Zoe-Lee Skelton

8 Christmas Gift Ideas For Strange Girls

November 29, 2015 by Zoe-Lee Skelton

What defines a strange girl I hear you ask. A strange girl is someone who isn’t fussed by conventional gifts like blingy jewellery, UGG boots or a designer handbag. She probably dresses more ghoul than glitz most of the time.

If your special one ticks any of the above boxes then you have yourself a strange girl. I’ve put together some gift ideas for things that she’ll like to unwrap on Christmas day:

1. This Vintage Skeleton Lampshade from Rosie’s Vintage Lampshades will make her room look chic yet creepy.

2. Who doesn’t love candles? This goat leg candle by D.L. & Co is both macabre and decorative.

3. Bunnies are cute, but bunny skeletons are better. This beautifully detailed rabbit skeleton wall hanging by OXHIP is handmade and reasonably priced.

4. Strange girls like jewellery too but not your generic gems. These moon and star stud earrings will show her that you appreciate her uniqueness.

5. If she’s crafty, get her this origami stag brooch from Etsy seller Sketch INC.

6. Kat Von D’s make up range has finally made bold, alternative colours available to purchase. I love the Adora colour from the studded kiss range. And it’s vegan and cruelty free.

7. Everyone expects to get socks at Christmas. But don’t go for tacky Christmas socks – these 3D beetle print socks are loud and strange enough to out do any other present she receives.

8. I’m loving terrariums right now. Especially this mini glass skull terrarium. Better than your average pot plant.

Do you know a strange girl? What are you thinking of getting her for Christmas?

Creative Crush: Candy Shock UK

November 25, 2015 by Zoe-Lee Skelton

I’m back. Sorry for taking too much time away. I’ve had a few technical issues to sort out.

I thought I’d come back with a new feature that I want to run on the blog: creative crush. This is going to be a monthly feature of artists, designers and generally creative people that I’m crushing on.

This month it’s Etsy store Candy Shock UK run by Ruth who is an old friend of mine. Her work is so vibrant I thought it would be a great way to brighten up my blog.

Ruth’s creations are inspired by candy sweets and rainbow colours. In fact the colours are so potent it’s almost like her jewelry has been injected with E numbers. Additives or not, I’m hooked.

I recently bought this beautiful crescent moon necklace set because I’ve always been fascinated with the moon and the various shapes it takes over the months. I also love stargazing and anything to do with space.

As part of my creative crush feature, I’m hoping to catch up with the artist. Luckily as I know Ruth, she was able to give me a little information behind her work.

Here’s what I asked Ruth.

What is your inspiration?

A: My work is influenced by candy/candy shops, circuses and fairgrounds, Roald Dahls’ Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, the weird and wonderful, festivals and anything colourful.

Which brands, designers and styles are you a fan of?

I love all things quirky, kitsch and kawaii, I’m a massive fan of Tatty Devine, SkinnyDip London & Lime Crime Make-Up. My favourite fashion icons are Raquel Reed and Audrey Kitching.

Have you got any new lines coming out?

A: I have been experimenting with laser cut acrylic and hope to incorporate it into a future jewelry line. I’m currently in the process of planning the theme

I’m pretty excited to see what Ruth does with acrylic. As she already takes inspiration from Tatty Divine I’m expecting something amazing.

If you want to see what is happening with Candy Shock UK you can can stay updated by following Ruth on Facebook and Instagram.

Have you bought any nice jewelry lately? I’d love to see some pictures in the comments.

Cute and Spooky Halloween Decorations

October 22, 2015 by Zoe-Lee Skelton

“When we’re together, darling, every night is Halloween”

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. All Hallows Eve. Black is in abundance, the shops are covered in cobweb and everything is just that little bit spookier. I definitely look forward to October 31st more so than Christmas.

Every year I have to restrain myself from buying all of the decorations and keeping them up year round. So instead of turning my house into something from The Nightmare Before Christmas, I thought I’d put together a blog showcasing some of the cutest and spooky Halloween decks that you can get for you house and Halloween party. And who knows; perhaps you’ll love them enough to keep them up year round?

Creepy Cobweb Serving Dishes

These tri-colour spider web serving dishes* could easily become part of the “guest china”. Why use paper plates and bog standard bowls when you can buy some Halloween themed crockery? You can get tbese for a very reasonable price from Aldi.

Why not put some sweets in to dish out to any trick or treaters?

Spooky Scented Candles

Candle light should be the only light on Halloween night. This delicious smelling patchouli Witches’ Brew candle* encapsulates autumnal smells and will spread a sweet aroma around the house. Available from Yankee, I love the witchy design and the scent lingers long after blowing it out.

