My Early Midlife Crisis

It has been over a week since I made the absolutely insane decision of getting some random man to shove a needle through my nipple. I was hungover, extremely hungover. As my whole body was not functioning properly I decided it would be the perfect time to finally get that nipple piercing I have wanted since last year. Although I have to say, I did judge this perfectly and the pain didn't hit me fully because I had already been through the wars the night before and all I could think was "Just take me and my nipple too..." I then came home to a list of people who asked "Why did you do that??" To be completely honest, I have absolutely no bloody idea. The sign on the door said they were gone for lunch so I was taking it as a sign and about to do a runner until the guy who worked there ran to remove the sign. Oh bloody hell.

The expectations were all too high, I had promised my friends I would and my sister was there beside me all smiley, waiting for this unnecessary pain and utter humiliation to fall upon her baby sister. You know what I was thinking? My whole body is drowning in misery and now I have committed to turning my nipple into some sort of freaky kebab skewer thing... absolutely bloody fantastic. I did it, I survived it and now I love it. Although, this is me, so it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose and it becomes infected or falls off during a casual conversation in the smoking area with some potential shift.

How is life after the nip piercing you may ask? Ever since that trauma, nothing too exciting has been happening apart from forcing my best friend to google the distance to a hot guy's home place from our exact location so I could edit my Tinder settings in the hope of finding him. Guess what? I didn't. Mystery man does not appear to be on Tinder. Well, I'm not too upset. I mean we literally spoke once, but now I will never know what could have been with that random man who could genuinely have been a millionaire, a serial killer, or both. Like I said, I will never know. Sigh.

I have decided that I am definitely going through a very early midlife crisis. Piercings in strange places and stalking the home place of random men is not something that 7-year-old me had planned for her future as lead actress in the newest Bratz movie. I also didn't think my greatest fears would be my life goals or bikini waxes but look, here we are. Also, are Bratz even still a thing? Do they still have heads bigger than my future?

If this wasn't all dodgy enough, my family went away for a few days so I had a free house. Plans of a wild session turned into me eating chicken nuggets alone while crying my eyes out watching The Way We Were. That isn't an exaggeration, I cried like a baby which was a pretty delayed reaction considering the movie came out in 1973. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I just had my dog staring and judging me from her basket as I gobbled up that 7th nugget and washed it down with a bottle of cheap lager. I cannot explain what happened to me that night. I have been super positive the past few weeks but all of a sudden I had to wail. A lot. It was sad. So sad that I can't even blame the dog for judging me because she was so right - morto!

After this, I cleaned my nipple piercing and went to bed. Alone. Just me and my dodgy nip against the world. I was in no way drunk, I think I cried out the few bottles I drank. The good news is I am fine now, although I can't look at my dog in the same way ever again without thinking about how she witnessed this break down of my entire character and being. Say nothing, girlo. What happens in 1973, stays in 1973.

Lilac Love With DV8

Hey gals!

I have collaborated with DV8, one of my favourite stores, for this post as they were kind enough to send me an outfit of my choice to style and shoot. In this post I am styling the Ax Paris Lilac Suede Dress.

Can I just say before I start, I LOVE these suede style dresses! Honestly, I think they are so gorgeous and I have adored them since day one. Two of my friends have them and the temptation to try and squeeze my bum into them has always been too real. However, quite often the colours are darker but we all know I love my outfits to make a statement so when I spotted this lilac dress I knew it had to be mine. Lilac is so popular at the moment and I'm going to Prague in August so this will definitely be one of my outfits among the 500 I always find it necessary to bring on holiday! They also had other colours to choose from such as pink and navy so you will definitely find something to suit your taste (or just buy every colour because you know, treat yourself!)

One of the things I love the most about this dress is that it can be dressed up or down. I would definitely rock this on a night out on the town, for a casual lunch with the girls or as the perfect outfit for a first date. The high neck keeps it classic and chic whilst the way it goes up into a dip on the side of the thigh adds a little bit of an edge.

