Girls Aloud Party Lashes - Nadine

Hello lovelies!  I've had to go and do some boring and expensive shopping today - on Sunday, my iron decided to give up, and then my cooker also decided it had had enough!  Both were really old, so we had to go out and get new ones. 

To liven up my boring purchases, I bought these Girls Aloud Party Lashes.  I chose the Nadine ones.

I'm going to a burlesque night at the weekend, and really wanted some falsies to vamp up my look.  But I'm rubbish at putting them on, I've only managed it properly once.  I chose these ones, not only for the pretty glittery band, with some black gems on it, but because the band looks pretty thick and easy to work with, which I hope will improve my application technique!

I will post some pictures of my makeup and eyes once I've done them - I'd better watch some false eyelashes videos on YouTube before to make sure I don't wreck my makeup.

Thanks for reading! xx

No 7 Colour Rebellion Palette and EOTD

One of the nicest things about blogging is that there's such a nice community of people, and lots of generous peeps who buy things out of their own hard own money to offer to their readers as giveaways!  I've been very lucky, winning two giveaways in a month.  Last week I won the No. 7 Colour Rebellion Palette from the very lovely x Diamonds and Pearls x.

I had been tempted by this palette, and I love the bright, vivid colours, and gorgeous funky packaging.  But, having been naughty and spent too much money on makeup recently, I decided to resist.  So it was a lovely surprise to find out I'd won the giveaway!

I've been experimenting recently with brighter colours, especially after I got my Urban Decay NYC BoS, so this is a great addition to my eye shadow collection. I think my favourite colours are the Chrome Green and Purple Haze, as well as Red Lead - very autumnal.  I'm less taken with the Indigo Blue - it's just a bit too bright for me.  But I can use it under my lower lashes to give an extra pop of colour.

I've had a bit of a play with some of the colours.  I've used Chrome Green on my lids, which has a lovely finish and Red Lead on the crease and outer corner.  I then used the blue and purple to line my lower lids.  The colours are pretty good quality and quite pigmented.  I found them easy to blend and to work with, although I don't think I chose the best combination of colours.

I'm really sorry about the quality of both my makeup application and my photos.  My boyfriend was hanging on the bathroom door whilst I was trying to apply it, and my camera just wouldn't take a good photo.  I think I'm going to have to make sure I take all my pics in natural light, as it just doesn't like artificial lights...

Many thanks again to x Diamonds and Pearls x for holding the giveaway - and go and check out her blog if you haven't already - it's very lovely!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Sample Sunday

Evening all!  I almost forgot about my Sample Sunday project, but I remembered in the nick of time - so here it is: Nivea Visage Radiance Boosting Eye Cream.

This promises to brighten and refine and give your eye a natural-looking and even radiance.  It also contains UVA/UVB filters.

I must admit that I don't always use an eye cream.  I often don't use makeup remover, so I just wash my face and use a normal moisturiser.  However, if I do use makeup remover, I usually use the Temple Spa eye cream, as I have loads of it from all my Mum's cruises.  As I've been thinking more about aging, I've started to use it more often.

The sample size is quite generous, and I should get a good few uses from it, especially as little is needed.  It absorbed quite easily and didn't sting at all, something I find can happen with eye creams.  My eye area feels very soft and moisturised now, so it seems to be working!  I can't really tell if it looks more radiant or brightened and refined, especially after just one use, but I usually think that this is just blurb anyway.  So this is one I'd definitely pick up if I saw it on offer and needed and eye cream.

I know that I'm supposed to be trialling the Murad anti-aging serum and eye cream at the moment.  However, I used it a couple of times (and I'm loving it by the way), and realised I hadn't taken any 'before' pictures to show how it works.  So I've stopped using it for a few days so my skin can get back to its natural state and will start again shortly to give it a proper trial.  I'll let you know how I get on!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Bristol Fashion Week

With all the excitement over London Fashion Week, I've been trying to join in, by attending a fashion show at Bristol Fashion Week.  Christopher Kane, Matthew Williamson, Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood at London Fashion Week in exciting venues, verses a tent in the car park of The Mall, Cribbs Causeway in Bristol and a fashion show sponsored by M&S and John Lewis.  It doesn't really compare in terms of glamour and excitement does it?  But I found it a really good night out and got loads of ideas and fashion lusts for Autumn Winter 2010/2011, and most of the clothes were affordable and available now and I've already ordered a few bits having seen them on the catwalk.

