J Cole in NR4

Yeah never really thought I'd be writing a blog post about the love of my life (J Cole) being in Norwich. London? Yes. Norwich? Not in a million years. 

However J Cole did decide to pay a visit to the infamous LCR and to be honest made it one of the best nights in my entire life. 

The day started of with Mitra and I travelling up by coach (because we can be a bit stingy at times) to Norwich. Once we got there we chilled for a couple of hours and then got changed into this...

To be honest I felt pretty ugly that day, maybe because I knew that loads of girls would be there with their flowing weaves, tight dresses, amazing legs and heels. I think I over compensated with the amount of make up I put on...but whatever. So I wore my leather jacket, snake skin print leggings and huge silver hoops...all from Topshop. Plus my red Vans which I seemingly can't go a day without these days. Oh yeah the white tshirt I'm wearing underneath was haggled down to £10 at Spitalfields market. I can't find an image online but it was basically very similar to this one...

Mitra looked amazing...

Her t shirt and faux leather high waisted skirt are both from H&M. Her tights and ankle boots are both New Look. I love the look. Its kind of 50s meets noughties alternative chick. I'm well jel (LOL) 

Now onto J Cole. This is how I summed up that night in words.

To which a friend (hi Nnamdi! lol) decided to reply...

Erm...but he is though...

Anyways...It wasn't just his looks that I was in love with, J Cole performed amazingly well that night. He had so much passion for his music, so much energy and so much love for the crowd. He made the music sound even better live...every song was fresh and new. He performed old hits and new. I was so happy he performed all the favourites including 'Higher', 'Blow Up', 'Nobody's Perfect', 'Can't Get Enough', 'In The Morning' etc. He even did songs he was featured on like Beyonce's 'Party', Jay Z's 'A Star Is Born' and Miguel's 'All I Want Is You'. However, I was a little bit sad not to hear favourites like '2Face', 'Dead Presidents II', 'Cost Me A Lot' and 'Best Friend'...unless he did perform them and I was too high on life to remember. Let me know lol

A couple of pictures to either remind you of the night or make you a bit jealous. Take your pick. 

Now just a little bit on make-up looks. 

For the concert Mitra and I kind of unintentionally matched.

Dark eyebrows, liquid eyeliner, EYELASHES (mine are fake) and hot pink lipgloss/lipstick.

I used:

• Foundation - a mix of MAC Mineralize in NC50 (which is a bit dark) and CoverGirl 'Clean Oil Control' in Tawny (which is a bit lighter). I like to use the MAC as a base and then use the CoverGirl over the top as it stops me from getting too shiny on my T-zone. It also has a different finish and is not as matte as the MAC Mineralize.
• Yves Saint Laurent 'Touche Elact' as my concealer.
• Collection 2000 eyebrow pencil, but I might start using a dark brown because the jet black is quite extreme.
• A dark pink CoverGirl blusher.
• Lips - I used MAC 'Girl About Town' as lipliner and then filled in and blended with Collection 2000 'Lock N Hold' Lipgloss in the baby pink colour. I love experimenting with my lips these days. Don't take that comment the wrong way please lol. 

For the club after I literally kept the exact same look and changed the colour of my lipstick.

Ok so now I'm shiny. The lipstick is Collection 2000 in 'Firecracker'. Look, a sneaky lil peek at the tattoo. Its hardly ever on show these days. I blame the weather and my job. 

Hope you liked the post. Comment with any questions :)

River Island SS12!

So basically I'm just a little bit in love. And by the time we get to the end of this post you'll see why.

Today as I trawled through my timeline on my lunchbreak I happened to come across the River Island Spring/Summer Collection and I jizzed a little bit. As some of you may know I am a fully fledged' River Island Whore' (I plan to make this an official group for devotees like myself). I worked there for almost 2 years and I miss that discount like Arsenal misses Henry. But anyway...

Here are a few more than a few items to browse and hopefully it'll keep you going until it hits stores in around Feb/March I'm guessing. 

First we have this statement necklace:

This kind of fills me with joy. Its more of a choker length which means its more likely to grab the attention of those around you. I love the contrast between the black chain links to the overly metallic pendent.  It mixes silver, gold and crystal which is usually a no no, but here its just yes, yes, yes.  

Next up its...

Too be honest I'm kind of lost for words on how to describe them. Yes its an ankle boot BUT the transparent panels and studs make it something completely different. The curved heel also breaks away from the norm. I don't really like them but I'm sure they'll sell out anyway.

River Island are also tapping into a footwear trend: Flatform shoes.

