Fifty shades of green

So. I have been planning this post literally  since  about January, and just haven't  gotten around to it until this weekend. The original inspiration was  Lime Crime's Serpentina, and I thought  long and hard about buying it after I bought one of the velvetines last year but because Lime Crime can be expensive  I didn't in case I ended up not liking the colour and never using it. Fortunately for me the cheap highstreet (but may I mention still cruelty  free) brand Makeup Revolution brought out their Atomic collection in October I think it was,  five 'brave shades' of highly  pigmented lipstick.

Their version  of the Green lippy is called Serpent. Original yes. So I used it as the starting point to build the look upon and ended up using pretty much every bit of green makeup I own. I also used Directions' Alpine Green the last time I dyed my hair  so it's  looking a bit dark and blue in places.

I started with an eyeshadow primer, and then used a light minty green for the inner corners. I then blended a deep matt green from the middle  to the outer corners and patted a shimmery green on top, also using the matt green for the lower lash line. Next I patted a very small amount of black onto the upper and lower lashline to define everything  a little bit, and blended white eyeshadow along my brow bone all the way up to my eyebrows. To finish my eyes I used my super spiky false lashes and mascara, and then foundation when my eyes were finished because I tend to make a mess with eyeshadows! I finished with the Serpent lipstick on my eyebrows and lips, and then patted the mint green shadow onto the middle  of  my lips for an ombre effect. Lastly I did a teeny bit of contouring with a medium matt green, although I don't actually  think it shows in the photos.

Product list:

NYX HD foundation 01 Nude
Too Faced eyeshadow primer
Lunatick Cosmetics eyshadow in Lustful Lilly
Sleek matt eyeshadow shades Dragonfly and Cricket
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Dragon
Lunatick Cosmetics  eyeshadow  in Summon
Makeup revolution  Atomic lipstick in Serpent

**Disclaimer: none of these products  were sponsored, I make these posts of my own free will.

Quick one

Just a teeny update to tell you guys that I'm  having even worse computer  troubles  than before, so apologies  for being really infrequent  with the blogging still.  But I HAVE finally joined instagram so come find me! User name lexingtonze1st

More updates soon I promise!

My 21st birthday celebrations (afternoon teas and posh hotels!)

I ran rather late with this post because my actual birthday was at the beginning of April, as I have ended up having a really busy month, and I'm also having some technological issues with blogging at the moment. I suck at technology... So as the post title says, I finally turned 21. No patronising age comments please, I have had just about enough of those from other mums I know and a few others, and it gets frustrating having to just smile and be polite about it because I actually find it really rude. Just because I'm not 30+ and married with a great job does not make you a better parent or person than me. Same goes for older members of the alternative subculture (umbrella term here) because unfortunately I have had similar encounters with them on occasion too. Anyway rant over. Another time maybe.

My birthday celebrations ended up lasting almost the whole week because I did things with my family, Rob's family and Rob pretty much separately. On Monday I worked, and Tuesday I went to the city of Bath to have afternoon tea in the pump rooms with my mum, gran, auntie and cousin. I had previously never been inside the Pump Rooms before, it was beautiful! In case you didn't know Bath is a lovely little city famous for it's Georgian architecture and hot springs, and the Pump Rooms are on the original site of the Roman Baths.

The table centrepiece with the balloons my mum gave to me. The black ones had my name on them written in glitter. Yay for glitter!

I will just say that whilst this chandelier  is amazing and I definitely  want one for myself, I did not particularly  want to be sitting  under it and the chain was thick with  dust.

My beautiful auntie and cousin, with that grand piano in the background. Yeah my family surprised  me by having him play happy birthday whilst our waitress brought me a chocolate  cupcake with "21" sparklers in it. The whole place was watching  and I  was so embarrassed!

Birthday tea room selfies. I'm  sorry.

Soo much foooood! It was amazing especially  the tiny chocolate coffee cakes and the tea, of which I chose the simple black assam. We also had pink champagne  and it was the most delicious champagne  I  have ever had. I drank most of the bottle on my own because  there were only two of us not driving but I definitely could of drank the whole thing on my own!

So after that little outing I had a dinner at home on Wednesday  and then on Thursday  (my actual  birthday) my mum took Reegan for the night  and we went to stay at a nice hotel in the country.