The fashion show contained outfits predominantly from M & S and John Lewis, as well as clothes from Dorothy Perkins, Animal, Jane Norman, River Island, La Senza, East, J D Sports, Karen Millen and Jigsaw.  It was a long show, more than an hour long, and hosted by Andrew Barton and Mark Heyes who made it entertaining and imparted some of their top fashion and hair tips for the new season.

The problem was, photography was prohibited, so I wasn't able to take any snaps of the clothes.  There was a running order of the different collections, but no catalogue showcasing the clothes and looks and prices etc.  I think that this would have been a great feature, as there were loads of things I wanted, but I've had to rely on my memory, especially as my pen ran out, so I couldn't even make any notes!

The highlight for me was the gothic/vampire inspired collection from Dorothy Perkins.  I've ordered a skirt and a dress that were showcased already!

I loved this leaf-print skirt from Dorothy Perkins

There was a lovely purple evening dress from M & S with a black band under the bust, with drapes of material cascading down from it, and hiding any tummy bulge.  This was worn by a larger model and it looked gorgeous on her.  Unfortunately, it's not yet released, so I can't show you a picture of it from the website, but it's definitely a winner for the Christmas party season.

There was a great dress and jacket from the brand Damsel in a Dress from John Lewis.  It is a tweed material with a golden silk sheen to it.  I'm not sure if it would suit me, being a larger busted girl, but it looked stunning on the model.

This is £169 from John Lewis

I loved the Karen Millen collection which included camel dresses and polo necks, with very interesting cuts and a slightly preppy/70s vibe.  I love the camel trend, it really makes a change from black, especially as I have a little white cat, so I spend my life cleaning my black clothes of white cat hairs!  They definitely won't show up against camel!

One of the collections showcased the new range of bags and shoes from Radley.  I wasn't taken with the shows which were multi-coloured and quite clumpy - not really my style.  However, I did love the bags which included 70s style patterns, a move away from those cutesy dog motifs. 

I was surpised that I loved the J D Sports collection.  It was all greys, hot pinks and vivid purples, and I've come away lusting a purple Adidas Hoodie, which I didn't expect to!

The major trends to emerge were:

• Camel, camel, camel, from leggings to coats, and including dresses.  I've definitely bought into this trend big style!
• Other colours were purples, greys and blacks.
• Lace T-shirts, dresses and tops, especially in black.
• A slight 1970s vibe.
• Aviator jackets.
• Military style jackets.
• Capes.
• Fur boots/gilets/fur-trims.
• Animal print.
• Cut-out shoes.
• Biker boots.

For hair, Andrew Barton said that the up-coming season would be about very short, sleek bobs, or long and big hair, rather than straight hair, enhanced with clip-on extensions.   He said that colour trends are moving to dark browns, verging on the black, possibly with purple highlights, or a purple tone to dark hair.  That's good news to me, as I've always maintained my brunette locks!

The tickets cost £8, and I though that was a fair price as the seats gave a really good view.  There was also a goodie bag for everyone which was stuffied with booty - definitely worth more than £8 alone. 

All in all, it was a good night out, and I liked the fact it was accessible and affordable fashion, most of which could be ordered straight away.  However, it was a shame that there wasn't  a catalogue of the prices.

I've ordered a lot of clothes for the new season after going to the fashion show (as I couldn't face hitting the shops this weekend), so I'm looking forward to showing you all when they arrive!

Thanks for reading! xx

NOTD - YSL Manicure Couture Duo - Belle de Nuit

I bought this a while ago, but I've been going crazy with nail polish at the moment, so I've only got round to doing this manicure now.  It took me ages to decide whether to go to the Belle de Nuit or Belle de Jour.  But I went for Belle de Nuit in the end.  I decided that the gold was more Christmasy and I was looking for a winter polish.  I do love the colours of Belle de Jour though, so I might ask for it for Christmas!

