Cherry Bomb & Chemistry

I adore this cherry-coloured dress sent to me by Koogal. After Kailey from Mermaiden's post in a similar dress, I couldn't imagine dressing up as anything other than a mermaid, especially with the fish-scale fabric and sneaky cutouts featured in this dress! I went for mermaid hair and, completing the mermaid ensemble, this "I'm Really A Mermaid" necklace. This new Milanoo wig is awesome. I think it is definitely going to become my new favourite. A sign of a good wig is when people you haven't seen in years come up to you and say "Wow. I love your hair - it's so different now!" I had a few warnings about Milanoo's lolita dresses after posting about a bag from the site, so I chose to review a wig instead (can't say no to free stuff, right?). Anyway, from what I can tell from this admittedly small sample size, their wigs are great - they remind me of Japan's "Bodyline" wigs because the quality is just as good. I also got this lolita-style headband to go with the wig, and I think it was a really good choice - it's not over-the-top but it gives the outfit hints of lolita elements (I wish I were brave/dedicated enough to dress in a full lolita get-up. One day!) dress - c/o Koogal wig - c/o Milanoo headband - c/o Milanoo tights - Claire's (Japan) necklace - c/o I Love Crafty Something reaaaaally exciting happened in science the other day! You know how chemists draw images like this: Which are meant to represent the chemical bonds between carbon and other atoms? (If you didn't know that, well, now you do.) Well, those structures were only ever conceptual representations of the chemical bonding  occurring in a reaction - up until now, scientists could only infer the structure of these molecules through spectroscopic analysis, which looks like this: But the other day, scientists at the University of California, using an "atomic force microscope", have managed to take pictures like this: What was so exciting about this? The images taken actually look like those stick-structures! Basically, what you would have learnt in highschool science - that atoms and small molecules are too small to ever see - is now wrong. And I love that the stick-structures actually look like that, even though the stick-structure drawings were, at first, just a theoretical representations of molecules. Yay science! Read more here. p.s. if you are looking for lolita dresses, I suggest trying Bodyline :) Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Undercover Superhero & The Science of Spiderman

Well hello there! I'm back from my moving adventures (somewhat, although I will still be a little bit absent for the next few days as I finish moving everything and settle in).  I just wanted to say a massive thank you to my guest posters, for helping me out while I was going to be away from here for a while. There are still 2 more fabulous guest posts to come, one on making your own map-print bag and another on buying and styling cat-eye glasses! I have already found a new spot to take photos at my new place though,  and I managed thus far not to break my camera or tripod in the move, so expect some more outfit posts from me sometime next week :) Anyhoo, this particular outfit is a super-hero inspired number, matching my DIY shirt (from the other day) with this amazingly cool new skirt courtesy of Koogal. (p.s., Koogal are also having a $250 giftcard giveaway, which you can enter here.) shirt - DIY skirt - c/o Koogal socks - c/o Sock Dreams shoes - Chicory I felt like this video was very apt for today's post: The 'science' of spiderman (and other superheroes). Enjoy! Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Lace & Hearts / Mind Reading & Barnum

As promised yesterday, here is my new Choies wig and Yes Walker flats together in an outfit! It is super dooper hot weather today (Australia doesn't seem to understand that it is autumn yet), but I really wanted to wear these tights, so I paired it all with this simple, summery lace dress from Koogal. dress - c/o Koogal tights - c/o My Tights shoes - c/o Yes Walker necklace - c/o Oasap wig - c/o Choies Okay, guys. For something different today, I'm going to tell you, yes you, reading right now, some things about yourself. Before you read below, just read this list of qualities, and take tick each one off if it applies to you. And then ask yourself - does Annika know me? Has she read my mind?? (Didn't you guys know that I can read minds now?) So, here goes - Most of the time you are positive and cheerful, but there is a time in the past where you were very upset. At times you feel very sure of yourself, whereas other times you are not as confident. You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. At times you have serious doubts whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing, but generally you have had a positive influence on the people in your life. You have just experienced what is known in psychology as "The Barnum Effect". Popular with astrology sections in magazines and psychics, the Barnum effect shows how easily we can be manipulated into believing that the vaguest statements are actually meaningful insights into our own lives. Think about the above sentences. Did they apply to you? They probably also applied to most of the people reading this post. Okay, so it's likely you thought this test in particular was silly, because it's obvious that I, Annika, am not going to know all about you and your personality through some kind of psychic blogger powers. But this test, when given by some kind of authority figure (or by someone who claims to have 'mysterious powers') works extremely well. In fact, the original "Barnum test" was masked as a "personality test" (just like a self-test you might find in a trashy mag), in which psychology students in the 1940s had to answer some questions on their personality. They were then all given pieces of paper with "feedback", and asked to rate how well it applied to themselves. Most gave it a rating of 4 to 5 out of 5 for accuracy. Only afterwards was it disclosed that all the "feedback" given was entirely identical to everyone elses. (original image source) Our brains are interesting things, and it's good to know how your own one can be fooled ;) I hope you're all super well, Bloglovin' | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Oh my heart beats in it's cage / Inattentional Blindness