So the top photo is what you see as you drive towards Tortworth court where we stayed and the following  two are photos  of our room. We had no view because  the windows were so high! But the whole place was just sooo beautiful!

source

source

source

I mean even with the modern  furniture,  the dining  room was enchanting, and that reception shot does no justice  to the experience  of just walking in and looking up at four or five floors above you. We had dinner plans in the restaurant but ended up cancelling them in favour of ordering two or three lots of room service and crap tv whilst drinking  champagne and just spending time together as grown ups. It was so nice to not be "mummy" and "daddy" for once and revisit the couple  we were before we became parents, it was a refreshing experience  for our relationship  and I think it did us a lot more good than I thought it would.

So all in all a very good week!

Liebster Award

Ok so firstly massive thank you to Lady Nancy at Retro Electric and The Curious Professor Z for the nominations! I highly recommend  that you check their blogs out if you haven't  already because  they are lovely  lovely  ladies  :)

THE RULES:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

3. Write 11 random facts about yourself.

4. Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have fewer than 200 followers.

5. Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 11 questions.

MY 11 NOMINATIONS THAT I LIKE AND YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY CHECK THEM OUT TOO BECAUSE THEY ROCK.

1. Decayla Von Corpse
2. Empress Bat's Journal
3. Friendly Fire
4. Gothic Flamingo
5. Heather's Wicked Wonderland
6. Linnea Maria
7. Matilda Marble Eye
8. Mourning Glory Designs
9. Ms Misantropia
10. Spookymomom
11. Vulcan Butterfly

11 NOMINEE QUESTIONS 

1. When and why did you start blogging?

I think it was around September 2013, because my boyfriend  and I were fed up of house sharing so we decided  to buy a caravan to put in his parents' garden to live in, so that we could save up to buy our own place. Before  we bought our beloved shack on wheels (RIP my first home) I  was trying to find out via the Internet  what it would be like to live in one and found there weren't  many people who had shared  anything like it, and those few who had were mostly male. Hence adventures  of lexington was born, I fell pregnant  accidentally two months later which meant we had to give up our caravan and the blog just sort of carried on growing.

2. With MP3'S and internet streaming, do you still buy CDs and DVDs?

Embarrassingly, I can be a bit of a dinosaur  when it comes to tech-y stuff. Aside from the apple way, I literally  have not the first clue how to download  something.  Plus, I really like collecting CDs and DVDs, and the same for books too. I like the way they look on shelves. I like the way you can visit  someone's house and learn things about them just from stuff sitting on shelves.

3. How would you describe your style of dress?

At the moment it's  definitely  more casual alternative  because I  just had a baby 8 months ago. Things have got to be practical  and comfortable so I  wear a lot of leggings and layers so that I can breastfeed  easily. Think band shirts and tartan. When I have the opportunity  to wear the clothes I  love the most it's  a mix of romantic, Victorian and Morticia Addams styles, I would say definitely dark and feminine.

4. What religion or philosophy do you ascribe to?

I have a real mishmash of moral beliefs and ideals swimming  about my conciousness, with definitive Satanic (Laveyan) and pagan influences. I think I probably  take a pinch of everything.  I have the triple moon symbol tattooed  on my wrist if that helps explain  anything. I like nature.

5. What are your favourite TV shows that are on the air right now?

Game of Thrones nut right here. I'll  watch almost any period drama, completely  head over heels for Ross Poldark at the moment and am rather partial to the history channel too. Documentaries only, none of that storage wars  crap.


6. What other hobbies do you participate in, besides blogging?

I take pilates classes, which I  love. I really enjoy cooking and I used to make novelty celebration  cakes when I actually  had my own kitchen. Same with crafts and sewing, I really miss it but our living situation  is very constricting in terms of space.

7. If you participate in the arts, which ones do participate in? Are you a hobbyist or a professional?

Not really. When I was a  kid I   wanted to be an actress, I took classes and starred in a lot of school plays and pantos, and my dear granny lovingly handmade every costume for me.

8. If a movie was being made about your life, which actor/actress would play you?

I have no idea. Although a lot of people used to say I  looked like that girl from spy  kids when I  was younger. You know the one with  the long brown hair and freckles.

9. Choose one: coffee or tea?

Nooooooooo! I have a caffeine  problem and I love both.  Though coffee more for the taste and if I feel like a snack, and tea is more for the occasion, sitting down to relax and enjoy.

10.  What colours have you dyed your hair? 

Pretty much all of them  I  think, I  am a serial hair-abuser.

11. Introvert, extrovert or ambivert?

All of them? It depends  on my mood. I used to be very shy before I  started working  in a bar when I  was 18, and although I still  have problems  meeting new people sometimes it has done wonders for my confidence. 

And finally my 11 random facts about me!

