shakespeare.and.stilettos

my new blog...

2011-02-03T22:08:00.001Z

Here is a link to my brand new blog. Its now sort of up and running and it would be lovely if you could pop by and check it out and maybe even follow it too :) x x x

http://sugarledge.blogspot.com/

x x x

Its time to say goodbye

2011-01-18T18:23:00.004Z

Its time to say goodbye my loves! Yes it saddens me to say that this blog has come to a final halt. I will no longer post here – something I have grown to love doing through the past 18 months or so our cyber arms have linked in honour of our shared love of the beauty world. We all know that growth is inevitable and I need to embrace the necessity that burns within me to do something truer to who I am and what I want to stand for. I do believe that every moment I spent on this blog was absolutely worth it but I’m different girl from when this begun and my endeavours must reflect that! I did not lose interest in beauty blogging or get frustrated with ‘haters’, It’s just that there are more important things I felt I need to say about other things I am passionate about. Its been a learning curve and a love affair - this makeup thing, and now its time for something else.

I will be moving on to a brand new blog – something that will have a melange of other things –politics, development, literature, amour, positivity,travel, girly chit chat and life. Yes there will be makeup as well- less so than here but (hopefully) better quality posts SINCE you can take a girl out of the beauty world but … :)

You may or may not wish to follow me onto my new blog/journey however I want to thank you from the very core of my heart because some of the loveliest moments I had were because you read my blog and supported me so much! I didn’t think this process would be at all emotional but alas I have to stop typing and get tissue because my eyes are leaking tears and my screen is getting blurry….

Be brave. Love hard. Fight for what you believe in. Chase your dreams. Maintain your integrity and Hold your head up high like the gorgeous & amazing woman that you are.

And if you ever doubt your abilities know that I support and believe in you and that you are so special and incredibly loved!

Kisses and Blessings

I truly appreciate & love you all. THANKYOU!!! Au revoir, mes cheris x x x

ps; ill update this post with details of my other blog (but only if people are interested)

3 basic winter beauty tips

2010-12-16T00:21:00.005Z

SKIN & HAIR- the aim is to retain as much moisture as you can in your skin and your hair to keep them gorgeous despite the harsh weather. get rich emolient body butters and hair conditioners to keep your skin smooth and supple & hair healthy and shiny. Adding a few drops of olive oil to a mediocre lotion or conditioner will enrich its quality so you dont have to buy a new one! My normal face moisturiser wasnt cutting it so i switched to using just a drop of pure wheatgerm oil on my face and its working wonders.So where oils might be greasy at other times of the year, if the moisturiser youre using is falling short, adding/switching to an oil might do the trick.Dont forget your hand cream- you might want to bestow one with permanent residence in your bag.

MAKEUP- this is the season to crack open your liquid and cream makeup products- eg liquid foundation, cream blushes, eyeshadows etc are likely to sit better on the skin, give a glow and are less likely to look dry and cakey in comparison with their powder counterparts.Same applies to your creamy lipsticks. You also need a good lipbalm constantly in reach.I love my Elizabeth Arder 8 hr cream, Mac tinted lip conditioner and Lush 'honey trap' lipbalm.There are so many good lipbalms on the market though!Id stay away from vaseline since it coats the lips thus protecting them froh harsh weather but doesn't nourish, soften or really moisturise them.

BODY- a hollistic approach to these things is always ideal for better results. What you consume counts a lot so DRINK LOTS OF WATER. This will particularly help detoxify the body with all the mulled wine, eggnog etc drinking that happens at this time of the year. I know you hear it all the time but no cream can do to your skin what water can.Our standard eating habits don't tend to be the healthiest around this time of the year but little things like drinking natural teas to warm you up help. my favourite is green tea! Its rich in antioxidants and has lots of lovely benefits.If its taste is too bitter for you, just add a tea spoon of honey and youre good!

Hope this is helpful and id love to hear your tips! :) x x x

Face of the day - olive & festive :)

2010-12-02T20:36:00.006Z

was at home playing with makeup yesterday :) experimenting with a green christmas pary look (which i was filming a tutorial on) and ended up with this!
eyes-mac eyeshadows in 'sumptuous olive' & 'plumage', black eyeshadow to deepen crease and mac no33 lashes (just one last cut in two and used for the outer corners)(also nxy milk pencil & mac black greasepaint stick as bases)
cheeks-bobbi brown 'pale pink' blush & nars 'taj mahal' blush
lips- rimmel 'vintage pink' & mac lustreglass 'pink karat'

hope you like it! x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless!

Christmassy nail polish

2010-11-29T00:44:00.004Z

Basically the green version of the dazzling 'ruby pumps'(check that out HERE), the aptly named 'emerald sparkle' is my new favourite polish for christmas! For all those christmas parties to celebrate the seasons festivities round the corner, i love going for a classic black dress with dramatic makeup and nails and both 'ruby pumps' and 'emerald sparkle' really pack a punch!

What is your favourite nailpolish for christmas time!? x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

A Rimmel Rave

2010-11-29T00:07:00.006Z

Ive recently fallen in love with Rimmel's Colour Mousse which are cream eyeshadows I purchased a few months ago. There was some sort of offer going on when I was picking up a backup of my favourite pink lipstick (rimmel's 'vintage pink!)so i threw two of these in my basket not expecting anything special.Here they are:
the purple on the left is called 'galaxy'013 and the bronze 'mocha'012

They are cream eyeshadows which Rimmel claim last for 8 hours. I have tried them completely on their own and got 6 hours of solid colour before they started wearing off. Considering i didn't wear any eyeshadow base at all and have oily lids, thats really impressive. I enjoy my benefit creaseless cream shadow however it would not have anything near that level of staying power if i didnt wear my too faced shadow insurance with it.

Here are swatches
Another thing I love about these cream shadows is the gorgeous depth they give when worn underneath other eyeshadows.For a glimpse of 'mocha' in action, check out my recent 'travel makeup tips' video HERE There I am wearing it underneath sleek eyedust in 'dirty' and a dark grey nyc shadow.

Would love to know what you think if youve tried them!x

Plenty Love & God Bless

nail polish - epic fail

2010-11-09T19:57:00.004Z

This is china glaze's liquid leather. Looks like a gorgeous intense black right? I was horrified to discover how poor the quality of this nail polish was when i applied it. I dont think i would have reached full opacity after 5 coats. I dont know if its just mine that is problematic or this particular polish but having never had a bad experience with china glace, previously, i just can't believe how terrible this is!Please let me know if youve experienced this?

Plenty Love & God Bless

October Favourites

2010-11-09T19:52:00.001Z

Foundation Review: Yves Saint Laurent Perfect Touch Radiant Brush Foundation.

2010-10-29T21:19:00.007+01:00

Foundation is a very personal affair and reasons why one person loves a particular foundation could be the same ones for another person hating it.Therefore, I'll quickly go over the more personal aspects of the foundation before the clear cut positives and negatives.

Coverage- It gives medium coverage though leaning more towards light than heavy. If you have fairly good skin you'll love it and if you like full coverage, youll hate it.The great thing about this aspect of the foundation is that rather than looking like you have foundation on, you look like your skin is just naturally really gorgeous (provided you blend it well).It however will not cover spots, blemishes etc You'd need concealer for that!

Finish-It gives a lovely 'glowy'/'radiant' effect. Its actually very similar to Nars Sheer Glow Foundation, in this regard-they have almost the exact same finish.

Wear- This depends on your skin type. If you have oily/ combination skin, this will NOT last on you for more than an hour if you dont set it with a powder. When set with a powder it lasts for a couple of hours but you might still need to reapply powder. If you have normal or dry skin, however, its likely to last on your skin all day especially if you set it.

Some Positives
Quality: This is a foundation that I bought ages ago and rediscovered about 3-4 months ago.It hadn't gone off, or had any changes in consistency or scent.Also,With the exception of the silly brush, the packaging is lovely and travel friendly.Furthermore,I haven't had any skin reactions whatsoever towards it.Finally it smells quite nice.

Sun Protection: It'll make a good summer foundation because it contains UVA protection.

Some Negatives
Design: The product is designed with a brush attached to it which you are meant to use to apply your foundation with. Im my opinion, the brush is completely useless for 2 reasons. 1.It results in streaky application and is difficult to blend with. 2. its really unhygenic. you can ofcourse clean the brush with alcohol but its harder to get it completely clean since you can't actually wash it and the foundations comes out through and gets trapped within it. I understand that their intention was to make things more convenient so you don't need an extra brush but this just makes things worse.You can actually pull the brush off, so its not a complete nuisance.

Limited colour selection: I wear shade no.12 and its either the darkest or the second to the darkest shade they make. Some other YSL foundations namely the Teint Resist, stops at shade number 10. Apart from not representing darker skinned women, it doesn't have many shades period so most people would have to mix two foundation for a decent match.

Overall? Its one of those foundations that you either really love or cant stand. I would recommend trying it before purchasing especially because of the price.l really like it but think its much better suited to dry/normal skin.

Please let me know what your experiences were if you have tried this or any other YSL foundation :) xxxxxxxxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

Palette Love...

2010-10-28T20:23:00.007+01:00

Perving at photos of the eyeshadow palettes in mac's holiday collection -a tartan tale (which you can find on temptalia) just reminded me of how much I love a good palette-eyeshadow palettes in particular. They're conveniently travel friendly, better value for money and help you choose the colours that go best together, incase you're an indecisive nutter like me.

Regardless of that, though, I find it really difficult to travel with JUST ONE palette.as opposed to 5 palettes and 35 single eyeshadows. I'd obviously rationalise a decision like that quite well

e.g Im taking them just in case the world is coming to an end and that shade of teal with subtle silver shimmer and a purple duocrome and hints of a bluish-yellow undertones is the only thing that can save us(!?).

Excellent reasoning, obviously.

what are your favourite eyeshadow palettes? are you planning on getting anything from the 'a tartan tale' collection? Are you one of the sensible ones who can resist the urge to take a crazy amount of eyeshadow when just one palette will suffice??? If you are, I envy you! :) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day- berry bronze

2010-10-28T20:03:00.004+01:00

Just an 'everyday face', nothing special.
eyes-mac 'bronze' eyeshadow and 2 colours from my sleek(chaos)palette- a matte cranberry shade & black, clinique black gel liner & loreal voluminous mascara in 'carbon black'
cheeks -deborah milano paprika blush & sleek contour powder
lips -nars 'niagara' lipstick (patted on lightly since its a rich coral)& chanel 'insouciance' lipgloss(nude colour)

please ignore the lunatic eyebrows :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

China Glaze Haul

2010-10-22T18:41:00.006+01:00

ive recently been craving really DARK nail polish.

perhaps its the season

...and because they always look amazing on short nails.meet 'liquid leather'(left) & 'up all night'(right) the latest additions to my nailpolish collection.I only just realised i didn't own any black nailpolish(wh-aat?!), hence liquid leather.

ps:i also love how boys don't 'understand' black nailpolish ;)

Plenty Love & God Bless

My top 10 drugstore make-up products

2010-10-21T20:41:00.010+01:00

These are my top 10 *cough* 12 make up products which are affordable and available at pharmacies namely Superdrug and Boots in the UK. They are in no particular order. Needless to say, the list is not exhaustive especially since my makeup is split between 3 countries and 2 continents at the moment, but most of the good stuff is here :)I've also included prices so you have an idea of what they cost.

1. L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in 'carbon black' $7.49It holds its own next to any high-end mascara. I bought lancome hypnose thinking it would be better that this. I prefer this by a mile!Ive barely touched the lancome.Unfortunately, I think theyve stopped selling it in the UK but its definitely still availabe in America

2.Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick in 'stare at me' no.250 £5.99this is my 'feelin' brave' on a normal day lipstick. there's something about this rosy burgundy lipstick that made me fall in love with a colour that would normally terrify me. It looks AMAZE with nothing but thick winged black eyeliner.

3.Sleek Contour PaletteI dont use the 'highlight' bit at all since its too shimmery for me but the matte contour color is spot on for adding definition to my cheekbones. It come in 3 shades, I use the darkest one and just think its great because its rare to find this sort of product done by a more affordable brand.

4.NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in 'milk' $4The perfect base over my too faced shadow insurance for ensuring that the intensity of my lighter eyeshadows shows up on my skin.

5.Collection 2000 Fast Stroke Liquid Eyeliner £2.99I've raved about it before. It makes doing eyeliner super easy!Check out a review of it here.

6.Sleek eyeshadow palette£5.99We all know how amazingly pigmented they are. This is the all matte limited edition 'chaos' palette.

7.L'oreal color riche lipstick in 'silk/sepia'one of my favourite nude lipsticks ever!

8.Barry M 'beige' no.38 dazzle dust £4.50my best highlight (for inner corner and underneath brows) with the exception of nars 'night star' eyeshadow.Its also a really pretty lid colour.

9.Prestige eyeshadow in 'MEC 01-earth' £4.49as you can see, mine is a bit of a disaster zone, but not for lack of love. Matte colours tend to be more difficult to find in drugstore brands so this cool toned dark matte brown is a godsend.

10.Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 'vintage pink' no.180 £5.99my fave pink ever. its a dupe for mac 'syrup' lipstick and has hints of mauve and purple.lovely!

11. Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara in 'black' £10.99I do think its overpriced (its usually on offer for £7.99 so that helps) for a drugstore mascara but considering that high-end ones go for £18 and up and most dont do what they claim to, its somewhat justified. It does give the false lash effect it claims to.

12. NYC mono shadow in 'broadway look'Its just a pretty semi-matte dark grey which is very pigmented and applies well.

What are your fave drugstore products? Please Share!!! :) xxxxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

Concealer Review: Make Up For Ever 'Full Cover' Concealer

2010-10-19T22:56:00.008+01:00

Ive been wearing this concealer since the first week of august and just had to share what I think about it, with you.

Basically, this concealer is the reason I appreciate living in a country where I have easy access to Make Up For Ever, via Sephora, ofcourse- (sorry England but i'm abandoning you for makeup on this occasion). The winning combination of any concealer, for me, would be possessing both very high coverage and very low detectability. In other words, I like knowing that my attempts to hide a 'horrendous skin day' will be as successful as possible. Now, i have tried and loved quite a few other concealers in my time, such as mac 'studio finish' concealer and bobbi brown 'creamy concealer'- you can check out their reviews here.I still like the others for different reasons but this, as my current favourite and one i plan on repurchasing, is definitely worthy of mention.

A few points on the concealer...
-Coverage-wise, it gives A LOT, which i love. I'd say it gives the same amount of coverage as mac 'studo finish' (mind you, studio finish covers tattoos) however it is not as thick/heavy or as detectable as the mac concealer.Its a little more liquid-y, but a little goes a long way.

-It has no SPF so if you need a concealer with sun protection, this is not it. However you could just use other face products (moisturiser/foundation/powder) with SPF to compensate, which is what I do.

-Regarding its texture and feel, its not as creamy/moisturising as bobbi brown's creamy concealer. For me, this just means it's more likely to last on my skin and not slip off since my skin type is 'combination'. I don't find it drying either. However if you have really dry skin, the bobbi brown may suit you better.

-Its waterproof which also means that it lasts all day on the skin.Good staying power is always a plus in my book.

-Finally, its fragrance free, if you care about that sort of thing.

All in all i think its an excellent concealer.

Let me know what concealer you love! :) xxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

Two new additions to my favourite hair moisturisers...

2010-10-18T21:48:00.004+01:00

Just thought id show you two excellent water based moisturisers that I used all summer. The first one is a new discovery and the second, a popular one i didnt get a chance to use because it's not available in England.Well that changed when I was in America this summer.With winter approaching, keeping my hair well moisturised is even more necessary. These are two of the few products i can rely on to do just that:

Roots of Nature 'shea butter green tea' strengthening oil moisturiser

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Leave in Creme
Let me know if you would like reviews on either of them.Have you tried any of these? What are your favourite hair moisturisers? xxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

my 4 essential mac neutral eyeshadows

2010-10-18T20:35:00.006+01:00

If i had to be away for any number of days/weeks, id like to think that with the amount of mac eyeshadows i own, i could pick just 4 that i could easily survive on. Neutrals are a great place to start since colour would depend on what clothes/accesories ive packed (with regards to whats complements them rather than what matches with them) These are my four: the colours are, from lightest to darkest;-
1.'banshee'(sparkly pale pink)
2.'texture'(peachy brown with subtle shimmer)
3.'handwritten'(matte dark chocolate brown)
4.'black tied'(black with subtle silver sparkle)
I love that i can create both the most subtle of daytime looks and heavy dramatic smokey eyes with this palette.With the exception of 'banshee' all the colours are in mac's permanent collection. 'handwritten' doubles as a brow colour and i sometimes substitute it with 'embark' with is just a warmer dark brown.Texture is my favourite eyeshadow ever especially since its really close to my skintone but just that little bit more special.

Let me know what your top 4 neutral mac eyeshadows are! :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

confessions of a naughty makeup-a-holic!

2010-10-16T22:35:00.014+01:00

So one day after i announce to you that I will not buy makeup, just ONE DAY, guess what I did? A mere 24 hours after enrolling in the school of project 10 pan, I went to the makeup section and 'oooh'ed and 'aah'ed whilst brandishing myself the professor of Will Power 101 because there was no way i could fall

well, until THIS happened

*shields guilty face behind eyeshadow quad*Lets just say it was a bad idea to get on P10P when i'd just moved to a new country with lots of exciting new makeup brands i hadnt tried. Its the drugstore brands in Paris that im really excited about since you can get the likes of Chanel, YSL, Guerlain everywhere, especially since they're french brands. However we don't have lines like Deborah & Biguine in the UK. Hence why i took full advantage of that. This is what I got:

1. BIGUINE eyeshadow trio in 'soleil levant'

2.DEBORAH MILANO eye design quad in 'universal blue' no.05 i wore it today and a total stranger said to me -'tres jolie maquillage!' :) I guess this one brings in the compliments.

3 DEBORAH MILANO blusher in 'Paprika' no.58this is possibly the prettiest blush i have ever seen! like a peach sunset illuminating your cheeks.aaah!

4 BIGUINE eyeshadow in 'etoile baroque'

as you can see im REALLY into mineral eyeshadows at the moment! being able to use them both wet and dry, makes me happy (in a really creepy way) :)

Another thing about makeup in Paris - its really expensive! Paris is an expensive city generally(mind you this is coming from someone who moved here from London) but brands like Rimmel, Bourgois, Maybelline and Revlon which are pretty affordable in the UK, cost more here. I get that they are technically foreign here.....but still! The average drugstore single eyeshadow here is about 9/10 euros and that seems a little crazy to me for what should be the cheaper end of makeup.Another funny thing- they have bourgois skincare products and nivea makeup products here whilst we have the opposite in england. strange! :)

Anyway...clearly i have a disease. only ONE DAY!??? *sigh* I will continue on with project 10pan though. lets call this a glitch...a bit like a centimetre of imperfect frosting on a really awesome cake! ha! :) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

daily top three- top 3 hair products of the moment

2010-10-16T21:40:00.007+01:00

I couldnt bring ALL my favourite hair products to france. The fact that silly little me, mistakenly left some of them in my hand luggage and had to endure the sheer grief of watching airport staff chuck them into the bin, doesnt help.They threw away my coconut oil! *pauses from typing to dab at her tears with a tissue* (if anyone knows where i can find pure unrefined/extra virgin coconut oil in Paris pretty please let me know!). ANYWAY,Ive found these three products oustanding since i been using them repeatedly for the past 2 weeks ago.

1.Garneir Fructis Nutri-Repair SprayIm sure its obvious by the amount ive used up that i really like this leave-in spray.I like the convenience of it being a spray and that it has great ingredients like avocado oil and apricot kernel oil.

2. Pytojoba intense hydrating mask:This is a conditioner by the brand Phyto which i bought here in Paris(im pretty sure its available in the UK & other parts of the world). Amazing! I always marvel at how shiny my hair is, after rinsing it off. I really enjoyed using it yesterday, after washing my hair with the wierd & wonderful Dr Bronners 18-in-one soap.

3. Shu Uemura Essence Absolue Nourishing Protective Oil:Now this is in a league of its own. Its smell so good and literally transforms - my hair into manageable-shiny-amazingness.It should for the price! I will do a full review, soon enough!

I still stand by all my other favourites such as elasta qp mango butter, aphogee 2 min reconstructor, wheatgerm oil, elasta qp dpr 11 and neutrogena triple moisture, amongst others.

What are your favourite hair product right now? let me know! :) xxx

Plenty Love & God Bless

its a haul!

2010-10-13T20:05:00.004+01:00

just a little chat about a few makeup products (stay tuned for the ‘hair’ one) i have purchased in the past month or so, and my initial thoughts :)

mac ‘mythology’ eye shadow – its a shimmery monster of an eye shadow but is worth the trouble because this pinked bronze makes such a pretty inner corner/lid colour for the eyes.I wouldn’t touch it after my foundation/full face is applied because it will leave fall out but its one of those colours that will work for all skin tones.

china glaze polishes in ‘seduce me’ & ‘soft sienna silks’:i have the former on my finger nails at the moment. its a vampy deep red that i was surprised to find was matte- so you’ll need a topcoat if you need your nail polish shiny.I haven’t tried ‘soft sienna silks yet but will post a photo when I do

mac false eyelashes no. 33: these are very similar to mac’s no.7 eyelashes – natural looking with subtle drama. I haven’t tried them yet and don’t really wear false lashes at all ever (since the amount of mascara i wear can drown a barbie) but its something i’m getting into –for the odd special occasion- so ill keep you posted on how these fare.

by terry lipstick in ‘tough cookie’: the brand ‘by terry’ is famed for their super expensive luxury lipbalm ‘baume de rose’ (which i got a sample of and wasn’t impressed with!( its off-putting heavy rose scent and not being as moisturising as i thought a £30 lip balm should be!then again i only tried it twice and the sample could have been a dodgy one.) the lipstick is expensive too and is very creamy, moisturising yet opaque –ticks all my boxes. the colour is a pinked brown with rosy hints.i really like it so far.

mac pro long wear spf10 foundation ‘nw45’: i get very excited about foundations that claim to be long lasting because i have combination skin ie oily t-zone and its hard to find a product that wont require touching up with a powder throughout the day. the foundation isn’t matte –its gives some radiance to the skin, however, this shade is a little orangey so that irritates me. ill do a proper review at some point.

mac greasepaint stick in ‘slick black’: ive always wanted this for a base when i do black smokey eyes so was glad when it came out again with the recent Disney disaster *cough* venomous villains collection.

mac ‘pink karat’ lipglass: its soooo pretty. cant believe i didn’t get it ages ago.its also one of those with a brush applicator, yay.

chanel rouge allure extrait de gloss in ‘insouciance’ : i love it. it sits midway between opaque and sheer. it smells lovely, lasts well and the colour is gorgeous gorgeous – think mac’s ‘half n half’ lipstick, in gloss form. love!

there it is …let me know if you want reviews

Plenty Love & God Bless

some recent makeup favourites...!

2010-09-06T19:01:00.007+01:00

ysl perfect touch radiant brush foundation in shade no.12, bobbi brown shimmer blush in 'plum wine', urban decay naked palette, nars lipstick in 'niagara', MUFE full cover concealer, no. 17 blush in 'plum puff', beauty uk polish in 'smokey lilac'

i LOVE all of these!The naked palette wins though -its just amazing!!! all the natural colours you need and flatters every skin tone!all my other shadows look like mere second class citizens of my personal makeup land now :)

ill be reviewing the foundation soon.

oh and the bobbi brown blusher (which was sent to me)is gorgeous....think im lying? take a look at this
what are your favourites at the moment?!

oh by the way has anyone tried 'egyptian magic' cream? i spotted it in liberty's in the weekend & am thinking of getting it so let me know if you love or hate it :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

its my bloggiversary!!!!

2010-07-09T19:17:00.002+01:00

Im one today! ..........or at least my blog is.

I cant believe this begun a whole year ago! Thankyou all soooooooooooooo much for supporting my blog and making me not feel like a nutter rambling to herself on the internet. I dont know why i started my blog but i think it was to find my voice expressing some of my hobbies, to write -since i enjoy writing and as a semi-valid form of procrastination :) i have/will never blog for a respose or to get more followers. I blog because i love it....So cheers to maybe another year.thankyou for beng lovely...even the haters...all that humour you provide me with :)

ps: on a flight back to england in abt 2 hours so more bloggy fun when im back

seriously though,i love you like sue slyvester loves insulting mr shuester's hair!

makeup is trivial & pointless?

2010-07-05T22:10:00.003+01:00

Beauty is a coy mysterious word. There will never be a consensus that it can be found in any one thing. I write this incensed because I received a message from someone that contained a presupposition of what I personally deem beauty to mean. Suffice it to say, it was far from accurate so I write this for everyone like me whose interest in makeup and beauty products puts them in a position where they are sometimes misunderstood or misheard.

I write a beauty blog therefore it follows that ‘outsiders’ to the beauty community may assume;

Firstly that beauty as a concept, idea or object is very important to me

Secondly that around/over 80% of my idea of what is beautiful involves…makeup (?)

There are other assumptions that float around this terrain, such as that ‘makeup is trivial and pointless’, ‘only superficial airheads love makeup’, my personal favourite ‘wearing a lot of makeup means you’re trying to hide your ugly face’ etc. Isn’t it a shame brains aren’t sold anywhere.

I think makeup is a wonderful thing. It can be used to enhance one’s natural beauty, experiment with/express different sides of one’s self and give confidence to a woman that she never had before ….yes darling, slap can do that. The few minutes that a woman takes to put on that stroke of eyeliner or apply a lipstick can be the difference between feeling frumpy and having your own little beyonce moment. I agree that women should not depend on makeup to feel beautiful because makeup will never give you a personality or make you a beautiful person- that’s for you to find for yourself. However there is an art and a joy to makeup that should not be disregarded. There are stunning women who wear a lot of makeup and stunning women who wear no makeup. Makeup can be an extension of ones style, a celebration of an era or a distraction from terrible things happening in one’s life.

So what does beauty mean to me?

I think beauty has a lot to do with joy and kindness and love.........with art, talent and achievemen........with braveness, passion and intelligence. I also think beauty has a lot to do with a kick ass smokey eye, 50 kilos of makeup so well blended that you looking like you’re wearing barely any or colours applied so creatively and beautifully, its breath-taking!

