Wella Trend Awards

Dear Readers,

I was lucky enough to be on part of the judging panel for the Wella Trend Awards organised last Sunday 29th of April. After spending a great deal of time trying to make sure my hair lived up to the event - I can't judge others' hair if mine looks like a mess, duh! - I eagerly went to the award competition to see what was in store.

Contestants, divided into two categories, were meant to interpret at least one of the given four hair trends. The first, 'Blaze', is the new femme fatale, whereas 'Celeste' is the mysterious woman coming from the future. 'Roxy' is the type of woman you'd find at Studio 54 and 'Grace' is an earthly modern muse. I was personally impressed by the variety in the interpretations of the trends. Despite being 'restricted' by the expectations of each and every different trend, hairdressers who took on the same trends produced strikingly different interpretations.

The final winners of the Wella Trend Awards shall be announced at the Malta Fashion Awards. Don't miss it!

Bourjois Effet Liner

Dear Readers,

Call me prejudiced, but I'm always a teensy bit sceptical of freebies or items that come in goodie bags. Whereas it's clearly not always the case, we all know that sometimes goodie bags are simply a collection of unwanted things no one seems to manage to sell. However, in spite of the general trend, some goodie bags do include really worthy products. You've all seen the amazing goodie bag I received at the Essence and Catrice event a few months ago! This product was not part of that goodie bag though, I was given this Bourjois mascara at the New Look launch in Fgura last March.

I've never used anything from Bourjois myself, so my opinion on the brand is largely based on what I've heard other bloggers say. Whereas I've seen one too many positive reviews of the Bourjois Chocolate Bronzer and the Healthy Mix Foundation, I've never really read anything about the Bourjois 'Effect/Effet' Mascara. That said, I was extremely curious to see how it would perform.

OMG, totally in love with this mascara. I've been looking for a mascara that I can wear without any eyeliner for so long I can't even remember. Most of my other mascaras tend to be too heavy to wear on their own and if I'm going for a more natural look, then a heavy mascara is the least thing I need! The Bourjois Effet Liner is meant to give ladies a doe-eyed look and I can hardly think of a better description myself.

The mascara's winning card is definitely its wand! I've never seen anything quite like it. Most of the bristles are tiny - making it ideal to reach the smaller lashes at the eye's inner corner and for the bottom lashes too - but one side has a few longer, spidery bristles that effectively open and amplify the eye.

Favourite mascara at the moment. It gets a 10/10 from me!

Did you ever try this mascara? Let me know.

-B

How To: Bodycon Skirts

Dear Readers,

Have you ever noticed that bodycon skirts - those figure-hugging relatively short skirts - are always out in the shops? Be it Winter or Summer, these skirts always seem to earn a space in our very crowded closets. However, in spite of their wide availability on the market, body skirts are quite a 'controversial' item of clothing (even though, mind you, 'controversial' is slightly hyperbolic in this context!). 

Many, myself included sometimes, tend to raise an eyebrow at the mere thought of a bodycon skirt. Let's remember that the term 'bodycon' is an abbreviated form of 'body concious', so our worries about its potential unflattering nature are not exactly unfounded and unjustified. Also, given that bodycon skirts are very fitted on the body, they don't only accentuate features we'd rather hide, but if worn in certain ways, they can also be the perfect method of earning the 'Queen of Tacky Land' title.

Therefore the tips I'm going to share with you address these two areas: how to make sure a bodycon skirt flatters your body without it looking tacky and oh so wrong. Bodycon skirts are very versatile, practical and easy to chuck on when running late!

Fabrics work magic!

From my experience with bodycons, I can tell that the fabric is the most important factor that determines how flattering  a skirt is going to be. I mean, flimsy and incredibly thin fabrics don't really help if you want to mask some imperfections around the booty area (I just said 'booty', oh goodness!). Ideally, if you want your bodycon skirt to make you look more streamlined, you should reach for a skirt with a thick fabric, the kind you'd need to squeeze into (not aggressive squeezing, just graceful squeezing) with some difficulty. Nothing worth having comes easy they say, so try on skirts with thick materials to make sure they cinch you in as best possible. Also, please make sure to buy the right size! Don't try to squeeze into something that's clearly having a hard time not to snap in half.