These candles are from PartyLite and we’ve enjoyed lighting these around the house for the past month. The wax is in black and white so they’re perfect for a Halloween party – or to add to Gothic decor in a room. They’re from PartyLite’s Forbidden Fantasy Luxury Collection* with six combinations of decadent scents including:

Magnolia and jasmine forms a deep, lasting bond with black plums and currants.
Dark chocolate and cocoa bean captivate with a squeeze of sweet orange liqueur.
Blackberries and black currants wrapped in the warm embrace of spice, cedarwood and tobacco
white grapefruit and violet meets the lustful allure of musk and rosewood
White florals with rich fruits and musk
light florals with warming amber and sandalwood

All six smell good enough to eat.

These candles are so exclusive that you can only get hold of them through Independent Consultants. But if you don’t know your local consultant, you can search by postcode on the website to locate your nearest representative.

Cute Ghostly Bunting

This Halloween garland* so fun to put together. Everything from the card to the string is all provided so all you need is a pair of scissors to assemble it. Simply pop out the ghoul, cat, bat and pumpkin, tie them to the length and drape them for all to admire.

You can purchase these from My Little Day as part of a Halloween Birthday Kit. There’s so much more cute and amazing stuff on their site. You’ll probably lose a couple of hours looking through all of their stationary and decorations as you’ll never have seen anything like their products before – I warned you first.

Frightening Figurines

I love this silly skeleton. It’s a DJ skeleton* which plays a mix of the Munsters’ theme tune and other spooky sounds. And you get purchase this from everyone’s favourite budget supermarket….Aldi! It’s really well made and takes AA batteries. It’s something you can keep and bring out again again each year. Only £7.99 from any Aldi store.

Terrifying Wall Art

These artistic pieces of wall art are available to buy from Not on the High Street. The cute bow tie skeleton is something you can have fun assembling and the wall bats can be stuck anywhere in any formation allowing you to create your own wall display.

Moderately scary masks (more cute than fear inducing!)

Really cute and simple masks* from my new favorite store, My Little Day. If you’re not enthused by Halloween these bat masks are the perfect accessory for any fancy dress. And they’re great to hand out at parties. There’s eight in a pack.

Are you going to any Halloween parties? Have you made your own decorations?

*products with an asterisk were gifted but all opinions are my own.

September Goals – Did I Reach them?

October 6, 2015 by Zoe-Lee Skelton

Hi again. Sorry for the brief hiatus, I haven’t been well or myself lately. But I think the fog is clearing now and I’m on the mend (please be on the mend so I can get back to riding my bike!)

Now I’m back I wanted to check in on my September goals and let you know if I managed to fulfill any. Here’s how I got on.

Upload my new hair bows to my Etsy store

Done 🙂 I’ve got three listed. They’re beautiful:

Pink and white polka dot hair bow

Retro Polaroid Camera

Unicorn Hair Bow

Start regularly doing Free Art Friday

Nope – I think I’ve got too many creative projects on the go at the moment so I couldn’t get my head around all of them. It’s not a good idea for me to set myself too many creative goals as I end up feeling guilty if I don’t get round to doing them. I’m definitely putting this as one of my October goals.

Get accepted onto a craft fair to sell my bow ties

Done 🙂 I’m proper buzzing about being part of the Cambridge Etsy Christmas Market in December. I’ll be sharing more info about this shortly. I’m looking forward to making up loads of my bow ties and decorating my table.

Go out exploring more – do at least a 8k walk somewhere I haven’t been before

Done – me and my explorer in crime did a long walk from our house to the next village and managed to forage a few treats on the way. Hope this wasn’t what made me ill…

Catch up with people I haven’t seen for a while

Yes and no. I managed to spend some quality time with friends but I also managed to completely fudge up a meeting with a mate I haven’t seen for a while. I’m going to blame the hairdressers and my stupid old banger of a car. Sorry again if you’re reading this – you know who you are x

Go to a gig in London

Didn’t happen 🙁 I think I’ve managed to well and truly put myself off of London for a while. I hate the pace and the miserable faces. But I’m keen to fall in love with London again so maybe that’s a post for another day.

Finish a painting I’ve been working on for ages! Or at least start on it again

Nope. I didn’t finish or even start a painting. Another creative project I’ve not been able to initiate but managed to feel all of the guilt about. Stupid art guilt. Nobody liked you.

Sell a lot of my clothes that I haven’t worn in the past two years

They’re all ear marked and ready to either go on Ebay or go to a car boot this Sunday. Please do me a solid weather and don’t rain!

