Is this the world's oldest makeup?

I'm thinking of turning this into a competition ... how old is your oldest bit of makeup?  

I know that you're supposed to change mascara every three months, and it generally dries out after about 5 or 6 months, but what about other products?  I mean I have eyeshadow sat in my makeup bag that have got to be 4 or 5 years old.  I've also got an eyeliner which I'm sure I bought in the late 1990s (it still works fine - I just sharpen it)!

But even my decade old eyeliner is nothing.  No, zooming into the lead with the oldest makeup I can think of is my Mum.  She still has original (and I mean 1960s original) Mary Quant eyeshadow!  And until recently, it was still used...  Here are some photos (love the green colour - most of the purple used was by me when I was a teenager and these clearly aren't the original brushes):

Now my Mum is not a makeup person - she only wears makeup on a night out, and minimal makeup at that.  Rummaging in her makeup bag this weekend, I found two lipsticks , some tinted moisturiser, a powder compact and two eye shadow duos (one blue one green).  That is it!  No mascara, no blusher, no eyeliner! She swore that she chucked out the Mary Quant eyeshadows, but I found them hidden away at the back of her toiletries drawer.  I was amazed that one of her lipsticks was Chanel, but she said she only had it as she forgot to take her make up bag on a cruise, so she had to buy it on board - it was Chanel or nothing!

We reckoned that these eyeshadows are 45 years old, given that she was a funky 60s girl, living in Kensington in the mid-60s. Can you beat 45 year old eyeshadow, or is this the world's oldest?

Packing for a Trip Away

Tonight I thought I'd do a quick post because I'm going away for the weekend for my friend's baby shower in London. I'm travelling by train and tube, so I've got to keep my packing fairly light, so I've put together my make up and beauty kits already - well for me I've packed light!

I'm staying with my parents, so I don't need to take too much with me - I can always nick shower gel off them, and I've got a load of old t-shirts there to wear in bed.  At this point I should confess, that although this is the Bristol Beauty Blog, I'm not a Bristolian by birth (although I've lived here for many years).  I'm actually a Londoner.  Infact, I've been told that I'm a proper cockney, born within the sound of Bow Bells.  Anyway, my family and a lot of my friends still live in the Big Smoke, so I visit them often, and I'm there for work about once a week.  But as much as I love the city of my birth, I couldn't live there again.  The sprawl, the bustle, the pollution of London is all a bit too much for me - I much prefer living in a smaller city - hence I live in lovely Bristol! 

Anyway, after that confessional, here's my toiletries kit:

I always keep hold of samples and minatures and keep them all in this plastic case, specially for travelling.  I've got quite a few now, especially as my boyfriend travels abroad a lot for work, and is under strict instructions to empty out all the hotels he stays in of their toiletries.  In fact, this case is stuffed full of minature shampoos and shower gels - I had to empty it out before packing it today.

I've got Body Shop Olive shampoo and conditioner, as well as a bit of Body Shop shower gel, some John Frieda serum and hairspray I bought as a reduced gift set after Christmas one year, some minature Nivea deodorent and No. 7 Protect and Intense Serum, No. 7 Radiance Revealed exfoliator (not that I think much of this), some cleansing wipes, a shower cap, travel toothbrush and toothpaste, Nivea moisturiser and Savlon, perfume I'm using at the moment and Mac Prep + Prime.  That should keep me going for a one night stay.

For my face, I'm taking my Technic Hide It! concealer quad (which is fab), Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Foundation and some Rimmel pressed power, as I don't want to take loose powder with me.

For my eyeshadows, I've got Mystic Moss from Elf, a highlighter colour freebie from No. 7 and a purpley/taupe colour from Stilla.  I've got a Bourjois blusher in Brune.

I've also packed Rimmel lipstick in Nude Pink, Body Shop lip and cheek stain (free with In Style) and Elf minty lip gloss in Boston.

I'm taking along a selection of brushes - a Prestige kabuki brush that I don't really rate, but don't mind if it gets a bit battered, Elf complexion, smudge and contour brushes (they are great), a Ruby and Millie brush and a MAC 210 for eyeliner.  I'm also taking a brow pencil, Mac Smoulder eyeliner and my free sample of Chanel Inimitable Intense which is fab and eyelash curlers.  

