#british week

[gracie-bird]

Clipping from 1966.

[princessgracekelly1956]

Board of Trade Journal - January 6, 1967

Carpet for Monte Carlo

The choice of a carpet for the main foyer of the Sporting d’Hiver building in Monte Carlo, where a British Week was held as part of the Centenary Celebrations, was made by Her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. Princess Grace chose a floral motif on a very dark blue ground from Crossley’s Sultana range. Within a week the carpet was on its way by air from Manchester, arriving in Monte Carlo in time for the opening ceremony on December 9.

[gracie-bird]

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, talks at Hotel Metropole in Monaco after his arrival on December 19, 1966, with Monaco's Prince Rainier and Princess Grace. Prince Philip was on hand to participate in Monaco's British Week festivities.

[princessofjozi]

A FINAL BIT OF BRITISH SPARKLE

Doing these British themed posts over the past month has been such fun. First off I’d like to thank all the bloggers that participated. You guys are the bees’ knees and I thoroughly enjoyed every single one of your posts. Thank you all so very much for being a part of this! What you guys put out there totally exceeded what I imagined.  I’d love to do this again sometime) so any other bloggers reading this that want to get involved, please get in touch(not just South African, bloggers from all over the world)!

I’d like to thank Nails Inc. SA for sponsoring the nail-polishes for the giveaway. Huge gratitude also goes out to Kerrin from the Busby Group and Lisa from Topshop Sandton for all their help, information and allowing me to take photos in the store. Thanks to my Mom for organising the freshwater pearls that the lucky winner will be receiving.

Before I close off the week I’ll leave you with some Royal Guard nail-art by Michelle (Ordinary Misfit)

Some wise words inspired by The Beatles

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

Some British eye-candy (both happen to be Toms) ;)

Oh and I totally didn’t forget. I really couldn’t choose my favourite answer, so I took ALL your entries; there were loads, thanks for all the tweeting and sharing, and popped them in my Topshop bowler hat. I put on One Direction while watching the highlights of Manchester United vs Arsenal and picked a name.

CONGRATULATIONS Nabeelah Husain !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is a Liverpool fan (meh) but she’s such a loyal reader so I guess the symbolic Sorting Hat chose well ;)

To those of you that have followed me on Bloglovin and subscribed to my blog, do not despair. I will be focusing on beauty for the next few weeks and I’ll be giving away spot goodies to some of you ;)

I’m so sad as I type this but it’s finally Goodbye to all the British posts. It was a huge success and leaves me with this warm feeling I usually only get from a roast beef with all the trimmings.

Thank you!

Until next time

Love and sparkles

Zaakira xox

[princessofjozi]

British Reality Check

By Juwairiyya Asmal-Lee

You can find Juwi at JuwitheMad.wordpress.com

GREETINGS! I’m Juwi and I’m going to burst your wonderful romanticized bubbles of what Britain is like.

First things first: a geography lesson

England = one country

Great Britain= 3 countries (Scotland, England & Wales)

United Kingdom = 4 countries (Scotland, England, Wales & Northern Ireland)

Republic of Ireland-its own country. Not part of the UK

Simples.

I do live in London but no…London isn’t the ONLY city in the UK I mean you HAVE heard of Manchester (Manchester Utd?) and Edinburgh has PANDAS in their zoo. Also Bath is where Jane Austen is from and Cardiff is wear they film a lot of stuff. J.K.Rowling is from Scotland. Yes that’s right Harry Potter is British.

Whenever I go to South Africa and meet new people this is how the conversation usually goes:

Me: yeah I live in London

Person: OMG YOU LIVE IN LONDON. HAVE YOU MET THE QUEEN? HAVE YOU SEEN ONE DIRECTION? I JUST LOVE YOUR ACCENT

Me: um I don’t really have an accent and no I haven’t met the queen or One Direction. 

SADLY I HAVE NOT BEEN INVITED TO HAVE TEA WITH THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE.  She thinks we’re all peasants. (just kidding. I don’t know…maybe she does. All I know is she really loves her corgis)

I haven’t met One Direction (thankfully); but sadly I have yet to bump into any other celebrity like Tom Hiddleston (Loki) or Dan Howell (danisnotonfire) or Sam Claflin (Finnick) on the tube.

