Winter Essentials: The Coat.

Come the chillier months, beach wraps as staple cover-ups are swapped in favor of coats.

Not only does it keep the cold air at bay, coats are often key fashion investments, coming in an array of different styles, colors, tailoring, etc.
Here are just a few of the pieces that were calling my name.

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Black is the new Black.

Miu Miu

H&M

Karen Millen

French Connection

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Pastel colored coats seem to be spotted everywhere this season, in the high street & designer stores alike. Pretty enough to remind me of candy, yet retaining a certain subtleness to be deemed winter-appropriate. Join me on my quest for the best pastel cover-up.

Karen Millen

Karen Millen

Asos

Asos

French Connection

Topshop

Topshop

Kaufmanfranco

Valentino

Stella McCartney

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Hope this post helps you out during coat-hunting season!

Happy coat shopping!

Stay warm & snug!

xx

Disclaimer: These images are not mine, unless stated otherwise.

B U Y S .

Some common themes

Both metallic.

Both clutches.

Both have straps.

Both space-deficient.

Bag #1: Saint Laurent / YSL

Bag #2: Prada

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On another note, post-Christmas/holiday season sales were thoroughly disappointing.

Pictured myself with my head burrowed between racks of clothing, arms laden with hangers. Was quite the opposite. Oh the perils of having too common a dress size.

Hope you guys had better luck than me in the sales!

xx


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New Toys.

Acquired some new "toys" this past weekend, both from Babyliss - the Curl Secret x the New Big Hair tools!

My mom and I got suckered into buying these 2 items, after a relatively strong sales pitch by the salesman at Boots.

Curl Secret

Having heard several people rave about it, I turned to the world of YouTube tutorials where professionals & noobs alike provide a virtual "try before you buy" service.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't in the slightest bit skeptical about this daunting-looking product that you're meant to feed your hair to and eventually have it regurgitate a perfectly coiffed curl. The idea of using little to no energy certainly stumped me as well.

Well, BELIEVE IT, because that is exactly what it does.

Only problem lies with the fact that it does take some fiddling around with to figure this contraption out. But, it works like a charm once you get the hang of it!

RESULT.

The proud new owner of a curly head of hair.

New Big Hair

After hearing all about the curl secret, New Big Hair probably seems to pale in comparison. How can a swiveling hair brush compare to a contraption that makes your hair curly without hardly any effort on your part?

Clearly, this doesn't have the same wow-factor as the Curl Secret. Though it still does what its meant to do without a hitch - create volume, giving your hair a pick-me up.

Forget iPhone 5's, the technology on the Babyliss products can rival it anytime!

xx

Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. Feel free to sponsor me anytime, Babyliss.

Backlog.

H E Y G U Y S .

I'm back, & surprisingly still in one piece (though the same probably cannot be said of my brain).

Will be getting back to regular posts as soon as I get back into the swing of things. Apparently, freedom takes a bit of getting used to.

For now, I shall leave you with a slew of insignificant visuals taken during my brief blogging hiatus that have gathered virtual "dust".

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Stayed at a hotel for over a week during my exam period as I was in between apartments.

Got an upgrade. Tub & TV in the toilet came with the upgrade. Score.

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Meal @ Bottega San Carlo // Selfridges (Mancunians out there should be familiar with this restaurant chain)

Salad (my mom forced fed this to me)

Truffle ravioli

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Post-exam celebratory meal @ Mr. Cooper // Midlands Hotel

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Discovered this recently revamped yakitori restaurant - OISHI-Q.

Another place to add to your foodie list for all Mancunians out there. Thought it would be worth a mention.

Who ever visits a restaurant 3 times in less than 2 days? GUILTY.

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Lunch @ Australasia.

xx

Thursday's Happenings

Made my way down to town with my mom today to run some errands before I leave for the UK :(

Had one of the, dare I say it, best chirashi dons I've ever tried! I'm not a huge fan of chirashi so this is a pretty bold statement considering. They were definitely pushing the overly-generous limit in terms of the sushi to rice ratio - my mom & I have concluded that it was a never-ending bowl. But who's complaining, right?

Sushi chef in action!

Sashimi rainbow.

Trio of desserts - Sesame pudding, Apricot ice-cream, Plum jelly.

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Irrelevant to this post but found a picture of my 19th birthday this past summer!

I'm ready for this summer break & 2014 has barely even started.. If only I could fast-forward to my 3-month long holiday, by-passing the exam periods in the process :( Wouldn't it be nice if life worked that way?

♡ My hello kitty cake ♡

xx

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Skin Wardrobe

Another quick post to tide this space over till I'm done with exams.

Recently got these 3 products from Chanel's resynchronizing skincare line. I like to refer to them as my skin wardrobe - a change of cream for different occasions/days. Le Jour is the flirty white dress for the day. Change into your black dress at night (la nuit), & on the weekends, let loose in your comfy sweats (le weekend). Not really in the position to do a detailed review now as I've only just started using them. 

Being Chanel, a hefty price tag comes as little surprise. Admittedly, if my mom hadn't bought them, I probably wouldn't have dropped that sum of money myself.

Just a sidenote - you still have to continue with your main skincare routine alongside these products. They merely act as boosters.

If anyone has tried this line of products from Chanel, I would love to hear your feedback!

xx

New Year, New Do!

Happy New Year!!

Can't believe its 2014 already! HOW??

Back with my first post of the new year, along with the debut of my new do!

Permed my hair yesterday after wanting to do so for awhile. The new year often brings changes so this was my first major change in 2014! This being my first experience with perming, I didn't quite know what to expect. At the back of my mind, a lingering fear was that my hair would turn out resembling a full head of fried instant noodles. Thank goodness it turned out like the more positive outcome I had envisioned!

Pretty sure the only reason why I look half decent in this pic is down to the hair, as I went au naturale, sans makeup.

The only problem was that this head of hair took quite some time to achieve. Definitely love the hair way more than the process of actually achieving it. I can sit in bed for hours on end. Though, when it comes to a chair, its a whole different story. After sitting in the chair for close to 3.5 hours, I felt like running around the whole salon when I could eventually get up!

Back view

(note: my mom's photography skills. She's still learning. Had to do some editing to make it slightly more viewable..)

Anyone umm-ing & ahh-ing as to whether they should perm their hair, should just get round to it! Its a new year after all!

If you've any questions about perming, I'm open to answering them via email / my ask.fm! (links are below) 

I don't really want to bore you with too detailed a post in case you aren't interested, but if any of you are, I might do one about my experience.

xx

ask.fm/fashfoodx

fashfood@hotmail.com