Today is National Poetry day and to celebrate I’d love to share my favourite poem of all time with you, it’s called Phenomenal Woman and it’s by poet, author, activist, producer, actor, director and inspir-o girl, Maya Angelou. I have this poem hanging in the boudoir of the Pink Palace – buy yours here – so that it’s the first thing I read every morning and the last thing I read at night – I love it, hope you do too…

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Care to share your favourite poems, Minxes?

This week I celebrated three years of being single – and fabulous in a red silk dress, no less – in Pacha, Ibiza to the sounds of Basement Jaxx DJ-ing. Now I have no trouble being single, I confess that I very much enjoy it, but people often ask me ‘why?’, ‘how’ and ‘what are you doing wrong?’ every time a seeing-someone/ fling doesn’t turn into a relationship.

Now, I already know that it is sod all yet everything to do with me. I’m not hung-up on finding ‘the one’ yet I’m the biggest secret romantic you’re likely to find – I’m still incredibly distraught about Katie and Peter.

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I take props from the gorgeously glam girls of yester-year on a daily basis – Marilyn, Elizabeth, Joan, Audrey, Jayne – they’re my inspir-o-girls, because damn it, those girls knew what being sassy was really about, and if you don’t believe me, just ask international authority on fashion history, Caroline Cox author of the beyond bee-you-tiful book How to Be Adored: A Girl’s Guide to Hollywood Glamour.

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I love fashion, but as a girl who works voluptuous curves, London Fashion Week sometimes bores me.
There, I said it.
Stick-thin model after stick-thin model take to the catwalks and while I can appreciate the awesome creativity of the designers, I’m never inspired to want to work an outfit worn by a size zero* model.

Enter: Mark Fast.

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Unless you’ve been under a rock since April, I’m guessing you’ve heard the buzz about the new No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Beauty Serum, right? It’s magic in a bottle. No really, it is.

I love, love, love trying new prodz and as No7 Protect and Perfect Intense is hailed as the gold standard in skincare, I thought it would be rude and wrong not to treat my face to such an anti-ageing treat. Brimming with skin-loving good stuff, it’s got a rich texture and a super-silky feel – so far so fabulous…

Now, I pride myself on my Dita/Kelly O pale skin and avoid the sun at all times, but despite my avid wrinkle avoidance, I laugh A LOT and laughing rudely can cause fine lines, this prod has an intensive wrinkle-fighting action and d’ya know what? It only blimmin’ works. Fo’ real. I saw an improvement almost instantly – this serum brightens and re-energises skin and I got three compliments the very first day I applied it, and as a compliment collector, anything that encourages the flow of compliments my way, gets a big thumbs up from me!

£19.75 30ml – www.boots.com

Lipgloss is for girls, Lipstick is for women.

And with the days getting chillier, it won’t be long until winter is here, and the Sassy Minxes will be bringing out the reds. I often get asked, what’s the best red lipstick?Nnot because of my make-up skills, but because I’m an avid fan of matte colour block’s that make me feel all movie star glam.

And I’m not the only one; from Egyptian Goddesses to Japanese Geishas, it’s a universal symbol of beauty that has adorned the pouts of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Bette Lynch. Cultural history aside, red lipstick is high on the agenda for Autumn/Winter 09 fashion trends, with models on the catwalks of Lanvin, Giorgio Armani and Alexander McQueen donning lips the colour of London buses.

I like coral based reds for when I’m wearing monochrome – I  channel Chanel, vampy crimsons for when I am in a darker mood and brick- red based shades to match my hourglass cocktail dresses. The standard rule is to match the red to your skin tone, cool bluey reds are for paler ladies, and warmer based rouges for olivey skins. The best advice for this year is by Terry Barber at MAC who says: ‘A blue shade of red is more formal and grown up, whereas an orange red is a little bit more undone  -  and provides a good match for tousled and unkempt hair.’ This advice embraces the rebellious attitude of a red lipstick – the kisses left like passionate marks of warpaint on lovers and champagne glasses, and words of lust, love and anger scrawled across mirrors.

Delicious and show-stopping, Nars Heat Wave, a warm bricy red,  makes an entrance at 17.00
www.narscosmetics.co.uk

Lady Danger for vampy days-it does what it says on the tin, 12.00
www.maccosmetics.co.uk

Experiment with colour at Barry M-Pillar Box red rocks and its only 3.95!
www.barrym.com

Ms Lisa’s favourite red is boudoir by bnevertoobusytobebeautiful – an amazing bluey red that brings out her big brown eyes and it’s 100% vegan too! £9.80 www.bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.co.uk

For a rosy glow, Benetint is a firm favourite with most of our glamourous gal-pals and for 22.50, it’s not only for your lips, but your cheeks too!
www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

And now somewhere to stash all of them…..Miss L and I are in LOVE with this purse! If you didn’t read our Sassy List with the gorgeous lady behind the label, you can read it here.

www.bedcrumb.co.uk £18.50

So, girls, whats your mean red – care to share?