Not pictured is MAC fluidline in Blacktrack and UDPP.

Well, I'm sure I'll be able to get a few looks out of that lot!  I'm a bit undecided whether to do my makeup in the morning before I leave and hope it survives the journey - specifically the tube, or just do my face and leave my eyes for just before I go to the baby shower - I'll probably do the latter.

Thanks for reading! xx

Haul-tastic (lots of photos)

One of the best things about my job is that I get to visit lots of town centres across the country to look at shops.  And of course, this gives me the opportunity to pop into the shops.  Today, I spent my lunch break wizzing round a town in South Wales and managed to get quite a good haul, including some sale bargains.

First up, this fab dress from Dorothy Perkins, which comes with a black belt.  I love it, it's classic but fun!  It cost £40, which I think is reasonable for a dress this great!

 

Secondly, I got this grey, jacket made from jersey fabric from H & M.  It cost £24.99, which I think is pretty good for a versatile jacket.  I can definitely wear it to work or dress it down with skinny jeans.

I saw this faux leather, biker style jacket in H & M for a bargainous £34.99 and I had to have it!  I'm sorry I couldn't get it photograph properly.

I thought I'd wear the dress and faux-leather jacket together for my best friend's baby shower this weekend to give the girly dress an edgier look.  I'll probably dress it up with pearls. What do you think?

I also got three pairs of shoes from the sale at Topshop - flats with an ankle strap, mid-heels with a peep toe and some small booties.  It cost less than £50 for all three.

I also picked up some bargain jewellery.  A set of 6 bracelets cost £6 at Dotty Ps.  I'm not sure I like the earrings that much now - but they were £2 and £1 each at Topshop, so I'm not that bothered...

Finally, I picked up a Hello Kitty palette and lip balms at M & S - one of the lip balms and the palette are a present for my sister, so I haven't opened them.  

The palette has lip and eye colours, and quite a nice range of shades - not bad for £7.50.  The lip balms were £2 each, but I don't think they're very good.  They are bright pink, and have a synthetic, sweet, fruity taste which is horrible!  I won't be buying them again!

Well, I'm all hauled out for the moment - I think I'd better keep my wallet shut until after next payday!

Thanks for reading!  xx

Fashion Lust of the Day

I've been lusting after this lovely dress from Next for a couple of weeks now, after spotting it in a magazine.

According to In Style magazine, one of the key trends for A/W is 90s style simplicity, with camel coloured clothes being a micro-trend within the simplicity trend.  In that case, this dress is bang on for next season. I'm not thinking too much about it - I'm going to buy it and rock the simplicity/camel look.  I think £40 is reasonable. I did look for it in store at the weekend, but they didn't have much in, post-sale.

I remember the camel look very well from the 90s.  I was a teenager at the time, and couldn't afford any of it, but loved the look.  I cut pictures of camel clothing out of Face magazine and stuck them all over my bedroom...

I think it's a pretty versatile dress - I can wear it on its own for the end of summer, with a blazer, or polo neck and tights as we get into autumn.  It's smart enough to wear to a business meeting, for fine for just a normal day in the office.  Plus I've already got some camel shoes to wear with it.

Right, I'm off to purchase it now!

Thanks for reading!  x

Beauty for blokes (that is good for girls as well)

There's not many of my boyfriend's beauty products that I would use.  Mainly because he doesn't have any!  I've used his conditioner in an emergency, the cheapest one from Tesco, and I wouldn't recommend it.  But he does have a couple of products that I've tried on occasion and now I probably use them as much as he does.

The first is Mens Body Hair & Body Wash from the Boots Botanics range.  Whilst I wouldn't use this for my hair, I think it's a brilliant shower gel.  It foams up really well on a shower puff, and cleans really well.  The best thing about this is the smell.  It has a very fresh, almost citrusy smell, with just the merest hint of masculinity.  You feel really clean after washing with it.  I think this is a great unisex product - I certainly stock up when it's on offer, give them to my boyfriend and then  nick it when I'm in the shower.

