New Jewellery

I’ve picked up quite a bit of jewellery this week the Swallow and the Yellow Necklace are both from the Topshop sale and only cost £3.50 each! The Birdcage necklace is from Primark and cost £2.50. I love buying necklaces, they really add interest to an outfit. I’ve also ordered some of the gorgeous rings from LLYMLRS shop which I will post about next week.
What are you doing with your weekend? My sisters coming round tonight, we’re going to watch some scary movies eat pizza, and then tommorow we’re going to Nottingham to do some shopping!

Not A Make-Up Post

image from weheartit.com

I always read Karen over at MBB’s Monday Poll, so when I saw Fee had posted in on her blog I thought I’d get myself in on the act!
1. Mood: Tired, but looking forward to catching the next episode of The Walking Dead on FX in an hour!
2. If you could dine (for free) anywhere in the world tonight, where would it be? I would love some Dim Sum, nowhere in my town sells Dim Sum, so I only get to eat it when I visit London. I would love to go to one of the great Dim Sum restaurants in China Town. I could eat my weight in steamed Crab and Pork Dumplings!

3. Do you have any siblings?I have a younger sister, she’s 17.

4. If your pets could talk, what would they say about you? My dog, Tess, passed away not long ago, but she always used to look at me like she was trying to say something. I would sit and natter on to her for ages, and she always looked like she understood. I’ve been looking at adopting a dog, from a local shelter but I need to fix my new house up a bit first, I really miss having the companionship of a pet.

5. Which one do you follow most often, your heart or your head? I normally manage to rationalise my hearts way of thinking, and although I’ve second guessed my decisions, I don’t think I’d change anything.
6. What are three songs on your road trip playlist? David Bowie – Rebel Rebel, The White Stripes Icky Thump, Wretch 32 – Tracktor

7. Would you consider yourself renowned or famous for anything in particular?I like to think I’m quite good in the kitchen, but I love trying new recipes, so I’m not always making the same things. Although I can make a mean chicken curry from scratch.

8. Your favorite place for dessert?I went to a French Cafe/Restaurant while I was in London this summer, and I tried my first Crème Brule. I can’t wait to go back there, and have it again.

9. Scariest movie you’ve ever seen? The SAW films, I’ve seen the first two, and I refuse to watch any more. I really hate them!

10. Weekly goals: Have a relaxing weekend. I’m pretty stressed and the minute, but I’m hoping to challenge that with shopping, and copious amount of Peppermint Hot Chocolate.

NOTD: Models Red Red Wine

I have a bit of a confession, until I bought this polish yesterday, I didn’t own a really great red polish. Red Red Wine, is a lovely deep red and the polish is a jelly formula, so its really easy to apply with absolutely no drag. Like all the Models Own polishes I have tried it’s opaque in two coats.

Recipe Time: Scones

I bought Rachel Allen’s Bake! last week, and I’ve been dying to try out some of the recipes. I getting a little tired of Cupcakes, so I had a go at making some classic, plain scones. They’re really easy and cheap to make and are really great when they’re still warm with some (real!) butter and jam. The recipe says it makes 10-12, but I think I rolled them a little thin, so it made about 18.

500g Plain Flour

1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2tsp Cream of Tartar

1tsp Salt

125g Unsalted Butter( cold, cubed)

25g Caster Sugar

1 Egg, beaten

275ml Milk

1. Preheat the Oven to 220oC/Gas Mark 7

2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda,salt and cream of tartar into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter with the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well.

3. Set aside about a third of the beaten egg, and combine the rest with the milk, then add this to the flour moisture, and mix briefly.

4.Place onto a floured surface, and knead to bring the ingredients together, and roll out to about 2cm thickness.

5. Using a cutter, cut out the scones and place onto a floured baking tray. Add a drop of milk to the remainder of the egg, and brush onto the scones.

6.Bake for 10-12 minutes, eat!

For anyone who likes baking I really suggest you pick up Rachel Allen’s book, its full of great, cakes, bread and meal recipes.

MUA Immaculate Collection

Another release from MUA that I cannot wait for, their biggest palette yet, containing 24 shades all for the budget-friendly price of £8! It contains a mix of matte and shimmer shades, in neutrals, pastels and more smoky colours. For £8 I will definitely making a trip to Superdrug to pick this up! Expect a review and some looks once I’ve had a chance to try it out.
The Immaculate Collection will be released tomorrow (26th October) will you be picking it up?

