Smudge Glamour

Halloween Style Crush

2011-10-29T10:47:00.005+01:00

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays- I usually always love creating my Halloween costume, but I'm not doing one this year as I'm working all over Halloween & can't really celebrate it with my friends. I will be watching plenty of scary movies to get into the proper, spooky Halloween mindset though, and one of my favourites is Rosemary's Baby. I love it because it's genuinely creepy, but also because the clothes worn by the titular character, played by Mia Farrow, are absolutely gorgeous.

This is the film where Mia Farrow famously gets her hair cropped into a pixie cut by Vidal Sasson, a style that is still referenced now when actresses like Emma Watson & Michelle Williams get similar short crops. For me though, the style star of this movie is not the famous pixie cut, but Rosemary's amazing wardrobe of pastel coloured smocks and peter pan collared dresses.

all screencaps from the fashion spot

There are lots of ways you could recreate this look today, especially as peter pan collars & 60s/70s inspired looks are quite easy to find in the shops.

1. Pleated Peter Pan Smock Dress - £50 Topshop
2. Rose Print Dress - £38 Oasis
3. Grey Check Shift Dress - £25 River Island
4. Collar White Shift Dress - $30.99 (£19.23) Romwe.com
5. Fair & Lemon Dress - $74.99 (£46.54) Modcloth
6. A detachable peter pan collar is a good way to transform anything you own into a Farrow-inspired item. Louniverse Peter Pan Collar - £45.00 Loulou Loves You
7. 'Sadie' Mary Jane - £43.00 Dune
8. KORS Michael Kors 'Iona' Mary Jane - $295 (£183.07) Endless.com
9. You could add buttons (preferably as large as possible) to old jackets or dresses to Mia-fy them. Fabric Covered Buttons - £2.50 Monsoon
10. Vendela Alice Band - 4 Euros (£3.51) Monki

Hmm maybe I will dress up for Halloween after all...

Hairspiration: Beehive Edition

2011-10-27T17:18:00.004+01:00

I have recently become obsessed with beehives, ever since I discovered that they are actually pretty easy to do. I can't stop wearing them, and I can't stop looking at pictures of ladies who wear them so well.

l-r; top: Audrey Hepburn & Queen Beyonce; bottom: Brigitte Bardot, Gizzi Erskine & some serious cheese wheels

Coming soon: A foolproof beehive tutorial...

Autumn Style Mood & Hello I'm Back

2011-09-05T21:11:00.005+01:00

*blows off cobwebs*

Hello? Anybody here? Nobody? Oh well, I don't blame you. It's starting to look a little like Miss Havisham's house in here. Sorry about that. Well I have moved on from my crappy one bed flat with no internet to a much lovelier place in the city (WITH FREE INTERNETZ) so hopefully I can be a better blogger now. (Even though I have once again lost my camera lead. I lose one during every move).

It's definitely a good job Autumn is around the corner to inject a little warmth into this place- and yes I meant to type warmth. I'm not crazy, I promise! I am of course referring to the rusty reds & burnt oranges that are slowly creeping into my fashion brain and settling in for the season. The only things I can think about are chunky knits in fall foliage & log fire colours. And it's not just oversized woollens that are keeping me awake at night, but other fuzzy textures, like velvet & suede. Swoon. I always know I am ready for colder weather when I can't stop thinking about cardigans and knitted tights.

This year comes with an extra obsession though. I know the 70s has been inspiring everyone all summer, but I have to admit that although I was enjoying a floppy sunhat or two, that's where it ended for me. Palazzo pants were NOT my favourite new trend, and nor will they be. I also can't really look at a pair of flared, high-waisted jeans without thinking 'MUM JEANS MUM JEANS' even though my mum has the sense to not wear rubbish like that. Autumn/Winter is telling a different tale though, because I cannot stop thinking about big-haired, doe-eyed 70s babes & how I want to be one this Autumn.

I can thank a very dear friend for this new obsession as she bought me a much longed for JH Lynch print as a housewarming present and everything spiralled from there. First my Lynch print then a late night viewing of Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda as the ULTIMATE Space Babe Of All Time, followed by a promotional image from the new Topshop Makeup A/W '11 collection of a very babelicious model in a fur coat with perfectly dewy, retro bronzed makeup. And finally, inspiration from a modern day crimefighting babe, Sarah Lund (played by Sofie Gråbøl) from Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen (aka The Killing), and her endless collection of 70s christmas jumpers, sealed the deal.

Autumn Style Mood @ Polyvore

1. Topshop's A/W '11 makeup collection - soft, dewy, bronzed skin & big doe eyes are the key to this look and their newest collection is BRILL. I love the Glow highlighter & the Secret Liasons eyeshadow palette

2. Cocktail Rings - I always love a bloody massive ring, and now that winter is here, nobody will be able to see your necklaces hidden under layers of wool & fur. A good way to inject a bit of 70s glamour with very little fuss. (£6.50 @ Miss Selfridge)

3. Velvet Slippers - If you're nervous about wearing larger velvet pieces then a pair of velvet slippers is a good place to start. I am OBSESSED with these pom pom ones from Topshop & they are the perfect colour too. (£28 @Topshop)

4. Cable Knit Jumper - If it's good enough for Sarah Lund then I am all over it. This wine red one looks amazingly cosy. (£55 @ Oasis)

5. Floral Scarf - Florals can still be carried into the new season, but I'll be wearing mine as accents rather than as a full statement. (£12 @ Dorothy Perkins)

6, 7 & 8 Suede Skirts & Velvet Dresses - Suede & velvet are textures I am really into this season, I'm not sure if they are a trend this Autumn but they should be. A suede skirt is an easy way to get this material into your winter wardrobe & will go fantastically with woollens, crochet & floaty 70s blouses. Velvet dresses with black tights always make me think of back-to-school vibes (thanks mum). Extra points with patent shoes, or even a pair of the creepers that I am seeing EVERYWHERE. ( scalloped suede skirt - £85 @ stylebop.com, tan suede skirt - £91.31 @ freepeople.com)

Thank you for being so patient with me during my horribly long hiatus. Let us move on from this trying period of separation & look onwards to the rainbowy, glittery, unicorny future.

