SUPER DRY......SUPER STYLIN'......!

In Ireland, you are never far away from a Taxi man with a political opinion and a huge urge to share it….. Well today – by my scientific reckoning – you are never more than six feet away from a bit of Superdry clothing either. You know Superdry clothing even if you think you don't. Look around: on the bus there'll be someone carrying a rucksack with Japanese writing. On a rush-hour train several suits will be wearing a lightweight jacket with too many zips. Turn on the TV and Jamie Oliver will be ripping up some basil for Sainsbury's wearing a checked shirt. Your guy in the local Centra is wearing a vintage-looking T-shirt with a huge number printed on it, which looks familiar but doesn't appear to mean anything. These are all Superdry clothes: sporty yet not technical; designed but not designer.
Superdry was set up in 2003. Julian Dunkerton, who owns SuperGroup, already owned a brand named Cult Clothing that sold vintage-looking, skater-ish clothing and logo T-shirts to students in cities such as Galway, Dublin, Limerick and Cork. One of the labels that Cult stocked was Bench – a skater brand known for its hoodies and T-shirts. When Bench's founder and designer James Holder left, Dunkerton approached him and ta-da the Superdry clothing baby was born.
Since then the label has consistently outperformed the competition. It is the label most likely to be worn by a papped celebrity carrying a Starbucks. David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Neyo, Ben Stiller: celebrities all the way down the food chain to Cheryl's ex-mate Derek Hough are willing to actually pay for it (a feat in itself in the celebrity world of "gifting"). Superdry is a modern sartorial phenomenon. And yet it still flies under the radar.
And we here at NoPolka.com are dedicated to bringing you the latest trends, styles right to your door step, so we knew Superdry would be the perfect fit for our site. The appeal of Superdry clothing is hard to pinpoint, in some part owing to the broadness of its reach. It can't be put into a neat fashion category, as other high-street labels can. Zara fits into a box labelled "catwalk trends on the cheap".
Superdry clothing lives within a messy Venn diagram. It's sporty in a way that appeals to people who like the idea of snowboarding but who don't actually go; it's faux-vintage and authentic for those who don't like rifling through rails of second-hand clothes. It combines Americana with Japanese fonts, yet the company is based in Cheltenham. Its branding is a masterpiece, huge statement logos and tags, without being offensive or in your face. So with all that being said, I have put some of my favourite piece together from the latest range available on NoPolka.com.

Enjoy, Niamh xx

TOMMY BOWE SHOE LAUNCH

Last Saturday, 6th October, Tommy Bowe visited the Replay Menswear store in Newbridge to promote his Tommy Bowe shoes collection. The fans formed an orderly line out outside REPLAY store in White Water shopping centre from the moment the centre opened…… die-hard fans or what!! And not all the typical dads and sons rugby crew, ohhhhh no Tommy is fast becoming the pin up of the rugby world, so as you can imagine there was a scattering of young(and some not so young) girls, patiently waiting to get a picture and a kiss from the Ulster player.

Now, I'm not huge into my rugby, and I'm ashamed to say it, but before last week, I wouldn't have been able to pick Tommy out, in a line up, so when he arrived into the back of the store, I was pleasantly surprised. Okay, obviously, he a good looking lad, but he is a really nice guy too. Getting straight to work, taking pictures with two little boys who had to dash off to football training.

 

When the doors opened, the crowds flooded in….mainly giggling, as a herd of girls had appeared from somewhere, and were applying lippie and fixing their hair in great anticipation of meeting the 28 year old Ulster naïve, who signed everything from posters, to phone covers (which I thought was a fairly clever idea, by all involved….!!) He took picture after picture, and handed out sweets from  the token Christmas tin of Roses chocolates, for over one hour without getting a cramp in his face from smiling……professional!!! Then, as quick as he arrived, he was gone, but not before I grabbed a sneaky picture and bit of banter out of him!!! Off to do it all again in another shopping centre.