You must excuse the fact that my application is so rubbish and my cuticles are awful!  I just can't get French manicures straight!

I'm not sure about the formula or application.  It's quite thick and only one coat is needed. In fact, I think the gold was slightly too thick and it took absolutely ages to dry.  It has an angled brush, which I don't really like - I'd prefer just a normal one. It's lasted pretty well - 4 days later and only a couple of chips, although I did apply a top coat.

Since I've been blogging I've become much bolder with my day to day nails.  Before, I'd wear a traditional French manicure or very pale colour.  If I was feeling adventurous, I'd wear a red.  Now I wear loads of different colours - last week it was Khaki Vert, before, Paradoxal, I've gone for very dark plums and lots of other colours!  I'm sure that my colleagues are used to my crazy nails now, so no one turned a hair about my nails this week.  I dress quite smartly for work, so I think I'm allowed wild nails!

Thanks for reading! xx

Urban Decay NYC BoS 3 - Another EOTD

Hello ladies.  When I first got my Urban Decay Book of Shadows 3 I was worried I wouldn't use it often, so I blogged a couple of times here and here about some looks I came up with that were wearable.  But since then, I haven't touched it!

I went to a gig yesterday so I decided it was a perfect opportunity to dig out the palette.  By the way, I went to see The Vaselines at The Thekla in Bristol.  They were fab, and probably the closest I'm ever going to get to seeing Nirvana live (and yes I have seen the Foo Fighters before).  So it was a good night.

Anyway, here are the pictures of my eyes.  I decided not to go for a full on ultra-bright look, as that's just not me, but did go for a much bolder look than I would normally go for.

My camera has washed out some of the colours - it was much bolder in real life, I swear!

Check out that glitter!

So I started with Money, and used it all over my lower lids.  I like the colour, but it is quite glittery - probably a bit too glittery for me.  I then decided to rock purple colours, and went for Psychadelic Sister on my crease and at the outer corner of my lid.  I really liked this shade - it's not too dark or as scary as it looks in the pan, and it's very easy to blend out.  Best of all, it's not glittery!  I used Rockstar in my outer-v - well I was going to a gig afterall wasn't I?  Again, this was a lovely and easy to use shadow, very blendable.  As with all the Urban Decay shadows, I find that a little goes a very long way.  I was literally just touching my brush onto the pan to load up.

One of the problems with this palette is that there isn't a good highlight colour.  I used Uzi, which would be a good highlighter if it wasn't so ultra glittery.  And the glitter is really large glitter as well, which I really don't like.  I used it, but there was still glitter on my face after removing my makeup last night, and I even still spotted a stubborn bit of sparkle this morning!

I finished the look with a bit of Bordello under my lower lashes, and used the black liner (Zero) on my upper lids, and waterline and the purple line (Ransom) under my lower lashes.

I'm still not 100% impressed with this palette.  I fear it will be sat gathering dust under my bed, rather than getting regular use like my Naked palette is.  Some of the shades are just uber-glittery which really puts me off, as they are lovely colours.  And I hate the fact I can't do a complete eye from just one palette without cracking open the glitter.  But some of the non-glittery colours are great!

Thank you for reading!  xx

Murad Intensive Wrinkle Reducer - My Mum's Car Boot Loot

I think I've blogged before about how my Mum is the polar opposite of my sisters and I when it comes to makeup and beauty - she's just not interested in it!  How she managed to have two beauty obsessed daughters and a beautician for a step-daughter I don't know.  Anyway, this is to our benefit, as she always collects any beauty goodies she finds and lets us take our pick.

I spent a lovely weekend with my parents over the last couple of days and she had some new goodies to offer and I got first dibs.  My Mum had spotted an airplane bag she liked at a car boot sale and snapped it up for a £1 with the unused beauty products still inside.  As ever, I claimed the goodies, all by Murad, a brand I'd never heard of before.  They are 7ml of Intensive Wrinkle Reducer, 6ml of Intensive Wrinkle Reducer For Eyes and 3.5g of Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector SPF 15.

