WICKED

My birthday celebrations were a long weekend worth, with my sister gifting a plush dinner at Doubletree, Hilton Hotel, accompanied by tickets to see 'Wicked' in Apollo Theatre. Honestly was a brilliant experience.

Dress : ARK Clothing | Heels (not pictured) : NEXT

The day flew by in prep. I was much too excited to do much else, so I busied myself with prettying myself up. Even went as far as applying falsies...lol Anywhooooo, got majorly dolled up and met my sister after she was done with work. We made our way to dinner, and it was delectable. I decided to embrace my new found maturity, and step into new territory, so I donned a red lip - Vamp by Sleek. The hair wasn't quite working for me, so I decided to curl the front (which eventually dropped...crappy hairspray) and stick on a headband. Initially intended to be a technical tool, but quite fortunately transformed the look into a 20's inspired get-up.

Headband : Dorothy Perkins | Bracelets : Swarovski

From the starters to the dessert, the feast was divine. We soon scrubbed up and made our way to the theatre, a hop-skip-and-jump away. Enough of the experience, now on to the plot of the play. As always I will try & abstain from ruining it for my fellow readers, and will stray away from any spoiler alerts. The basic outline of the plot is the untold tale of 'Wizard of Oz', although there is cleverly no outright snatching of character names or tunes as much, more by inference. The writer is pure brilliance exemplified, I must say. I walked away shaking my head at his/her pure genius. I mean, to have sat down & though up a backstory to ALL characters in the fable, and intertwine them in such a masterpiece. Genius!

The 'wicked witch' in question was quite unlike we all had grown up knowing and loathing. In fact, she was a complete oxymoron to that image. Wicked is a tale of a lost soul who gags for social acceptance (much like the lot of us) but grows to overcome that in order to achieve success. She initially seems content with the stigma attached to her appearance, but much like us ugly ducklings, its all a front. With the chance of happiness dangled above her, she soon lets her inner feminine cravings get the better of her. Ofcourse, these lustful longings cloud her sensibility, and she is soon doing things she'd have never envisioned. Much like every other woman out there. 

Soon, she comes to a crossroad where she must choose between instant gratification and inevitably sacrificing all she desires for what is right. If I were to tell you which she chose, that'd ruin the mystery of the show. However, I will tell you, in her plight there sure are a few laughs and surprises along the way that are worth watching. 

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! I loved WICKED! *rubs hands together in delight* Xisses

Chapter XXIII

Guys! It's official! I have now been solo-bleurghing for 2 years now, and I just turned 23 on Friday....eeek! It was literally my best birthday to date! It topped the surprise party thrown by my flatmates for my 20th Birthday, my day-trip to Milan for my 21st Birthday, and my lil shindig with friends as a 'Welcome back to London' as a post-grad for my 22nd Birthday. I know you guys are probably expecting to see pictures of me bungee jumping or something wild like that to top 'em all, but it really was a simple, enjoyable, classy affair.

 Dress : TFNC | Heels : Debenhams

The dress was easy (in my head). I knew I wanted to wear one of those maxis with a slit, but I had my eye set on the theme 'black & gold'; two of my favourite colours. However, the gold & black corset I'd ordered on eBay from an oriental seller would not arrive in the UK on time. in fact, its yet to arrive! So I set out with my sister, on a mission to find the perfect dress. It was harder than we thought! In my mind, because it was a 'trend', I expected every store to have its own rendition in store....BOY! Were we wrong? It was nowhere to be found...we resolved its cos its no longer Summer *sigh* Finally, we found the perfect dress in TFNC, the same place I found my birthday dress last year.

The venue; Kenza Bar & Restaurant. I knew I wanted a shisha (or 'hookah' for my readers across the pond) bar, that served cocktails. I was SO over the whole social gathering to wine and dine. I wanted a birthday that was chilled, and allowed for socialising, reflecting my personality entirely. Shisha & cocktails would be the perfect foundation as no one would be distracted by chewing, or too engrossed with their own clique to mingle. After looking just about everywhere (even turned up at a venue that had been closed, after walking for 20mins!) Kenza was found & it was perfect... I was in love at first sight! Unfortunately, they didn't have provision for shisha smoking outdoors, and their electronic ones indoors were broken! After some research, the eshish was purchased and we sealed the deal (after confirming with the manager that it was ok to smoke 'em indoors)!

The night was fabulous, and the guests (family, friends, and their respective boyfriends) had a good time. I will concede that my 22nd year was not my best, but I am grateful that I'm still standing. I could be worse off, thats for sure. Here I am, a student in Law School...thankfully on-track with my goals. Yes, it gets hard, and yes, its easy to lose yourself in a bid to find yourself...but I still have a long way to go, God willing. This year, my 23rd year on Earth, my main goal is to stay positive. '2010 [was] me!', my 21st was the most miraculous year of my life and my 22nd was my most trying...lets make this new year, the year of optimism. trying times WILL come; its inevitable! Life is not a bed of roses, but assurance comes to those who believe in a better tomorrow.

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! Welcome to Chapter Twenty Three. Xisses

All That Glitters

I fought the urge to write this post, as i felt it was only feeding the ignorance of some idiots, but it just HAD to be done. This is an open letter to all the ign'ant goons that had something to say about 'true beauty' and the 'deception caused by women who wear makeup' after the Beauty By JJ saga. As a twitter/youtube pal of hers, it hurt me to see just how mean people were being over the entire situation. I refuse to dwell on the situation itself, but focus more on reflecting on the nonsensical comments spun by narrow minded misogynists.

