How to: make costume jewellery last longer (no green fingers here!)

I like to wear costume jewellery. Don’t get me wrong, I love the good stuff too, but occasionally an outfit calls for a chunky cocktail ring or a huge neckplate that won’t break the budget. That’s where the fake stuff comes in.

I picked up a handy trick a few years back that I thought would be worth teaching you so that you can continue to enjoy costume jewellery without getting green fingers or a grey neck. You know what I’m talking about. The telltale sign of your cheeky cheapie, leaving its branding for all to see.

Clear nail polish. True story. Run a coat of clear polish around the inside of the ring or on the back of the necklace and you’ll be saved the dirty marks and, in the case of a big necklace, probably a couple of unsightly pimples too. I find top coat works best, or a base coat if you’re in a pinch, but never a clear. I’m kidding! Any old clear lacquer will do. Heck, you could use a colour if you like. Who am I to judge, I’m telling you to paint your jewellery with nail polish.

Try it and tell me if it works. Or, don’t try it if you have some weird nail polish allergy. I don’t have a good enough lawyer for that.

PS – don’t forget I’m giving away 5 x $100 styletread gift vouchers

What does 100,000 shoes look like? We found out. PLUS $500 in vouchers up for grabs!

What does a warehouse of almost 100,000 shoes look like? Pretty bloody epic. Last week Helen from SASSYBELLA.com and I traipsed out to Homebush to have a run around in the styletread.com.au warehouse and hang out with Chief Stylist Shane Carroll.

Shane is bloody hilarious and he also knows absolutely everything about shoes. Like…everything. We talked key trends like Exotica (animal print), Be Jewelled (delicious jewel tones), Chelsea Girl (chelsea boots), Lucky Star (glitz and sparkle), Straight To The Point (pointy toe heels are back, baby), Oh Boy (boy shoes, like creepers and loafers), and how some shoes are a mix of a couple of the trends, like the gorgeous royal blue suede loafers I tried on and didn’t want to take off.

Speaking of shoes I didn’t want to take off, it took all my willpower not to stash this amazing pair of Alias Mae shoes into my handbag. I am so in love it hurts. Thankfully styletread have 24 hour shipping because they use a courier company, AND they use a courier for returns too, so you don’t spend a fortune sending stuff that doesn’t fit back (*coughASOSandthehundredreturnsIhavedonerecentlycough*). I say that because even though I tried them on last week, I can’t remember what size I am, so I’m going to order two pairs and send the non-fitting pair back for a refund.

Styletread seems like a really cool place to work. You’ll notice walls covered in graffiti in the video – every day staff members are encouraged to write something that made them happy that day on the wall. And they have houses (yes, like school sport houses) and it’s totally like Hogwarts where houses get points for being awesome. I wonder if they have a sorting hat…

Oh yeah, COMPETITION! I want you to go through the Styletread lookbook and tell me what trend you would spend your $100 voucher on. You can leave a comment or email your answer through at sendmestuff@stuffthatibought.com (or do both for two entries). Either way, leave an email address so I can get in touch if you win. Competition closes at midnight on Sunday April 22, and I’ll be awarding the vouchers to the five best answers. T&Cs are here.

Disclosure: This video and competition are not sponsored – the only thing in it for me was spending time at the warehouse with Shane (totes worth it!)

I’m going to New York. Giddy up!

So…no need to get jealous, but I’m going to New York in 3.5 weeks. 24 days. 564 hours. Not
that I’m counting or anything.

I have been looking forward to this trip for a *really* long time. Over a year ago I ripped
a picture of the New York skyline out of Gourmet Traveller and put it in a frame on my
desk to inspire me when I should actually be working or whatever it is that people do at
desks. (It’s only a cheap IKEA frame, but whatever – totes classy). It’s my honeymoon, so
my new hubby and I have been planning all sorts of crazy shenanigans. Theatre. Yankees
game. Concerts. Museums. Helicopter ride (thanks to an amazing wedding guest xx). But the
food…oh the food…

In short, we pretty much plan to eat our way around the city. And shop. In fact, it’s
fairly safe to assume that when we aren’t doing one, we’ll be doing the other, along with
aforementioned shenanigans. I have a (very long) list of shopping spots I need to hit,
carefully cultivated from various shopping magazines and websites. Meanwhile, husband
has a pile of food magazines on the shelf, all dog-eared and post-it flagged. And if any of our
friends, family, acquaintances, and even people I have just met have been to New York in the
last few years, I’m hitting them up for lists.

This is where you come in. Have you been to New York recently? Suggestions for
restaurants, bars, clubs, secret shopping spots, and handy insider tips are welcome. Nay, they
are demanded. I haven’t been to New York in 3.5 years and I’m sure the city has changed a
tonne in that time. I have 3 weeks in the greatest city in the world, and I want to get the most
out of every day. God I need a holiday.

And yes, I promise to post and do videos while I’m there.

This article is sponsored by MagShop Mother’s Day promotion

ASOS addiction? Yes.

“Hello, my name is Elise and I’m an ASOS-aholic”

“Hi Elise”

“It has been 7 days since my last purchase. I just got an email to say my parcel is at the post office, and then that’s it. I swear.”

I have done 6 orders in the last 3 months. 16 items. And 4 of them have had to go back, with another 2 sitting in the closet never worn. I think I have a problem. Let’s not even talk about the Shopbop and Urban Outfitters orders. Stupid persuasive daily emails full of codes.

Amongst these missteps and mistakes have been some gems though. The bright orange knitted sweater. The gold wrist candy. The black patent loafers (that give me epic blisters, but I persist). The gold leather sandals that I wore pretty much every single day over the summer (when it was warm enough to wear sandals). Once you have your size figured out you’re fine. Only problem is, not only do sizes seem to vary from brand to brand, they vary within the brand too (ASOS brand, I’m looking at you). Thank goodness for the easy return policy – paying for postage to return something that doesn’t fit is so worth it – much less stress than actually going to Bondi Westfield. Two hours in Westfield last week and I wanted to punch someone. Ugh.

By the way, if anyone wants a fluoro yellow pencil skirt, hit me up.

One of these is me and the other is the model from ASOS. Uncanny, right? Totally twins