Watch This Space (Or Maybe Don't)

2011-02-04T16:12:00.005Z

First off, I AM SORRY. I grovel on my knees for forgiveness because I am possibly the WORST blogger to ever grace planet Earth.

I do have an explanation for my absence though- I did not just abandon my blog, I swear! If you follow me on Twitter you might know that I moved out of my parents' house and into a flat by myself- it is blissful and I am really enjoying playing a grown-up. The downside is that I don't have the Internet. It is quite rubbish and I feel like I am some sort of social experiment but I do not envision getting it any time soon as it would involve getting a landline installed in the building which is rather expensive. Sadness.

So rather than comepletely closing my blog and declaring that I will never be back, I will just say watch this space- although don't watch it too closely because you might get more than a little bored.

And if you are still mad at me for being the World's Worst Blogger, then look at this puppy because who could be mad at a puppy?

Lady in Greige: GaGa's VMA nails

2010-09-15T16:03:00.002+01:00

I know all eyes were on GaGa's extraordinary meat dress at this year's VMAs, but to be honest I was more interested in the gorge nail colour she was sporting- a kind of beautiful lovechild between Chanel's cult polishes, Paradoxal & Particulière.

After flexing my Google skills I learned that the Lady is painted with Essie's Merino Cool, a greigey-lilac shade that ticks all the right boxes for this winter.

It looks like a good alternative to some of the pricer Chanel shades that everyon has been lusting after- I'm very tempted to pick up a bottle for myself. What is your take on this season's muted nail trend? I'm pleased it's carrying right through the winter months as it means all my nudes and greys are good for another season still, yet I'm interested enough to try out a few of the icier, cooler shades that are popping up now. I'll take any excuse to expand my ever growing polish collection to be honest.

What I Wore Today

2010-08-18T18:38:00.002+01:00

Just a pretty simple outfit today. I like mixing stripes and prints, it's a pretty easy and foolproof way to play about with clashing patterns.

Top - Dunnes Stores
Cullottes - Dorothy Perkins
Shoes- New Look
Belt - Primark
Sunnies - TK Maxx

But check out the length of my hair! It's getting a bit out of hand now so I had a little trim today to keep the ends nice and healthy. I'm also getting a bit obsessed with my Diva curling tongs as well- I can never get my velcro rollers to work, and anyway, the tongs are giving a pretty similar look when I combine it with teasing my hair near the roots.

Looks I'm Loving: Winter Beauty Trends

2010-08-17T22:35:00.003+01:00

You might think it's too early to start getting this excited about winter beauty trends, however, as a very wise man, once tweeted "I love the Summer but I can't wait for Fall."

I've been looking to see what beauty trends have been popping up for Autumn/Winter, and I've seen two in particular that have me positively salivating. First up, burgundy/wine red lips.

I'm always a fan of this colour polish on nails in the colder months, but for some reason I am really feeling burgundy lips this year- it's seriously vampy & dramatic and is the perfect shade for a sexy bombshell statement lip.

My other favourite beauty look this winter is retro, bouffant hair.

Pinned up or blown out, I am in love with the return to sleek, coiffed hair. And the nod to sexy starlets of the 40s, 50s & 60s is the icing on the cake.

I can't help but imagine both of these looks on some gorgeous Bond girl, wrapped in midwinter furs- hottttt right? Hmmm, any excuse for a martini.

What I Wore Today

2010-07-28T12:03:00.002+01:00

As a general rule of thumb, I don't wear trousers (unless it's to work, where they are a part of my uniform, vom). People are always so surprised by this but it's true. I didn't even own any trousers, shorts or jeans until recently. Just skirts and dresses.

I'm not totally sure why, because I do like them on other people, it's just, when I put them on I don't feel like myself. This summer, however, I had major shorts envy all over the show- playsuits, culottes & cut-offs were all looking way more attractive to me than they'd ever done before. So on a shopping trip to Marks & Spencer's I spotted a pair of plain cargo/utility shorts that I really liked and decided to take my first foray into previously unchartered style territory.

So when I wore them for the first time, (paired with black opaques and a multi-coloured, floral shirt from Topshop), I was definitely dressing way outside of my comfort zone. I felt a little self-concious at first, which is so unlike me when it comes to fashion, but I got over it quickly. I've not worn shorts since I was a very little girl, and I don't know whether it was that, or the fact that for once I wasn't at all worried about my skirt blowing up on what turned out to be a pretty windy day, but I did have to resist a little urge to just start tearing around the place and climb trees all day.

I also decided that I might as well push the boat out entirely and break away from my makeup comfort zone too, and so I stayed far away from all forms of doll-pink blusher, bright lipsticks and gel black eyeliner (though I did sneak in a crafty brown liner).

I've realised that I do tend to 'stick to what I know', which is generally fine to do, but without a little experimentation here and there you can often get stuck in a fashion rut. Wearing the same type of thing over and over again can get a little dull for me, and I don't know about you but I can always benefit from a little day of dressing outside my comfort zone.

Not to mention I've already made the shocking purchase of a second pair of shorts, I kid you not. Pretty soon I will be wearing nothing but shorts, you mark my words.

