Keeping cool in style over the years… Nuffnang Competition!

This post was sponsored by Nuffnang and Panasonic Air Conditioning.
For more information on sponsored posts please click here.

Over the years I’ve gone through a whole lot of styles. I didn’t always like pink things, in fact when I was growing I was the biggest tom boy! I’ve been going through my wardrobe to clean out and make space for things and it’s kind of been like taking a journey back through time!

I’m pretty happy with my current style. It’s not perfect but I think it represents me pretty well where I am in my life right now. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

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But I’ve been at a lot of different stages in my life and each had its own look. Not many of you might remember but when I started my blog I looked more like this:

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That shade of red has always been my favourite, I spent a year in it then and maybe 4 years with that colour in high school. My look was much more toned down during this time.

Even before then I had short black hair like this…

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Back in those days I was a Lolita. I wore Lolita clothing pretty much 24/7 and I loved it to death. I was obsessed with it completely and uncontrollably.

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I couldn’t find any photos because before that I was quite camera shy so I made you an artist’s representation of how before that… I was really into punk and alternative styles! I wore red eyeliner all the time and I had spiky blue extensions. I even had blue/green hair at one point but I still can’t find photos of it on my hard drive. Apparently I was wearing this style was before I understood the importance of labelling photos for future reference! XD

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Back in those days I was also a pirate 😉 Historical re-enactment for the win! I need more excuses to wear my corset again!

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Now you’re probably wondering what the point of this is right? Well the one thing that all of those fashions have in common is that they are full of layers and very un-summer friendly.

Australia is hot. With the exception of Melbourne right now everywhere I’ve lived in Australia has been ridiculously hot. If I was picking fashion based on climate I pretty much failed miserably.

So the question is how do you keep cool in summer when you’re wearing like 20 billion layers of clothing? I’m not proud of this but….

A funny thing happened when I was going through my accessories section. I picked up an Angelic Pretty bow and it was exuding Lolita…

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So much so that I was accidentally pulled through a time machine vortex which was swirls and swirls of petticoats and frills. I was lucky not to be crushed by the sheer weight of the petticoats.

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It took me back in time… but as I didn’t have a camera for my magical adventure you’ll just have to make do with my time machine induced “artists representations”.

This was me:

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Unfortunately this was the climate I was in:

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See the thing about Lolita clothing is that under the dress is a blouse, under the blouse is a petticoat and under that petticoat modesty says wear bloomers… plus socks or stockings. Pretty much the only places you’ve got to sweat are your knees and arms if you’re wearing a short sleeve blouse.

In Summer it’s not fun. Bloomers are great for protecting modesty but they are also insanely hot to wear under so many layers!

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But I was a crafty Lolita.

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I used a trick which has been in play since fridges were first invented…. underwear (in this case bloomers) in the freezer!

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Epic cool = EPIC WIN!

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And this allowed me to be cool and breezy as I did the miserable walk to the train station to work in the mornings.

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Hopefully you enjoyed my little walk back through memory lane ^_^

COMPETITION TIME!!

So Panasonic and Nuffnang are holding a giveaway for those of you who are just coming in to Summer (like me ;_;)

Panasonic have just launched a new range of Eco air conditioners which are aparently both smart and stylish. They’ve even won awards like “Good Design” Award. They have also launched a smart phone application to help people with choosing an air-conditioner easily. Here’s what they say about it:

The simple-to-use Air Conditioning Sizing Wizard application allows customers to enter information on their room environment and receive product recommendations. Once you have made your selection, you can access product details, features, images, videos and locate your nearest retailer instantly.

Panasonic has launched a new stylish range of Air-Conditioners featuring improved energy efficiency for reduced power consumption.

  • The 2010 range features the new Eco Patrol Sensor – a human sensing technology
  • Inverter technology, providing temperature control for greater energy efficiency and comfort in the home.

AC Sizing Wizard App features:

  • Easy navigation that allows you to find the right Air Conditioner you, and locate your nearest dealer/installer.
  • Enter information about your room and then it pops out recommendations for the right a/c.
  • Scroll through product recommendations and see the main product features, specifications
  • You can also find out more information through videos, images and handy hints.
  • Once you have chosen the right Air Conditioner you can use the ‘Where to Buy’ function to find your nearest retail outlet or specialist Air Network Installer on Google Maps, or contact Panasonic Customer Care for more info.

They are also starting to make little webisode things to explain the technology in simple terms. Here is one of the videos/TV Commercials from their site:

So the prize for this competition is an air-conditioner from Panasonic’s new range PLUS the installation into your home! That’s pretty damn awesome, I want one… I need an aircon XD

What you need to do is leave a comment answering the following question:

“What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done to stay cool in summer?”

You know what my craziest thing is so I’m looking forward to hearing all about yours 😛

This competition is for Australian residents only and you can view the full terms and conditions here and the information from Nuffnang here.

*edit* Please note that the date has been extended until the 25th of November. The updated terms and conditions can be found here:
http://www.nuffnang.com.au/wp-content/themes/nuffnang-2.0.1/uploadedstuff/2010/11/Terms-and-Conditions-of-Entry-for-Panasonic-Air-Conditioner-competition-v2.pdf

The update Nuffnang information is here:
http://www.nuffnang.com.au/blog/2010/10/18/competition-win-a-panasonic-air-conditioning-unit-just-in-time-for-summer/

Good luck, I hope you enjoyed this post and I can’t wait to see your entries!