I'm a bit of a denim addict myself so I chose to team it with my beloved over-sized vintage denim jacket (when I say vintage I mean it belonged to my dad in the 90s. Soz Dad, you're officially vintage!) a pair of fishnets, chunky high heels and fluffy earrings. However, I think it would look equally stunning with a delicate pair of earrings, elegant high heels, a pretty clutch bag and hair pulled back into a loose upstyle. Can you cope with the thought of this dress with a pair of oversized sunnies? So fab. Yes, I do live in Clonmel but I was definitely destined for Calabasas with Kylie Jenner, things just didn't work out that way...

If you're looking to snap up this dress for Saturday night or just to slay in your next insta selfie then you can find it here. Be sure to check out DV8 Fashion for loads of fab styles and inspiration!

No doubt the rest of my friends group will be buying one of these dresses now after seeing this post and we will all be going around as the suede sisters... The next major girlband perhaps? Also, my sister loves it so I'm surprised it didn't suddenly go missing before I wrote this blog post... we all know how scheming sisters can be...

Thanks so much to DV8 for bringing this lilac beauty into my life and wardrobe! Hope you all loved this post and love this dress as much as I do :) xx

**This dress was gifted to me by DV8 for our collaboration** 

Foxy Fashion - June 2017

Welcomes back to another Foxy Fashion post! Woah, that month flew.  The weather in June was a bit all over the place (much like my life) soooo I didn't really know what to be wearing half the time, but anyway, here is my Foxy Fashion for June!

This black and white dress has been in my wardrobe for over a year, it was from Boohoo and I just fell in love with it. I love the illusion at the side with the black and white because I think it's really flattering. Okay, look, to be honest I actually had spanx on and couldn't breathe. Anyway, I wore it with my trusty white heels and a thick black choker. Simple and timeless.

This is the outfit I wore to the Penneys Press Day in Dublin. I styled the outfit around the shoes because they're so pretty with the embroidery and pop of pink. The top and shoes are both from Penneys a while back and the skirt has been sitting in my wardrobe for years and comes out whenever I need the Carrie Bradshaw confidence. I think people either love or hate the shoes, I personally love them and when I bought them they were the last pair and an absolute bargain.

I always seem to style outfits around one particular piece of clothing and this time it was this embroidered floral belt (am I seeing a pattern here?) I honestly fell in love with it when I saw it in Penneys and I knew I just had to have it because I've wanted one for ages. I've gotten so much use out of it already. I found this outfit very fun and flirty because of the skater style of the skirt. It also looked nice with a black top but I found the red much more striking. Girls just want to have fun and all that!

This next outfit was the day after the fun and flirty outfit night so I was very hungover, very warm and needed the oversized denim jacket to hide my dodgy tan. Luckily I am still bronzed in this picture so didn't look too close to death! These Chanel style espadrilles were from Heatons, the Jacket was my dads as we already know and the skirt was another Penneys bargain yet again.

As I said in the original post, I completely forgot I had this polka dot dress! No joke I have had it for YEARS. I think it was Penneys? Can't remember but I would assume so. I think it is so girly and perfect for those relaxed summer days. Very 1950s! It might be a bit daring as a casual everyday look for some people but I personally love standing out and making an impact with colour and print.

I have saved my favourite outfit until last, it is also the most recent! This outfit I wore to the Matte To Metallic and Makeup Revolution Masterclass in Morrison's Pharmacy, Cahir was giving me all sorts of pirate vibes last week! Once again the belt has made a comeback and I have teamed it with those dramatic sleeves and a pair of comfy yet chic pants from boohoo. I know I always mention pirate vibes lately, even in my last Foxy Fashion post, but honestly that was all I could think of with this one.

That's all from Foxy Fashion for another month. We will have to see what the upcoming weather will bring because knowing Ireland I could be styling raincoats by next month. So which was your favourite? Are you inspired by the queen of quirky style Carrie Bradshaw? Or are you ready to run away with captain Jack Sparrow?

