It's Always Summer on the Inside

Collective Fashion Haul: Karen Millen, Dior, River Island, Mango

2012-02-05T18:26:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone!

I feel like I haven't done a fashion haul in ages, literally since last year! The weather's been crazy cold recently so I haven't been buying that many new clothes but will show you a few things I got over the past month or two :)

I'm becoming more and more of a River Island addict, always browsing their site to check for new stuff.

Was looking for a good pair of blue skinny jeans that I could possibly pair with nude shoes (haven't gotten those yet though lol) and these are perfect! Not too casual or too dressy :)

The white shirt is from Mango and came across it completely by accident. It's very sheer and perfect for layering although I'm sure I'll wear it by itself too in the spring.

Another piece from River Island I'm loving at the moment is this cream cowl neck top that I paired with a skinny black belt to give it a bit more shape.

I wanted to invest in a good coat this winter and fell in love with this Karen Millen one. It was sold out in my size online but luckily I managed to snap up one of the last ones left at Selfridges in Birmingham :)

It's my every day coat now and I have a feeling I'm going to wear it to death :D

I know it's not summer yet, or even spring, but last month decided to treat myself to a pair of brand new sunnies. I've been lusting over the Dior Cocotte for agessss and since it's an older (in fact nearly discontinued) model I had to order online and wait for 3 weeks for them to be made. The advantage to all that is that they came with a quite decent discount. I'll have to wait a while to wear them but I just love them to death!

Hope you enjoyed this quick post!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

XOXO

January Favourites!

2012-01-29T17:23:00.002+02:00

Hey everyone!

I don't usually do favourites type of posts because I don't really buy that many different products every month that would deserve a whole separate post, however, this month a few did stand out.

Spring make up collections are already out yet it's still chilly and wintery outside so you might as well treat yourself to something new when the winter blues kick in ;)

Since I was looking for a good candy pink blush recently I had a look at Dior's new Rosy Glow in Petal and it's honestly the prettiest pink I've ever seen! Reminds me a lot of translucent powder only in blush form, completely matte, zero shimmer,very lightweight and glowy. I really like the packaging as well and the quality of the brush which always comes in handy when you're on the go.

It's one of those colours that are universally flattering. It might look a bit bright and crazy in the pan but turns into a very wearable and delicate pink once applied. Oh, and smells absolutely gorgeous too!

Heavy swatch:

And blended in:

Next, two new skincare items that I would repurchase over and over again.

I've never tried anything by Caudalie before and accidentally stumbled across a review of their Beauty Elixir spray which was in Harper Bazaar's top beauty products of the year.

They say it's "inspired by the "elixir of youth" used by Queen Isabelle of Hungary, this treatment smooths features, tightens pores, and gives the complexion a burst of radiance"

Its main ingredients are:

grape,
orange blossom,
rose,
organic balm mint,
rosemary

and contains no parabens, mineral oils or other nasties.
Sound interesting?

It's basically a natural toner in spray form, has a rather strong herbal smell (something to be aware of) and because it contains peppermint leaves a slight stinging sensation. It does contain alcohol which is 100% natural.

I like how it wakes up the skin (I alternate it with my Avene thermal spring water) and you need to spray very little before massaging it all over.

I got the 30ml bottle which is indeed small but it's nice if you want to give it a try before committing to full size.

I randomly picked up this Nivea Daily Essentials cleanser in Boots (I use the make up removing wipes every day) and turns out it's quite decent :P

It's a cream cleanser formulated for dry and sensitive skin and the interesting thing is that it doesn't foam up yet does the job brilliantly. And guess what, it's pink! ;)

Can't believe January is almost over!!

Hope you enjoyed reading, have a great week!

Ttyl,

XOXO

Cle De Peau concealer review!

2012-01-16T22:56:00.002+02:00

Hey again everyone!

Today I'm going to review a new concealer I recently tried, namely the one by Cle de Peau. I guess a lot of people have already heard of this particular brand, as it's owned by Shiseido but is apparently slightly more high end.

And indeed, when I say more "high end" I literally mean probably the most I've ever spent on a make up item, let alone a concealer. So is it worth it?

Basically... yes. I've always had pretty good skin, I don't really suffer from any breakouts or acne (never have) but if there is anything that I wish I could improve it's the shadows under my eyes, especially first thing in the morning as I never seem to get enough sleep these days. I've tried so many different concealers and correctors in the past and some were more useful than others but to be honest, when it comes to under eye products (especially eye creams) I've rarely come across something that really does what it promises.

I ordered this concealer online from StrawberryNET.com since I don't have a counter anywhere near me (not sure if they even have one in the UK?). I had to pay tax on it which was very quickly refunded so will most likely purchase from them again in the future. After watching a ton of video reviews and reading blog posts with swatches I went for the shade Ocher and was a bit nervous it wouldn't match me perfectly. Thankfully, it did.

It's a stick concealer but what is different about it is that it's extremely opaque and covers virtually anything that crosses its path (which is precisely what I needed really). It's a truly full coverage concealer which might not be everyone unless you have those specific needs.

Some people put it on the tips of their fingers first and then press it onto the skin. I personally prefer to draw a few swipes under my eyes (over my Armani Master colour corrector reviewed here) and then blend with a slightly fluffy concealer brush. You do have to blend it in well otherwise it might slightly crease but is fine once blended carefully in. It's not drying nor overly creamy and if you build it up a little it's almost like photoshopping your under eye area haha! It works like magic when paired with the colour corrector and by itself as well. I don't normally need a lot of coverage on my face so I invest that time into applying concealer instead :P

As you can see, the veins on my wrist are nearly invisible (one swipe). Looks darker here but matches perfectly when blended in.

Would I repurchase? Probably yes. I see this one lasting me for quite a while and I could also look into cheaper options (a few people have suggested the Boots No7 and Hourglass ones) but honestly, I think that a nice concealer can do a lot to improving your overall look and this one is a pretty good investment!

Hope you found this review helpful! Thanks for reading and have a great rest of the week :)

XOXO

Xmas & New Year Haul + Outfit

2012-01-05T00:57:00.001+02:00

Hey everyone!

First of all, happy new year!! Looking back, 2011 was quite a good year but there is always room for improvement so fingers crossed 2012 turns out to be even better!

Here's a few bits and bobs I was obsessed with around the holidays (and still am). Some of them are presents from others and some I picked up myself.

The holiday nails: Dolce & Gabbana Stromboli

I lusted over this Dolce&Gabbana nail polish for god knows how long but the price tag always put me off slightly. I was eyeing a very similar one by Dior initially called Czarina Gold but unofrtunately it was a limited edition and no longer available apart from on sites for double or triple the price. So I looked around for dupes and this one came up. I've never tried anything by D&G cosmetics before so was very curious to see if their make up would be as good as their fashion range.

It's very important to mention that this is a very unique colour: black with fine gold glitter. It may sound a bit scary as a description but it really is a gorgeous combination and you know I'm a sucker for gold lol This nailpolish reminds me so much of Sam Sparro's Black and Gold too, one of my favourite songs ever!

I ordered it online from the Harrods website and it arrived in this huge box which I thought was a bit OTT lol

Anyway, onto my impressions so far.

First of all, as much as the packaging is very sleek and stylish, I was disappointed with the brush! It's the old school style super thin brush and you have to be very careful when you're applying the product (requires a good amount of precision). One coat is fine but if you want more intensity you can go for a second one. It took a little longer to dry than other polishes I own (Dior, Rimmel, L'oreal) and as you can probably notice in the picture below I smudged it a bit even though I waited patiently for it to dry (hate it when that happens). You can definitely feel the glitter on your nails once it's dried but the bits are fine enough.

To be honest, if the Dior one was still around I'd definitely pick it over this one considering their bigger brushes and much creamier consistency of their polishes.

It's a beautiful colour but D&G didn't get it quite right with this one.

The holiday lips: YSL Rouge Pure Shine in Pink Diamond

Picked this YSL lippie on the ferry from France, supposedly duty free, even though it didn't really work out that much cheaper than normal.

If I had to pick only one brand for lip products it would be YSL, they have some of the best glosses!

This Rouge Pure Shine reminds me a lot of a tinted lip balm, extremely moisturising and comfotable to wear, very creamy, almost like butter, however, the downside to this is that you have to reapply often (staying power is rather disappointing).

Pink Diamond is a gorgeous frosty pale baby pink that you can wear either on its own or layered with something else. I've been wearing it nearly every day since I got it and it's been disappearing fast so I thought I'd show it to you before it's completely gone lol Is it me or YSL products in general just vanish quick?!

The holiday skin fix: Sanctuary Brightening Facial In A Box

The cold winter weather has been making my skin feel really dry and tight lately and as I am a big fan of the Sanctuary face masks (the ones you pick up in separate sachets) thought I'd pamper myself with this box full of travel sized goodies.

In the box you get trial sizes of the polishing hot cloth cleanser, radiance exfoliator, moisture boosting mask, illuminating moisture lotion and eye gel which you have to put in the fridge before you start the facial. There's also a muslin cloth to use after each step.

It takes about half an hour to do properly and while you wait for the mask to do its job (10 mins) you can do like me and have some chocolate!! :D Isn't that the best way to relax after all :)

I did this facial late and night and the next morning my skin did look much more radiant and healthy. If you also apply the Sanctuary therapist's oil instead of the lotion in the box after you've done, you're going to wake up with the best skin you've ever had!

The holiday smell: Calvin Klein Beauty

One word: it does smell, well, beautiful :P It's the first perfume that I actually like to put on even when I'm not going anywhere. It's very delicate and not overpowering at all.

A few pics of the christmas tree (which is already taken down boo) and my (very quickly put together) outfit:

Stumbled across this sequined top at the Karen Millen online sale (can be found here), reduced to nearly half price and it arrived just in time for new year. I'm not usually into sequins but do like this one a lot.

Hope you enjoyed, have a great rest of the week!

XOXO

Dior Ready To Wear Smoky Eyes Palette Review

2011-12-25T00:26:00.000+02:00

Hey everyone!

I got a fair bit of new make up over my birthday last week and I'm slowly starting to get back into a blogging mood!

Today I'm going to do a quick review on the Dior 3 colour Smoky eyes eyeshadow palette which I basically wore since day one after I got it. What drew me to it at first was the darkest, glittery grey colour (nearly black) which when swatched is just plain gorgeous. I wasn't sure which smokey palette to go for since Dior have a bigger one with more colours but to be honest I always end up using two, three colours max, so paying for more would've been unnecessary.

I always love Dior's stylish packaging and details like the pouch make it so much more special. The palette itself is a bit smaller than I originally expected and also slides to one side, however, the shadows themselves are highly pigmented and a little goes a long way.

I start with the base colour which is a very pale light grey all over the lid, then apply Soft Smoky in the crease and intesify it a bit more with Couture Smoky. I have to say though, the last one does NOT come out as glittery on the lid as when swatched and that disappointed me quite a lot at first but then I guess it makes it more wearable on a daily basis rather than just for evenings. The fine glitter is still noticeable but definitely not in your face type and often I have to look very closely to see it. All three are nicely pigmented as I mentioned, finely milled and apply easily.

You might think the applicators on that kind of palettes are usually rubbish but just before I left for Paris I forgot to wash my brushes which I have to admit were getting quite dirty lol so once at the hotel I had to wash them straight away and used these applicators for my eyes and to be fair, they do the job! One is a sponge type and the other a double sided brush... not completely useless and might save you some trouble when you're on the go.

Overall, I quite like this palette and don't really have anything negative to say about it. If you like the smokey look this is definitely a product to consider!

Hope you enjoyed and found this review useful!

Merry Christmas!!!

XOXO

Paris Weekend in Pics!

2011-12-22T00:31:00.003+02:00

Can't believe it's already Wednesday and last week went so quick! I had the most fun and amazing time in Paris just exploring the city and shopping even though it was super crowded everywhere now that it's nearly Christmas and the fact that I wore 4 inch high boots the whole time lol (I really need to look for flat shoes but always keep putting it off for some reason) :P

Needless to say by the end of the day my feet were completely murdered but I'm kind of used to that by now :P The results of a whole day of exploring were, of course, more than worth it!

Here are a few pics, hope you enjoy :)

We went straight to see the Eiffel Tower the first evening and as much as I've been there and seen it before, seeing it at night all lit up and from up close is just mind blowing!

There is just something about it that screams glamour and I love it!

The Louvre Museum

A bride getting her wedding pictures right outside

Galleries Lafayette... busiest shopping mall I've ever seen. There was literally no room for people to get in. Spent some time checking out (and admiring) the Tiffany&Co counter lol

Obviously had to check out the Sephora too :P Didn't really shop that much but managed to get a YSL Rouge Pure Shine lipstick which I have abused ever since I got and will be reviewing very very soon together with other make up I got recently :)

Notre Dame Cathedral

Lingerie Street??? lol

This is my make up at 11pm at night, thought it looked alright considering the long day haha

Could go on forever uploading pics, there were so many beautiful things to see!

Hate how quick time goes when you're enjoying yourself.

Hope you're having a good week so far and thanks for reading :)

XOXO

Birthday Pics, FOTD & OOTD!

2011-12-15T20:05:00.002+02:00

Hey everyone!

I had an absolutely amazing day yesterday on my birthday! Loved my presents, the meal and the best is yet to come because I'm leaving for Paris in a few hours. I feel like this is my most amazing birthday to date :) Paris is one of my most favourite cities in the whole world and I'm super excited to see it again!!

I think this is going to turn out to be a very pic heavy post... Enjoy! :)

Won this arrangement on a flower show a few days ago, love white roses!