His third range of shoes for Llyod & Pryce, is available in store at REPLAY Menswear Whitewater shopping centre, or online at NoPolka.com

I LOVE BODY & SOL Unisex sunless tan........

 Fake tan is a mine field......! Streaks, stripes, dirty knuckles, and dodgy foot colour, are just a few of the more common tanning dilemas.  So when I was sent BODY & SOL unisex sunless tan I, as any other false tanning devote would, got rather excited.

While, I am not very pale skinned, my preference is for more than a hint of colour, and I usually have to use two applications of tan, to get my desired shade of "natural"......So I couldn’t wait to give it a whirl.   On the first spray of the Body & Sol, I was quiet surprised.....there was no hideous false tan smell, there was a slight coconut smell in the room afterwards, but it was kind of nice.  It spayed on really well, and there was no blending involved and the slight guide colour help you get a really even colour.  You know that "waiting for tan to dry" stance that every girl has? The relaxed zombie swinging movements we employ while patiently waiting to get dressed.....well not with BODY & SOL, it dried really quickly....like really quickly, couple of minutes and I was dry as a bone.!!

The next morning, I hopped out of bed, had a quick shower, and was delighted when the guide colour rinsed off......I was really brown, not the usual false tan brown....just back from two weeks in the sun brown....and there were no streaks, or dodgy foot tan, which I put down the airbrush effect, coz the tan just sits on your skin.  When I went out at the weekend, everyone commented on tan, which they couldn’t believe wasn’t natural and acquired on a cheeky late summer holiday in the sun.

So it’s fairly safe to say, my year long struggle to find a false tan that suited my skin and is absolutely fool proof is over.........!! Definitely worth a spray ladies.....you won’t be disappointed.

Here comes the science............ Rich in antioxidants, vitamins and botanical extracts, BODY & SOL enriches your skin with radiance boosting power and energy. It is precisely formulated for bronze perfection, intense skin firming and hydration in one innovative spray. Its unique natural and organic based spa formulation fades slowly and evenly, giving a rich, deep, exotic looking cocoa dipped tan.

BODY & SOL Ultimate Sunless Tan is available to purchase online now and in certain stockists nationwide (please contact us for further stockist information)

BODY & SOL 150ml aerosol - only *24.00 euro

 

 

Nopolka discount deal...!

Winner, Winner, Sunday chicken dinner...!!

If your spending the afternoon, catching up with "Come dine with me" and doing a bit of internet shopping, dont forget about Nopolka.coms amazing discount deal, 15% off full price items, and delivery for only 1 Euro.....! Brilliant.

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NAIL IT.....!

Now, if your having a nice relaxing day before the match & a few Sunday drinks, and your nails could do with a bit of TLC, why don't you try the latest in nail trends, "Ombre" nails.   I love these, coz you can try out some really brilliant colours, I personally love the Essence range of nail colours, available in independent Pharmacies and Penneys, because they have a huge range of colours and are cheap as chips, and surprisingly last really well...!  

 

 

Step 1

File your nails into shape and massage a small blob of Elizabeth Arden 8 hr cream onto each one, next push back your cuticles with a wooden cuticle stick.

Step 2

Choose your colours. Similar tones work well together. For a tropical sunset look I’d suggest using a combination of Essence Orange Nail Splash, Fuschia Nail Splash and Pink Nail Splash

Step 3

To make the colours really ‘pop’ on your nails go for a White or Nude base coat on each nail, then wait to dry.

Step 4

Apply your first colour over the white on each nail and wait to dry.

Step 5

Paint your next colour onto a makeup sponge. Gently pat the colour onto your nails with the sponge from tip to about half way down. Wait to dry then do the same with the 3^rd colour, just on the tips this time.

Step 6

Wait to dry then clean up around the nails with a cotton bud and seal with a clear topcoat. A little bit of summer for your nails!

 

And there you go, its as simple as peas!!! Please feel free to tweet me your nail attempts, as i'd love to see how you lot are going on.

 

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Dundrum Blogger in Residence Competition.

