My Favourite Outfits.

Hello my lovelies! I hope you’ve been finding some time to relax and look after yourselves this week. This week I’m starting off today’s post a bit differently to how I normally would; and that’s because there are some important things that need to be said before we continue with my usual positive post for the week.

As we all know, protests are going on across the globe as police brutality and racism against the black community has not stopped and we as human beings need to actively be anti-racist. Too many lives have been taken and continue to be taken because of the colour of someone’s skin. Enough is enough. We cannot stand here and accept this. We will not.

Say their names. #BlackLivesMatter

To all of the black community:

I am not black, but I see you.

I am not black, but I hear you.

I am not black, but I mourn with you.

I am not black, but I will fight for you.

#BlackLivesMatter

I have white privilege, and that means that I cannot begin to understand the fear and pain the black community must go through every single day. Having white privilege also means that I can use my platform and privilege to help stop these injustices that are happening everyday.

If you can please go to blacklivesmatter.com and find out about your local peaceful protests and how you can do your part by donating to BlackLivesMatter, to bail funds, to Stand Up Against Racism, sign as many petitions as you can and educate yourself on your privilege and ensure that we are all more than just not being racist. We must be anti-racist.

Together we will have justice. If you’re going to protests please stay safe, here are some resources you can use to stay safe and support what is right. And to anyone who will say ‘All lives matter’ to this, yes, you’re right, all lives matter, and THAT is why black lives matter. You don’t truly believe that all lives matter until you are standing up for black lives, saying all lives matter right now is taking away from the voices who need to be heard, the black lives that need our help. And if you still don’t understand, watch this video which explains it perfectly:

I’m doing my part to stop the brutality that black people go through on a daily basis and I hope you will too.

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Naturally because of everything that is going on at the moment we need to find time to look after ourselves. We must continue to fight and in order to do so, please look after yourselves, even if that’s just by making sure you’re carrying milk and water with you to protests and wearing your masks.

These times are hard and it can be hard to find a smile with everything going on (understandably and rightly so). So something I’ve been doing is wearing outfits that make me smile. And so, to hopefully give you at least five minutes of positivity today I’m going to be sharing them with you!

First up we’ve got some cute mom jean shorts with a black tee! I paired these with these amazing alien earrings and tiny black sunglasses which are just a complete vibe and I love them!

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Next up we have this adorable check smock dress that I picked up from Tesco and it is just so comfy and I love that kind of grungy look you get when you pair a cute dress with black boots. Plus, since this is a smock dress, it’s super flown and perfect for those hotter days!

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We’ve then got this button down cardigan paired with mom jeans I picked up from Tesco (F&F jeans are the best jeans and no one can convince me otherwise!) and some zebra print slip ons with rainbow heart hoops! I wasn’t sure how I wanted to wear this cardi at first but it’s so versatile that it goes with nearly everything! I chose to wear this cardigan by itself without a bra or top underneath because for one, it’s hot at the moment, and two – because why not!

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Here’s that cute cardigan again, but this time I’ve put it with these incredible trousers I got from ASOS!

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These trousers are so comfy because they’re high waisted, have little buckles on each side and on the ankles so you can adjust them and they are just plain (or rather not plain haha) adorable! And I think putting these with a simple black turtle neck (also ASOS) is such a cute look. I decided to accessories with black books for a grunge look and had to put my super cute iced coffee earrings with it to tie it all together! It’s one of my favourite looks of all, I just wish it was a little colder so I can wear it without overheating!

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Next up is my cute all pink outfit. The variety in my style always makes me laugh, one second I can be seen in a super smart look, the next a grungy one, then super intimidating and then super soft. It all depends on my mood for the day. And this outfit is what I like to gravitate towards on those days where I want to wear pink and be all stereotypically cutesy! So, here I’ve got these baby pink cargo joggers with a checked pink crop top; and sometimes I like to add a white tee that I’ve cropped myself and add a white beanie to top it all off.

