Out of this world

Tuesday 30 August 2011

I've been seeing a lot of pictures of 'galaxy' nails recently and when Lily posted hers, along with a link to this tutorial, I had to give them a go.

From left to right - Models Own Black Magic, Natural Collection Nail Tip Whitener, George Quick Dry Nail Varnish in Buttercup Shine, Barry M Nail Pain int Peach Melba, Topshop Nails in Stolen Sapphires, Models Own Juicy Jules and Rimmel Pro Super Wear Ultra Shine Topcoat

As nail designs go, while this one looks a bit complicated, it's actually pretty easy to do, as it's a completely abstract design so you don't have to worry about being really precise with your application.

I'm aware that this is a very short post and therefore not really like me at all, but I wanted to get something posted today as I've not blogged for about two weeks and this is all I've got time for (SERIOUSLY, if anyone has a Time Turner, I could really, REALLY use it right now). I've got a few longer posts, plus the second part of my July favourites video (at the end of August... yeah...) to follow over the next few days, so keep an eye out for those!

Products of the Month - July

Sunday 14 August 2011

Finally, finally uploaded this video to Youtube. I really enjoy vlogging but it is SUCH a faff at times! I actually filmed this right at the beginning of August but when I uploaded it to Youtube it was removed straight away for being too long (by a minute and a half grrr!) - why can't I upload videos that are longer than 15 minutes but other people can??? Anyway, I decided to have a go at editing it down, rather than filming it again so I downloaded some video editing stuff and then spent about five hours editing (would have been so much quicker to just film the video again...) Anyway, here it is, in all its glory... well actually, it's just the first part, I've still to film a second part because I've got loads of lovely products to talk about.

I've never edited a video before so if it's a bit jumpy in places, that'll be why - hopefully it's something I'll get better at...actually hopefully it's something I just won't have to do again because it took far too long.

Products featured;

Topshop Skin Glow in Light
Veet Hair Minimising Body Moisturiser
VO5 Miracle Concentrate
Sanctuary Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser
Barry M Nail Effects in Pink Fizz

I hope everyone's had a lovely weekend, I've been mainly chilling today, had some time to catch up on returning blog comments and read some blogs, which is nice. As I mentioned in my last post, I went to the Jacques Townhouse yesterday and had such a good laugh, I wish I could have stayed there all evening. I'll do a full blog post about it soon, but if anyone is in/around Liverpool over the next few days, I'd really, really recommend going - you can register for tickets here.

August-us Gloop

Friday 12 August 2011

I can't believe it's Friday already - this week has flown over like a flaming bat out of hell shot from a catapult (that's fast!). Hope you've all got nice things planned for the weekend! I'm off to the Jacques Townhouse event in Liverpool tomorrow - I can't wait! Has anyone else been/is anyone else going? I know they've done one in London too, it looks so fun! I'll probably write a post about it next week. This here is my monthly update post for August (it's very difficult thinking up punny titles each month - this one is rubbish, I know, because it's not really a pun, but seriously, the word August is a tricky one! If you can think of something better, please tell me!) I'm aware it's a bit late, and my Products of the Month for July is VERY late :( I've actually filmed the vlog, just haven't uploaded it to Youtube yet, I promise I shall do so very, very soon! (Maybe even now...)

Anyway, with all the nonsense that's been happening in the UK over the past week, I'm not going to do a "currently hating" section this month, as it seems trivial and silly. It's just going to be about love this time. "All you need is love, la la la la la...."

I'm currently loving;



This video.
I was tempted to write a separate blog post about the riots but to be honest, I don't even know where to start and so much has been said already. My lovely friend Jay is a singer/songwriter/genius and has written this cover of the song Made In America (from the new Kanye West/Jay-Z album Watch The Throne) as a response to the riots. I think it sums up how most of us are feeling pretty well.

Milka Chocolate. As a chocolate fiend, it's hard for me to say which brand I like the best - Cadbury? Galaxy? Lindt? At the moment though, my bar of choice isMilka Happy Cows. Look at it! It's patchy, like a cow! Cow print chocolate, bloody brilliant. I physically can't stop buying it. If you haven't tried it, seriously get some, it's yummy!

Twinings Revive & Revitalise Lemon and Ginger Tea. Another food-based one. I randomly found one bag of this in our kitchen cupboard (Lord only knows where it came from) and I liked it so much I went out and bought a box. I've had a cold this week (damn rainy weather) and this has been the perfect remedy to help soothe my throat and clear my head. Lemony gingery goodness.

The Killing. My boyfriend and I have really gotten into this series on Channel 4. It's an American remake of a Danish series and follows the aftermath of the murder of a teenage girl. I don't normally care much for crime dramas but this is seriously addictive TV; it's full of unexpected twists and turns. I thought it was just going to be a three part drama type thing, but I checked on IMDb and there's actually thirteen episodes, which is a bit frustrating as I really want to get to the conclusion!

Sudoku. This is an incredibly geeky admission to make, but I've actually become obsessed with Sudoku! My Dad buys The Times most days so is providing me with a constant supply of puzzles to feed my habit. I like to think it's making me smarter...

I've been making a bit more of an effort at finding new blogs to read lately, as quite often I tend to just stick to my favourites. If you have any blog recommendations let me know! I always check them out. Here's some I've been enjoying recently;


A big picture of my face

Wednesday 10 August 2011

I don't normally do these 'Face of the Day' posts as I feel a bit weird posting pictures of myself on here, but I went out for a meal with my boyfriend on Saturday night and saw it as an excuse to make a bit more effort than usual with my makeup...