This watch was on my Christmas lust list for way too long. Decided to go for gold in the end and absolutely LOVE it <3

Playing with a photography app on my phone :) The contents of the Dior bag will be revealed very soon in a review.

This is what I wore yesterday:

♥ Skinny jeans: H&M

♥ Top: River Island

♥ Cardigan: Julien McDonald

♥ Leather biker jacket: Warehouse

♥ Scarf: Alexander McQueen

♥ Watch & Ring: Gc & River Island

♥ Necklace: Erickson Beamon

♥ Shoes: LK Bennett

♥ Bag: Louis Vuitton monogram Tivoli

I did my make up as usual only this time I mixed my Chanel Mat Lumiere and Guerlain Parure Gold and omg, loved the result!

We had a very yummy meal at Rice in Meadowhall, Sheffield. I had a salmon nicoise, white wine and coconut water and for dessert, green tea ice cream, how funky is that lol. And yes, the tables were made of rice!

Cheers!

Got this t-shirt from River Island last week, I'm THAT excited about going away lol:

Hope you enjoyed!

Have a great weekend XOXO!!

Holiday Nails! Dior Les Rouges Or in Merveille Review + Swatches

2011-12-04T01:09:00.003+02:00

Here I am with yet another nail polish post but I just can't get enough of reds recently!

I've had a terrible cold all this past week and last weekend I barely made it out of bed with the intention of getting a new nail polish to cheer myself up a bit. I've had this gorgeous Christmas red by Dior in mind for quite a while but little did I know that the long trip into town would be in vain because it was all sold out :( The SA advised me to order online and that's exactly what I did as soon as I got back home (quite disappointed if I may add).

It arrived on Wednesday and I just couldn't wait to try it on. I have to admit I haven't been this excited about nail polish in quite some time. This is a very unique colour in my opinion, bright red with gold shimmer rather than glitter, and you know I can't get enough of gold. When you mix it with red it's a winning combination for me!

The brush is very similar to, in fact almost exactly the same as Rimmel's new maxi brushes and thank god for that because I don't know how I applied nail polish before with those old super thin ones.

It's a very rich, luminous red, has a very opaque, extremely glossy, crazily pigmented consistency and does not streak.

I was a little disappointed about the fact that you see more of the gold when you look at the bottle rather than on your nails because once you put it on there is only a faint golden hint yet, like I said, that's what adds luminosity to the red.

It's also quite chip and scratch resistant. I did my nails again with it last night because I had a few little chips here and there. Nothing major but I'm a bit OCD about chipped nail polish :P Still very impressed with how durable this one is!

Today I paired it with a red lipgloss that came with this month's Cosmopolitan mag. At first it didn't look like my type of colour at all so I threw it somewhere in my room then came back to it a few days later and wow! I still wouldn't wear red every day but it's perfect for special occasions. This is more of a darker plum red and I love how glossy it is!

If you follow me on Twitter you probably already know I'll be celebrating my birthday in Paris in two weeks' time (yes, I am getting old lol) and I'm planning to wear this lipgloss, it's that good! Can't wait to see the Eiffel tower again after almost 12 years, can't believe it's been that long!

(source: weheartit.com)

How CUTE are those pictures!? <3

Hope you enjoyed reading and have a nice Sunday! :)

XOXO

Loving Dark Nails! Rimmel Celebrity Bash Review + Swatches

2011-11-22T23:50:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to do a quick post on a gorgeous nail polish colour I discovered recently. I'm majorly obsessed with darks at the moment, anything from dark red, to purple to black!

I've been on the hunt for the perfect deep wine red colour for some time and think I finally found it in number 391 aka Celebrity Bash. Better yet, it's by Rimmel which in my case means it doesn't chip as easily and because of their new brushes it's very easy to apply.

Rimmel's new maxi applicator brushes have to be my absolute favourite out there because they distribute so well and never streak.

Day 4 and still no chips!

It's such a gorgeous, classy colour and at £5 is also quite affordable.

Highly recommended!

Have a great rest of the week!

XOXO

Saturday Adventures + NOTW

2011-11-13T22:39:00.003+02:00

Hey everyone :)

Can't believe the weekend is already gone and there's yet another boring week ahead!

Yesterday couldn't have been better though as I spent the whole day in Birmingham mostly shopping and relaxing. I have to say I'd been waiting for that Saturday to come for such a long time that when it finally came it went way too quickly :P

The title of this post should've probably been more like "pay day adventures" as you might see below :P I've had a few things on my wishlist for quite a long time that needed checking.

The first place we went to was Louis Vuitton. I've been lusting over a Speedy 30 for god knows how long. It's such an iconic and practical bag yet when you think about it because it's so casual it isn't that suitable for the evening and is probably one of the most imitated bags out there and more often than not the fakes outnumber the real ones. So while I was browsing the LV site I saw the Wilshire Vernis in Amarante and kinda fell in love instantly :P However, because something always has to go wrong, it was sold out in all colours online. I rang up the store in Birmingham and thankfully they had it in stock there.

Once at the store though, to my amazement, it turned out that the "medium" one the lady on the phone was referring to was actually way too big and the one I'd seen online and wanted was ridiculously small... And it's a bit sad because if they made a bag somewhere in between those two sizes and if it had a zipper (which it didn't, only a lock which left the bag practically open at all times) it would've been gorgeous! As much as I'm not into big bags I adore the Amarante, it's such a beautifully rich plum colour. So to sum up, Louis Vuitton should just hire me to design some bags haha :o)

With the Wilshire out of the question, I tried the Tivoli PM and the Galliera (not 100% sure) and decided for the Tivoli in the end. I have to admit I was still slightly disappointed it wasn't the Wilshire but I'm now starting to love this bag to death!

I love the fact that it has feet and a zipper because as glam as the Wilshire is, not having a zipper is just unpractical.

Then it was off to Selfridges and while I was browsing the shoes I came across something else that has been on my wishlist for way too long... the black and ivory skull Alexander McQueen scarf. I'm not really into skulls or scarves for that matter (this is like my second ever, no joke) but I just love this one.You can virtually add it to any outfit and it's instantly transformed.

I have to say I was very disappointed with the packaging of the scarf though! I think that for the price they can try much harder.

In this month's Glamour magazine there's a free Nails Inc nail polish, I believe there are three colours (two reds and a black). I got the dark red one, or at least the one I thought was red but it turned out more plum undertoned on my nails (it's called Piccadilly Circus). While I'm not entirely sure about the colour I really am impressed with the quality and will definitely look into more colours from this brand.

Here's my outfit of today (Sunday) with my brand new bag and scarf. Happy happy :)

A few pics from Birmingham, such a beautiful city, love the canal and the boats!

I'll leave you with a song I'm completely obsessed with at the moment, If Everyone Cared by Nickelback!

Hope you enjoyed! Have a great week :)

XOXO

Saturday OOTD: Keep Calm And Wear Bows!

2011-10-30T18:55:00.001+02:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween?

I'm quickly going to do an OOTD post of the outfit I wore yesterday during the day.

The other day I picked up these super cute bow earrings at River Island that I matched with a black bow top I've had for a while... Love bows!!

Here's what I wore:

❤ Skinny jeans: River Island

❤ Bow top: Orsay (from last year I think)

❤ Cardigan: H&M

❤ Shoes: LK Bennett

❤ Bow earrings: River Island

❤ Necklace: Tiffany / Ring: Erickson Beamon

While I was hunting for a new pair of skinny jeans on Friday and strolled through H&M I saw this white blazer and had to have it. I'm not sure if it's going to survive past the first few washes but I guess we'll find out lol... I like how it's warm enough to wear without a coat though!

Yesterday I also got to wear the new foundation I picked up a few days ago, Parure Gold by Guerlain. You can read my detailed review here.

Thanks for reading and have a great week! ❤

XOXO

Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation Review

2011-10-29T22:42:00.005+03:00

Hey everyone! Today I'm going to review a fab foundation that I have just discovered, namely Parure Gold by Guerlain!

What attracted me to this foundation

I’ve had an eye on this particular foundation for quite some time but what stopped me from getting it (apart from the rather steep price) was the fact that there weren’t that many reviews online and it’s only recently that more people got to reviewing it.

I’ve used Chanel Mat Lumiere for god knows how long and until now it was the best foundation I had come across. I have it in the colour 40 Beige and it seems to match my skin tone almost perfectly, it’s mattifying which I like, especially for pictures. The problem with it is, since my skin is on the dry/sensitive side sometimes it can be too mattifying for my liking and this is why I decided I needed a more moisturising foundation for the winter months. This particular one by Guerlain is also supposed to give you a “golden glow” so I was obviously intrigued lol :P

Texture, coverage, ingredients

Guerlain Parure Gold is on the medium coverage side although it is easily buildable. The texture is definitely lighter and a bit more luquidy than that of Chanel Mat Lumiere, and therefore, easier to blend and a little goes a long way (I apply it with my fingers).

When I was buying it the SA tried two colours on me and number 4 Beige Moyen was the closest to my skin tone, although I must say, it is ever so slightly darker than I wanted it to be. Number 3 was way too light while number 5 was too dark on me. So if I was to get it to match me perfectly I’d ideally have to mix two colours and I’m not willing to spend a fortune on that. I just use less bronzer with it and it’s fine. If you’re interested in getting it definitely go see it in person first and try it on because online swatches can be misleading sometimes.

Apparently it contains oil of Myrrh and gold radiance pigments which instantly give you a natural glow that is never, at least not on me, oily looking. I did some research into the first ingredient and it doesn’t seem to have any special properties other than improving circulation so I’ve no idea why they’d advertise it as anti-ageing.

It has a slight scent to it but nothing too overpowering.

Here's a swatch:

The Verdict

My verdict on this is that it is a lovely foundation, very moisturising and provides good coverage. While it definitely gives you a glow it’s never oily. It never gets cakey and has a very natural finish to it. Colour selection, however, could be better. Would I repurchase? Yes! I’m still going to use up my Chanel Mat Lumiere but will stick to this during the colder months.

With the purchase of the foundation I got a complimentary sample of the Terracotta Second Skin bronzing foundation which I tried yesterday. To me this almost feels like a very light mattifying primer that has bronzer in it and the colour again looks very fresh and natural so I might be interested in getting this in full size at some point.

Hope you enjoyed! Have a great Halloween!

XOXO

Saturday FOTD + NOTD + Bargain of the Week!

2011-10-23T14:22:00.001+03:00

Hey everyone!

Can't believe the weekend is almost over and the next one is another five days away :(

Thought I'd quickly show you a lovely nail polish I got a few days ago... I've been absolutely obsessed with dark nails lately and this one is my new fav! It's number 502 by L'oreal but unfortunately doesn't have a name and I really wish it did because I love connecting a colour to a clever name, I think OPI polishes do that best! :)

This one is sort of a very deep dark purple and once it's on your nails it can look almost black but the purple undertones are definitely there. It says on the bottle it lasts up to 7 days but L'oreal nail polishes usually chip on me pretty quickly so we'll see how long it lasts.

I'm a bit picky when it comes to nail polishes to the point where the only thing I can have on my nails is either french gel tips/nudes, bright red or something dark (I'm not really into crazy colours) but I think I'm going to expand my collection with a few more darker ones.

A few pics I took yesterday before heading out...

I finally got the YSL Top Secrets eye roll on yesterday so have only had one day to use it (couldn't wait any longer to get it lol!) So far so good but will do a proper review once I've had more time to test it.

Today I am wearing:

FACE:

♥ YSL Top Secrets primer and Flash Touch eye roll on pen

♥ Dior Nude Glow complexion enhancer

♥ Chanel Matt Lumiere foundation in Beige

♥ Armani Skin Master Corrector in #2 Orange

♥ Deborah eyebrow marker in light brown

♥ Dior bronzer in Amber Bronze

♥ Benefit Coralista blush

♥ Estee Lauder 5 tone shimmer highlighter in Bronze

EYES:

♥ Bourjois liquid eyeshadow in Molecule D'or

♥ Sleek eyeshadow palette in Graphite

♥ Collection 2000 liquid eyeliner / L'oreal white khol on waterline

♥ Clinique High Impact mascara

LIPS:

♥ YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in #7 Lingerie Pink

♥ YSL Golden Gloss in #1 Simply Gold

And finally the unbelievable bargain of the whole week! Can't believe this H&M coral top was down to £3 from £15! I'll probably have to wait until next summer to wear it more but I love the colour and it fits perfect. The H&M sales are just amazing sometimes :)

Hope you enjoyed, have a great week !

XOXO

My Christmas Lust List!

2011-10-21T01:20:00.009+03:00

I've never done a wishlist type of post before but I absolutely love reading other people's and finding out about stuff they like so thought I would finally try doing one of my own :)

This is mainly some random stuff (not just beauty but a bit of everything) I'm having an eye on at the moment and hopefully (fingers crossed, because I've been really good this year!) Santa will bring me for Christmas :P

Gc (Guess Collection) white ceramic watch

I love white watches and the way they stand out and compliment any outfit. The design of this one is gorgeous and is actually one of the very few I've found that doesn't look plasticky and cheap. Not sure if I would go for gold or silver, it's so hard to decide! This one is on the pricey side though so if you like it or you're looking for something similar might be worth checking out sites for pre owned watches, there are some really good and reliable ones out there.