These are like Nicki Minaj meets Bride of Frankenstein. Flatform shoes are basically wedges that are one height all across the base of shoe, rather than starting of lower by the toe and getting higher towards the heel. Again, personally I wouldn't wear these but I applaud River Island for continuing to step outside the box. (I do like the fact that they're peep toe though)

A few more pieces:

High waisted lace shorts? Yes bloody please.

Metallic is definitely back in a big way. However, do not follow the lead of this picture and wear it head to toe. I will find you and possibly strangle you.

This reminds me of those Hawaiian print shirts from the 80's. Not sure if I love or not. Very retro.

River Island always get a 10/10 for their bags.

Now for the items which nearly caused me to have a panic attack (because of the thought of having to wait months to own these heavenly items). Sorry I'm a bit of a drama queen, but you knew that already.

I guess since H&M got Versace, River Island decided to do a pastiche of 80s Versace. but I'm not complaining. This is lust. I will be the first person to own this shirt. Just need to figure out to wear this without looking Yardie lol.

Another Versace look-a-like. Not as nice as the first but still great.

Speechless. <3

Colourful printed shirt with white Tuxedo shorts. Someone get ready to catch  me while I faint.

So anyways that's enough from me. What did you think of the collection? Are you as excited as me or am I completely overreacting? (Probably the latter right?)

Cupid's Fashion Spotting II

Hey guys!

So today we took yet another trip to the world famous BRICK LANE. Oh yeah! ;)

Our main aim was to do a bit of shopping, but we were distracted by several quirky fashionista's, and we couldn't help but take their photo's. And of course we had to share it with you guys.

At some points it turned into a wild goose chase with us literally running down the cobbled alley ways of East London after those who caught Cupid's eye ;)

Brick Lane is full of men and women who seem to have a flare for dressing out of the ordinary. They are chic, alternative and most of all unique. Unfortunately we couldn't post them all, but here are a few we saw today.

First up we have Maitha, a 19 year old student from Dubai, studying at American Intercontinental University.

We love her style because it's so simple yet edgy. Its 'tomboy chic' yet with girly sensibilities . The baggy leather jacket and with Coca Cola hoody mixed the tight black skinny jeans don't scream "look at me!"...but we look at her anyway. Its tough, topped off with a bowler hat and flowing locks. I think we love her lol. 

Next up we have Quwada Tai. A 27 year old fashion student from London.

Again here is a female who doesn't need to show skin to look amazing. We love the masculine edge - a plain black sweater with a white shirt. Yet the oversized collar keeps it fresh. From the wash of her jeans to her sharp haircut; it all reflects a unique London style.

The next person we ran after was Daiana Vasquez. 

She caught our attention straight away. This outfit is all about contrast, mixing the hard with the soft. There is a pale blue maxi dress paired with a leather jacket. The large fur collar only adds to it making it more dramatic (while also keeping her warm lol). We love the fact she's riding a bike, not in a helmet and leggings, but looking like a goddess. 

Last but definitely not least is Uzzee a 20 year old student from London.

As soon as we saw him, we were like "HIM. PICTURE. NOW!" 

Its just everything. The grey denim, the different coloured socks, blazer, and Sherling jacket. But what makes it are the sunglasses and cap. Its like London meets Brooklyn, NYC. He's not trying too hard, you can just tell when someone has 'it'. He definitely does. (We wouldn't just chase after anyone). 

That's all for now folks. Hope you feel inspired just like we did.

And watch out for more photographs coming your way soon.

Love Jade & Mitra

xXx

When I was 16...

Just gonna do my part of 'When I was 16..'

Ok so Jade said not to laugh at her pic. Guys, DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH AT MINE. LOL

Yes I had bushy eyebrows AND WHAT? lol

I would have definitely told myself...

•   "Girl who you think you are wit your jelled back hair?!!" so basically yeah, I did the whole hair up, tight slick back and literally looking like a peanut head.  It must have been 'IN' at the time :/

• Girls and boys stay away from coloured lenses, I'm not only wearing hazel in my left eye, but damn I got grey in my right!! It's not a good look and you really will mess up your eyes (I am now short sighted).

• Jade said she would have tried better at school, my god if I could go back, I would wake up that half hour earlier, take that extra time after lessons offered from teachers, go to homework clubs. I'd do it all if it meant that I could have gone to uni. Unfortunately I didn't get to go Uni and yes a lot of people say it's a waste of time blah blah blah.  But it's really not.  If you have the choice of doing better, then do it, you'll only thank yourself! Luckily I grew up and learned it the hard way, which made me realize what I've lost. So I kicked myself in the back side and got me a good job, something related to what I've always wanted to do. Now I grab onto any thing that comes my way, whereas before I literally got it on a plate and didn't want it.

