Guest bloggers Archives - Page 12 of 22

October 18, 2015

Choose Happiness with Miss West End Girl

Lynsay Neil is a 30-year-old writer, podcaster and creator of Miss West End Girl blog, from Glasgow. We chatted to Lynsay to find out how she started her blog, her style tips and tricks and her colourful tattoo collection…

How did you get into blogging? I’ve always had a deep love for writing, ever since I was a kid – when all my classmates wanted Tamagotchis (remember them?!) I was asking my parents for a typewriter. It seemed like a natural progression for me to start a blog as a platform to share my life and stories. I used sites like Livejournal and MySpace when I was younger, like most people – but it was when I took the plunge and got my own domain space that I considered myself to be a blogger.

How did you start? I started blogging under the name Miss West End Girl about five or six years ago. It started off as a fashion blog, because I was reading a lot of fashion based blogs at the time and also because I love to have fun with my own personal style. But over the years, it’s evolved into what I consider to be a lifestyle site as I love to write about all manner of things that make me excited, so much so that I have to share the details with my readers.

What can people expect to see on your blog? My blog is essentially a guide to living life with joy and style, and embracing what makes you unique. You can expect to find guides to Glasgow (my home city), personal and blogging advice, DIYs, interiors, personal style, beauty, food, travel…the list goes on! In a nutshell, it’s the things that make me smile and that I think will make other people smile or feel inspired.

You have a lot of positive messages and upbeat posts, how have you cultivated this mind set? Any important life lessons for our readers? That’s very kind, thank you! I think that happiness is a choice and it’s one that we make each day when we wake up. Negativity is pretty toxic stuff, and even though it’s easy to feel dragged down, I try to concentrate on the things that should be celebrated. We only get one shot at life, and I firmly believe we should make the most of it! Be adventurous, be kind, look after yourself and believe that you can do anything (because you can!).

Do you have any advice for people either thinking of starting a blog or who have one already? Think about what inspires you and go write about it. There is no right way or wrong way to blog – that’s the beauty of it! If you’re writing something that you don’t care about, or for the sake of it, it will show. Don’t put pressure on yourself either – some of my favourite blogs are only updated once in a while, and when a new article drops I get super excited! You’ll find a rhythm and routine that suits your writing style and your life.

How would you describe your fashion style? Where do you shop? How has it evolved? Sometimes I feel like I’m permanently dressed to attend my own birthday party – I love to wear bright dresses and statement accessories. I’m rarely seen without something on my head – be it a flower crown, a glittery slice of pizza or a massive bow. My personal style has been described as ‘cartoon-like’ which I take as a compliment!
I shop in a variety of places because I don’t tend to stick to whatever is ‘on trend’. An average outfit could be a mixture of indie designers, vintage, thrifted, high-street and high-end. I love discovering local design talent and people who are thinking outside the box. I like to have fun with fashion and dress for myself!
When I was a teenager I was a bit of a sulky goth, all black jeans and kohl eyeliner. This has massively evolved – particularly as I studied film and media at university and feel very inspired by some of my favourite colourful characters.

Does your home/homewares reflect your style? Absolutely! After eight years of renting beige nightmare flats, my boyfriend and I bought our flat last year and have been having the BEST time decorating it. I love sharing home tour posts of the flat on my blog so I can document our little interiors journey! After I posted pictures of our living room, an interiors magazine wanted to run a story on our bright and cheerful home – we ended up getting a 12 page feature in a magazine and I still can’t quite believe it! I’m proud to have created a happy home that I can relax in. It’s somewhere I can write my blog and record podcasts, as well as hang out and entertain friends.

What are your beauty secrets? Any tips or tricks for our readers? Finding products that work for you and make you feel amazing is my number one tip. I’d feel lost without my eyeliner flicks and a pop of bold lip colour! The best way to get comfortable with make up is to get in front of a mirror and practice – it’s also fun to experiment with products until you find what’s right for you.
Skincare wise, I am all about the classic advice. Look after your skin so you don’t end up looking like a second-hand handbag! Wear sun protection (minimum of SPF 50, especially on those tattoos!), drink water, moisturise plenty and always remove your make up before bed. Some advice never goes out of style!