Confessions of a Fragrance Junkie

2010-06-15T15:56:00.008+01:00

My name is Samantha and I am addicted to perfume. In fact I think I may have a slight olfactory fixation, not unlike the madman Grenouille in Patrick Suskind's novel Perfume, although I perhaps don't express my obsession with scent in quite such an, um, disturbing manner. A lot of my memories are focused around different scents: sunscreen, gingerbread, fake tan and cut grass all trigger memories of different events I've experienced. Likewise, various perfumes are all reminiscent, (Oh dear, sorry), of different stages in my life.

Ralph Lauren's Blue perfume for women transports me to my junior years in high school and first getting into music that wasn't in the charts; Givenchy's Very Irresistible was my perfume of choice in my final years of school and reminds me of sixth form fun and A Level stress; and Marc Jacob's grapefruit splash was the scent of my favourite summer a few years ago when I was at university and hanging out with friends everyday and working in the crazy heat with all my buddies. So you see, I am kind of addicted to fragrance because it is an olfactory scrapbook for me and transports me back to all my favourite times in life.

Despite this, (or perhaps because of it, who knows), I find it hard to stick to just one scent these days. I wear my fragrances dependent on my mood, or the time of day, or sometimes on the weather. It's not an ideal method for imbuing any future memories with a significant fragrance to accompany them, but it can set the tone for an entire day- or night.

I don't wear Ralph's Blue anymore, or Very Irresistible, but I do now own a whole host of other perfumes, and I am still truly obsessed with that Marc Jacob's splash. I like sweet, floral fragrances that warm up as you wear them, and for that reason, all my perfumes are different fragrant notes to accompany various aspects of my life, yet they all seem to work in harmony to complement my personality. I thought I'd give you a little tour of my perfumes, if you will, and talk you through why and how long I have been wearing them.

First up is the pretty, dressing-table fave, Miss Dior Cherie. I've been wearing this since I was about 19 and to be honest, I was intent on owning it from the moment I found out it had notes of popcorn in it. I wore it throughout my first year of university, which was a monumentally important time in my life and for that reason it will always be a fragrance I turn to when I need a positive reminder to motivate me.

Next up is Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb, a scent I wear when I need comfort and a bit of a hug. I like its warmth and it reminds me of home.

If I were ever to have a signature scent these days it would probably be Chloe. It's the one I wear most often the one I always come back to. The floraly, amberish, warmth of this perfume is just the perfect blend of grown-up and girlishness to match my personality.

I have become slightly obsessed with the Marc Jacob's splashes, (despite only owning two, ha). I bought grapefruit when it first came out a few years ago, and I wear it constantly on hot summer days- its sweet, fruity freshness is perfect for lazing about in the sun. I love it so much that I decided to get the biscotti splash that was released this summer, and I'm so glad I did, because not only do they now come with an adorable mini bottle for decanting purposes, (the original bottles are HUGE, which is great but not very portable), but the biscotti fragrance has become my favourite evening scent for glamorous nights, with a vanilla-y, slightly aniseed scent that it pretty mouthwatering. I foresee a compulsive need to buy a splash each time they are released in my future. Oops.

And finally, coconut-scented perfume oil from The Body Shop is something I have been wearing for a long time, and I go through a bottle each summer. I turn into a maniac when I get around anything coconut scented in the summertime and must have it- coconut is my quintessential summer fragrance and I wear it in possibly offensive amounts each year. But, in my opinion, there is nothing better than when you're lying back in the sun, or chilling in the park with friends and a slightly tropical hint of coconut gets picked up by the breeze. Perfect.

So that is the tale of a fragrance junkie and these are the scents that perfume my life. Are any of you similarly obsessed with different fragrances or scents? What are your favourite perfumes? Do you have a signature scent or like to mix it up? Let me know in the comments, I'm interested to find out what the fragrance habits of others are like.

Oh, P.S. If you can, or haven't read it yet and are looking for a summer read, I obviously recommend Patrick Suskind's Perfume. It's a really beautiful and odd little novel, and obviously the olfactory subject speaks to me!

What I Wore Today

2010-06-14T20:15:00.002+01:00

Today was another super sunny day here in Ireland, which is perfect outfit photography weather, so I used it to my advantage and took a few snaps of what I wore to have a pub lunch with my aunt and then to help her pick out a new laptop.

I am wearing two dresses today! One is a little denim pinafore, and the other is a floral shirt dress that I tied at the front. I just used a basic black, elasticated waist belt with a gold clasp to break it up, and paired with black tights and some gold jazz shoes. Grumpy cat optional.

What I Wore Today

2010-05-27T21:09:00.005+01:00

Today I took the train into a nearby town to do some shopping. The weather was a bit of a letdown after the beautiful sunshine we've been having here in the UK & Ireland recently, but I remedied that by throwing a lightweight mac over my outift.

This denim shirt is an absolute favourite of mine because it goes with every colour and pattern I throw at it- is warm enough for days with a slight chill but is lightweight enough for summer. And because I am generally pretty rubbish at dressing appropriately for the weather it's kind of perfect for me.

I'm not going to bore you with the details because I'm poor and everything is from Primark, but I will tell you to keep an eye on the menswear section in high street shops, because sometimes the shirt section can be full of total gems- much like my treasured denim one.

Hot Right Now: Nail Art

2010-05-26T13:10:00.006+01:00

If there's one way you can stay massively ahead of the trends this summer, it's by showcasing some artwork on your nails. Nail art is having a massive revival at the minute, and those of you on my Twitter feed will have seen I've been making my own (sometimes horrific) attempts at D.I.Y. designs but there's no substitute for the real thing. And the real thing right now comes in the form of WAH Nails.

WAH Nails is a nail salon establishd by Sharmadean Reid in Dalston, London, with a salon opening earlier this year in Topshop on Oxford Street. It's a place for girls to get together and share their talents, a safe space for women and the home of some seriously badass designs. Wah seems to be more of a mantra and way of life than a brand name, and their eclectic influences can been seen in the WAH magazine too. They seem to be at the heart of the nail art revival, and their designs, which take cues from popular culture, high fashion and street art, can be seen everywhere and on everyone right now.

