Let's Talk... Coffee Table Books

I have always envisioned myself having lots of snazzy coffee table books everywhere when I one day have a place of my own. I have already started a little collection of my own and I am slowly working my way up. There is just something I love about the look of coffee table books piled up - maybe thats just me. Personally I prefer coffee table books by photographers as I am fascinated by photography as an art form but I have my eye an a couple of other ones... Such as Cupcakes and Cashmere by Emily Schuman (known from the blog Cupcakes and Cashmere - check it out if you don't know it already, its beautiful!), which is more of a decor/makeup/food/style book.

Photo Credit - Cupcakes and Cashmere 

This is probably more of a bedside table book as opposed to a coffee table book - either way, I love it and I have for a while. Its a short, sweet and to the point book about all things girly, all tied into one in this wonderful book! In this book you will get everything from recipes to makeup tutorials to outfit and interior design inspiration. Take one quick look at her blog and you will understand the grace, detail and beauty with which Emily Schuman works. I admire this woman to the moon and back. It is available from amazon if you are interested in treating yourself :) 

Second is a series of coffee table books which are somewhat popular - The Taschen 4 Cities books. This series covers London, Paris, New York and Berlin and it talks about everything food, shopping and hotel related (covering the basic essentials of a city - me gusta). I own the London book and I love it! I was given it a few years back and since then I have wanted to collect the three other books. The book I have summarises all the topics into one big book (it is huge) but they can also be bought separately by category and city (aka you can just buy the book about hotels in New York or the book on shopping in Berlin). Plus, as a cherry on top, the front cover illustrations and inside are so fucking cool! 

Photo Credit - Taschen

Photo Credit - Amazon

This is such a nice twist on the typical travel guide - it is books like these that i want all over my apartment one fine day! Although some of the suggestions and recommendations in these books aren't exactly ideal for people my age, they are still a source of inspiration! Next up is a book on one of, if not my favourite, photographer in the entire world - Annie Leibovitz. I was given the book Annie Leibovitz at Work on my 18th birthday and I have been obsessed with it ever since. Although it presents a number of her works, the book is all about Leibovitz's career and work in general, which makes for an incredibly interesting read! 

Photo Credit - Amazon

Finally is another photography book, but this time the classic coffee table book made up of all portraits. This one is by the photography god that is Mario Testino titled Mario Testino Portriats. Testino is truly a genius in photography and has take some of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen. This book of portraits is going right on to my list of things to drool over until I have money to buy them/until its my birthday. 

Photo Credit - Amazon

I hope you guys found this interesting! Please let me know if you want more posts like this one where I am basically just sharing some of my random obsessions with you all.

Much Love,

Caroline

Lovely Links: One

This is an idea I got from Emily (Cupcakes and Cashmere) where she does a series called Links I Love, which is basically a list of her favourite websites/articles/videos. Now this isn't necessarily just beauty and fashion related, which is why I liked the idea so much and wanted to do it myself. I love finding random websites that friends have shared on Facebook and Twitter (you just gotta love social media) or on StumbleUpon (it is a dark and deep hole of procrastination - you have been warned and you are also welcome). Thus I introduce (yet another) blog series that I aim to keep updated monthly. Wish me luck and here we go - I have four websites to share on this post. Before we actually begin I just want to warn everyone - I am a huge fan of list articles.. Like Top [enter a number here] of [enter a random topic here], ya get me? Cool - now we can begin.

1. John Travoltify your name (aka The Adele Dazeem Name Generator) is a new gem, which emerged shortly after the oscars. You must be either living under a rock or completely cut off from the internet if you haven't heard about John Travolta's slight mispronunciation of Idina Menzel's name when introducing her at the oscars (by slight I mean massively embarrassing). If you haven't seen this glorious moment yet I will just leave it right here for you all to enjoy. 
2. The first of my two "list" links is titled 22 Unbelievable Places That Are Hard To Believe Really Exist. Just look at that title! How could you not want to click on that?! Trust me - it is totally worth it. The world is kind of a beautiful place. 
3. Look Human is an online store which sell so many truly wonderful pieces of clothing bathed in film and tv references and so much more. There are some true gems on this website. Check it out. 
4. Finally is my second "list" article of the day called The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth by Cracked.com. Now, if you haven't heard of/read anything on this wesbite before I would highly recommend it - their writers are hysterical! I do love me some good old sarcasm. Oh and by the way - if you like this article there are about 5 or 6 more of them on the website. Enjoy!