I write about beauty & makeup because it’s an exciting and fun outlet for a girl like me who loves to buy, use, and talk about makeup & beauty products. If that makes me an ugly superficial airhead then ill be the ugly superficial airhead with a law degree and a penchant for literature, chocolate fudge cake and political satire :)

ps: im still away on holiday my lovelies, but posts will resume as normal when im back :)

had to get this off my chest! let me know what you think and feel free to disagree with me!x x x

Tom Ford Lipstick review

2010-06-28T03:22:00.004+01:00

the shade i have, which is pictured above is in 'warm sable' a creamy midtone brown with a hint of coral- a great nude colour for my skintone.the hint of coral wasn't actually apparent in the department store lighting.

Lets start with the negatives first:
1. expensive - it is £35 in the UK & $45 in the US which will put most people off since for that amount you could almost get 3 Mac lipsticks and even more from a lot of other brands.

Then to the positives

1. consistency -it's very creamy and feels great on the lips.it isn't drying although i'd still wear a lipbalm underneath.

2. pigmentation - it has great colour payoff for a non- matte lipstick

3. range - there are twelve colours in the range. this doesnt sound like a lot, however, it covers nudes, corals, pinks, reds & plums going from pale nudes to the deepest berry so there really is something for everyone.

4. lasting power- one me, it lasts as long as a mac lipstick with the amplified formulation would last -a decent amount of time.

Basically it presents that attractive but rare marriage of super pigmented, yet moisturising...oh and the packaging is to die for!

So there goes the dilemma.....Is it worth it?

Im a huge lipstick fan, more concerned with quality than amassing them in multitudes so i knew i'd rather get it and forgo any other lipstick purchases for a while. Hey if im paying that much...im wearing it everyday! Furthermore, the way i feel when i wear it makes it worth it.....to me.

I know the price is ridiculous but isn't that what luxury items, that you can treat yourself to on occasion, are for?

What do you think?

It is available in Selfridges & Harrods

Plenty Love & God Bless

OPI's 'no room for the blues'

2010-06-28T00:29:00.001+01:00

Plenty Love & God Bless

an overview of my lipglosses...:)

2010-06-21T23:16:00.002+01:00

Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day using Italian makeup -purple smokey eye

2010-06-20T16:15:00.004+01:00

tried to film a tutorial BUT my camera was being a temperamental diva grrr! so might have to do it again but thought i'd show you guys!hope you like it :) products used were from this swap with the lovely Lyd :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Haul!

2010-06-18T19:37:00.006+01:00

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation & Make Up For Ever aqua eyes waterproof eyeliner pencil in '1L' (black)
I have to confess that at the moment, I am yet to be wowed by the foundation - it looks great in photos unlike nars sheer glow which can make your face look a different colour from your neck & chest...but i want to try it out more before i pass a verdict. The liner is fab though!

Have you tried these MUFE products?! x x x

ps: MUFE products are really difficult to find in England but you can get them from HERE or HERE :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

My top 10 summer lipsticks

2010-06-17T22:26:00.004+01:00

what are yours?! :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Dolce & Gabbana -The Eyeshadow - 'Stromboli'

2010-06-15T19:09:00.013+01:00

I never thought I would be blown away by the texture & pigmentation of D&G eyeshadows but i am here to admit that I am! Introducing, eyeshadow duo in 'stromboli'.I confess that i'd pre-judged D&G makeup without even trying it.Id always assumed it'd be all about appearance will little to offer substance-wise.I just didn't expect to swatch it and go 'wow!'.

My initial inclination was to go for the quads, especially because the one in their latest collection is gorgeous. However the amount of each of the the eyeshadows you get are quite tiny I chose a pale pink & inky black since it's versatile -something i can wear everyday & anywhere.
for a closer lookand swatchesthats just one swipe with no base!

....and a roundup!?
~D&G style luxurious gold packaging :)CHECK!

~travel friendly compact with mirror CHECK!

~can be used both dry & wet (for more intensity) CHECK!

~easy to blend & pigmented CHECK!

ive been won over! look out for a FOTD with this! x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Press On/Glue On Nails.....

2010-06-15T13:28:00.007+01:00

ive never worn press on nails or even acrylics just because my natural nails aren't the strongest and i haven't ever wanted them badly enough to risk the damage. Well, i got these a couple of weeks ago from tk maxx Revlon Runway Collection Press On nails in 'mystic'.I have only now decided to test them out even though im a little nervous about how they will look on, possible damage to my own nails, or even falling off etc I have however seen a review or two saying they're a vast improvement on old school unnatural looking press on/glue on nails & obviously less damaging than acrylics, so we'll see!:)

I will try them within the week so will show you guys what they look like etc & do a full review afterwards. Have you tried them? any tips? :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

daily top three - top 3 hair products of the moment.

2010-06-15T11:54:00.004+01:00

from r-l: beyond the zone's noodlehead curl boosting spray(amazing for defining curls -for braid-outs, pin curls etc without frizz & leaves my hair soft with no crunchiness whatsoever!) , fantasia ic's heat protector (it has aloe, vit E & sunsceen and makes my hair manageable, i wear a little when im going out in the sun since its heat too) & herbal essences beautiful ends split end protection cream (really didn't expect much from it but ive been using it a one of my leave in conditioners and i really like it! -the yummy rasberry scent doesn't hurt:))

what are your fave hair products right now? :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

dear shu, i ♥ you

2010-06-14T17:50:00.006+01:00

a lipstick cast offspring of shu uemura wandered into my life this afternoon. It just so happened that i'td start raining when i was was walking past oxford street(Selfridges to be exact!). It just so happened that i'd have to seek refuge in said 'temptation island'. It just so happened that selfridges would be having a crazy sale. It just so happened that Shu Uemura would be selling some of their lipsticks which are normally £19.50, for £11.75!(perhaps they were discontinuing those shades)...

Obviously, all the good shades were going fast....leaving behind no shortage of frosty yellow gold lipsticks & the like, so i was thrilled to bag this beauty! its a rouge unlimited lipstick in the shade PK338 (their PK shades are the pinks,OR -oranges,BN- browns etc etc etc)
...and a swatch
i love the creamy consistency & glossy finish.

Have you tried Shu Uemura products? What are your favourites? :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless!

Barry M's 'mushroom' nail paint

2010-06-11T20:39:00.007+01:00

its a brown nailpolish with subtle hints of grey & mauve. Because its quite close to my skintone albeit slightly greyer & darker, i keep glancing at my fingers to check if they look longer (since nude polish/one that matches your skintone makes your fingers look longer- pretty much like nude heels make your legs look longer)-we vertically challenged girls know all about that :)(im a measly 5"3!haha!)

Back to the polish...its not for everyone but if you tend to go for this sort of colour family (think OPI 'you dont know jaques & nails inc 'jermyn street'), you wont be dissapointed with this!

Plenty Love & God Bless

Jewellery haul!

2010-06-10T12:35:00.010+01:00

So yesterday I was the thrilled recipient of a lovely package consisting of two pairs of earrings i'd ordered from tanyaburr.co.uk run by the lovely tanya burr - a makeup artist who makes videos on youtube under the name pixi2woo.She recently started selling jewellery on her webite and it wasnt until i'd ordered the two pairs of earrings below, that i realised that http://www.talullahtu.co.uk/ sell the exact same stuff & might be her supplier (not sure so dont quote me on that!).Eitherway, purchaing from tanya's webite was a lovely experience (quick delivery (ordered friday afternoon & recieved tuesday morning) lovely packaging and the products matched their description/photos on the website) so i have absolutely no complaints.She also sells them for the same prices as talullahtu.co.uk, do.

I love big statement earrings especially for the summer so those are what i got. They came in this cute little packagewhich you when you opened up, revealed the earring wrapped in pink paper :)..top marks for presentation there!

and finally the earrings themselves!the 'pearl statement chandelier earrings' & the 'tribal bead earrings'
gorgeous eh? they're the type of earrings that look best with your hair pulled back.ill wear them in my next few face of the day posts so you can see the full effect!x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Perfume Haul!

2010-06-05T23:50:00.008+01:00

hello my darlings :)

I ventured out today, briefly (in between exam revision booo!), with the intention of slightly sprucing up my perfume collection for the summer. I generally wear Chanel's 'Chance' - the original one- which i love. However, i wanted a fresher summery scent, particulary in a smaller (30ml)bottle so i can easily carry it around in my handbag if i so wish to. Summer = Sweat unfortunately. I didnt get the perfume i'd planned to get -'amor amor' by Cacharel(dont we all get side tracked!?). Instead i picked up this 'Covet'(Pure Bloom) by Sarah Jessica Parker

and this

'Stunning' by Katie Price
the latter is one i wouldnt even have glanced at, had i not felt the urge to investigate the claims dancing around the beauty community that it practically smells identical to Christian Dior's 'Miss Dior Cherie'. Does it really? It actually does! eerily so in fact.Hmm I wonder if Katie knows/knew :O !

they both smell gorgeoussss! -fresh, feminine & summery.The SJP one'll be perfect for daytime & 'stunning' good for night time.

I still feel though that i havent found a perfume yet that feels very 'ME' - that perfect match perfume with a basenote that rattles my soul haha. let me know what your fave fragrances are :)x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

meet me on the starferry!

2010-06-03T22:24:00.003+01:00

this is my nail polish of the moment - OPI's 'meet me on the starferry' :)

whats your nail polish of the moment?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day -red lips

2010-06-03T21:36:00.008+01:00

ive never been a massive red lip wearer. Id love to be one of those badass women who rock a red lip every day a la gwen stefani but ive sometimes felt that the world is divided into women who can effortlessly rock the red lip and well...everybody else. there's a certain confident & self assured air that graces a girl with bright red lips.

One of my favourite things about makeup is that you can wear a different character everyday...and if you dont like your alter ego, you can wash her off and dash back into the hot water bottle warmth of your comfort zone -and no one has to know.

Ever classic & timeless the red lip will prevail.I decided to play around with it today, with neutral eyeshadow so it could be the real star of the show.and the joy of a red lipstick with a blue undertone? it makes your teeth look whiter! *cue teethy grin* :)
eyes -mac 'samoa silk eyeshadow' & mac 'handwritten' eyeshadow, liner (collection 2000)& mascara (max factor)
lips- mac 'ruby woo' lipstick & astra lipgloss

Do you love or loathe red lips? how often do you rock a red lip? what are your fave red lipsticks?! tell tell tell! :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

nail polish haul -OPI & China Glaze

2010-06-02T00:43:00.003+01:00

hello my darlings,

i popped into Sallys today to get some hair products (grr cant believe they're discontinuing silk elements!) and couldnt resist these two beauties.OPI 'meet me on the starferry' & China Glaze 'ruby pumps'.The OPI one is an eye catching shimmery bronzey deep purple - you know i love my purples ;) and 'ruby pumps' is the most amazing opaque shimmery red with red glitter. i think ruby pumps will be a stunning colour for christmas time.And since the year is whizzing by so quickly( *mutters a reluctant 'hello ,June') i should be donning it in no time!

have you tried any of these nail polishes? x

Plenty Love & God Bless

May favourites!

2010-05-31T23:41:00.006+01:00

May is over already??? oh dear! well i had to have some favourite beauty products, didnt i? here they are
1. Nars Sheer Glow foundation: ive really enjoyed this. i refuse to say it is the best foundation in the world, blah blah blah because whilst it gives a gorgeous finish, it wont last excellently (or even for more than 3hrs without needing a touch up) on your skin if youre an oily/combo skinned beauty, unless you wear a primer. so my love of this foundation is dependent on a three-way with a good primer.that said, i like it enough to repurchase it!

2. Make Up For Ever HD Primer: its the one i used underneath my foundation. 2 words -it works!

3. Barry M nail paint in 'emerald green'- wore it quite a bit.its gorgeous.

4. Mac 'ever hip' lipstick - a pretty pinky coral

5. Rimmel lipstick in 'vintage pink'- an old favourite which i dug up. rimmel lipsticks are so underrated!

6. Nar 'super vixen' lipgloss -officially my favourite nude lipgloss ever. it somehow goes with everything and makes every lipstick look better.

7. Organix shampoos & conditioners - ive recently fallen in love with these. the one pictured above is the vanilla silk conditioner (which i use to co-wash& would totally eat in a famine! it smells divine), i also have the coconut shampoo. the most impressive aspect is that the shampoos & conditioners are sulphate free!

8.Nars Multiple in 'palm beach': yes this month has been a bit of a nars galore..their products (or at least most of what ive tried) are just amazing!i consider this multiple one of my holy grail products. yes....its that big of a deal! ive worn it everyday since it came home with me and it gives the most beautiful glow ever.

have you tried any of these? what did you think? id also love to know what your fave products were in the month of May x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day - summer glow glow

2010-05-31T22:50:00.006+01:00

I havent done one of these in ages so thought it was about time!:)
i just kept the face fresh & simple with no foundation.just mac studio finish concealer where i needed it and laura mercier mineral pressed powder all over
eyes - benefit creasless cream shadow in 'flatter me'(ive now figured it out & love it!haha), barrym dd (no.39), matte brown prestige eyeshadow, mac 'carbon' eyeshadow
cheeks- illamasqua bronzer in 'writhe'(sent to me by illamasqua) & deborah blusher (a dusky rose colour)
lips- inglot lip paint 'no.63'

Plenty Love & God Bless

my top 10 summer nailpolishes

2010-05-26T22:38:00.002+01:00

hope you had a lovely day. ive done a video on my favourite nailpolishes for summer, however, it doesnt seem to be uploading here so click HERE for it! xxxxxxx

in candy style!

