How To Care For Your Fashion Jewellery

How many times have you dug an old favourite piece of jewellery out of the cupboard only to find it's discoloured, rusted or (horror!) fallen apart? As much as you might curse the shop you bought it from, not caring for your jewellery properly is actually the biggest cause of defects.

Giving your fashion jewellery the proper love and care it deserves can ensure it stays looking gorgeous for years, and luckily it's very simple to do!

CARE
Do protect your lovely jewellery from rain, sweat and body lotion during wear
Do apply hairspray, perfume and body products (sparingly) before putting your jewellery on
Don't do the washing up in all your rings and bracelets

Why- fashion jewellery is made from metal alloys (which means different types of metals mixed together) and water, alcohol and some oils can cause these metals to oxidise, creating rust, corrosion and a range of strange colours to appear on the surface from green to yellow. Alcohols and strong astringents can also cause metals and some types of beads and crystals to lose their gorgeous shine.

CLEANING
Do give your items a rub with a soft cloth after wear to ensure they're clean and sparkling
Do use a soft, clean dry toothbrush to clean daily dirt from hard to reach places occasionally if needed
Don't use soapy water, chemicals or harsh abrasives to clean your jewellery

Why- as above, too much moisture can cause metal alloys to oxidise, but chemicals or over vigorous cleaning can remove the coating from some pieces and loosen glues, increasing the chance of losing crystals and beads or the item falling apart!

STORAGE
Do remember to remove jewellery before bed
Do hang necklaces or lay them flat in a box, to stop them becoming tangled
Do store earrings in pairs for ease and piece of mind
Do find beautiful holders for your jewellery (especially lovely ring stands!) but remember to rotate the items 'on show' frequently, as direct sunlight and exposure to air can sometimes cause colours to fade.

Best & Worst Accessories from the 2014 MTV VMA Red Carpet

We kick off our best VMA accessories list with Beyonce and Nicki Minaj-  Beyonce wore huge black and silver statement earrings by designer Lorraine Schwartz that embellished her dress beautifully without being OTT, while Nicki toned herself down a little in a snakeskin print dress accessorised with a huge peachy coloured quartz ring.

Demi Lovato opted for gold accessories with her red dress while Rita Ora (shown here hugging Chris Brown) went for silver- Demi's triangle lobe earring and gold ear cuffs keep the look embellished but simple while showing her jewellery off with an undercut. 

Rita's look however was a little more lavish- her manicure reportedly cost $56,000 and includes black diamond polish, hand crafted spiders and ruby bows! With a ring for nearly every finger, she didn't go lightly on the Lorraine Schwartz hand jewellery either, which contrasts beautiful against her silky Donna Karen Atelier dress.

Teen Wolf's Holland Roden cracked out a cracking clutch for the occasion in metallic reflective silver with top embellishments. 

Model Natalie Gal's wrists and hands were stacked to the brim with bangles and rings in both gold and silver which almost stole the limelight from her very loud dress. This is a lovely modern take on the boho-esque stacked jewellery trend.

Our two awards for worst accessories of the night go to Katy Perry and Amber Rose. As if Katy Perry's denim Versace dress wasn't quite hideous enough, the tacky looking thick silver chain choker has been added to make the outfit that little bit more shocking, and the silver nose ring isn't doing her any favours. To top it off, Riff Raff's orange hair, patterned sunglasses and studded demin jacket is giving us a headache. Don't even get us started on his ring! 

Keeping with the silver chain vibe, Amber Rose seems to have forgotten her dress and skipped straight to the accessories. Thankfully she remembered her underwear because if there's a way to show much more skin on a red carpet, then we don't know about it! Half necklace, half dress, but not quite either!

What did you think were the best and worst accessories of the 2014 VMAs?

