Over Style

The Great Game is  terrifying . I sat on the Iron Throne, blissfully aware of what being the Queen of Westeros entails. I'm a perfect mix of Cersei Lannister badass-ery; and Daenerys Targaryen badass-ery. And, thus commences my LFCC 2016 photo diary.

So, in case you don't follow me on my  Instagram  or  Twitter  then you won't have heard the news. The news I cannot stop talking about and the news fresh on people's lips...

Watches. Something I never really thought I would use, until I got into the world of social media and the importance of timekeeping. I am now a watch fan; with a plentiful collection of watches enough to wear a different one every day for two weeks, but this is the game changer - a beautiful wooden watch has made its way to my arms and I have fallen in love.

For a while now, I have totally envied every American beauty blogger/YouTuber whenever they mention Colourpop - why don't they ship to the UK? There is a booming market here for a new affordable, cruelty free brand and I am down for them. But, do you want to know the best part? You can still buy their stuff online and get it sent to the UK. Sneaky, sneaky.

Walker Stalker Con was an experience I will never forget. An event for all things dead and if you're a lover of zombies, badass actors and crying at the mere sight of Norman Reedus, then this convention is for you.

If you saw my  previous  post on the amazing Blogger Brunch I attended with La Moda, I mentioned briefly how beautiful the goodie bag was and that it deserve its own post due to how incredible the contents were. I got round to taking some photos of everything inside it as it’s such a perfectly put together gift bag for everyone who attended the wonderful day in Manchester!

A lot of you may know if you follow my Instagram or Twitter   that I was kindly invited by the amazing girls over at  La Moda   to attend a Blogger’s Bruch in Manchester on April 16th – well, I went and it was incredible.

Since I came back from Japan, I have noticed a huge change in myself as a person, my family and those closest to me have as well and all the positivity surrounding my newly born self is such a liberating thing to hear. I like to think I have changed my own perspective on everything from the smallest things to huge things drastically in order to be a better person. I took inspiration for this post from re-reading two of my most opened-up blog posts “ So I Travelled to Japan… Alone ” and “ Beating The Fear ” which are both rather word heavy but also took me a lot of courage to truly open up and let people know the real person behind the blog and Instagram. I want this to be another opened-up post where I let my own personality, struggles and triumphs shine through. As I type this, Halo by Machine Head is currently blasting through my headphones and with that I have a sense of achievement and inspiration which is always a plus, right?

There’s no denying my love for Harry Potter. Pretty much everyone I know and have ever known would agree and say I’m one of the biggest fans they could ever know. With a tattoo etched on my skin at 14, owned rarities and memorabilia, I am still hugely in love to this day. On my second visit to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London, and with my new camera in hand, I managed to photograph some of my favourite things in all their beauty and how they should look. I mean, the second visit could never top the one on my 18th birthday when I was treated like royalty and had the opportunity to open the Great Hall doors, but it was still ever magical. You learn so many more secrets and small things you overlooked if you go twice. It was a memorable experience yet again.

Back to Japan, and being a Harajuku Girl for the day. Although the mythical Harajuku Girl doesn’t actually exist, we all know the lyrics to ‘Rich Girl’ by Gwen Stefani, where she sings in her best voice about the hoods of Japan and Harajuku Girls; it was the sassy song of our childhoods and will always be a classic. The idea of the ‘Harajuku Girl’ always attracted me to visiting Harajuku as it’s the place where you can see many of the different style sub-cultures Tokyo has to offer. I had a lovely stroll around the streets and shopped a little bit after visiting  Meiji Shrine. 

Back to another one of my many posts on my trip to Tokyo! One of the places I visited on a really warm day was Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine). This was one of my many must-go places whilst visiting Tokyo as I stumble across so many stunning photos of the shrine and the walk to the shrine and it looked like my sort of paradise. I fell in love with Meiji Shrine; the walk to the shrine itself was one of the most beautifully calming walks I have ever been on especially with the warmth emitted from the sun that day. I could walk about with a thin jumper and jeans on and it felt like heaven to me. Here is a collection of some of my favourite photos of Meiji Shrine.