2010-05-18T21:25:00.005+01:00

this nails inc polish 'in candy style'(light pink with lilac undertones)came free with my copy of in style magazine(june issue- i think) and ive been wearing it repeatedly for the past 2 weeks :)reminds me of OPI's 'mod about you' but not as stark!

what nailpolish do you have on right now?x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

the product im trying but failing to love right now

2010-05-14T20:51:00.004+01:00

is........

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in 'flatter me'
Ive heard great things about the product as an eyeshadow base and the colour is lovely...BUT its doesnt work on my eyelids for some reason, at least not on its own - since when used alone, it just disappears after an hour or two! and when i've used it underneath shadows, its made my eyeshadow fade away faster. Perhaps my eyelids are too oily for it. Do i have to use my too faced eyeshadow insurance underneath it and then set it with a powder for it to work? because if so, it doesnt seem worth what it costs.

Please let me know how you use it if you have it! Any tips will be much appreciated!x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Mac eyehadow haul

2010-05-14T19:08:00.008+01:00

so recently i picked up one of thesean eyeshadow paletteand 3 eyeshadows in pan form 'bronze', 'mulch' and 'beauty marked'

and swatches!clearly stuck with neutrals there since theyre good for everyday wear and i can just add an intense black for a sultry smokey eye when i want more drama. the 2 browns are very pretty and beauty marked is a shimmery blackened reddish plum that ive wanted ever since i saw it used in a stunning pixiwoo tutorial. anyone else suffer from the 'pixiwoo used it so i must have it' disease? Im really pleased with all three shadows though!:)

let me know what your favourite eyeshadow is?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Eve Pearl Anti-Shine Mattifying Gel Review

2010-05-13T19:21:00.005+01:00

I found out about Eve Pearl -Emmy Award winning make up artist, best known for her salmon concealer, a long while ago. I was interested in trying out her line but since her products aren't physically available in UK, i ordered them from her website. You can check out my haul post here. I think the quality of the HD foundations is excellent even though i have other reservations about it which i will expand on in a review.In contrast, however, this product was a dissappointment! Such a shame, because im a girl with combination skin and thought this product would be perfect for keeping my t-zone oil free.

The mattifying gel just doent work! -or rather, did not work for me at all. Im assuming i used it correctly since i did it the way ive seen Eve Pearl use it on models in her tutorials - just on the areas prone to oilyness, before applying foundation.

Within an hour of using it, my t-zone was oily (the same as if i hadn't used anything at all). I didnt even used it in warm weather so can only imagine it been useless on a sunny day. To be fair, the consistency of the product it gel-like and just from rubbing on your fingers and applying it, you can feel its mattifying effect instantly.

There is redemption here however, i'd imagine that the best way to experience its effects is to carry the product around with you and dab it on your face when you start to get oily. Otherwise, its definitely not long-lasting.My Make Up For Ever HD primer does a better job by a mile, with longlasting effect. Its just a shame the mattifying gel didnt work for me and i just have combo skin so can only imagine it being useless for people with really oily skin.

Let me know what your experiences are if youve tried it.Especially if it worked for you! x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

MAC 'to the beach' collection haul!

2010-05-13T15:55:00.015+01:00

Ah! the much anticipated summer collection with pretty packaging is here.Its a little strange that its come out in the UK before America since its usually the other way around and by the time theyre here weve seen countless hauls and reviews and deciphered the must-haves.

I picked up two things from this collection. Initially i'd only ordered one of them online - the lipstick(along with some eyeshadows from the permanent line that i'll show you later, in another post). I was intrigued by the high-light powder which apparently sold out online within just hours of becoming available on mac's uk website! crazy! However such things tend not to show up on my skintone so there was no way i was buying it without seeing & swatching it in the flesh.

Anyway this is what i got Mac 'marine life' highlight powder & Mac liptick in 'thrills'the gold sheen overspray on the sea horse goes away with a light swatch- so no danger of disco-ball face :)

here is a swatch of the lipsticki'd describe it as a burnt red-orange with a gold sheen. its not a shade i would ordinarily go for,especially because it has a frost finish..but theres nothing wrong with expanding your liptick horizons....right? I think it looks 'interesting' *insert awkward smile* on me but its honestly a shade that works well with my skintone and i can always play with lipgloss combinations anyway.

here is a swatch of the highlight powder(both colours) blended into my skin(without gold sheen overspray) I gladly followed the fold on this one when i saw that it was pigmented enough, to give me the glow without looking ashy. unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice. I can build it up to be quite pigmented by using more of the darker coral shade. it really is gorgeous on the skin and give a 'flushed glow from within' effect.

if youre in the uk and plan on getting hold of the highlight powder, go to mac NOW.i imagine itll be sold out by tomorrow as it was only released in stores today and by early afternoon (when i got mine) there were only 4 left in the covent garden shop!

there were lots of other pretty bits - if you like bronzer, its very much up your alley - there are 4 of those. the eyeshadows were pretty but i tend to go for neutrals and only branch out for specific colours (there will never be 10 shades of yellow eyeshadow in my makeup collection.ever.)there are other nice summery lipstick & lipgloss shades so do check it out if you get a chance to.

What did i you get/are you hoping to get from this collection?! x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

daily top three- top 3 makeup products under £5

2010-05-11T17:15:00.006+01:00

i really did have loads to choose from for this list but i ended up picking these 3 products as representatives of their brands since these three brands are all affordable and most of their products are of very high quality :)

Barry M lip paints - at £4.25 they are a bargain. theyre all very pigmented and the majority of them are creamy and easy to apply. i know shade '101' is drying but i have three and they all have a lovely consistency. The one pictured above is 129 a pale lavender shade. my favourite by far is the red shade '121'. Other hits from barry m are their dazzledusts (£4.50 each) and their nail paints (£2.95 each). the latter can hold their own next to most high end nailpolishes!

Sleek eyedusts - I have just discovered these and cant understand why more people arent raving about them. the one pictured above is the shade 'dirty'.gorgeous duochromatic brozey brown plum colour!theyre only £2.99 too! obviously it goes without saying that sleek eyeshadow palettes priced at 4.90 are some of the best eyeshadows/most pigmented eyeshadows you can find for that price.

Nyx jumbo eyeshadow pencils -these arent readily available in the uk but you can purchase them online at cocktail cosmetics for £2.92 and love-makeup for £2.50 each.they come in a very wide range of colours and are creamy & act as great color bases to intensify the colours of eyeshadows you wear over it. do wear a proper eyeshadow primer before you use them though, if you have oily lids since theyre too creamy to stay on their own.nyx also do good lipsticks, lipgloses and eyehadows.

hope you find this useful if youre looking for good quality but affordable makeup or are on a budget :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

WHAT IM USING RIGHT NOW

2010-05-11T16:10:00.005+01:00

this originally did the rounds as a tag a few months ago. I never did it before so thought it'd be fun to do now since i really love almost everything im using right now.
Shampoo: osmo essence deep moisturising shampoo
Conditioner: schwarzkopf professional bonacure rescue repair conditioner, aphogee 2 min reconstructor, silk elements etc i accumulate conditioners since i practically eat the stuff
Styling products: rusk thermal serum,keracare silken seal liquid sheen
Shower Gel: actually using soap -Lush's 'honey i washed the kids'
Body moisturiser: victoria's secret beauty rush moisturiser in 'twinkleberry'
Deodorant: Mitchum powder fresh (spray)
Fake Tan: oh darling, have you seen me :)
Cleanser: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish(night)& Burts Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser (morning)
Exfoliator: Origins Brighter By Nature Glycolic Peel with fruit acids
Face Moisturiser: Neals Yard Remedies Power Berry Daily Moisture
Primer: MUFE HD primer
Foundation:Nars Sheer Glow 'new guinea'
Concealer: MAC studio finish nw45
Powder: Laura Mercier pressed powder with SPF15
Blusher: helen e 'terracotta'
Bronzer: not using one
Highlighter: nars multiple in 'palm beach'
Eyeshadow base: too faced shadow insurance
Eyeshadows: i hardly wear them on a daily basis but today -sleek eyedust in 'dirty' (its amaze!!)
Eyeliner: sleek kajal (black)
Curler: none
Mascara: maybelline collosal 100% black
Lipstick: mac 'nude rose'
Lipgloss: nars 'superixen'
Nail Colour: nails inc 'in candy style'

if youve used any of the above and recommend alternatives, please let me know what they are. also feel free to do this tag if you want to :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Superdrug haul! :)

2010-05-09T22:51:00.016+01:00

I picked up a few things from superdrug today to cheer me up from the miserable weather. Here they are!
some lipsticks sleek lipstick in 'amethyst'(purple) and barry m lipstick in 'no 145'(bright pink)
and swatches
some eyeshadowsrimmel matte eyeshadow in 033 dusk and sleek eyedust in 'dirty' no.680
and swatchesthe sleek eyedust is on the left and rimmel shadow on the right
also picked up shampoo & conditioner they were buy one get one free for £1.99 and smell soooo good. I want to use the conditioner for co-washes since any cheap one will do

Hope you had a wonderful weekend :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Make Up For Ever HD Primer

2010-05-08T19:38:00.005+01:00

I was thrilled when I got chance to pick this up at a blogsale recently since MUFE is hard to come by in England.Ive used it twice so far and am really impressed. My foundation goes on smoothly over it and 5 hours after application, my makeup looks like it was applied 2 minutes earlier. I have it in shade 4 which is a browny caramel colour. The colour doesn't show up on my skin at all but id imagine if you had much lighter skin, it would. For me (and my combination skin) the true test will be wearing it on a really sunny day and seeing how it holds up- Since english weather is atrocious at the moment,that'll take a while. Ill keep you posted when I do though! :)

would love to know what your favourite MUFE products are?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Sleek kajal eyeliners

2010-05-07T22:43:00.005+01:00

ive had these for almost 2 weeks now and at the moment they come in 2 colours - black(nocturnal) & purple (odyssey)can you tell ive used the black relentlessly ever since i became its mommy. here are swatches! :)they are of a creamy smudgy consistency and are very pigmented. i hope sleek bring out more colours -I think a green and a dark brown would be gorgeous.

Have you tried these yet?

Plenty Love & God Bless

daily top three - top 3 lipsticks of the moment

2010-05-07T10:39:00.003+01:00

Mac 'Syrup' Lipstick - my go-to pink. it doesnt get the credit it deserves.

Ruby & Millie Lipstick in 'purple 500 sheer' - a very moisturising mauvey nude that looks great under nars 'supervixen'

Mac viva glam 'cyndi'- gorgeous gorgeous colour! a red has never been my go-to colour but this easily is. the proceeds going towards a great cause is a lovely bonus.

tell, tell! what are your favourite lipsticks of the moment :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

April Favourites!

2010-05-07T01:45:00.006+01:00

the months just whizz by, dont they! Here are some of my favourite products from last month :)

1.Laura Mercier mineral pressed powder spf15 - im covering my face in shame because i did a post on this some time ago basically saying this powder was just a 'blah' product-nothing special etc i have since found that it works sooo well ( Laura Mercier is a powder queen!) for me. i can get away with just concealer and this because it has good coverage but it really light too.

2. Nars Multiple in 'palm beach' - for channelling the j-lo glow. a little dab on the cheekbones is all i need :)

3.Rusk Thermal Serum - the only hair product on my list. I got it from Sallys and whist its a heat protectant it makes my hair look incrediby shiny and healthy and you only need a tiny drop

4. Nars Lipgloss in 'supervixen' - I cannot URGE you enough to at least test/sample this lipgloss if your skintone is similar to mine. its sooooo pretty!

5. Mac Studio Finish Concealer - a staple thats always a fave. the spf35's v.handy for spring/summer too

6. Barry M dazzle dust in 'tan'- been wearing it on my lids with carbon eyeshadow in the crease or just highlighting the inner corners of my eyes with it when i only have time for liner & mascara.it also works really well over benfit creaseless cream shadow in 'flatter me' as both colours are practically identical.

7. Origins brighter by nature high potency brightening peel - i seen my skintone begin to even out nicely in the weeks ive been using this. is it one of those rare products that actually works?! should have what i predict to be a positive review, up soon!

What are your favourites?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Cleanser Review: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish hot cloth cleanser

2010-05-07T00:49:00.005+01:00

this is the most recent product addition to my natural skincare journey. I have been using it for a few weeks now and this is what i think:

What attracted me to this cult favourite was the 'all natural' nature of the product. it does have parabens so if youre really strict about such things you may want to avoid this. A lot of the reviews i read mentioned how luxurious the product feels on the skin -it has the consistency of the thick cream which feels nice but nothing out of this world.

It has naturally active ingredients -'rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus essential oil'good ingredients are always a plus.