As for ‘British Boys’…

No they don’t all look like Alex Pettyfer or Max Irons. DO YOU THINK GREAT BRITAIN IS FULL OF MODELS? Well there are lots of models but the Average Joe is not a model I’ll; have you know. Luckily for me I live in London so I can go to Oxford Street and see cute guys (if I’m lucky).  So it’s not like you can just walk on the street and randomly bump into this amazingly well dressed guy who is intelligent and has this charming smile and whatnot. No. That ONLY HAPPENS IN BOOKS. AND MOVIES.

Excuse you but no YOU DO NOT LIKE ‘BRITISH’ ACCENTS you like the ‘English’ accent and by that I mean the ‘proper’…Queen’s English.

Hate to burst your bubble but I’m pretty sure like 2% of the population (not an actual statistic) speaks with that posh accent…

When people say they like the South African accent they aren’t talking about the Joburg accent. No offence. When people say they like the American accent I’m pretty sure they aint talking about the southern accent ya’ll. 

So let’s get this straight. We all know the UK is huge. Do you like the Scottish accent? Because that is British. Or maybe have you heard the Scouser accent (Liverpool)…I’m sure you’d LOVE the Geordie accent (Newcastle). No seriously you should meet a chav or someone from ‘up north’ and then tell me how much you love the ‘British’ accent.  (I don’t mean to insult you just say you love the Posh English Accent).

Something they don’t tell you about London: Pigeons. If you love pigeons, London is the place to be. I mean we even have seagulls AND THERE IS NO SEA…just the River Thames (you can go on boat rides woop). Like I remember in school the pigeons and seagulls used to just hover around us waiting for our food. Gross. There are lots of hovering pigeons. You have been warned.

The great thing about London is THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO DO. Sure I love staying at home with my laptop and books and cat and food but hey ho I can go out and watch a musical or go to the cinema or go for a walk in the park or go to a museum. There is always something going on, some event, premieres, concerts, book events, and festivals whatever you are interested there’s probably something you’ll find to do. Not everyone goes out drinking every night. Okay a lot of people do but I guess that is part of ‘British Culture’.

Ah Tea. We love our tea. Not everyone but usually people will feel better once you give them a nice ‘cuppa’.  But then it’s also about being a tea snob and which brand of tea do you prefer? Tetley? PG tips? Twinings? I’m more of a green tea and jasmine girl myself (black with honey-how pretentious of me).

There’s a NEW boy band in town. They actually PLAY instruments. The Vamps (Brad, Connor, James and Tristan) They’re pretty cool. Check out their song Can We Dance. Also Lawson are another cool band. I mean there ARE other people you’ve heard of apart from One Direction right? Ed Sheeran is one of the coolest most awesome musicians out there right now (I don’t care if he is ginger!) I mean you’ve obviously heard of Adele right? She’s British as well as Ellie Goulding. So we have some pretty cool musicians who are not 1D.

Some British Authors you may (or may not) know: J.K.Rowling (Harry Potter), C.S.Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia), Roald Dhal, Enid Blyton, Louise Rennison (Georgia Nicholson series), Malorie Blackman (Noughts and Crosses), Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking trilogy), Neil Gaiman (Stardust), Ian McEwan (Atonement) and Alexander McCall Smith (The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency) to name a few.

The weather:

I can’t write a post about ‘British’ things and NOT talk about the weather. So I live in London. It rains. A lot. I’m surprised it’s not raining right now to be honest.

If it’s not raining it’s dull. Like full cloud cover no sun no blue sky nothing just dull grey to match the dull grey buildings. Lovely. I like to wear bright clothes in winter sometimes to bring colour to the dreary streets. And I have a cute blue umbrella.

But umbrellas…they can POKE YOU IN THE EYE but also BETRAY YOU. If there are gale force winds YOUR UMBRELLA IS NO MATCH FOR MOTHER NATURE. On days like those you see many discarded umbrellas in the bin. It’s quite sad really.

Winter. Ah winter…those months from December till February  (then again this year it snowed in April). The thing about snow is that it’s all fun and games until you’re actually IN it. Oohh pretty snowflakes like each one is unique wow and that’s all great from the comfort of your heated home. But once you step outside even if you are wearing five layers and thermals and wellies (wellington boots) and 2 pairs of gloves. It’s cold. It’s freezing. IT IS SNOWING. You try to make a perfect snowball but alas it won’t form a ball and your gloves get wet and the cold starts to seep in and then your fingers start to get numb. By this point you can barely feel your nose. DO I HAVE A NOSE? AM I VOLDEMORT?  (These are the questions I tend to ask myself. This is what the cold does to me…)

So I AM SORRY (not sorry) to burst your bubbles. Snow isn’t that great. Making a snowman is fun but like when it all melts it turns to black sludge, which is gross, and I feel like a penguin whenever I walk because it’s more like an awkward waddle and then the fear of slipping it’s just not good.