Christmas at Superdrug

Superdrug have got some great gift sets out for Christmas, all the ones I have featured are in the 3 for 2 offer meaning there are some great deals to be had. New for 2012 are the Studio Look Books, a similar concept to the Frontcover sets, each of the nine books, contains products to create a look, that’s represented on the cover. I like the fact that each of the books ha the same model on the cover, it makes it easier to translate the looks. I was sent the Metallic Eyes (£6.99) and the Mascara Wardrobe (£7.99), both contain some really lovely products. The Metallic Eyes set has four baked eye shadows all of which have a lovely texture and a very pigmented for baked shadows. It also comes with a glitter eyeliner and a mascara, as an eyeliner, I’m not too keen on the glitter eyeliner, but it makes a nice sticky base for the eyeshadows. The mascara is nice, nothing ground-breaking but a nice everyday mascara.
The mascara set contains three mascaras, a brow gel and a set of lash curlers, the curling mascara is the highlight of the set, and the other mascaras are of the same vein as the one contained in the Metallic Eyes kit. The lash curlers make a nice back-up, but I don’t think they’ll be replacing my Shu’s.
I was also sent the Simply Treats (£4.99) set which features some products from Superdrug’s Simply Pure skincare range, all are Vegetarian and Vegan friendly and Paraben and Fragrance Free. The Simply Treats set contains, the Smoothing Face Scrub, Cleansing Face Mask and Light Moisturiser. These would make great gifts for anyone with sensitive skin (like myself) and I particularly love the Cleansing Face Mask, it’s really helped calmed down a bad break-out I had recently. The moisturiser is also great, especially for oily skin, as its very light in consistency. Although it does contain silicones, so if you’re avoiding them you might want to pass on this. I like the Face Scrub, but Scrubs in general tend to irritate my skin, so I haven’t been able to test it properly.
I’ll definitely be heading to Superdrug to see what other sets they have to offer, they’re all such great value, and there’s some real gems that would make lovely gifts for family and friends.

I’ve got a day off, today, and I’m spending it watching Season One of The Walking Dead.  After so many Vampire film/tv shows saturating entertainment lately it’s nice to have a show with a different monster. Are you a fan of The Walking Dead? Or do you prefer the glamorous world of True Blood and Twilight? Hope your all having a great Tuesday!

Muted Monday

NYX Nude on Nude FOTD

Quick look I did today using the NYX Nude on Nude Palette, the texture of these shadows is nice, they remind me of MAC’s shadows in that they’re blendable but not too greasy, and they don’t have any fallout issues. I also used two of the lipsticks that came with to make a pinky red lip, they’re all pretty sheer so they’re great if you don’t want a heavy lip.

Rest of the products I used were the usual suspects, blush was Butterscotch by Fashionista. I’m really missing my Estee Lauder DoubleWear at the minute, its ran out and my skin is breaking out like mad, and nothing will cover it!

I’m off to meet my Mum and then I’ve got to work late this evening, so I’m in for a long day, can’t wait for tomorrow and making a lovely Roast Dinner!

Wishing…

If I had an unlimited budget then I probably would of ordered these items and be getting them shipped special delivery! Alas, I don’t so I can just look at the pretty things!

I’m loving New Look’s shoes at the minute, they’re great for getting inexpensive but still on trend footwear, I’m loving these Lace Up Wedge Shoe Boots (£24.99) and think they would be great for me as I’m in a bit of a rut and am just wearing flats. The Leopard Print Loafers (£22.99) are something else that’s really tempting me. I can see them being a pair of shoes that I would wear till they had holes in!

Nars Outremer (£16.50)  looks to me like the king of all blue shadows! I know I’d probably only wear it a couple of times, but its just such a unique shade, the magpie in me is telling me to fork out for it.

I’d love to wear the Lace Top (Topshop £38) with a pencil skirt, some killer heels, and red lippy and maybe  Models Owns Green Tea Nail Polish (£5). As you can see in my head I have spent a lot of money! But obviously not enough but ASOS has me lusting after this gorgeous seventies style Faux Fur Coat (£85). It reminds me of Life on Mars, David Bowie and T Rex, and being as I spent my teens covered in glitter and pretending to be a Starman, I’m finding it very hard to resist!

Thinking thats probably enough rambling from me for now!

Sneaky Peek: NYX Nude On Nude

I spied this in TKMaxx yesterday, and I just couldn’t resist it, I mean you can never have too many neutral eyeshadows right? Well maybe I have a few too many already but never mind!Ill be posting a couple of FOTD’s etc using this palette once I’ve had a bit of a play with it!

