Category: Fashion and beauty

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Darcie: Bound in Bone

27-year-old Darcie from Leeds, is a Content Executive for a Marketing Agency and founder of the blog Bound in Bone. We chat to Darcie about her style, living the goth life and what you can find on her blog…

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What inspired you to start your blog and how long have you been running it? I’ve been blogging since November 2015. I didn’t really tell anyone about it for the first few months because I was nervous about what people would think! I started it because I wanted my own space to write my own stuff and not have any restrictions (apart from my own nervousness). I’d been working in marketing for three years at that point and while I was creating content for other people, I really wanted something that was my own. It was weird that I had created so much for other people and nothing for myself!

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Does your day job help you with your blog, or vice versa? Yes, definitely. Keeping up to date with the industry means that I can be good at my job and be armed with the latest thinking to apply to my blog too. It also helps that I have people around me at work that can help me if I paint myself into a corner with SEO or when I’m liaising with a PR for my blog, for example.

What can readers expect to find on your platform? Gothy/witchy outfits, alternative lifestyle pieces and I’m hoping to write more about feminism as I get braver talking about the subject too!

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How would you describe your style? What is your favourite outfit or go-to outfit?  I can be quite eclectic in my style, but I would say it definitely errs on the gothy side of the “alternative” spectrum. I’m trying out more of a witchy style at the moment. I’m really inspired by the idea of the witch as a feminist icon.
I don’t really have a go-to outfit, but I do have certain pieces that make me feel like I can take on the world. My wide-brimmed hat, double-stacked doc martens and anything in faux leather are favourites.

What to you does it mean to live a goth life?  Oooh I love this question! To me, it’s about channeling a darker aesthetic in your personal style or tastes, but it’s also about questioning mainstream society’s ideals. How can you decide to be “alternative” in the way you look and yet not “alternative” in the way you think? It means not accepting everything you’re fed through the media and coming up with your own thoughts and values. It means being open-minded and willing to listen and accept other people’s points of view.

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Can you tell us about your tattoos? Do you have any future plans? I have three tattoos. I have an eye on the back of my neck, a pair of cat eyes on my forearm, and Beatles lyrics on my shoulder. My first was the Beatles lyrics, it’s actually a matching one with my best friend from school. When we were about 15 we would make videos in her bedroom. They were really silly because we were dorks (still are). On of the soundtracks was All You Need is Love. So that’s what I have tattooed. She has “love is all you need” on her foot.

The story behind my eye is based around The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson. Even though she’s a very troubled lady in the book, I always saw her as beautiful, and I desperately wanted to have red hair and green eyes just like her. I wasn’t bothered by the tattoos at that point for some reason. She has loads of tattoos but one in particular that stays in my mind was an eye on the back of her neck, so that’s what I’ve got too.

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The cat eyes are based around my first cat, Myrtle. I’m a cat person through and through so I wanted something to commemorate that!I would love to get more – I really want something on my chest (I’m torn between a snake or moon phases – I haven’t decided yet), I’d love something to do with Medusa, and I’d love finger tattoos too – I just need to decide what to do first!

Pay Darcie’s blog a visit to see more of her gothic style and feminist posts.

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Tattooed Blogger: Shanice Willoughby

23-year-old Shanice Willoughby, is a blogger, barista and florist in training from Surrey. We chat to Shanice about her blog, love for flowers and bohemian style…

When did you start blogging? How did you get into it? I started blogging last year on the first of January! I’d been wanting to do it for ages but lacked the confidence and fear of people not being that interested on what I had to post, but in the end decided to take the plunge regardless of that!

What can readers expect to see on your blog? Readers can expect a range of fashion, lifestyle, mental health and plant posts!

What influences your blog posts? Anything and everything really, whether it’s bits I’ve brought fashion wise, a location spot that I have to tell people about, coffee spots, traveling to lovely new places, or ups and downs in my mental health!

How does your job and running the blog go together? Does one help the other or do they clash? It is very difficult to work a 40+ hour full time job and run a blog along side it, some weeks I won’t have the time to post and it does bother me but it’s very hard to divide time/find the time to shoot new outfit posts, etc.

How would you describe your style? A modern day young Stevie Nicks- I am obsessed with seventies-bohemian style, think embroidery, fringe and flowy fabrics with delightful prints.

Do your tattoos reflect this? Can you tell us about your collection I think they do in a way yes, I absolutely adore flowers and have a fair few pieces now on my body which I love and want more of! I have the element symbols on my fingers (a true bohemian child) along with a few moons dotted around my body. I have a old sailor’s chant scripted on my arm about a mermaid, and other bits linked to the sea! I think my tattoos definitely reflect my wild spirit side.

