Your rolled up sleeves and your skull t-shirt

Despite the insensitive rows that broke out over Twitter about Amy Winehouse's untimely demise and whether or not "she had it coming", she certainly made her mark on the world in her short life. Of course with her incredible singing voice and poignant lyrics but for me, she'll be remembered for her quirky individual style.

Lashtastic

The first time I wore false eyelashes was in 2006. It took me about an hour and a half to get them onto my eyes and even then they were half way up my eyes and kind of made me look like a droopy-eyed cartoon character. Nevertheless, I was hooked. As was the rest of the world it seemed. Thanks to Cheryl Cole's bambi eye's appearing on our TV screens every week on X Factor, everyone went nuts for falsies. Last month Debenhams said the sales of fake eyelashes soared by 1322% of fake eyelashes ahead of prom and festival season. Short, blonde normal eyelashes JUST WON'T DO ANYMORE!

Blondarexia: totally addicted to bleach

Blondarexia: Being so addicted to bleaching your hair that it's almost white, flat, monochromatic and burnt to a frazzle.

No Pizza before Beefa

In less than 6 weeks I am going to Ibiza!!!!! I am so beyond excited I can barely contain myself!!!! Hence everything being followed with so many EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!

However, my excitement was ever-so-slighty tainted by a wee bit of panic. I looked in the mirror and had that realisation that if I don't do anything quickly then I won't be looking like Megan Fox in a bikini when the end of August rolls round. (Or never will. BUT, HEY, I CAN DREAM).

"If you're going for classy, that ship sailed 3 tattoo's ago..."

Much to my Mother's disappointment, I love tattoo's. (She blames my rebellious side on my Dad). In November 2009, I tattooed a broken heart on the inside of my elbow. Although this was my 6th tattoo (there have been 2 more since), it was the first that wasn't hidden by clothing and was in a very visible place. And it was the first time I learnt that when they're on show, they invite a lot of questions and judgements - that tattoo has since become public property.

Recently, I found myself defending my body illustrations to a group of boys who stood around me and condescendingly asked, "What are you gonna do when you're an old lady?" "I'll be an old lady with tattoos. I'll be retired. I won't do anything." In the past, I have had strange men grab my forearm, twist it around and question why I've had this tattoo and what it means. "Why did you have a broken heart? Is it because your heart was broken?" Yes, obviously. But actually the tattoo is not an accurate depiction. The tattoo is in half, in reality my heart was in pieces. Even if I decided to have it removed, the ink may be gone but the memory would remain. My decision to commemorate a very difficult time of my life by injecting indelible ink into my arm (I quite literally wear my heart on my sleeve) is just that - mine. For me, it is a reminder that you can move on and recover. But for a lot of other people it is an excuse to be insensitive, condescending or judgmental.

The main difference between me and these men is that I love tattoos and they don't. I think David Beckham looks like a work of art, they think he looks like a thug. I love Megan Fox's gothic poems and they probably think they're self-indulgent. And I love mine. I love the arabic writing I have for my family (my family are arabic before you play the language card) and I love the little umbrella that my best friend also has tattooed on her. And if I were to ever get married, I'd probably tattoo the guys name on me as well. (When people say that's a risky idea, I think that sounds like signing a prenup for your skin.) Tattoo's are entirely subjective. What I find beautiful, you may not and vice versa. And that's fine.

I don't regret a single one of them and I highly doubt I will. What I do regret is having to answer rude, judgemental questions just because people can see them. In the same way, I don't walk up to certain gentlemen with insane hairdo's (that my brother-in-law once accurately described as "exciting") and say,"You're going to regret wearing your hair in that inexplicable fashion in the future", you shouldn't say the same to me about my tattoos.

Or maybe next time, I'll just wear a jacket.

Fashion heaven

Elie Saab presented the most breathtaking collection of gowns I have ever seen at Paris Couture Week.

There are literally no words, it's just so perfect.

Hair today, icon tomorrow

Hey, remember when Danni Minogue cut her hair and everyone suddenly started liking her? She got a new bob, stopped being a Cheryl wannabe, pulled the botox injections out of her face and suddenly became more human. It's incredible how important a pair of scissors can be.

Similarly in Emma Watson's case, her razor sharp crop took her from geek to chic; from school girl to fashion icon. Now I'll admit that when she won the Fashion Icon award at the Elle Style Awards earlier this year, it seemed to me as though they had simply rewarded Emma for wearing a lusted-over studded Burberry trench and for slicing her locks off - "THAT DOES NOT AN ICON MAKE" I bellowed!

 

But ever since she won the girl has truly lived up to her new title and I've been proved wrong. Opting for mini's mostly, she's been sporting some of the hottest designers around - Hakaan, Marchesa and of course, Burberry. And, pictured below at the photocall for the new Harry Potter movie, Emma hit another fashion home run all the while proving that you can grow out an elfin cut stylishly (having done it myself, it's not easy).

Still, cutting ones hair isn't always a great idea. Remember these?

How to go blonde by Katy Perry

MY GOD, I LOVE A MAKEOVER!

When Katy Perry debuted a new "accidental" ginger hue last week at her perfume launch in Toronto I squealed in delight. I LOVE IT! Unfortunately though, she's not keeping it.

Mrs Russel Brand tweeted about her new look: "2get to goal I have 2b ginger for 3WKS. If I don't wait 3WKS, I'll end up w/no hair or a #pixiecutw/abaretteinthefront. It's okay, I'll get to my secret colour soon! #patience".

Text talk translation: to go from having dark hair to blonde, she has had to stop half way at ginger and let her hair recover from the bleach for a few weeks. But to me, this accidental hair colour is something she needs to keep! I LOVE the ginger on her - it goes so well with her kitsch 50s siren look she sports (and generally I'm not keen on dyed black hair on pale skins, it's too severe). Katy is naturally blonde though (hard to believe I know) so I'm sure she look like a total bombshell when she achieves her final look.

I did a similar thing last year. Though not quite as extreme as Katy's, I went from brown to blonde (with an unwelcome stop at ginger blonde on the way). Because I waited a couple of months and I still had hair left at the end.

So let this be a lesson to all those wanting to change there hair from dark to light. If you don't do it slowly, you will end up looking like this:

Katie Price spent an amazing 17 hours in the hairdressers going from black to bright blonde and lost half her real hair in the process (in photographs you can see that her hair above her extensions is no longer than 3 inches now). She then decided to sue the hairdressers. Riiiiight.