YSL Top Secrets Eye Roll On

If you follow my blog you're probably already aware of my major YSL obsession as of late :P I have the Top Secrets primer and honestly it's amazing! I'm looking forward to trying this eye roll on as I'm hoping it would have a similar formula to the primer but will also help with under eye puffiness and dark circles. I've always had generally pretty good skin but I totally hate my dark circles sometimes (especially in the mornings!) and no eye cream I've tried has wow-ed me so far. Most reviews I've read on this YSL eye roll on agree it's a pretty decent product although it seems the amount in the pen doesn't last long :/

LK Bennett Selina Shoe

Seriously, who needs Louboutins when you have LK Bennett? Lol, well I'm sure some people would still go for Louboutins if given the chance but LK Bennett shoes most certainly don't fall far behind in terms of quality and elegance. Love the bow detail on these and the fact that the heel isn't stupidly high. If you aren't comfortable in very high heels you just shouldn't wear them because it's much better to just be able to enjoy yourself (say on a night out) than be aware of your shoes you can't really walk in all the time.

A good pair of ripped jeans

I'm currently on the look out for the perfect pair of ripped jeans... Not too ripped (don't want to look like a homeless person lol) and some studs here and there wouldn't be bad either :P I've tried on so many pairs already and have failed in my search miserably. If anyone has any recommendations please tell me in the comments :) Lately I've been absolutely hooked on personal fashion blogs because I think it's the best way to learn about fresh trends and get ideas for outfits.

Home made mince pies!

You know Christmas is coming when you start seeing mince pies in supermarkets. Well, this year I can't wait to try to make my own. I suck at cooking for the most part, probably because very often I get bored pretty easily, but I think baking cakes and sweets is my strongest point. Can't wait to see how they'll will turn out :P

Hope you enjoyed reading! Can't believe it's almost the weekend already!

Ttyl, XOXO

LK Bennett Gorgeousness + H&M Haul + OOTD

2011-10-14T20:49:00.006+03:00

Hey everyone! :)

I've never done a review on a pair of shoes before but you can't imagine how excited I was when I got my brand new LK Bennett Maddox shoes in the post other day!

There's been a lot of hype surrounding LK Bennett lately ever since Kate Middleton (or should I say, the Duchess of Cambridge) started regularly wearing their creations. Personally, I can't say I'm crazy about Kate's style. She is stunning, I do think she dresses smart and classy (as it is obviously expected of her) but sometimes it's just a bit too conservative and safe for me.

The shoes she chose to wear on the days before and after the royal wedding were the LK Bennett Greta wedges. Why am I telling you this? That same model was reissued as Maddox in May 2011 and boy am I glad they revamped it because I probably wouldn't have given Greta a second glance :P

The Greta wedges worn by Kate

(source: whatkatewore.com)

Here's the updated, and much better in my opinion, version of the wedges:

What instantly attracted me to these shoes was the fact that they're classy, elegant, have a high end feel to them yet they're very comfortable and can be worn every day with pretty much anything. I'd hate to spend a fortune on a pair of shoes and only be able to wear them on special occasions a few times a year. I've never seen the Greta ones in person but judging from pictures there's just no comparing both pairs. Greta almost look like the budget version of the Maddox, although from the reviews I read online it seems they're even more comfortable which is good.

I wore these all day today around town and I just love them to death! Very stylish, and Louboutin-like yet super comfy! They even come with their own dust bag which is always useful. I can't really say anything negative about them other than the fact that I couldn't find them anywhere in the shops so was forced to order online. I went to several John Lewis and House of Fraser stores with no luck. A John Lewis SA told me they only sell them online which just doesn't make sense because if you wanted to order them you'd do it from the LK Bennett official site anyway... They also have limited availability of sizes, thankfully a size 6 fits me fine.

Initially I was thinking of getting a pair in red but decided to go for black in the end because like I said it goes with pretty much anything. Love the ones in light taupe too, dare I say I'm a bit tempted to get them at some point as well lol :P

(source: dailymail.co.uk)

Guess my LK Bennett addiction is officially ON! lol :P

I'll show you a couple of things I got from H&M these past few weeks. This is the only shop where if I walk in at any time I'll like something, and trust me, that almost never happens haha!

Love this zebra print shirt! Think it was on sale, great find :)

Seems like I've only been living in cardigans lately lol! Love these!

Specifically picked up this blazer to wear to a few job interviews. H&M have the best blazers!

And finally my outfit of today:

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!

XOXO

YSL Rouge Volupte in Lingerie Pink & Collective Drugstore Haul

2011-09-23T18:29:00.001+03:00

Hey everyone!

I'm going to show you a little something that arrived in the post this morning :) You may already know that I'm going through a major YSL phase and according to my boyfriend YSL apparently stands for You Spend Loads. But anyway, moving swiftly on :P I've been wanting a Rouge Volupte for ages and last week finally decided to treat myself to one. Because I had already looked at swatches online I had more or less of an idea which shades to look out for, namely Fetish and Frivolous Pink. However, upon swatching them they turned out to be crazy bright so I swatched number 7 in Lingerie Pink instead and instantly fell in love. And the funny thing is, that was the one I had ruled out straight away because it looked crazy pale in swatches online. Just goes to show that especially when it comes to make up you have to see things in real before buying.

Unfortunately they didn't have it in stock at my local Debenhams so I had to order online but that didn't really bother me much considering I got it with a big discount :)

When it arrived the first thing I noticed was that it didn't have a mirror so I instantly thought it might be fake, however some lovely people on Twitter assured me it wasn't and this is just the new version. An Ebay guide also mentioned this and apparently some Rouge Volupte's from outside the UK don't have the mirror. So after breathing a sigh of relief it's not fake I have to admit the mirror was a very nice detail that I'm going to miss... Damn you YSL!

A lot has been said about the Rouge Volupte's so you probably already know they're super creamy, very pigmented and opaque. I absolutely adore the packaging and the colour is very true to what you see in the container. However, as much as they're creamy I find this one quite drying and almost too matte so I wouldn't consider wearing it on its own.

Here I am wearing it by itself:

And paired with YSL Golden Gloss in Simply Gold:

It definitely turned out paler on my lips than when I swatched it on my hand in store but I'm surprised at how wearable it is despite all that. I wasn't sure when I first tried it but it's definitely growing on me now :)

A few other bits and bobs... I was mega excited to get the Xen Tan Deep Bronze Luxe which I am going to review in a separate post. I've never tried anything by Xen Tan before so was a little nervous to spend so much on a bottle of self tan but so far I am loving it. Anyway, more about that in my upcoming review. Also decided to give the infamous Sally Hansen Legs spray a try, got the darkest shade and can't say it's that bad at all :P

Lately my hair has been a bit drier than usual so I picked up a few things by John Frieda: the Sheer Blonde leave in nourishing spray and Gleam Creme Instant Silkener.
Good stuff!

And finally, on a separate trip to Boots picked up the Sanctuary Facial Oil after hearing so many people rave about it. Really hope it helps with my dried out skin!

Hopefully I'll be able to review all these amazing products in the coming couple of months :)

I'm really curious to know if anyone else has had the same issue with the Rouge Volupte's or how to spot fake YSL make up??

Have a fab weekend! XOXO

Updated Blog Sale

2011-09-06T13:06:00.003+03:00

The rules:

1) If you want an item, say so (and what you want) in the comments below along with your Paypal email address. I will only accept payment as a gift through Paypal as it saves me fees so please leave your email address & I will email you.
2) Paypal is the only method of payment accepted - it's just easier and more secure;

3) Please ensure you pay for the item immediately upon receiving the email - or at least some time within the next 24 hours; otherwise the item will be reposted and will not be reserved for you;

4) All prices include shipping to UK. Shipping to Europe will be an extra £1 and the rest of the world £3 for one item: for each additional add 50p.(Europe), 70p (rest of the world);

That's it! :)

Onto the goodies!

MAC Sheertone Blush in Peaches, used 2x - £12 SOLD

Estee Lauder Limited Edition Bronze Goddess ShadowStick Duo in Gold Bronze, used 3x, never been resharpened. More pics + swatch here - £11

Benefit Bad Gal eyeliner pencil & It concealer stick (used 4x each) - £6 each

Clinique Happy perfume set, 30ml perfume spray/ 75ml body smoother (Brand NEW) - £9 SOLD

NUXE Teint Ultra Prodigieux Healthy glow Tinted Care without self tan for fair skin (used2x) - £5

L'oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Technology Ultra-Lengthening Mascara (used once) - £5

XOXO

YSL Golden Gloss!

2011-09-05T23:50:00.006+03:00

Hey everyone!

I have to admit I am becoming a bit of a YSL addict recently which is surprising since I wasn't that crazy about their products in the past. All this changed after I got the Top Secrets moisturiser (you can have a look at my review here) and now I have a new addition which has made me fall in love with YSL even more!

Let me start off by saying that I go crazy for anything gold and bronze that I can pair with a bit of a smokey eye and pink lips. I don't usually wear much gold in terms of jewellery but when it comes to make up I'd try anything gold, it's such a flattering colour!

Anyway, when I saw this YSL lipgloss that's completely gold I just had to have it. It's the # 1 in Simply Gold.

They describe it as "A veil of shimmering gold. The gloss forms a mirror-effect on the lips which sparkles with mother-of-pearl. A complex of nourishing oils (Nigelle and Cameline Oils) protects the lips while providing total comfort. The magic and shimmer of gold captured on the lips." And as if this wasn't enough it contains 0,2% of 24 carat gold!

It is probably one of the least sticky lipglosses I have, very long lasting and for once doesn't taste gross! The shimmer is very fine so it's not gritty at all. The scent is somewhat floral, almost herbal and I actually like to open the bottle just to smell it :P

The applicator is a brush, not the usual sponge, and I think I actually prefer it like that because none of the product gets absorbed and wasted. My only criticism is that, as it happens with most YSL products, you don't get much product for your money... this is 6ml/0.20 fl oz and retails at £21. I ordered it online for less but it's still a lot to pay for a lipgloss.

The way I've been wearing it is over MAC Victorian (best pink lipstick everrrr?), just dabbing it on top and seriously it stays put for ages. It's not too OTT with glitter yet you can still see the gold particles. Adds a lot of glossiness to Victorian which is completely matte, great combo :)

I think this is one of my summer absolute must haves! Love it!!! :)

Hope you enjoyed! Ttyl XOXO

Giorgio Armani Master Corrector 02 - World's Best Colour Corrector?

2011-08-31T19:24:00.002+03:00

I've had my eye on this colour corrector ever since I watched TheSublimeAgent's YouTube review (who's one of my fav YouTube gurus!) and finally picked it up about two weeks ago. The before and after difference on his video was just amazing, I literally stood there with my mouth open haha! I ordered it online at Selfridges and the first time completely confused it with the concealer from the same range but thankfully they let me return it *phew*! Definitely recommend Selfridges as the shipping is mega fast and I think they also had it cheapest.

So first of all... what the hell is a colour corrector?! Colour correctors are used either on their own or under a regular concealer to disguise the appearance of dark under eye circles. Selfridges had it in two shades: orange (to counteract bluish or purplish tones under the eyes since blue is the opposite to orange on the colour wheel), and pink (for greenish undertones). As far as I know they also make it in yellow and green.

My impressions... The brush it comes with is extremely thin yet it distributes the product very well and precisely where you need it. It's almost like an eyeliner sort of brush. The consistency is very creamy, pigmented and once you gently blend it around with your fingertips it completely melts into the skin, it's as if you haven't applied any product at all. I don't think that even if you applied too much it would ever look cakey at all.

If you have really BAD dark circles paired with bags this will definitely disguise most of the blue/purple however don't think would be very useful for bags. I use it underneath my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer and so far I'm really liking it.

Also if you're really pale this might be a bit too dark for you so you'd definitely need to cover it up with a lighter concealer on top but if it's dark circles you'd like to get rid of the results will definitely be worth it. The tube is kind of small (4.4 ml/ 0.1 fl oz) but because it's so pigmented and you need so little I can easily see this lasting for up to a year if not more.

Here it is swatched, just one swipe:

I'm loving this!!

Have a great rest of the week and will ttyl!

My New Skincare Must Haves + Some Weekend Shopping!

2011-08-22T18:02:00.005+03:00

Hey girls (and guys :P)!

This is going to be kind of a long post and I suspect also pic heavy. I've been really busy these past couple of weeks and haven't had much time to catch up with the blogging world but since I've had a couple of posts I wanted to do in my head I figured I'd do them all together.

First I want to talk about two products which I've been using during the past three weeks and love TO DEATH!!

♥ Avene Thermal Water

I used to use thermal water religiously a few years ago until I started the Clinique 3-Step system and for some reason gradually stopped picking this up... biggest mistake ever! I got it again a few weeks ago at Boots (cost something like £3 for the small bottle, still haven't used it all up) and I'm in love again!

Here's what they say about it: "Avene thermal water comes from a spring which surges from deep within the mountains of Southern France. Officially declared of public interest in 1874, its beneficial properties are put to full use at the Avene-Les-Bains thermal spa, which offers leading-edge dermatological treatments. Bacteriologically pure, with a low mineral content, Avene thermal water contains essential trace elements (iron, copper, zinc, fluorine, silver, manganese), as well as silica, which leaves a lightweight film to soften and protect the skin. Its soothing, anti-irritating and anti-free radical properties, which have been proven in numerous scientific studies, make it the ideal treatment for sensitive, sensitized, irritated or weakened skin."

After three weeks of using it twice daily I can definitely see a difference in my skin. It looks much clearer and more radiant. The way I use it is after completely cleansing my skin, I lightly spray it all over my face and neck and let it dry (it's very refreshing too and you can keep it in the fridge). If it's taking too long I'd gently massage it in then I apply my regular serum and moisturiser.