(image sources)

Cleaning and Caring for Fine Jewellery at Home

Rita, Fearne, Cara & Kelly Spotted in Cora Ear Cuff

You're nobody at the moment if you're not rocking an ear cuff and there's no better way to get a piece of the action than to take inspiration from some of the greats- Rita Ora, Fearne Cotton, Cara Delevingne and Kelly Osbourne have all been spotted sporting the Cara ear cuff and looking gorgeous while doing it.
With stunning clear crystals and pearls this edgy accessory demands attention and is bang on trend. Wear with hair up to create the full effect!

Shown above: Cora ear cuff (£12)

Shop the Jewellery Trend: Chunky Chains

From the catwalks to the highstreet, chunky chains have been trending for at least the last 5 years- it was only yesterday that I came across an article detailing how they'd be the 'next big thing' for A/W 09- and with S/S 14 already upon us the fashion is in no danger of dying down. Big metal links are currently in demand not only on the highstreet but in boutique fine jewellers, and I witnessed the sale of a solid gold chunky curb chain last week for an eye watering £4000. Not all of us (in fact probably not many of us) have the chance to drop that amount of cash on one item, and the pieces above have price tags that are a little bit more thrifty!There are so many ways to wear this trend- from necklaces and bracelets to even earrings in gold, silver, rose gold and gunmetal colours. Theres also the option to choose between smooth or textured links, and there's so many types of chain from curb to belcher to box to herringbone. New Look is particularly stocked up with metal chains at the moment, and a lot of styles are available in both silver and gold which means picking your favourite (or 3!) shouldn't be too difficult. 

If you're not sure how to style your new purchases, take a look at this Pinterest board for ideas on how to work them into your outfits. Knowing England I can guarantee that we'll be seeing bikinis and bling on the beaches as soon as the sun comes out!

1. Gold Textured Link Chain Bracelet £5.99 - New Look

2. Jules Smith Knight's Armor Chain Bib Necklace £32.33 - Neiman Marcus

3. Nakamol Draped Golden Multi-Rope Earrings £15.85 - Neiman Marcus

4. Open Filigree Hoop Earrings £44.95 - Love Jewellery

5. Bad Girl Cuff $13 - Princess P Jewelry

6. Premium Chain Stone Bracelet £15 - Topshop

7. Limited Mesh Chunky Chain Necklace £14.99 - New Look

8. Gold Layered Slinky Chain Necklace £7.99 - New Look

9. "Brooke-Lynn" Rose Gold Pave Chain Bracelet $78 - Princess P Jewelry

10. Miquella Atomic Necklace £199 - Cadenzza

11. Premium Multi Row Flower Necklace £22.50 - Topshop

12. Gold Square Chunky Chain Necklace £9.99 - New Look

13. Multi Crystals Decor Chain Earrings £5 - Rings and Tings

What do you think of the chunky chain jewellery trend, will you be rocking some metal this spring?

A Little Body Jewellery Collection

Something you might not know about me is that I have 4 piercings- two in my ears, one in my lip and one a little further south. I've had my left nipple pierced for just over 4 years; I’d wanted it done for a while and took the plunge a few weeks before my 18^th birthday. The piercing parlour was clean and gave good advice about aftercare, but looking back I wouldn't recommend them as they agreed to pierce an intimate area even though I told them I had no ID. I think nipple piercings are really attractive, but for me the healing was a drag and almost put me off piercings completely- it took a good few months of sleeping in a bra because of the soreness, not letting anyone touch it and being careful not to accidentally knock it. Nips take on average 9 months to heal, but it was only towards the 12 month mark that mine finally healed completely.
After the initial pain of the needle (one which took me by surprise and made me shout words that I didn't even know I had in me), it was sensitive and sore for longer than I had expected, but I haven’t had any problems with it since and I'm so glad that I had it done. While I occasionally contemplate removing my lip stud, I can’t see myself taking my nip piercing out until I need to- not only, in my opinion, does it look great but it’s also nice to have something that isn't on show and that only a handful of people will see.

