Zara

When you move to Iowa City they should warn you there isn't a Zara, not just in the city... in the whole state. The withdrawals began almost immediately.

Zara is probably my favourite high street store. I could lose days, or more importantly my entire bank balance, wondering around trying everything on. I've made a couple of purchases and this pair of platform ankle boots is the most recent.

They arrived pretty quickly, in a ridiculously huge box.

I have to say, they're not exactly what I hoped...

The deep red colour that is shown on the site appears more brown than I was expecting. Don't get me wrong! The colour is still lovely, and definitely isn't enough to stop the lust at first sight I felt for these heels.

Unfortunately, the cut happens to curve under the annoyingly pointy bone in my ankle. Curse you foot for finding a way to make every shoe painful! The heel height doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable, but the side makes these shoes so irritating I'm not sure I'll keep them long enough to work that one out!

If anyone has any tips for making this kind of problem tolerable (or for making heels more comfortable in general!) please feel free to let me know! Otherwise, I think I'll have to return these beauties so someone else can love them...

Jenni xo

Hey There!

I’ve been an avid follower of a number of beauty blogs and YouTube channels for a few years now. They’ve been a constant source of inspiration, have opened my mind and definitely changed the way I express myself on a day-to-day basis.

This obsession with everything beauty and fashion has finally culminated in trying out this whole blogging thing. A little late on the bandwagon, I know!

I’ve been thinking about blogging for almost a year, and as this year has seen almost everything in my life change, I figured what better time to start?!

I’ll introduce myself with a tag I found floating around the Internet, so here goes!

1) What’s your name? 
Oh haii, my name’s Jenni.

2) How did you start making these videos? 
I haven’t made any videos yet, maybe in the future. I finally decided to start blogging as a way to help anyone with the questions I’ve asked myself, or with problems I’m still working out.

3) What are your interests outside of beauty? I have soo many interests. I study Biology at university, so that’s something that takes up a lot of my time and blows my mind everyday.

4) How did you come up with your YouTube name?
 Participate, don't spectate, Become the view It’s actually song lyrics, how cliché! It’s about not just watching the world go by, but actively deciding to be a part of it. Standing out and becoming part of the show.

5) Who is your favorite beauty guru?
 That’s so hard, I think it would have to be Tanya Burr. Although, for fashion it would probably be Zina Charkoplia, I’ve been more than a little in love with her for the almost two years now.

6) What is your favorite designer brand?
 Another hard question! It’s constantly changing, but I have to say Valentino has been making my heart skip a beat with increasing frequency. Balenciaga is also a dream and add Alexander Wang into the mix? Perfection.

7) Whats your biggest insecurity? 
I think insecurity is more general than one thing that takes away from your confidence. There is no single thing that would make me more confident if I could magically change it. Unless I could turn into Anne Hathaway or Zooey Deschanel, that would probably just about do it…

8) Favorite beauty product at the moment? 
My Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm in Pink Punch. It’s my way of denying winter and holding onto summer.

9) Whats your favorite perfume or scent at the moment? 
Dior Poison.

10) What are you wearing right now and were did you get it? 
I’m actually at work at the moment (shhhh don’t tell the boss!) so nothing exciting. I’m wearing brown worker boots, black skinny jeans, vintage leather belt, nude tank and a couple of sweaters. The boots are from Clarks (the shame, but they have lasted 2 years so far!) and sweaters are from Topshop and Loft. The jeans are from Four Seasons as I spilt bleach on my trusty Topshop ones a week after I left England!

Now, a little more about me to dispel any lingering air of mystery:

I’m a 20-year-old biology student at the University of Bath. A few months ago I moved to America to work in a lab for a year as part of my degree. I did it all alone and I’m secretly pretty impressed with myself, even if it wasn’t as scary as I expected. None of this sounds particularly conducive to a love of beauty and fashion does it? Oh well! It’s another adventure at an already crazy time in my life, what could go wrong?!!