It says in the leaflet that you can use it to set your make up, kind of like the MAC Fix+, however I wouldn't do that. It just makes no sense to spray your face with water after you've put foundation and/or powder, etc on... I know a lot of people do it, I however prefer to leave this entirely for my skincare regime.

Definitely would repurchase and highly recommend to anyone with sensitive skin. It is an extra step and probably not for everyone but it definitely does a great job!

♥ Sanctuary 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

Since I hadn't tried anything by Sanctuary before, I randomly picked up this sample again at Boots. It's very thick and sort of light grey in colour. As you put it on it immediately heats up which I thought was really cool. I've used this probably three times now (same sachet) and really like it. It definitely minimises pores and takes away all impurities. I think I prefer this one to the Garnier clay mask which also heats up simply because it's much thicker and you can feel it heats up more. Love it :)

And now onto my haul bits and bobs from the weekend (some of this is from last week as well) :D

Got this basic white top and fluffy feather necklace at River Island (do you think the feathers are actually real?). Wouldn't have picked up the necklace on its own but thought it went really well when paired with the top... Looks loose but it's actually a size 6 lol

Also got this red ruffle one at H&M... love bright colours!

Some more jewellery (you can tell I'm earrings obsessed lol)

Also got this black bow ring at Claire's, was the very last one left, that happens all the time, no idea why lol It's a bit too big but I really wanted it so don't care...

CUTE!! :D

And finally because I can't get enough of bows, I saw these bow flats on sale and just couldn't resist lol...

Can't wait to wear them, the ring and this cream ruffle top all together :P

Hope you enjoyed reading! :)

Have a great rest of the week XOXO!

Weekend Splurges: Estee Lauder & YSL

2011-08-09T19:18:00.003+03:00

Hey everyone!

I'm going to do a quick review kind of post with swatches of two amazing products I got over the weekend.

First up is the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Eyeshadow Stick Duo in Gold Bronze. I realise that I'm very late with this purchase since it's been out since like probably May but better late than never :P To be honest I wasn't sure I really needed it when it first came out because I have so many gold and bronze eyeshadows already but was browsing the House of Fraser website the other day and decided to give it a go. The main reason why I got it is to use it in the inner corners of the eye and also to accentuate the golds and bronzes I already have.

Thank god they still had it stock otherwise I would've been extremely disappointed. It works quite well, the consistency is very pigmented and creamy. Absolutely love the bronze, the gold however is a bit darker than I would've liked and also expected it to be a bit more metallic (not shimmery) in order to open up the eye more.

Here I used the gold in the inner corners of my eyes and the bronze on the upper lash line:

While I'm glad I got it I wouldn't call this a definite must have. It's a nice addition if you want to add some gold or bronze in specific places and since it's so creamy it's very easy to smudge and you could easily use it instead of an eyeshadow as well.

Now on to the good stuff! :P

I can't remember exactly which site I was browsing but somehow I came across a review of the YSL Top Secrets Flash Radiance Skincare Brush. I was in a desperate need of a new primer since I've had my current one for agesss. This one is quite pricey so after reading tons of reviews online, most of which were extremely positive, popped into my local Debenhams to have a look. As I swatched it and waited a few minutes while browsing the shops I noticed how it immediately smoothed out and moisturised my skin at the same time. Went back, got it and I'm sooo happy I did!!!

The way I use it is after my Clarins Beauty Flash Balm in the morning, twisting the brush to "on" on the side and squeezing out enough product to fill half of the brush then distribute it evenly all over avoiding the eye area. If I have time I'd wait 2 minutes before applying my foundation.

It's a whitish gel and as it contains caffeine, light reflecting particles and has a slight tingly and cooling feeling to it (which I love!), immediately makes you feel fresher. My Chanel Mat Lumiere went on so much BETTER afterwards! It's mattifying yet moisturising as the same time and definitely makes your skin more radiant. Another thing I noticed is that it made my foundation last longer and needed much less touch ups throughout the day.

A lot of people had mentioned in their reviews that they don't like the brush and I wasn't sure I'd like it either but to be honest it's just so much handier than having to use a separate brush and besides this one is the perfect size and does the job brilliantly.

The only downside? The price. However, using it has become something I look forward to when applying my make up in the morning and definitely does what it promises. One of the best primers I've ever tried! :)

Hope you enjoyed! Have a great rest of week and will ttyl!

XOXO

And the Winner is...

2011-08-07T00:41:00.000+03:00

It's time to announce the winner of my Apothica Gift Card giveaway!

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who entered!

Without further ado, the winner, as determined by random.org is...

Naghmeh

Congrats!!! I will be emailing you shortly.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!

XOXO

Dior Bronze Amber Tan Bronzing Powder Review + Swatches

2011-08-02T18:30:00.002+03:00

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd do a quick review of the latest addition to my bronzers collection, namely the Dior Bronze in Amber Tan. First of all let me just say that I'm completely addicted to bronzers and cheek products in general. I wanted to try something new that I could use all over my face as opposed to just contouring and since I've read pretty good reviews on Dior bronzers in the past and had been lusting after this one for a while, decided to quickly pop into Debenhams last Saturday.

What I like about Dior bronzers is that they have several different shades so you have a lot of choice. At first I wasn't sure which one to go for, having only Amber in my mind from what I've read online, so finally narrowed it down to this one and a lighter one (completely forgot what it was called). In the end went for Amber because it's rosier and would show up better if I decide to use it as contour as well.

At first glance it looks completely matte, however when you go in the sun a very slight shimmer is noticeable. Ideally I would've liked something completely matte (similar to Chanel's Bronze Universel which I use on my cheeks with a Sigma kabuki brush) but can't say this bothers me too much. It's very nicely pigmented, the colour is exactly what I expected and really like the smell as well. It's hard to describe and I think it's kind of unusual but still nice nonetheless. It's also very light and doesn't look too powdery at all.

The way I use it is very lightly dusting it all over with a large powder brush and since it's highly pigmented you don't really need more than one swirl. The very slight shimmer I mentioned earlier in fact gives you a nice glow which is always desirable considering how flat some matte bronzers can look sometimes.

This is my favourite bronzer at the moment and in my opinion it was money well spent :) Love the packaging too, it comes with a pouch and I like small details like that :P

Here it is compared to Chanel's Bronze Universel:

Top: Chanel Bronze Universel Bottom: Dior Original Tan in Amber, as you can see it's slightly pinkier and while the Chanel one is completely matte, this one has a hint of soft shimmer.

So have you tried this bronzer and if you have a favourite which one is it?

Have a great rest of the week and I'll ttyl!

XOXO

Zalando Haul & Review

2011-07-24T17:12:00.004+03:00

A few weeks ago I came across a new exciting online store called Zalando and was very happy when they offered me a £30 voucher to spend on their site. A little more about them: Zalando is an online shop still fairly new to the UK, but is the market leader in Germany and sells anything from clothes, shoes to bags and jewellery online. They also have French, Italian, German, Dutch and Austrian versions of their site.

The first thing I noticed is the incredible amount of choice in terms of brands, styles and price ranges. They stock widely popular brands such as Guess, Levi’s, D&G, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Diesel, Triumph, Tommy Hilfiger (the list could go on and on) and then also brands that are popular in the rest of Europe but that can’t normally be easily found on the UK high street (Vero Moda, St. Oliver, Mavi, etc).

So when I started shopping I spent literally an hour and a half browsing through their tops and dresses sections!

I originally settled for a white ruffle top and a cute pink one both by Vero Moda. They arrived two days later but while I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the fabrics and the colours, they were a bit too big for me (I had ordered them in a size M and I’m a UK 8).

One of the advantages of shopping at Zalando is that both your shipping and returns are completely free. Returning items couldn’t be easier. You just print out a label, put it on the box and take it to your nearest Collect + point (I had about three within walking distance around me) and once they receive it they send you an email with the refund and you’re free to shop again.

So I ordered the same white ruffle top again but in a smaller size (because I just fell in love with it :P) and a cute baby blue t-shirt with flower designs on the shoulders. I thought it would go really well with my H&M pink blazer which you can see here.

I think this one is my fav!

Overall I am very satisfied with the service and my purchases and that’s coming from me considering I’m usually quite fussy when it comes to clothes :P. My only criticism is that there wasn’t that much jewellery to choose from but if it’s clothes and shoes you’re interested in then this site is worth checking out and I will definitely be buying from them in the future!

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday so far! Ttyl!

XOXO

Apothica Gift Card Giveaway!

2011-07-22T11:46:00.008+03:00

Hey everyone!

I'm very excited to introduce you to a great online beauty boutique, namely Apothica.com! For those of you who haven't heard about them they carry the finest selection of skin care, body care, aromatherapy, and cosmetic products on the market today, including the most natural, organic products available. They also offer free shipping on orders over $49 and guaranteed lowest price.

I literally spent like an hour just browsing through all the make up and skincare on the site: everything from Estee Lauder, Chanel to DuWop, YSL (the list goes on and on) and a personal favourite, Stila .

So just in time to celebrate reaching 700 followers on my blog, Apothica are generously offering one lucky reader the chance to win a $25 gift card to spend on whatever their heart desires across the entire site!

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN ENTER TO WIN:

You must be a follower on my blog so if you're not hit the "Join this site" button on the left sidebar!

THEN:

Option 1: Facebook

1. Visit Apothica.com

2. Write on Apothica’s Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/Apothica )wall about what you think of Apothica

Bonus: Opt in to Apothica’s Newsletter

Option 2: Twitter

1. Visit Apothica.com

2. Tweet about Apothica on your own Twitter Account

Bonus: Retweet Apothica’s tweet about this giveaway

Option 3: Blog

1. Visit Apothica.com

2. Write something on your blog about what you think of Apothica

Bonus: Write about the brand I highlighted and link it to Apothica

Extra Entry:

Follow me on Twitter (post an extra entry and let me know your username in the comment).

Whichever option you pick, you MUST come back and leave me a comment with a link to your share. Also please leave your name and email address.

Giveaway begins today (22^nd of July) and ends on the 4^th of August, 2011 so you have two weeks to get your entries in! The winner will be chosen via Random.org and notified via email and posted here. Open internationally (wherever Apothica ships). Prize will be transferred via sponsor.

GOOD LUCK!!! :)

XOXO

Movie Night Outfit + Tiny Haul

2011-07-21T15:21:00.002+03:00

Hey girlies,

I can't believe how cloudy and depressing the weather's been lately! Really wish I could go back to April on the Canary Islands cruise and get some sun!!

Anyway, yesterday I had a few hours to kill so decided to pop into Boots at Victoria Centre in Nottingham to have a look at Benefit Moonbeam. Since I already have High Beam, I wanted something more warm and golden. As much as I love High Beam, it can be a bit too frosty and light especially if you self tan like me. So after reading a ton of reviews and looking at swatches online I thought this must be it... Well, I was wrong lol. While Moonbeam IS golden in the bottle, when you rub it in it dries sort of pinkish. The SA then showed me Girl Meets Pearl which was kind of what I was looking for except for the shimmer... High Beam gives a soft sheen with no shimmer and I don't like looking like a disco ball :o)

So if anyone has any recommendations for a golden/bronzy liquid highlighter with little shimmer that would be greatly appreciated!

After that I had a lazy stroll around the shops and came across these amazing bargains :)

First off is this white dress from a small shop called Magenta. I've been there on a few occasions before and wasn't too impressed but yesterday they had some really cute things. Can you believe the dress was only £10?! Ideally I would've liked a size 8 but as it was the last one left, 10 fit OK too.

Words can't explain how much in love I am with this dress lol :P

I'm not a big Miss Selfridge fan but went in because they were having a sale. Came across this pair of white sandals (last pair left AGAIN!) down to £15 from £35 :) Love how they match the dress!

Next I went into Dorothy Perkins in Broadmarsh since I wanted to get a few more of those boobtubes. Blue had completely sold out but luckily managed to grab a white and a black one :)

Also came across this super cute feather and gold necklace. Love it!!! Think it was down to £5 from like £12 :)

Later after dinner my bf and I went to see Transformers 3. I'm not a huge fan of that kind of movies so I knew what to expect... All I can say about it is that Josh Duhamel is hot, the rest doesn't matter :P Can't wait for Johnny English and Capitain America!

Here's my outfit from last night:

Hate how dark my pics look with my current camera!! Arghhh really have to save up for a more professional one.

Stay tuned for my first giveaway tomorrow sponsored by Apothica!

Hope you enjoyed reading and will talk to you again tomorrow!

XOXO

Weekend Bits & Bobs + Candy Pink NOTD

2011-07-11T20:29:00.002+03:00

Hi all! Hope everyone had a good weekend?

Since I was a bit bored on Saturday I popped into town with the intention of getting a Dorothy Perkins oversized ring which I've been meaning to get for a while but they were having a big sale so I ended up getting a couple of other things as well :) While I like taking advantage of sales I also kind of hate them because I always end up spending more than I should... Luckily on Saturday there weren't THAT many temptations around lol :P

The first thing I picked up was the ring. I've really been into big rings lately and since I don't own a lot of gold stuff thought this one would be fun to wear:

Next, I probably browsed the earrings for like 15 minutes before finally picking up these. Love how they match the ring:

And then on the way out I spotted this red top/boob tube and luckily managed to grab the last size 10 :D I've been loving bright colours lately especially for the summer.

Think I'm going to pick up a few more of these! On a side note, how long is my hair?! I need a haircut asap! :P

Today when I did my nails I decided to go for a light pink shade (love nude colours!) because I got bored of my usual French gel tips.

