Queen B is back!

So this week Beyoncé dropped her surprise new visual album onto iTunes with no prior warning and lets just say it's took the world by storm.

We all know Queen B already ruled the music world however this latest release sets the bar SO much higher. Bey lays herself bare through the 14 new songs, 17 videos allowing the world just a bit more of an insight to her world. But just how did she keep it secret? I feel sorry for the person sorting all that  non-disclosure paperwork, but what B wants, she gets.

'Yonce' is the sassy new alter-ego making 'Sascha Fierce' seem rather tame. The whole project really shows that Beyoncé really does do what the hell she wants with the track Flawless  telling 'bitches to bow down' and ' Don't think I'm just his little wife' proving that she really is an independent woman.

The album includes collabs with Pharrell, Drake and of course Jay-Z.

The power couple show that they've still got it. Partition, Rocket and Blow are all X-rated giving pretty in depth details about the couples sex life. Very different to Crazy in Love that the couple released together 10 years ago. The lyrics of Partition 'Driver roll up the partition please, I don't need you seeing Yonce on her knees'. But when Beyoncé sings about it, it's empowering and makes Kayne's Bound 2 video ft. Kim K look pitiful and down right embarrassing.

The self named album is a real family affair with even Blue Ivy making her debut in the track Blue. I suppose Beyoncé and Jay-Z are just preparing her for when she's Queen of the world. Heaven is another extremely emotional track and video on the album. The lyrics 'No heaven couldn't wait for you So go on, go home' suggest that the track could be about Beyoncé's previous miscarriage although this is not confirmed.

The 32-year-old, of course, looks absolutely flawless in every video and it does consist of the traditional Beyoncé inspirations tracks, such as Pretty Hurts, telling girls to believe in themselves and to follow their dreams.

 

This is most definitely THE album of 2013 if not of all time. If you haven't already downloaded it, then it's a must. It leaves you feeling jealous of Beyoncé's perfection and satisfied that you know a little bit more about the Queen herself.

Review: Remington Silk Ultimate Styler

Girls gather round, we no longer have to burn our finger tips while trying to create curls as bouncy as Cheryl's.

As promised here's my review of the Remington Silk Ultimate Styler that I promised.

I received these as a gift for my birthday from my girl friends. I'm a big lover of waved/curled/bouncy hair and this product does just that.

The styler can create 4 different styles: loose curls, tighter curls, waves and can be used as a straightener to curl under those layers. To change the style that you create you simply remove a silicone sleeve or put it on, depending on the style you desire.

I've only used the irons a few times now but I'm extremely happy with them. I can curl my entire hair in around 10 minutes and it remains in place for hours with just a spritz of hair spray. 

They come with a protective glove to ensure that you don't burn your fingers however avoid touching your hair with the glove if you have fine hair like me as it can cause static.

The temperature goes up to 230 degrees in 30 seconds meaning you can have perfect curls even when you're in a rush! 

They're a really great product and a perfect gift if you've got a special lady to buy for. I'm unsure of the price as they were brought as a gift, but however much the cost, she's worth it.

I rate them a 10/10, I don't know what else they could offer that would make them any better to me.

Have you used these or feel like you have a product that rivals them? Let me know.

Zoe xo

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

So this time in two weeks the pressies will have been opened, the dinner devoured and we'll all be dozing around the fire. Then it'll all be over for yet another year.

I am such a sucker for Christmas and love buying people presents. So while I can't yet blog about the presents I've brought I can tell you all about the wrapping and the preparations! 

Cute wrapping paper is a must! I looked everywhere for the vintage style brown parcel paper but stumbled across this cute brown paper with tiny red reindeers on whilst doing my food shop.

At just £2 for 3 meters at Tesco I just couldn't resist. It's super thick which makes present wrapping so much easier,  No longer will sharp edges year through my paper! 

