As mentioned in my wrap dress OOTD, these 3/4 leggings have been a lifesaver.  This dress is just a little short for summer/bare legged office wear, but add a smidge of leg covering and BAM!  The insecurities are gone.

The two necklaces are handmade by myself, all materials coming from the amazing Beadaholic – based in sunny Gisborne, good flat-rate shipping costs, very communicative, always a pleasure.

Both necklaces are your basic glass-beads-on-Tigertail-crimped-ends deal, with the shorter being very sweet and pink/white and the opera-length strand going more messed up and chaotic with some green, lilac, and dark red thrown in to keep it interesting.

Dress – Jacqui E
Top – City Chic
Leggings – Shanton
Shoes – Molly N
Necklaces – handmade

But as you can see from the pic things got off to a bad enough start when after 3 layers we were not in sight of reaching anything like the shade it is in the bottle, and things went downhill from there.

Ah well, $2.50 down the drain, boo hoo.

*reloads from previous save point*

So.  I must admit to having shamelessly stolen this idea from Astra, but rather upped the ante on vivid cheerful shout-it-out-loud brightness.  Dark-plum-and-glitter may be edgy and gothic (in the literary sense) and stunning and all, but I wanted to show absolutely no restraint.

Besides, my mood was already a tad low from the previous nailfail, so in one of my regular bids to pep myself up through fashion choices, I went with OPI The “IT” Color and tried my hand at some gradient layering with Rainbow Connection.

I think it went well.

Things were definitely helped by the fact that Rainbow Connection applies so thinly if you just brush it on like a normal polish.  To get the tips opaque with glitter, I put the brush perpendicular to the end of the nail and just scraped the glitter off like you would scrape excess polish off on the side of the bottle.

Downsides:  the extra thickness of glitter on the tips got a tad annoying as the days went on (I think the extra thickness there was even messing with my dexterity, and that’s poor enough at the best of times) so eventually I just peeled the whole darn thing off.  The silver lining there is that once you’ve slathered on enough layers of Rainbow Connection, peeling it off is the easy part.  If your nails forgive you.

Ahem.

Size-wise, though?  A serious brava has to go to Carly for making an XL that’s, well, XL.  Same goes for the other item.  There’s some good stretch in the fabric and the arms have been sized up with the dress which shouldn’t need to be italicised for emphasis but sadly does.  There’s ease in this shit.  And the skirt flutters adorably.

(Carly Harris also does a number of items in less-forgiving vintage fabric, which I’ve previously found I have to go up a size in to accommodate the boobs.  But if you’re a bigger peep, the stretches are your dearest friends – because they will have stretch but still come in awesome patterns.)

The second most exciting part of this outfit is my dirt-cheap 3/4-length black leggings from Shanton.  Bless Shanton, and their great range of basics interspersing the floaty fashionable stuff.  Their microfibre stockings alas are just not the right size for my size, but their leggings are great.

Thing is, it’s just not stocking weather at the moment, and I’m still in my post-actual-winter stocking-hating fug.  But this is Wellington.  Extra layers are advised.  Plus, wearing a wrap dress, especially as a wrap dress novice like myself, carries certain falling-open-and-exposing-oneself-to-the-elements risks.  It’s great if that’s what your going for, but my workplace frowns on such freespiritedness.

Add a colourful top (something like $10 at the Max outlet store in deepest Tawa) and some basic black heels, not to mention straightened-the-night-before-cause-I-was-too-lazy-to-wash-my-hair hair, and frankly I think I look damn fine.

Dress – Carly Harris
Top – Max (outlet store in godforsaken Tawa)
Leggings – Shanton
Shoes – Molly N

Also, have you liked my Facebook page yet?  I am powered by mouseclicks, you know.  Also, I have a Tumblr, on which I post the same pics as here only they’re mixed in with awesome radical fat acceptance stuff and the occasional amazing kitten gif.

Which is all a long and flowery way of saying I love my towels.

The partner and I did a bit of a household shopping spree in the Boxing Day Sales last year, and one of the things I was absolutely determined t0 purchase were some new towels.  We had plenty of towels already, sure, but as well as being a little old and tired they were just too small.

That is, they wouldn’t cover all of me post-shower.

It’s a little thing, but it was also a big thing – to be blunt, having a bit of tummy poking out at the world set off a whole big flowery bunch of anxiety issues.  It’s like the airplane seat thing – you can remind yourself firmly that it’s the damn manufacturer’s fault for making the damn seats so damn small, but years of social messaging just keep making you wonder if it isn’t just that you are the wrong size.

Solution, in this non-airplane instance?  Buy bigger towels.  “Spa” sized towels, apparently.  It makes sense, since spas are where you go to feel relaxed and pampered, and swathing oneself in a gigantic fluffy towel makes me feel pretty damn relaxed and pampered.

As you can see from the picture, these are pretty damn big towels – wider than your average household door and about up to nose-height on me, say around the 5-foot mark.  Lovely.

Self-care, people:  it doesn’t have to be big and complex and involved.  It can just be a towel.

I have shamelessly yoinked the attached images from her current posts to simultaneously show off her wares and enhance my own.  That’s what BFFs are for, isn’t it?

(While I have your attention, have you considered Liking A Large Pink Woman on Facebook?  I’m ever so nice, you know.)

Maybe a big twinge of envy.

But I’ve got to face facts – a stash of that magnitude would require a lot of time, energy and cash that I’m probably going to find other uses for (like eyeshadows!  And high heels!  And books on obscure historical phenomena!)

Still, you’ve got to appreciate a thing of beauty when it pops up on your feed.