This one was kindly sent to me by the lovely people over at BornPrettyStore. If you are interested in nail art you should totally check them out. They have everything from nail polishes to Swarovski nail crystals and even make up! This nail polish is quite sheer (duh, it says it on the bottle lol) and I think would be perfect for French manicure. I personally expected a bit more pigmentation but eventually got there after three coats.

Love the shiny finish and how quickly it dried considering the amount of coats I applied. Thought the packaging is very cute too :)

For a 10% off anything at the store you can use this code: NRJ61

They also offer free worldwide shipping which is always a plus.

Hope you enjoyed! Have a great rest of the week!!

XOXO

Brighton Haul!

2011-07-06T18:20:00.004+03:00

Hey everyone!

If you follow me on Twitter you probably already know about my little trip to Eastbourne and Brighton last week. I only got back on Sunday having spent the whole of last week away and all I can say is that as much as it's nice to travel it can't beat the feeling of being being back home, having your breakfast exactly the way you want it and sleeping in your own bed :P

The weather was really nice all throughout without raining even once! We went to Brighton on Friday and spent the day exploring and shopping (had a little splurge :P). It was super busy everywhere especially on the beach and the shopping centre.

My favourite thing to do when I go somewhere new is, you guessed it, to go shopping and that makes the trip even more fun and special because the things you get will remind you of that place. Anyway, onto the haul!

The very first thing on my mind was the new Estee Lauder Even Skintone Illuminator serum. I've been wanting it for a while and was really happy to finally get it.

My initial impression of it is that it's like a mix of the Idealist Pore Minimising Skin Refinisher and their Illuminating primer, only lighter versions of those two. It smells exactly like the Skin Refinisher (quite lemony :P) and basically works the same way. Here are a few swatches:

I was a bit disappointed at first because I have both of these two products but don't use them anymore and because of all the hype surrounding this serum I was expecting something completely new and innovative... Only to discover that I've seen it all before. I really hope you can see the pearlescent sheen in the second picture.

After having used it for a few days I can now say that it actually works quite well. I use it under the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm (which probably does most of the work because it's a truly amazing product on its own), but this does make my skin brighter and I don't regret purchasing it (as of yet lol). I'll do a proper review on it when I've had more time to test it out.

The second thing I got at Boots was also something I've been eyeing for some time, namely the Dior Healthy Glow Complexion Enhancer. I researched a lot online before making the decision to buy it and still didn't have much of a clue as to what exactly it does... When I talked to the SA she only repeated what I already knew (as it's often the case :P). I was actually quite surprised to find it in the first place because I was sure it would've sold out long time ago.

Anyway, first impressions: it works as a primer, has a very soft sheen to it, it's quite moisturising. Also adds a bit of warmth to the skin and very importantly evens out your skintone (it's sort of apricot coloured) which I really like. I am also thinking that if you have a foundation that's a bit too light you could add some of this and warm it up. For the amount you get (30ml) the price isn't THAT bad (£29). It's like getting a whole bottle of foundation which for me personally lasts me ages.

A few swatches:

Another Boots purchase... You'd think I only went there lol. I had run out of my current HG mascara, Clinique High Impact so had to get that as well. It gives length and volume all in one and is just one of the best mascaras I've ever used!

I also got some really nice Ultimo lingerie which I'm not going to show you here of course lol :o)

Lastly, about two weeks ago I became a Sigma affiliate and was sent their Miss Taylor retractable kabuki brush and OMG, I love it! It's super soft (like all Sigma brushes really) and because it's retractable it's really easy to take anywhere with you. I used it for my Chanel Bronze Universel on my trip and I love how evenly applies everything yet it's so compact it can always fit in my bag.

And I think that's all! :P

I'll leave you with some pics from Eastbourne & Brighton:

The Eastbourne (aka "God's waiting room" lol) sea front & pier

Brighton!

How amazing is the palace?

Hope you enjoyed!! Have a great rest of the week and will ttyl!

XOXO

How I lost 2 stone! Weight Watchers Review

2011-07-03T18:34:00.010+03:00

Hey everyone!

Weight loss is a topic all of us are interested in, right? I’ve been on Weight Watchers since the beginning of this year and so far I’ve successfully lost 13 kg (over 2 stone). How amazing is that?! Here I’m going to try to explain a bit more about the ProPoints diet for those who aren’t that familiar with it.

First of all, I want to mention that I’ve never been seriously overweight. At 5’7’’ I was in the upper range of what’s considered healthy weight for my height with the arrow slightly pushing into the “overweight” section. For me that was a BIG wake up call. I think that when it comes to weight issues it’s very important to catch the problem early. You can’t wait until you’re seriously overweight so you then start doing something about it. The sooner you start the better. And this isn’t just about looking good. If you let your weight spiral out of control you could be in for some nasty health problems as well.

So anyway, here I’m going to try to be as exhaustive as I can and hopefully you’ll find it useful.

WHAT WEIGHT WATCHERS IS AND ISN’T

Weight Watchers (www.weightwatchers.co.uk) is a diet system based on a daily allowance in the form of ProPoints. All foods have ProPoints except for fruits and veggies which have zero points. You get a daily allowance which depends on your weight and height when you start. My daily allowance is 29 ProPoints which is the lowest one can be on. As you start losing weight your allowance will be adjusted for you. You also get 49 weekly ProPoints which you can save for a nice meal at a restaurant or a yummy takeaway :P

Weight Watchers IS NOT one of those restrictive diets where you’re only allowed to eat certain foods and basically starve yourself. You are allowed to eat anything you want as long as you accommodate it in your daily allowance. One of the best things about Weight Watchers is that it precisely controls your portions.

It costs just over £10 a month and you get access to their database with foods, a ProPoints tracker which is basically something like a diary where you enter everything you eat, a points calculator, weight tracker (you have to enter your weight every Sunday and it makes a chart for you), free recipes complete with a recipe builder, etc. If you can’t find a certain food in the database then you can calculate its ProPoints by entering the carbs, proteins, fat and fibre into the calculator. For more information you can see the Pro Points Info Page.

You can also get all this in an iPhone app which I use all the time.

HOW I SPEND MY DAILY AND WEEKLY PROPOINTS

For breakfast I’d normally have wholemeal toast (WW Danish Malted bread, 1 ProPoint per slice), boiled egg, half a can of tuna in brine or alternatively oatmeal in low fat milk with a piece of fruit. For lunch I try to have some protein (I never eat red meats, only chicken, fish and turkey). If I’m too lazy to cook (which I usually am :P) Tesco have a great variety of low calorie steam meals from their Light Choices range which you pop into the microwave and are ready in a few minutes. I know this probably isn’t the healthiest option but it’s very convenient and you know precisely how many calories it contains. Sometimes when cooking you can’t really keep track of everything and end up guessing.

For dinner I try to avoid carbs and instead I’d have a fish or chicken fillet with LOTS of salad: lettuce or spinach, tomatoes, peppers, celery sticks, green onions, parsley, etc (I love veggies!) or a steamed bag of veg (cauliflower, carrots, broccoli), a few pieces of fruit and maybe a small treat which you can read about below.

I do have the occasional takeaway but I rarely use up all of my weeklies.

Here are a few of my favourite ready meals:

Tesco Light Choices Chicken Vegetable pasta (9 ProPoints)

Tesco Light Choices White Fish with Steamed Potatoes (8 ProPoints)

SNACKS AND TREATS

While I wouldn’t be caught dead in McDonald's you can’t not have the occasional not so healthy snack or treat ;) And if your diet plan allows for those then you’re definitely much more likely to stick with it long term. Luckily Weight Watchers have a line of desserts and crisps (who doesn’t like to have some crisps in front of the TV while watching their favourite show?). My favourites are the WW Chocolate and Vanilla mousse (3 ProPoints) , the Summer Fruits Layered Fromage Frais (1 ProPoint) and the yogurts (1 ProPoint each). I don’t really have “real” chocolate anymore because it’s so highly calorific and contains a lot of saturates. I find that the WW mousse for example is very low in points, has virtually no saturates and satisfies those cravings. My favourite crisps are the WW Bacon corn bites and the Nacho cheese tortillas (2 ProPoints each).

Here are some of my treats:

WW Bacon Corn Bites (2 ProPoints), WW Chocolate and Vanilla mousse (3 ProPoints), Rich Chocolate Dessert (2), Layered Fromage Frais (1).

EXERCISE!

If you want to lose weight faster, burn more fat and get healthier, you have to exercise. For those who can’t afford a gym or just don’t like going to one a very good alternative is the Your Shape game for the Xbox Kinect. It’s like having your own personal trainer in the comfort of your own home. It has a variety of workout programmes designed to target different problem areas and everything is timed for you. You just have to follow what your personal trainer is doing on screen and repeat it in sync. It also shows you how many calories you’ve burned and follows your progress. My favourite workout on there is the Skinny Jeans one which basically consists of doing lunges, squats, etc while holding weights. I have been doing it every day for the past two or three weeks and am already seeing results. Exercising with weights can get addictive!

WHAT TO EXPECT

They say you can lose up to 0.9 kg (2 lbs) a week. My average so far has been 0.7 (1.5 lbs) but I don’t mind it being slower as long as I’m losing it in a healthy way and it’s coming off for good! I went from a size 10-12 to a 8-10 and my goal is to be a solid 8. I still have some way to go but I’ve already lost most of the weight I wanted to get rid of. It’s amazing what getting slimmer can do for your confidence!!

TRICKS I USE FOR FASTER WEIGHT LOSS

- I try to have at least two cups of pure green tea a day. It speeds up your metabolism and is full of antioxidants.

- The occasional coffee can do you more good than harm as it also speeds up your metabolism but you shouldn’t overdo it. Same applies for spicy foods.

- I take fish oil and vitamin supplements every day.

- I try to exercise 5 times a week for an hour, hour and a half. Then if you shower after that it’s good to finish with colder water to tone your skin.

- I’ve (almost) given up sodas. Now I usually have a small glass of Diet Coke every 2-3 days as a treat.
- Get a spray tan! You always look slimmer when you're tan :P

Sorry if this sounded a bit like a huge advertisement for Weight Watchers but I’ve found that this really works for me and I’ll continue to use it in the future. I think as with any other diet it’s important to be disciplined and make healthy choices. Like I said, you’re not doing it just for looks but also for your health in the future. Get Your Free Personal Assessment and lose weight the healthy way with Weight Watchers®.

If I had to choose between a Big Mac and that feeling you get when you fit into a gorgeous dress I’d have the latter any day! :O)

Really hope you found this helpful!

Ttyl XOXO

Disclaimer: affiliate links used, all opinions are my own as always!

Current Summer Skincare Routine

2011-06-26T17:29:00.003+03:00

Hey everyone!

I haven't done a skincare update in a very long time and since I've changed my routine quite a bit recently, got a few new products I really like, got rid of many others, etc I decided it's about time I posted an update so here we go :)

CLEANSING

First thing in the morning I wash my face with the Clinique mild facial soap for dry/combination skin. I've been using this for probably 2-3 years now. I was really into the Clinique 3-Step system (soap, toner and moisturiser) but after a while I felt that the toner was way too harsh on my skin and dried it out a lot. I stuck with the Dramatically different moisturiser until I stumbled across my current one which I love to bits, you can read more about it below :)

At night I take off my make up with the Nivea cleansing wipes. Very affordable, gentle, fragrance free and just do the job. Then I apply a bit more of the Clinique soap and rinse.

MOISTURISING

My HG moisturiser at the moment is the Clarins Beauty Flash Balm. You have to put a thin layer on your skin without rubbing in and then apply your make up as usual. It does work well as a primer on its own but on most days I still put a pea size amount of my usual primer over it. In all honesty I can say that this is probably the first moisturiser I've ever used that has definitely made an obvious difference to my skin. It just makes it look more rested and glowing.

For a night time serum I've been using the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair which I'm running out of. I think it's a good product but I'll probably wait for a while before I purchase again simply because I feel like that kind of serums do nothing to my skin at this stage (I'm only 24). I've also tried Genifique by Lancome and I'll probably invest in that one instead this time next year.

EYE TREATMENT

If there's something I totally hate about my face is my under eye area. I get dark circles from time to time and it drives me crazy. Something like that can age you in a flash so it's important to invest in a good under eye cream. I've been using the Clinique All About Eyes Rich again for a couple of years and while it doesn't blow me away (no eye cream has so far), it does "visibly" reduce the darkness and also puffiness if you have that too.

EXFOLIATING

I usually exfoliate once or twice a week with the Clinique 7 day scrub. Again, it's an ok product, not too harsh and I actually prefer that because really strong exfoliators tend to break me out. For masks, I've recently been trying the Clarins Hydra Quench mask which I forgot to include in the picture oops!

SELF TAN

I hate being super pale, especially in the summer, so I recently got the Estee Lauder Tinted Self tan (for body) and I LOVE it!! I'll probably review it on its own very soon. The colour looks very natural, it's very light and doesn't blatantly smell of self tan. I've been using it on my face about once or twice a week and it does a great job! Highly recommended.

RAPIDLASH

For the past 4-5 months Rapidlash has been a staple in my skincare. It's an eyelash serum that you apply at night and it makes your lashes grow much stronger, longer and thicker. You can read my review and see my amazing results here.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

I'm going away to the South next week so won't be posting for a while.

Ttyl! XOXO

EOTN: Smokey Bronze

2011-06-19T01:02:00.002+03:00

It's the weekend and that means it's time to play with make up :P I've been loving a bit of a smokey eye lately with gold and bronze as a base on the lid. This is what I came up with today complete with falsies!

