//OOTD: 23/07/13 Urban Winter

beanie - CottonOn | anorak - CottonOn | shirt - Banana Republic 

| shoes - Converse | necklace - eBay

My first OOTD, woo! Bear with me, I will try to improve the quality of these :-)
Please drop a comment below with any suggestions or comments!

//health - GREEN TEA

We all know that drinking water is good for you, but plain old water does get a bit dull after awhile. Instead of shamefully reverting back to soft drinks, try Green Tea!

Here are some reasons why:

• Helps Weight Loss: Green Tea contains antioxidants, called Catechins, which increases the rate of your metabolism - meaning you burn calories quicker. It also reduces your bad cholesterol levels.
• Healthy Skin: It minimizes the appearance of wrinkles and aging. Also, don't throw away your tea bags straight after drinking! Freeze them and place them over your eyes. They make your eyes feel refreshed and help with reducing puffiness.
• Relieves Stress and Energizes: Green Tea contains less caffeine than most types of Coffee, so you can enjoy more of it before bed.
• Boosts Immune System: Catechins are great antibacterial and antiviral agents. Drinking it in Winter will warm you up and stop that potential cold from coming on!
• Fights Cancer: Green Tea fights the free radicals in your body which harm your DNA and increase the risk of cancer.

Green Tea is affordable and available at many supermarkets. It can come in tea bags, tea leaves or pre-ready drinks. Personally, I would stick to tea bags and tea leaves as many pre-ready drinks have added sugar and flavouring.

Happy Drinking!

11/07/13 - TODAY'S AFFIRMATION

//trend - THE BOYFRIEND JEAN

For years we've seen the skinny jean, although it's a classic style - that leg hugging silhouette does get boring after awhile. Now there's the Boyfriend Jean, a comfier (...gone are the woes of too tight skinny jeans), baggier and often more distressed version of jean. The Boyfriend Jean is so effortlessly chic. It can be easily dressed up or down, and paired to make a whole range of outfits - very versatile!

One thing I have noticed though, I haven't actually seen a black BF jean... let alone, in other colours or prints.
Do you guys think that these options will become available in the future? Should we just stick to the basics?

Tips:

• If possible, do try on the jeans before you buy them! Everyone has their own idea of the "perfect amount of bagginess." Finding the right fit is important, otherwise they can make your legs look shorter.
• If you're a bit hesitant to try out this trend, or just want to save some cash, try looking for a pair at the thrift store. You can then distress them however you like!

I've put together two quick sets to show you guys how to easily them up or down :-)

//trend - BOYFRIEND JEANS: dress it up by dan1elle 

structured, fitted pieces (e.g blazers, boxy bags) + heels + cat eyeliner/bold lip + voluminous buns/sleek pony tails

//trend - BOYFRIEND JEAN: dress it down by dan1elle

loose fitting tops + chunky shoes/sandals + beach waves/braids + vintage sunglasses + boater hats/beanies

*_*

"Hi, my name is Danielle and I have terrible time management and procrastination problems."

I am disappointed in myself! I really wanted to update this blog regularly but I found it difficult to do since school commitments kept me quite busy (probably because I had Facebook tabbed half of the time).

The only thing to do when you fail is to try again... So here I am.

Quick update:

• Nearly end of Term 1 school holidays, yeeeees!
• Flying to New York in 2 days, hell yeeeees!

I will try keep you guys updated with my trip, please let me know of any cool places to go or things to buy.


Definitely, talk to you soon ♥

DIY: Jeans to Shorts

This is a DIY classic - it's easy, quick and looks good (all the ingredients of a good DIY!)

    Materials:

•  Jeans: To transform into shorts. Try the DIY on an old pair first if you're a bit unsure!
•  Ready-made shorts: Find a pair that fit you well and that you like the style of.
•  Ruler
•  Scissors: Fabric scissors would obviously be the best, but I don't any. Regular scissors are a little bit                                  more difficult to cut with but totally usable.
•  Pencil: Pen, marker, chalk - whatever takes your fancy.

• Align your existing shorts with the jeans you're planning to DIY with to get an estimate of the length/shape you want.
• Draw a straight line (Tip: Make your line slightly diagonal, which will make the hem of your shorts slant upwards instead of just being horizontal. This provides a more flattering cut and elongates your legs) to mark off your desired length. 
• Draw a second straight line slightly below the first. This will give you room to make mistakes or extra fabric to distress/cuff. You can always cut your shorts shorter, but you can't really make them longer!
• Try them on to check the lines are where you want them to be.

•  Cut along the second line you drew for Step 1.
•  You don't have to cut incredibly neatly...I'll tell you why in Step 3

• Well done! You are now 'kind of done'.
• Now, you can cuff your shorts and keep the cuff in place by ironing/sewing the sides of the cuff
• You can also chuck them in the washing machine to give a frayed, distressed looking hem
• (You won't see the original cut if you cuff them/distress them, therefore you don't have to be super neat in Step 2.)
• Feel free to customize them even more... here are some ideas:
• Studding
• Bleaching/dyeing
• Lace/cloth appliques
• Distressing

I hope you enjoyed this super, easy DIY :-)

If you try it, please send me pictures or tell me how it goes! And feel free to ask me any questions.

Happy Valentine's Day ♥

I am so sorry guys, my time management skills completely suck so I haven't blogged much this week :(

I'm drowning in school and other commitments at the moment but I hope to have a new blog post up this weekend,
Thanks for understanding!
And I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day

♥ Danielle