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Here’s a smart, feminine and classy look that I love so much. Especially when I add the slim black sunglasses. Black mom jeans are comfy, look smart and are warm for those breezy days. I picked up the cardigan from ASOS (like a lot of these haha not sponsored, but it could be – ASOS.. I doubt you’re reading this but if you are, feel free to hit me up!) which has a nice 90’s vibe because of the black tiny ruffle trim which is cute by itself or open with a cute crop top and then I decided on these black flats that I’ve had for way over 5 years but have hardly ever worn, and I don’t know why I haven’t because they’re so unique and class up any outfit!

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Last but certainly not least, we have one of my all time favourite looks. It’s certainly not cold enough for this outfit but I love it so much I had to include it. Here we’ve got an oversized grey SuperDry jumper with a black skort and black tights and boots. Oh, and of course I had to have the statement black sunnies make an appearance too. This look makes me feel so cute and I cant help but have happy vibes when I wear it. Plus, can we just appreciate how absolutely adorable this skort is!

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And those are my favourite outfits! My style really does depend on how I’m feeling and what I want my mood for the day to be. If I’m feeling artsy and it’s chilly I’ll probably go for something like the tartan trousers, and if I’m feeling like I want to be effortless then I might go for the black mom jeans – cream cardi combo and if I’m feeling like I want to be cutesy then I might wear any of my dungarees or my pink cargo joggers.

Basically I wear what I want, when I want. And the motto I stand by when it comes to getting dressed and style is that you should wear what makes you happy, feel beautiful, confident and like you.

Love who you are and embrace yourself. Anything you wear will look good if you feel good.

Well, that’s it from me for today! What are your favourite outfits? How would you describe your style? Mines definitely eclectic! Let me know yours in the comments or tag me in your looks on insta @theweightofmyworlds!

Stay safe out there and love yourself.

Love,

Why You Shouldn’t Care If Your Clothes Are Designed For Men or Women.

Happy Saturday lovelies! Who’s enjoying pride month? I know I am! I love all of the expression that comes with pride month, especially the fashion we see!

So, this week I did a bit of shopping and it occurred to me that I rarely see people looking for clothes in every section of the store, just because they’re labelled either for ‘men’ or ‘women’. But those labels never really seemed to both me, until now.

You see, I will shop in every part of a clothes shop. Not because I love to shop (and you know I do) but because you’d be surprised at some of the amazing clothes and shoes people are missing out on just because they’ve been labelled for the other gender.

I’d say about a quarter of my wardrobe is technically for ‘men’, and I have a few pieces which are for ‘kids’ or ‘teens’ (because I’m petite, I can get away with some kids clothes). Which is why I decided I’d show you some of my pieces that were made for ‘men’!

 

Here’s a red tee that I picked up at Peacocks, to be honest, I love them for their men’s clothes more than their women’s! This top is an xl too, which means I can wear it three ways!

I love this tee so so much, and it’s another one from Peacocks! I always feel great in this top, and it’s perfect paired with jeans and trainers for a day look or heels for a night look!

If you’re looking for cheap clothes that are a good quality, then Tk Maxx is the place to go. Pairing this top with my thrifted Gucci bag (read more about my thrifting here!) and some slip on trainers is such a cute outfit you can wear for days out and about because it’s so comfy and cool.

I wear this jumper probably at least once a week. I picked this up at Tesco (f&f) in a size xxl because it was there was only one left and I just can’t resist a baggy jumper! I french tuck this into jeans or I wear it with leggings and boots. You can’t go wrong with either of those ideas!

Here’s another top from Tk Maxx and it was a bargain at £4.99! This might be my favourite top out of all my men’s tops. And I think this would look great on anyone!

And last but not least for this little collection is my super oversized tartan shirt from f&f which I think is a size xl. This one is great used as a cardigan with a vest top and jeans or as an oversized shirt tied up with jeans. This one is great for all seasons too!

And those are a few of my clothes that were supposed to be for men, that look damn good on everyone.

I always get a few weird looks when I’m looking for clothes in the ‘men’s’ section, but who cares?! At the end of the day, clothes are just fabric, why does that need to be gendered and labelled? It doesn’t. I wish clothes shops would just have one one label or sign: ‘Clothes for people’ in all sizes, shapes and colours. People shouldn’t feel restricted with what they’re wearing just because it’s ‘supposed’ to be for the other gender.

