Goodbye 2010

I would like to thank every single person for their support on my blog and YouTube, I appreciate every follow, comment, video response and your patience at times when I was unable to update regularly.

I really hope 2011 brings you everything your heart desires with a little hard work. Don't be discouraged or beaten and have fun!

So I lift my glass to you all and say Happy New Year and Best Wishes.

I don't want to be a total mother here but watch your drinks tonight don't leave it to chance.

Beauty News - J Lo joins L'Oréal Paris

L'Oréal always get top celebs to smother our Tv's with thier adverts claiming "we're worth it". Showing no signs of stopping they have signed Jennifer Lopez to their enormous list of gorgeous girls.

I'm looking forward to seeing what products they are launching and I am certain Jennifer will look stunning in everything she is promoting which will no doubt have me sucked in to buying!

What do you think of J Lo being the new face of L'Oréal?

Review - Clinique eyeliner

Black eyeliners have really improved since I used them as a teen. The consistency was very hard which scratched the eyelid and I can't forget how weakly pigmented the product was in comparison to today's version. I can't remember seeing gel liners when I was younger but I do remember the pen type which I never used. 

I could never get my waterline to look really opaquely black it always looked an anemic grey which lasted all of 20 minutes.These days there's an abundance of eyeliners which have made make-up fun and playful again, and for those of us who love smokey dark black eyeliner there's many to choose from. 

I was sent Clinique quickliner to try and having not used their range of make-up before I had no pre-conceptions.The product comes in a stylo type pencil which means no sharpening is required however if you want a really sharp defined line you can't exactly achieve it with this. On the other hand it is good for a less defined approach like an Angelina Jolie type smudged cat eye or if you wanted depth at the root of the lashes for a more natural look. 

This technique looks great on those with wrinkled eyelids!

I swatched the product against my Avon gel liner which is the blackest black and my Bourjois which is a pencil of a similar consistency.

The Avon can't be beaten on pigmentation but then again it is a slightly different style liner. The Bourjois delivers a similar finish to Cliniques but I prefer the latter's application as it's more smooth.

The product

 Price £13

This got great reviews but if you are wanting to achieve a smooth 50's flick just say you won't get it with this.

 

3.5/5

I personally prefer a finer tip to create different looks but colour payoff is not too bad and I have been told this is good for sensitive eyes! I just think for my taste I could get more for £13.

Let me know if this worked for you!

Look of the day - Winter essential

 

This is not the most glamorous nor is it exciting in colour but it was absolutely practical for that day. My mother dragged me to the shops for some bits and bobs and as there was still snow on the ground I thought it was absolutely necessary to wear wellingtons.

So glad I did as I would have been on my bum a few times as it was insanely slippy outside the shops.

I wore my Hunter wellies (that I didn't intend on keeping as the bendy ankle thing is weird but realised every wellie does it :) with my black skinny jeans, a thick jumper you can't see and my Moschino Jeans jacket.

The snow is grating on me now, I want to wear nice shoes not flaming rubber boots or my work boots.

Summer can't come quick enough so I can wear some nice tea dresses!

oh well thermals it is for now.

Are you enjoying your Winter wardrobe?

Matching make-up

(I used Avon perfect wear perfectly berry and Bourjois in no 8)

We've all seen matching nails and lips which admittedly I do have a slight obsession for but what about matching metallic eyes and nails?

It's a trend that can be customised to suit any skin tone and season, I can imagine Morococo and sp"ice"y looking beautiful in summer when the sun catches the tiny pearl particles.

Unlike other traditional sparkly eyeshadows Blingtone are made with crushed pearls rather than gaudy inexpensive glitter and Mica.

Boots became inundated with customer requests for the eyeshadows used to create the recent Bling tone advert. Make-up Artist Kabuki created this look and used Blingtones Purple haze and Bellbottom blue. I wanted to see if the pay off was going to match the intensity of the advert and if it required alot of work.

I was advised to used my fingers but I found if I used a densely packed eyeshadow brush it deposited more of the shade but less glitter however if I used my finger I got alot of shimmer but weak colour.