What inspires you? I feel inspired by lots of things, but if I had to pick one thing it would be meeting other people that are passionate about what they do. That kind of feeling is infectious and you can really feed off of each others’ good vibes.

Can you tell us about your tattoos? I have 14 tattoos, and have been getting tattooed for just over 10 years. My very first tattoo was my stocking seams, which run from my achilles heels right up to the top of my thighs – go big or go home, eh? They were inspired by my love of vintage glamour and pin-up culture. This was the only grey and black work that I have had done, every other tattoo is very bright!

My tattoos don’t have too many meanings or tributes behind them – with the exception of two! I have two tattoos that are matching ones with my boyfriend. We got them on our fifth and ten year anniversaries.
I like to think that my tattoos are a reflection of my personality, as they are very feminine and colourful with a rock n’ roll twist. On one arm, I have an old fashioned perfume bottle, a Russian doll, a spider web (bright pink, of course!), a cupcake, a sugar skull, love heart candies and a lipstick. On my other arm, I have a swallow, a strip of pink leopard print and a lucky cat. My legs have identical stocking seams and I have a heart-shaped locket on my foot.
All of my pieces have been custom designed, via consultation and brainstorming with the artist so that we get it just right. I’ve never regretted a tattoo and put a lot of planning into each idea.

Do you have any future tattoo plans? Always! I think about getting tattooed all the time, and with so many amazing artists posting their work on Instagram the only question is, who to book with? I feel like a kid in a candy store.

October 16, 2015

Film Review: A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Our guest blogger is hobbyist film and TV series reviewer and writer Harry Casey-Woodward:

A Girl walks home alone at night, 2015, 18, dir Ana Lily Amirpour, 3/5

I’m not a big fan of vampires movies, unless they’re done well. I dislike the way certain films and TV shows (cough cough Twilight cough) have portrayed vampires as surly, sparkling love interests. I’m more a fan of the old fashioned kill-them-first-shag-them-later variety. I also dislike the fact that vampires have been done to death. But I guess vampire films are like any other genre. Out of the majority of over-clichéd, over-sexed muck rises a few gems that dare to do things differently and show everybody else how it’s supposed to be done.

There was Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In in 2008. I liked its original premise of a young girl vampire making friends with a human boy. However I don’t know if it was the film’s sparse, sombre tone or there was something wrong with me when I tried to watch it but I just found it a bit dull. This was certainly not the case with the subject of this review.

This year’s vampire flick (now on DVD and blu-ray) is the most striking and unusual of its kind I’ve ever seen. For one thing, it’s set in Iran with dialogue faithfully in Farsi while remaining an American production. Elijah Wood is one of the executive producers and he features in the special feature interviews.

Watch these interviews and you will understand exactly how an Iranian vampire film came together. The director Ana Lily Amirpour has an Iranian background and comes across as a female version of Quentin Tarantino. She swears a lot and chatters enthusiastically about her favourite things, which include spaghetti westerns, pop music and vampires. She set out to write a screenplay that brought all these elements together. She had already shot a couple of shorts set in Iran and when she tried on a chador veil one of the extras was wearing, she knew her vampire had to be Iranian. Of course.

But she’s not just planted a vampire in Iran. She’s planted a vampire in a fictional desert town named Bad City , home to various social misfits including a prostitute, a pimp, a transvestite, an urchin, some spoilt kids, a junky and his son Arash (Arash Marandi) who dresses like James Dean and drives a hot vintage car. Even when his beloved ride gets taken as payment for his father’s drugs and he breaks his hand punching a wall in anger, he still looks cool with a cast and a bicycle.

While he’s trying to look after his father and cat, make money and keep on looking cool, the vampire simply named the Girl is prowling the streets at night, looking suitably menacing yet somehow cute in a black flowing chador as she preys on scummy men, terrorises children and steals their skateboards.