Find Yourself First

I was never the type of girl who would put a pause on the arrival of Prince Charming. In fact, I would regularly play made up romantic situations in my head and wait for the day he would finally come along and sweep me off my feet. Today, as I am staring out the window of my tower, or should I say bedroom, I can confirm that that day has still not arrived. Don’t get me wrong, potential ones have come and gone but there was none that made it to the end, none of them braved the dragon and stuck around long enough to save me. Quite often it turned out the ones who got the closest ended up being the ones that needed to be saved and the door was shut on us before I could even try to enter.

As I got older, the hopeless romantic in me did not die, and she is still there - a part of me waiting for the day my dream will finally come true and I will meet the man of my dreams, the man I always talked about meeting and the one who would stay with me and would finally be my happy ending. And don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to that because it is not a weakness to want to spend your life with a man that loves you. I still firmly believe that happy endings don’t only exist in fairytales. However, during this time of growing up I realised how extremely difficult finding that love can be. Having a heart that is ready to give and take means it is out there, completely vulnerable and able to get hurt. It is this heart that so many people hide away for that reason, they shut their heart off from being accessed so that it remains in a perfect condition. Again, having a heart like mine isn’t a weakness, and trust me, it may not look so perfect anymore, there are plenty of cuts and bruises from the poor handling by other people who did not care enough to properly look after the most valuable part of me.

As you grow up and try to find yourself, I can guarantee you at least once you will wonder “What is wrong with me?” You will not be able to comprehend why your friends have boyfriends and you don’t, or why things never work out for you or why that one person you would change the world for always leaves you high and dry. And then the worst thing happens in the world... your heart will get broken. And when I say broken I mean really broken like never before. The mention of his name will send shockwaves through you and your only chance of survival will seem to be cutting him out of your life and hoping you don’t bump into him when you’re running into a shop or on a night out. You will cry, you will hurt and you will hate - You will hate everyone’s advice and you will hate yourself for not hating him.

After a while your heart will begin to heal itself because time changes everything, you will realise how strong you can be, but you will also get used to not feeling good enough, more men will come and go and you will come to terms with the feeling of loneliness. You get your hopes up and go on dates and end up back where you started because right now you believe that you are the damsel in distress, struggling to survive by yourself and thinking it will be this way forever. Trust me, I know.

Then, out of the blue, something will set in your mind. Right now I don’t have a boyfriend to call when I’m sad or to watch new films with, and I don’t have a man’s name to put in my Instagram bio. Right now I have to fill the empty part of my heart myself, because maybe this spot isn’t reserved for someone else. Maybe there is something missing in my heart but it is adventure and new experiences. Maybe I’m the only person who can really push myself to do things and if I happen to meet Prince Charming along the way then so be it. Maybe waiting for Prince Charming is our greatest downfall because he isn’t waiting at all, he is out there living, writing the stories that he will tell us when he happens to stumble across us and our souls collide on top of a mountain in Asia or in a random coffee shop on a Tuesday afternoon, somewhere in Europe. Maybe when we stop looking for Prince Charming we will find ourselves, the person we really need to find. 

Giving somebody else the power to save you will only kill you in the long run. Finding love is exciting, but waiting for love isn’t. In order to fall you have to be in a risky situation, so why should falling in love be any different? Timing is everything. Fill that empty space in your heart with living - with happiness, with laughter, with risks, with new places and new experiences and maybe, when your heart is overflowing with a love of life and you are writing your own happy ending, maybe you will be lucky enough to stumble across the other half of your soul and he will tag along with you on the rest of your adventures.

Inglot Roadshow

It has been over a week since I went to the Inglot Roadshow in the Clonmel Park Hotel and I had such a lovely day so I have decided to sit down and blog about it.

Firstly, if you're thinking of going to one of the Roadshows you should definitely do it.  Tickets were only €15 and it was on from 2-5pm. I have wanted to go for ages because I obviously love makeup, and when the day finally came around I was so excited. I went with my friend Emma as she is as makeup mad as I am. I also bumped into my lovely makeup artist friends Donna and Catriona, hadn't seen them in aaages! So nice to catch up.

When we got there the queue was insane and we saw Jane walking around with her phone snapping us all, so the excitement really started to set in then. We were seated in the second row and had an amazing view of the stage, and they also had tv screens set up around the room which was so handy if you couldn't see the stage properly.