I HAVE SUCH EXCITING NEWS! I'm doing some pretty goofy expressions in these photos, which you'll have to excuse me for - I couldn't stop smiling really ludicrously/crying from happiness, as I'd just found out that I have been asked to be a part of my university's 'talented student program', WHICH MEANS that I might get to do special research projects and maybe even present them to a bunch of proper scientists at proper science conferences, and basically, BE A REAL-LIFE, PROPER SCIENTIST, getting to throw myself into some research instead of just studying what's already been discovered! I am a billion times over the moon about this and just had to share it with you all :D As for my outfit today: I looove this Koogal sweater! I've been wearing it every single day since I got it in the mail. It goes so well with circle skirts and denim shorts. For this outfit though, I paired it with some cute red gumboots, a red skirt and a red backpack so I kind of have a colour-themed thing going on here. I've also got a giveaway running from Koogal at the moment which you can enter (if you haven't already) here! sweater - c/o Koogal skirt - Wholesale socks - c/o Sock Dreams boots - Ebay backpack - Asos I received some feedback on my explanation of the Ames room in my mini-magazine that I posted yesterday, with a reader expressing surprise that human perceptions can be tricked so easily! I'm really interested in the study of human perception, because when you get into it, a large amount of what we perceive (of what we think of as reality) is just totally made up by our brains. Here's one of my favourite demonstrations of how little attention we pay to reality: Inattentional Blindness. This video is from Derren Brown, who demonstrated the phenomenon with his "person swap". Basically, he asks for directions from passerbys, then swaps around with a totally different person during a slight distraction - and gauges whether the passerby notices the change. Many people don't. I particularly love at 2:20 when he swaps with a female, and the woman he was talking to doesn't appear to notice in the slightest. Yeah. Human beings are pretty bad judges of reality.

A $100 Giveaway with Koogal // CLOSED

So! I have an exciting giveaway today (to repay you for being so super dooper ridiculously nice and helpful with my new hair, and also because I pretty much love you all for being the most supportive, lovely bunch of people ever. Sorry - I just needed to get all that gushing done!) where you can win $100 to spend on whatever you like at Koogal. Koogal are an Australian-based brand who I started working with at the end of last year. They are stocked-full of very pretty, fun and colourful clothing. I particularly love their patterned, full-skirt dresses, like the Baroque-print one I am wearing in the above photo (which you can find here)! To win this $100, you need to follow the rules in the rafflecopter giveaway below (give it a second to load if you can't see it just yet). Competition is open internationally, until Wednesday the 20th of March.  And if you don't think random chance is particularly on your side (statistically, you would be correct), then you can get 10% off anything from Koogal by using the code ANNIKAVICTORIA. Gooooood luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Plaid & Lace / Running in the Rain

I needed to wear a blazer and some tights the afternoon I took these photos - the weather here is so odd that I have no idea whether it'll be a hot or a cold Christmas! So I've actually had to think up a few Christmas outfits to suit any weather. I'm celebrating Christmas at the beach this year - I'm a very lucky lady whose boyfriend's family owns a holiday house at the beach! I would really love to take some photos on the beach itself, and I'll try and do that for you guys if the weather permits! And just to plug my store here for a second, you can clip these little sunflower clips basically anywhere to brighten up an outfit, like on my pockets here! Just sayin' ;) Thank you so much to the people who have bought stuff from my new store so far :) I'm planning on opening an etsy store too in the next few days, and I'm also in the process of creating a whole bunch of new things to put in it! wearing dress - c/o Koogal sunflower clips - the Little Pineneedle blazer - c/o Sheinside wig - c/o Choies bag - Ebay tights - ? shoes - Rubi Shoes I've been travelling all day and don't currently have the necessary cognitive faculties available to me to type out an interesting science lesson (i.e., I'm very tired). So as there was a massive spontaneous downpour this afternoon that I was half-caught in, here's a great video from MinutePhysics who answer whether you'll get wetter if you walk or run in the rain - using science. Love, p.s. I'm probably going to regret this, but feel free to formspring me - particularly with any science topics/questions you'd like me to cover on my blog, or anything else you want to ask me!

A little bit of Christmas creepin' in / How big is space?

I love finding a good swooshy dress. You may have noticed I got a little bit carried away swooshing around in this one in those last photos... haha. This is my first Christmas inspired outfit. I forced myself to try and wear some green, because I always have trouble styling green and often avoid it - but being Christmas, I figured it'd be a good time to start trying (especially with this amazing red and green satchel backpack)! This awesome lace dress from Koogal, however, had the perfect shape for pairing with my favourite green vintage blazer, so I was able to put together my first Christmassy outfit of the year! wearing dress - c/o Koogal blazer - Vintage tights - Vintage shoes - Label shoes c/o Chictopia shop necklace - c/o Oasap bag- c/o Oasap OH! And I also want to say thank you for the super nice responses to the video I posted the other day! I totally forgot that I would have an accent to most of you, then started stressing out that I sounded horribly Australian, like this: "maaaayyyte c'mon and throw some shrimp on the baaaaarbie mayte! Fair dinkummmm, maaate." Haha, but apparently I actually sound NOT like that. So, basically, thanks for saying I sounded nice :) Any suggestions for future vlogs are welcome! I also found this really cool  page today, created by the Information is Beautiful Studio, and I wanted to share it. If you're stressing out about Christmas please stop for a moment - and try and think about how big the universe is instead. So it's called "How big is Space", but ends up finishing on the edge of our own solar system (and you're glad when it does! Every time it changed scale my sense of self shrunk about 100 times). I had no idea our own solar system was this big, and I blame text book images like this that make the scale of our solar system seem pretty small in relation to the Earth. Well, it isn't. Have your mind blown. Click here. And I hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday.

Golden Foliage

Isn't this dress amazing? From the baroque print to the heart shaped cut out on the back and the circle skirt, it's a combination of a bunch of awesome on-trend elements and it really works. wearing dress - c/o Koogal cardigan - c/o Sheinside sock cuffs - DIY shoes - Oasap belt - Vintage hat - c/o Wholesale I'm not feeling so well today and my brain is rather sluggish, so I may save an awesome science fact til tomorrow. Hopefully today you can just enjoy the outfit photos :) Much love,