I love the dual process of cleansing (rubbing the cleanser onto dry skin) & polishing (rubbing face in circular motion with wet hot muslin cloth).I have the 100ml bottle that has a pump -great for avoiding wastage. I find that one -one and a half pumps is enough. Its also such a quick and easy process since you dont wash your face in the traditional sense - so almost like using a wet wipe just much much better! The polishing process gives a good deep cleanse so you dont need to exfoliate too often as well.

I haven't noticed any miracles on my face from this cleanser but my skin always feels soft and smooth after use.

I recommend it for ladies who want natural skincare products! Have you tried it?

Plenty Love & God Bless

NARS haul!

2010-05-07T00:25:00.006+01:00

I was meant to do this ages ago. however my nutjob laptop took on crashing as a hobby. If you follow me on twitter you may also have known that I misplaced my makeup bag at the gym and lost my nars sheer glow just one week after purchasing it *sadface* amongst other precious makeup items in my cath kidston makeup bag :( Anyway i got these
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in 'New Guinea' -ive since repurchased because i fell in love with the foundation.sheer enough to look natural but with enough coverage. it claims to improve/tone your skin- dont know if it does yet but thats nice to hear.Everyone's reviewed it so i wont bother but i really do recommend it

Nars Multiple in 'Palm Beach' - im glad to have been introduced to the magic of the multiple. they can be used on eyes/lips/cheeks/body, hence 'multiple'. its a sort of cream bronzer - think mac gold deposit msf in cream form :) there are loads of shades that can work as highlighters/blushers/bronzers for lots of skintones. This is the only one i though was worth purchasing since it suits my skin perfectly

Nars Lipgloss in 'Supervixen': i love the name and this is my first nars gloss and has risen to my top 3 favourite glosses ever because the colour is a phenomenal nude for dark skin- however nars lipglosses smell horrible(like theyve gone off/wet carpet) after about 2 weeks which is disgraceful considering the price! i think the colour is unique though so its kinda worth it, to me.

I really am falling in love with nars -im trying hard to resist their eyeshadows -dont know how long i can do it though.

Plenty Love & God Bless

daily top three ( 2) OPI nail polishes of the moment

2010-04-23T00:36:00.005+01:00

1 OPI 'lincoln park after dark'

2. OPI 'a grape fit'

3. OPI 'you dont know jacques'

i know its summertime and the brights and pastels are in but contrasting those colours in clothing with these on the nails is great for avoiding looking overdone.

Plenty love & God Bless

daily top three (1) -favourite songs of the moment

2010-04-21T20:08:00.003+01:00

new daily series just sharing my top three (of absolutely anything) at the moment. some will be beauty related, some wont.some will be strange and unnecessary with the odd interesting one thrown in.

so my top 3 songs of the moment are:

1. 'Youve got the dirtee love' Florence and the Machine & Dizzee Rascal (performed at the Brit awards)that girl could sing a dead person alive! :) check it out here

2. 'Please dont stop the music' Jamie Cullum - its actually a cover of rihanna's song - im a massive fan of Jamie Cullum and his covers (which range from Pharrell's 'frontin' to Frank Sinatra's Old Devil Moon). its not one of his best efforts but I still love it check it out here

3.'Chan Chan' Buena Vista Social Club - genius! one of my favourite songs of all time. does it get better than afro cuban jazz? check it out here

Plenty Love & God bless

Boots Haul! -revlon, rimmel, prestige & l'oreal

2010-04-20T21:04:00.019+01:00

Hello m'dears, got a bit carried away in the makeup section of Boots-i have to admit that the £2 off vouchers for revlon and l'oreal were heavily instumental i this!Here's what i got;

Revlon matte lipstick in 'pink about it'i wear it as a lipstain dabbed lightly on my lips with my fingers like thisso pretty!

This is what i picked up from rimmelhere are some and swatches..
Rimmel eyeshadow in no.030 smokey quartzRimmel vinyl mirror shine lipgoss in 'cosmic'which is a nude lipglossRimmel nail polish in 'rose libertine' which you can check out here

From Prestige, these
Prestige total intesity eyeliner in 'deepest black' which is possibly the best black pencil liner i have ever used, and Prestige dramatic minerals eyeshadow in 'MEC 01-earth' which looks like thisa really pigmented matte dark brown.

L'oreal resist & shine nail polish in no.305
L'oreal superliner in carbon glossl

Have you tried any of these?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Rimmel's rose libertine

2010-04-20T15:12:00.002+01:00

a cute one for summer- especially on the toe nails! :) its actually the same colour as my mac tinted lip coditioner in petting pink.

you like? :)

Plenty Love & God bless

LUSH HAUL!

2010-04-19T22:53:00.011+01:00

hey lovelies,

I ventured into lush today (almost a year since i'd last been there!) to replace my favorite lip balm - lush honey trap lipbalm and ended up stocking up on some gorgeous smelling soaps :)

Sunny Hunny Soap Stackthis was one of the first things i ever bought from lush along with the sweetie soap stack(which has rock star, i should coco etc). I cant seem to stand the smell of the latter anymore even though i loved it before (its smells unbearably sweet!) but i love sunny hunny which has 'karma'(patchouli-lemongrass-orange smell), 'honey i washed the kids' (caramel-honey-toffee smell) and 'happy' (citrusy orange smell).loooove!

Porridge Soapit smells of mollasses so has a sugary oatmeal scent with a hint of orange :)

Sea Vegetable Soapreally gorgeous and fresh sea scent with lime & lavender.its easily unisex so anyone can enjoy it.

I steered clear of their face products since a lot of them contain sodium laureth sulphate and or perfume and im doing the natural skincare thing now. their brazened honey face mask (which ive used a few times in the past) is really good though!

ps: Lush have a new hair moisturiser aimed at black/afro hair,coming out soon. it'll be called R&B (revive & balance) contain olive oil, coconut oil, avocado & cupuacu butters etc and will have a tropical scent of jasmine, orange flower and bay. Cant wait to try it!!!

Let me know what your fave lush products are so I can check them out!x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Mascara review: Keihl's Marvelous Mineral Mascara (with jojoba oil and acacia senegal)

2010-04-19T15:27:00.007+01:00

Hey gorgeous ones, I was set this mascara to review by the lovely people at Keihl's, a few weeks ago.Its claims are that it;

'instantly wraps lashes in lasting color and care. With gentle mineral color, conditioning jojoba oil and thickening acacia senegal this formula provides natural looking length and voloume. Ophthalmologist tested. Hypo allergeic. Paraben free. Safe for sensitive eyes.'
Im always one to applaud products that are more natural and use less harsh chemicals so this was nice surprise since despite the fact that we use mascara's so close to our eyes we never really think about its ingredients. Its great to know Keihls is doing that for us. Mineral makeup has been round for a while but mineral mascaras seem fairly new. I think e.l.f and bare escentuals do one but not many big mainstream companies do them.

Anyway, what you really want to know is how and whether it works! It has a normal mascara wand so nothing complicated and it does both lengthen and volumise your lashes - the latter to a greater extent. the first time I used it i loved it. the next few times I hated it, but after a couple of weeks its grown on me and I really enjoy using it.

Why did i hate it before? its one of those mascaras that if you apply more than two coats of, will clump like crazy. I love physically piling on coats of mascara, so that was an issue.however it seems that with time ive found a way to get the best out of it. I say only put one coat on and you get lashes like thisit does all the work in the first coat so people like me have to restrain ourselves from putting more on!

Honestly it is neither the best nor the worst mascara ive ever tried. It does the job (of lengthening & mostly thickening your lashes) and has excellent ingredients so if the latter is of concern to you I really do recommend checking it out.

Plenty Love & God Bless

Perfume review: Harajuku Lovers Fragrance 'G'

2010-04-18T17:58:00.006+01:00

I bought this recently and to me it smells just like a pina colada!!! :)- literally one sniff and youre laying bikini clad on a tropical beach -divine sea sun and light breeze, drinking a pina colada from a coconut :)

its a gourmand fragrance with topnotes of crisp mandarin, fresh coconut and apple skin.Im not massively into the packaging (since im not 8 years old) but its such a gorgeous fresh fruity summer fragrance, I literally have to restrain myself from constantly sniffing my arms when i wear it. I also dont think it smells particularly young or childish - its not at all too sweet either.I have the 30ml EDT with its terribly deceptively large bottle which is 70% plastic doll and 30% perfume. It's still worth it though. It also lasts reasonably well on my skin. I recommend at least checking a tester out!

Have you tried/Do you own it?

Plenty Love & God Bless.

Skincare Haul - Origins & Burts Bees

2010-04-15T19:23:00.012+01:00

So I mentioned recently that I was going to embark on a natural skincare journey and was wondering what products to begin with.Ive heard great things about the liz earle cleanse and polish but am still on the fence about it ( so if you use it, let me know what you think). Instead, this is what I picked up today;

Burt's Bees Orange Essence Facial Cleanser with orange oil:this purchase was based on the faint memory of a rave reveiw on it and the product being 100% natural, ofcourse ;)- its paraben, sulphate and phthalate free and has no artificial colours and fragrances.it was £9.99 at debenhams.

Origins Brighter by nature high potency brightening peel with fruit acids;Im soooo excited about trying this(minus the horror of any association with a gylcolic peel reminding me of samantha's (burnt lobster red)face in that episode of sex and the city where she got one. oh dear!). Anyway, Its one of Origins' newest products and claims that

'these clinically proven skin-brightening peel pads rival the instant smoothness and radiance restoring benefits of a professional 30% glycolic peel without the redness. Plus they help restore clarity and improve evenness of skintone.

It is meant to be used twice a week (ill be using it in place of an exfoliator) and comes with 40 pads -so 20 weeks/5 months worth. erm...provided it doesnt dry up before then.

It contains no parabens, no phthalates, no propylene glycol, no mineral oil, no PABA, no petrolatum, no parrafin, no DEA, no synthetic color, no synthetic fragrance and no animal ingredients. they also dont test on animals. (I dont know what half of that crap is and to think ive been slathering it on my face all this time...good riddance!.should be fun to try! ill do an a full skincare regimen post when every single thing i use is natural and give you updates on how i get on and reviews on the products.the peel was £28

Have you tried these products? what are your favourite products from these brands? Or natural skincare products in general?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Laura Mercier Mineral Pressed Powder SPF15

2010-04-15T18:49:00.005+01:00

I ran out of my mac mineralise skinfinish natural and mysteriously found myself in front of the laura mercier counter picking up this powder. I got the shade 'chestnut' which matches me well.It comes in a compact with a mirror -handy so I will have it in my handbag for touch-ups during the day. Its quite similar to the mac one in the sense that whilst it mattifies, it still retains tiny bit of sheen to give your face dimension. It is still too early to pass a verdict but so far, its nothing groundbreaking but a good powder nontheless.

oh and a tip when using this - ive found that dipping my brush straight onto the poswer makes some the the particle separate so its best to tap your powder brush on it sideways before sweeping the product onto your face.

Hope you've all had a lovely day :) x

Have you tried the powder? What do you think?

*EDIT*
I have (since this original post) used the powder more extensively and i like it more than i initially did as you can see from my april favourites post HERE :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

my step-by-step guide to giving yourself a french manicure

2010-04-14T21:40:00.006+01:00

hey my lovelies. i did a very brief post on my DIY french manicure, a while back. Anyway i thought i'd do an updated more detailed version of that to explain what i use and how i do it. First of all you need your favourite basecoat and topcoat along with thesemy favourite colours to use , which are:
-china glaze nailpolish in 'innocence'
-mercia nail art pen & brushobviously you can use whatever corresponding products work for you.

step 1- apply your basecoat to all fingernails and let it dry.

step 2- paint on the white tips starting with very thin strokes so mistakes can easily be remedied.it doesnt have to be 100% perfect since application gets easier with practise.any mistakes at this point can be remedied with a cotton bud and some nail polish remover.after painting the white tips on, let them dry.

step 3- paint your full nails with 2 coats on your neutral colour and let them dry

step 4- apply your top coat

step 5- tidy up any mistakes with a cotton bud and nail polish remover and voila, youre done...and hope fully have something that looks like this
ps i am not a beautician/aesthetician etc, these are just my tips from my own personal experience and what has worked for me.Hope its helpful! :)

Do you ever do your own french manicures? what are your favourite products to use for it?!

Plenty Love & God Bless

5 products i have hit the pan on and why i love them ...

2010-04-14T14:48:00.007+01:00

I saw a video on this tag by a lovely youtuber superficialgirl and thought it was a brilliant idea. think of the countless times we buy products, do hauls and talk about how excited we are about them and how amazing they are even though we dont ever use them for more than a couple of days or weeks.These are some products ive used up or almost used up because they really are amazing.
1. mac studio finish concealer: amazing. has spf 35 and covers all your dirty little secrets (provided they're in blemish form and on your face).

2. helen e blush in 'teracotta'; helen e is one of those brands that a majority of the beauty community aren't even aware of. however, i consider their blusher in terracotta a holy grail product.it gives a natural flush to my skin and i recieve so many compliments whenever i wear it. my only gripe is with their flimy packaging.

3. mac mineralize skinfinish in natural: i think we all know this one is a 'must have'. Ive completely run out!

4.lush lipbalm in 'honey trap': amazing product!!