To make my parcels extra cute I brought red polka dot bows and ribbon which came together in a pack and plain brown parcel tags from Paper Chase. All together it came to like £4 which I think it a bargain as my presents look extra festive. 

 I placed a piece of the ribbon onto the gift tags just to make them less plain.

And finally my Christmas cards are Minnie and Micky and cost £1 for 10(!!!) from Primark.

I think I'll be a bit upset when my friends and family rip these little works of art ha! 

So have you got any tips and tricks for wrapping? Let me know.

Zoe 

Xx

The BIG 20!

So I haven't blogged in a while, I've been a bit busy with exams, moving home for Christmas. As well as this on the 7th it was my birthday!

I turned 20, and felt very nervous about doing so. I'm no longer a teenager, which is heartbreaking. I had a lovely day and I was showered with lots of beautiful gifts from friends, family and my boyfriend. 

Here's just a few:

Top left: I received these killer heels from my mum and dad, believe it or not they're Matalan! I'm yet to wear them so I'll report back on just how comfy they are.

Top right: This is a gorgeous Fiorelli long chained pendant necklace from my grandma. It's really classy and different and I've not took it off since Saturday.

Bottom: These two are again from my parents, a cost mohair jumper from Topshop along side a pair of their Mom jeans in black. I've been after a pair for ages, they're so comfy yet a great look.

I was also really spoilt by my friends who brought me a gorgeous tan satchel from Zara, green tartan skirt from New Look and a statement necklace from Primark. The girls also got me Remington Silk Ulimate Styler which is a 4 way curling iron for my hair. These are great and I definitely will be writing a separate post about them.

But Tom spoilt me the most! He had this beautiful cake handmade for me, which is so thoughtful.

As well as this is brought me a Pandora ring and a tartan scarf.

I apologise for such a long post but I just wanted to share the lovely gifts I've been given. 

Being twenty isn't that bad after all! 

Zoe 

Xo

Check out Student Soc

I've recently started writing for Student Soc which is an online hub style website. 

Students from both Nottingham Trent and University of Nottingham provide short, jovial articles for the site.

My first was published last week which I was extremely excited about! I wrote about the things you have to do before leaving Nottingham Trent.

I'm really enjoying writing these articles as they're away to escape Uni work and remind myself of the fun things about Uni.

So check out my article: http://www.studentsoc.co.uk/blog/things-leave-nottingham-trent/

And like them on Facebook! 

Zoe xo

Beauty review: Soap and GloryFlash Extensions Effect Mascara

So I don't usually do beauty reviews but after coming across a new make up bag must I thought I should share my find.

It's not very often a find a mascara that I'm satisfied with so when I found myself in Boots this weekend I thought I'd have a look for something a little different.

Cosmetics is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Soap and Glory. They're better known for their scrummy body and hand lotions and moisturisers. However they do have a vast make up range on offer in Boots stores.

Soap and Glory: Flash Extensions Effect Mascara is £10.50 and comes in one of the brands signature quirky boxes.

I thought I'd show you a before and after picture of the mascara in the colour 'Wicked black': 

Left: no mascara

Middle: one coat

Right: two coats

One coat is ideal for a daytime, natural look. The mascara also comes in other shades if black isn't your colour.

The box recommends adding a second coat for 'extra intensity' which I think looks ideal for a night time look as it gives a great amount of length and volume without being clumpy and feeling heavy.

I'd give this mascara a 8/10 as it's long lasting and easy to remove. However is loses points as it takes a while to dry which is never handy when you're in a rush. But other than that it's a great purchase, so girls put down those falsies and buy Soap and Glory: Flash Extensions Effect Mascara now! 

Bound 2 make you vom!

So this week Kanye released his video for his track Bound 2 from his latest album 'Yeezus' and of course it's extremely controversial.

If you haven't already seen it it basically consists of Kanye and a naked Kim Kardashian riding a motorcycle whilst really enjoing each other's company. Kim is sporting her new blonde locks and looks flawless throughout.