Avoid Patterns.

...unless you are completely confident with you lower body. We've been there, done that already. I've spoken about 'distracting attention from less loved areas' millions of times before, but I'm going to repeat. Patterned bodycon skirts grab attention, so unless you're ready to have all eyes on that area, stray away. Prints may be huge this season, but they're not ideal if you want to hide those extra pounds. Bodycon skirts attract attention even if they're in black, let alone if they're in a wild banana print, for instance.

Heels, girls!

Yet again, another trick I've shared endless times before. Heels make legs look leaner and they seem to create muscle (very unexpectedly, might I add!). Even though I still like bodycon skirts with ballerina flats for a casual, everyday look, I have to admit that nothing is as flattering as heels!

Proportion is key.

Here is where we make sure that skirt doesn't look tacky ladies. Bodycon skirts are tight. Very tight. So, by logical fashion rules, the upper garment should be of the billowy and floaty kind. That should make sure you're far away from Tacky Land. My personal favourite bodycon skirt looks always feature the standard sheer shirt (with something underneath, duh!). And if you're not too in love with your bottom, invest in a dip hem sheer shirt (the ones which are longer at the back) to hide les cheeks! Recently, I've also been looking at peplum and bodycon combinations. I quite like that too. Peplums are in, I'm sure you know.

Let me know whether you want me to do a bodycon OOTD post in the comments! Also, please log on to the Boffism App (on both smartphones and internet browsers) for a selection of bodycon skirts I'm currently lusting after!

-B

Changes

Dear Readers,

What a long day! As I anticipated in today's earlier post, I wanted to write a short entry outlining the main changes that I carried out for Boffism's first blogversary.

Graphics

As you can tell already, I've completely revamped the graphics and layouts of all my social networking profiles and the blog itself. To be honest, whenever I changed my graphics in the past, it was always decided on a whim. I used to get these little ideas and give the layout a change. This time, however, I put quite a bit of thought into the layout design itself. The graphics are 'me': a mixture of Paris, Versailles, Lagerfeld and vintage ice-cream vans. Mustard vertical stripes inspired by the Fendi SS2012 collection (God Bless!) and the Eiffel Tower because...erm...do I really need to explain that? 

The App

As you know, my mobile application's main purpose is to keep you connected with all my social networking profiles. The main changes over here were the addition of the 'Facebook' tab and a new tab called 'Vitres' that links you to my new satellite blog (read below for more about that!). Why did I forget to add the Facebook tab before? Bleh, hah!

Derrière Les Vitres

Now this is the most significant change. 'Derrière Les Vitres' is my new 'satellite' blog - fancy, I know! - with a journal-like nature. I still haven't figured out what direction this blog is going to take. Posts might consist of one line entries, songs, pictures or even full-fledge essay-like confession blog posts. I might even end up writing things I don't have the guts to tell others or simple things that come across my mind and make me think. Vitres is about motivation, positivity, dreams, wanderlust, randomness and reflection. It's a diary I guess. Everything shall fall into place and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as you like Boffism!

I feel like I finally deserve a good night's sleep. I spent almost 20 hours working on these changes yesterday and I can't deny my eyes some rest. 

Normal fashion posts resume tomorrow.

-B

Thank You!

Dearest Readers,

I was sitting at this very table last year, prepping my first post. My layout had taken so much time to finalise, even though, admittedly, it left so much to be desired. A year later, I can hardly believe I've been at it for an entire year. How on earth did I do that?

Thing is, I've always been a very restless person. I try new things, get bored of them eventually, and move on to the next 'big project'. If this hasn't happened with Boffism - and it won't ever happen really! - there must be something special about it that keeps me coming back each and every day.

Whenever someone asks me why I started blogging, I list the usual traditional motives: it's fun, it's a good way of putting yourself out there and it's the next big thing fashion-wise. However, in reality, there was always a deeper underlying reason that I never though I'd be brave enough to share with you all. Yet, here I am, spilling the beans.

Last year, my life was a complete mess. I had no idea what I was doing with my life and I felt so scared about what was ahead. I'd look at the upcoming months and I'd feel a huge pain in my stomach. I wasn't ready to grow up. That was it, really. I was going to join the other adults of the world, giving up on what I really wanted and, most importantly, who I wanted to be.