• And I defo agree with Jadey cakes! Be a child for as long as you can!!! You will definitely miss it, even if you're aged 16-19 BE WHO YOU ARE, cause only you can make YOU. Girlies, as time goes on we change in many ways, you will eventually have less spots, and those EYEBROWS lol will be waxed into a beautiful shape, and most of all, don't think of make up as something to cover your actual self with, make up is a girls best friend, use it in anyway you want! Wear as much as you like or as less as you like, but one tip, don't make it obvious! :p But in the meantime if you can pull it off, go el'naturel!

• Last but not least stay close to your friends and family. As years go by you will find new friends and lose old ones (luckily me n JB are still going strong for almost 10yrs :O!!) I would have told 16 yr old me to be my mums best friend for sure, cause if you grow up without that relationship it's quite hard to make it happen later on. ALWAYS be the best you can, YOLO!!! (you only live once) as Jessie J say's..."Don't lose who you are in the blur of the stars! Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing, it's ok not to be ok. Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart. Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising, just be true to who you are!'

lots of love and kisses MEECH!!

xXx

When I was 16...

Just a short post today.

So recently I've seen this question A LOT on twitter:

"What do you wish you could have told your 16 year old self at the time to have made life easier?"

Obviously it was phrased differently but you get the gist. 

So I started thinking, what would I have told my 16 year old self, to not only reassure myself but to make life easier for myself in the future. First it would be fitting to dig out a picture of myself at 16. DON'T LAUGH. 

Ok so ewwww. But anyway...

I think I would have told myself:

• DO NOT rush into being in a relationship. Once you start liking boys more than just on a 'crush' level its definitely all stress from there. You have your whole life to worry about that, just focus on being a child; where your biggest stresses are the 3 sheets of maths homework you got that morning.

• Stop comparing yourself with other girls. Yes there are some girls who are so pretty that you kind of want to slit your throat. BUT there are also others looking and wishing they looked like you. Its all relative mate. 

• If you knew me in Secondary School then you'll know I was a bit of  lot of a geek. And then I got distracted by boys and make up. I would honestly tell my 16 year old self to work extra extra hard because you only get one chance at the free education thing. Use it while its there, don't waste those fresh, sponge-like braincells. PLEASE. I mean I know I ended up at Uni and I graduated with a grade I was pleased with but I could have done so much better.

• Lastly I would have told myself to not be in such a rush to grow up. Yes you can go raving, smoke, wear heels and stay out all night. However you also have to start paying bills (and paying back the 2 overdrafts and credit card lol). You start having to use public transport a lot more because your parents no longer feel the need to drop you off and pick you up from everywhere (this hurts me the most). And lastly you can no longer use your age as an excuse for your immaturity. Blonde moments aren't so cute when you're 21 with a full time job...no matter how sweet your dimples make you look LOL.

That's about it from me folks.

The big question is: What would you tell your 16 year old selves? 

Answers on a postcards (or preferably in the comments section below lol)

Lots of love

Jadeybaby xXx

Music Review: Drake - 'Take Care'

Since 'Take Care' leaked like a faulty pipe this week and Drake is one of my favourite artists, I (Jade) asked Eathan Sergeant to write a review of the album. And I must say its PRETTY DAMN AMAZING (the album and the review). Have a read folks.

Drake’s hugely anticipated sophomore album Take Care is finally with us, after days, weeks and months of waiting. Anyone who pays close attention to Drake and his music will know his thoughts on his debut album Thank Me Later,  and will therefore know he believed it was a rushed job. He wanted to be given the chance to show the world what he could do with the right amount of time. I don’t know about you guys, but since he thought Thank Me Later fell far short of what he was capable of, I was going crazy with anticipation to see what Drake would provide for us with Take Care!

The album has a very strong introduction, with Over My Dead Body showcasing Drake’s singing abilities, but also his capability to pack a verse with lyrics we all can relate to.  Towards the end of the track Drake states “Yeah, don’t make me take your life apart boy/You and whoever the f*** gave you your start boy/Or you wanna be a motherf***ing funny guy? /Don’t make me break your Kevin heart boy”. When I first heard this, I thought Drake was sending a subliminal directed to Big Sean and his mentor Kanye West, as Big Sean has often accused Drake of copying his “Supa Dupa Flow” style. Am I right in thinking this? Am I clutching at straws? Hmm… who knows.