The Inglot makeup artists that were there were Maria Murphy, Ellie McDonough, Niamh Cleary, Lorna Ryan and Keilidh Cashell. They each ran through a different demo and it was so great to learn their tips and see their individual tricks and how they all do things that bit differently. It just shows how makeup really is an art that lets your own creativity shine through! I don't want to give too much away incase you do want to go because it was exciting not knowing what to expect on the day.

There was also a Q&A and Jane Swarbrigg came on stage to chat to us all too. I was so glad Jane was there because she was so inspiring with how she has grown Inglot here in Ireland but she was still so down to earth and approachable which I think is so important if you are in business, especially when you are largely appealing to an audience of younger females. During the Q&A I asked them their favourite products to achieve dewy skin and they all advised the SPF Primer and the Face Mist, they all seemed to really rely on these for that glowing, summer skin look. I have bought the Face Mist since, can't wait to try it. 

Afterwards we could have a chat to all the girls and have our foundation and brows matched. I got a HD tester because I needed a new night out foundation and ended up buying one recently when I was in Dublin - in love! I was so delighted with how the Inglot girls were, they were all so friendly and real. There was no competition in the air, they were all so genuine and happy to help and advise which says so much for the company. Apart from their amazing products, this is a huge factor which keeps me coming back to Inglot, the way the girls talk to you is so refreshing because you feel like you're getting advice from a friend rather than feeling clueless and as if you're a nuisance when you ask lots of questions. 

While the girls were doing the matching, we had the opportunity to chat to Jane and Keilidh. I have to say I got wayyyy too excited meeting Keilidh, fangirl moment! I was even a bit nervous to go up to her. What I love about her is how she is so quirky and creative with her talent, she really expresses herself however she wants to and I idolise that about her. She is also so funny and relatable. Yes, she also hugged me... just me who's still excited?!

So there you go, my thoughts on the Inglot Roadshow. I would actually love to do the day all over again. If you're thinking of going to the next round of Roadshows, definitely go! It was so affordable, I learned so much, I got to meet some really inspirational ladies and it was such a lovely girly day out with my best friend Emma because we are both passionate about it. We love makeup, don't think our bank accounts do though! I now have all the notes I took down in the booklet they gave us to refer back to, products to look into and details on the favourite products of the MUAs present on the day.

Anyone want to drive me to my closest Inglot store, nah?!

Happy makeup shopping and tutorial watching xx

Rant Of The Week: Dublin And Doubts

Despite being the most loud and in your face person, simple things such as ordering a cup of tea in an unfamiliar cafe by myself used to send a fear through me which was worse than three Sundays in a row over the party season. It is only the past year or so that I have started to be more independent and face things by myself. The scariest of this was probably this week when I went up to an event in Dublin by myself, something I never would have done before. It may sound weird to some people, but whenever I go anywhere I usually follow my sister around like an annoying puppy and leave her to do all the organising, I think this was because whenever we were young she was always the one in charge.

Anyway, sister-less yet stylish, off I went and well, lets just say, I'm still here to write this post, aren't I? I started the day off with a fab skirt and my Fenella necklace to set my day off with an empowering Carrie Bradshaw vibe. I mean, at no point in Sex and the City do I remember Carrie sitting on a bus eating cheestrings, but hey, I'm here to spice things up a little. Also, Carrie could walk properly in her heels, I on the other hand could not, but I'll tell you more about that later.

My mum dropped me off to the bus at 8am and I did my usual thing where I use humour to mask my insecurities - "Thanks mum, I'll text you later, if I ever get there and don't end up somewhere else!" were the words that came out of my mouth, but in reality my head was shouting "YOU GAVE BIRTH TO ME AND ARE JUST GOING TO LET ME RUN LOOSE IN A CITY ALONE AT 21??? WHAT IF I DO END UP SOMEWHERE ELSE, DO YOU HAVE A SOLID PLAN OF ACTION WITH HOW WE WILL DEAL WITH IT?" I then proceeded to ask her 15 times if I was getting on the right bus, and she was quick to remind me that the big "Dublin" sign on the front slightly gave it away. Oh. 