1. I have pale skin and freckles because my dad is Irish. My mum actually  has olive skin.

2. I don't  drive. Although this may be subject  to change  as my family are coercing me into taking lessons even though  I'm  terrified  of driving.

3. I have been living independently from my parents since I  was 16.

4. I studied  catering at college, but what I  actually  wanted to  do was floristry, which my mum talked me out of because  she thought it was a waste of time.

5. I got bullied at school.

6. Yep, I used to be emo. Woooooo.

7. My music tastes don't  fit in anywhere. I like a lot of things that have emotional  significance because  my mum would play music constantly in our house when I was growing  up. So aside from my metal head tendancies I like Prince and ABBA and Depeche Mode. And Nat King Cole.

8. I am actually  a really moral person. Maybe not in conventional  terms but if I feel like something  is or isn't  right then I will absolutely  not betray my own beliefs.

9. Ok deep breath nobody shoot me. I DON'T  LIKE CATS. My old child minder has this cat when I was little that was PURE FUCKING EVIL. Literally this cat was terrifying and used to attack people all the time, he would jump on you and try to scratch your eyes out when you were sleeping because  he wanted your  pillow. I spent so many hours lying awake and frozen  because that bastard cat was sitting on my feet waiting to pounce.

10. I swear too much. Such a potty mouth. It's  a terrible habit and I really need to kerb it now before Reegan starts talking.

11. Finally,  because bloggers almost never get to meet in real life there's something we rarely ever find out about eachother. I'm  5"7 and have huge feet!

Classic Georgian hair

It has been a busy couple of weeks for me, so I apologise for not posting much. I have had a lot going on and not really felt much inspiration to write, but all the things I have been up to have fortunately given me some interesting things to blog about :)

This past Monday I returned to work after almost a year of maternity leave, as the pay had run out and I wanted to keep my job so from now on I will be working monday evenings and some occasional cover shifts. I was really worried about leaving my daughter for six hours (gasp) but I actually really enjoyed it and I think her dad handled it pretty well being as she can be challenging in the evenings. Challenging meaning she screams herself hoarse if anyone but me is holding her. It's a bit heartbreaking but I suppose we will all get used to it eventually,  and I hope it will bring Reegan and Rob closer together.

Being at work meant that I could wear whatever I wanted instead of practical mum clothes, and I had big plans to wear nice makeup and hair too. But typically I woke up with a little stye in my eye that morning so I couldn't actually wear any makeup at all this week until it went away, so instead I decided to get creative with my hair. I ended up searching the web for period type hairstyles because I have been watching too much of the BBC's Poldark and Banished this past couple of weeks and am obsessed with all things georgian as a result. I came across this talented lady's blog which is completely full of historical hair styles worked into tutorials.  This lady must of spent a lot of time and effort on these and it really shows because you have clear step by step instructions with quality photos for each step, making tthem easy to understand and follow. All you need are lots of hair pins and some sort of curling tool also helps.

I think it turned out ok for a first attempt, I made some tweaks from the origional tutorial because I wanted a little hair to frame my face and I couldn't get the entire front section of my hair poofy enough because it's quite thin. i also ended up wearing a lot of foundation and a red lips, pale skin and rose lips to go along with the georgian look I suppose, just needs blush! What does everyone think about ye olde hair do's then? Anybody have any tips or styles they particularly love?

Visiting small places when you look a bit strange

So just last week we took Reegan on her first family holiday to the little costal town of Tenby, which is in Wales. I say "family holiday" but we stayed in a caravan belonging to one of our friend's parents,  with our friends and Reegan's aunt and uncle also, so more of a friend holiday really, but we tend to count our friends as family anyway. It was soooo nice to just get away from everything,  and although I didn't really want to come home at the end of the week I have returned feeling a lot better about life in general. I have been aching to get away for months now, because I really like to travel and I love feeling like we are far away from home or in the middle of nowhere.  It gives me valuable perspective.  My kind of holiday definately isn't your average sun-sea-sand holiday most people enjoy, in fact that really isn't my idea of fun at all. I prefer to go out and DO things, like go to museums and tourist-y crap like that. Usually only if it's something historic or cultural though. Thats just my brand of nerdiness.