Okay I’ve babbled enough. I shall leave you with some tips on how to be ‘British’. Yeah maybe wearing a trilby and talking about how much you love Zara and Topshop might work but it’s all about the slang.

British Slang:  (not everyone uses such words, some are specific to South London while others are used all over)

Dinner- Supper

Trousers- pants (funny story. I moved here when I was 8 and I said to this girl ‘oh and I have these LOVELY new PANTS and the look of horror on her face. And then MY FACE when I figured out pants was UNDERWEAR!)

Trainers- takkies/sneakers

Knackered-tired/exhausted

innit- isn’t it  (innit bruv/blud)

bruv- ‘bruvva’/brother/

blud- mate

Mate- good friend, buddy

Chips-fries

Crisps- potato crisps  (walkers crisps are like lays)

Chat up-pick up/flirt (chat up lines)

Bits n bobs- random/various things

Chav- white trash (ginormous gold hoop earrings, likely to live in a council flat, wears tracksuits, loves Primark, shops in Iceland, only speaks slang- MASSIVE STEREOTYPE)

Bob’s your uncle- there you go (and Robert’s your father’s brother)

Nicked- stolen (he nicked my pen)

Nutter/bonkers/mental -crazy person (see Dizzie Rascal’s song ‘bonkers’)

Quid-  £  (some people say you got a fiver (£5))

Fancy- like (‘I fancy him’)

Chuffed- proud

Bagsie- dibbs  (bagsie the window seat)

Radiator –heater

Ketchup- tomato sauce (HEINZ KECTHUP IS THE BEST OKAY)

Chap-bloke/guy  (‘old chap’)

Cheers- thank you (everyone says this)

Chippy- fish and chip shop (off to the chippy)

Chucking it down –pouring with rain  (a term used frequently)

Dodgy- shady/suspicious (he’s a bit dodgy standing in that corner…’

Fizzy drinks- carbonated drinks  (sprite/coke etc )

Fringe- bangs  (I think I might get a fringe)

Grass- snitch  (don’t be such a grass)

Gob- mouth ‘(shut your gob’)

Gutted-  thoroughly disappointed

Jim jams- pyjamas (I’m gonna put my jim jams on)

Jolly- very (jolly good old chap)

Jumper- sweater (autumn and winter is jumper season. Ooh I love Christmas jumpers!)

Lad- young boy

Leg it- run away (and then we had to leg it)

Chinwag- talk (I love this word so much)

Nip- pop ‘(nip to the shops’)

oi/oy- hey ( ‘oi you’, ‘oi fam’ to get someone’s attention…usually someone you know)

fam- your peeps/see them as family (also famalam)

Choong Ting- pretty/hot/beautiful/sexy (she’s choong ting innit blud)- I don’t know if people still say this. I never did.

Fit-hot/sexually attractive  (omg he’s so fit)

Peckish- a little hungry

Scrummy- delicious

Snap- ditto (me too/same)

Taking the piss- making fun of

Tuck in- eat/dig in

Tube- underground trains

Waffle- ramble (and the food)

What’s up- what’s wrong?

Alright love- how are you

Typical chav phrases: ‘why are you looking at me though’ ‘did I ask you to talk?’ ‘are you staring at me?  ‘I didn’t do nofink’ ‘can I aks you sumfink?’ ‘u wot mate?’ ‘nah mate’ ‘can I borrow 50p?’

Sometimes you’ll see a Chav drinking a whole carton of juice on the bus and eating a packet of crisps for breakfast.

So all in all your British stereotypes make me laugh and if you DO meet a ‘typical English gentleman’ please do let me know.

Pip pip cheero

Toodles

Tally ho

  Xoxo

Juwi

=)

PEACE. LOVE. BOOKS.

