Fashion: Jewellery by Ruby South Africa + Giveaway!

When it comes to my style regarding clothes and accessories, the one thing I always look for is something that's unique, that nobody else will have. Even though I do love a good ol bash through Primark, it's way more satisfying to be wearing something that's perhaps not on everyone's radar. One of those finds I'd like to share with you today are a few necklaces by Ruby South Africa.

Just look at that pretty packaging! Aww! And what was inside is even better.

My absolute favourite of the lot is this swinger necklace. It sits a little bit askew, so that it literally looks like you have a girl on a swing hanging around your neck. (No, not literally. Not literally at all)

This Mini Africa necklace I've already had lots of compliments for! It's incredibly delicate and feminine and sits at that perfect spot right between the collar bones.

Ruby also have a range of upcycled coin necklaces which are literally coins from around the world, slightly embellished and threaded around a chain. They are a bit longer than the other necklaces and absolutely perfect for layering, particularly if you're going for a bit of a vintage look in your outfits.

I just cannot get over how pretty they look! Now, I did have some shots of how these necklaces look when worn, but unfortunately my chest decided to erupt in a random bout of redness (sunburn? excitement?), so I will spare you the sight of that.

But you've still got the chance to win some of these for yourself and style them any which way you like. In collaboration with Ruby South Africa I'm giving away three of their upcycled coin necklaces. Here's what's up for grabs:

All I'm askin in return is that you take a few minutes to check out Ruby's Count Fracula campaign which opposes fracking in the Karoo in South Africa. In case you don't know what fracking is (I had to google it), here is an excellent BBC News article on what it means and what the dangers of fracking are. In simple terms, it's a process of getting gas out of rocks by drilling into them and injecting water at high pressure. The problem is that the process can release huge amounts of carcinogenic chemicals into the drinking water and it's therefore highly controversial. In a region where drinking water is already in short supply, contaminating what little there is is doubly tragic.
Ruby have teamed up with photographer Gavin Goodman and copywriter David Gimpel to create a powerful campaign raising awareness of the dangers of fracking.

For more information or to help, you can visit www.treasurethekaroo.co.za

To enter the giveaway, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway is international and will close at midnight on Sunday, May 4th.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see what other gorgeous jewellery Ruby have got on offer (make sure to check out their range of lingerie as well!), you can visit their website or alternatively their Etsy shop.

Good luck!

March Wish List

Edla Backpack Bexicheck, Monki, £20 // Sharon Leaf Necklace, Monki, £8 // Ice Cream Applique Jumper, Topshop, £45 // Jewellery Hook Mirror, Next, £16 // Set of 2 Fruit and Veg Hampers, Next, £12 // Mini tealight lanterns, Dwell, £34.95 // Double triangle hoops, River Island, £6 // Surrealist Knotted Headwrap, Forever 21, £3.15 // Pink kaleidoscope print high waisted shorts, River Island, £28 // Pretty-Tough floral high-tops, Forever 21, $29.80

How can you tell that we just moved into a new house? Sneaky home ware items have even made it onto my monthly wish list! My tastes in fashion and homeware couldn't be more diametrically opposed - while I love clothes that are bright, colourful and even quite childish at times, when it comes to home decoration I'm all for a muted, understated vintage look. 

The hooked mirror is actually intended for jewellery storage, but I think it would make itself very nicely in the hallway, to hang keys on and do that absolutely necessary last lipstick / hair check before you leave the house. I'm also on the hunt for a nice fruit bowl, but actually these baskets are probably a lot nicer than any old bowl - especially the white mixing bowl I'm currently using to put all my fruit in!! Lastly, I could quite happily decorate my house in anything from Dwell, but their prices are certainly holding me back. Those little tealight lanterns would make create such a warm, cosy atmosphere in the evenings - albeit £35 for the set is rather steep!

Back onto fashion and I'm so glad that it's now socially acceptable to wear backpacks instead of hand bags again. I love to cram my whole life into my bag and as a result my shoulder always gets stiff and sore from carrying huge bags, but with a backpack I no longer need to worry about that! I love the print on this Monki one and £20 is quite the bargain!

Speaking of prints, the kaleidoscope print on those River Island shorts is actually making my brain a little confused. It's like they're hypnotising me whilst slowly whispering "buy me..." into my ear.

Quite annoyingly, both the double triangle earrings and the flower print hi-tops are sold out - though I'm not even sure why I put the earrings on there, seeing as I can't even wear earrings due to my earlobes being stretched. Guess I just liked the look of them!

I also didn't think I'd ever say this, but I quite fancy getting my hands on a nice head wrap. I particularly  like the look of this bright Forever 21 number. I could just imagine feeling like a slightly crazy painter adding those deciding brush strokes while wearing my hair tied back in this. Perhaps that's my imagination going a little overboard, here!