Shiro iShadow collection

In this post:  My swag!  And some size comparisons with Avon eyeshadows, the only ones I had in the house.

Not pictured:  the Fatality finishing powder, because of course my big powder brush went missing in the house move.  But Avon was to the rescue with their latest sale brochure, containing a brush set for a mere something dollars.  As I am eternally known to say re: Avon, nope, it won’t be the highest quality, but for one-fifth the price of department stores I will settle for adequacy.

The thing Shiro is really known for is the eyeshadow (though the lip stains are apparently also amazing!) and the geeky connotations thereof.  Collections are inspired by Pokemon, Zelda, Death Note, and, my personal favourite, Portal, bestgameofalltime.

There’s also currently a Valentine’s Day collection out.  I may be an utter cynic about V-Day, but I can get on board with buying myself pretties to make me feel special and amazing rather than expecting validation from my partner in the form of severed plant genitals.

So, I ordered seven eyeshadows total:  the 3-shadow iShadow collection, Rattata, I Feel Fantastic (and I’m still alive!), /love and /kiss.

I’d originally ordered /hug but as you can see it got mislabelled!  Not a huge thing (especially given it’s a seasonal collection and seriously, have you seen the size of the full Shiro range?), and after a quick email to Caitlin to let her know, a replacement /hug is on its way together with a sticker to correct the mislabelled one!

The iShadow just made sense as a purchase, containing a white, a black and a silver-grey.  You can see below my Star Dust duo from Avon, which I’ve previously blogged, which is well-worn but just not a favourite of mine to use; the white/grey especially is a pain to get on the brush.  Anyway, always have some good basics!  Magazines tell us that all the time, and they wouldn’t lie.

Rattata!

In terms of the colours, /hug and /kiss are a nice pair (tee hee) and something in my brain just can’t go past the idea of seasonal/limited product runs.

But the point of getting me some Shiro was to get some seriously bright colours into my palette.  I Feel Fantastic was a contender almost entirely on the basis of the name (Pikachu was obviously in the running as well, but the red glitter aspect didn’t appeal as much).  And since earliest childhood my favourite colour has been purple, and wouldn’t you know it but Rattata brings that to the table in spades (can you even bring things to tables in spades?  Wouldn’t buckets be more efficient?).

Shiro vs Avon Mousse Eyeshadow

For US$5 (most shades) you get the “full” or 2.0 gram pack.  I’ve photographed /kiss up against three Avon eyeshadows for a size comparison:  the tall Mousse Eyeshadow, which is my usual base and thus I use a heck of a lot of; the Smooth Minerals case which is shorter but wider (it ain’t size, it’s what you do with it that counts) and the fairly-standard-sized duo compact.

Shiro vs. Avon Smooth Minerals Eyeshadow

The thing to remember, looking at the apparently-quite-a-bit-smaller Shiro container, is that Shiro pigments (from my limited experience so far) require far less product for far greater effect.

Shiro vs Avon True Color Eyeshadow Duo

The bonus:  Caitlin included two free samples of Rapidash and Gyarados, a stunning bright blue.  Can’t wait to try them, and I admire the clever marketing – there’s only so much a picture on a website can say, and what’s the risk when someone’s already purchased a lot some of your product?

Shiro Cosmetics has a Tumblr where customers can submit their looks – I’ll be blogging about my own modest efforts shortly!

This was one put together at the end of last year – when I was probably having the exact same brain-issues but of course for the opposite reason.  A pick-me-up outfit which could not go wrong was clearly the order of the day, so this little number was the result.

The dress is from Jacqui E and is part of my inaugural OOTD – light and floaty, party and work-appropriate (though opaque stockings are preferred since it’s a little short).  The lighting is a little crap in this photo so you can’t see the pleating at the front and bust, but let me assure you it’s awesome – formal, pretty, and let’s be honest, generous.

Atop the dress is the most freaking adorable cardigan in my possession, courtesy of City Chic.  I don’t often make not-budgeted-for purchases in clothing, but this was one of them, and I think it’s pretty clear why.  The colour is a really blue-based red, which is a bit of a rarity, and HELLO GIANT BOW ON THE SIDE.

Both the dress and cardi are in my go-to pile for things I know I’ll feel good in, even if I’m not feeling too engaged with coordinating something – and of course the basic black-and-red colour scheme is my number 1 standby.

Add basic black heels and some stockings, and there we go.  Twee, cute, adorbs, call it what you will.

Have another pic for fun, taken at the dreaded 3/4 angle.  I defy you, silly laws of “flattering” photography!

Dress – Jacqui E
Cardigan – City Chic
Shoes – Molly N

You’re from Caitlin Johnstone, of Shiro Cosmetics?  You don’t say!  I am delighted to make your acquaintance.

… and you’re full of delicious things?  Delicious things AND candy?  I think we shall be friends, little envelope!

More shall be revealed … SOON!

Case in point, this week:  wherein I have been unable to narrow my choices down to individual items but would basically like to win Lotto and thus be able to afford everything on Head2ToeBeauty.com.  ALL THE CHINA GLAZE MUST BE MINE.

It wouldn’t even have to be a big Lotto win, either.

All pic credit to Chloe's Nails!

The point?  Damn good nail polish brands at ridic prices (even if the exchange rate weren’t so wildly in our favour at the moment) and, I am told, decent shipping costs.

Not to mention Konad nail art stamping thingies, which are sure to become a minor fixation of mine just as soon as I can budget in a purchase of them.  (The formatting on that page is a little borked, so for more info and amazing pics like that one over there, check out Chloe’s Nails.)