I was supposed to be going out tonight but after getting up at 4.30 am for work I’m not sure I’m up to it. Thinking I might stay home, snuggle up and watch a movie. Not sure what food should accompany this though, thinking I might attempt Lily’s Chicken Pie recipe!

Be sure to let me know if there are any shades you would really like to see, and I’ll try to do a look including them!

FOTD: Dark Lips and Earthy Eyes

This is the make-up I wore yesterday, which I came up with after having a bit of a play with my VIVO shadows, it was maybe a little OTT for a trip to my local, but nevermind. I think this would make a great simple Halloween look for like a with or something similar, but you would maybe wanna go a bit darker/greener with the eye make-up and add some really dark contouring.

Face

Bourjois Bio Detox Foundation

Collection 2000 Concealer

Estee Lauder Doublewear Powder

Eyes

VIVO Eyeshadows in Rich Chocolate, Goddess and Golden Leaf*

Sleek Eyeshadow in Noir

VIVO Black Eyeliner Pencil*

Bourjois Ultra Black Liner Feutre

VIVO Lengthening Mascara*

Lips

Dainty Doll Lipstick in Couture mixed with some Black Gel Liner

Mac Brick  Lip Liner

Products marked * are PR Samples

What I Wore:

I’ve really been loving New Look lately. They give me the simple, fashion I like at a price that doesn’t make my banks balance want to cry! I picked up this Duffle Coat (£44.99) it comes in three other colours, and is a great coat for autumn, although I will probably be wanting to get something a little warmer when winter really comes. The dress (£14.99) is a great dress for day time, and will suit most body types. I love shift dresses and this one is the most gorgeous rich blue. The necklace (£10) is from ASOS and I have been wearing it non stop since I bought it. I teamed this with the loafers I posted about yesterday (£14.99)
I wore this to go meet my boyfriend from work and we headed to the pub for dinner and a pint! Just wanted we needed in this horrible weather!

Loafers

I love these loafers. They’re so classic and easy to wear. They go with absolutely anything. I picked these up in New Look a couple of weeks ago because I was tired of only wearing Converse. I’m debating whether to go back and pick up another pair in a different colour.

Do you have shoes you’ll never tire of?

VIVO Eyeshadows

If you want cheap and cheerful cosmetics that still manage to pack a punch in terms of pigmentation and quality, you won’t go far wrong with VIVO Cosmetics. Today I’ll be having a look at their Pearl and Matte Shadows. I’ve got Shades Goddess, Golden Leaf and Rich Chocolate to review.

All three shades are very pigmented, but have that slightly greasy feeling you can find with some cheaper shadows. This does mean however that they are very easy to blend and aren’t chalky. I find the best way to work with this type of shadow is to pack it on with a dense brush or even you’re finger and then use a fluffy brush to blend it out.

A quick note on the matte shade, the texture is slightly drier than the pearl shades, but if you use a soft fluffy brush to apply and  blend it, it applies beautifully.

For £1.50 I don’t think you can go wrong with these, and with all the great high-street eyeshadows being released of late, I’m far more likely to be itching to get myself to Superdrug, Boots or Tesco than Debenhams or John Lewis.

How beautiful are those shades? I really love all of these shades together, they make for a lovely earth toned smoky eye! There’s a lot of great combinations to be had with VIVO’s eyeshadows, and when you can get three shades for £4.50 you can’t lose!

 

Disclosure: These eyeshadows were provided by PR for consideration.

Graze Tuesdays!

Here’s last weeks Graze Box. I was really happy to get Jaffa Cake and the Apple and Cinnamon Flapjacks, their my two favourite items from Graze. Fig Roll was really nice as well, when you eat the fig, raisin and sponge all together it tastes like a real Fig Roll! Bounty Hunter was also really lovely, but I would of liked something savoury to even this box out.

If anyone’s interested, in trying a FREE Graze box you can order them from their website and use the code LFN9KM8D

You’ll also get your second box half price!

MUA Glamour Nights & Days Palettes

Here’s a sneak peek of MUA’s latest offerings! Due to be released at selected Superdrug’s on the 26th of October, I think these will be another sell out product for the brand, much like their Heaven and Earth Palette. Both palettes have a great range of shades, including for the first time, some matte shades! I really cannot ait to get my hands on these palettes, the Days palette having some gorgeous colours for work or balancing out a bright lip, and the Night’s having some lovely, festive shades some of which are sure to push you outside your comfort zone! I can’t wait to try out the red in the Nights palette, I’m just hoping it isn’t too pink.