And last but not least, that ice cream jumper. Happiness. On. A. Jumper. Need I say anything else?

February Wish List

Striped Sweatshirt, Pull & Bear, £17.99 // 3D Globe Pendant Necklace, Urban Outfitters, £12 // Heart-shaped Print Pink Skirt, Romwe, £18.12 // Coins Bracelet, Asos, £6 // Reve de Miel Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm, Nuxe, £9.50 // MOTO Faux Leather Fronted Leigh Jeans, Topshop, £42 // MOTO Folk Embroidered Hotpants, Topshop, £34 // Origami Animal Earrings, Love Hearts and Crosses, £10 // Pink Tribal Print Friendship Bracelets Pack, New Look, £6.99 // Geo Darling Boxy Tee, Forever21, £11.50

Slowly but surely the spring collections are seeping into shops (the first month of the year is over now, after all) and I'm all over them! I always struggle to find clothes I like in the winter months, as everything tends to be black and grey and really, really dull. 

And just because it's still winter doesn't mean I can't start looking for a new pair of shorts. That's what tights were invented for, after all!

I also couldn't help but sneak in a Valentine's themed item, either. The heart print Romwe skirt looks like it's the perfect cut to do an awful lot of swirling and swooshing in.

The Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm was featured on pretty much every beauty bloggers 2013 favourites and as I'm in dire need of an intense over-night lip balm ever since I finished my last tube of 8 hour cream, it's about time I give this one a go.

Two other items on this list are also completely down to other bloggers. First of all, we have those faux leather Topshop jeans. I've always wanted some leather trousers, but was a bit weary about pulling the look off. Then I saw these over on Lily's blog (click here for the post) and fell in love with the half denim, half leather design. Unfortunately, they seem to have sold out online, but you might be able to still find them in stores. Over on Sailboat (click here for the post) Jenny introduced me to Love Hearts and Crosses and I want pretty much everything from the site, but I settled with the Origami hummingbird earrings for now. The site seems to be slightly temperamental with direct links, but they're definitely still there, so you might just need to search for them manually.

The globe pendant necklace holds special meaning to me, as one of my goals for this year is to save some money to finally go travelling. It would be a constant reminder that I need to get out and see the world!

I've also seen a similar bracelet to the coin one above a few months ago, but then I couldn't find it anywhere and regret not having made a purchase when I had the chance. I'm not doing the same mistake twice!

Drop Dead birthday haul

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Drop Dead Clothing. Their items feature on pretty much every month's wish list and every time I'm in Central I just find myself magically drawn to their Soho store. So imagine my face when my boyfriend decided to treat me to a big bag of Drop Dead goodies for my birthday! Technically, my birthday isn't till tomorrow, but Joe is possibly one of the worst people at keeping secrets that I've ever come across, so I got all of these a bit early.

Drop Dead Tasty Treat Pendant

I don't usually wear gold jewellery (though I'm quite partial to rose gold), but I'll happily make an exception for this brightly coloured necklace - a cheeky take on the classic Rolling Stones' symbol with a gold tooth. (... And yes, that's an acid tab on its tongue)

Drop Dead Knuckleduster Rings

Boy oh boy do I love these. Admittedly, knuckleduster type rings aren't the most practical to wear when you're doing stuff with your hands, so I won't be wearing these to work, but just how awesome are they?? You can't really see them that well in the black box, so here's a picture of what they look like on:

Excuse the elephant skin, my hands really don't like this harsh winter weather, haha! On a side note, I also love the boxes that all of this jewellery is housed in. Definitely keeping them for display!

Drop Dead Boner Snapback Cap

I do love me a good snapback. It adds instant edge to any outfits and hides a multitude of sins when I can't be bothered to do my hair or if my next root touch up is still a while away! I think Joe was getting fed up of my always stealing his caps, so he bought me one for myself, haha.

Drop Dead Scarf Guy

A nice black scarf is always appreciated as it goes with pretty much anything and this one in particular is so warm and soft! As its a neverending loop shape you also don't have to fiddle about with loose scarf ends dangling around. I particularly love the diamond symbol on it, it matches one of my tattoos on my left arm!

Drop Dead Tripster Sweater

When I saw this I literally ran around in circles across the room. I found a picture of this sweater ages ago and fell in love with it instantly, only to find out that it had been discontinued. You literally couldn't find it anywhere and it had become something of a collectors' item with prices on eBay hitting around £100. Somehow Joe managed to find me the last one on Impericon and I couldn't be happier!
The mouth is actually a little belly pouch which you can pull out to reveal this:

Drop Dead Tripster Sweater

So much fun to be had with a flappy tongue hanging out of your belly! (That sounds a lot weirder written down than it did in my head.) The huge button between the eyes is actually a huge giant button as well. If you ever had a jumper on which you could press a part to make a sound as a kid, you can imagine how I feel wearing this. (...And yes, that's another acid tab on its tongue)

I'm so chuffed with my Drop Dead goodies - I literally love every single item and can't wait to wear it all!
You can find everything bar the Tripster Sweater on the Drop Dead website here.