WAH are not the only pioneers of the nail art revival though, and you can't really talk nails without mentioning Sophy Robson.

Robson is an ex-DJ, UK based, nail artist whose work can be seen in glossy fashion magazines everywhere, in both editorials and in ad campaigns for some major fashion houses. She also keeps a blog and a twitter where she posts and tweets interesting and informative behind the scenes snippets from fashion shows and photoshoots that she's working on.

And even though it all looks far too complicated for us mere mortals to attempt, a quick search on Youtube will bring up a bunch of tutorials from the many 'beauty gurus' that make videos there, so it might be worthwhile having a go yourself, especially now you'll all be pulling those gladiator sandals out of the back of the wardrobe. You can buy nail art pens all over the internet, and I've spotted a few savvy Youtubers even using cocktail sticks to create designs with. Besides if you ask me, DIY nail art is the perfect sunbathing activity so hurry up and get out there and paint or before you know it, the clouds will roll out, our 'Indian Summer' will be nothing more than a weekend of sunshine and it'll be time to pull our wellies back on.

Looks I'm Loving: Bright Young Things

2010-05-25T20:32:00.005+01:00

Now that summer's here, nothing's more satisfying than acid bright nails in the sunshine. But why stop there? Why not go for tomato red lips by the seaside, or aquamarine eyes on a picnic? Make-up this spring was all about soft candy pastels and sugary colours but now that summer's here everything is brightening up and getting bolder and more in your face. Bright nails are a staple in the sunshine but bright lips, eyes and cheeks are all gonna be everywhere this year.

If you're not sure about this trend then follow the lead of Prada and Luella and wear it one feature at a time. Work a bright, unblended block colour on the eye and keep the skin dewy and lips nude; or a vibrant lip with a slightly flushed cheek and one coat of black, or even brown mascara. You're making quite a statement with colour and won't want to overcomplicate your look.

And finally, make sure you invest in some bright nail colours this summer if you haven't already. Neons are a must, and warmer colours like pink and orange look amazing with a slight tan. Just make sure you cover your skin during peak sun times and wear plenty of sunscreen in a decent SPF at all times. Essie, China Glaze, POP Cosmetics & Barry M are all doing some fantastic bright nail shades right now, so stock up on your favourites!

Something For The Weekend

2010-05-22T11:39:00.005+01:00

This weekend I'll leave you with this- my new wolfy tee-shirt bought for £15 from a local New Age/Spiritual shop.

Hopepfully Mr. Wolf and his three friends will scare away any bad weather or cancelled plans that might otherwise threaten to ruin a perfectly good weekend.

Hope you all enjoy the sunshine and remember that SPF!

What I Wore Today

2010-05-20T19:29:00.008+01:00

Hello!

Well, I am no longer a university student and am back home in my sleepy little seaside town, enjoying being home again and totally loving the beautiful weather that we have been having recently- so I now have plenty of time to kick start my blog this summer!

I thought I'd start with a few little snaps of what I wore today. As I had the day off work I met my mummy and we went for lunch and a stroll along the seaside and to the second hand bookstore where the very nice man gave me a free book. As it was quite warm, yet still slightly windy (as it always seems to be along the seafront), I wore a summery top with a lightweight cardigan thrown on over the top.

This kind of outfit is definitely a fail safe one for me- I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of this skirt as I wear it constantly, same goes for the bag. The combo of cute top, high waisted skirt, black tights, pumps and a cardi is practically my uniform for everyday wear and it's a combination that gives me confidence because I look and feel comfortable in it. This summer I am really feeling the classic, Parisian-chic vibes I have been getting from the high street- nautical stripes and brass buttons, lots of Eiffel prints, pearls, bows and the ever-present influence of Chanel. I definitely think I will be looking towards Paris for my main inspiration for summer fashion this year.

What about you? What combination of clothing gives you confidence? What's your uniform? And what are you looking forward to wearing this summer?

Beauty in a Hurry

2010-04-08T10:52:00.010+01:00

Firstly, I must apologise for my long absence, but I'm sure you understand that my dissertation on the portrayal of deviant sexuality in Nabokov's works is kind of top of my agenda these days, and that beauty & style has taken a backseat to Lolita & academic journals! I am, however, feeling a little bit rebellious today so I decided to sneakily update my blog before I get stuck into my work.

I tend to get up fairly early these days as I find that I am most productive in the mornings, plus breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. Once I've had my nutella & toast though, I like to get stuck into my work fairly quickly as I get less focused as the day goes on. I also don't tend to work too well if I am just hanging out barefaced in my pjs all day as it makes me feel lazy and unproductive. So with that in mind I thought I would talk you through my basic, everyday makeup look, and a simple yet pretty hairstyle designed to keep my hair up and away from my face whilst I work.

We'll start with the hair. I simply divided my hair into two sections and braided each one so I had two pigtails, like Pippi Longstocking! Then I wrapped each pigtail up and round my head, and fastened it on the other side with a few bobby pins. Shimples! And it took me about 5 minutes to do which is also a major plus. It's also a good way for me to wear my hair into work at the weekends, as I have to wear it up for health & safety reasons but I often don't like to just stick it back in a messy bun everyday as it can be a bit repetitive. Sometimes I might put a little french braid in the fringe, or slide in a feather hair slide- it's good to mix it up.