Most of the body jewellery I own is very simple, but there are a few pieces which are particularly colourful or interesting that I thought were definitely worth sharing. With nipple jewellery you can be a bit more creative than with other parts of the body, and it’s always fun to see someone’s reaction when they come across something they weren't expecting.BCR steel rings are possibly the most boring items of body jewellery, but they're sometimes necessary as they're the least likely to catch on hair or clothing. I tend to prefer rings over bars, even though I do like a change sometimes, but there aren't really a lot of options when it comes to rings other than changing the little balls that close them. To jazz mine up I've gone for blue, turquoise and green jewelled balls as that's the colour family I like the most and, even though they're simple, I think they're really pretty colours.This shield is quite interesting, with its semi-floral design in clear and blue crystals. It does look really nice on and is a more feminine version of a plain cut-out silver shield, but the design lets it down slightly- the hole is quite small and when the bar is threaded through the two loops at the back it sits a way behind the shield, so it was quite optimistic of the designer to expect anyone’s nip to actually stay in place unless they kept still and were perpetually....cold. Even though you can't really tell, the shield is made from plastic which makes it a bit more comfortable than it would be in metal as its more lightweight. The bar from this shield is the one that I wear the most, it's quite big at 3cm long, but I'm not very keen on those short ones that just look like two silver balls floating on either side of the nip.I think this bow and arrow is so cute! One day I might actually buy something in a colour other than blue but I think the little crystals in this one bring it to life a bit. This one it's not quite as dainty as it looks so it doesn't come out too often as its a little bit heavy. The bar is a bit shorter than the other, and I'm thinking of getting a couple of more interesting balls to go on the end rather than a little ball and a cone. The thing with metal screw on balls is that most have the design on the top and the hole on the bottom, so when they're on a bar you can only see the design from either side rather than if you’re looking at it straight on. Tongue bars for some reason seem to have the funkiest designed balls, especially in acrylic, and I really like the look of these Two Tone Glow In the Dark Balls from Urban Piercing Shop to add to my collection.You'll either think this is really sweet or really tacky, I've got a feeling you might go for tacky but obviously I thought it was sweet! I'm sure I don't need to explain why there’s a gap where the O should be, I don't know who designs these things but that gap is a lot smaller than it looks, let me tell you! To be fair it does come in three bar lengths but the end of the L really encroaches into the bar area so I'm glad I got the biggest size. I think the font adds a tiny bit of class to this one, with some sort of chunky 'Impact' style font it might look a bit like it belongs in the jewellery section of the Argos catalogue, but its a little more classy and the letters are sterling silver instead of the normal steel. This is probably my least worn, as it has edges that can catch, and the memory of getting it caught and tangled once in a knitted jumper still makes me shiver a bit! Even so, I'm pleased to have it in my collection to pull out as a surprise every now and then.

Do you have any unusual piercings or interesting pieces of body jewellery?

Jewellery Collection

 

I've had a couple of people (well literally two) asking me to do a jewellery collection post so I've finally taken some photos of my bits and bobs. I am a jeweller's daughter but actually most of my collection is costume and from the highstreet, I only get nice expensive bits if I've had my eye on them for a loooong time at Christmas or my birthday. I seem to enjoy looking at jewellery, picking pieces out for other people and really just admiring it more than I do wearing it but at the moment I won't often be seen without a ring or two!

Above is almost my whole collection, the hanger was a present and is I think from Claire's. It hangs above a mirror and dressing table with a summer straw hat for practicality and to hide the hook! As you can see I don't have many bracelets as I find them a bit too jangly for me but the two shown are from New Look. The nicest bracelet I've owned is a white gold nest link bracelet that was hand made for my 18th birthday which I keep in a safe. It's gorgeous but I feel it's too expensive to leave out on show and the safe was lifted in by a crane so there's no burglars getting in there!