I hope you are all doing wonderfully and that you enjoyed this somewhat random post!

Much Love,

Chantelle Kzing

How I Edit My Instagram Pictures

Okay so i am going to be completely honest here.. when I first saw videos or blog posts with this title I would rolls my eyes and think.. seriously?! you need multiple apps to create one silly picture on instagram?! Can't you just use one of the effects on the app itself.. but I will gladly admit that I am now one of those people and i do not care. Its not that I do it to every single picture I post on instagram but occasionally I like to play around with other editing apps. And to be fair - I only really use three (and one of the them is a collage app. All instagram nerds need a collage making app. Puhlease), which are Afterlight, VSCOcam and Moldiv.

Lets start off with the order I would normally use the apps - starting with VSCOcam. If I am not mistake, this editing app is no stranger to the instagram world. I found it through a friend of mine who swears by it and I have loved it ever since. It is a pretty simple app and its free! I only really used it for the effects, which are limited but so very effective! Have a look below if you want an idea of what the app looks like (and excuse to bland picture of my slightly dirty keyboard. yummy). You can either take a picture using the app or get one from your camera roll, as you can with pretty much all editing apps. 

In a way it is somewhat identical to instagram in the sense of its effect options. However, VSCOcam's effects just have that little bit more than intsgram, which is why I prefer using it. Once I have used this app I tend to just upload it straight up to instagram through VSCOcam and if not, I save it to my camera roll and continue editing (*cough* dork *cough*). This is when Afterlight enters the picture - drumroll please!

Although its not as basic as VSCOcam, Afterlight is very easy to use and offers a lot of editing goodies to play with! The other slight difference is that Afterlight costs.. but only £0.69, which is not all that much. Basically - you chose your picture, click use and begin! As you can see on the third of the pictures above, there is a small menu at the bottom of the screen and they are (from left to right) - rotate, levels, effects, additional layered effects, cropping and framing. In the pictures below you can see the menus that pop up when you click some of the different options...

These pictures are not in the exact same order as they have been listed above (well done, Caroline) but they are:

Framing - you have an option of lots of different shapes in the category called Original such as circles, rectangles and such. The category next to it is called Type which is basically just every letter in the alphabet as frames. Finally is a category which is for Afterlight pro users, which I am not so therefore I have not used it BUT I know that it is a frame that makes your picture look like a polaroid photo - pretty snazzy.

Levels - this is pretty simple and to the point. In this menu you can play with the contrast levels, the hues of the picture and such. You can also enhance the picture or darken it. Simple. I dig it. 

Effects - Under the effects are three folders that expand to lots of different options (so many effects makes a happy Caroline). I kid you not - there are a lot of them! So much selection! The Joy! 

Additional Layered Effects - i honestly didn't really know what to call this category as it technically counts as effects but the kind you add on top of the picture such as scratches and light damage. I personally don't really use the light damage/light effect options very often but i lurve me the scratches. They just add a great texture to your picture! 

Finally we have Moldiv, an editing app which is straight to the point - it helps you make collages. Yup. Thats pretty much it - it has a massively wide range of shapes and sizes. Its free and effective - boom. 

I honestly cannot believe I have just written an entire post about editing instagram pictures but hey, there you have it! I am in no way saying that you have to do this for every instagram picture you take and upload but for people like me, this is gold. I love to nerd out over stuff like this. Personally, this is something I am interested in reading about and watching on Youtube - not so much JUST photo editing apps but apps in general. I hope you enjoyed this utterly random blog post and that you are all doing wonderfully!