I popped them in my beauty storage to try out later, and thought no more about them.  Until I was browsing Beauty Bay today and spotted the Murad brand was available.  Curious, I decided to check out the products to see what they were like.  And I was amazed at the prices.  30ml of the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer costs...wait for it... £150!!!  And 15ml of the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer For Eyes is an eye-watering £60!  Even the lip balm is £10.50 for 15ml.  I also had a look at the Murad website.

So after a bit of maths, I reckon I have £35 of the Intensive Wrinkle Reducer, £24 of the Eye Wrinkle Reducer and £2.45 of the lip balm.  That's a total of £61.45 worth of products, and my Mum paid £1!  Bargain of the century I think!

Since I turned 30 last year, I've been getting increasingly worried about aging and have noticed more and more wrinkles, sorry, fine lines so I've regularly been using No 7 Intense Serum in an attempt to reduce the need for Botox.  The No 7 serum  doesn't seem to be making any difference to my wrinkles, but it does seem to improve my skin generally.  However, according to various sources online, the Murad Intensive Wrinkle Reducer claims to reduce wrinkles by variously 33% in 4 weeks and 55% in 12 weeks.  I'm not sure how I could measure this, but I thought I'd trial these products for you and see what difference they make to my wrinkles, erm, I mean fine lines!  At the advertised prices, I'm expecting total Botox action - I've never used such an expensive product before, so I've got high hopes!

There dosen't seem to be many reviews in the blogging community if you Google these products, so I'll try to remedy that.  I'll blog again in a week or so with an update on how they are getting on and how my wrinkles are doing - I can't wait to try them out tonight!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Sample Sunday time!

Hello all!  I don't know about you, but I've had a manically busy week, so I've hardly been doing any posting or catching up with anyone elses blogs.  It's nice to have a lazy Sunday to catch up a bit on the internet.  All I need to do today is my ironing for the week and to paint my nails.  I've yet to decide which colours to go for, so I might be on twitter asking for you suggestions in a bit!

Anyway, it's Sample Sunday time!  Today I tried out Radiance Boosting Moisturiser by Nivea Visage.  It claims to hydrate the skin, whilst refining the complexion, to give a natural-looking, even radiance and it contains UVA/UVB filters. 

I really liked this moisturiser.  It was rich enough for my skin, but not too heavy, like a night cream would be.  I didn't notice any improvement in my complexion or 'radiance' but on one use, I wouldn't really expect to.  It's quite a few hours since I used the cream, but my skin still feels good and not at all tight.  I usually use a Nivea moisturiser as a day cream, so I like the brand anyway.  This is definitely a cream I'd use again and I would buy it.

Thanks for reading!  xx

Winner of my 50 followers giveaway!

Happy lazy Sunday afternoon all!  Thank you to all my followers, and thanks to all those who entered my 50 followers giveaway.

I've now totted up all the entries, both as comments on my blog and on Twitter, given them and number and entered them into Random.org to pick a winner.

And the winner is.....(drum roll...)

Stacey from Oh I love you pretty baby

Well done Stacey!  I'll be emailing you in a second to let you know you're the winner!

Thanks again to all who entered and to everyone who reads my blog.  It means so much to me that you take time to read my thoughts and opinions. 

Thanks for reading!  xx

50 Followers Giveaway - Closing Soon!

Hi all.

Just a quick post to say that my 50 followers giveaway is closing tonigh at midnight - it's your last chance to enter!  You can enter here.

The giveaway includes Wildly Refined Lipglass from MAC, Smoky Eyeliner from No 7, Wild Curls mascara from 17, Superstar eye shadow from 17, a No 7 gift set and 3 nail polishes from ELF.

Apologies for not being around much over the last week - I've been so busy.  I hope to catch up tomorrow!

Thanks for reading xx

NOTD - Chanel Les Khakis - Khaki Vert

Just a quick little nail of the day post today.  It's Khaki Vert from the Chanel Les Khakis collection, and yes, I did make a special trip to Selfridges to pick it up!