So when I got on the bus I was quite comfortable because the bus driver was very friendly and I actually had packed cheestrings for the journey. I didn't even need to worry about my iPhone's crappy battery because my mum gave me her iPod (my one is broken and I can't travel without music.) So anyway, I dozed off listening to Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, Keane, Lionel Richie, the occasional Christmas Song and Kenny Rogers (thanks mum) when I was in a complete dreamlike state. All was fine until the crucial bus moment -  a moment that still turns my cheeks bright red with embarrassment. I woke up, face squashed up to the window, mouth wide open, the possibility of a little bit of dribble sliding down the window, and I turned to my left, looked out the window to see a school bus of kids staring back, waving at me. WAVING AT ME WHILE I WAS ASLEEP. There they were, watching me dream about Kenny Rogers. They were, in the words of Peter Kay, bold as brass. If they took pictures and I end up getting turned into a meme, I am so done! Right, unfortunately I can feel my cheeks starting to heat up again. MOVING ON. 

After that minor inconvenience, everything got much worse to be really bloody honest. My beautiful heels were squashing my feet and I was unable to balance my body because all my weight seemed to be falling onto my toes - 47 cheestrings later and it's safe to say I had several regrets, I was definitely lighter when I got on the bus. I was half tempted to google "How to lose cheestring weight quickly" but, as usual, my signal was so bad. The worst part about stumbling in heels? Trying to play it cool when you know very well at least five people are waiting in anticipation for you to face plant the rain soaked street. Yes, I know, the weather has been fab all week, not when I decided to go to Dublin though. On top of all this I was trying to make sure people didn't think there was a full moon in Dublin at 11am when my skirt kept creeping upwards. Excuse me skirt, I kindly brought you into my life, so can you not? 

I then got lost after using the toilet, I was completely thrown, my plans to be there by just after 11:00 were soon blurring into 12:00 on my watch and I had no idea where I was going. Google Maps told me many times that I had reached my location, but that was 100% wrong unless my location was supposed to be some (probably drunk) man who kept saying "You're breaking my heart!" Eventually though, I arrived at the event... This heartbreaker was in the building, bitchesss. I also had a fabulous time and all was absolutely splendid - so many laughs were had and so much style to indulge in! 

I took off my heels when it was over and ended up happily breezing through the city for the next hour or so completely pain and stress free. I even got a spot on the bus home I wanted, which I had been panicking about earlier too. However, of course, this being a day in the life of Fenella Fox, mirroring a chapter of Bridget Jones Diary, I got off the bus ready to pop into another event and managed to land in a puddle that splattered mud all over my bare, freshly shaved legs. The only positive of this was it probably evened out my week long tan which was now just half fading chunks. Sun kissed always turns into sun vomit eventually and there I was trying to balance whilst I wiped clean one leg, unable to sit on the bench beside me which was empty apart from the remains of when the heavens had opened a few minutes before. 

Did I survive travelling alone? Yes! Could I do it again? Definitely! Would I do it again? Not until Google Maps gets its life together - Mate, we weren't even kind of close to where we needed to be. I also wouldn't use the loo again because it threw me off and I lost all sense of direction when I took a right into that cubicle of doom. Don't get me wrong, adventures are endless excitement and the highlight of our lives, but there's no place like home! Saying that though, risky days often turn out to be our proudest memories and of course I feel so proud of myself now because I did it, even though I doubted myself to begin with. 

Foxy Fashion - May 2017

Hey guys!

I have a bit of an announcement to make *drum roll or something dramatic anyway* I have decided to do a new fashion section on my blog! Yayyyy! We all know I absolutely love having my own style and I really enjoy sharing pictures of this style with you guys on my social media accounts. As my wardrobe is overflowing with completely random pieces, from Penneys to Charity shops, New Look to DV8, clothes I have "borrowed" from my sisters wardrobe and random pieces my nan gives me that I manage to squeeze into an outfit somewhere, I thought I would do a roundup each month on what I have been wearing, loving or just any general fashion related thoughts I have - This can change month to month depending on where I've been, if I have added to my shoe collection or if I just want to show off my new dressing gown (my current one is Thumper's face on the hood with ears, so it can't get much better than that!)