Fashion is an expression, just like makeup, and we should all feel able to wear and buy whatever we want to wear.

Have a great weekend everyone! And wear whatever you want to wear, no matter how weird it is, because

weird is wonderful!!

Love,

My Hair & Skin routine

We all love having silky hair and smooth skin. And for me that’s been a bit of a journey; over there last year I’ve managed to put together my own extremely simple routine that does everything I want it to whilst still being pretty cheap.

I’d definitely recommend trying these quick and simple routines out for yourself as all of the products I use are less than the price of a fancy coffee.

I can’t guarantee everything will work for you, but it’s always nice to try something out!

So, my skin care routine. Well as some of you know, I have suffered with adult acne for a long time and also suffer with psoriasis, so finding skin products that work for me is sometimes a challenge. (Check out my Acne Journey here!)

I use acne medication prescribed to me along with a few other things to keep my skin in tip top form. (If you think you’re suffering with any form of acne then I highly suggest going to your GP where you can find something that works for you.)

My skin routine goes as follows:

1. First thing in the morning I take my first lot of acne medication, ‘Doxycycline’ with breakfast.
2. Then after breakfast I wash my face with just cold water and put some ‘Simple Kind to Skin Protecting Light Moisturiser SPF 15‘. That’s it for the morning, nice and quick!
3. Lunchtime is when I take my next acne medication, ‘Co-Cyprindiol’ (you have to have frequent check ups when you’re on this one as it doubles up as contraception.
4. At the end of the day (this bit is typically once a week) I use a microdermabrasion skin care machine to exfoliate, promote blood flow and just generally get any nasty stuff out of my pores.
5. Before I go to bed I then apply my ‘Adapalene’ topical acne cream medication.

Some things I also do to help my skin stay clear and healthy are:

• Drinking mostly water. I know I know, we hear this one all of the time, but water helps keep us hydrated and out skin looking moisturised.

 

• I try to not touch my face as much as possible, (don’t want to spread any oils or any traces of stuff that could be transferred onto my face!).

• Wash/Change my pillow case often. (dead skin cells, sweat and all sorts get on these and can cause breakouts after build up!)

 

• I ALWAYS take my makeup off before bed. – I cannot stress this one enough!!

• A balanced diet; this doesn’t mean eating super healthy all of the time, it’s about not eating mountains of sugary, oily, fatty food all of the time, you can still have your favourite guilty pleasures, but just in moderation.

 

• Speaking of food: I always wash my face after eating any form of takeaway; I always feel super greasy after eating foods like Chinese or Fish & Chips, so washing my face after stops me from developing mountains of spots around my chin.

 

• Sun cream. Wear sun cream no matter what weather it is, you skin is always vulnerable to the sun even when it’s cold outside. And if you’re not great at remembering to put it on, get a moisturiser with SPF already in it!

 

Now, onto hair care!

A bit of background on my hair journey:

My hair has been through it. Like really through the ringer. It’s been blonde, brown, auburn (so jealous of all you natural red heads out there!), orange, red, pink, green, strawberry blonde and several other colours. There was once a week where I decided I wanted to go from bright red to blonde.. my mum and I decided to do it in the space of two days; it involved 4 lots of bleaching and a lot of laughing. I’m incredibly lucky to still have hair on my head to be honest.

I have cut my hair off numerous amounts of times in order to salvage what was left of it after copious amounts of bleach and box dyes. One time I decided to go red again after bleaching my hair and putting blonde box dye on it and my hair was so damaged that after one wash my hair had millions of blonde and pink patches where the dye could no longer stick to my hair.

That leads me to now, I cut nearly all of my hair off in September last year in order to finally give up what had become a hair dye addiction (fellow hair enthusiasts know the struggle haha). And from January this year I have been growing out my natural hair in order to get it as healthy as possible again and not felling like straw. I am also slowly getting my naturally wavy and curly hair back!

