Wednesday 29 January 2014

Love You Long Time

 
Seeing as I missed the boat for favourite products of 2013, I thought I would do a round up of my favourite and most used product over the past 12 months or so. Many of these have been on the scene for years and years and will always have a prime spot in my makeup bag.
 
 
 
 
Miscellaneous products
 
Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry. Batiste is a trusty old friend, always there to save the day, especially when you’re having a bad hair day. Great for on the go kind of girls, perfect to freshen up your hair and give it a bit of a boost.
Soap and Glory Rich and Foamous Body wash. Smells amazing! This is perhaps one of the nicest body washes I have tried in a very long time. It lathers really well and smells like almonds, with a hint of vanilla.
Rimmel SunShimmer fake tan. Fake tan for me tends to be very ‘hit and miss’ and this has definitely been a hit. If applies fairly evenly and the colour selection is just perfect, definitely more bronze toned rather than orange. This particular one is in the shade Fair Matte but my all-time favourite is Light Shimmer.
 
Eyelure false lashes in 145. Eyelure lashes are some of my absolute favourite, so many styles to choose from and the glue is brilliant. MY favourite at the time usually alternate from 140 and 145, but for the majority of the past 12 months 145 seem to be taking the lead.
Calvin Klein Euphoria perfume. Amazing! Highly recommend you try it!
Jelly Pong Pong Blush brush. Purchased at the Clothes Show, many many years ago, this lovely brush finally made it into my make up bag, ready for everyday use. It is really soft and perfect for applying blusher evenly. 
Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in Mojito. Cannot describe how lovely this smells! Gutted there isn’t a Bath and Body Works in the UK… I would probably be in one every day!
 Eyes and Lips

MUA Palette in Undressed. Priced at an absolute bargain price of £4, I initially did not expect much but was pleasantly surprised with the great colour pay off from all of the colours in this palette. This would be a perfect product for someone who is just starting out in make up and wants to expand their collection.
 Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoo in Turquoise forever. Beautiful colour intensity with amazing staying power (even without primer!).
Bare Minerals eye shadow in High style and snazzy. Absolutely amazing eye shadows wit brilliant staying power. These can be worn just as a mineral powder but I prefer to apply them slightly wet for an added boost of colour intensity.
 
MEMEME Eyesweep eyeliner pen. Perfect for drawing thin lines, especially in the inner corner of your eye. Would highly recommend! 
Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara. Absolutely loved this in 2013. Having only really associated Soap and Glory with lotions and various bath and shower products, it was nice to expand my collection and try some of the cosmetics in the range.
Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick in 020 Shake up pink.  This is an oldie but goldie, such a pretty Barbie pink colour and lasts reasonably well.
Pomme Granate lip balm from H&M. This is an absolute gem! Bought on a whim one cold, cold evening in Boston, this lovely lip balm has saved by lips from the brutal American winds.
 
 

 

Friday 24 January 2014

NOTD: Models Own Southern Lights

 
 
 
This gorgeous and extremely sparkly nail polish is eagerly fighting its way to the top of the list for my favourite polish already. I have been using it all throughout January and absolutely love it! The Models Own Southern Lights is a stunning pale silvery blue glitter nail polish with multicoloured flecks. I find it is the most effective when two coats are applied. This polish looks absolutely amazing if it's sunny outside or your hands are wet, as it reflects light in such a pretty way. It is nice to work with and I found it is generally chip free for the first couple of days after application, however my nails tips don't seem to last any longer than that. I sort of find I have to keepreapplying the tips often, but i get that problem wth a lot of glitter nail polishes.
 
 
 

Overall: This polish is sooo beautiful and I would highly recommend you all to try it out!