I skipped the UDPP and applied Bourjous Molecule D'or all over the lid, then for the crease swirled together the bronze and brown eyeshadows from the YSL Tawney palette and finished darkening it up with the far right top dark grey colour from the Sleek Graphite palette. For the lashes I used Clinique's High Impact mascara, Collection 2000 liquid eyeliner on the lash line and a bit of Benefit High Beam just under the brows.

The falsies I used are the ES Clear Band Dense Fake Lashes
by KKcenterHK. I was recently sent these for consideration and I like the fact that you get a box of ten pairs at such an affordable price. I chose this particular style because it's very wearable and not too dramatic. They also sell feather and human hair lashes in a huge variety of styles which I thought was pretty amazing. I'm not a big false lashes person but I think they're fun for a special occasion or a night out. I noticed that these are wider than other lashes I've used before so they definitely need trimming beforehand on both ends in order to achieve the desired length. A good glue would also come in handy as you have to get it separately.

Here's the final look:

Hope everyone's having an amazing weekend so far! Ttyl XOXO

Collective Haul: H&M, Topshop, Estee Lauder, Erickson Beamon

2011-06-14T23:14:00.004+03:00

Hey everyone :) Here's another haul post (yes, I know that all I do is hauling lol) which by the way is a bit overdue as some of this stuff I got about probably over a week and a half ago, if not even longer... I made a little trip to Meadowhall in Sheffield today and I never thought I'd say this but I actually got fed up of shopping lol! At least I came home with a new H&M pretty dress I loooovee:

I've been wanting something bold coloured for some time now and this dress fits perfectly. Love the gold belt and how it makes you look really slim! H&M dresses are always so pretty. I'm going to do an OOTD post with this pretty soon :)

Also while at H&M I picked up this basic white top and the reason why I like tops like that is because you can wear all kinds of accessories with them.

I just can't resist anything by Erickson Beamon, it's my new absolute favourite jewellery brand! They made a few pieces for Lady Gaga recently and the stuff on their site is really expensive but luckily their more reasonably priced jewellery available at Debenhams is just as amazing! This necklace is mainly gold but has different colours (white, black) running through it and I thought it would go really well with the blue H&M dress.

I've been wanting Ray Bans for AGESS but I just couldn't find a pair I was completely satisfied with... they were either too small or just didn't look right. I came across this pair of Topshop aviators completely by accident and I love them! It's exactly what I wanted for a fraction of the price! Can't complain :)

Quickly picked up this pair of Pilot flats... Even though I'm not a flats person I really prefer being comfortable when I know that I'm going to be walking lots (shopping, etc). :P Was actually looking for sandals but everything I tried wasn't really that comfortable so in the end settled for these and the search for good sandals continues... I normally wear a UK size 7 but they only had 6 and 8, so tried 8 on and it fit perfectly well ahh :D

I really needed a new bottle of self tan and since I'm a sucker for everything that has "Bronze Goddess" on it, gave in and got this, even though if you ask me I probably should've gone for Xen Tan or Rodial since they have much better reviews. The dark Rodial lotion especially is next on my list! :) Will try to review this one first though.

And since you can't (or probably shouldn't) self tan without exfoliating well first, I was looking for a good body buffer. I tried this the other day in the shower and it smells just like the Clean on Me shower gel, most amazing smell. EVER.

Well, that's it from me :) Hope you enjoyed and will ttyl!

XOXO

Want Glamorous Hair? Babyliss Heated Rollers Review

2011-06-12T00:35:00.006+03:00

Hey everyone!

Today I'm finally going to review the Babyliss thermo-ceramic heated rollers set I got two weeks ago. I've been wanting hot rollers for quite some time now and was super excited when I got them.

I already have a Babyliss curling tong which I really like but the reason why I went for rollers is because they give lots of volume starting from the roots, something that is much harder to achieve with a curling iron. As a huge fan of the Real Housewives of OC and Gretchen Rossi (well, mainly her hair and style to be honest) I found out that she was only using rollers on her hair which convinced me even further to get them :o) Though I must say she's way better than me at using them :P

First impressions were pretty good. They heated very quickly and were ready to use in no time. Also when you pick them up they aren't really that hot and will never burn you. The surface of the rollers is black velvet which keeps hair in place. They come in three different sizes: large, medium and small. I use the large ones on the top layers of my hair, the medium somewhere in the middle and the small ones on the very bottom and longest layers as they give a smaller curl. Also in the box there is a set of ten plastic clips and lots of metal ones in different sizes. The rollers are also washable which is a big plus as sometimes styling products can build up on them.

It says you have to leave them on for at least ten minutes. I personally do my hair first, then my make up and by the time I'm finished I'm ready to take them off. Once I've taken off the last roller I give my hair a good upside down shake and I'm always pleasantly surprised at how volumised it looks. It just makes it look twice as thick! Then I brush where necessary to create some shape and add hairspray. I have quite thick hair yet I never manage to use all of the rollers which is good because at first I was worried they wouldn't enough.

The first time I did it my curls didn't really last long but as you practice you get better at it every time.

The verdict? I absolutely love them and I've actually started using them much more often now (probably every other day even though I try to have some days off) than I did my curling iron. Curling my hair was a real chore before, now I've kind of started looking forward to it and the results are so much better. The only disadvantage of these rollers is that they aren't exactly easy to take with you when you're traveling while a curling iron is much more compact.

I have to say I'm really happy and impressed with these! They weren't that expensive either, probably around the same price as a curling tong. So if you want volumised, thicker and healthier looking glamourous hair this could be for you! ;)

Hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful!

XOXO

Benefit Freebies Alert!

2011-06-09T21:58:00.004+03:00

Hi dolls!

As most of you probably already know, the Glamour issue that went on sale today has three gorgeous Benefit freebies inside. I had put a reminder on my phone and thank god I did because I had completely forgotten. Anyway, this morning I ran to my nearest newsagents (with no make up on I must add :P) and couldn't believe I found all three there. I couldn't wait to get home and play with them all :)

So inside the issue there are two famous Benefit cheek and lip stains (Posietint and Benetint) and a highlighter (High Beam).

I think out of the three, Posietint is my favourite. It's a really cute candy pink colour and I loved it on my cheeks! Not sure I'd ever use it on my lips as it's not pigmented enough though. Love the packaging and all three come with a brush which is very handy.

My first impression of Benetint is that it's quite dark, sort of berry-coloured, smells amazing of roses and when they say "cheek stain" it's really true... it STAINS! After doing the swatches below it took lots of scrubbing to get it off and I can still see it on my skin lol. I'm not really into berry colours but it'll still be fun to try for different looks!

They describe High Beam as a "luminescent complexion enhancer". It's a really pretty, sort of pearlescent highlighter and I was really excited to try it because I've been wanting it for a while.

Here are the swatches:

Top: High Beam; Middle: Benetint; Bottom: Posietint

Here's today's mini photoshoot :o) I used Posietint on my cheeks and lips (also applied a bit of S&G Sexy motherpucker on top). All I have to say is that I FREAKIN love this stuff!

So do you have a favourite and which freebie are you going to pick up?

Ttyl XOXO!

How to Get Luscious Lashes: Rapidlash Review

2011-06-02T22:08:00.007+03:00

Hey everyone! Today I'm finally going to review the Rapidlash eyelash enhancing serum. I've been postponing this review for quite some time now and I mean probably like a month and a half. But this also means that now I can show you the full results!

There are many eyelash enhancing serums out there but the reason why I chose Rapidlash over say Lilash is because it costs much less, you don't have to order online (it's available at Boots) and doesn't cause any redness or eye irritation (at least I haven't experienced any).

Basically it has a special ingredient which after continuous use (at least a month or two) makes your lashes grow much longer and slightly thicker. You apply it every night as you normally would your eyeliner, on the top lashes very close to the root and then a small amount naturally transfers to the bottom lashes so you don't have to worry about specifically applying it there too.

What are the results? I've personally had spectacular results after 3-4 months of daily use. My lashes are much, much longer, stronger and slightly thicker. In fact I've even had to trim one or two because they were growing super fast and were really longer than the rest :P It has become an absolute staple in my skincare routine. I've always had pretty good lashes to start with (don't have a "before" picture to show you unfortunately) but was beginning to notice that my lashes were starting to fall out and their condition was not as good as it once was. The only downside I guess is that it is a bit pricey, about £40, but this bottle has lasted me all this time and it's only now that I'm about to finish it and have to repurchase so you do get a lot for your money. I've never been one to wear false lashes often if ever... I'm pretty clumsy at putting them on and always found them too much hassle and not very practical (they also cause pulling at the eyelid which I hate) BUT (big but :P) I do LOVE the fuller and more defined look they give! The bigger the lashes the more awake I look lol.

BEFORE applying mascara

And AFTER using my usual mascara (Clinique High Impact, great btw)... Yes, these are my OWN lashes! :)

Anyway, I've found that I'm pretty satisfied with the results from Rapidlash so far as you can see in the pictures above... Now I always get asked if I'm wearing falsies.

So if you're like me and just can't be bothered with false lashes I highly recommend using this instead. Pair it with a good mascara and you'll be amazed at the effect! One more thing, it can be used on eyebrows as well!

Hope you found this review helpful and I'll ttyl!

XOXO

Fav Lip Combo at the moment: MAC, Beauty UK

2011-06-01T12:04:00.002+03:00

Saying that I have an absolute favourite lipstick or lipgloss would be a massive exaggeration because I have so many it's really hard to pick just one. However, if I had all my lip products taken away from me and had to be left with just one I'm sure I'd choose a pink. I mean, who wouldn't? lol I've never been a huge fan of nudes (most usually make me look like a corpse) or reds (way too harsh for every day) so pinks (and peaches with pink undertones) stand somewhere in the middle... Not too harsh yet they give enough definition.

I've been loving hot pink lips for every day A LOT recently and I think MAC Victorian might be my HG pink lipstick. It's a shame it was LE so if anyone has a spare one to sell I'd be more than happy to get it :)

I can't remember exactly which shop I was browsing last week but they had a Beauty UK counter and from what I understand they're a newbie to the beauty scene. I'm not entirely sure when they first launched but this is the first time I come across them so I might be wrong... Anyway, I immediately fell in love with their lipglosses or "lip lusts"! Pretty colours, quite pigmented, very easy to apply squeeze-out tubes. I picked up this super cute hot pink in the colour Playboy (love the name haha!) and let me just tell you, this is a RIDICULOUSLY good lipgloss for £3!! I'll definitely be going back and not just picking up a few more colours but also having a look at their eyeshadows, etc.

What I do is lightly apply Victorian and then layer the lipgloss on top. It's not lip plumping but it definitely makes my lips fuller somehow. It's not sticky at all and probably one of the most comfortable lipglosses I've ever had not to mention really affordable! Definitely worth checking out.

Love the gold undertones of Victorian!

A few layers of gloss on top and voila! Perfect Barbie pink lips :)

*****

What is your favourite lipstick/gloss colour for every day?

Weekend Shopping + OOTD

2011-05-29T16:54:00.005+03:00

Another weekend, another haul for me lol Went to Meadowhall (Sheffield) yesterday with a few things in mind and ended up with completely different stuff which I really like :) I'm really getting obsessed with H&M lately, their dresses are always so cute and not overly expensive. Shopping for me is the best therapy ever! I could spend hours just walking around, browsing, trying stuff on etc... it's sooo relaxing :P

So this is what I got... Baby pink blazer, a black and white flower dress (which is very similar to my other pink dress also from H&M) and a pink top which now I think is a bit too bright for my liking so might go back and get another one but in white/blue and maybe pair it with a long feather necklace.

Don't you just love the little bows on the side pockets :P

There are so many ways you can wear this dress.. with a blazer, dark coloured cardigan, even a coat... Love it!

I don't have any bright pink clothes so thought this one would be fun... Have yet to wear it so we'll see ;)

Here's today's outfit... I did my hair with my brand new set of Babyliss heated rollers which I love to death. I've only had them for like 3 days so need a bit more practice but it's amazing the amount of volume and curl definition they give. Will do a full review sometime soon!

❤ Dress: H&M

❤ Blazer: H&M

❤ Shoes: I don't know :P

❤ Bag: Moschino

❤ Necklace: Tiffany&Co

❤ Ring: Erickson Beamon

Got this Erickson Beamon oversized ring a couple of days ago and I love it!! It's really lightweight and comfortable to wear plus it's stretchy so fits all finger sizes and I love how it goes with pretty much anything :P

I'll leave you with a song I've been soo obsessed with lately, enjoy!

Hope you're all having an amazing bank holiday weekend!!! Ttyl ❤❤❤

Product(s) of the Month: How I rescued my Hair

2011-05-28T17:17:00.003+03:00

If you follow me on Twitter you probably already know about my mini hair colouring disaster from 2 weeks ago. Basically I wasn't paying attention and left my usual dye on for 10 minutes longer and let's just say the results weren't pretty. Even worse, since for the last couple of years I had only done my roots, I decided to refresh my colour and used two boxes on my whole head. Bad. Decision. I was left with a much lighter shade verging on GREY! :( I was obviously really pissed so went to get a shade darker and again wasn't pleased with the result. Completely frustrated that I had ruined my hair I went to my hairdresser for advice. They said that grey tones wash off eventually and recommended the John Frieda Honey to Caramel shampoo and conditioner in order to add some golden tones back into my hair.