Anyway, what this little trip really got me thinking about was my experience of other people noticing me and how it differed from the city where I live and what I usually experience when out and about at home. I think in general us alternative types who live in or close to the city must have it a lot easier than those who live in small towns or the countryside. Obviously this idea stems only from my own experiences so I would be interested to hear what others think on this. The city I live in isn't even that large at all (you can pretty much walk around the entire centre of town without needing a car or other mode of transport at all, and a lot of people cycle everywhere) it just happens to be very culturally diverse, especially the area I live in now as opposed to where I lived four years ago. The funny thing is at home, I seem to have days where most people don't give me a second glance at all and others where it feels like literally everybody is staring and every other person I meet will stop and say they like my hair colour or something along those lines. I used to put it down to some days wearing more casual clothing or makeup and others feeling a little more gothed up, but the three years I have had unnaturally coloured hair I look abnormal even when I think I'm dressed down.

When we were on holiday even though WE were the tourists I felt as though we were the attraction (The boyfriend with the shaved head, beard and tattoos and me with my dark clothes and green hair). People stared A LOT. Most of them weren't even malicious or judgemental, just innocently gawping as if we were street entertainers or characters in costume, even the locals in the shops and bars were taken aback. I still got a lot of hair compliments though, and most of our conversations ended up being about our baby or our dog anyway. That's another thing, I think Welsh people are generally very nice, and whilst Bristolians and people from the South West can come off as grumpy we are generally a pretty tolerant people. In the UK I think Goths and alternative types face a lot more stigma in the north of England than in the south, especially judging as Manchester was the first city to truly recognise alternative subculture as a hate crime motive and make positive steps towards a solution to the problem. Although I personally would put this down as a direct result of the horrific murder of Sophie Lancaster in 2007, which I am sure you are all aware of. But what happened to her did serve as a catalyst for change,  and her mother and all those involved in the Sophie Lancaster foundation are the amazing people who drove for those changes.

So here's to them.  And to everyone who ever experienced unpleasantness because they were brave enough to be true to themselves.

Baby clothes: to Goth or not to Goth?

I'm thinking this may or may not be a controversial post, but I've been considering this topic for such a long time (since I was pregnant with Reegan and first started buying baby clothes) and finally feel like I have enough parenting experience (?!) to comment.  Whatever you do or say when it comes to parenting there are always people who agree or disagree, respectfully or not. It's a minefield.

I remember picking out a cute black party dress from a baby clothes shop when my mum was pregnant with my sister (only five years ago) and my gran flapping and saying "you CAN'T put babies in BLACK!" But then I think for her generation it's more superstition than anything else. Surprisingly though it was my gran defending me from comments made by a friend of hers when I took Reegan out for lunch with them dressed in her spiderweb baby grow.  She just turned it into a joke, saying 'can't you see the child is a goth in training?'  Haha.

Reegan at at about 2 months old

The first garment I bought for my daughter was actually brown, because we didn't discover Reegan's gender until she was born. So all of her first clothes were gender neutral, (including the gothier items) and whilst I do put her in girly clothes sometimes I still have absolutely no issue with dressing her in 'boy' clothes if I think they are cute or more practical. A lot of people I know will be surprised to see my daughter in pink dresses or frills, they make superficial judgments based on my appearance and assume that I will impose my tastes upon my child. But then, doesn't everybody? All parents dress their kids in clothes they deem aesthetically pleasing, nobody would choose to 'subject' their kids to wearing clothing they consider ugly, it's just that cute or ugly are subjective to opinion.

Sure, my daughter has her fair share of dresses. She has a decent amount of androgynous playsuits and garments,  as well as clothing from labels like Spiral Direct, slogan vests, and band 'shirts'. The latter are based upon our musical tastes as parents, therefore the ones Reegan's dad and I think of as the cutest because (lets face it) most parents like to think of their children as small cute versions of themselves.  We love the idea that they would share our passions and interests, and hope that one day they will turn out just like us, only better. The same goes for the aesthetically gothic items, many of which were gifts but I am not ashamed to admit that my own tastes greatly influence Reegan's wardrobe.

An outfit a friend also has for her son

A rare moment I got her to keep a headband on for more than three seconds...

For the most part though anything goes. Whilst I do most of the clothes shopping for her if people buy clothes for her as gifts then I will most definitely put her in them, not only out of politeness but hey,  waste not want not. More than anything the things that I want out of baby clothes are practicality.  Easy to put on, take off, wash and wear. I want my baby to feel comfortable and have some freedom of movement (I have always said I can't stand seeing babies in denim, I just think it's cruel and will refuse to put Reegan in this fabric or any similar until she is older) and look at least presentable. Another admission, yes mothers do see their children as a reflection of themselves and having a presentable child makes you feel at least adequate as a parent.  So wrong, I know.  You can't help feeling the way you do. If I can get my hands on baby clothes that I really like  then even better,  but rest assured that as soon as my daughter is able to pick her own clothing then she will be doing so.  And I actually can't wait for that part.