The actress Sheila Vand gives an astonishing performance. She never smiles and her lines are rare too, but she communicates so much menace and loneliness through her expressions you don’t know whether to be scared or feel sorry for her.

The sparse dialogue in this film is a merit. It’s clear that Amirpour has learnt a lot from her favourite Sergio Leone. Her movie runs on the less-is-more principle, relying on the actor’s expressions and actions to tell the story rather than dialogue. She also makes heavy use of atmosphere and suspense rather than gore in the horror scenes, which is refreshing regarding most blood-spattered horrors today. In fact for a vampire movie there is very little blood, except for one nasty scene and even then the film is in black and white.

It’s clear from the start that this is not a straightforward horror. Amirpour is more concerned with giving her audience a visual feast. She is also a big fan of David Lynch. With the film being black and white and featuring various long shots of industrial scenery, as well as being an urban nightmare populated by sad freaks, I couldn’t help being reminded of such Lynch films as Eraserhead and Blue Velvet.

However, while the film is a banquet for the eyes and ears (the soundtrack consists of Iranian and Western pop mixed with spaghetti western-style music), perhaps the film is too concentrated on style and trying to be hip. For example, amidst all the culture references the plot boils down to a love story between Arash and the vampire. It’s the film’s presentation of romance which gets on my nerves. These two very good looking people meet, are instantly attracted to each other and their lovelorn talk consists mostly of comparing life to music: ‘don’t you wish you could live in a song?’ etc. I’m sorry but this fantasy does not match my past awkward, bumbling attempts at dating and thus I believe it encourages unrealistic romantic expectations. Then again the film is just that, a fantasy.

Nevertheless as cool and fun and imaginative the film is, I couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed at the end. The film bends over backwards to satisfy you superficially with stunning visuals. When it comes to the plot however, I feel the film could have gone for more emotional impact with the dramatic events it depicted. It’s cool that the film opted for a less-is-more approach concerning the dialogue and emotion depicted, but there’s never any real conflict between the characters. So as dark as the film gets, it doesn’t really pack a punch. Still, it’s worth seeing for the cat Masuka’s performance alone.

This is still the coolest and most genre-busting vampire movie you will ever see and I applaud Amirpour’s unique vision and cinematic enthusiasm. I’m looking forward to her next movie The Bad Batch, a love story set in a cannibal colony in a Texas wasteland. I hope she does a western.

Images from IMDB

October 12, 2015October 13, 2015

The art and tattoos of Sasha Unisex

Our Italian contributor Ilaria chatted to infamous Russian tattoo artist Sasha Unisex about her beginnings in the art world, her tattoo style and collaborations with big bands such as BMW…

The art of Sasha Unisex does not go unnoticed, that’s for sure. You just have to take a look at her work to understand that her style differs from others. Chatting to Sasha, I wanted to better understand the artist who resides inside her. Here’s what she told me about her beginning with tattoos… “I graduated from Lviv Academy of Art, in 2010. From that period onwards, I just observed other artists tattooing. I visited many exhibitions as I was very curious and keen to learn this amazing job. 2010 was also the year in which I got tattooed for the first time. Then, I started to do it myself, tattooing little black subjects or words. I have to say my degree in graphic design really helped with my signature style. Yes, it is similar to watercolor as you can see, but with a graphic touch.”

In fact, the lack of black outlines, together with amazing shading effects, gives shape and softness to the final tattoo. Sasha’s works are stunning and are appreciated all over the world. Sweet and original characters are created from Sasha’s mind and are appreciated even from those who don’t usually like tattoos. “I am truly inspired by animals and nature, that’s the reason why most of my tattoos have them as subjects. They are all mostly of the same size… I love the idea that a tattoo can be like an accessory: once you get it, you can never lose it!”

And what about tattoo culture in Russia? “Well, the situation in Russia is still a bit different, compared to Europe or to the USA. Tattooing is not very developed in society, but people of different ages get tattooed. They come to my private studio, they follow me on social networks and I appreciate it a lot. It’s always good and satisfying to remember you are doing what you love and you are doing it in the right way, too.”