As for my makeup, well it's a lot simpler and a lot less faff than you might think. The products I am wearing are:

- Maybelline's Super Stay 24 Hour Foundation in 040 Fawn

- Benefit's Get Even Powder in o2

- MAC Blush in Dollymix

- MAC Zoomlash Mascara in Zoomblack

- MAC Fluidline eyeliner in Blacktrack

- Chanel Rouge Coco lipstick in Cambon

(Optional)

- MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

- MAC Eyeshadow in Wedge

- MAC Eyeshadow in Embark

All you need to do is start with your regular foundation- if you use a liquid foundation I suggest investing in a foundation brush to get a full and even coverage. Finish it off with a light dusting of powder to get a nice matte finish and to seal in your makeup and make it last longer. Without powder my foundation would just slide right off my face and take everything with it, no joke. I then lightly dust a bright pink blusher on the apples of my cheeks. For the eyes I use a small, flat, angled brush and a gel eyeliner to create a smooth line. I can't stress enough how easy this is to do, so much easier than using a proper eyeliner brush! The trick is to start at the center of the eye and draw a slightly thicker line from there to the outer corner, winging it out slightly, and then go back and do a thinner line from the inner corner of your eye and join up with the line in the centre. Finish with lashings of black mascara and a good red lippy!

As an added extra, I also apply an eyeshadow primer and a neutral, beigey coloured eyeshadow before the eyeliner stage as I need it to make sure my liner stays put for longer than a couple of hours, but not everyone will need to do this I am sure. If you're like me and find you often have oily lids then this is a step I recommend taking. I also fill my eyebrows in using another small angled brush and some dark brown eyeshadow, as I'm naturally fair and dye my hair dark. You may not feel the need to, but I do recommend this too, even if you're quite fair haired because it will add definition to your whole face and make the look much more polished.

And that's it! My makeup takes me no more than 15-20 minutes each morning, and to be honest, I kind of have it down to a fine art so can often get it done in less than 10! And because I took a few extra steps to make sure it stays on my face all day, I don't have to worry about touching it up later on when I am on a roll with my work. Hair & makeup doesn't have to take a long time to do each day and can often make your whole day much brighter by giving you tons more confidence, letting you get on with other things instead of worrying about your hair being a mess! (As a sidenote, I also think this is a good look for glasses wearers, as it opens up your eyes, but doesn't make them the sole focus, instead concentrating on a bright lip and cheek, so you don't have to worry about not standing out from the crowd!)

And then all I had to do was throw on a denim shirt and striped dress & I had the whole day to get on with my work! Or, you know, pose in front of a backdrop of fashion collages and take a bunch of pictures of myself wearing silly red plastic frames. Hurrah!

Just to let you know, my workload is pretty much over at end of this month (yay!), so you can expect this blog to take off in a major way after then. If you have any requests, questions, suggestions, or requegestions if you will, then make your way over to the contact box to the right of the blog and you can reach me that way by email or formspring. Alternatively, just leave a comment and I'll be sure to see it. I have already received a request for a tutorial on eyeshadow application, which is something I will hopefully be making a video for once I get more time. I've also got ideas for a few regular style features for the future and I will of course be continuing the regular beauty features that I have done in the past. Stay tuned!

Style Crushes: Rachel Green & Claudia Kishi

2010-02-15T02:08:00.008Z

In case you guys haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a serious 90s fashion revival right now- the shops on the high street are full of denim, florals & lace and I for one am completely loving it. I think a lot of people had hoped that a lot of the fashion witnessed in the 90s would remain dead and forgotten about so they could pretend it never happened, but I was too young to really appreciate the side ponytails and flowered leggings that my mum was dressing me in so I am really digging it this time around.

So, it should really have not surprised me so much to find myself feeling extremely drawn to the wardrobe of Rachel Green from 'Friends'. I was watching some of the first episodes (I recently bought the boxset after hearing it got removed from the schedule on E4 in the UK, sob) and I love her cute little crop tops, high waists and the serious abuse of denim in her wardrobe.

Another 90s fashion icon who is inspiring me right now is none other than literary legend, Claudia Kishi from 'The Baby-Sitters Club'. I've always had a major soft spot for Claudia, I really wanted to be her when I was growing up and it was mostly due to the fact that she just had the most killer wardrobe- filled with neon high-top sneakers, oversized shirts and papier-mâché jewellery. Recently she has been gaining some notoriety, probably thanks to the brilliant 'What Claudia Wore', but I have loved her ever since I was about 11 and being 13 just seemed like THE COOLEST AGE EVER.

What about you? Are you getting style inspiraton from an unusual source? Do you dig the 90s revival? Is nostalgia a valid excuse for wearing double denim?

Also, let me know what you think about me posting style/fashion entries like this. Do you like it or would you prefer updates on beauty only? I was intending to keep it strictly beauty but I love fashion/style so much that I was thinking about doing both, however, I was worried about diluting the focus of the blog. Let me know if you think it works. And for those of you who didn't know, I have formspring now! So ask away here and I shall do my best to answer.

Beauty Review: Lush Lip Scrub

2010-02-11T19:01:00.004Z

I first saw the Lush lip scrub when it was reviewed at Zoella and was seriously intrigued. I have bemoaned about my dry, chapped, winter lips on here before & was in desperate need of some sort of miracle cure product. Well, I actually did find it in the Lush lip scrub! Zoe opted for the bubblegum flavoured one, and I also see that Lipglossiping reviewed this as well not so long ago and chose the mint version. Well neither really appealed to me so I decided to go for the vanilla & chocolate 'Sweet Lips'.

It is basically just sugar and flavourings, but as I don't happen to have jojoba oil, vanilla extract & cocoa absolute kicking about the kitchen I don't mind buying this instead of making it myself, and at only £4.50 I think it's pretty affordable. Plus the jojoba oil makes it a little moisturising as well, although I do prefer to use this in conjunction with my Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm. It sloughs off all that gross dry skin from your lips, leaving them smooth and plump, a great canvas for lipstick! Plus when you're done you can lick off all the sugar- how perfect is that? I really do love this product and would give it 5 stars out of 5. I'd also buy this again and again.