Of course Kanye is a lyrical genius however I still haven't made my mind up on my opinion on the video. Yes- its undoubtedly a huge declaration of love. White horses galloping, the majestic setting, the waterfalls however Kim dry humps him whilst he raps about how hard he's gonna fuck her. Who said romance is dead? 

 Surely Kris Jenner is going to see this video but I suppose the act her daughter is engaging in did make the Kardashian family what they are today. What about their newly born daughter? When she's old enough to understand, she's not going to think 'wow what an artistic video' she's going to be sick in her mouth and scarred for life. 

Nobody likes couples, especially celeb couples, who PDA and this is no exception. So while giving your fiancé a starring role in your new music video is very thoughtful, maybe leave what happens in the bedroom in your gabillion dollar mansion. 

Watch the explicit vid here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2I8Uxi3HMus

Colour Project Show

So tonight I went to the Colour Project  show at Nottingham Trent University to see my house mate Emily's design being strut down the catwalk.

The show began fashionably late at round 7.10pm and consisted of outfits designed and made by 2nd year students from the BA Fashion Design course.

The outfits ranged from looks you'd see on the high street to haute couture looks to the down right bonkers! But every single one looked professional and like a lot of hard work had gone into them.

My house mate Emily designed a beautiful tailored and embellished playsuit that I would say was one of my favourite looks of the night. I'm not just saying that either! Here it is:

I could definitely see myself in this outfit for a night out and with all those beads there's no need for statement jewellery.

The show was a complete success with no stumbling models or nip slips. 

I'll definitely be attending the next one as I've heard it's menswear, bring on the male models!!

Urban Outfitters launch Nottingham

So yesterday Nottingham finally got it's very own Urban Outfitters much to the disappointment of my bank balance.

The opening party kicked off at 5pm at the store, where 100s of excited shoppers received free beer, free temporary tattoos and the chance to have their photo taken in a cool photo booth. 

As you can see I took full advantage of the temporary tattoo parlour!

Piñata's were hung from the ceiling which were smashed at certain times of the night and contained lots of UO goodies including vouchers for in store. 

The store it's self is a lot bigger than I imagined with the ladies department on the first floor and then the men's on the bottom. The decor oozes cool with graffiti     walls and sky scraper ceilings. 

As you can imagine the store was very busy last night so there was little room for actual shopping, so I'm gonna head back down their today to do a little 'me' Christmas shopping.

So were you at the launch last night, let me know! 

Zoe xo

Remember Remember the 5th of November

It's that time of year again. The anniversary of Guy Fawke's foiled gunpowder plot. Toffee apples, fireworks, sparklers. Bonfire night!

Tonight I went to a fireworks display at the Forest Recreation Ground in Nottingham complete with funfair, bonfire and plenty of fireworks.

The event was free and is run annually by Nottingham City Council.

The sky high bonfire was lit at around 7.45pm with cheers from the crowd and a very proud guy sat at the top.

With in minutes the fire was roaring which is just what we needed in the cold, damp, autumnal weather.

The show kicked off at around 9pm as thousands of spectators gathered round to watch the 15 minute spectacular.

It was easily the largest bonfire event I have been to and it proved extremely popular. After the fireworks me and my housemates decided we'd grab some fresh donuts for the walk home, but the stall was sold out! So we clambered back through the crowds of people and headed home. 

All in all it was a cute, traditional bonfire night, but now that's over it can only mean that Christmas is on it's way!!!! 🎄

Zoe xo

Halloween hulabaloo

So I know it's nearly been a week since Halloween, but I thought I'd still do a post.
I live at university with 6 of my friends and they're all girls! So trying to decide on an outfit that we all want to go out as is usually a challenge.
Last year we all went as mummies which consisted of teabag staining bandages and simply wrapping them round ourselves along with a bit of talc and fake blood. Jobs a gooden', but as you can imagine it was not all that simple.
Not only did we smell of tea, but as soon as we started throwing some shapes in the club the bandages just unraveled. Leaving us looking like extremely pale girls that needed a good hair brush.