First we come to earrings, I used to wear them all the time especially always always on a night out but I'm being boring at the moment and not having so many nights out so they're feeling the love a little less. Most of my earrings are costume, I find the styles are much bolder on the highstreet than they make in precious metals and I have had a few losses/casualties in clubs so wouldn't want to run the risk of losing an expensive pair.
The ones on the left are my absolute favourites, actually from Peacocks but I don't love them any less for that. They're not too dangly and are an easy length to wear while still standing out against my hair. The next pair is quite a contrast; long dangly and quite a similar colour to my hair. They create just enough movement to stand out and are quite an organic shape, they remind me of autumn leaves.
Next we have a kind of simple tribal design, I like these for their colour and big simple shapes. Second to last is a subtle ear cuff, the big silver stud sits on the lobe while the top part hugs the ear rim and gives an interesting look without needing to have any extra holes.
Finally in the earring department we come to these large hoops, normally I wouldn't wear hoops at all let alone at these shoulder skimming loops! These though really caught my eye and I think they're well designed enough to not look like massive 'budgie' hoops.

As I said above, my rings are my most worn pieces at the moment and these are my favourites. The snake and the bending ring are both costume, the bending one was from Matalan recently and I really love it for being so unusual, it reminds me of a robot and bones at the same time. The blue stones are all Topaz and the cat has little Sapphire eyes which I think is really cute. I really love animal jewellery and wish I had more of it as I've seen some gorgeous pieces around! The gold ring at the front has a really beautifully designed setting, it was my German neighbour's mum's ring and he was such a lovely kind man that I'm so happy to have something so pretty to remind me of him. The watch in the top photo was also his, it's massive on my wrist and needs a new battery so is more of a statement piece!

Next are my necklaces, these are the more summery bits of my costume neckwear. On the left are two pieces of coral from the Great Barrier Reef (don't worry, dead coral that had been knocked off) and make big chunky pendants round my neck with a summer dress. In the middle is a carved piece from Hong Kong and the other is (obviously) shells but in a pattern that makes them stand out on the chest. The one on the right is tiny shells and beads on a natural string which I think is quite dainty, I wear this doubled up round my ankle in the summer.

Finally we come to my more expensive necklaces. The piece on the left is a bit unusual looking and thats probably because I 'designed' it myself. The bottom silver part started life as a charm bracelet- a Ram for the chinese year I was born, a Virgin symbol for Virgo, St. Christoper for travelling, P for Paterson and a few other bits I liked the look of like a rose, shark and a serrated claw set in silver. This bracelet unfortunately snapped (told you they were jangly) so I attached it to a gold chain which makes it the perfect length for wearing over high necked dresses and long knitted jumpers. 
The middle is a gold, turquoise and pearl pendant/brooch, this belonged to my grandmother on my father's side and although I don't remember meeting her it's lovely to be able to wear something so delicate in her memory.
Finally is probably my favourite piece of jewellery that I own- a big silver eagle clutching a snake. I love this for it's detail and boldness, and that the wings are hinged so it almost flaps on my chest when I move. I don't wear this often but when I do I get a lot of comments as it makes such a statement!

So there we have my collection, probably not as big as you thought! I think I have more of an eye for jewellery than a body for it (if that doesn't sound too weird), but as my parents are jewellers and my Nan was a pearl stringer it's pretty much in my blood!

My Week In Pictures

Ive only recently discovered Instagram after having an iPhone for like 2 years (have I been living under a rock??) and Ive fallen in love with it so these are a few snaps from my week.

Me looking daft with my dad at my sister's superheroes and supervillians party (he's from the matrix/MIB and I'm the Black Canary) excuse the random bit of fringe!, # sexy black wedges in New Look that I couldn't buy as even the size 5s were slipping off my feet, # really lovely snake ring- it has red jewels for eyes, # Vita Liberata rich silken chocolate/24ct shimmer set- my new favourite tan and review coming soon!, # my work phone- possibly the worst rip off of a blackberry you've ever seen with stupid lack of features, an impossible keyboard and a charger that only works when its taped to the phone grrr!, # the birthday card I made for my sister, # moving dinosaurs at Paradise Park, #  shoes I have been lusting over soo much this week- I don't know who they're by or where to get them but I bet they cost an absolute bomb! I am lusting nonetheless.