin. Her pieces are affordable. A few weeks later and Ta Da! How cool that myname is now on her website! Super cool!

And lastly.. the ring… Oh the ring.

I bought a very very very thin eternity ring when I was 21 and I’m still wearing that but I wanted something bigger. I colored gemstone in a solitaire setting. I have been looking everywhere and that includes trying on crazy stupid priced items just to see if I like them. The good thing about me is that when it comes to looking, money makes no difference to me. It could cost nothing or everything. If I like it, I like it. If I don’t, then I don’t. I didn’t find a thing. While being in Italy I was telling Steph how I’m after a ring, but it needs to be a few things, other than the above. I wear my jewelry day in and day out, dishes, swimming, painting, everything. I never take it off unless I have to and that doesn’t happen often. (I was on a course recently and jewelry was not permitted. It felt so strange not having any on) So on Saturday morning while on holiday in Italy I went to see Marco. I told him roughly what I was after and he told me to come back at 15:30 and he would have some gems. Here I was presented with loads of different shapes, colors and cuts. I chose what I think is a little piece of beauty. It’s an aquamarine square-ish cut. I’ll have it on Tuesday and I’ll make sure to find out what the cut it called. I’ll even take a picture of it for this blog. I’ve never designed a ring before. It was so much fun. Oh and how about this! Aquamarine has all these healing qualities that I never knew about.