Us before we went out and unraveled. (excuse my face)

 After much deliberation, this year we all (bar 1) decided on the theme of scary/dead dolls. We all brought scary white zombie contacts costing £7.99, ribbon (60p per meter) and that's pretty much it. I teamed mine with a little cream white dress I brought from River Island around 3 years ago.

 All in all I think this was a pretty effective and easy fancy dress. The contacts were a little tricky to get in and as I've never worn them before they felt a little uncomfortable to begin with, but eventually I couldn't even tell they were in.

Me and the Boyf

Has anyone else had any Halloween malfunctions? Let me know!

Zoe xo

Holly wears primark too

So last night I sat down to watch my weekly dose of celebrity juice when to my surprise I spotted that the glamorous Holly Willoughby was wearing the tartan dress from my previous post!

If you didn't see for yourself Holly teamed the flattering tartan number with black tights and leg lengthening heels. Just proving that this dress can give a dressed up look.

If you didn't see for yourself, here it is:

poor quality sorry :(

Looks great doesn't it. Surprisingly Holly actually has her very own tartan dress for sale on very.co.uk for £55.

Here it is:

Both look amazing, but why spend that extra £40!

Primark also do a red version to, so get your mits on t before it sells out.

Zoe xo

Autumn is upon us

Leaves on the ground and the dark nights drawing in can only mean one thing; Autumn is upon us. But lets not be sad that summer is just a distant memory. Autumn creates the perfect opportunity to 're-stock', shall I say, our wardrobes.
  So I thought I'd share a cheeky purchase that I made the other day.

(Apologies for the poor photo quality, I'm working on it)

This dress is was from Primark for just £15! The steeper end of Primark prices I know but the quality is great and you would never guess it was from there.With tartan being the pattern of the season, not everyone wants to brave wearing bright red, so this dress is a perfect compromise. I think anyone could wear it, the shape and material are very flattering. It can definitely be worn both day and night. Like today I just wore it with black tights, patent shoes and a leather jacket and it was really comfortable. But I'm sure it could be glammed up with some heels and lipstick to wear on a night out.

So what are your thoughts? Have you found some absolute bargains that rival higher end high street stores? Or what do you think the key trends are this Autumn? Let me know!

Zoe xo

Thrills, spills and mushy peas at Nottingham Goosefair

So after living in Nottingham for a year and still not having visited the famous Sherwood Forest, or Nottingham Castle or done anything remotely 'touristy' when I heard that the Goosefair was coming to town I thought it was a perfect opportunity to explore Nottingham.

The 700 year old traditional fair comes to town every year in the first weekend in October. The name Goosefair is thought to have originated from when hundreds of geese were driven from Lincolnshire to Nottingham in order for them to be sold many years ago. But now it's much different!

The fair has around 500 different attractions from traditional fairground rides like the waltzers to little craft stalls selling handmade dream catchers. It's easily the biggest fair I've been too But one thing I was most surprised about was the amount of mushy peas on sale! But apparently it's a Nottingham specialty dish served best with mint sauce. I am a mushy pea fan however on this occasion I opted for freshly made candy floss instead.

It was a really cute traditional fair and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in the surrounding area. Just be prepared to fight your way through helium balloons and frantic mothers with pushchairs.

So did you go to the Goosefair this year? Or are there any historic traditions in your area? Let me know.

Zoe xo

Intro

Hi my names Zoe and I'm completely new to blogging, so I feel I should introduce myself slightly.
Basically I'm a journalism student at Nottingham Trent and I'm hoping to blog on a regular basis on topics such as: fashion, reviews on music, books, restaurants and pretty much anything else I can have a good rant about.

I know these things can be  REALLY cringey so I'll keep it short and sweet. Hope you enjoy reading and feel free to comment on anything,

Zoe

xo