Follow Juwi on Twitter... @juwithemad

[princessofjozi]

Look Post: British Invasion

By Irina Doman

You can find Irina at IllTakeItAll.co.za

Hi everyone! J I have an outfit post for you today and the little thing about this outfit I that it is positively British (except the shoes those are Steve Madden of course) in honour of the British Week Blog Hop! :) I have been obsessed with certain British brands (ahem Topshop) for a while so pulling together some of my favourite items was not a challenge. I have always loved the 90s denim jacket and glad that it has made a comeback! It was actually sold without the studs but I decided to add them on myself for a funkier look.

 I have recently also fallen in love with Accessorize, their spring campaign featuring the beautiful Kate Upton is so gorgeous! The Mari Tote is from the spring range and is available at all Accessorize and select Edgars stores now. It comes in a variety of colours, and it is the “must-have” bag of the season with everyone from Glamour to Elle magazines featuring it on their websites. I actually scored mine while in Moscow and chose the beige colour because it is so versatile. The bag can be worn two-ways; there is a strap that you can throw over your shoulder or the just wear it the normal way. I have been using it as my varsity bag as well; I am just so obsessed with it! :) Besides Topshop and accessorize I love Lipsy (so sad that they have left the country now), Asos (hello online shopping!) and New Look.

The weather has really been wonderful, so I hope you are spending today outdoors! :)

Top- Topshop

Shorts- Topshop

Denim Vest – Topshop

Bag- Accessorize

Shoes – Steve Madden

Follow Irina on Twitter… @IrinaDoman

[princessofjozi]

STORE ADORE: Topshop

In 2012, The Busby Group opened the very 1stTopshop store in Africa, in Sandton City, Johannesburg. Along with this one, you now can find standalone stores in the V&A Waterfront(Cape  Town) and Gateway(Durban) and store-in-stores inside Edgars in Canal Walk(Cape Town) and Menlyn Park(Pretoria)

There are many British retailers I love but Topshop has got to be my absolute favourite. Topshop was established as a youth fashion brand in a now non-operational department store in Sheffield, England. The first stand-alone Topshop was opened in 1970 and they currently boast around 440 stores across the world.

From a young age I read magazines like Sugar and Mizz and I fell in love with Topshop. On my 1st trip to England, I almost fainted in the Oxford Street store. It was like standing in a really holy part of fashion legend. This flagship branch gets around 30,000 shoppers each day!

 Topshop gives an edgy, unique spin to both stuff that’s “in” and the classics that every closet should have. I am all for anything out of the ordinary. They epitomize the idea of “fearless fashion” and it even comes through in the merchandising of their stores. Store manager for the Sandton City branch, Lisa says they take care in pairing unusual items together to capture the attention of their shoppers and get them thinking. Prices in the local store do not fluctuate according to the exchange rate (WIN, considering how mischievous our Rand is) and I LOVE that they don’t get too many of the same item in. I mean who wants to be dressed like the rest of the city, right?!

Famous wearers of Topshop include Paris Hilton (recently seen in the skeleton leggings I am totally dying for), Sienna Miller, Lindsay Lohan, Emma Watson, Miley Cyrus and many, many more. Items from Topshop have also been worn on shows like The Carrie Diaries. Locally, Chiano Sky is a HUGE fan. Kate Moss is launching a new collection for the retailer in April 2014. I REALLY cannot wait for this.

You can find Topshop at

Shop U309, Sandton City, Johannesburg

Shop 7202, Upper Level, Victoria Wharf, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town

Shop 151 UL, Canal Walk Cape Town (Inside Edgars)

Follow @Topshop_SA on Twitter.

Be sure to enter the British Week giveaway as I have included some Topshop items too ;)

Love and sparkles

Zaakira xox

P.S Topshop is currently having a little sale, go check it out ;) (Sandton and V&A only)

[princessofjozi]

Favorite British Beauty Products

Today three bloggers share two of their favourite British beauty products. I would love to know what your favourite products are too so please comment away

Chicara

Find Chicara at LipglossKisses.com

LUSH - Bubblegum Lip Scrub

This little pot of magic smells and tastes delicious. Yes, you read that correctly. This scrub is completely edible. That's one of the reasons I love it so much. After scrubbing your lips with this pink sugary scrub you can lick it off. It's very tempting to eat this stuff straight out the tub. I love the smell of this lip scrubbie. It's more like candyfloss than bubblegum. But either way this is my fave night-time treat. I love pretty much all of the products from UK born LUSH.