Much Love,

Caroline

I Think I Am Addicted To The Internet

I have really been craving blogging today but I have had complete writers block! I have no idea what to write about. Last night I got some really wonderful feedback on my blog and it made me want to blog even more :) So if any of you have requests or ideas for posts - please feel free to comment! Anyway - I  thought I would write a short and sweet post about other social medias/websites I use. First is my tumblr (you can click here to check it out), which is my main source of procrastination (i ain't gonna lie). I have a pretty obvious trend in my tumblr - pretty things, food and ridiculously cute animals. So if that is something you like the sound of, check it out! I also wanna leave my favourite tumblr right here, which is Samantha from Beautycrush. I have ranted about both her blog and youtube channel before and her tumblr is no exception. I adore it. 

click here to check out my tumblr

Next up we have the much loved instagram. I have a love/hate relationship with this app - I go from using it multiple times a day to not at all.. At the moment it is a very loving relationship though. Along with instagram are a couple of other editing apps that I use on a daily basis - but i might leave to for another blog post if it is a topic of interest. If you are interested in checking out my instagram you can either click here or follow me on carolinewkjaer. Along with that I thought I would share a couple of my favourite instagram profiles here for you lovely people: thebeautycrush (again... i know! but it is a pretty fucking great instagram profile! thank me later), caradelevingne (because why not), nylonmag (my crack), racheltalbott (a beautifully talented youtube beauty goddess plus she just had a really cute baby!), laurenconrad (yes i have seen the entire series of the hills multiple times - #NoShame) and finally... Beyonce (because beyonce - nuff said). I know a lot of these are some pretty popular and obvious ones but they are truly the ones I am obsessed with. Of course I also adore my friends' instagrams but I don't really wanna go throwing those around randomly. That might be a little creepy. Or not. I don't know. Hmm. 

P.S. Ian McKellen has instagram. You're welcome. 

Finally is the wonder that is Pinterest. To be completely honest... I haven't been using this lovely website recently but my obsession comes and goes in waves (i swear that is a lyric from a song). Its nothing special but I thought I might as well share it here. Please excuse the cliche wedding board... We all have them! Don't deny it! Give this a click if you wanna check it out.

click here to check out my pinterest

Whilst I have been writing this post a small thought has been nagging me and I just wanted to do a slight disclaimer at the end - This is not me trying to gain followers! I just thought it would be an idea to share the other social media forms I use that relate somewhat to my blog in case any of you were interested! I would also love it if you could recommend some pinterest/instagram/tumblr users that you guys like - i'm always looking around for inspiration! Also - if any of you know of any wesbites like the ones mentioned above that i could get hooked on, please do share! 

Much Love,

Caroline

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things - March

The idea of doing a monthly favourites post is no stranger to beauty/fashion dorks on the internet. Although I don't have a massive bunch of things to talk about, I thought I would still mention some of my favourite things throughout the month of March (Am I the only one who is slightly freaked out by the fact that its almost the end of the month? Where has this year gone?!) - mainly random favourites, which tend to be the ones I am most interested in when it comes to other bloggers and youtubers. 

My first favourite is a website called The Hunt (also the name of a great film - go watch it!) which is basically a fashion/beauty/bits and bobs easter egg hunt on the internet. For example - say you have been dragged into the time consuming hole of tumblr and you find a pair of shoes that you really like but you have no idea as to where they are from or where you can buy them... You go to The Hunt! 

It is really easy - you save the picture of the item you have fallen in love with, you upload it onto the website, give the "hunt" you have started for that item a title, a description and a price range and voila - you have started your hunt! Now all you have to do is wait for someone to notify you about them finding the exact object or something like it (they normally send you an email if someone finds your item). Here is an example:

You have options when it comes to submitting your search such as price range and what the aim of your hunt is (there is even an option called "What Goes With This" so you can get some inspiration).

Next up is something a little different (this blog post is truly a random collection of favourites - i warned you already!) - It is a diary. I first discovered this when watching a youtube video of someone's night time routine (I normally swear off these videos because I find them a little boring.. not gunna lie... I must have been really bored). At the end of it, the youtube guru sat on her bed and brought out this diary. 