I am doing star-jumps of joy (in my undies, natch) as I scored a li’l face time with the queen of faux vintage lingerie and hoisery, Miss Katie Halford, the tres fabu lady behind What Katie Did.

Not only is the prettilicious What Katie Did collection available online, www.whatkatiedid.com, it can be purchased at their flagship boutique in the heart of London’s Portobello Road – damn, it’s a pretty shop! It’s like a really old fashioned corsetorium where you’ll be fitted correctly and advised by knowledgeable staff – if, like us, you’re totes retro-hearted and love, love, love pretty lingerie go visit – tell ‘em Sassy Minx sent you!

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Hola!

So, Ms L and I have taken a little time out to get inspired and drop some fun times, so I thought that it’s only fair to pass the feel-good feeling on, let you know what we’ve been doing (and buying, because c’mon, no one needs a break from shopping, right?!)

The bank holiday weekend was spent retro-stylee. We lunched at a BBQ and then went to the travelling fair with some tins of Strongbow – I know, I know, but I did pretty much co-ordinated my outfit to the can, that’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it? – and sang and danced to Lady Gaga’s new tune. Love her, or hate her we just can’t resist wanting to take a ride on her “Disco Stick”.

Our new thing du jour, is to only snog on dates as opposed to offering a full menu of service. We don ‘t know if its to do with the recession, but later on in the pub, we were speaking to lots of girls and boys who said they too are relishing a good pash-up over a drunken smash-up. It seems fitting then, that last week I was sent a gift of Urban Retreat’s Lip Service. An exfoliator, base to keep colour in, primer to moisturise and gloss to make your lips zing and I feel like I got some of the best bee-stung, kissable lips in town.

£19.50 www.beautique.com

To chill, I read the hilarious “Its Not Me, Its You” by Charlotte Ward. Punchy, straight-to the point and plenty of moments we can all relate to, although there are also a LOT of moments that made me realise my break-ups have been a walk-in-the-park in comparison – I just couldnt put it down. Break up stories don’t usually appeal to me, but hey, we’ve all been there with the Kleenex and the ice cream tub, haven’t we? Whether you’ve been scorned or not, this is a must-read.

£5.99 www.amazon.co.uk

Im off to the white isle of Ibiza next week, so I treated myself to a treat in the form of a screenstar-esque bikini from Pistol Panties. Its not often I get to feel like Brigitte Bardot in St Tropez, but this well cut bikini not only covers my derriere the way it should, its so very, very pretty that I could forgive the price tag.

www.pistolpanties.com

Finally, what with the amazing bank holiday weekend I’ve had, and the fantastic things I’ve been doing and looking forward to, this ring seems to sum it all up – I know I’ll be glancing down at it and twirling it round my finger when I’m feeling glum at work. ‘Think Of Wonderful Thoughts’ by Disney Couture. Walt might have misled us with his fairytale endings, but it’s the moments of joy, that spring from thoughts that make a girl feel the real magic.
£25.00 www.asos.com

So, a li’l while back I intro’d you to the awesome Zine queen, Eleanor Jane – remember?

Well, Girl Photographer 4, the brand-new issue of her full colour, quarter sized and 24 pages long zine is now available – woop, woop!

It’s a teeny-tiny bit smaller than usual since Miss EJ made it as part of a 24 hour zine challenge. Girl Photographer 4 features a story about  being an extremely un-corporate person attempting the early morning London commute into the heart  of Canary Wharf, reasons why she likes living alone, a pretty in depth interview she recently gave about my photography and zines, extracts from her ‘Soul Catch Fire’ project, a recipe, useless Japanese phrases she’s learnt and lovely bright happy pictures taken over the past few months – awesome sauce!

If all that wasn’t sassy enough, if you head over to www.eleanorjane.co.uk and head for the TREATS section, you’ll be able to enter a prize draw to win a copy Girl Photographer 4, but be speedy as come Sunday, POOF! It will be gone!

Ohhh, come look at this Alice-inspired item o’ prettiness – isn’t it just boot-iful?!

It is one of the many, many pretty creations you will find at Hoolala, home to the prettiest pretty things in prettyville, that’s an actual Sassy Minx fact. I’m a li’l bit in love with…well, just about every item Miss Sam has to offer – le sigh.

Meet Miss Sam, Hoolala’s creator-girl, she’s awesome. Again, a Sassy Minx fact.

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