5. eve pearl dual hd foundation : this is a tricky one because part of the reason im running out is because it comes with quite a small amout of product anyway. it gives probably the most flawless finish i've ever had with a foundation so is fab for that reason BUT the price + p&p that you pay doesnt seem worth you getting only 11.77 grams of a very light cream foundation that you really have to pack on just to get medium coverage.So i love it but wont buy it again unless there is free shipping or eve pearl makes it cheaper or the retail therapy monsters make me.

feel free to do the tag if you want to! i tag you all :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

the product im trying but failing to love right now is....

2010-04-14T14:02:00.003+01:00

a lipbalm i bought recently hoping it would be on the same level as some of my other favourites.It is blistex lip massage lip balm. it has spf 10 and great ingredients like shea butter and aloe vera BUT...it feels thick and waxy on my lips and isnt as good as any of my faves.

let me know if you love it, whether i should give it time or if i got the wrong blistex lipbalm (there were quite a few to choose from).

Plenty Love & God Bless

INS & OUTS!

2010-04-13T22:31:00.004+01:00

INs!

1. having time to read!: being able to delve into a good book and the escapist treasure that it affords me, is one of my highly rated past times. at the moment im reading 'a single man' by christopher isherwood, I know the film is out but books are always better than their adaptations and ill see the film afterwards anyway.Yay to reading!:)

2.the 'mac FIX + & hair dryer method' : so i bought MAC's Fix + - the skin refreshing mist supposed to set your make up and grappled for eons with how to get it to work, then i saw a video by the lovely lisalisaD1 explaining that she'd spray it on, then literally blow dry her face for a few seconds. ive been doing it this past week.it freakin works!!! :)

3.sunshine - the days are longer,life and its colours seem brighter and more joyous somehow and the anticipation of picnics, pimm parties, barbequeues and lazy days on the beach just make the world a lovelier place :)

4.jazz sounds- im a hooge fan of jazz music (everything from nina simone to jamie cullum, herbie hancock to diana krall) so been listening to that a lot lately and loving it.

5. being healthier -drinking lots of water, eating less carbs & more fruit & veg. excercising, wearing SPF etc

OUTS

1.unhealthy food and negative people(and everything that makes us look and feel bad).thumbsdown to them and a big fat BOOOO!

what are your ins & outs? :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

My favourite nude lipsticks (for dark/black skin or women of colour)

2010-04-13T22:00:00.011+01:00

These tend to be more difficult to find when women have darker skin, for some reason, so ive engaged in a lot of trial and error to find these beauties.

Two important things to remember about 'nude lips' are that

1. it means different things for different people ( for some a shade the colour of their skin, others a shade the colour of their lips and some, any 'natural'shade -whatever that means!)

2. its varies with skin tones. I cringe when i remember looking for a nude shade of lipstick and buying certain shades on recommendations by people who were NO where near the same skin colour as me. Now, occassionaly with some quite sheer shades of for example a pale pinky brown, a wide range of skintones can consider it a 'nude' within any of the above meanings but for the most part if someone is a lot darker or lighter than you, their nude lipsticks are NOT your nude lipsticks!
From top-bottom Mac fresh brew, mac half n half, gosh velvet touch lipstick in nougat, loreal color riche lipstick in silk/sepia, mac slimshine in ‘bare’
here are swatchesFrom l-r Mac fresh brew, mac half n half, gosh velvet touch lipstick in nougat, loreal color riche lipstick in no.231 silk/sepia, mac slimshine in ‘bare’

MAC 'fresh brew' -its that sort of cafe au lait colour with a very slight greyish tinge to it. It’s a lustre finish so quite sheer and moisturising which is probably best for such a colour. I consider it a true nude in the sense that it almost a match for my skintone so gives the concealer effect which can sometimes make me look dead but looks bad-ass with heavy eye/face makeup!

MAC 'half n half'- a lovely pinky brown. Its an amplified finish so very creamy and pigmented.I love it!

Gosh lipstick in nougat – this is a more recent find and is a bit less ‘nude’ than the others despite being in the nude family. Its a bit of a rosy pinky brown. It has a nice creamy consistency and you definitely wont look dead or washed out with this.

Loreal Color riche lipstick in n. 231 or silk/sepia- its sort of fresh brew with out the greyisn undertone. its sheer, very moisturising, none of the shimmer/glitter at all (that other lipsticks in the range have). i highly recommend it!

Mac slimshine in bare - another pale pinky brown that is sheer enough for a majority of skin tones to pull off successfully.its about to be discontinued (sorry!) but do get it if you can!

Other mac nude lipstick recommendations
'hug me' (was meant to go on this list but couldn't find mine, grr! its gorgeous. more of a nude thats the same as your lip colour),'jubilee'( a sheer nudie beige pink), 'velvet teddy'(a matte deep tone beige) and 'siss' (a muted golden beige.this will suit skin with a cool ie yellow/golden as opposed to warm ie red undertone better)

hope this is helpful. let me know what your favorite nudes are :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Natural Skincare - suggestions please!

2010-04-12T21:48:00.004+01:00

hi my darlings!

My current skincare seems to be failing me (might be change of weather, hormones etc ) regardless, i have decided to replace my facial skincare with more natural products -with ingredients I can actually pronounce the names of and ones less infested with chemicals. Im looking at companies like Neals Yard remedies, Origins, Liz Earle,The Body Shop (just their new nutriganics range), Dr Hauschka, etc since i have neither the ability or desire to cook up products by myself :)

Im just sick of not knowing what chemical im bombarding my skin with! Feel free to join in if you want to :) Anyway, now that i've run out of most of what i was using,im ready to replace them with natural skincare products so if you use any products you really love and recommend, Id love to know what they are! I really want to find out if it does make a difference and will let you guys know what my regimen is and how i get on, when i get it sorted.

Id really appreciate your suggestions (especially of specific products you use) since there's so much out there to choose from!!! Thanks in advance x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

golden coral nails for spring :)

2010-04-10T16:07:00.005+01:00

i recently found this beauty hiding within my nail polish collection -17 lasting fix nail polish in 'tropical island'.Ive started wearing it and putting a nail polish with gold glitter (one that is not opaque so the coral shines through) over it
for the most part it doesnt look over the top at all, just like regular coral nail polish until sun catches the colour and it glistens in the sunlight :)

i'd love to know what your favourite nail polishes for spring are! :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

mini barry m dazzledust haul

2010-04-10T15:53:00.005+01:00

i recently got two of these little pots of shimmery glory :)
1. dazzledust in 'tan' no 39which looks like this

2. dazzledust in 'golden orange' no 71this is what it looks like

the first one will be great as an inner corner & brow bone highlight. the second one which is my favourite was actually the last one they had at the superdrug I went to. lucky! its such a gorgeous colour to wear on its own all over the eyelid :)

What are your favourite barry m dazzledusts, my dears? :) x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Mac (give me liberty of london collection) haul

2010-04-10T15:04:00.009+01:00

hi my darlings! only 2 lipsticks came home with me from this collection

'ever hip'(pinky coral) on the right and 'blooming lovely' (greyed mauve-y lilac)on the left. the former is a cremesheen and the latter an amplified so both very creamy with the latter more pigmented than the former.
they were the two most distinct colours and exciting lipsticks (to me) and are bang on trend for spring/summer :). I absolutely love them. Here are swatchesI think 'ever hip' is already sold out on the mac website. I can definitely see why. Its pigmented but sheer enough that you dont have 'wierd orange lips' (which is what every lipstick in the coral/peach family ive previously tried, left me with. Im also very excited about blooming lovely which i will be pairing with this lipglossmy astra illuminante lipgloss in no 08 from my italian swap!

Whilst at Mac, I also purchased (from the spring colour forecast collection) the lipglass in 'kumquat'
its the most beautiful coral lipgloss with peach and gold shimmer in it. I can't wait to wear it with 'ever hip' lipstick.

Overall the collection was gorgeous. Most of the other products didnt seem outstanding enough for me to purchase even though the packaging is gorgeous :)

what were your favourite products from this collection?

Plenty Love & God Bless

primark makeup brushes

2010-04-01T22:56:00.006+01:00

So i ventured into the battleground that is primark today. I'd seen a post on someone's blog raving about a two in one concealer + foundation brush they had obtained from there for a measly £1.50. I know!...had to get my mitts on that one!

I can count the number of times ive been to the primark on oxford street, on one hand- the viciously aggressive mass of customers and dubious quality of their clothing being two of the reasons. However i know it is possible to find the rare gem there - not everything will fall apart after wearing it once and it is such excellent value for money, a lot of the time. For example I got sidetracked and bought these cute gold summer sandals there.they were only £2! crazy!(they have them in like 6 other colours in anyone's interested)

Anyway i bought the only two brushes i saw therea big bronzer brush and the foundation+concealer brush.

bronzer brush: this is a huge brush which i just threw in my basket for the heck of it (its £1.50.i wont go into cardiac arrest if its crap). It is actually really soft which i didnt expect at all. on the other hand it sheds like crazy.Anyway it is almost too big for a face brush except if you wanted to dust some transluscent powder all over your whole face.I think it might be a useful one for dusting some bronzer/highlight powder on other parts of your body eg your neck & chest area when wearing a low cut top.

foundation + concealer brush:this is a lot smaller than i expected it to be. In fact it seems more like a big and small concealer brush in one. since it doesnt actually say what its for on the packaging, ill adopt a trial and error approach until i find my perfect use for it.It is really soft though and doesnt show any signs of shedding yet.

I havent tried either out yet properly so Ill let you know how I get on with them soon.Let me know if youve tried them and what your favourite more affordable makeup brushes are!x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Lip combination using GOSH Cosmetics

2010-03-31T18:00:00.004+01:00

Gosh Velvet Lipstick in no.122 'nougat' + Gosh Lip Jam in no.102 =a lovely rosy peachy nude :)

Plenty Love & God bless!

March Favourites!

2010-03-31T15:23:00.014+01:00

Another month and a couple of favourites....

1.Wet n Wild silk finisk Lipstick in no.27Love this colour! It'll be perfect for spring but ive been dabbing a bit on and wearing the nude gloss below over it to tone it down for day wear.

2. YSL golden gloss in no.12this has to be my favorite lipgloss ever!

3. Sleek face contour kit in 'dark'
Its so great that a drugstore brand is making contour kits and even better that its a brand like sleek that doesn't 'forget' that women with darker skin tones exist and want makeup too! These contour kits are brilliant. the highlight powder is pretty and gives a golden glow to your cheekbones and the contour powder is just a shade darker than my skintone so looks natural (and not muddy) on me :).its subtle enough to wear everyday. here is a swatchthe highlighter is on the left and contour powder on the right.I couldnt recommend it enough.

4.Nails Inc nailpolish in 'st johns wood'got so many compliments when i wore it. Its one of those nail colours that looks awesome with a monochromatic or neutral outfit because it just stands out and add some bite to your look :)

5. Nivea showercreamIve been using these for a while now and love them. they smell great and really moisturise the skin :)

What are your favourite products of the month?

Plenty Love & God bless

Perfume review: Jack Wills Womens Fragrance

2010-03-30T22:27:00.006+01:00

Just in case you arent in the uk or dont know what Jack Wills is. It is a uk brand comparable to abercrombie & fitch in the style of clothing and general philosophy with the exception of having a very 'british' emphasis. Jack Wills, as a brand reminds me of my university days...the preppy clothing...at some point I lived on the same street as a jack wills shop (and above a space nk.)lol.

Anyway was in their shop in covent garden a few months back and fell in love with the smell of their perfume.The fragrance itself is said to have

'intense but warm base notes of musk, amber, vanilla and woods....floral middle notes of violet & ylang give [it] a green twist....with fruity and spicy top notes of dried fruits, chamomile and nutmeg'

the 'green twist' is very apparent as to me it smells like being in a garden in the spring - really fresh, a hint of warm fuity floral woodiness and just a tiny bit like freshly cut grass. I know i just said the perfume smells like grass BUT its is a really lovely way some how.Its a gorgeous smell -not heavy or sweet or imposing.

my only problem with it is that it doesn't last very long on the skin.annoying because if you spend £39 on a perfume, it shouldnt disappear in an hour. however i tend to remedy this by using tricks to make perfume last longer e.g. spraying it on very moisturised skin(since perfume lasts longer in a moist environment), sprayng it on my clothes, spraying it on all pressure points and the back of my legs (because smell travels upwards) etc.

If you are not familiar with Jack Wills as a brand,you can check them out here

Have you used this perfume before. Or do you have any perfume recommendation? I love trying new ones :) x

Plenty Love & God Bless

INGLOT haul

2010-03-30T17:10:00.008+01:00

I was at Westfield Shopping centre the other day and had to check out the Polish makeup brand everyone (and their step-twin-grandmother) have been raving about.Inglot are hugely popular for their huge range of colours (in eyeshadows, lipsticks, nailpolishes etc)and their 'freedom palettes' which enable you to choose your own mix of eyeshadows, lipsticks and blushes to put in one palette,at an affordable price.Great gift idea! I think a palette of six eyeshadows costs £15.

anyway my retails efforts were disgraceful in the sense that despite the vast colour range, i went for safe pinks.I love the products i got though and will probably revisit them to go colour crazy at a later date.