Look after myself and put my happiness first for once

I’ve had no choice but to do this these last two weeks as I’ve felt too ill. But I’m fed up with being selfish and nauseous now; other people need some loving. Especially my Mum who has really looked after me this past week.

Go to an exhibition

Didn’t happen. To be honest, there wasn’t anything I was desperate enough to see which could make me put up with the crap hole capital. However Ai Wei Wei‘s latest exhibition is at the Royal Academy which I would like to go and see.

6/10 isn’t bad. And I’m going to try to not beat myself up about not achieving all ten. Plus I’m kind of trying to be more lenient on myself as I’m still poorly and trying to recover.

How was your September? Did you achieve any big goals?

My 6 Cruelty Free Autumn Beauty Must-Haves

September 28, 2015 by Zoe-Lee Skelton

Autumn brings with it a whole new set of skincare and hair problems. Cooler temperatures means heaters come back on once more, drying out both your hair and skin.

Here are my top six cruelty free beauty must-haves for autumn.

1. Amphora Aromatics Skincare Grapefruit & Cedarwood Deoderant

I’ve been on the lookout for a cruelty free deodorant for a long time. So I was pleased when Amphora Aromatics got in touch and asked me to review their Grapefruit and Cedarwood natural roll on.

The smokiness of the cedarwood with the fruity notes of grapefruit make this deodorant a perfect autumn fragrance. One that you can actually smell on yourself. However, if you do any form of activity, you’ll need to wash and reapply as it doesn’t always work under stress of exertion or sustained activities. But don’t let that put you off as it will keep you fresh for a couple of hours and the scent is amazing. Plus the ingredients are made up of essential oils and natural fungi solutions that inhibit natural deodorising properties. So if you’re concerned about the number of chemicals included in many of the High Street products, consider a natural alternative which is aluminium and parfum free.

2. Richard Ward Keratin Bulking Spray

Since I’ve had my hair styled, bulking it up and maintaining volume throughout the day is now a key priority. This root-boosting spray by Richard Ward uses keratin (your “hair’s natural protein”) as a way to restore it’s natural fiber. My hair has taken quite a battering over the years from permanent colouring to bleaching and now with the heaters coming back on, my hair really deserves a moisture injection.

The spray can be used on both damp and dry hair between washes and I’ve found that both ways have given my hair a lot more bounce. If you have fine hair like mine, it’s definitely worth a try.

3. Faith in Nature Chocolate Conditioner

Thank Jebus I found this product – the shampoo too. This all vegan conditioner smells phenomenal and has a little extra in it’s arsenal; it boosts your colour between dying. Specifically for dark hair, after every wash my hair colour looks revitalisied, as if I’ve just re-dyed it. As your hair grows your roots show, but this makes the regrowth less obvious and means I can wait a couple of extra weeks in-between colouring than I normally would, which is great because I hate the boring and arduous task of dying my own hair. So long.

4. Faith in Nature Chocolate Shampoo

Again this is cruelty free and works even better when used with the conditioner. It’s consistency is like liquid chocolate and does a perfect job of washing my hair but not weighing it down with product build up.

It’s also price friendly too. I was given these two samples to review from Discount Supplements and together they cost just over £10 – that’s cheaper than the majority of the mid-range haircare brands like Aussie Hair who test on animals and also don’t have the added benefit of boosting your colour. I cannot recommend these two products enough!

5. Neal’s Yard Geranium & Orange Body Lotion

I’ve always loved Neal’s Yard but the price has always put me off – luckily I got this body lotion free with a magazine so I was able to test it out before committing to buying an expensive produce I might not like.

I mainly use this on my hands as cycling to work really dries them out due to the cold air. My hands feel softer and smooth, probably thanks to the pumpkin seed oils which is an incredibly seasonal scent what with Halloween just around the corner. If you have the budget, why not try this moisturiser if your skin is prone to drying.

6. Naked Style Little Miracle Leave-In Conditioner

As I’m on a crusade to repair years’ worth of damage to my hair, I regularly use this leave in conditioner. As I have fine hair I need a conditioner that doesn’t weigh it down but also nourishes and provides ongoing moisture – luckily this fulfills both needs!

I’ve had more compliments about how much better condition my hair has been in since using this on a regular basis so this is my secret.

What are your beauty must-haves? Have you tried any of those I’ve featured before? I’d love to know which cruelty free products you recommend.

*I was gifted the Amphora Aromatics deodorant and Faith in Nature products, however all opinions are my own.