 (As the first pic was instagrammed, here is one of the originals so you can see the true colour)
 
 
Enjoy :)

 
 
 
 

Thursday 23 January 2014

The Long Overdue Clothes Show Live 2013 Haul

I can't believe it has taken so long for me to finally get this post up, so sorry for the delay! In December I attended the Clothes Show Live at the Birmingham NEC. This year was the 25th Anniversary of the Clothes Show and the fashion show definitely lived up to that, in my opinion. The designs featured on the main catwalk were absolutely stunning, featuring plenty of fur and sequins... my two favourite things! I didn't get a chance to take many photos of the exhibitors as my arms were practically falling off with all the shopping I had been carrying. Having been a couple of times before, I was really excited for what was in store and hoped I had prepared accordingly. The venue was split into sections, including the Beauty Hall, Fashion Halls and of course Fashion Theatrem, with several smaller catwalks dotted around the various halls. A big highlight for me definitely was seeing some of my favourite Made in Chelsea stars.

Needless to say I went a little crazy and seemed to buy everything in sight! Be prepared this post is gonna be a long one! (P.S. I think I now have a lifetime supply of nail polish)

Ciate Mini Mani Month

I've been dying to get my hands on some Ciate polishes but as they are a little pricey I couldn't really justify spending that much on a nail polish when I already have so many. Instead, I went complete overboard and purchased an entire collection! The Ciate advent calendar contains 24 items including nail polishes, nail beads/caviar and nail glitter. The set also comes with a little funnel to help apply the nails beads, how cute?!



 


Bare Minerals
I absolutely love Bare Minerals but some times feel a little hard done by when parting with so much cash for products which are reasonably small. The Bre Minerals stall was offer a number of goodie bags, priced at £5, 10 and £20 containing a variety of lovely products. I decided to go for the larger goodie bag as it contained the products which I'd get the most use out of.



SPF15 Powder Foundation in Medium Beige - I've never tried a Bare Minerals foundation efore, or any powder foundation before, so this will definitely be fun to try.

All Over Face Colour in Bare Radiance - A gorgeous all over illuminating powder.

Natural lipgloss in Chiffon- which is a shimmery golden brown colour.

Angled Face Brush

Handy kabuki Brush





 
Barry M
Every year I have been, the Barry M goodie bags are definitely one of the ones I have to look forward to the most. Price at an outrageourslu amazing price of £10, you receive 12 items, containing a variety of Barry M products. I got two goodie bags, one for a present and here is what was in mine:




Nail Paints in 264 Pink Iridescent - which is the sparkly pinky peach colour, 288 Silver, Limited Edition SLE 2013 B - which is the neon green and a Limited Edition effects in Lilac foil - which is the metallic purple colour.

Retro Nail Paint in Retro 2 Blue

Dazzle Dusts in 100 - which the gold/bronze shade and 21 which is the dark black with a hint of purple (will need to do a full review on this to figure out what colour it actually is)

Supersoft Eyecrayon in No 5 - Lilacshade

Kohl pencil in 16 Baby blue

Glitter stick in Gold

Intense black mascara 3 in 1 - 'volumises, lengthens, curls'

Lipgloss in a Medium Pink (shade unknown)

The two goodie bags were quite similar in terms of product content, just with varying colours.
 








Jelly Pong Pong
I have never actually seen Jelly Pong Pong on sale anywhere apart from the Clothes Show and online, so picking up one of their goodie bags was a must. The goodie bags were an absolute bargain, at only £5 for 4 items! Having had the most amazing juicy Jelly Pong Pong lipgloss before, I was definitely up for trying out some new products . The goodie bag contained: 



Wide Awake - a palette of skin enhancing colour tools to brighten and illuminate complexions.

Carribean Sun Bronzer duo - a cheek duo containing a deep bronzer and a blusher.

Lip Blush - a moisturising lip stain crayon in Marshmallow (a medium pink kinda colour)

2 in 1 Eyeliner and Shadow in a plum colour







So Susan Skincare . Colour. Performance
The Clothes Show is great for discovering new brands which you otherwise may not get a chance to come across. So Susan was one of them. it seems to be a sister company of jelly pong pong, with very similar design ideas. the goodie bag was very similar, also a bargain £5 for 4 items, containing:



8 Hour Cheek Stain - in a reddish/pink shade

Water-based Pure Luminizer - a highlighter, intregued t find out how matt or shimmery it actually is, will do a full review once i start properly using it.