Sasha also loves to travel and meet different people and artists, as she compares her background to other realities. She also attended the 20^th Milan Tattoo Convention last year, her fist convention out of Russian borders, where she met some of her favourite artists and hundreds of fans! She is now moving to Europe, and we can’t wait to visit her new studio. Talking about travels and love for tattoos, I also wanted to bring the testimony of Valeria, a girl who did not hesitate to fly from Rome in Italy to Russia to meet Sasha.

Valeria's tattoo by Sasha Unisex — Valeria’s tattoo by Sasha Unisex

Valeria: “I think her tattoos are small works of art, that’s why I decided to go all the way to Russia. To me, she is the best tattoo artist in the world, so I decided to fly to Saint Petersburg to get a piece from her!”

How was the whole experience, once you arrived in her studio? Valeria: “It was simply unique! The atmosphere is far from what I am used to and not at all like the snooty tattoo studios you find in Italy/Europe. There, I was greeted by her curious and funny staff, these girls offered me tea and chocolates during the tattoo session. Sasha also offered to lend me her computer so I wouldn’t get bored! In a few words, Sasha is a lovely human being with her feet on the ground, and above all she is very sweet.”

All in all, Sasha is a reserved person who is aware of the substance and value of the art of tattooing. Clients explain their deepest emotions, sometimes connected to a memory, sometimes connected to an emotion. She is a young pioneer in the tattoo world, and I am sure that this kind of innovation can only be positive!

Sasha has also revealed to us that she wants to develop ‘Sasha Unisex brand’, creating clothes, stickers, phone cases and many other products with her printed creatures as protagonists. All of these products will be available on her new website soon.

She also recently connected to BMW, creating a unique design based on one of her favourite animals, the fox. She chose to tattoo a fox on the motorcycle leather seat because of the connection between the BMW S 1000 XR and the animal’s characteristics. Once again, she has been able to push the boundaries of tattoo art and surely this is just the beginning of a long series of great collaborations with worldwide brands.

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: In the Buff

Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she talks about getting her bum tattooed…

Let’s face it getting tattooed is fairly intimate. It involves someone, that can be a total stranger, touching your naked skin. Arms and legs are easily exposed but what about those areas we usually have covered with clothes? What about those tattoos that cover large areas? I’ve been asked a few times about getting my butt tattooed. What did I wear, was it embarrassing, could everyone in the shop see, what if you needed to fart!

I guess embarrassment depends on the individual. I get absolutely mortified when I’ve got to go see a doctor, professional bikini wax – forget it I’ll do it myself, but that’s just me. So how did I find myself sitting comfortably sans clothes in a tattoo studio with three guys? The answer to that is simple, respect. My artist and the others in the studio are some of the nicest people I ever met. I’ve been getting tattooed there for over a year now and in getting to know the guys I am totally relaxed with them. From my first visit I felt at ease, we discussed the design and had a chat before that oh so awkward moment when I had to get undressed. I’d asked around before hand and the general consensus was to wear a bikini which had tie sides so you could undo and adjust as needed. This turned out to be excellent advise. I was handed a roll of tape and left to prepare behind screens in the studio, grateful for the privacy and a mirror I taped the sides of my bikini to me so that the strings could be undone exposing my back whilst preserving my modesty at the front et viola.

Tip, the bikini is also ideal for after you’ve been tattooed- nobody wants a tight bra over a fresh tattoo. Turns out that you’re not the only person getting embarrassed, a naked lady is also a problem for other people not knowing where to look. So if you find an artist you’re comfortable with you’ll be fine. Yes we’ve had the odd nip-slip but what do you expect? Just have a good laugh about it. As for farting, just don’t, please!

October 10, 2015

Film Review: Fear and Desire

Our guest blogger is hobbyist film and TV series reviewer and writer Harry Casey-Woodward:
Fear and Desire, 1953, dir Stanley Kubrick, cert 12, 3/5

Stanley Kubrick is one of my favourite directors, so I was rather excited when back in 2013 Eureka released his debut as part of their Masters of Cinema series on DVD. They even added, as special extras, three short documentaries Kubrick did, two of which are his earliest examples of film making. So you’ve got a nice little package of Kubrick gold if you’re a fan; the beginnings of a career that would span nearly fifty years. To be honest, we’re lucky to be able to watch Fear and Desire on DVD at all. Kubrick detested it so much he removed it from circulation in the 60s when he became more recognised, with only one print surviving in New York.