Inglot lip paint in no 63 it looks like this very very pigmented.non sticky. non offensive fruity smell. glossy and moisturising.

Inglot nail enamel in no 803just another pretty pink! i loved the fact that they had nailpolish testers and nail polish remover there so you could try on the colours properly to see if you really liked them on you!

have you tried any Inglot products? x

Plenty Love & God Bless

best of CLINIQUE - my top 5 recommendations

2010-03-30T15:11:00.012+01:00

So quite a while back , i was sent a number of products by Clinique to review. I needed to take the time to really use them and determine whether they worked for me and were worthy of my recommendation.Owing to clinique being a high-ish end brand, there are some products of theirs that ive really enjoyed but will not include below just because I think that they too expensive for what they are/there are much cheaper alternatives that achieve the same result.Others I may not include may be based on personal preference eg. I prefer non sticky lipglosses and moisturisers that are fragranced. thats just me. The group of products below really impressed me and are the ones I would repurchase myself and recommend that you check out :)

1. Clinique moisture surge extented thirst reliefThis was not part of the products sent to me but one I purchased myself after hearing great things about it.It is their best selling moisturiser for a reason! It is a gel (not a cream) so was quite odd to get used to. However it works perfectly for my conbination skin. It makes my skin feel smoother and softer than any other moisturiser ever has and is not greasy at all.Its claims are that it is rapid, longlasting hydration in an oil free gel and smoothes, softens & locks in moisture all day.It can also be used under or over makeup.It delivers on every level and i highly recommend it for combination and oily skin.

2.Clinique 'take the day off' balm hands down the best make up remover I have ever encountered. They sell it in this form (a balm that melts into an oil on the face) and in liquid form. pixi2woo on youtube mentioned using the liquid one on models at london fashion week and how it just removes everything! i love it. my face feels like silk after using it. Im already halfway through mine and will be repurchasing it.

3.Clinique brush on cream liner in 02 'true black' this was my introduction to cream liners and i cant get enough of it. I cannot say whether it is better or worse than mac's fuidline or bobbi brown's gel liner since ive never used those. However the biggest complaint i have heard directed at cream liners is that they dry out quickly. I am already halfway through this gel liner and its texture is still exactly as creamy as the first day I opened it. thats saying something.

4.Clinique sparkle skin body exfoliating creamThis is a really gorgeous fresh minty body exfoliator. It has the granules but is also very creamy - which a lot of sugar and salt scrubs arent, so you skin feels really pampered even though youre scrubbing dead skin off. It has no actual glitter/shimmer in it but just leaves the skin looking really radiant. I love using it just on my feet even when im not exfoliating my whole body. Definitely an excellent one for DIY pedicures in the summer so your feet smell fresh, are soft and look cute in hot summer sandals.

5.Clinique instant lift for browsI love a good two-in-one product and this is a great one.click HERE for a more in-depth review of this.

What has your experience been with Clinique products?x

Plenty Love & God bless

PURE artist cube eyeshadow in 'rock'

2010-03-23T16:03:00.008Z

I had been eyeing up this line of eyeshdows from the Carlo di Roma group for a while now, whenever I was in a larger branch of Boots.The packaging is a chic completely clear cube and both sides of the insides, contain equal amounts of eyeshadow and It felt really smooth and velvety whenever i tested it on my skin. I was hesitant to buy it for only one reson. the price. a single eyeshdow cube costs £12.23which is ridiculous! even mac eyeshdows cost less at £11. However there is a perfectly logical reason for this. Whilst a mac eyeshadow contains 1.5 grams of product, with pure cube eyeshadows you get a whopping 8 grams!(over 5 times more) I particularly love that they can be used both wet (for a metallic intensity) and dry.I picked up a gorgeous colour in the shade 'rock' that is reminiscent of the ubiquitous 'satin taupe' eyeshadow by mac.Here is a swatchIt is a beautiful bronzey taupe - slightly darker and warmer than satin taupe. I like wearing it on its own all over the lid as it works well as a neutral colour thats a bit special or with my lower lash line lined with a colour like barry m dazzle dust in winter berry. (i need to do an fotd with it soon!). It seems to have good lasting power(all through the day)- i do wear it with too faced shadow insurance though. Overall I definitely recommend it. Ill probably end up getting a few more shades since its discounted at boots at the moment!:)

You can find it at larger branches of Boots/their website (where its currently 70% off!)and on asos.com

Have you tried them?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Nails Inc's 'st johns wood'

2010-03-23T15:16:00.004Z

this is a pretty bluey violet nailpolish ive been enjoying in this transition weather (im waiting for real sunshine, not this two hours in sunglasses and the rest of the day with an umbrella rubbish!). I did think it might be too similar to OPI's 'a grape fit' which i also have and love (i do posess a bit of a penchant for purples!)but it really isnt :)

you like?

Plenty Love & God Bless

making it work: 'boldly bare' lipliner from MAC's too fabulous collection

2010-03-13T19:59:00.009Z

I picked this up from MAC about a week ago -the only thing i got from that collection (seems like everytime you blink there's a new mac collection!being selective is definitely key) I was looking for a lipliner i could fill in my lips with and wear either on its own or with a lipgloss. Id seen this particular pencil described as a 'dirt red brown' and then saw swatches on other skintones where it looked like a pinky brown. It wasnt until i took it home that i realised it was a different colour than i'd expected.here is a swatchIt looks more like a coral-y pink on me. here it is on my lips(grr silly camera isnt picking up the orange-ness)It was then difficult to find a lipgloss that it worked with since the contrast with my skin was too stark for me to wear it alone.

I finally found two lipglosses that work
Gosh lip jam no.1
Mac's dazzleglass in 'baby sparks'
what products have you recently been combining with others in your attempts to make it work?! (Tim Gunn is such a ledge!haha)

Plenty Love & God bless

International Makeup Swap - UK - Italy

2010-03-12T21:14:00.006Z

A while ago, I recieved a package with some fabulous Italian makeup which was the product of a makeup swap with the gorgeous Lyd of Alice in a new wonderland.If you dont already follow her, do! she does the most stunning EOTD makeup! Glad i finally have time to do a post on this!

Im sure most of you know how swaps work -decide a budget, get eachothers preferences for products, colours etc and then shop (the fun bit!) & send the goodies to eachother.

My swap with Lyd was fun! I got to know her better and find out that we have a lot in common. she is such a lovely girl- beautiful and massively intelligent too! :) I was so keen to try some italian makeup brands and she wanted some uk stuff so it worked perfectly and I couldnt be happier with every single thing she got me (thank so much again darling!). The mystery of leaving your makeup choices to someone else and the power in being able to choose what you think will look good on someone else is really refreshing since we can all get into a rut with what we choose for ourselves sometimes.

She sent me thisa closer look at some of the eye productsand lip products
~2 pupa pigments - a pale blue and pale lime green
~a flower shaped deborah eyeshadow palette
~pupa wet & dry eyeshadow no.2 purple
~2 astra illuminante lipglosses
~the cutest lipgloss in 03 fushia glitter
~deborah bronzer no.9
~deborah blush no.05 cherry
~july cartery single eyeshdow in nero brillante
~mavala red nail polish
~wet n wild lipstick no27
and lots of lovely handcream etc samples as well :)

how generous of her! i love it all! we both clearly went over budget. LOL! You can check out what I got her here. definitely recommend doing a swap. i had a fab experience and made a great friend! x

Plenty Love & God Bless

February Favourites!

2010-03-12T20:54:00.005Z

this (amongst many other posts) reaaaly should have gone up ages ago.sorry! ive been very busy! hope you find it useful/interesting..:)

1.MAC 'fresh brew lipstick'- by far one of the most popular nude lipsticks for ladies of my skintone/women of colour. our love was re-ignited this month when I wore it loads.

2. clinique long wear gel liner in 'true black' -ive only just gotten into gel eyeliner.love it!

3.maybelline collosal mascara 100% black- the cheapest way to get massive thick long dramatic lashes. However prepare for clumps if youre not careful. you my want to stay away if you have really short lashes, because the wand is massive.

4 barry m lip laquer pencil in no.4- OMG!! go out and get one now! this is amazing! i was undecided when i first bought it mainly because i hardly wear bold lip colours and run away from lip colours with glitter.I built up the courage to wear this and ended up wearing throughout an entire weekend and got loads of compliments.its just wonderful! this is what no.4/party pink looks like on my lips
5. Jack Wills Perfume - its a love hate relationship because i love love the smell of the perfume but it doesn't last long enough on the skin :( another one ill review properly if anyone wants to know more about it :)
6. Clinique 'take the day off' balm - best makeup remover ever. I cannot get enough of this stuff. pixi2woo on youtube raved about using the liquid version of this on models at london fashion week. it will remove any and everything. expect a full review in the next few days!
Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day XI

2010-03-12T19:13:00.006Z

nude makeup! :)

the dubious 'wearing makeup without looking like youre wearing makeup' look. the trained eye cn always still detect it anyway.

oh and im wearing 4 different eyeshdows. care to guess what colours they are!? :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

WHATS IN MY HANDBAG/PURSE?!

2010-02-27T17:36:00.021Z

I love reading/watching videos of these as much as the next girl. Finally done mine, Enjoy!

Meet my handbag. Its not my nicest or favourite one. The shitty photo which makes it look 10x worse than in reality,is courtesy of my new camera whose setting i am still battling with.I love it though! Bought it from Forever21 last time I was in America. great if you carry a huge load of unnecessary nonsence in your bag...like me.Its chocolate brown with gold buckle detailing.its the bag i use day to day since it can fit A4 sized books.
2. wallet - its an Alexander Mcqueen one(bought in selfridges about a year and a half ago)gorgeous soft leather etc
3.phone and ipod. necessary. although I leave the house without my phone a lot(no crackberry addiction here.)
3.diary, notebook and keys. always have these with me, or else i feel naked!if i lost my diary i'd probably be eating cardboard and banging my head against a pavement somewhere :)
4.makeup bag. its a cath kidston one. got sick of throwing makeup into my bag and then spending a year trying to find it within the chaos!;)it came with the little matching mirror.cute!!and this is whats in it :)
5. umbrella and hairbrush.the unpredictable weather means my umbrella is a permanent resident of my bag.hairbrush is a babyliss one from boots, if i remember correctly.
6. tissues and handcream- standard!
7.miscellaneous- perfume sample ('love' by ralph lauren), painkillers(ibuprofen) and a pen)

ps: I didn't show you the bits (of reciepts, random change and fliers im too much of a wuss to refuse from people on the street) that litter my bag.I apologise for the deep sense of grief and loss you may feel as a result.

what's in YOUR handbag?!x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Which of these should I do a post on, next?

2010-02-17T23:45:00.006Z

hey lovely ones,

Ive been sooo busy lately! So i will probably have time to do just one post in the next few days. This is where I need your help. You have a choice between the following:

a 'whats in my handbag/purse?' post -photos + chat of my bag and the crap in it :)

OR

an 'everyday essentials/my go to products' post

OR

a 'girly chat corner' post -(theme, yet to be decided)

yo! hit me up with what you want homies! I is ....*okay i REALLY need to stop*. Im only an entire year older in 24hrs...yes its my birthday (the thought of it is currently as exciting as....matching socks) haha. If you want somethng completely different from the above, let me know too. whichever the majority want is what ill do - good old utilitarianism.yeah!x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Brow Product Review: Clinique Instant Lift For Brows

2010-02-14T17:34:00.014Z

This is one of Clinique's newer products which Ive been using for a while now.I just wanted to share with you,what i do and do not like about it, in case any of you are thinking of purchasing it or just wanted another opinion :)

I was lucky enough to recieve this from Clinique to review. Much appreciated! Okay, Lets get right to it.

I generally have quite thick full brows but sometimes need to fill in the odd blank/overplucked spot or just try to make them look tidier. So ive used traditional eyeliner pencils, retractable pencils, eyeshadows with an angled brush and brow wax thingys to fill in my brows. Clinique instant lift for brows is, on one end a retractable brow filling pencil and on the other a brow bone highlighter, as you can see below.they say
'the brow filler is a wax based formula with a beautiful powdery cream glide designed to deposit easily onto the skin and easily fill in brows.Carnauba wax helps to make the product adhere to the skin which allows this long-wearing formula to last for up to 8 hours without smudging or smearing'

It comes in 3 colours -soft blonde, soft brown and deep brown. Mine is in no.3 -deep brown. Here is a swatch of both the highlight and brow-filler.And here is a photo of my brows filled out with it, and the highlighter on my brow bone.(Sticking with the clinique theme, the eyeliner i have on here is the awesome clinique brush-on creme liner in 'true black')
As you can see, the dark brown fills my brows nicely even though I have black hair.(TIP:if you have black hair do not use black pencil/shadow to fill in your brows. it will look too harsh!always go for a dark brown instead)

what i like about this product
1. I really like the convenience of it as a two-in-one product. If you are on the go and don't want the fuss of lots of little separate products. this is great. no need for sharpeners, eyeliner brushes etc
2.It is quick, straightforward and easy to use.
3.the highlighter itself is a pink champagne colour and I was worried it would not work for darker skintone for instance but as you can see from the picture above, it blends really nicely looks great on the majority of skintones. AND you can use it for other things eg. highlighting the inner corner of your eyes,cupids bow of lips as well.multipurose or what?!
4.It is Allegy tested, 100% fragrance free and Ophtalmologist tested.Reassuring to hear!
5.It is water resistant, so even sweaty summer days shouldn't faze you!
6.it looks natural and contains wax so makes unruly brows stay tidy.

what I don't like about this product
1.The pencil lead itself could be narrower. It is a little fat so if you wanted very precise thin lines, they might be a challenge to acheive.Filling in my eyebrows was virtually effortless but I can imagine that if you wanted very thin lines and were just beginning to figure out how to fill in your brows properly,it might be harder to get them.

