The minor fall, and the major lift.

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it's cohen - uk style blog: brownstock music festival 2013, american apparel sunflower shorts
Baseball tee: free, American Apparel. Sunflower shorts: £54, American Apparel (similar here). Boots: £27, Topshop (old). Bag: vintage, from Claire's giveaway. Necklace: vintage. Sunglasses: 25p, charity shop.

Although most of you will have scraped the mud off your wellies and stored them away for next summer by now, my favourite festival has only just come around. For the past four years, I've been to Brownstock with my friends, and this year was on a par with its predecessors. There may have been a much smaller contingent of our posse to sprawl across the campsite with, but we had two ukeleles, a guitar, and enough cider to make it one of the best festivals so far, and that's saying something after travelling to the Isle of Wight Festival in June! A fair bit bigger than in previous years, we found that there was a lot more to do, and although we did spend a large proportion of our time sat around in our tents, we made sure we explored everything from the Good Shed to mussel beach.

Thankfully we were blessed with glorious sunshine, so I took that as my excuse to bring out the sunflower shorts again, and paired them with a plain tee and a bag big enough to fit my camera in (I finally got a new lens, so now it's not as big as the camera itself!). Add some ridiculous sunglasses, and a few old wristbands (no, I haven't kept them on for four years as I'm not fourteen), and you're ready to stay up till 2am with Mark Ronson, and then get to know your fellow campers into the small hours.

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When I get home.


You may have noticed, but this isn't an outfit post. Actually, what I'm wearing right now is a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a ponytail that probably has some leaves in it, so I think I'm going to save myself some BB cream and not document this one. The reason for the casual attire is that I'm (finally!) moving house after living here for over ten years, and I've just helped my mum to take down the swings in the garden. The past week has been a series of finding the ends of brown tape (the trick is to trace your nail round the roll, who says blogging isn't educational?), and going back and forth to one of the Havens Hospices charity shops with a fair amount of the clothes I've been lucky enough to receive from blogging. I know that It's Cohen is a place for me to share my sartorial disasters, but it is also a personal space, and this is a pretty big thing for my family. We'll be moving from this pretty thing to somewhere more normal, as this is the last thing tying my parents together (trust me, this is a lot more pretentious than we are, and doesn't reflect my family at all). I managed to escape last week to attend the boohoo wrapup party near St Paul's, and had some of the best cocktails I've had for a long time, not to mention a chance to meet Natasha, Shore, Shope, Alex and Lucy, which was an evening off I definitely needed! Post-move tomorrow, I'm off to my friend Amy's 21st birthday celebrations, and then it's time for Brownstock! I'll try my hardest to keep blogging throughout the transitional period, but here's my longwinded excuse for being rubbish at replying to tweets and emails, and a prayer for a good wifi connection in the new place.
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Shake it, break it, make it bounce.

my beauty essentials
Liquid eyeliner: £6.79, Bourjois Liner Clubbing. Concealer: c/o Benefit Fake Up. Lipstick: £14, MAC Ravishing. Eyebrow kit: £23, Benefit Brow-Zings, via Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar. Mascara: Soap and Glory Thick & Fast, free with Elle. Exfoliator: Boots Botanics Microdermabrasion Polish. BB Cream: £23, MAC Prep + Prime. Blusher: mum's Avon one from years ago. Cleanser: £15, Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. Lip scrub: £5, Lush Bubblegum. Micellar cleansing water: c/o B01. Pore-reducer thing: free!, Benefit Pore-fessional. Lip balm: Vaseline. Shampoo and Conditioner: won in Duke of York Square's twitter competition, Liz Earle Botanical shine shampoo and conditioner. Base coat: Essei Rock Solid. Top coat: Essie good to go. Eye drops: £3.79, Optrex. Moroccan argan oil: £5, Organix. Final Shine spray and Straight and Smooth spray: c/o ghd. Day cream: Boots Botanics.

If I think I don't use that many products, then I don't understand how beauty bloggers can fit half their stuff in the bathroom! I tried (a long time ago) to do a review of liquid eyeliner, and I haven't been back since as I really don't think I know enough to give a reliable opinion. Although I love a bit o' cleanser (liz earle, I love you), I know what I like, and I stick to it, and the above photo is documentation of what I use on a daily (ish) basis. Whether it's something pretty like lipstick, or something basic like eye drops (no matter how good your lenses are, mine are from Optical Express, I think, never underestimate how much screens can frazzle your eyes), it's rare for new products to make it into my make up bag, and I rely on the few beauty blogs I do read, such as Kate's, to help me whenever I do decide it's about time to shake it up a bit. A while ago I got an email from Fran at Best British Bloggers who asked if I'd be interested in receiving a few hair styling products, and I thought I'd accept the challenge of creating a simple up do, if only to do more to my hair than wake up and flatten it with my hands. So, ladies (and gents, maybe), grab yourself a cuppa and a hairbrush, as I present to you the Iggy Azalea ponytail.

ghd straight and smooth review
one brush your hair. If you're anything like me, then this is Big Deal. Once that's out of the way, spray some heat defence spray in, and wait for it to dry.

quick easy hair
two straighten it. I personally work in layers from the nape of my neck till I reach the crown. Just make sure you get the bits that'll sit on the top of your head straight, so you don't have flyaways later.