This monthly segment of my blog will be especially for all of you who are looking for a little fashion inspiration, things to add to your wishlist, or things to make the total of your next Penneys trip 150 euro even though you only ran in for socks! Oh, no need to thank me.

Now, dun dun duuuuun, here is my first ever Foxy Fashion post! For this month I am going to run through a few of my day and night outfits and comment on each of them! Hope you enjoy!

Day Looks

The outfit below was styled around this bodysuit from Penneys. I loved this outfit at the time but looking back now I think there was too much black. I can't wait to wear this bodysuit with a pair of jeans. Loved my hair though, look at them buns! The hair, people, the hair...

In the picture below I am wearing an outfit I absolutely adore! The reason I bought this t-shirt dress in Penneys was because in my head I had a vision about this exact outfit, you know like how people get callings to do things? Welllll, that was my life during that shopping trip - images of this denim jacket and fishnets were floating around in my mind luring me towards the Penneys registers. Also, I'm probably laughing because I managed to do the cute little buns again, orrrr I'm trying to remain calm while my brother braves 74 attempts to take a decent picture!

Another day I then went on to tuck this t-shirt into a pair of jeans for a more casual vibe, teamed with a choker for an edge and a pink pair of runners for a relaxed "Oh, this old outfit I just threw on without planning for three days in advance?" feel!

The picture below is a very casual outfit I wore recently, mostly Penneys! The adorable star print cami is from Penneys and so are the jeans. The kimono is from Boohoo a few years back. The little pointy silver shoes I picked up in Penneys for a euro and this was my first day wearing them. Never buying shoes without trying them on again, I was tip toeing around for the day because I definitely needed a bigger size! I tried to loosen them up with a hairdryer and everything but I'm too afraid to put them back on now to see if it worked. If you ever see me hobbling around the place it's because I have braved the shoes again because they add some spice to my outfit, it will also possibly be my last day on earth because OH THE PAIN.

Night Looks

The black sweetheart midi dress from Boohoo I am wearing below is one of my favourite dresses. So classic and (sometimes) sophisticated (minus possible nip slips!) I wore it back in December so this time I just styled it differently and did my hair in a different way - I opted for straight and sleek! I know I will get so much use out of this dress, I think it is absolutely timeless. However, if you're planning on getting ready alone do not wear it, it's so fitted, getting me in and out of it is an 8 man job, I think we need to start using bloody machinery... sucks everything in though! 

Okay, I honestly loved the outfit below that I wore for a night out, but every time I see it I do think I look like a pirate, I think it's the sleeves? I was surprised how much I loved this outfit because it is fairly simple, but I guess you can't go wrong with black and white. I was also so daring with my hair that night because I rarely wear it up when I'm going out. I think every woman should own at least one plain black bodycon skirt, it is a foundation to build an outfit on. My top is from Penneys, I fell in love with the sleeves! Anybody seen my ship, can't remember where I left it?!

The final outfit I am going to talk about this month is this one that I wore to the Bubbles and Beauty Fundraiser in aid of Ardfinnan N.S. Autism Unit... I really enjoyed this night and it was for a great cause so a huge well done to everybody involved! For this event I wore a pair of black trousers that were a part of a Boohoo co-ord set - So comfy, love them and live in them! I teamed it with a black lace bralet (remember how earlier I mentioned borrowing from my sister? Well, er...) The white shirt, believe it or not, belongs to my nan... that woman sure knows how to slay! I'm just presuming she doesn't want it back?! Oh and I am aware that these white court heels have been in a few of these pictures, they're from Penneys again and I love them. White is so classic and for such a simple colour it can make such a statement!

So there you go, that was my first Foxy Fashion post! I would love to hear your feedback and any questions, please let me know! Which outfit was your favourite? Also if you're struggling to understand how much I love shopping and fashion, here is a picture from a few years back when I dragged my brother into Penneys with me! Is this why no other men stick around? Maybe I have been sabotaging myself this entire time...

Until next month, even though I will have other posts between now and then... Foxy Fashion, over and out!