There I said it, there was such a big difference between who I was and who I always aspired to be. There were times where I looked inside the mirror and just couldn't see 'myself'. I'm not speaking about physical appearance, obviously. I was sick and tired of being the passive person I had become. I could no longer see that ambitious overachiever who taught herself algebra at 8 years old because she wanted to be like those bright older kids who threw in letters in their maths problems.

'Boffism', or the person behind it, was always who I really aspired to be. Last year, 'Lara' and 'Boffism' were two completely different persons. Lara was the insecure, fearful young girl who kept longing to become something more. Boffism was the fearless, confident young woman ready to take on every challenge because that's what a badass does. The night I pressed 'publish' on my first post, I committed myself to become that person, even if only for a few minutes per day. That sinking, horrible feeling needed to leave.

A year has passed and if I have to be honest, that distinction between 'Lara' and 'Boffism' hardly exists anymore. I spend more time on my Boffism FB Fan Page rather than my personal page because that's who I am now. For me, this year long journey hasn't only been about the events, the glamour, the photos, the press, but it has been mostly a phase of self-discovery, a way of restoring that typical boldness and confidence people always saw in me.

When I started out, I wasn't sure whether all of this would work, how people would react to this whole blogging thing and whether it would eventually going to lead me somewhere. It did. I've had the marvelous luck of meeting some of the best local fashion talents, I've worked with international press and I've met so many of you lovely readers that email me and interact with me daily!

I'm the type of person who believes that dreams are to be left in drawers. Even socks get bored there. I just needed that push. I needed to stop keeping myself from achieving what I wanted - because alas, many times we may blame it on the world but we block ourselves sometimes - and I had to come out of that vicious circle of self-pity and demotivation that I so loathed. 

So THANK YOU for every little comment, every view, every suggestion and even, why not, for your constructive criticism. I owe all I am to you all, and words fail to describe how grateful I am. This is what kept me coming back, all of you and the way I could be myself on this little corner of the internet.

Give yourself a chance. Choose a dream that would overwhelm you if you achieve it and work hard for it. Nothing is impossible. All good things come to an end, but so do the bad ones. Chin up and wear your best shoes, and stop wasting time thinking 'I can't' or 'I shouldn't'. You believe it, you achieve it. Simple.

-B

Street Inspiration: 26th April 2012

Three Little Bands

Dear Readers,

Do I really need to tell you that I’m finding every possible excuse to inject some pastel bonanza in my outfits? After telling you about my love for pastel nail varnishes, and mentioning pastel in almost every other post, here I am showing you a pack of 3 pastel headbands I bought from New Look last week.

Ever since I got my fringe cut, I embarked on a mission called ‘update hair accessories because your hair is different and that’s a perfect excuse to shop’. These pastel headbands immediately caught my eye and as soon as I looked at the price tag, I was sold. I mean, 2.50 euro for three headbands is exceptionally good! Don’t you agree?

If pastels are not your thing, you might prefer the neon-themed one or the basic monochrome set instead. They all retail for the same price.

My favourite one? Nope, not mint this time. It’s the pale yellow band. I adore that colour! 

-B

What's in my bag?

Le Wedged Brogues

As much as I take pride in keeping my promises, there are always times when no matter how hard I try, I always end up violating my own pledges. Whenever New Look goes on sale – mid season sale is on at the moment! – I always accidentally forget I promised myself that ‘no more shoes can enter the house’.

Confessions aside, I’m a total New Look shoes junkie. I can’t resist their shoes when the sale is on, especially if I had been eyeing that particular number for weeks. Case in point, these wedged brogues. I first spotted these babies in February – please don’t ask me to explain why I remember so vividly – but to my misery, there were only two sizes. Neither of which would fit me, I thought. ‘I’m a 39 and those are a 40 and a 42’, I sadly admitted.

However, when I noticed the sales tag attached to these wedged brogues, I decided to give them a try anyway. Thankfully I did. The 40 wasn’t that big after all, maybe I won’t even need to add insoles!

The shoes look heavy but don’t let appearances deceive you! I’m truly impressed at how light they are in reality. So easy to walk in! Instant love!