Estée Lauder Orchid Dream Lipstick Review

One of the goodie bags from the MBBE event was a lovely little pack of Estée Lauder products. Today I’m going to review the Pure Colour “Gloss Stick” in Orchid Dream which is the middle of the products below: MBBE

I’ve always had a soft spot for EL lipsticks, my first bright red was one of theirs and a present from James ^_^ Unfortunately budget means I haven’t been able to afford any of their products since then.

When I found this in the gift bags, I was really excited to try it out as the shade looks exactly like the kind of thing I like: berry pink with a blue sheen to it. A little glitter but not so much that I look like I’ve just stumbled out of a children’s television show.The idea of this product is quite interesting because it’s supposed to be about half way between a gloss and a lipstick. The consistancy was unlike any lip product I’ve used before… along the lines of softened butter so it *really* just melts on to your lips.

Estee Lauder

According to their website it’s supposed to improve lip condition and add plumpness if used for 4+ weeks. I haven’t used it for that long yet and didn’t notice any changes during the time I did. I’m not fussed because I don’t think I need plumper lips but if that’s something you want to consider before buying then I suggest Googling for some more reviews.

I found it stayed on quite well, I needed touch ups after eating but nothing too major and the silky feel lasted as long as the colour. The biggest plus for this was how moisturized my lips felt when I had it on 😀 My lips tend to be a little dry and this just felt like heaven in stick form!

Bare lips:

Nude Lips

With “Orchid Dream”:

Estee Lauder

Price-wise the Australian website lists it as $42.00 (though this colour isn’t listed because I think it is a limited edition) which for me is way out of my price range. In this case you pay for quality though so if I had an infinite supply of money I would probably buy this in every shade it came in. As it is I’m going to be using this one down to the last piece I can scrape out and hope that I’ve had a wind fall by then XD

VERDICT: Very good for an every day shade, lasts quite well. Super moisturising, no over powering smell, glides on like butter. DO WANT.

Preview of Blogging in Style eBook and Review of Blurb

So as you all saw in the last Snapshots post I received a hard copy of the blogging ebook I’ve been working on.

Firstly I just want to clear up something, some of you were under the impression that this was the craft and tutorial book I’ve been working on, that is not the case ^_^ This is a basic guide to starting and maintaining your own blog which I have *also* been working on. So I’ve been writing two books (which is why I as being run so ragged!)

  • Blogging in Style with Violet- 76 pages on how to start and maintain a cute blog. A basic how-to guide for beginners to the world of blogging with lots of cute pictures to help understand new concepts and ideas. Released only as a PDF ebook at this point. Priced at US$8.
  • The craft/tutorial book which is still in progress and yet to be named. This one will be available in a large hard cover volume and several soft cover versions which comprise of 1 chapter each. It will also be available as a PDF for those who want to read but can’t afford postage of a heavy book. It will be a couple of hundred pages and price is yet to be determined.

But enough about that for now! Let’s talk about this ebook 😀

Blogging in Style

The last time I mentioned I was writing this, the lovely people from Blurbcontacted me and offered to print me a copy so I could have a physical reminder of all of my hard work.Basically Blurb is a website where you can upload whatever you like and they will print it into a fancy little book for you. They do hard covers and soft cover, pretty much anything you can think of.

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I chose the hardcover option with an image wrap. It looks so beautiful and professional!

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They make the process very easy so even someone with no design experience can creat something like a book with photos from their holidays and have a really pretty keepsake.

These are the three options they offer for book creation:

1. Bookify (our newest addition to the product range, this is an online bookmaking tool for streamlined book projects that can be done over a night or two) For example a quick travel book from your recent trip or a child’s birthday party.)

2. Booksmart (Blurb’s free software that’s made easy for everyone to download, pick a layout and just add content)

3. PDF To Book (for experienced designers and Indesign software users)

I was in a hurry so I used Booksmart and imported my page layouts. It look me about 15 minutes from opening the program to uploading my images 😀 Of course before that it took weeks of writing, drawing, colouring, editing and organizing the layout of the book XD

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The best part:

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All in all I am very happy with the quality and service from Blurb and I will be looking them up again if I ever write another ebook so I can have a personal printed copy 😀

If you want to have your own book printed they have been nice enough to include a discount code for you all:

Code: VIOLETSHIP (this is case sensitive)
Good for Aud$9.99 off your shipping charges for books you make

Expires Nov 15, 2010
one per customer, one time use.

Get up to 3 books shipped for free!

Hurray! So there you go 😀 I will let you all know next week once it’s up and available in the shop!

In the mean time, if you want to get a little taste of what it’s about I have made a free low quality preview that you can download, it contains a random selection of 14 pages. Hopefully this will let you get an idea of things and decide if you would like to purchase the full book next week. It’s around 1.9mb big so if you have a download limit please take that into account.

Best viewed in Adobe Acrobat ^_^

DOWNLOAD THE PREVIEW!

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