Skin
Topshop Skin Glow in Light
Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder in 20
17 Hide and Chic Eye Brightening Concealer in Light Beige
Sleek Makeup ONE Finishing Powder
Benefit High Beam
Sleek Peach Gold eyeshadow from the Paraguaya palette worn as blusher

Eyes
Colours from the Sleek Paraguaya and Storm palettes
Topshop Liner pen
Rimmel Lash Accelorator Mascara in Black
Sleek Eye Drama Mascara in Blackout Waterproof
Tweezerman Brow Mousse

Lips
Barry M Lip Paint in 53 Coral

Think that's everything - seeing everything listed like this just made me realise how much makeup was on my face that night! WHOA!

The best things in life are free

Tuesday 9 August 2011

As someone currently on the tightest of budgets, I find myself constantly justifying even the most basic purchases and convincing myself to only buy products that are reduced, on offer or just very cheap. I've gotten used to this, but every now and then, I still get the urge to leg it into the John Lewis beauty department, grab as many beautiful things as I can get my hands on, and stick them all on my credit card, all the while shrieking and laughing like a madwoman. Fortunately, I normally manage to fight this urge and have been pretty darn sensible lately. (NB It is my birthday at the end of the month and it's likely that a significant portion of birthday money will be spent during a burst of the aforementioned madwoman behaviour...).

Recently though, I've managed to get my hands on quite a few lovely things, without actually having to spend any money at all. No, no, I've not taken up shoplifting, don't worry, I've just been taking advantage of freebies. You're probably already aware of this, but Lush will give you a fresh face mask for absolutely nothing if you bring back five of their black pots! Last week, after finishing off my big tub of Dream Cream, I realised that I'd finally managed to acquire five pots, and headed to Lush, ready to grab a freebie.

Since I'm STILL being plagued by the little blocked pores around my chin, I decided to go for something really deep cleansing, in the hope that it'd shift the buggers once and for all. The guy in Lush recommended Cosmetic Warrior, so I snapped it up, handed over my pots and off I went, happy in the knowledge that not only had I just gotten a face mask that normally costs about £5.50 for nil points, but also, that I'm being a good recycler and that is very important.

Contains garlic, tea tree oil, honey and eggs to name but a few. Does not smell pleasant. I'll do a review at some point soon.

Later that same day, I randomly ended up going back into town to meet some friends, but as I got to town a bit early, I went into Superdrug for a nosey. Thank goodness I did because I then picked up my second excellent freebie of the day! I noticed near the entrance of Superdrug, there were lots of lttle makeup stations set up, each with what looked like a goodie bag next to them. I was obviously intrigued by this (gotta love a goodie bag) and as I went for a closer look, one of the girls who worked there asked me if I'd like to go to the Superdrug Beauty School? "DO I?!" I thought, "HELL YEAH IF I GET A GOODIE BAG... what is it?" The girl explained that basically I just had to sit at one of the booths and let her instruct me on how to apply makeup to recreate a specific 'look'. Easy. So I did. The look I had to to recreate was called 'Pop Lips', which consisted of bronzed skin, defined lashes and a bright coral lipstick - right up my street! I had to use Miss Sporty products, which I've not used for years, but I was pleasantly surprised, especially by the lipstick, which I think was called Bubblegum and was a lovely sheer pinky coral. The class took about ten minutes and I think was probably aimed at younger girls who aren't used to wearing makeup - the other two girls doing the class at the same time as me were both 15... I felt a bit silly when I told them I was 23... but ah well, any opportunity to mess about with makeup is fine with me!

I was really impressed with the goodie bag I got at the end of the class; while it is mainly just Superdrug's own brand stuff along with some samples and vouchers, they're all items I'd actually use, plus I literally had to do nothing to get it, just play with makeup for ten minutes!

Products in the goodie bag included a Nail Shaper, Delicious Body Spray (which smells lovely!), Dry Shampoo, Miss Sporty Disco Tech UV Topcoat, The Little Pink Tin lipbalm, Self Heating Smoothie Mask and a Self Tan Applicator Mitt, as well as samples of the new VO5 shampoo and conditioner and Vera Wang Lovestruck perfume, plus loads of money off vouchers. Not bad eh?

The Superdrug Beauty School is happening in larger branches of Superdrug all over the country - you can see the full list of participating stores here. It looks like the next class will be using 2True products, which I've never tried before, so I'm tempted to go back!

Had any good freebies lately? Has anyone else been to a Superdrug Beauty Class? What did you think?

Loverpool

Monday 1 August 2011

Back in June, the very gorgeous Lucy of lalalucy1000 tagged me in a blog award and I've been meaning to pass it on ever since, but due to a mixture of being forgetful, busy and generally a bit shit, it's taken this long to do it...
The Liebster Award is designed to be awarded to blogs with less than 300 subscribers to spread the blog love and get them out to a wider audience
The rules:
1) Post displaying the award, linking back to the person who awarded you.
2) Pick 3 blogs and let the know they are awarded

Whoop whoop! How exciting! Thank you Lucy! I was really pleased to discover Lucy's blog as she's a fellow Scouse blogger and I was under the impression that there wasn't very many of us out there in the big wide blogosphere. That was until the genius that is Hayley who writes Ceriselle came up with the idea for the UK Blogger Map. If you've not come across it yet, it's basically a way for you to find other bloggers in your area - how clever! Anyway, since signing up to the map, I've found LOADS of other bloggers from my neck of the woods. I've picked three of my favourite new discoveries to pass on the award to. They are;


Be sure to check them all out because they're marvellous! And if you've not checked out the UK Blogger Map, do it now!
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