I can see this becoming a cult product- the girl who served me in Lush said they were selling really quickly and I can see why!

Alexander McQueen

2010-02-11T15:57:00.002Z

R.I.P. L'Enfant Terrible

Beauty Queen: Zooey Deschanel

2010-02-11T13:04:00.002Z

I definitely have somewhat of a girl crush on Miss Deschanel. Not only do I absolutely love her style, but she has a great beauty look as well. Doe eyes, fresh skin and flushed cheeks give her a doll-like look that is super flattering and easily updated between day & night. She also has amazing hair- love her fringe. So this is my salute to the beautiful Zooey Deschanel for getting the balance between cute & quirky absolutely perfect.

Hairspiration

2010-02-01T17:38:00.003Z

♥

I'm still here, just super busy with my dissertation. Can't wait to be finished so I can have time to figure out how to use the rollers I got for Christmas and do this to my hair!

Salute to Red Lipstick

2010-01-21T17:09:00.005Z

I think if there's one thing every girl needs to own it's her perfect red lipstick. If you've got one, you know what I'm talking about- that little tube of makeover that is a good hair day, makeup day and clothes day all in one. The lipstick you can slick on and suddenly it doesn't matter that it's going to rain all over your fake tan or that your favourite top is in the wash or even that you broke the strap on your new handbag, because you look like a 50s pinup goddess and the bag wasn't really big enough to fit all your stuff in anyway. Another glass of wine? Don't mind if I do- it's going to be a brilliant night.

Red lipstick is such a classic look, and there are so many shades and finishes out there to suit and flatter every skintone and hair colour, so if you don't own a red lippie what are you waiting for?

What red lipstick makes your life better? Mine is a double slice of deliciousness, as it's Chanel Hydrabase in New York Red, and the closest to owning anything Chanel that I will ever get- those little double C's on the lid always make me feel more glamorous. Plus, it smells like roses! How very ladylike. I salute you red lipstick!

Beauty Queen: Lauren Conrad

2010-01-18T16:51:00.007Z

I've never watched 'The Hills', but I always think Lauren Conrad's beauty look is so great. She always looks cute, fresh-faced and feminine, isn't afraid to experiment with different hairstyles, and her fake tan always looks perfect. So I salute you Ms. Conrad, for showing other reality stars how to get it right.

Beauty Review: Sleek 'Storm' Eyeshadow Palette

2010-01-18T10:21:00.006Z

I'm sure many of you have heard all about the 'Sleek' makeup range, especially the apparent wonder eyeshadow palettes that are firing up the beauty blogosphere. If you haven't heard of them, Sleek is a budget makeup brand sold in Superdrug stores in the UK. They specialise in products for women of all ethnicities, so their colours are highly pigmented. The product that I, and most of the beauty world, has been most interested in are their eyeshadow palettes- £4.99 for 12 shadows, and they come in a whole range of different shades and finishes.
I finally picked up a palette for myself on the way home from work yesterday, the 'Storm' eyeshadow palette to be specific.

As you can see, these eyeshadows are super pigmented, and the colours are so gorgeous it's unreal. The top row is full of golden colours that will be good for everyday looks, bright-eyed evening looks and for blending with the darker shades on the row below. And the bottom shades are going to be amazing for dramatic night-time eyes. I'm particularly in love with numbers 2, 4, 10 & 12. I also like that there are a few matte finishes (3, 11 & 12) thrown in with the mostly shimmery colours.

On my eyes this morning I have used 2, 3, 7 & 11, so you can see how versatile this palette is as the shades can quite easily be worn during the day, despite seeming to include a large number of shimmery/dramatic colours. All the shadows also have such amazing texture too, so soft and blendable, and I really love the size of the palette itself- it's small enough to be extremely portable, but large enough that you get a decent amount of each shade. And the packaging is lovely too- simple but stylish.

For the rest of my makeup, I am wearing- Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation in 75, MAc Shape & Sculpt in Accentuate/Sculpt, MAC Blush in Peachykeen, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, MAC Zoomlash Mascara in Zoomblack, MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF15 in Fuchsia Fix, Benefit Get Even Face Powder in 02 and MAC Eyeshadow in Embark (on eyebrows).

I am definitely giving the Storm palette 5 stars out of 5, and would give it more if I could. I can't quite praise it highly enough and will be buying ALL of the Sleek palettes as soon as I can. I can't believe they're only £4.99 as I would happily pay a substantially larger amount of money for these. Go out and try these palettes for yourself if you can- I'll definitely be buying this again, and will probably be buying a few for my mum & sister as well. They definitely live up to the hype!

Hairspiration

2010-01-17T18:11:00.003Z

Beauty Review: Illamasqua (Part Two)

2010-01-15T03:11:00.005Z

So yesterday (ish) I was enthusing about my newest purchases, an Illamasqua eyeshadow & a concealer, both black, and the soft grey pencil I got with them. I was excited to try them out, so tonight I decided to play around with them and see what I could come up with. I was just going to be really lazy and just take off my eye makeup, but I'd been wearing my face all day and ended up taking it all off and starting from scratch. Bit of a bummer really as I now have a full face of nice makeup and nowhere to go, sigh.

I started by putting the Illamasqua concealer in cc350 all over my eye. I just used my finger for this, as it has quite a sticky texture and I didn't really have any suitable brushes- plus the warmth of my hands softened it a little and made it glide on easier. It's quite messy as it's so dark, but I think this is down to my lack of skill more than anything else to be honest. I then used the Illamasqua medium pencil in Stephanie on the inner corners of my eye- I didn't take it very far into the centre of my eye, but I wanted something for my silver to stick to as I was going to be taking that right into the corner and I didn't want it too dark.