I think its fantastic! and would be truly perfect it the pencil was a little thinner.

Hope this was helpful! For more info or to purchase go to Clinique's website HERE.Do let me know what your experience with this product is if you've used it. Or what you use for your brows!x

Plenty Love & God Bless

Face of the day X

2010-02-13T19:11:00.009Z

eyeshadows -MAC 'banshee' and MAC 'carbon'
lipstick - MAC 'empowered'
eyeliner- clinique brush on cream liner in 'true black'
mascara- maybelline collosal -the newer '100% black' one

(noticed in the picture that it looks like im wearing false lashes(score!) but i am not lol- just wearing enough mascara to drown a whole human being)

oh and the cute hairband is from forever21 if anyone was wondering! x

Plenty Love & God bless

Products I regret buying!

2010-02-13T18:20:00.003Z

Im finally joining in on this one because I love reading them and find them really useful. This is my honest and personal opinion on these products. Here goes!

1. Bobbi Brown oil free even finish foundation spf 15.
the bottle i bought about 8 months ago is still 3/4 full and thats because I even tried hard to like it. Its one of those foundations that creases on your face and leaves lines when you smile. I dont have anything positive to say about it unfortunately.

2.Barrym nail paint in baby pink.
now i love barry m nail paints but this particular one seems to have a dodgy formulation - at least the specific one i purchased. let me know if you have it and yours is good because i love the colour but mine was just really streaky and horrible to apply.

3.Flowerbomb Perfume by Viktor & Rolf.
i know a lot of you absolutely love it and all the rave reviews i came across influenced me to buy it but it really doesnt work well with my body's chemistry unfortunately! Some of its notes are lovely but there is an element of it thats smell like sickly sweet caramelised smoke that i cant stand. Oh well, will just have to stick with the tried and tested favorites like Chanel's Chance, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren's Romance etc :)

4.Gosh makeup brushes.
I bought the foundation and blush brush. they are horrible and scratchy on the face!

5.Barry M eyeshadow palette.
considering the high quality of their dazzledusts, I thought this would be a lot better than it turned out to be.It really pales in comparison to sleek palettes for example. It is not terrible but the colour payoff and general quality could be better so I wont be recommending it to anyone, anytime soon!

6. Essie ridge filling basecoat
maybe i dont know how to use it properly but it doesn't seem to so much ridge filling and just makes my nailpolish application streaky and uneven. Again, if you have it and love it, let me know what your magical method is!

what are the products you regret buying??? let me know below or do the tag and post a link below!x

Plenty Love & God Bless

mini barrym nailpolish haul

2010-02-13T17:05:00.005Z

in lieu of spring (which should friggin' come already!), i got some pretty pastel nail polishes :)the one on the left is 'mint green' no.304 and the one on the right is 'turquoise' no.295

aren't they pretty?!

Plenty Love & God Bless

Guest Blogger:Eleanor pays tribute to Alexander Mcqueen

2010-02-13T10:23:00.010Z

(A wonderful blogger - Eleanor of howtostealamillion is taking over my blog in this instance with a great post.enjoy!)

As nearly everyone knows by now, the great English designer, Alexander McQueen, has died. I liked McQueen. I'm not claiming to be a mega fan of his, or to have known every single piece he did, but I know enough to like him.I liked the dress he did for Sarah Jessica Parker at SATC's London premiere in 2006.I liked his MAC collection. He was the first celebrity designer asked to create one, and his was based on the film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor.I liked his skull scarf designs that more or less influenced the scarves emo's wore, in my opinion.I liked how original and unique his shows were, and I'm not just saying that; anyone will agree he was an individual.I liked how his designs showed raw emotion, passionate moods. Creativity truly shimmered in these clothes.I liked McQueen's use of funny shock tactic's with his creations; no wonder he Lady GaGa wore his clothes!I liked how McQueen apparently let butterflies loose during one of his shows; it displays his gentleness and his sense of freedom he must of felt with his talent being recognized and his accomplishments. I still like all these things about him, and always will. McQueen must be celebrated for his work and achievements, despite the sorrow of his tragic passing. I found this post difficult to write, suicide is always an issue close to my heart. I find it more upsetting that McQueen took his own life, rather then the fact he is actually dead. Hopefully, his death, which will be obviously highly publicized, will bring a shed of light onto the horror of suicide and raise more awareness.
R.I.P
x

(you can check out the lovely Eleanor's blog HERE)
also, if you fancy guest blogging on here, email me at shakespeareandstilettos@gmail.com to find out more about that.

Putting products celebrities swear by to the test chapter I -Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream

2010-02-11T22:28:00.007Z

I presume we are familiar with this- perusing one of those glossy mags(Elle, Instyle, Cosmo etc)only to see some stunning actress/gorgeous singer claim that she has always used a specific makeup or beauty product. Our narrowed eyes re-scan that section in part disbelief/part hope. Our rational minds(no where to be found at such a time) would tell us that this one (semi-affordable/accessible to mere mortals) product is just one out of a huge array of products that keeps, for example, Kim Kardashian looking like Kim Kardashian, but do we stop hoping that this product will transform us? nope!

This is a new series in which you can see a normal girl try out some of these products at tell you whether they really are worthy! :)

Here we go!

PRODUCT - Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant
CELEBRITIES THAT SWEAR BY IT- Victoria Beckham , Carmen Electra, Jennifer Love Hewitt...(the list goes on and on-it is afterall a cult favourite)its claims: 'soothes minor skin irritations.also for symptoms of chapping, peeling or flaking due to minor burns, sunburn, windburn, scrapes, abrasions, or cracked lips'

I bought it in duty free whist on a trip, last year. I suggest, if you do want it, that you get it from duty free since it is a lot cheaper there (i paid £20 for the set including it,the accompanying hadcream and lipbalm) whilst it retails for normally in the shops (about £23 just for it alone).

It is honey coloured and has the consistency of a very thick balm. However the most obvious thing about it is its incredibly strong herbal smell.I definitely recommend testing and smelling it before you buy it. If you are very sensitive to smell you'll probably hate it. I thought i would never be able to stand the smell when i first properly tried it, however it does work. if you have very dry hands this will magically soften them. Elbows, knees, feet... it will soften anything! It's grown on me in the past few months and is just such an excellent multi-purpose product. Once you get past the smell its the kind of product that its easy to be loyal to. I think the fact that there aren't that many products on the market, like it helps. I know MAC brought out something similar with the limited edition 'naked honey' collection last year.Otherwise I don't know of any products that are similar enough and actually work.

would love to know what you think of it, if you've used it or would like to! x

Plenty Love & God Bless

OPI- Shrek Forever After Collection

2010-02-10T14:40:00.005Z

Who would have thought that OPI would pair with Shrek!? Well this is a sneaky peek of the Summer 2010 collection.I found the Alice in wonderland collection a little too predictable and unadventourous.And whilst the current Hong Kong Collection looks good, I find this collaboration with Shrek as odd as it is exciting.I really like quite a few of the colours....or maybe anything vaguely associated with summer just make me happy ;)
What do you think!?

20% off ELF studio line

2010-02-09T17:52:00.003Z

In case you didnt know this already, www.eyeslipsface.co.uk are giving 20% off all orders over £15 from their studio line

discount code: PROSAVE

the offer ends tomorrow- wednesday the 10th of february, at midnight

x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

MAC haul (all ages, all races, all sexes collection)

2010-02-07T19:18:00.013Z

hey there my lovelies!
dropped by MAC today to pick up a few things:) The All Ages All Races All Sexes collection came out in the UK a few days ago and it generally offers safe neutral shades for different skintones- no crazy neon colours and the like, here! There were only 2 things I'd seen from the collection that perked my interest and they were the ones i ended up really liking in real life, and getting. Here they are (with swatches):

MAC lipstick in 'empowered'It is a satin finish (so smooth and non-drying) and an absolutely gorgeous nude for my skintone. here is a (barely discernible) swatchmay as well have put concealer on my hand,eh?! :)

MAC eyeshadow in 'banshee'this is a very pale pink colour with a mauve-y undertone and a bit of glitter running through it. It is a lustre- which is a lot of people's least favourite finish becuase they tend to have chunky glitter, leave lots of fall-out and have little colour payoff. HOWEVER this one doesnt seem to have any of those problems -apart from the fall out so you just have to do your eye makeup first. its pigment shows up and the glitter is very pretty.Here is a swatchI would recommend using a base (like too faced shadow insurace) with it and patting it on rather than sweeping it on with a fluffy brush as the latter is bound to give fallout. That said, I lurve it! expect a face of the day featuring it in the next few days.

also got MAC's infamous 'carbon' eyeshadow (from the permanent line)a super intense matte black, good for smokey eye looks or as an eyeliner with a flat angled brush.

picked up anything from MAC's latest collections lately?

Plenty Love & God Bless

Free lipgloss with Bobbi Brown purchases

2010-02-06T22:42:00.002Z

Just in case you were thinking of buying a couple of things from Bobbi Brown, they are giving away free bobbi brown mini crystal lipglosses with all orders over £60.

If youre interested, go over to www.bobbibrown.co.uk to check it out! :)
x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

valentine nails

2010-02-05T02:39:00.005Z

used China Glaze nail polish in 'make an entrance'- a rich gorgeous pink, and the white mercia nail art brush for the cute-sey little white heart :)

Plenty Love & God Bless

lip combination chatter :)

2010-02-05T00:00:00.010Z

hello my darlings!
hope you're well. Im having a ridiculously BUSY month.Ive got big exams coming up this month as well as my Masters graduation and my birthday, amonsgst other things so it is and will continue to be CRAZY.Im just letting you know that my blog posts might get a little sporadic for the next few weeks. Dont you dare forget me!:) that said, ill probably still be sneaking on here to drop you a line or two should I get a free moment/grab unavailable minutes to indulge in shameless procrastination :)

Okay then, lets move on to what we're here for! You know i love my lip products:) just wanted to share 2 lip combinations I have been wearing a lot lately -one is old and trusty and the other, a new discovery!
LIP COMBINATION 1 - MAC 'fresh brew' lipstick and YSL golden gloss in no.12I begun the week yearning for a true nude -the concealer lip effect, if you will. Now fresh brew is perfect for that but has a bit of a grey undertone to it that makes you look even more mortuary-ready than a nude should. The YSL gloss is the perfect companion because it warms it up into the perfect brown and gives it that gorgeous shine.This is a swatch of them together. obviously beacause its a nude it wont show up so well, but trust me, its beautiful! :)

LIP COMBINATION 2-ELF lipstick in 'rosy tan' and Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in 'sunset'The lipstick is one of the elf products I bought a few weeks back (will be reviewing the other soon) and it is a wonderful colour. On me, it is a beautiful pouty natural rosy colour-less 'my lips but better', more 'my lips but sexier' :).However whilst i love the colour, I am not such a fan of the lipstick's consistency.On my lips in particular, if I wore the elf lipstick on its own, it would become dry and grainy and settle into the lines on my lips within the hour- not pretty! I would always opt to wear a lipbalm underneath and a lipgloss on top, just to be safe with this. That said, I cant get enough of the colour and really enjoy wearing it with the Rimmel gloss. This is a swatch of both, together.pretty huh?

what are your fave lip combos of the moment?! x x x

Plenty Love & God Bless

January Favourites!

2010-01-31T20:03:00.019Z

Just a brief run through the the things I really enjoyed using and that added a bit of sunshine (not literally ofcouse) to my month :)

1. Laura Mercier Stickgloss in 'Brown Sugar'raved about this before.Love it!

2. Ponds Cold Creamfantastic makeup remover.for lazy nights I just put it on my face and clean off with my cheapy superdrug makeup remover wipes and im good as gold.

3.NARS Pleasures of Paris Palette - particularly 'Abyssinia' and 'Fez'an old love that ive dug up and started giving the appreciation it deserves :)the first shade 'fez' (first one to the left of bottom row)is my perfect everyday all over lid colour and when paired with abyssinia(middle of bottom row) in the inner corner and as an underbrow highlight, looks sooo pretty!

4.Holland & Barrett's Pure Coconut Oilhow would my hair cope through the winter without it? its so pure it can be used for cooking, on salads etc and is one of the only oils that penetrates the hair shaft not just sitting on the hair and leaving it greasy.joy!

5. Korres blush in 'peach'ive used it to highlight my cheeks, as an eyeshadow and paired with other blushes and it always looks amazinggg

6.Crabtree & Evelyn 'La Source Hand Therapy'this hand moisturiser lives in my handbag and rescued my hands during the winter.this may shake things up a bit but i think it may be the best hand cream ive ever used- even better than my l'occitane!!!

What were your favourites of the month?

Plenty Love & God Bless