July Wish List

Yellow blouse with lace collar, H&M // Book-shaped key hole clutch, Asos // Zoo Animal Necklace, Miss Selfridge // Ombré denim shorts, Moto via Topshop // Rock paper scissors lizard spock tote, ThinkGeek



I have found myself strangely drawn to funny and cute things this month. Life's short enough - where's the fun in being all grown-up and boring?
I'm loving the books-as-clutches that have been seen on lots of celebrities lately. I like literature and I like handbags, so a trend that combines the two? Genius.
Just like the necklace. What's better than a cute animal necklace? A necklace with three cute animals on it!!
And to get to the most important item on the list... I never thought I would squeal with delight while looking at a gallery of the "10 geekiest beach accessories", but seeing as Big Bang Theory is officially the funniest show ever made, I think it's ok. ROCK PAPER SCISSORS LIZARD SPOCK!

Eigenartigerweise haben mich letzten Monat besonders süße und lustige Dinge sehr angesprochen. Das Leben ist kurz genug - ich habe keine Lust, erwachsen und langweilig zu sein.
Der Buch-als-Clutch-Trend, den man in letzter Zeit häufig an Stars sieht, gefällt mir sehr. Ich mag Literatur und ich mag Handtaschen, also ein Trend, der beides kombiniert? Genial.
So wie auch die Halskette. Was könnte wohl besser sein als eine Kette mit einem süßen Tieranhänger? Eine Kette mit drei süßen Tieranhängern!!
Und natürlich das wichtigste Stück auf meiner Liste.... Ich dachte nie, dass ich laut vor Freude quietschen würde beim durchklicken einer Galerie mit den "10 geekiest beach accessories". Da aber Big Bang Theory offiziell die lustigste Serie ist, die jemasl gedreht wurde, ist es in Ordnung, denke ich. ROCK PAPER SCISSORS LIZARD SPOCK!

June Wish List

Asos Freefall Leather Sandals £45 (€61,09) // Topshop Aztec Dip Dye Skirt £32 (€42) // Alpha-H Liquid Gold Revita and Firming Solution £31.50 (€38.40) // Forever 21 Floral Fit & Flare Dress £18.75 (€21.75) // Forever 21 Plated Chain Necklace £7.40 (€8.90)


I thought it would be impossible to find flat sandals that I like, but lo and behold, Asos have managed to make the impossible possible and I actually quite fancy this pair. Of course they would be completely useless for a summer spent in the city as the white leather would get mucky very, very quickly, but I guess you can't have everything... *sigh*

I recently noticed that I have no skirts left apart from two or three businessy ones, so that's a situation that has to be remedied quickly! I love the way this Topshop one taps into Aztec print, but without looking scary.

Alpha-H Liquid Gold is something I've wanted to try for a while, just because so many people are raving about it and I'm also quite curious if a chemical peel would make any difference to my skin.

Finally - and I can't believe I'm saying this - but I think Forever 21 has taken over from Topshop as my "shop where I could buy everything". Their clothes, their jewellery, hell even their pyjamas... I'm just in love. I love how summery this dress is whereas the necklace would be perfect to jazz up a plain top or t-shirt.


Ich dachte, es wäre unmöglich, flache Sandalen zu finden, die mir gefallen, aber seht her: Asos haben das Unmögliche möglich gemacht und dieses Paar finde ich sogar recht hübsch. Natürlich sind sie für einen Sommer in der Stadt total ungeeignet, da das weiße Leder sehr schnell schmutzig werden würde, aber man kann ja nicht alles im Leben haben.... *seufz*

Ich habe vor kurzer Zeit bemerkt, dass ich keine Röcke mehr habe, bis auf zwei oder drei "Büro-Röcke" und diese Situation muss schnellstens behoben werden! Ich liebe die Art, in die dieses Topshop-Stück auf Azteken-Print andeutet, ohne aber zu überwältigen.

Alpha-H Liquid Gold ist etwas, das ich schon seit längerer Zeit probieren wollte, weil so viele Leute davon begeistert sind. Es würde mich auch interessieren, ob ein chemisches Peeling irgendwelche Veränderungen auf meiner Haut hervorrufen würde.

Und zum Schluss - und ich kann nicht glauben, dass ich so etwas sage - denke ich, dass Forever 21 Topshop die Rolle des "Geschäfts, in dem ich alles kaufen könnte" abgenommen hatte. Die Kleidung, der Schmuck, ja sogar die Schlafanzüge sind alle ein Traum. Ich liebe das Sommerfeeling, das von diesem Kleid ausgeht, während die Kette ganz einfach ein simples Top oder T-Shirt aufpeppen würde.