Then using a MAC 239 brush, I put a silver pigment on the inner corners, blending out towards the centre of my eye so that it's more pigmented in the corner and softens out. Using the same brush I then used the Illamasqua shadow in Lestat from the centre of my eye right out to the outer corner of my eyelid, but not taking it out too far. I used a small, thin brush to take it out over the socket, creating a sort of wing or solid v-shape with the dark shadow. Using a MAC 217, I blended out all the harsh lines over my eye socket and upwards towards the brow, being careful not to take it all the way up. Using the small, thin brush I lined just below the bottom lash line, and again on the top and finished with a black eyeliner pencil on the waterline, (or I would have if I could have found it, but I am ALWAYS losing black eyeliner pencils so I had to use the concealer instead- it worked pretty well though).

I wish I could tell you what pigment I used but I have no idea. It is a little unlablled pot of the most glorious silvery dust that I have had for YEARS and I have no idea where I got it or who it's by, or even when it's going to run out. Barry M's Dazzle Dust in Pale Silver seems to be quite similar though. I paired it with a pinky lip, but it would probably look equally as good with a nude lipstick or gloss. The lipstick is by No. 17 and is called Heartthrob, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's called something else now, Miami Pink or something. I applied a regular concealer to my lips first to provide a pale base and make it a bit lighter.

The flash of my camera isn't really doing the Illamasqua products any justice though. Together they are the blackest of blacks and I absolutely LOVE that. The concealer is my favourite of the two though- it makes such a great base for eyeshadow as the texture is so sticky that the shadow really grips onto it. I actually might buy a normal one as a base for my everyday eyeshadow, although I don't really like the idea of actually using them as a concealer! The eyeshadow is lovely, although not really as pigmented as I first thought- it really needs the concealer to darken it to how I like it to be. However, I did wear it during the day, applied really lightly and blended really well into the eye as a grey-taupe colour and it was really pretty, so it's definitely a good shadow for starting lightly and building colour.

Would I buy these products again? Definitely the concealer and the medium pencil, in fact I want the pencil in other shades too, as even though I didn't use it so much here I used it earlier on today and the texture is really soft and lovely (although perhaps a little crumbly). I'm not sure whether I would buy the shadow again though as it just wasn't as dark as I would like it. I will definitely use it now that I have it- but once it's gone I won't miss it. If I'm going to buy a black shadow I like it to be very dark indeed.

Overall, I am awarding the Illamasqua concealer in cc350 5 stars, the medium pencil in Stephanie 4 stars; & the powder eyeshadow in Lestat 3 stars.

Looks I'm Loving: Mannequin Manicures

2010-01-14T10:19:00.006Z

I first saw the 'mannequin manicure' on Sophy Robson's blog (a MUST READ for any nail polish fanatics) and for some reason this image of the little bottles of 'nail foundation' all lined up really appealed to me. There's nothing better than a nude coloured nail to really lengthen your fingers and make your hands look feminine and elegant. I've always been a fan of the classic french polish for that very reason, and this just takes it a step further.

It strikes me as a look that's really wearable, even for the busiest of guys and gals because chips and mistakes wouldn't be as noticable, and for the same reason, it would be easier to make little corrections and fill in imperfections rather than starting from scratch again.

(images from top to bottom all from Sophy Robson)

I love nail polish, but I can't wear it in work at the weekends, so once it gets to around Wednesday or Thursday and my manicure needs a redo I don't really feel like doing it as I have to take it off anyway, so I'm really excited to get my hands on my perfect 'nail foundation' colour so I can take advantage of this myself. I am a fake tan fan though so I may have to stock up on two different colours to match my ever changing skintone. If you want to see a few more images of these mannequin manicures, then check out the tag on All Lacquered Up that is dedicated to showcasing just that. I also think it seems like a really fresh look for Spring/Summer, and, along with some very pretty sugary, pastel-candy shades (there are some Chanel polishes that are making my sweet-tooth-marshmallow-dreams come true-although I will of course be keeping my eyes peeled for the inevitable Barry M copycat shades), I expect to see this look everywhere.

Will you be trying out the nude nail look this season? Have you tried it already? Let me know in the comments!

Beauty Review: Illamasqua (Part One)

2010-01-13T22:33:00.007Z

(l-r: Illamasqua Powder Eyeshadow in Lestat; Concealer in CC350)

Well it's still grey, wet and utterly freezing here in my corner of the UK, and the miserable weather is perfectly setting the scene for all the uni work I have at the moment. Gross, yuck and ugh. It's definitely putting me in the foulest of moods these days, so as I walked past Fenwicks department store on the way home from town I found myself inexplicably drawn towards the makeup hall, reaching for my purse. I still had not really checked out the Illamasqua counter properly since it came to Newcastle, so I wandered towards it with a loose idea about a lipstick I had seen on Lipstick & Lollipops called Obey. Of course, I couldn't remember the name of the lipstick once I got to the counter. I tried on Scandal with a bit of Electrify sheer lipgloss over the top & it was cute, but not really me.

So I decided to pick up a black eyeshadow- I didn't actually have one and have been meaning to pick one up for a good while now, and well, you can't really go wrong with a good black shadow. I did a swatch of Lestat, and with the help of the really lovely girl at the counter, I also decided to get the black concealer (cc350) to wear under it. She showed me how it really makes the shadow so much darker, and it also looks amazing with a sheer, shimmery eyeshadow on top as it really makes the colour pop. They're also doing this thing where if you spend £30 or over you get a free eye pencil (well, multi-use pencil as Illamasqua's medium pencils can be used on eyes, lips, cheeks, etc). I only spent about £24 but she gave me one anyway- a soft dove grey called Stephanie.

They're all super gorgeous, have such amazing textures and pigmentation and I can't wait to try all three for a deep smokey eye look. I also did a swatch of the eyeshadow on top of the concealer as well, so you can see how nice and dark the colour is- 'as black as yer boot' as my dad would say.