The idea is simple - there is a page for each day of the year. On every page is five sections saying 20__ followed by some space. This is for answering the question asked at the top of the page. So basically - you fill out the year and answer the question, which can be anything from "What is your work ethic like?" to "Write Down Something That Inspired You Today." I completely fell in love with the idea of this, as I have tried many times (and failed) to keep a diary. This is simple yet effective - In a years time when you answer the same question you can look back and see how things have changed. You can buy one here :) 

Finally is a food favourite (there always has to be one - lets be serious) that I recently stumbled across - a place called EAT. Now I have been in Canterbury for well over a year now and I have always just walked past this place and never given it any thought or even tried it out. The  the other day I was in Canterbury unusually early and incredibly hungry, and EAT was one of the only places open (apparently Canterbury doesn't wake up until 11 am on a Sunday - I don't blame it really) so I tried it out... And i LOVED it! It is somewhat like Pret A Manger but almost a little bit fresher. I had a delicious chicken wrap and a Pink Lemonade (also really REALLY good) and the price wasn't too bad! Its safe to say I have found my new I-want-to-treat-myself-to-a-yummy-lunch place ;)

Thats pretty much it for now! It is coming to the end of the term so things are slowly starting to slow down meaning I will have more time to blog (waddup). I hope you are all doing wonderfully and enjoying the spring weather!

Much Love,

Caroline

Review - Simple: Eye Make-Up Remover Pads

First of all - excuse the horrible picture. I wanted to get this done quickly and this was the best that could be done considering the circumstances!

Okay.. So now on to the review! I picked up these eye make-up remover pads when i was in Sainsbury's the other evening because i was curious. I adore Simple products and I have used them or years and years, yet I had never seen these little guys. I used them this morning as I had forgotten to take off my makeup last night (bad bad, Caroline!) and woke up looking like a panda. Classic.

There are 30 little pads in the pack about the size of the palm of my hand. When i first started using them I was worried they would just be utter bullshit. However, I then did what you are ACTUALLY meant to do which is rest the pad on your eye, so that the mascara can.. i guess... dissolve... and be removed easier. I'm just really lazy when it comes to eye make-up removal - learn from my laziness! Once I actually gave the remover pads a chance to work I was very impressed with the results! One pad  did the job for both eyes - so really the pack can stretch for a while. I probably won't use these every single time i take off my make-up - I will most likely end up saving them for cases like lazily not taking my make-up off the night before and also for the odd occasion where I wear waterproof mascara (tis a truly rare occasion). 

Buuut yeah! Considering I bought these on a complete whim I am really happy with the result! You can buy them at boots (click here to check them out). When it comes to any product that will be in contact with ESPECIALLY your eyes, get a good quality brand as your eyes are incredibly sensitive! This applies to your skin in general really - take care of your pretty faces! 

Much Love,

Caroline

The Dynamic Duo

When i was around 15 years old i got a little carried away when plucking my eye brows and i regretted it immediately! Its a mistake that so many girls tend to make and it isn't the end of the world but man is it a pain in the ass! Since then my brows have been one of my most precious facial features. Eye brows are such a vital part of your face, especially as they are a key part of framing your face so it is so important to take care of them! I find it such a shame when girls for some reason decide to shave their eye brows off and replace them with a thin pencil line. The most important thing is to respect the natural shape and colour of your eye brows as much as possible and then work with them from there.

I have been on the hunt for a good brow gel and brow pencil for the longest time and finally i found my answer - Benefit. Just before Christmas I walked into to Boots, straight over to the Benefit counter and asked her to fill in my brows so they looked as natural but still slightly bold - thats just how i prefer my eye brows. Around 2 minutes later I looked in the mirror handed to me by the Benefit girl and the result was amazing, exactly what i wanted! I immediately asked for the products that she had used and thanked her muchly. The two items she used were Benefit's Instant Brow Pencil and Benefit's Speed Brow. What is so great about this combination is that they can be used as a pair or separately, depending on what look you want to achieve. 

The Instant Brow Pencil is a double ended product where one end is a brow brush (a really good one as well!) and the other is the brow pencil. I use the colour "light", which i believe is one of the three available shades. The pencil itself is amazing! The colour and the texture of it makes it easy to apply as well as resulting in a natural look. 

The Speed Brow is probably my favourite of the two and the one I use pretty much everyday (we all get a little lazy sometimes). It is a brow gel with a slight hint of colour, not too much but just enough to make it look like you have spent time on your brows when really you spent maybe 20 seconds. Bliss.  The Speed Brow is a product which is produced in one netural colour that suits basically all eyebrows. Layering this on top of the Instant Brow Pencil also works wonderfully and adds that finishing touch. Cost wise, these two products are reasonably priced in my opinion considering their quality (Benefit nailing it once again). I recommend both to the moon and back!

Much Love,

Caroline