When I saw the amazing competition being run by Dundrum Town Centre, sponsered by Samsung, to find a blogge to work alongside the shopping centre I nearly feel off my Kurt Geigers..! What a brilliant competition...!!!
There are four challenges, The first challange is to write a piece about one of the amazing prizes on offer and I need all my wondeful follwers to vote fo me to get through to round two...!

For my entry, I decided to write a blog about the Michael Kors Hamilton Tote bag.

Challange 1.

Fashions change but style is eternal, there is no truer statement than that when you talk about a Michael Kors bag.  We all search for the same things in a bag, style first and practically second, luckily this bag holds bundles of both these qualities neatly over your shoulder.

My favourite is the Hamilton Bag, which comes in a varity of colours, but also comes in different sizes to suit any stature, which is hugely important, we all love an oversized bag, to fit all the unessesary nessesities, but we dont want to look like we are carrying an overnight bag about.

Usually bags with both top handles and shoulder straps look like they’re having an identity crisis but worn either way, these straps enhance the chic-ness of the bag. You'll be the envy of your friends when you waltz from Autumn to Winter with this stylish, trend setting bag.

Centrehttp://www.dundrum.ie/bloggerinresidencechallenge1/

PRINCE HARRY STRIPS OFF....!!

In case your just waking up, here's a few pictures of Royal bad boy Prince Harry in the nip.....!

While Harry was over in Las Vegas on Friday, things got a bit carried away while they were playing a game of strip poker in his VIP suite....!! I'm guessing he got a "Royal flush"....! Sorry couldn't resist...!!

I wonder what his granny the queen will have to say about this....!!

PERRIE MEETS THE FAMILY....!!

They only confirmed their relationship in May, but it seems things are going well for Little Mix's Perrie and 1D'er Zayn....!! She's only gone and been introduced to the whole clan.....!!
Here's the cute family picture....!!
Seems the world of pop may have a new power couple...!! I only wish they had a better couple name "Perryn" or "Zayrrie" hmmmmm...... Not feeling them...!!

LANA DEL RAY FOR H&M

The gorgeous and uber talented LANA del Ray models for H&M .....love love love...!
What do you guys think...? Yeh or nay..?

Chezza's new fella.......!

Unlucky in love Cheryl Cole has finally baged herself a new boyfriend...!
Its the very easy on the eye Tre Holloway!!!  A source, close to Cheryl said: “It’s early days but they are an item.”
They met when Tre appeared alongside the pop babe as she performed her single Promise This on 2010’s X Factor live finals
Cheryl met up with him again when she celebrated her 29th birthday in Las Vegas last month — and the pair have been inseparable ever since.
A source said: “It’s going well. They really like each other.”
Cheryl has had a string of secret dates with Tre — pronounced “tray” — going out with him TWICE this week alone.

On MONDAY they enjoyed a double date with Girls Aloud bandmate Kimberley Walsh and her boyfriend Justin Scott at Nobu restaurant in West London, meeting the mates already.....tre Must be a keeper....!
My exclusive picture shows Cheryl, wearing an elegant black and red dinner dress, gazing happily at her new man as she took him back to her hotel, obvious;y just to chat about current affairs and drink coffee.....!

Then on TUESDAY she put on a black mini-skirt and vest top for another swanky meal with her American dancer at Roka restaurant in central London. We hope that Cheryl's run of bad luck in the love deptpartment has finally over.....!!!

NoPolka.....No worries...!!

I had to let you guys know about my new favourite website, Nopolka.com.  This Dublin based and irish owned site, has had me distracted for the last few days!! Not only do they have amazing stock, but they also have huge discounts on at the moment.  Ya know those Shiny Disco pants, that are a must have in any lil fashionistas wardrobe....well they have them.....at a fraction of the price, that other retailers have them on sale for...!! Winning!!!

Nopolka says its focus is on providing on trend clothes from the best fashion retailers in Ireland... and they know we love deals so they always on the hunt for bargains to offer us.

NoPolka is making sofa shopping waaaaaaaay more fun....and check out the mens section....hot models and 70 % off....seriously...what more could you want.