The shampoo and conditioner are the Honey to Caramel Enhancing/Highlight activating from the Sheer Blonde collection. My hairdresser recommended to leave them both on for 5 minutes and then rinse. And surprise, surprise, after 3 washes the ugly grey tones were starting to fade! *big sigh of relief* :P They both contain natural brightening extracts such as natural caramel, honey and wheat germ. The conditioner always leaves my hair super silky and very easily manageable. They are both non-colour depositing so they only brighten but do not add colour.

The next product I'm going to tell you about is probably my absolute most favourite hair product I've used in ages! It's the John Frieda Luminous Colour Glaze shine booster/colour glosser. This DOES add a hint of colour to your hair after only 3 washes and it intensifies over time. I ordered it online as it wasn't available anywhere in the shops here in the UK. It makes your hair look incredibly healthy and shiny. You're supposed to apply it after you've shampooed and conditioned and leave it on for at least 3 minutes. I leave it on for 7-8 lol and in the meantime do a face mask or a body scrub :o) It does not contain any peroxide so won't lighten hair or lift your existing colour.

So after trying out these amazing products I took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer at Boots and got the Sheer Blonde Spun Gold (or something like that) balm which to be honest was quite disappointed with :/ It's supposed to add texture and shine (which it did a bit) and all that jazz but in my case it only weighed down my hair and didn't really do anything useful like keeping it in place or anything. I only bought it because I thought it would add some extra goldenness (it's gold tinted and smells quite minty) but it didn't. Major flop! I can only see it working for people who never use hairspray and have quite short hair to start with. But with me being a hairspray junkie with super long and thick hair this is just a waste of time unfortunately :/

But anyway, I'm SO GLAD and thankful to have my normal colour back and will continue to repurchase these 3 products (shampoo, conditioner, glaze) for as long as they're sold haha! I haven't had a particularly amazing experience with other John Frieda products in the past but these three are my new hair holy grails! Oh how I love Mr Frieda ;)

And you know what? I think I prefer my new colour much better now :)

I'd recommend these products to anyone who wants to keep their blonde fresh, shiny and very healthy-looking!

Excuse the camwhoring but having my hair back to the way it was (or even better!) is just amazing lol

Hope you found this helpful! Ttyl

XOXO

A new Holy Grail is found: Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

2011-05-26T20:01:00.000+03:00

I've never been into Clarins that much... I own their HydraQuench Mask and the Lip perfector and quite like them but never felt like this would a brand I'd put much faith in. During the past couple of weeks however I started hearing lots about the Beauty Flash Balm and after doing some online research (it got 5 stars out of 5 on the Debehamns beauty awards which is pretty amazing when you think about it) I gave in and went to pick up a bottle. Besides it seemed like the perfect time since Debenhams were having 10% of beauty products... and imagine my anger when I discovered they had the same balm at Bodycare right opposite for even cheaper than even with the Debenhams discount. But anyway, let's get on with the review.

When I got home I couldn't wait to take off my make up and try it. The first ting that caught my attention was the smell which for me personally is a tiny bit strong but nothing you can't get used to. The cream itself has a slightly orangey tint to it but when you rub it in is completely clear. It's quite rich, thick and moisturising. It says to apply a thin layer without rubbing it in (something I always do ha!) and then apply your make up immediately. I don't know if by that they're suggesting it can be used as a primer (I personally still use a pea sized amount of primer over it). It can also be used as a mask you leave on for 10-15 mins (not sure if you're supposed to wipe off the excess after or let it sink in... I personally do the latter).

Overall I have to say I'm pretty impressed! My skin just looked so much more radiant and rested. I know it might sound a bit too strong but if you want to look good without make up this is the product to reach for lol. I'm going to do a post about my current skincare routine sometime soon and to be honest, Clinique's Dramatically Different moisturiser, Estee Lauder Idealist... totally blows them all out of the water! And I have to say I never, ever expected it from this product. Highly, highly recommended!

Hope you enjoyed and found this helpful!

XOXO

Collection 2000 - best concealer ever?

2011-05-22T16:35:00.001+03:00

The other day I randomly picked up the Lasting Perfection concealer by Collection 2000 after hearing lots about it on Twitter. I normally avoid spending money on lower end make up because I usually end up bitterly disappointed but since this was only £4 it wasn't much of a sacrifice. And I have to say I should've done this a long time ago because this stuff ROCKS!

It comes in a few shades, I got the Medium 3 (which was the darkest available). It has thick and very well pigmented consistency which is basically what I love and look for in a concealer. The problem I've had with higher end concealers in the past was that they were either not thick or well pigmented enough and sometimes even after I've applied tons to my under eye area you could still see the darkness underneath. Well, this one has it all! It comes with a sponge applicator, similar to that of a lipgloss, so you don't really need a brush. I personally dab a few dots and then distribute everything evenly with my fingers. Oh, and it will never crease on you. Funny thing is, all my high end concealers DID crease even though they specifically said they wouldn't...

Verdict? I still can't believe how good this is. And I don't mean "good for a budget product", I mean, probably one of the best I've tried to date! It simply does everything I want it to and in the end that's what you should care about, regardless of it being cheap drugstore or higher end. The price obviously comes as a big bonus ;)

I was planning to repurchase Clinique's All about Eyes but not anymore :)

Hope you found this review helpful! XOXO

How much is your face worth?

2011-05-19T13:35:00.000+03:00

I've seen this kind of posts on quite a few blogs now and it always kind of shocks me to find out the amount of money we spend on our faces. I've recently heard of some people taking out insurance, yes, insurance on their make up items because very often it exceeds the value of their cameras or other gadgets. I personally think it's crazy but what can you do, anything to look good lol :P

Here goes mine and I'm not sure I dare look at what the final total will amount to:

♥ Estee Lauder Face Primer Plus: £20

♥ Chanel Mat Lumiere: £29

♥ Clinique All About Eyes concealer: £16

♥ Chanel Bronze Universel: £28

♥ Benefit blush in Bella Bamba: 23.50

♥ Estee Lauder 5 Tone bronze shimmer highlighter: £29

♥ Chanel Poudre Universelle compacte: £28

♥ Bourjois Molecule D'or liquid eyeshadow: £5

♥ YSL eyeshadow palette in Tawney: £39

♥ Collection 2000 Fast Stroke liquid eyeliner: £3

♥ Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara: £9

♥ MAC lipstick in Victorian: LE but would normally be £13.50 (I think?)

♥ Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Rose shimmer: £15

Which all comes to a grand total of: (OMG!!!) £258

I think this has totally put me off buying make up for a while lol Make that for the whole year :P I'm not one of those people who constantly splurge on new make up just for the sake of trying new stuff though, I believe in getting something of higher quality and maybe more expensive but having it for a very long time and getting the most out of it. What's the point in constantly getting new stuff you know you'll never be able to use up completely? I've been on a fashion kick lately and not been looking for any new make up so I guess that's good and even better for my poor wallet :P

Hope you enjoyed!! Ttyl <3

OOTN + Haul: H&M, Republic, Topshop

2011-05-14T23:49:00.002+03:00

It's time for another haul! :) I cringe at the amount of money I've been spending on clothes lately but because I'm losing weight (thank god for Weight Watchers) I just feel like going out and shopping my a** off lol. It's such a nice feeling to be able to fit into nice dresses again and no amount of junk food can tempt me anymore :P

So yesterday me and my bf went to Meadowhall in Sheffield (I feel soo guilty dragging him along to shops with me because I can tell he's really bored but shopping with someone else is always much more fun). After shopping we had dinner - fish and chips - if I only had to pick one food I could seriously survive on fish and chips for the rest of my life! Then we went to see Attack on the Block which was funny but not sure I'll see it again.. it was good but not amazing.

I got this really cute pink H&M dress, along with a scarf and a pair of Topshop earrings:

£6.99.. what a bargain!

I don't usually wear gold jewellery so took a risk with these but they look really good on their own. If you pair them with a necklace I think it would be a bit too much not to mention that I don't even own gold necklaces :P

I got this dress from Republic the other day and love it! It's so comfortable and not clingy at all. I have soo many clothes in dark/navy blue it's unreal but I like the coral belt on this one!

A few pics of my outfit yesterday:

♥ Dress: Republic

♥ Shoes: Hot off the Catwalk (Debenhams)

♥ Bag: Moschino

This has to be my absolute fav pair of going out shoes!!

Hope you enjoyed reading! Ttyl ♥

XOXO

Evening dresses to die for: part 4

2011-05-10T11:37:00.000+03:00

Petra Ecclestone

Tamara Ecclestone

Kim K

Victoria Silvstedt

Hillary Rhoda

Which one is your fave?

XOXO

Nailene Calcium Gel Tip Kit Review

2011-05-04T20:45:00.003+03:00

Last week I was tired of my nails being in a horrible state (hate chipped nail polish!) and randomly picked up this french tip gel kit by Nailene (cost around £8). I've had my nails done with UV gel before in a salon and was curious to see if they would look the same using this home kit which uses calcium and therefore doesn't require a lamp to set the gel.

The kit comes with 2 sets of french (white) tips and 2 which are transparent or natural (I'd never use them). At first glance there was no glue to be found but after reading the instructions I saw that the Gel overlay is to be used as both glue for the tips and as top coat. The smell can be best described as one of those superglue adhesives with quite a strong chemical smell. So after you've glued on the tip and put a coat of gel on top, using a dropper you release 2 drops of gel activator over each nail, then repeat the whole procedure several times.

Results? I'm not impressed at all. First of all, the surface of the nail once everything has dried is far from being smooth. It's rather rough and uneven, not uniform and shiny. I tried buffing the surface and applying a layer of transparent nail polish on top and it just didn't look right. The tips themselves are quite long so you have to trim them in advance (as if someone would actually want nails THAT long). They also seemed to be made of thicker plastic which doesn't look as natural. Just for comparison, the tips they used on me at the salon were fairly short and required no trimming and therefore looked much better (pic below). The surface of my UV nails was super smooth as well. The salon manicure cost me £10.. just £2 more than the Nailene kit.

The other thing I have to mention is that the picture on the box is really misleading... There is no way you can achieve the "pink" top coat unless you're using some of your own. Not that it's that important but the nails on the kit are nothing like the ones you'd achieve using it, it's quite unrealistic. The only thing I'd give them is that they lasted a bit longer than my UV nails BUT took almost a whole bottle of nail polish remover to take off :o)

Nailene... looks good from afar but not from up close...

VS.

Professional UV gel nails (salon)

So to sum up...

PROS:

easy to use

CONS:

Doesn't give a smooth finish

Tips have to be trimmed in advance and it's difficult to make them all exactly the same length

The tips included are enough for only one application! So every time you do your nails you'll have to buy a new kit even though you have tons of gel left (it can get expensive over time)

Some of the gel might stick to your skin, fingers, etc (but will wash off eventually)

Doesn't look as professional as a salon manicure :(

WOULD I PURCHASE AGAIN?

Probably not.

Hope you found this review helpful! Ttyl :)

XOXO

Officially addicted to Tiffany&Co

2011-04-29T00:32:00.001+03:00

My Tiffany&Co order finally came in the mail the other day and I'm just in love with it! It's the medium Return to Tiffany charm with a 16 inch chain that came separate. First of all, it's amazing how carefully packaged everything is! They even supply you with small letter envelopes and cards with Tiffany&Co engraved on them... how sweet is that? :)

Something that came to my attention while I was browsing Tiffany stuff online is the huge amount of counterfeit items out there. If you carefully read the FAQs on the official Tiffany site you'll see that they're the only ones who are authorised to sell it. Any other site offering supposedly authentic Tiffany items (often at discounted prices) is a fake! So keep that in mind next time you're shopping :P

The thing I like most about it is how simple, yet elegant and feminine it is... This is my first Tiffany purchase and I couldn't be more in love with it. It's so addictive I'm now eyeing a bracelet lol.. there's no stopping! Tiffany designs are just timeless.

Here are a few pics, enjoy! :)

XOXO

Easter haul: Warehouse, Moschino + OOTD

2011-04-24T23:59:00.006+03:00

Hey girlies! The weather here is still gorgeous, summer is finally here :) So while I had nothing to do the other day and with such incredible sunshine outside I went shopping for the day in Nottingham. Went to pretty much every shop I could find, tried on a bunch of clothes and will now show you what I ended up with :P Enjoy!

I originally went into House of Fraser to look at the Bronze Goddess Collection by Estee Lauder since it seems it's exclusive to them... but wasn't impressed at all. The blush looked really cute in the pan but is totally dupable by stuff I already own (MAC Peaches?), the fragrance was nothing special (and this was what I was most excited about actually). The only thing that stood out was the gold and bronze shadow stick but again nothing that completely blows me away. So after that I went browsing the bags area and saw this Moschino one.. First thing I thought was.. is this one of those quilted Chanel ones? :P I immediately fell in love with it and just had to have it (despite the price tag lol) :P And let me tell you, I'm in love with this bag!!

It has "Love Moschino" in gold on the back

Eversince I got it I browsed some more Moschino stuff online and I'm kinda falling in love with the brand! I mean, how cute are these sandals on their site?

The other thing I spotted in Debenhams was this Warehouse top... love the pattern and the colours!

My tan lines show awfully but whatever lol I'll remember to get a strapless bikini next time (or just go topless lol)!