Soap and Glory - Calm One Calm All Bubble Bath

Aaah, bliss. The name of this bubble bath is so perfectly suited to the heaven that's contained inside. The scent is so light and comforting. I can honestly float away in a bath filled with this foam bath. It bubbles like crazy, so you really only need a capful. My skin is left feeling silky soft and lightly scented when I finally emerge from the bath. This deluxe formula comes with a built-in body lotion. What could be better? Plus it's packed full of lemon balm, mallow extracts and moisture-magnetising skin conditioners. Who doesn't love this British brand?

Follow Chicara on Twitter... @Lipgl0ss_kisses

Charlene

Find Charlene at GeeWhiskers.com

There are many great British beauty products - Eve Lom, Boots No 7, Soap and Glory (which I sadly missed out on when Rubybox had some products on sale), Models Own, This Works, Sleek, Barry M, Carita, Tangle Teezer, Elemis, Nails Inc, Lush, The Body Shop, Ponds, Simple, Jo Malone, Rimmel …I can go on and on.  I really wish that we were fortunate enough to have more of these brands in the SA market.  When Zaakira asked me to do this post and to choose my two favourite British brands I had a rather tough choosing.  But when I looked at the products I use regularly it was an easier task.  Here are my two favourite British beauty brands and why I love them so much.

Tangle Teezer

This product was actually featured on Dragon’s Den in 2007 and since then it has grown a cult following in the beauty community.  I bought my first Tangle Teezer this year out of curiosity and because I struggled with brittle hair from an iron deficiency.  This brush has unique bristles that flex when brushing your hair which prevents cuticle damage and reduces hair breakage.  It detangles knotted hair with very little pain and even massages your scalp.  I personally cannot go back to a conventional brush after using a Tangle Teezer, it is everything a brush should be.  I love it and will definitely be looking to get a little handbag sized one.  Takealot.com sells a Tangle Teezer for only R109 and a compact one starts at R199.  You can also buy the Salon Elite version from Rubybox for R230.

Nails Inc

When Nails Inc came to our shores I was very excited to try them out, but admittedly it took me a while to make my first purchase simply because I had never ventured into Edgars Red Square store.  When the Edgars Red Square online store launched the first thing I bought was a crystal cap Nail Inc nail polish in Porchester Square. I was really impressed with the quality and lasting effects of the nail polish.  The brush is perfect in my opinion and makes applying the nail polish effortless with no streaks. I love the colour choices and the cute little mini sets that are so reasonably priced.   If you are looking for a brand that delivers on quality and lasts long, Nails Inc is a winner.  Nails Inc is available at selected Red Square stores or from the online store starting at R110 a bottle.

Runner up:

The Body Shop

Follow Charlene on Twitter... @Gee_Whiskers

  Mary Lu

Find Mary Lu on LoveMaryLu.com

LUSH – Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner

I’ve always been a huge fan of Lush, even since they opened their first store in the V&A Waterfront. The joy of being able to smell a Lush Store from 15 metres away is just indescribable. I really had a rough time deciding which is my favourite Lush product but then it all boiled down to which product I talked about the most and voila!

I fell in love with this product the moment I tested it at the store, which is an absolute luxury, may I just add. It’s not supposed to replace your body wash as it has no soap content but you’re supposed to apply it afterwards. Rub it in and give your body a massage, rinse it off and you’re ready to go. I love it personally because applying body lotion afterwards is such a hack! Not only will you walk around smelling like a rose all day but also your skin is soft and absolutely no lotion is needed. The product texture itself is extremely rich and satisfying, no large amount is needed so a tub lasts me a month when I use it daily.

The Body Shop – Vitamin E Face Mist

I started using this face mist when my mom persuaded me to use rose water on my face. After a vast amount of research on the ‘benefits of rose water’, I was convinced that rose water is the secret to long lasting beautiful and youthful skin. It didn’t take long till I discovered this ‘magic in a bottle’ as I’m a fan of The Body Shop products anyways.

It contains rose water, which is the main reason why I purchased this product in the first place and being well aware that I have dry skin, it was a bonus that it contains vitamin E too. Now, if you don’t believe that the vitamin E makes a difference, I got my mom to test it out but she has oily skin and this mist make her face even oilier than before. If you have dry/ normal skin, I’m sure this face mist will do wonders for you too. It’s all about the reward in the long run. I use it after I use toner, just a few sprits and pat it in!

Find Mary Lu on Twitter... @LoveMaryLu