Fear and Desire

You can kind of see why. Kubrick referred to his first film as a ‘bumbling, amateur film exercise’ and to be honest that’s the impression I got before I even read that quote. The plot is a bit loose for a start. The film is set during an unknown war in an unknown country and focuses on four soldiers who are stranded behind enemy lines when their plane crashes. Their plan is to get to the river so they can raft it past the enemy and back to base. It sounds quite a straightforward plot, but Kubrick uses all his art cinema influences to give us a strange and striking one hour viewing experience.

As expected from Kubrick, the film is beautifully shot. It was filmed in a national park in California and Kubrick fully exploits the picturesque woodland and river scenery, even if it conflicts with his grim plot. Even though the film is black and white, it also boasts some impressive lighting, most of it natural. There is one scene in particular where the soldiers attack two sentries at their post at night. We get shots of half-lit angry men’s faces as they beat their foes to a pulp rapidly cut with close-ups of the enemies’ hands squeezing fragments of the bread and stew they were eating for supper. The result is an intense but bizarre and unrealistic fight scene which sums up the creative but naive ambition Kubrick applied for his first movie.

Fear and Desire

So while we can agree that Fear and Desire is not as stylistically or literally coherent as Kubrick’s later masterpieces, it still packs a lot into such a short running time. On one hand it’s got a typical war action storyline of GIs busting through enemy lines and attacking an enemy base which they discover nearby. On the other, there are elements that foreshadow the styles of modern anti-war classics like Apocalypse Now and even Kubrick’s later films like Full Metal Jacket by several decades. For one thing, Kubrick used stylish film techniques like poetic interior monologues to death, which the 1998 equally dreamy war epic The Thin Red Line also did with its parade of military characters.

There is also an episode in Fear and Desire where the four soldiers capture a native girl, which is also the plot for the 1989 Vietnam war film Casualties of War, in which five American soldiers kidnap and rape a Vietnamese girl. While the men of Fear and Desire don’t go that far, they express their desire for their captive. One who actually goes mad through some extreme form of PTSD (in a typically Kubrickian over-the-top performance foreshadowing Jack Nicholson in The Shining) kisses and presses his body on her when she’s tied to a tree. This scene was used to sell the movie as a sexploitation, which were all the rage in underground 1950s cinema. Randy audiences must have been quite disappointed when subjected to Kubrick’s dream-like war allegory.

The attitude towards war exhibited in Fear and Desire (which is carried on in other Kubrick films) is strikingly modern and pessimistic regarding 1950s American cinema. All the four soldiers want to do is survive and when they do take some military action in attacking the enemy base, the results are bittersweet. All four men are damaged in some way by their experiences. Though the film is short and a little disorganised, it has a surprisingly deep and haunting message about war’s senseless brutality.

But does the film stand up on its own apart from being Stanley Kubrick’s first film? Almost. It’s certainly not as good or cohesive as Kubrick’s later works and there are much stronger and more noteworthy films that came out at the time. The other short films on the DVD are a little interesting and a little dull. It’s best to view all the films on the disc as a worthy director stretching his wings, and Fear and Desire as an experimental indulgence in metaphors and literary references. However there was enough plot, good acting and filmmaking to keep me gripped. It’s a strange but beautiful gem, a little rough on the edges but with enough of an intoxicating gleam to draw me back into this absurd dream on war. It’s also noteworthy for being the first wholly independent US movie, for it was financed by donations from Kubrick’s family and friends. I’m just glad that they had faith in him and this restoration finally got release in the UK. Plus it’s short so if you hate it you don’t have to hate it for long.

[Quotes and background information from ‘No other country but the mind’ by James Naremore, an essay included with the DVD.]