The second product I would recommend is Mens Oil Control Face Scrub, also from Boots Botanics.  I think this is a fantastic exfoliator and I probably use it more than he does.  Again, it has a unisex fragrance - I really love the smell - it's fresh, but not astringent smelling.  It's a very 'scratchy' exfoliator which I love.  My skin can get irritated by some fascial scrubs, especially the more scratchy ones, and I do like to exfoliate every day.  But this one doesn't irritate my skin at all, and leaves it feeling really smooth.  I'd buy this for myself over any other exfoliator in this price range, if I didn't have a boyfriend to steal it from.

There are some male products I hate to use.  If I run out of shaving gel, I'll use conditioner rather than a mens one - I had the smell lingering on my legs (althought I like it on him).  I also will go without deodorent rather than use a manly smelling one - I hate getting a whiff of it during the day.  But I'm glad I've discovered a couple of male beauty products that I love so much.

Have you uncovered any hidden beauty gems in your partner's bathroom cabinet?

Thanks for reading! xx

What Bristolians are Buying (according to the Sunday Times Style Mag)

Since this blog is the Bristol Beauty Blog, I thought I'd do a quick Bristol-specific post.  I read an article today in the Sunday Times Style mag about what make-up items are popular in different cities around the country, including the fair city of Bristol.

Apparently, we Bristolians are into classic black eyeliner and volumising mascara.  We're also into perfect skin coverage and always get the right colour shade with our foundation.

Whilst that's interesting to know, I'm not sure whether it really means anything.  I mean, I like eyeliner, mascara and foundation as much as the next girl, and blogged about my foundation a couple of days ago, but I also love blusher, lippy, nail polish etc just as much! 

Anyway, this article also looks at other cities in the UK including Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with an obligatory reference to the stereotype of Geordie girls going out in the winter without a coat.  Hmmmm, I take that back, that's only English cities.  There's no mention of Scottish of Welsh towns.  I'm sure my celtic sisters are equally into their makeup! 

Anyway, just thought I'd point this out in case you fancied a read.

Thanks for reading! x

Eye of the Day

Yesterday, I went to my friend’s Cuban-themed party as a revolutionary, wearing a military style outfit, with a camouflage hat.  For my makeup, I thought I’d try out a version of this gunmetal, smoky eyed look that the fabulous Carahamelie03 posted on YouTube this week.  I had to substitute some of the products and adapted it slightly to try to get a more military toned look, whilst introducing some bronzy colours to the rest of my face.  I wasn’t very pleased with how it turned out initially, as I found it difficult to stop the colours getting too muddy, but actually after looking at my photos, I think it looks quite good – let me know if you agree!

I first of all primed my eyes with Urban Decay Primer Potion.  I then used the lightest colour from the Revlon Illuminence Creme Shadow palette in Wild Orchids as a base, all over my lids.  I followed this with Shale by MAC, again all over my lids and into the crease, bringing it up at the outer corner, as Carah suggests.  For a highlighter, I used a yellowy, sparkly colour from the Coastal Scents Warm 88 palette under my brow bone and in the inner corner.

Lightest shade of Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow on the left

I used Smoulder by Mac as a thick messy liner on my top lash line, waterline and under my lower lashes, which I smudged using a pencil brush both under and over my lashes.  Using the same pencil brush, I used a sparkly olive green colour from the Coastal Scents palette over the top of the smudged black liner, bringing it up towards the crease at the outer third of my eye, as well as just under my lower lashes.  This was the bit I had a lot of trouble with – I thought that it looked quite muddy, and found the shadow quite difficult to blend.

L - R, Revlon Creme Shadow, Shale, Coastal Scent Highlighter, CS Green

For a liner, I used the MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, applied with the 210 MAC brush.  I decided not to go for falsies, but used Prestige My Biggest Lashes as mascara.  I used the 17 eyebrow pencil in natural brow for my brows.

On my face I used Elf bronzer in Warm and Elf blusher in Mellow Mauve.  I opted for Thrills from MAC’s To The Beach collection on my lips.  This is a fantastic orange toned red shot through with shimmer and I love it!  It’s still available on the MAC website under goodbyes, and I thoroughly recommend it!

Warm Bronzer and Mellow Mauve Blush

Thrills by MAC

Thanks for reading x