Do you have any future tattoo plans or a wish list? More flowers, a lot more! (I have a very good friend who does wonderful flower work and she’s done all my new pieces!) And i’d love to get some mandala/henna style work done for sure!

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Alice & Black Tulip Beauty

Alice is a 21-year-old singer and blogger from Bristol, we caught up with her to chat all things beauty, tattoos and music…

How long have you been blogging? Officially I’ve been blogging just over a year but not consistently, I started my blog in January 2017 and posted a few bits and bobs on it, but unfortunately got really unwell and diagnosed with a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease so it took a back seat for quite a while. I’ve been unable to work properly since my diagnosis, so my blog has been a great point of focus for me and something I love that I can do from home. I started blogging consistently in July 2017 and other than the odd small break due to health complications, I haven’t looked back!

How did you start and what inspired you to create your own blog? I’ve always been more of a creative person than anything else. I had quite a lot of people coming to me and asking about my makeup and my skincare, so I thought creating a blog would be a great way to share my favourite products and my progress. I also worked in The Body Shop for a year and a half so I learned a hell of a lot about the beauty industry, ingredients and benefits for the skin from working there.

What do you blog about? What can readers expect to see? If you want to check my site out, you can find me over at www.blacktulipbeauty.co.uk. I have focused mainly on beauty with the odd post about my life, my illness and holidays chucked in. I do hope to expand the topics I cover on my blog in the next few months and start writing about fashion, events, health and food. I would love to start raising more awareness for the illness I have too as I feel it’s misunderstood and undermined as to how much it really changes your life.

What is your must-have beauty item? What can’t you live without? Oh gosh those are two very different questions! My must have would be the Morphe 35F palette, it holds incredible shades and is SUCH amazing value for money, the pigment is incredible! But a product I couldn’t live without is the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, it’s incredible and covers my eye bags a treat!

How would you describe your style? I always say it’s kinda gothic/punky mixed with a bit of girly glam?! I love doing all my makeup and hair nice but there’s nothing more personally empowering than wearing a leather dress and fishnets and big chunky boots.

How do your tattoos fit in with this? Can you tell us about your tattoos? I think my tattoos fit perfectly with my style, I’m a big wearer of black and red which is what my tattoos are. The first one I got was a skull and rose at the Bristol Tattoo Convention in 2015. I’ve wanted tattoos since I was 12 and I decided to just dive in with my first and not bother getting a tiny one to test the waters. The second was my Grim Reaper which I got done at Broad Street Studio in Bath by Jimmie, it took a few sketches to get the ideal Reaper I had in my head right but I absolutely love this guy and it’s probably the tattoo I’ve had the most compliments on! My mum absolutely hates it though, she tells me to get him covered up.

My third was a floral mandala on my shoulder, I saw someone with something quite similar and fell head over heels in love. I got home and emailed an artist I’d been obsessing over for ages and booked it straight in. This has been my most painful as it stretches slightly up onto my neck so that wasn’t the most pleasant feeling. This one and my Medusa were done by Iain Sellar from The Black Lodge in Portishead which I’d highly recommend. Such incredible artists in the studio and I’ve had amazing experiences both times I’ve been!

My most recent was my Medusa, she is probably my favourite. I LOVE how badass she is and I think Iain did such an amazing job designing her. I love how intricate the lines are and I’m so glad we chose to keep her eyes hollow aswell, I think it adds an awesome extra creepy vibe to it. These are all I have for now as the medication I’m currently on slows down my immune system which could cause complications with the healing of any new ones but I really want Iain to finish my sleeve when possible and then I want to start on a big back piece!

Do you consider yourself a collector? I collect skulls! (not real ones!) I have over 100 skull related things in my room and my collection is still growing. This week I managed to bag a skull lamp for £10 in Asda and I’m not going to lie it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I’ve been asked so many questions as to why I like skulls so much, I just think they’re quite fascinating! There is a post on my blog where I do a tour of my room and you can check out my collection on there if you’re interested.

Can you tell us about your singing? I discovered I wasn’t all that bad at singing and started having lessons around the age of 14 and went on to study it at college and then university. I realised the course I chose at university wasn’t for me and dropped out but still have a huge passion for singing. I’ve been in quite a few bands over the years and played all around Bristol and a few times in Bath and London. I don’t really feel like I’ve ever been in a band where I’ve been on the same wavelength with other members, in the sense of where we wanted to progress with the style of music we were creating unfortunately. I would really love to be able to find that in the near future as I really miss performing. I am currently working on a dance music project with two producers though which I’m really looking forward to as it’s a genre I’ve never done before!