I finally feel like my family of brown shoes is complete: 3 pairs of brown brogues, brown loafers, brown heeled loafers (aka my infamous granny shoes) and brown wedged brogues. Life is good. Oh yeah.

 

Plenty of pleats, pretty please.

Dear Readers,

A plate of pleats, pretty please! I'm so glad one of you asked me to give my take on pleats, or rather, pleated skirts in particular. They're pretty much a staple this year: Prada, Burberry and a handful of other fashion gods sent them on the runway, so whether we like it or not they're everywhere on the high street!

Personally, my biggest issue with pleated skirts is that they're not always flattering, so if you're willing to hunt down a pleated skirt be warned, it's not easy! The key to rocking the skirt - once you manage to find one, that is - is to keep the upper half fitted and relatively plain.

Accordion pleats are the sort of pleats with the smallest folds. They are, unfortunately, the most unflattering and the most difficult to pull off. Why? They make curvier girls look bigger than they are (even though all kinds of pleats seem to have that effect!). There are dozens of short pleated skirt on the high street and pleated midi skirts are all the rage this year. However, I suggest going for a longer length skirt, a maxi obviously, to play it safe. Not to mention that it looks way prettier when it sweeps the floor!

Keep in mind that the shorter you go, the higher the risk of an 'unflattering combination'. If you really want to get a short pleated skirt, but you aren't the skinniest of them all, try on a couple of sizes until you find the perfect one. The pleats on your skirt shouldn't open on any part of your body. Forget your waist for now, you can always cinch that in later. It's the pleats that matter. So if you need to go a couple of sizes up to make sure your pleats stay in place, do it.

Needless to say, stay away from printed or overly busy pleated skirts if you want to minimize your body's lower half. Let's be honest, pleats are already pretty busy on their own. Right? Another must do to distract attention from the extra pounds surrounding your lower body: heels and wedges! Elongate your legs and forget about looking stout. Avoid ankle straps or ankle boots, they shorten legs!

If you happen to have my app installed on your browser or your smartphone, I'll post my favourite pleated numbers on the 'spotted' section tomorrow.

It's Saturday, party time!

-B

Dior Eyeshadow Palette in Grege (734)

Dear Readers,

You probably all know by now that I'm not much of an eyeshadow person. I tend to keep it pretty simple because I usually like to play more with my cheek, liner and lip products. Nevertheless, I'm always wearing some sort of neutral colour on my lids and crease. As far as eyeshadow is concerned, I like to look for neutral colour products that strike the perfect balance between 'visible' and 'barely there'.

As of late, I've been reaching for the Dior Eyeshadow Palette in Grege (734) every single day. Dior released a set of 5 new palettes for their SS2012 collection, all inspired by the iconic 1947 Dior New Look. Out of all the new palettes, which you can easily google for reference, 'Grege' is by far the most wearable one. This 5 shadow palette, with a gorgeous selection of taupes, browns and a lovely highlight colour, is the eyeshadow palette you should invest in if your make-up likings match mine.

I've had this palette for a couple of months now, and after using it religiously, I can totally vouch for its pigmentation! Oh goodness, I swear I hadn't used eyeshadows like these in such a long while! Whereas they seem to be equally divided on the 'satin' and 'shimmery' finishes, they're all very smooth, easily manageable and do not create any fall out. The latter is really important to me.

If I could use just one word to describe the colours in this palette, I would definitely go for 'pretty'. I know I use the word 'pretty' way too much, but these colours honestly have that special thing that makes eyes look all fluttery and nicely made up. Given that pastels, creams and lace are so in this season, this neutral toned palette is the perfect eyeshadow option to complement these yummy trends.

Dior describe 'Grege' as an eyeshadow palette that's like a bath in light. They really couldn't have described it better. This palette will lighten your eye area in a way nothing else has done before, especially if you also have light eyes like myself.

I personally like using the centre taupe colour on my crease for a light accent to my everyday make up, or else I replace that with one of the browns for a more sultry but muted do. The white shade is a perfect highlight colour for the brow bone and the inner eye area. The silver colour is just stunning on the lower lash portion of your eye. As you can easily tell, all colours complement each other perfectly.

One big thank you to Keith and Roberta from Tea & Rain who gave me this palette on my birthday back in February. You couldn't have made a better choice!