Intense Eye Shadow Palette with Coated Pigments - containing four shades - a brown. The colours here are not really the sort I would normally wear so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

Lip Balm, which is actually an orange toned red lip and cheek crayon.



Models Own
Models Own also had a pretty appealing package on offer, as you were able to choose any 3 nail polishes in addition to the rest of the kit, for just £10. I spent a good while at this stall trying to pick the ones I loved the most and eventually settled with the n ail polishes in Southern lights, Catherine Wheel (post can be found here)and a Smash Up polish in Black. I've never actually tried the crackle polishes or anything similar, so why not!



The Models Own kit contained :

Special Clothes Show Live edition polish in Show Stopper 2

Lipstick in Sheer sparkle

Moisturing Lipbalm in Bubblegum

Cream eyeshadow in Mash up mauve

Eyeliner pencil in Black

Eyeliner pencil in Brown

Chunky eye pencil in Black with silver glitter (name unknown)

Complete with a nail buffer and some sponge eye shadow applicators.









Rimmel London
At first I was in two minds over the Rimmel London goodie bags this year, but I think I prefer small Rimmel goodie bag as I do not use that many Rimmel profucts so this was ideal. 



The Retro Glam set contained:

Scandaleyes Mascara in Black

Salon Pro Nail Polish with lycra in 393 Desire

Sunshimmer Water resistant fake tan in Medium matte

A sample size sachet of the Wake Me Up Foundation in 201 Classic Beige

The Electro Glam kit was brought for a present so I haven't opened it up. It also containted a sachet of the Wake Me Up Foundation and the Sunshimmer fake tan, but came with a red Salon Pro polish and a Lash Accelerator mascara.




Mint London

This is a brand I'd never heard of but thought I would try it out as the goodie bag was such a steal. The offer allowed you to select 4 nail polishes and the rest of the items were in a prepacked. Tee lovely lady who served me also threw in a pot of glitter as I was being indecisive on whether I should get the goodie bag or not.





Bomb Cosmetics

 
This stall was giving off the most deeelicious scent which couldn't help but draw me in. With so much to choose from, I decided to go for some bath bombs in Appleberry, Vanilla and Honey and Santa's Grotto Brulee.





So that's about it. Sorry it's such a long post, hope you enjoyed it! If have been to the Clothes Show this year in previous years, let me know what you thought!

 


Wednesday 8 January 2014

NOTD: Still Feeling Festive with L'Oreal Colour Riche Le Vernis Glitter

Although the Christmas party season is officially over I can't help but feel festive with this black and gold L'Oreal Colour Riche Le Vernis Glitter nail polish in 822 Bronze Parure (from a 2013 collection I believe).


 
 
This was a Fragrance Direct steal which I purchased some time in November for only £1.30!!! Imagine?? But did not have a chance to review it. This nail polish is absolutely gorgeous! I generally prefer lighter polishes but thought it would be nice to true something new. This polish has a thick-ish black base with bits of gold glitter and sparkles, of various sizes. I applied 2 coats and was very impressed with the product! I did feel it was a little more suited for evening wear, but it was nice to admire the gorgeous sparkles and brighten up my day at whilst at work. Lovely, lovely, lovely, would highly recommend it! Will definitely try t pick up some other colours in the Le Vernis Glitter range.
Enjoy!
 


Have you used any of the nail polishes in this range? Go ahead and try them!

Saturday 4 January 2014

2014 Resolutions

Some say that resolutions are made to be broken, but this year I plan on sticking to at least 80% of mine (leaving some room for failing will power there). In 2014 I'm going to categorise my resolutions in 3 sections and hopefully stick to all of them! No doubt there is something that's been missed off, but if I think of anymore I will add them on. Some of these may seem like small, silly things but hey, gotta start somewhere.