The technique then became obvious, use a brush to pack most the colour on then go over with fingertips to load the gorgeous pearl particles. It was no effort at all, I hardly blended, used 1 brush (medusa makeup fluff shadow brush) and fingertips! To intensify the look I used Avon gel liner in the waterline and upper lashline then added natural falsies.

Take a look

The advert

I am definitely using these when I go out with the girls next, the glitter is fine but tightly packed. Use this straight on the lid or try ontop of a base.

The colours

 

I didn't have the nail polish to match these.

Check out my other post to view the lil bling swatches HERE

Do you match any of your make-up and have you tried these?

On trial - Nivea Pure & Natural

Currently I am trialing a new range from Nivea called Pure and Natural, the collection of products for review contain no parabens, mineral oils, colourants or silicone's.

I will be testing the anti-wrinkle day cream, cleanser, lip balm and hand cream. I have asked my partner if he will kindly try the day cream for normal / comb skin as he works outside I thought it would give it a run for it's money. I will give them a months trial and monitor any changes in the skin, I have been using the hand cream and lip balm for the past 3 days and so far I'm addicted to re-applying. The lip product in particular is my go to item at the moment as it is similar to the one I made but the honey aroma in this makes it irresistible.

 I just thought I'd give you some insight into what I am using right now and let you know more about each product soon.

Have any of you tried this range?

MUA pink nails

 

A recent trip to my local Superdrug lead me to the MUA cosmetic section, there they had an array of nail polishes and eye shadows.

I had no intention of possessing any new lacquers but this bubblegum pink was almost calling me and at £1 how could I deny it.

Opinion

Applying this wasn't exactly a treat, the brush is stumpy and splayed and handle was short so it was rather fiddly.

I like products with ease of use but then you have to ask is quality still important when you pay pennies for an item?

The colour is a true candy pink, this is the first I own as the pinks I tend to find are either more pastel or on the fuchsia side.

If I come across another nice shade by MUA I will definitely buy again, it's rare you can indulge in cosmetic happiness for £1.

Do you have a good candy pink nail polish you can recommend?

M.A.C Vs M&S

When is a dupe not a dupe?

When it's not an exact match for a product but quite similar.

This lipgloss I purchased from M&S isn't a dupe for the M.A.C slimshine but it has many of its characteristics such as the packaging and style of wand. The product is what sets it apart as the M.A.C slimshine is very pigmented, glossy and thick where as the M&S version is smoother, less pigmented and transfers more like a lipstick than gloss.

These slim line lipstick/glosses are perfect to carry out on an evening, unfortunately I am unsure if M.A.C still produce these but M&S sell the Perfection Super Gloss lipsticks as part of their make-up range  Priced £7.50

Swatches

Both contain a slight shimmer and look gorgeous on but if I'm entirely honest I prefer the M&S out of the 2 as the M.A.C one can feel gloopy on the lips. 

Do you ever try supermarket make-up?

Love affair - Ribbon & Asher

Lately I have been buying bits and pieces from this collection and I must say it's the best high street jewellery range I have seen in a while. I also can't resist the out of house line by Topshop but at the moment this is my weakness. There's not just one theme each season that some companys seem to produce, instead they have numerous. There's elegant pieces, tribal, romantic the list goes on. 

The quality speaks for itself, the items themselves are pretty inexpensive considering their beauty. Most of the larger jewellery is around £12 which is an absolute steal compared to some I have seen in Topshop.

I found these gems in Dorothy Perkins, now how many of you shop in there? not that many I bet. I used to think that D.P was boring but hey it is actually awesome. Did I just say awesome? oh well I guess the emotion took over. I love it and I know you will too!

My newest editions

There's a sale on some of the range at the moment so if you have bought all your pressies for eveyone why not treat yoursef?

Have you seen Ribbon & Asher?

Get a sultry look

Inspired by the exotic styles of Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz and Sofia Vergara I was compelled to re-create a look of the gorgeously smouldering Raquel Welch.

There's no denying I love the brown smokey eye make-up as it gives the eyes this beautiful sultry effect without looking overdone.