 Birthday Dress : TFNC

1) Beauty is skin-deep; makeup only enhances it. I got so sick of guys spinning the same fraff about them not caring whats on your face & how we don't need to pile on makeup. In Jennie's 'ramble' video, she made a valid point: "aren't the girls with weaves and makeup the same girls you move to in a club?". TRUTH! All this natural beauty malarkey is dog's bullocks. Girls get dolled up to go on a night-out & guys, respectively, pay attention to the girls that make the most effort and look the best. Its simple after-hours algebra. I am a guy's girl, so I'm speaking from experience, not just going off the smoke thats made me high in my lil bubble; guys sniff out which girl is fine, weed out the 'butter's friend' (usually with the aid of a wing man who distracts her) in the aim of 'pulling' (an English term translating to taking a girl home, hooking up or for the pre-pubescent, getting her number) by the end of the night. FACT! So don't come all Pastor Ashimolowo, acting like makeup is of the devil *kmt*

 Birthday Weekend (rather belated update) dinner at Cha Cha Moon, dessert at Candy Cakes and a night out in Market Place club

2) Shadowed Application. I guess the only thing that can really be said is, guys like girls getting all dolled up, they just don't want to witness it all taking place. The truth of the matter is, when a girl like Jennie Jenkins walks the streets, she probably can't walk to the end of the road without turning a few heads. But the uproar is much akin to the reaction your boyfriend will give when sitting on the bed before dinner, watching you apply everything from your MAC foundation to your Sleek contouring and finishing with your Maybelline false lash effect mascara. He will ALWAYS interject with, "babe, you don't need all of that"....BULL! If he saw you without it, he probably wouldn't even BE your boyfriend to begin with. "Sweatpants, hair tied back, chillin' with not makeup on. That's when you' the prettiest, I hope that you don't take it wrong" - Drake. BULL! This is the same Drake thats dated girls from Rihanna to the swivel-chic thats swung down so many metal poles you might as well call her an alloy.

Other Options (clockwise from top left): FCUK; New Look; House of Fraser; TFNC

3) Flip the Script. Now, before some 'real ladies' come on her giving me all that lip, I want to make one thing perfectly clear...I am NOT saying girls who don't wear makeup are ugly. Neither am I saying all guys are shallow (strike that, thats EXACTLY what I'm saying...LOL), but the point I'm trying to make is that makeup is a matter of personal preference. If a girl wants to cake up, rock weave and totter down the street in heels everyday, thats HER prerogative. What I want to turn my attention to, are the guys that felt it their earthly purpose to spread the word on this female 'deception', warning guys to be careful. Like, REALLY?!? Those same guys have probably been rejected one too many times by girls as gorgeous as Jennie, and this is their avenue for revenge. Its sad cos they failed to realise the embarrassment they may have felt from the rejection they may have experienced was on a far smaller scale to that which they caused to the poor girl. At least her flaws can be airbrushed with a kabuki brush, how ugly do YOU look to your peers after subjecting her to vain scrutiny under the illusion that you were enlightening others?

Onyxsta says...BLEURGH!! All that glitters may not be gold, but spare us 'cos your views fit into an archaic, ignorant mould. Xisses.

Birthday Suit

I turned 22 this week, and as mentioned in the previous post, I was sort of dreading it. For my 20th, my flatmates threw me a surprise party which was pretty damn amazing & for my 21st, I spent the day in  Milan with my sister. So for my 22nd...I was adamant nothing should be done as its a dull-double, and not worth a celebration. But, upon weighing up the blessings that'd been bestowed on me in the most fabulous year of my life, I felt ungrateful for thinking it unworthy of anything.

 Dress : Allders | Belt : New Look | Brogues : New Look

I started work this week, which will explain why BLEURGH posts have been few & far between but I'm working on a routine that should ensure regular posting, promise. Anyway, I digress...work....so I now work in a Law Firm in the city and this was my first week, so I was in an office on my birthday. Having worked in an office environment all summer in Wales, I had become accustomed to the traditions of the workplace & recognised that grand gestures are widely appreciated by co-workers. I brought in sweets and sent out the cheesiest email to everyone on my floor in the office, tagging myself as "the new girl" LOL. I know...CRINGE! But it seemed to work, and by lunchtime, I was indulging in a fatty lunch, some chocolate cake & my boss treated us to some delicious gourmet baklava.

 DKNY Bag : **19th Birthday gift (**8Ballers) | Rings : BHS & Dorothy Perkins

After work, everyone was expecting me to go out on a total bender...but my evening was a complete contrast. I was bombarded with love from all realms of cyberspace from Twitter to Facebook, not sparing technological public displays of affection like changing BBM display pictures or status updates including well wishes. After basking in a full day of love from all angles, I felt it only right to give back, so I volunteered my evening in my a homeless shelter my mother started in my community. I'd spent all my other birthdays fully in the spotlight, so this one was so surreal. It was heart-breaking hearing tales from those that had loved and lost, or had worked so hard, only to stand helpless as the ground they stood on was swept from beneath their feet. How then can I complain that my double-digit birthday was not worth a mention when I had so much to be thankful and grateful for?

**Soundtrack of the Minute - Make Me Proud : Drake ft. Nicki Minaj**

Some may view my day with a screwed up nose and wonder why I Mother Theresa'd out my time instead of going out (which I eventually did over the weekend, but more on that later...) but I saw this day as sacrificial. I was overwhelmed by the love I received that to gift an ounce of it away would still have left me with more than I enough.

Onyxsta says....BLEURGH!! As I mark my 22nd year, I mark the growth of solo BLEURGH into its 2nd year. Xisses