Beauty and Health

  • Moisturise post EVERY shower. I am so bad at looking after my skin but this year that is going to change! Moisturising my skin is something that gets forgotten about completely, especially in the winter, but as I have dry skin that's very naughty. So far I'm doing well..
  • Improve my facial skin care routine. This will involve setting aside time every evening to cleanse, tone and moisturise, as well finding new great products which work well with my skin type.
  • Use a hair mask at least once a week.
  • Lose 10kg (by the end of May) and learn to maintain the weight I'm happy with. This is one that I'm probably going to struggle with the most. My weight generally yo-yos as I am normally good at losing a bit of weight in the summer if I watch what I eat, but then autumn comes around, then winter and its endless turkeys and Christmas puddings and it all piles back on again. I find dieting quite difficult as I absolutely love food, so a good aid for me is usually doing exercise whilst limiting what I eat.
  • Either join the gym or take up a new class - like Zumba, or something else fun.
  • Drink green tea at least every other day.

Blogging

  • Blog at least twice a week. Since starting this blog I've been so busy with my new job and generally adapting to life after university that I've been making too many excuses of 'too tired, will blog tomorrow'. This year, there will be no more procrastination and I will actually stick to my plans. I haven't yet selected my blogging days, but most likely will be Sundays and Wednesdays, and I will try to throw in some additional general life posts.
  • Join blogger networks. In 2014 I would like to get more involved in the beauty blogger community and join some blogger network to discover great new blogs and increase my number of followers.
  • Reach X number of followers. I am unsure of what would be a reasonable target, 365 days is a long time but I also don't want to sound too over ambitious. My aim is just to keep writing about products I love and others I come across along the way and hope that you guys enjoy reading about them!
  • Project pan - 10 items. I am a total hoarder when it comes to make up and beauty products. Like a child with a new toy, when I discover a new product, the old one gets thrown to the back of the drawer, not to be seen again for agesssss. Upon re-discovery I mean to use the product but never seem to actually get round to it as something new always ends up distracting my attention.

General life plans

  • Improve my time management skills. I am a massive list maker.. but never actually manage to complete everything on my to-do list! Not entirely sure how I will get around that one but I'm working on it... (any tips much appreciated!)
  • Take a photo a day.  A few people I know have done this in previous years and it looks like a lot of fun, documenting your year in photos. I'm doing well so far and have a few ideas for the rest of January, but really wondering how I'll keep up come February! Will definitely require some inspiration, ideas welcome... If all fails I'll have to resort to selfies! (Please save me from this!)
  • Camp at a festival.  Having never been to a proper camping festival I think this is definitely a right of passage for every youngster. I've only really been to Parklife in Manchester, but always had the comfort of my own bed to return to at night and Hideout in Croatia, but we had a lovely apartment to come home to. I'm pretty I wouldn't cope with camping in the scorching heat, so that would only leave camping in the UK, with the ever looming chance of torrential rain.. when you least expect it. I would ideally like to do V Fest or Creamfields as the line ups are generally pretty amazing, but we'll see!
  • Colour run. How much fun does that look??
  • Have a go at Ebay.  This year I want to be more thoughtful with my purchases and only buy things if I really need them. In recent years I have collected an array of things that I either don't use or like anymore but which are still in a great condition, so I'm hoping Ebay will help de-clutter my shelves and make way for something new.
  • Car boot sale. I did one of these this summer, it was quite fun and a nice little money maker. It was hard to part with things as I felt I was not getting enough valued for beloved items which I no longer needed, but all in all it was a great experience. Unfortunately I don't know of any indoor car boot style markets in my area so this may have to wait until the summer if I can't discover one.


That's about it for me, seem to have babbled on a bit! Would love to know what your New Year's resolutions are!