Here are a few OOTD pics from today. I don't do that many OOTD posts but I'm getting kinda addicted to them lately lol

♥ Top by Warehouse
♥ Trousers by Mango
♥ Bag: Moschino
♥ Wedges: Next
♥ Earrings: Claire's

Hope you're having an amazing weekend and Easter!! Ttyl

XOXO

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T14:19:00.000+03:00

OOTD + FOTD + some exciting news

2011-04-20T00:45:00.002+03:00

The weather today was incredibly sunny so I finally got around to taking some pics for an outfit of the day post.. not something I do very often lately :/ It got a bit chillier in the evening so I got to wear the new mac coat I picked up the other day :) We went to see the Source Code and I loved it! Go see it if you haven't already :P

Today I wore:

♥ Dress by Dorothy Perkins

♥ Tights by F&F

♥ Boots by New Look

♥ Coat by Julien McDonald

♥ Sunglasses by Kenneth Cole

I wanted to do this FOTD before the cruise but never got the time so I'll quickly include the pics here even though they're probably a week and a half old :o)

For my base I used a Lumene primer, followed by Chanel Mat Lumiere, Clinique all about eyes concealer and Chanel compact powder. For blush I used Benefit's Bella Bamba. On my eyes I mixed a bit of Bourjois' Molecule D'or with the Graphite palette by Sleek to make a more smokey eye, then finished off with Rimmel's lash accelerator mascara. My latest obsession is Victorian lipstick by MAC, the perfect pink EVER! <3

♥♥♥

And finally, I was contacted by the lovely Tari from http://shopaholic.become.co.uk

who wanted to include my blog in this month's Editor's picks on their site. Basically become.co.uk is a shopping comparison website that has a blog, Shopaholic, which covers everything from the latest beauty products to vintage clothing and accessories. I want to say a massive thank you to them for choosing my blog, it really means A LOT!

Hope everyone's having a fantastic week so far! Ttyl XXX

BLOG SALE!

2011-04-17T18:59:00.018+03:00

It's time for another blog sale yay!

The rules:

1) If you want an item, say so (and what you want) in the comments below along with your Paypal email address. I will only accept payment as a gift through Paypal as it saves me fees so please leave your email address & I will email you.

2) Paypal is the only method of payment accepted - it's just easier and more secure;

3) Please ensure you pay for the item immediately upon receiving the email - or at least some time within the next 24 hours; otherwise the item will be reposted and will not be reserved for you;

4) Shipping to Europe will be an extra £1 and the rest of the world £3 for one item: for each additional add 50p.(Europe), 70p (rest of the world);

That's it! :)

Onto the goodies!

MAC Sheertone Blush in Peaches, used 2x - £12

Estee Lauder Limited Edition Bronze Goddess ShadowStick Duo in Gold Bronze, used 3x, never been resharpened. More pics + swatch here - £11

Benefit Bad Gal eyeliner pencil & It concealer stick (used 4x each) - £6 each

MAC MSF in Soft And Gentle (used 3x) - £10 SOLD

NARS Multiple in Orgasm (lightly swatched) - £16 SOLD

CHANEL Lift Lumiere Smoothing and rejuvenating eye contour concealer, shade 30 Abricot Lumiere (used 2x) - £10 SOLD

Clinique Happy perfume set, 30ml perfume spray/ 75ml body smoother (Brand NEW) - £9

NUXE Teint Ultra Prodigieux Healthy glow Tinted Care without self tan for fair skin (used2x) - £5

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse OR Multi-Usage Dry Oil with 6 Precious oils and Vitamin E for face, body and hair (80% left) - £6 SOLD

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Luminous Liquid Bronzer (used 3x) - £5 SOLD

L'oreal Double Extension Beauty Tubes Technology Ultra-Lengthening Mascara (used once) - £5

Revlon Color Burst lipstick in Baby pink used 2x - £2.50 SOLD

Estee Lauder Face Primer Plus Illuminating base, used 3x - £8 SOLD

River Island Beige ruffle sleeve shell top, size 12, in very good condition, worn 2-3 times, but too big for me now! - £8 SOLD

XOXO!

CRUISE haul + Dorothy Perkins + Debenhams

2011-04-15T20:34:00.002+03:00

Hi girlies! Today I have a haul for you with some stuff I picked up on the cruise, mainly in Tenerife and Las Palmas as they had the best shops! Clothes do seem to be much more expensive in Spain than in England for some reason but you can still manage to find yourself some bargains! :P I'm proud to say I somehow managed to stay away from make up and cosmetics despite all the temptations around lol :o)

So first off I spotted this SUUUPER cute t-shirt slash tank top in a Spanish high street shop called Cortefiel... The first thing I thought when I saw it was that it's so "me".. the bow, the pink.. you get the picture lol. As far as I remember it was 30 euros so not that bad really...

The second thing I got was a pair of navy blue Mango trousers which amazingly enough fitted me PERFECTLY and I rarely find a pair that does! You can probably tell I've worn them a couple of times already and they're just SO comfy!

So once I was back in the UK I had to go to Dorothy Perkins to return a dress I decided I didn't like and ended up getting out with 2 new dresses..... I think I'm going to need a separate wardrobe especially for dresses at this rate lol but since I mainly used to wear jeans and trousers most of the time it's a nice change!

And finally the star of the show.... I love most of Julien McDonald's stuff and have been eyeing up this mac coat for quite a while. The weather here is still a bit chilly so can't wait to wear it outside for the first time :P

Hope you enjoyed reading and stay tuned for a big BLOG SALE coming up in the next few days... MAC, NARS, NUXE, CLINIQUE, etc

Hope you're having a great day and will ttyl! XXXXX

Canary Islands Cruise pics!

2011-04-13T18:12:00.003+03:00

Here are as promised a few pics from the cruise, hope you enjoy! :)

Our ship

the pool on board

The port of Funchal on the beautiful island of Madeira, Portugal

Agadir, Morocco

They made our towels into cute animal shapes :P

in Arrecife, Lanzarote

Santa Cruz

Las Palmas

Buggy ride in the mountains in Santa Cruz de la Palma

Back in Funchal ready to go home :(

Hope you enjoyed! I can't wait to catch up with all of your amazing blogs!! XXX

I'm back!

2011-04-13T17:38:00.002+03:00

Hi everyone! First of all I have to apologise for the lack of posts lately. I've just come back from a week long cruise on the Canary Islands, super sun burnt and already peeling off but really happy and relaxed :D And if this wasn't enough when I came back home and weighed myself I discovered I've lost a whole kg and a half on the ship LOL. I've no idea how this happened even though I did eat mainly fruit salads and stayed away from fried stuff and sweets. The cruise started off in Funchal on the beautiful island of Madeira, Portugal which btw apparently is where Cristiano Ronaldo is from *shudders* lol. The second day was spent all at sea and I did get sea sick but thankfully had some tablets with me which made it a bit better. The next stop was the city of Agadir in Morocco where I got my awful sunburn.. the sun was so strong! The funniest thing was seeing Moroccan ladies wearing heavy dresses over trousers and "going to the beach".... After that we went to 4 Canary Islands... Arrecife, Santa Cruz, Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de la Palma. I think my favourite out of them all has to be Las Palmas closely followed by Santa Cruz de Tenerife. I feel guilty for dragging my poor boyfriend around the shopping malls everywhere :( but I got a few cool things which I'll show you later in a haul. The net on board was awful.... apparently the net provider was located in Miami and it took ages for pages to load which was really annoying.. but then who needs to be stuck on a computer when you can go out and explore in such fantastic weather! :) I loved the food, the evening shows on board, the excitement of going somewhere new every day. I'm a bit sad to be back... back to reality... but still really glad to have had a break and such a fantastic experience.

*****

Btw if you follow me on Twitter you probably already know I won Capital FM's modeling competition... 5 winners were chosen by picture to spend a day in the life of a model and receive a free photoshoot... AND get a £150 voucher to spend on fashion. I loved the photoshoot and the whole day was an invaluable experience. I'll now show you what I got with my prize money ;)

There was a selection of shops you could go to but I decided to spend it all at Dorothy Perkins because they had the best stuff....

beach dress from Internacionale

And once I'd spent the voucher I saw these super cute platforms at Next and had to get them :P

The next post is going to be pics from the cruise so stay tuned!! XXX

Bronzy FOTD

2011-03-21T19:04:00.005+02:00

This is the look I've been wearing almost every day lately... gold across the lid and bronzey/dark brown in the crease (YSL eyeshadow palette in Tawny), followed by a bronze highlight on the cheeks (Estee Lauder's 5 Tone Bronze shimmer) and a little bit of pink blush with very subtle gold shimmer (Benefit Bella Bamba). I'm really loving all these products at the moment, especially the Tan de Chanel (HG bronzer!), the EL highlighter (totally replaced my MAC Soft'n'Gentle) which btw I'm considering selling in a blog sale pretty soon and Bella Bamba which I like even better than Coralista ♥

How pale am I?? :S

FACE:

♥ Estee Lauder Illuminating primer

♥ Clinique All About Eyes concealer (forgot to include it in the picture)

♥ Chanel Mat lumiere in Beige

♥ Chanel Bronze universel

♥ Estee lauder 5 Tone Bronze shimmer

♥ Benefit Bella Bmaba

♥ Deborah eyebrow marker in light brown

EYES:

♥ Bourjois liquid eyeshadow in Molecule D'or

♥ YSL palette in Tawny (bronze & brown colours used together)

♥ Collection 2000 liquid eyeliner

♥ Sleek I-divine palette in Storm (navy blue colour on lower lashes)

♥ Clinique mascara

LIPS:

♥ Clarins Lip Perfector

♥ L'oreal Glam Shine in Topaz Strass

***

Phew! Think this is all :o)

I'm getting more and more addicted to Twitter lately, mainly because lots of the people whose blogs I follow on here use it too. So if you have Twitter and want to follow me it's http://twitter.com/#!/urbanmermaid

Hope you have an amazing week and will ttyl!

XOXO!

Estee Lauder 5 Tone Bronze Shimmer & Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

2011-03-09T15:19:00.003+02:00

Yesterday me and my bf went shopping in Nottingham for the day (it's been sunny here for the first time in weeks) so here's what I picked up :p

I've been lusting over the Dior Amber Diamond for quite some time now but it seemed a bit too expensive for what it is and besides I already own MAC Soft And Gentle. So the other day when I was browsing Debenhams.com and Temptalia I came across this little beauty: Estee Lauder Signature 5 Tone Shimmer. It looked a bit darker and more bronzier than the Amber Diamond so I had to go and swatch it!

It was love at first sight. I don't know what I did without this. I've always wanted something like this but could never find it.. well not anymore! :P It's much less "shiny" than Soft 'n' Gentle.. still shimmery but doesn't have that awful shininess to it (if that makes any sense lol) and it's much bronzier which I love. There's another one in pink which was also cute but trust me I have enough pink blushes already :P I guess you can use it as both a blush and bronzer depending on how tan you are.

Here it is on my cheeks as a blush:

As we were walking by the Clarins counter I saw this super cute pink tube so was immediately suckered in. I guess you can say that the packaging sold me more than anything else but I love this! It's the Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector (phew that's a mouthful). I expected it to be more pigmented and to actually be the same colour as the tube but it's much lighter and sheer which is a bit of a let down I guess... It's something between a lipgloss and lipbalm and for £14.50 it's probably a quite expensive lipbalm but it's really creamy and comfortable. I think I'll go through it in no time.

The SA also gave me these two samples of a moisturiser and a mask. I tried them both last night and they're quite good, especially the mask which melts into your skin just like a face cream.

So after browsing a few interior design shops we went to MAC because I wanted to have a look at the Wonder Woman compact with the bronzer/blush and highlighter (forgot what it's called) and was super disappointed. What a chalky mess! The colours were nothing special, not to mention the packaging which looked super cheap and tacky. And I hate owning stuff that doesn't look good on my dressing table lol :o) I have to say though, for the first time ever I'm excited about a MAC collection and that's Surf Baby. I look forward to seeing what packaging and colours they come up with.

I also can't wait for Estee Lauder's Bronze Goddess 2011 to come out. I think it's already out in the US but not here in the UK :(( I think I'm going to get the perfume for a change because judging by swatches online the blush is nothing special and probably wouldn't show up properly on me at all. Does anyone know when the collection is coming out in the UK?

OK, I'll stop rambling and will let you go. Have a great rest of the week, Friday isn't too far off now!

XOXO

FREEBIE alert!

2011-03-04T19:37:00.001+02:00

Glamour magazine are celebrating 10 years and in this month's issue there are 10 free travel size Clinique products. Here's what you can pick up:

Liquid facial soap 30ml
Eye make-up remover 30ml
All about eyes eye cream 5ml
7 day scrub rinse-off formula 30ml
Long last glosswear 2.3ml
Superbalm moisturising gloss 7ml
High impact mascara 4g
Dramatically different moisturiser 30ml
High impact lipstick full size
Moisture surge thirst relief 30ml

I could only find the liquid soap and the moisture surge lotion today but will have a better look and also go for All about eyes and the mascara. I've always wanted to give Moisture surge a try and at £2 you can't go wrong :P Which product or products are you going to pick up??

XOXO!!

My interview with Smashion

2011-02-24T15:12:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Vanessa from Smashion for an interview! It's finally up on their site:

http://www.smashion.com/lounge/interview/884-nadia-it-s-always-summer-on-the-inside

SOO EXCITED!! :D

And now a bit about Smashion:

Smashion is a no-fees online fashion marketplace and community that connects smart and savvy buyers and sellers with a passion for budget fashion.

Smashion enables members to buy or sell lightly-worn or NWT (new with tag) apparel and accessories on a no-fees marketplace. The site is our eco-friendly response to the growing trend in wearing second-hand clothing and the lack of a community-based, fashion-focused online marketplace. We want to show closet recyclers that they don't have to go to consignment stores to sell their merchandise -- where they'll lose a huge chunk of their profits.

So make sure to check out their site, they have some amazing offers!

XOXO!