 Shot For Me is where Drake’s singing is at its best on Take Care. Here, he portrays the honest approach to rap that I deeply respect about him. He’s had trouble with girlfriends in the past, simply due to them them believing false rumours and not trusting him. On this track, Drake lets rip, proclaiming; “Can’t you see that I made it, yeah I made it/First I made you who you are, then I made it/And you’re wasted, with your ladies/Yeah I’m the reason why you always getting faded”. This is hard hitting stuff. No holds barred.

He then begins to rap at the end of the track in the last verse. This is done effortlessly. His ability to express himself through singing and rapping at such close intervals on 1 track - whilst producing his lyrics with the same level of emotion and intensity, is something that should be hugely respected. 

Make Me Proud fits in with the simply “good tracks” on Take Care which I haven’t discussed,  but as this features 2 notable artists; I felt it deserved to get a mention. Drake and Nicki Minaj come together to produce a catchy track, where they rap about personal views on their ideal partners and relationships. Are they speaking about each other here… hmm? Back to the music anyhow, this track did not reach the heights of Up All Night on Thank Me Later, however it still provides us with a good quality sound, where both artists perform relatively well.

As is the case with most albums, not all of the songs are great. Which leads me to my first question in this review. Why oh why did Drake include Rihanna on this LP? This WAS NOT going to reverse the trend. Her weak vocals would not have been missed. Although the song Take Care provides an up tempo pop sounding beat, it wasn’t amongst the best songs on the album in terms of quality. Rihanna sounds off tune at times in her attempt to carry the song, and Drake’s bars are not as meaningful as some others he provides on further tracks. However, as all close followers of rap music know, these days a pop/catchy song is the required ingredient on an LP, to ensure a good amount of radio time.

Other standout tracks on the album include Headlines, Marvin’s Room, HYFR and Lord Knows. HYFR certainly did provide us with the “new flows” Drake has been tweeting and speaking of all Summer. His high octane rapping technique here, shows his development in terms of variation of his style. This flow is new from Drake, unheard on previous tracks. Additionally and surprisingly, even Lil Wayne managed to provide Drizzy with a good quality feature, after a poor performance on The Motto. 

The production to Lord Knows in particular is a masterpiece by Just Blaze. Because of this, many have been calling the track the best rap song of the year, and the best song on the album by far. Drizzy certainly kills the beat with his punchy lines as well. “I know of all the things that I hear they be poking fun at/Never the flow though, they know I run that”. Drake knows people make fun of his mannerisms (especially that non-stop shaking hand), but he also knows his rap ability can never be questioned. And for all you guys that be hating on Drake’s singing? He’s got an answer to you to – “I'm hearing all of the jokes, I know that they tryna push me/I know that showin' emotion don't ever mean I'm a pussy/Know that I don't make music for niggas who don't get pussy/So those are the ones I count on to diss me or overlook me”. All I can say to you guys is… Shame.

Take Care is an improvement on Thank Me Later, an improvement which Drake promised. For me personally, this album goes toe to toe with J. Cole’s album – Cole World The Sideline Story for the title of Rap album of the year, just shading it because it has that extra piece of quality. This quality is down to the production of most of Take Care’s 17 tracks, along with the versatility of the tracks. 

I know some reading this may be of the belief that a rapper shouldn’t be singing, or consider rappers who sing as “soft”, but I ask you guys to get rid of these stereotypes and warped opinions. Rap stands for R-hythm A-nd P-oetry, and if Drake is talented enough to provide us with this through singing and rapping, and do it all on 1 track most of the time, WITHOUT making the track sound disjointed, then we should embrace it, not knock it. 

Drake has raised the level with Take Care. He’s doing something that no other mainstream rapper is doing. He’s rapping AND singing, and doing it well. Take Care has brought about a new, more pronounced style from Drake, a style that fans and music followers alike better get used to, because it will be successful, and it’s here to stay.

By Eathan Sergeant

So I think we'll be coming to Eathan for all our music reviews :) 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Lots of love

Jadeybaby

xXx

Beat The Versace Queue!

The wait is almost over guys the 18th of November is almost with us!  Which one of you big brand lovers are actually gonna go and queue outside HnM?? Not gonna lie I would so be out there, yes in the freezing cold waiting. -__-  lol.  Not because I can afford it but because I really wanna see these master pieces up close in front of me.  But unfortunately for me I have a 7am start and will not be leaving work until 4pm!!! FML

So while you guys are queuing up, I'll just watch from the windows and cry.

The question really is, is it all worth the money?  I've been hearing mixed views, some people are loving the collection and cant wait to get their hands on it, others don't think the prices are great, (it is versace after all).

