June 2015

So I decided to keep things short and sweet today, I wanted to talk to you guys about my latest beauty obsession, natural collection. I am still remembering being about 14 and using my pocket money to buy natural collection eyeliners and eye shadows because at the time it was all I could afford. Fast forward several years and I cant remember exactly who but I watched a video where someone was praising natural collections range of brown toned lipsticks and not being one to want to invest big money into beauty trends I thought these were the perfect way to do it.

The four colours I have picked up are:

Heather- a very shimmery light brown which when applied is more subtle a brown hue than the other colours.

Biscuit- a your lips but better light browny nude pink shade

Cedar- a medium brown tone, great if you are a bit scared to go all out brown with your lip colour

Hazelnut- my personal favourite a very true orange tone brown shade which I love against my hair colour at the minute

Cedar on the lips

Overall I am really impressed with these lip colours for the bargain price of £1.99 each they are a great way to try brown lipsticks without having to pay alot of money incase you don’t like the look on you. They are not the most long lasting colours however I put one coat of Lipcote over the top and they then last at least 6 hours or more without any fade or change in colour. I would definitely recommend that if you are wanting to try a brown tone colour.

Hope you guys found this a little bit helpful

Until next time…T-J xo

“We believe that style is not about the size you wear; it’s about how you style your
size. Our #STYLEHASNOSIZE campaign celebrates every woman’s shape
and style – a message to challenge preconceptions and bring together
women with a mantra that really matters.”

After writing THIS post at the start of the year and getting such incredible feedback from it I have consciously shifted towards creating more content focused on the areas of self love and feeling good in the skin you are in. As I mentioned previously I have started working in Evans in Belfast and through this I was introduced to the brands latest campaign #STYLEHASNOSIZE which is a campaign in conjunction with the rainbow trust to launch the brands connection to the charity, the launch of the in-store personal shoppers and most importantly to inspire women to feel great at whatever size they are at. This whole campaign really struck something within me because for a long time I have been trying to champion dressing for how you want to dress instead of what you feel you should be dressing. if you you want to wear a crop top WEAR IT if you want to wear skinny jeans WEAR THEM.

I totally understand and respect that for alot of women this will all be easier said than done because we are so used to society trying to tell us how to dress, think and feel in regards to our size. Something I have mentioned before is being sick of being told by society that my body is a before picture, the only time I see women I can remotely relate to in popular publications is when my body is being shown as something to aspire to get away from. I shouldnt look at my body as a finished result, I should have no desire to look like this for a long term thing.

My body is covered in all my lumps, bumps and everything in between but you know what… that’s fine by me. This is my shape now, this might not always be my shape by currently at twenty two years old this is how I look and I will be damned to let other people dictate to me that this body is anything but great. Putting all health queries aside as I know all to well that these are the first questions posed when a plus size girl mentions that she is happy in the skin she is in, I have come to a point in my life where I will not let other people influence my happiness when it comes to my body. This is MY home, MY body, MY shelter MY everything and you cannot try to define me as any different because that serves a purpose for you.

Something which I have really enjoyed recently was the documentary created by channel four Plus Sized Wars which was highlighting the rise of the plus-size industry in the UK and interviewed some of the biggest bloggers in the industry to document their feelings. It also put a big focus onto the signing of Tess Munster making her the first girl her size to be signed to a major industry and the storm that occurred around that. It is definitely worth a watch if you can because even just watching the girls dispel alot of myths that surround plus-size is great viewing.

I decided once we received the t-shirts in work that I wanted to create a series of images showing you guys that above everything else, this is me, this is my body and no one can make me change that. I dress, act and speak as myself and for myself and will not be altered by the constant pressures from society around me. My size is stylish, my style is not measurable by the numbers on a label, my style is not defined by letters, numbers or the opinions of others #STYLEHASNOSIZE