Will you be rushing to Superdrug on the 26th to get these?

Muted Monday

Bronze Smoke FOTD

I’m really not getting on with my camera today! Thinking it might be time to buy a new one, but being as I have a whole tenner to last till payday and am squirrelling away all my money towards a deposit for a house, it isn’t looking likely!

I’m going to  the pub for dinner tonight with my boyfriend, his mum, auntie, and cousins.I wanted something simple that I could do over my existing make-up, so I went with a simple brown eye, and a bronzed peach cheek using Fashionista Blush in Juicy Apricot, from my custom palette. My skin is looking dire at the minute, probably due to my currently awful diet. Working shifts mean I have no set eating pattern and snack on junk I buy at work.

For the rest of my make up I used;

FACE

Bourjois Bio Detox Foundation

Collection 2000 Lasting Finish Concealer

Eyes

Sleek Oh So Special and Sparkle Palettes

Vivo Eyeliner in Black *

Revlon Grow Lucious Mascara

Vivo Brow and Eye Kit

Lips

Sleek Pout Paint in Mink

I’m already tired and I haven’t even gone out yet, but I can’t wait to get some lovely pub grub! How have you Mondays been?

Fashionista Blush Custom Palette

As part of the TOWIB event I attended on Saturday, Fashionista were lovely enough to make up one of their Custom Design Palette for us all! The palettes were based around three catwalk looks for SS12 , I chose the Anna Sui inspired Palette which contained 3 blushes and a eyeshadow/highlight.
The colours I received were Juicy Apricot; a beautiful shimmery peach, Butterscotch;a lovely matte pinky nude, Blushing; a really gorgeous matte pinky/fuchsia, Double Take; a white eyeshadow marbled with gold that can also be used as a highlight.



This is how the products look in their single cases, you can keep them like this or you can put them into one of the Custom Design Palettes.



The pans pop out of the cases from the hole on the bottom, I was impressed with how easy this was to do as with some other products like this I usually end up breaking up the shadow!


The empty palettes come in either red or black, and come with a mirror, which is great because it is big enough to see your whole face, without having to move it around. This makes it a great palette to carry with you, as I do sometimes like to top up my blush or amp up my eyeshadow after I go out straight after work and want something a little more dramatic. It would be great if they could bring out a face powder that could go into the palette, as then it would have pretty much all you need to go from day to night, with the exception of a lip product.
From what I’ve seen this is going to be a great brand, with some brilliant and fresh additions to high street make-up. It’s great to see a brand that lets you create your own colour combinations, rather than deciding them for you, something that should have other (unoriginal) high-street brands like Maybelline, Rimmel etc quaking in their boots!  When the rest of the range launches, on the 26th of October, I’ll definitely be going for a bit of a snoop (it’s oh so conveniently near to pay day). When it launches, a full palette will retail at £12, with the eyeshadows/blushes retailing at around £4 and the palettes at £5 individually.
Keep a look out for some FOTD’s using these blushes!

Muted Monday (On a Wednesday)

And the Winner Is:

Thanks to everyone entered my giveaway over the past fortnight, I loved reading all of your ideas for autumn make-up.

The winner is Pyari Beauty!

Email me you address, and I’ll send your prize to you!

Graze Tuesdays!

 

In case you don’t know what Graze is, they send out boxes of healthy snacks for £3.49. You can order them as often as you like and can make them as healthy as you wish. I have a weekly ‘nibble’ box, but they also offer tailored ‘detox’ boxes and ‘nutrition’ boxes. I’m not ordering these as part of a diet or anything like that, I’m just a little bored of snacking on sweets!

Here’s what I got last week:

I really loved everything in this box (so did my Boyfriend, who stole most of my cashews!) although some of the things I am not so keen on like peanuts, and seeds I have asked them not to send me.

If anyone’s interested, in trying a FREE Graze box you can order them from their website and use the code LFN9KM8D

You’ll also get your second box half price!

NOTD ‘I Need A (No7) Dollar’

This polish is gorgeous. Its got a great fluid, spreadable consistency that’s opaque in two coats.It’s a green/teal colour with a beautiful green micro shimmer. If you have a No7 voucher, I suggest you go buy this!

Vivo Cosmetics Ultimate Brow and Eye Kit

I picked this up whilst doing some food shopping as I don’t have any dedicated brow powders, and none of my eyeshadows looked quite right. It comes with three brow powders, a clear brow gel, and a angled brush and sponge (both of which are not really of much use, but that was to be expected).
I’ve been mixing the shades together, to create the right shade to balance out the make-up I have on. The matte powders are smooth and the best thing is they aren’t chalky ( I hate nothing more than fall out near my brows!).