Akihabara for me was essentially the ‘gaming district’ of Tokyo; it was filled with walk-in gaming arcades but amongst all that was the most wonderful and crazy cosplay outfits you could ever imagine. It was like going to an all day, outside ComiCon and it was my absolute paradise. Here is a compilation of photos I took from what I can say is the most crazy, colourful and wonderful place in Tokyo. Akihabara is also home to the elusive Maid Cafe… I guess you could say I had a fantastic time.

This isn’t the first time I’ve written a praising blog post on the ever exquisite bikini and lingerie brand that is  Triangl Australia  –  I have developed a blossoming blogger/brand relationship with the workers over at Triangl and they are such a lovely group of people who always keep me in the know when new styles, colours, the lot are being released. This post in particular will focus on my lovely little collection of colourful bikinis.

I finally got around to editing a lot of my photos from Japan! I get seriously lazy when it comes to mass editing photos; I can either love it, or hate it there is no in-between. Since I managed to get quite a lot done though, I can finally start showing you all some of my favourite photos from certain areas in Tokyo that I visited. This post is solely dedicated to the place I spent the most time in –  Shibuya !

Before I went to Japan I told myself I wanted to get over my Acrophobia (fear of heights, to put it bluntly). My Acrophobia is a strange one; I am totally fine with living in the third and top floor of an apartment building; I am totally fine with going in aeroplanes, and in fact flying is one of my favourite things. However, I am not fine with elevators or being at the top of tall buildings (landmarks can count in this). So, back to before I went to Japan I had told myself that one thing I had to do before I left the most wonderful country in the world was to get over my fear of heights and ascend the Tokyo Tower. Okay, it’s not  that  tall but to me it was. I also told myself I would go up the second tallest structure in the world, the Tokyo Skytree, however I got to the actual structure ready to make my ascent but the queue was ridiculously long, so I left it. But for me, my bravery to finally go up to the top of the Tokyo Tower was a huge move for me, and it’s something...

Sensō-ji Temple from what I learned whilst I was there is that it is the  oldest  temple in Tokyo. Amazing, right? I remember once scrolling for hours through Pinterest and Flickr just admiring every single photo of this temple and marvelling at my own jealousy of the people who had already been. Honestly, looking back at these photos makes me nonchalantly sad but thinking and even remembering that I have actually been there is something else. What a feeling.

So a few months ago I announced I would be travelling all the way over to Japan by myself for a week, and I made it. For a long time I have wanted to go to Japan, and in particular Tokyo because the lights, the culture, atmosphere and people inspired me over the Internet and in movies for a great number of years. Of course, Tokyo wasn’t my only dream for Japan as I still plan on visiting Kyoto and Osaka in the near future, but my time in Tokyo was one to be remembered for the rest of my life. This entire post is dedicated to why travelling alone changed my life forever.

On September 11th, I attended a Style Night held by GQ on my favourite street in London – Carnaby Street! The night was filled with free alcohol (and lots of it), DJ sets in some of the coolest stores, famous faces, entertainment and  many  envious discounts available for all shops on the street and neighbouring streets. It was absolutely wonderful.

Last Thursday, I attended the official launch party that  Public Desire  held for the grand opening of their  brand new website  and I had the best time possible. I was lucky enough to win a competition they held on their Instagram by describing the brand in three words, to which my entry was “bad, bitchin’ and boot-ilicious” I couldn’t believe I had won. My prize included a stay in the  Hilton Hotel  in Manchester with expenses paid for me, as well as an invite to their exclusive event to meet all the girls behind  Public Desire  and many blogger babes!

I’m home from two wonderful weeks in the Dominican Republic. We had the most fantastic time and it was great to just relax in our all-inclusive resort with nearing 100 degree temperatures daily. Now that I’m back home in Glasgow, I can’t help but reminisce on my time in the Caribbean since I miss it dearly.