-B

Street Inspiration: 18th April 2012

Dear Readers,

Here are a few street inspiration shots that caught my eye recently. As you can see, they're pretty different, so hopefully something tickles your fancy!

-B

Spring Essentials?

Dear Readers,

Back when I was planning my first Q&A video, which you can find on my YouTube channel of course, I received so many questions about Spring essentials, especially with regard to accessories and make up. So, I figured that it's high time to show you what my basics are this year. I think I speak very often about the clothing I'm reaching for, so these are not included in this post, Repetition is not always pleasant, you know.

Just a short disclaimer. These are my essentials. I don't like to force what I think on anyone because I tend to dislike anyone who dares to do so. So please keep that in mind. Also, some of these pieces are basics for me every single year, and others are taking the limelight this year (because I'm pretending I'm in a Sophia Coppola movie this Spring).

1. Pastel Nail Polish

I bet you're no strangers to my pastel obsession this year. Hi, my name is Lara Boffa and I'm a Pastelaholic. I've always loved these powdery colours, but this year I'm taking it to a whole new level. Oh well! Loving pastel shades on my nails this year and these pictured in the photo below are among my current favourites. Pastel nails don't only match pastel clothing, but they also look incredibly well with lace, especially the cream kind.

2. Peach / Orange Lipstick

I've professed my love for orangey and peachy lipsticks endless times before. Really, so often I can't even remember a specific post at the moment. Anyway, since my freckles make a huge comeback in the warmer months, and my skin looks more alive in general, the perfect shade for me is something that matches my skintone and my hair: orange. Many - redheads, I'm speaking to you! - shy away from this colour because they feel it's a tad too much. Granted, it might be slightly overpowering on some of you, but I'd still give it a try!

3. Pearls

I love pearls every season, but hey, they fit in so nicely with my pastel obsession this year! There are so many pearl accessories out in the shops at the moment, and you can always ask your lady family members for some vintage pieces! These are a few of my favourite pearl earrings, a mixture of vintage and high-street! Can you see how different they look even though they're all pearl-based?

4. Floral Clutch

Or even better, a floral satchel! I've seen a couple of really pretty ones and I'm probably going to end up buying one myself. In the meantime, I'm enjoying this floral clutch I received as a gift two Christmasses ago if I'm not mistaken. Again, florals match most of this year's trends and they're pretty much a staple every year.

5. Straw Boater Hat

I basically spend my Winters dressing up like a man and then i make up for it during Spring and Summer by adding anything feminine in sight. I adore straw boater hats, especially this one with the lace band. As I always say, hats make so much difference to an outfit, sometimes making on breaking it. Straw boater hats are the perfect little added detail to a Spring dress!

For the sake restricting my essentials to five, I decided to eliminate a sixth one which I'm totally head over heels with this year. It's bows. Stay tuned though, it's in the pipeline next week!

-B

Haul: Vintage, New Look, Peacocks

Recent Buys: New Look, Peacocks, Vintage

Dear Readers,

Here's a little preview of what's going to be featured in my next haul video on my YouTube channel. I haven't been shopping much - a good sign! I'm trying to save up! - but I'm really happy with what I've added to my wardrobe recently. My favourite buy: it's a tie between the vertically striped jeans from New Look and the vertically striped shirt I found on eBay. Can you sense a leitmotif? 

-B

NOTW: Glamorous Life

Dear Readers,

I changed my nail varnish yet again. After randomly looking through my nail polish collection in the afternoon,  I spotted a colour I've never worn before. It instantaneously made me forget how much I liked the colour I had on at the moment. A swipe of nail varnish remover later, I was painting my nails with one of Essence's new shades: the gorgeous 'Glamorous Life' (91).

The name truly does the colour justice. Do you remember  that crayon that was somewhere in between red and dark pink? This is exactly what it looks like in nailpolish version. In addition, for some added glamour, this shade comes with pink glitter. Ohh, sparkle!

Two coats were more than enough, and I have to admit that impressed me. Usually these sparkly varnishes require quite a few coats unless you apply a monocolour base coat. I recommend this colour in particular. Very wearable, highly pigmented and ideal for those who haven't jumped on the pastel nails bandwagon.