Most people should be able to find a colour to use in this kit, and if not the colours can be easily combined. I haven’t seen anything like this on the high-street before and this is definitely one of the stars of the Vivo range. If you haven’t found you HG brow product yet I suggest you try this out. It might just be it.
Vivo’s Ultimate Brow and Eye Kit costs £5 and is available at selected Tesco Extra stores. 

P.S. Todays the Last day to Enter my Giveaway!

Models Own Smokey Eye Kit in Smoulder

As I often do when I have a Saturday afternoon off, I found myself at Boots today, not looking for anything particular. Whist browsing the Models Own stand I was drawn to these cute little sets. The come in a range of colours and all contain three eyeshadows, two brushes and a step by step guide.

I picked up Smoulder; three warm neutrals. All the shades are very pigmented and have a beautiful texture, and shimmer without being full of glitter. Having never bought Models Own shadows before, I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting, but I’m very impressed with these. A lot of cheaper, but pigmented shadows, will kick up a lot of dust when using but that isn’t a problem with this.

The Step by Step Guide is a great addition to this product, and would be brilliant for people who aren’t confident with smokey eyes; and are unsure of colour placement etc.

The brushes are also worth a mention, for £8 I wasn’t expecting the brushes included to be anything I would use but both the angle brush and the shading brush are of great quality and I would use them happily. My only complaint would be the shading brush is a little small for using on the eyelid, but because of this it is great for smudging out eyeshadow/liner on the lower lashline.

Overall I think these are a great product, especially if you need a bit of a helping hand with smokey eyes. The colour range means there's some day-time friendly shades as well as more dramatic shades.

Models Own Smokey Eye Kits retail at £8 and are available from Boots. They also currently come with a free Black Kohl Pencil!

NOTD: 17 Magnetized Green

I’ve been experimenting with my nails a little more than usual lately and have really loved discovering some great, striking polishes that don’t involve a lot of fiddling. So when I saw the 17 Magnetized (why it’s spelt wrong I don’t know) I had to try one. I wasn’t expecting to be impressed but I really love the effect. I have Green (which is more of a jade/turquoise I think) there are three other colours; Lilac, Blue and Gunmetal.

I should also add I’m wearing fake nails in this picture, as my own are being completely horrific! I’ll do a separate post on them soon!

Models Own Lip Balm in Blackberry

I picked this up in the Models Own 50% off sale, as I already own their  Lip Balm in Fuchsia and love it. Blackberry looks really dark in the pot but on lips it is a gorgeous suits-all berry tone, my perfect autumn colour.

Models Own lip balms have a lovely formula, the two I own are very pigmented, and really soften and moisturise your lips, which is perfect for me as a lot of the time I will choose a drying pigmented lip product over a moisturising sheer one. These are great because I don’t have to sacrifice colour for moisture, I can have both!

Lately I’ve been carrying this in by bag all the time, as it goes with most of the make-up I wear and is so easy to apply on the go. I’ve got my eye on the red shade next!

Models Own Lip Balms retail at £5 and are available at Boots.

Illamasqua Cream Blush in Sob

Whilst in London I found myself in Selfridges on more than one occasion, and whilst I was there I wanted to check out Illamasqua’s new Skin Base. I didn’t purchase it however as I found the sales assistant to be quite rude, and for some reason seem to think my pale skin was Shade 7/8, both of which were way to dark and way to orange for my skin. When I asked if I could have a small sample to try it in natural light, she told me Illamasqua don’t do samples, so I will be sticking to Estee Lauder or Clinique for my foundations!

However my boyfriend wanted to buy me something, so when my eyes wandered over to the Cream Blushes, he decided Sob would be a nice colour for me and bought it for me.
Sob is a gorgeous cool toned baby pink with a touch of lavender in it, perfect for pale skin, but I have since worn it when I’ve tanned and it didn’t look at all ashy or unflattering. So I think because its a cream rather than a powder it will blend in nicely with most skin tones.

This is one of the easiest to blend cream blushes I own and it doesn’t feel sticky or greasy on the skin, I apply and blend with fingers before setting with a little translucent powder. I find longevity is quite good, lasting at least six hours before I need to top it up, but if you have normal/drier skin you might find it lasts longer on you.
Illamasqua’s Cream Blushes retail at £16.50, and are available online and at their counters.