It's pretty easy to apply, dries relatively quickly and has lasted for a couple of days so far without chipping.  I applied two coats and a top coat and got a great, opaque finish.

Excuse the state of my cuticles!

It's not normally a shade I'd wear to work, but I've been wearing it this week.  It's quite muted, so I think I can get away with it.  I was a bit worried as I wore it to a meeting today and I wasn't sure it would be appropriate.  I needn't have worried - the woman I was meeting had bright green nail polish, so my nails looked rather drab in comparison!

What do you think?  I rather like it, but I think this will be a 'marmite' colour - you'll either love it or you'll hate it!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Sample Sunday

I'm having a very lazy Sunday afternoon, having had a brilliant week off last week, but not looking forward about going back to work tomorrow.  I've spent the week visiting a National Trust country house, having a less than satisfactory pampering afternoon, going to Wales and visiting a castle and abbey, getting a Virgin HD box installed, going to London and visiting Selfridges, the Hendrix exhibition, mooching around record shops, going to the British Museum, and seeing my friend yesterday who I've not seen for a couple of years.  I've had so much fun, and the thought of work tomorrow isn't thrilling me!

Anyway, it's Sample Sunday time.  Today I'm trying this Radiance Boosting Daily Scrub from Nivea Visage.  My skin was in pretty bad condition this morning, as I had a few too many glasses of vino last night, and hadn't slept well.  I needed a good scrub to help my face recover.  So how did this one do?  Well it was OK.  It wasn't quite scrubby enough for my liking (regular readers will know that I like a good scrub), but it was did have a bit of a scrub and my skin did look a lot better afterwards than before.  I think it would be a good scrub for sensitive skin, as it didn't seem too harsh or drying. I don't think I'd buy it, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at it either!

The sample wasn't very generous.  I think there's enough for two applications in the packet, as I emptied it into a little pot and there's enough to use tomorrow as well.

Thanks for reading! xx

NOTD - OPI My Private Jet

Hello all!  I thought I'd share with you my nail of the day.  Today, I'm wearing My Private Jet by OPI.

I'd seen this swatched a couple of times on other blogs, so decided to get it for myself.  It's a gorgeous dark brown/black shade with a whole load of glitter!  But it's not an in your face glitter - the nail polish has a depth to it, with the glitter suspended deep in the polish.  The photos really don't do it justice.  It drys completely smooth as well, with no glitter fall-out.

The photos are taken on the second day with two coats and no topcoat.

In other exciting nail varnish news, I purchased Khaki Vert from the Chanel Les Khakis range, as I just happened to be passing Selfridges yesterday.  I also got the Marvala Elle polish from John Lewis.  I'm looking forward to trying them both all out soon!

Don't forget to enter my 50 followers giveaway!

Thanks for reading! xx

Delightful Parcels

Hello all!  I was lucky enough to win the delightful Sabra Rose's 100 followers giveaway - go and check out her fab blog here!

I was so excited when the postie dropped off my parcel, as she had a spectacular giveaway!  I'm so pleased with the products - they are all, without a doubt, fab!

The giveaway included:

Cherry Cupcake Hand Cream

Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Fresh Glow Baked Mineral Blush in 01 Pink

Sarah Jessica Parker New York City Perfume 15ml

Urban Decay Icon Lipstick in Tease

Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in Peach

Since I received the parcel, I've used the Prestige blush everyday, it's a really pretty colour and really suits my skin tone.  I've also used the SJP perfume everyday and I love the smell.

L-R Prestige Pink, Revlon Peach, Urban Decay Tease

Both the lipsticks are in really lovely wearable colours  I've been wearing both of them, alternating between the two!  The packaging for the Urban Decay lipstick is devine, with a little dagger on the end.  Yesterday I went to a Medieval Castle, and then a Medieval Abbey in Wales - I wore the dagger lipstick, as I thought it was appropriately Medieval!

I'm saving the hand cream for my desk at work when I go back next week!  My office is so ugly, it really needs something pretty to cheer it up a bit!

Thanks for reading, and many thanks again to Sabra Rose (don't forget to check out her blog)!!  xx