TOP TIPS EVERY GIRL SHOULD KNOW...!

We all know that they best way to lose weight is to eat right and exercise. However, we also know that this takes some time, and even with all our best intentions......we dont always stick to our self made gym promises, so if you need a quick fix to make yourself look thinner, follow these tips.

 

Know your shape

Take a good look at your self in the mirror and get to know your body.

Dressing in a way that is appropriate for your shape can take 10 pounds off you.

Think about the lines of your clothes and where they hit you on your body. You do not want clothes meeting, starting or ending at an unflattering part. So if you have large calves, wear a shorter skirt above the knee or a longer maxi dress.

Are you apple shaped? In that case do not wear clothes that are round on top and bottom such as a floaty maxi dress.

Always accentuate the smallest part of your body. If you are pear shaped wear a fitted shirt and wide leg trousers.

This will accentuate your small upper half and hide any lumps or bumps on the bottom.

Read on for more tips on dressing thinner.

Wear one colour top to toe

Match your top and bottom half.

If you wear black from head to toe (like Catherine Zeta Jones ), as we all know, you will look up to 10 pounds lighter!

Too boring for you? Wear bright accessories or shoes.  Neon is going to be huge this summer, add a statement necklace to instantly brighten and update your outfit.

Belt up

A wide belt will make you look thinner.

Make sure that the belt fits right and there is no unattractive over or under hang.  Jeniffer Hudson is a perfect example of how a belt can make you look instantly thinner, and give you an amazing shape.

Wear the right trousers

The best trousers sit just at your hip, unless you have a slim waist in which wear high waisted trousers.

Make sure that your trousers fit, muffin tops are not good. Wide leg trousers or flares will balance wide hips as long as you tuck in your top so that you do not look large all over.

Flat fronted trousers pull in your tummy and create a uniform line across your stomach which makes you look thinner, and taller.

Trousers with a wide waistband will be more flattering that narrow ones which can draw your eye to any lumps, bumps or bulges.

Picking a fabric with a slight stretch will help ensure that you are comfortable and also that the trousers hold their shape.

Heels make you look tall and thin

We know that they aren’t always comfortable but if you want to look slimmer heels will elongate your body, particularly your legs.

If you are wearing them with jeans or trousers make sure that they are long enough to cover your instep.

Pencil skirts are slinky & sexy

Pencil skirts are flattering to all shapes. They show your curves and make you look and feel slinky! Team with a fitted shirt or slogan t-shirt and a killer pair of heels and you are ticking loads of the boxes! Look at the gorgeous and curvy Dita Von Teese.

Block colours

If you have to wear prints, wear the right ones, and block colours are in all the shops right now, and as you all know we love a trend, so this is the best way to make the trend work for you.

Block colour will slim you much more than prints.

That doesn’t mean that you can never wear prints or patterns but if you do, pick small prints (they make you look smaller).

Wear a tailored jacket

A jacket that is fitted at the waist and hip length will give you a svelte figure.

A jacket that is too big on you or one that just isn’t fitted will make you look bigger.

Jennifer Hudson gets this look perfectly. She wears a black outfit but teams it with a fitted gold jacket to show off her waist.

Wear bright red

We know this is difficult if you are self conscious and don’t want to draw attention to yourself but the colour will soak up the light making you look thinner and it also gives you a confidence boost making you walk taller!

Rock the nude trend with nude shoes

They will add inches to your legs, but only if your pins are bare. Wearing them with black tights sort of defeats the purpose.

Posture – walk tall

Ok we realise that this has nothing to do with clothes but posture makes a huge difference to how slim you look.

Hold in your stomach a little, so that it is still comfortable, tuck your tailbone in a little and under and keep straight and tall as if you are trying to touch the ceiling with the top of your head. This sounds like a lot but if you practice you will soon get the hang of it and it will become second nature. This also has the benefits of strengthening your abs!

So there you have it folks....a few sneaky stylists tips to remember, when shopping or putting outfits together.

xx