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Careers: Tattooed E-Commerce Stylist

We chat to 30-year-old Ecommerce and Editorial Stylist Rebecca Griffin, from Leicester about her tattoo collection…

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What drew you to tattoos, did anyone influence you? I was always fascinated with tattoos and body adornment from a young age, and I chose to research this as a subject when doing a self-directed art project at university. During my college years I was particularly interested in tribal and international cultures, and the meanings behind the traditional ink work you would see covering the bodies of tribal men and women. My fascination then developed into looking into fashion subcultures and how they adorned their bodies with piercings and tattoos, which similarly were influenced by their surroundings.

Can you tell us about some your tattoos? I got my first tattoo at 27, all my tattoos I have are of birds and the reason that I left it so long to get any tattoos, was because I wanted to be sure. As I never want to have any tattoos I’d live to regret. My second tattoo work is a number of birds sitting or moving within wild flowers and leaves. These are my favourite and are by the lovely Tiny Miss Becca!

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Bird tattoos by Tiny Miss Becca

I had originally had the idea to have two birds positioned flying up from he tops of my feet to my ankles surrounded by flowers. Once these was done I decided I wold really love to extend them up and a around the bottom of my legs with more birds and flowers. And Becca agreed and thought it would look great too. Becca has drew each bird to have it own personality and work with each other so they look like they are part of a flock. There is a total of seven birds and the cutest little egg basket.


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I never really been a fan of my legs as I am a very pale person and feel all my vain’s show to much so was never one to get my legs out in public. I now absolutely love my legs and they are my favourite part of me thanks to Becca. She really powers through to achieve the amazing work she done for me. I love that even though we was only planning to start and finish with just the two birds she’s managed to create a design for me that looks as though we always planned to have all the birds wrapped round to begin with. Becca is such an amazing talent and I feel very privileged that she was excited by my idea and wanted to carry on the work for me.

How did you get into your current role? Before I was a e-commerce stylist I was working as a fashion designer, which I enjoyed doing but wanted to have another creative outlet outside of my job. Before I became a designer I used to do visual merchandising for a high street store and wanted to get back into a role similar. I began to style for fashion photographers, I began to build up a fashion styling portfolio by working with models and MUAs. I slowly progressed to improve and have a greater understanding of what was required to fully organise and style a fashion shoot and began to feel inspired to change my career path and get into styling full time. A close friend of mine knew of a e-commerce Stylist opportunity that had arose and advised me to go for it, I did and I got the job and I’ve not looked back since.

Can you tell us a little bit about your other projects too? I still style a lot of fashion shoots out of my full time styling role as I really love the chance of organising and directing a shoot that is fashion editorial inspired. E-commerce styling is great and I love that too, but it’s very commercial and sometimes a little restricting creatively. I really like having a diverse portfolio that shows the work I can create commercially and editorially.

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Photoshoot styled by Rebecca

Did you have to study or have you worked your way up? I have worked my way up to this role and made it a personal goal to keep working hard to gain as much experience in this role as possible. It’s not easy to be able to get models, photographers and make up artists to work with you, which is why it so important to be persistent in your search and communication with fellow creatives.

What is a typical day like? I style in a photo studio based in Rugby, these products are then uploaded to the fashion retailer’s website. When I arrive there is normally a rail of clothing I will need to style a shoot on a standard model size mannequin. I get to use a really cool price of equipment called a style shoot which allows me to get the clothing product I’ve styled shot without the requirement of a photographer. Some days I do style clothing on a mannequin set also, working closely with a photographer to achieve an editable shot that will be re-touched before going on to the retailer’s website. Also the products I shoot need to be shot as symmetrical a possible which sometimes can be a challenge, but is all part of the fun.

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What do you love about your job? The studio I work in means that I get to see and style lots of big name brands, such as Moschino, Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci and Versace. I really love having the chance work with these products. I also working in a really nice environment where we all work closely and well together as one big team.

How do you dress for work? Quite casually, jeans and nice t-shirts or shirts with Dr Martens or bright colourful trainers. My style is a little boho hippy, skater-ish rocker with a little sports mixed in. As you can tell I am not very good at describing my style, but my usual aim when I get dressed for work is to wear what comfortable but has a little personality to it.

Do you show off your tattoos? Yes, I do. I’m very lucky to work somewhere that does not discriminate against or does not like tattoos on show.

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How do people react to your tattoos? Majority of the time people love them and are really interested and ask lots of questions. I do on the very rare occasion get disapproving looks but it’s a personal preference thing and I love them which is all that matters

Do you have any advice to other people considering their careers when getting tattooed? I would say go for the career you want to do, you can still have tattoos just be mindful where on your body to have them. If you want a career where tattoos can potentially lower your chances of getting a job then get them in places you can cover them with clothing.