The tip is to use an eyeshadow as eyeliner and pull out and under.

Angelina Jolie is also fond of this type of look!

What I used.

Eyes

• Michael Todd eyeshadow in cookie crunch
• M.A.C eyeshadows in Embark, Kid,Down brown and Twinks
• Benefit eye bright
• Clinique mascara
• False eyelashes

Face

• M.A.C face and body in N3
• M.A.C  studio fix NW25
• Chanel Bronze universal
• Myface Lady Monaco blush

Lips

• M.A.C Myth 

Watch the video

This look is a typical dark eyes and light mouth combination, this look really will flatter everyone so have a go and let me know how you got on.

Waxing with Otylia Roberts

The party season is certainly upon us and sales of dresses are reportedly at a high this year.As sequins and glitter dominate our outfits drawing in all that attention you need to be looking flawless. This requires waxing, exfoliating and moisturising. We need to bring our skin back to life! I mean it might be the only time of the year you spend an evening with your work colleagues so you want to make sure your looking HOT!!!

First things first get rid of any excess hair, I personally have always shaved but there's many options out there. Recently I was kindly sent some wax strips to try and was pleasantly surprised. I did a waxing unit on my Beauty Therapy course so already had the confidence to use this but still felt a little scared of the pain. 

Waxing the bikini line gave me fantastic results and has very little re-growth after 2 weeks!

I was going to wax a family member by thought it would be far more beneficial to my readers if I could describe my experience.

There's adequate information on the sheet provided but my description maybe more clear.

I waxed my underarms, bikini line and eyebrows. Although a little apprehensive of the bikini area I decided to get it done first so it was over with. Waxing the bikini line gave me fantastic results and has very little re-growth after 2 weeks!

There's 2 sized strips in the pack, the smaller for the facial areas and larger for areas of the body like bikini line and underarm.

My application

• Prepare the area for waxing by cleansing with the gel found in the duo gel and after oil pack.
• This removes any oils and cleanses the area but make sure the hair is dry before applying the wax.
• Choose the correct strip for the area chosen and remove from backing plastic.
• Look at the direction of hair growth ,it probably wont all grow in the same direction.
• Locate small areas going the same way, place the wax strip over them and gently rub pressure over the strip in the same direction of the hair growth. *this is important*
• Next step is to create tension before removal so pull skin taught with one hand and with your other pull the wax strip quickly in opposite direction of the hair growth. This makes sure you remove the root so re-growth is slower and you will get no bumps.
• Do this over the whole area, once complete remove any excess wax with the Simply Wax oil.

My skin was so smooth after this, I will definitely be removing the re-growth when it arrives. The area most difficult and not as successful was the underarm. I imagine a few will struggle with this part as it's awkward and  the skin can easily bruise.

Price

The Mini Hair Removal Wax Strips for sensitive areas £6.99

The Pre Wax Cleansing Gel and After Wax Oil £10.89

Simply Wax by Otylia Roberts is available now from Boots, Superdrug, Sally or John Bell & Croyden.

 

Have you tried waxing at home? 

 

 

 

Storing my nail polishes

You remember my post on how I store my jewellery right? Well I made a little space at the front so that all my polishes line up in brand and colour order.It makes everything so easy to find and keeps it looking neat. The main reason I did this is because when they were in my draw my son was able to get hold of them and decided to paint my fabric sofa one night!

I have a few different brands,

Essie and Eyeko

Barry M and Rimmel.

O.P.I,Orly,China Gaze ,O.C.C and misc

My favourites right now

I like these colours at the moment for some reason, the fluro orange by Essie is a dramatic change for winter, the dark green (blackboard) from O.C.C is quite festive and a little different and the Haute red by Orly is just my classic go to colour.

How do you store your nail polishes?

Look of the day - Clashing prints

Todays look was worked around my wedges since the snow has gone yipee!

I teamed them with River Island jeans, rose print lace top by Topshop and tartan cape by Karen Millen.

The rings are a mixture of Topshop and old ones.

Wedges from River Island

What's your thoughts on wedges? Love/hate?