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three 2:13.

how to create a perfect ponytail
four flip your head upside down and smooth your hair into a ponytail on the top of your head. Once upright, use a brush or comb, whatever's easiest, to make sure it isn't bumpy. Secure with a hairband.

autumn 2013 hair
five cover that bad boy in hairspray. Don't breathe, for health and safety reasons.

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six just add a touch of shine spray - it helps with the finer hairs that your hairspray didn't get.

iggy azalea hair how to
Ta-dah! This is possibly the simplest style you'll ever have to "create", and I've been doing it since I was about six and able to hold a hairbrush.
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Dressed in black he walks alone, a shadow in the night.

Columba cut out bodycon dress: c/o Lashes of London. Leather jacket: The Kooples. Leopard print boots: Topshop (old). Broken bag: Topshop (old). Collar necklace: Miss Selfridge. Nails: Red n Black, Models Own. Lipstick: Kate Moss 107, Rimmel.

Make the most of these photos, because you're not going to see body con or cut out again for a while. When I saw this badass Lashes of London dress on their site, my inner Essex knew it had to make its way to my wardrobe somehow, not quite realising what a big deal it'd be for me to wear it. Then along came Amy, and her more dressed-down approach gave me more ideas for how to style it. Out came the leopard print booties, leather jacket, and other Amy's (from sixth form/Liverpool) lipstick that I borrowed stole from her last night, and I felt slightly more "me". This is definitely an after-dark outfit - all the best ones are! - and although I don't think I'll be in a rush to wear bodycon in the day any time soon, I'm slowly being brought round to its virtues. I do like a good LBD (little black dress, for those of you who don't use hip 'n' cool acronyms), but in future I think I'll be sticking to skater styles - more room for dinner! I'm planning to wear this particular one to Selena's twenty-first this weekend, but it's a bit different to my "just going to the pub" (and then come home at 3am) white tee and skirt combination. They do say that life is like a box of chocolates after all, just maybe they're liqueur ones.
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I don't care how long this lasts, we have no future, we have no past.

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T-Shirt: Collective. Shorts: £54, American Apparel. Cheap Monday sunglasses: c/o Surfdome. Anna boots: £76.50, Topshop. Ring: £1.25, vintage. Nail varnish: Heart of Gold, Topshop.

When it comes to buying anything over a fiver, I have a routine. It starts with lust: often a short-lived sensation, which finishes when I see the next must-have; if I leave the shop still remembering it exists, we're onto a winner. Then it's time to go back and ask myself if I really need it. More often than not, I tell myself it's necessary to further my existence, and head straight to the changing rooms. After inspecting from every angle, it's time to ask the internet if it's a good idea (come on, we all have), and after you group of enablers have told me that I need it too, it's off to the tills to hand over my weeping visa. That's what happened when it came to these shorts, and I haven't quite got round to shopper's remorse (the next stage). Soon enough, I was whipping out these Surfdome Cheap Monday sunglasses and my favourite white tee, and dragging my mum over to Writtle sunflowers to take some photos in their natural habitat. And, you know, to get some sunflowers. They're quite nice.

Apart from spending time among my flowery pals this week, I travelled up to Kendal for a long weekend to visit Clarity, and Sita popped over for the day too, - a true university reunion! We spent one of the days in Windermere, wandering along some rather steep hills to Beatrix Potter's house to explore where she'd written Peter Rabbit and, my favourite, the Tailor of Gloucester. Of course it would be my "sensible shoes" which ended up giving me a blister, but it was lovely to spend a while somewhere new and eat a lot of olives!

I did spend the entirety of my Lake District adventures in jeans, but in the spirit of this post (and cancelled Saturday night plans) I scoured the internet for some of my favourite patterned shorts, let me know if you find any more good'uns.


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I've been treading water for your love.


Although Essex may now be known for Sugar Hut and vajazzles, I still associate it with the countryside. One of my favourite independent cafés The Lordship sits in the nearby village of Writtle, so when Jazmine came to visit we headed there for scones and a fair amount of tea, even if hot drinks don't seem to be quite weather appropriate. After we'd cleaned our plates, we headed down the road to the village green, only to be joined by rather a large flock of docks who were certainly big fans of the stale hovis one little girl was throwing haphazardly in their direction. We may not have had any food offerings with us, but we certainly tried to make friends, even if we may have interrupted the ducklings' afternoon nap!

As it was quite hot, I opted for my trusty Luella-style shorts that I bought from Topshop about five years ago, a fedora to deflect some of the rays, and my newest bag from House of Fraser's Biba collection. I've always known about Biba as my mum was a big fan of it when she was little (she describes it as like Topshop, but cooler as they only had one store so it was a big deal to save your money and get your clothes from it), so I think she may be stealing this from me whenever she gets the chance! I love the subtle embossing of the brand on the leather and the metal details. And it matches my watch, so four for you House of Fraser.

Speaking of the countryside, I'm heading to one a bit further north tomorrow, and am gracing Kendal for a few days. I've never been to the Lake District, so this is a first for me. I've been told to bring "sensible shoes", which could be interesting as I'm pretty sure I don't own any. Do let me know if you have any recommendations, although I know we're going to Beatrix Potter's house for sure.
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Hello, I'm Rebecca: social media exec, new-ish coffee drinker and loafer-wearer.
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