If money wasn't an issue I would cop me a bag a dress those shoes and oh the other dress too!!

But it issss :(

The way versace has been going on in the past how many years, are people really going to buy a whole load and re-sell it on ebay? YES lol.  The men's collection is quite eye catching loving the black and white suit (to be fair I'm really feeling men's fashion in general lately!)  Anyways enough of me ranting on here's a couple pics of what you can get a hold of!

so long sweets! 

mitra xxx

Black Girl Issues: Hair Growth

Hi guys :)

Let me just start off by saying that in no way am I an expert in hair growth BUT I do have things that work for me and might work for you too. Also I'm really hoping that everyone leaves comments underneath including some of their tips. Lets make this the biggest post yet! :)

So where do I begin. I may as well tell you my hair journey. 

I had natural hair up until the age of 19. Partly because my mum wouldn't allow me to relax my hair and partly because I used to link straightening hair to 'selling out'. That's a debate for another day though lol

This was me all happy and innocent and natural.

I think Uni was the turning point for me. I was venturing out of the house more and just saw a lot more weave and relaxed hair and to be honest I thought I would look better if I did it too. Still not sure if I made the right decision to be honest. 

The thing is, I think I would have kept my natural hair if it was growing. If I had a thick luscious afro. But I didn't. It was just kind of there and I couldn't do anything with it. I'm sure it was growing...just at a snails pace.

So I made the decision to relax me hair. I went to the hairdressers and it cost me around £90 and I'm sure I shed a few tears about the cost but I was naive and excited. However from that moment I was hooked. What I loved the most is that is that when hair is relaxed its easier to see when its being damaged, so you spend more money and effort making sure that your hair stays happy and healthy. When my hair was natural I neglected it. Now I was going for treatments every three weeks and my hair was growing FAST.

But then...student brokeness hit me and I stopped going to the hairdresser and therefore my hair started breaking. So basically I chopped it short (around chin length) and started again. I knew that since I couldn't afford the salon I'd have to do it myself so it was time to fix up.

So here are a couple of the products I use which keep my hair healthy and growing. Now when its down its past my shoulders and I'm going to keep going like the persistent bitch that I am lol. 

The first product I rely on is Mizani Renew Strength Fortifying Shampoo and its £13.85.

It strengthens damaged hair which mine definitely was and now I just use it as a preventative measure. It contains some oils and proteins, it smells nice and its so thick you can literally feel it seeping into your hair. Afterwards your hair will feel more elastic and it also restores some shine to it. You may be able to find something cheaper but I just really like this. Also the bottle looks really nice in the bathroom LOL

The second product I love is: Motions CPR Protein reconstructor. 

It's really cheap at £2.99 and its a well known brand. After you wash out your shampoo dump a handful of this on your hair and smooth it through. Then put a plastic cap over your head and heat with a blowdryer for around five mins. You can then leave it in from anywhere from 20 mins to an hour. I always go for around 40 minutes and after you wash it out you just know that if your hair had lips it'd be kissing you for this treatment. It makes your hair so much stronger when  applying heat, therefore making it less likely to break and more likely to grow :)

The next product is Via Semi Permanent Hair Colour.

I used this for a few reasons. First of all, using relaxer has caused my hair to become really brown so dying it back to black is a must. Secondly I'm allergic to permanent hair dye so I have to use ones that state they can be used after relaxing. Thirdly, this means that its not as harsh on your hair and this one even includes moisturising elements. Its great because after I wash it out my hair feels better than when I put it in.

After I've done all this and i'm about to blow dry I use Dark & Lovely: Moisture Plus Olive Oil Rich Moisture.

Its another known brand and this is great for protecting your hair before you add heat. The best thing about it is that the first ingredient is water. If the first ingredient was oil then my hair would literally fry and break as I heated it. And although the water turning into steam is sometimes quite painful its better then having strands of hair breaking off in your hands lol

Last up is the product I swear by Doo Gro: Mega Thick Growth Oil.

Usually I'm really wary about products which claim to boost hair growth BUT this is just the shiz bang. The oil is really thick so you just know its doing its job. But because its so thick do not apply it in the morning or during that day unless you want to leave grease spots everywhere. So apply it to your scalp, roots and ends and night, wrap your hair with a silk scarf knowing that you're going to wake up with super soft hair! :)

But you know what? If all else fails the ultimate way of ensuring hair growth is to leave it alone, away from the elements and roving hands. So the ultimate solution to the ultimate problem? Put in a weave and leave it for a couple of months. You're guaranteed a lot of new growth because it finally got to rest.

I do love a good weave lol

Lots of love 

Jadeybaby 

x