Here’s just a few images of my hair journey over the years:

Here I am as a baby next to my older sister, that’s me on the right, and as you can see my hair is pretty curly and mad naturally.

As you’ll see in these photos, my hair goes from nice and healthy to getting more like straw and shorter as it kept snapping off!

Here’s me at 12 years old, my hair was still completely natural here!

Here I am at 14 years old, I think my hair might have been bleached slightly at this point?

Here is where my hair escapade starts to go downhill.. I had dyed it a few times by here so it’s big, frizzy and very straw like hair!

I dyed my hair red when I was starting sixth form and you can see how damaged my hair had become by the ends of my hair!

About 2 months into sixth form I decided to bleach all of the life out of my hair and fry it constantly by making it wavy every damn day.

After sixth form I decided to cut my hair into a pixie to try and salvage it, I then dyed it brown and then as it was getting healthier and growing out I decided I wanted blonde hair again.

A year later came around and I couldn’t stop myself from going auburn again, and here you can really see the damage!

My hair survived for a little while longer by going brown for a few months and it grew to a good length, then I wanted to go blonde so bleached it to bits, then I decided I wanted red hair again..

As you can see here, when my 21st birthday came around I decided to try and get my hair healthier again by cutting it into a pixie, and it was bleached blonde during the summer.

I actually have healthy hair in this photo! Here is my hair a few months after I turned 22, I’m starting to grow out my pixie here!

So that is what my hair went through, I’m sure there are more photos all over the place of even more hair colours but that’s something for another day, you’d be here for hours!

Here’s my hair now! It’s finally healthy and all my natural colour; I’m working on styling my natural air dried hair as it’s a big crazy at the moment!

So now you know a bit about my hair past, on to my routine!

1. I brush my hair to get rid of any knots or tangles before I wash it in the evening.
2. I then wash my hair with warm water, using ‘Tesco’s Pro-Vitamin B5 shampoo damaged hair’; I stumbled across this when looking for a new shampoo to try, and for 90p it’s a bargain! This shampoo is absolutely amazing on my hair and I definitely recommend it; it lathers nicely and is super cheap!
3. I then use ‘Tesco’s Pro-Vitamin B5 conditioner for damaged hair'(it is nowhere on the website at the moment but you can find it in store!) on the ends of my hair and work my way up avoiding my roots, like the shampoo, the conditioner is also 90p and makes my hair feel so silky and less frizzy.
4. I then rinse the conditioner out with cold water (it takes a bit of strength to not jump out of the shower at this point haha!).
5. When I get out of the shower I wrap my hair in a micro-fibre hair turban (you can get them from wilko for £1.15!).
6. Then, if my hair is feeling a bit dry I put some spray in conditioner onto the ends of my hair. I use one I picked up by chance at Aldi (it was on their special buys) which is a dupe of the ‘Aussie Miracle Hair Detangler Conditioner Spray’!
7. If I have time I’ll let my hair dry naturally and if I’ve got to be somewhere then I’ll dry my hair on the cool setting with my hair dryer.
8. I usually leave my hair overnight and style my hair with my straighteners in the morning, this is usually straight, but if I do style my hair in the evening it will be curly ready to be clipped half up the next day.

And that’s my hair routine!

Some things I do to help with my hair growth and health:

• Brush my hair before washing it so it isn’t too knotting when I wash it and there’s less damage when I wash it as your hair is a lot weaker when it’s wet.

 

• Rinsing my hair with cold water is something I found makes my hair less frizzy, shinier and it helps promote blood circulation to your scalp, which helps with hair growth!

• Use heat protection sprays even when just using the hair dryer. I recommend putting heat protection spray on your hair when it’s wet, as you avoid potentially making your hair feel greasy when applying it to dry hair.

• I avoid washing my hair everyday as this can strip my hair of it’s natural oils and prevents any oils from penetrating into the hair.

So that’s my skin and hair routines! What’s your hair journey? And what is your skincare routine? Let me know in the comments, I love reading and responding to them all! I hope you all have a great weekend my lovelies!

Oh, and don’t forget, there’s still time to enter my giveaway! Check out how to enter here!

Love,