I'm super impressed by these products and SO excited to try them out. I think Illamasqua is going to become a firm favourite of mine. I love their brand identity- a little bit dark and gothic with a sort of dirty 1920's speakeasy vibe, and their products just seem so luxe, and actually, quite well priced for a high end makeup brand. I'll definitely be trying more of their stuff in the near future.

I'll continue this review tomorrow after I have tried them out on my eyes and see how they score overall, but I am certainly optimistic!

FOTD & Maybelline XXL Mascara Review

2010-01-09T18:49:00.007Z

Back in October, you may remember me posting about getting MAC's Costa Chic lipstick for my 'Back to Mac' freebie, although what I had initially wanted was Up The Amp. Well Santa loves me so I got it in my stocking this year for Christmas! It is everything I thought it would be and I love, love, love it! So today I decided to incorporate it into my FOTD- yay!

I think it's amazing, and looks great with my everyday staples of cream eyeliner and rosy pink cheeks for a fun, girly look with an interesting twist. As you can see I've gone with a pretty neutral eye for this look- using MAC's Motif eyeshadow all over the eye right up to the brow, and then Shale on the outer corners, blending up and out into my eye sockets. Motif & Shale were two of the MAC eyeshadows I got for Christmas this year, but I also got a few more, so I decided to do a few swatches for you so you can see them in better detail. Motif & Shale are probably my two favourites, followed by Satellite Dreams & Embark- but really, they're all lovely. Purples and browns are the shades I wear most often, so they're great shades for me.

I'm also wearing a different mascara than usual today. Normally I am a diehard Zoomlash wearer, but I got Mabelline's XXL mascara for Christmas too so I thought I'd try it out today. XXL is one of those mascaras that are double-ended, with one end being the mascara and the other being some sort of primer. Normally I don't really like mascara primers because it takes that many coats to cover up the white of the primer that it can go a bit clumpy. This one wasn't too bad though, I have to admit! The wand itself is quite good- a bit larger than what I'm used to but it applied the mascara evenly and dispersed my lashes quite well too.

It also didn't take as many coats to cover the primer as I thought it would, which was a nice surprise. It's a nice mascara, and I will probably end up using it to take out with me in my bag when I'm going out to the bar and whatnot, but it just doesn't create the volume and dark colour that I love so much with MAC's Zoomlash. I'm lucky to have quite long eyelashes anyway, but they are so fair and fine that I really need something to make them look more full. Also, another thing about those primer/mascaras is that because there's a primer taking up all the room, there's only a very little mascara tube. Bit rubbish if you ask me. Overall I would give XXL 3 stars out of 5.

As for the rest of my makeup, I'm wearing Bourjouis 10 Hour Sleep Effect foundation (love it!) in 75, Benefit Get Even face powder in 02, Mac Blush in Dollymix, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack & a bit of MAC Sculpt & Shape powder in Accentuate/Sculpt.

Also, look! No silly pictures of me pouting! I noticed that I seem to take an extremely large amount of photographs where I am pouting and I tried not to do that this time so there would be more focus on the makeup and not my ridiculous face. Although I did have to take about 30 pictures before I got any normal ones because it seems old habits do indeed die hard...

Next time I will try to get photos of my whole face, as I seem to subconciously cut out my Christina Ricci forehead in each one.

Beauty Review: Nubar Modern Matte Nail Laquer Collection

2010-01-07T17:43:00.004Z

(l-r: Contempo, Vital, Avant-Garde, Prevail)

I have loved the look of matte nails for a while but haven't owned any matte polishes, so I was excited to receive Nubar's Modern Matte Nail Laquer Collection for Christmas! It's a set of four berry-coloured, metallic, matte polishes. First off, the colours are gorgeous. I love their rich autumnal tones and they look seriously glam on your nails.

(Clockwise from thumb: Contempo, Vital, Avant-Garde, Prevail)

They all dry super quickly, which is such an awesome bonus, plus they are quite highly pigmented so two coats is definitely more than enough. However, I don't really know how much I will actually use these as they chip SO quickly. I don't know if this is a common thing with matte polishes, or just this Nubar collection but it is really very disappointing. I decided to wear 'Prevail' on Christmas Day this year. The most taxing thing for my nails all day was probably eating dinner, but throughout the day they went from this:

To this:

All in about six hours. This was with 2 coats of polish and a coat of Nubar's 'For Men' Matte Finish Nail Protector on top to see if it could seal the polish any better. The result I got with the top coat was better than the result without, but it's still not great, and it actually does take away some of the matte effect. However, I did get better results with the 'For Men' polish over normal polishes! It's such a magical little nail potion- transforming all polishes into a matte finish! I tried it over a plain black Rimmel polish for New Year's Eve and it worked great, and held up all evening!

I think it's still prone to more chipping than if I were to just wear the polish on its own but I was still very impressed.

Overall I am giving the Modern Matte Collection 2 stars out of 5, but the 'For Men' Matte Top Coat 4 stars out of 5.

Beauty Review: MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

2009-12-27T10:52:00.009Z

Santa Claus must have been paying attention to the beauty blogosphere this year because boy did he ever get me some amazing makeup and beauty treats! I also must have been a suprisingly good girl this year... I think he miscalculated my red wine consumption somehow...

I'm going to be doing reviews of my new products here over the next few weeks, but I wanted to start with my favourite one of them all so far. Up until now I've been a pretty loyal fan of St Ives Apricot Scrub- I've even posted about it here in my 'Top 5 Beauty Essentials'. I still maintain that it's an excellent scrub and great value for money, but now I have a new love.

MAC's Volcanic Ash Exfoliator! I've seen people raving about how good this scrub is on various blogs, especially since it was re-released and repackaged for the Style Black collection, and now I understand what they were all talking about! It really is as good as everyone says it is- my skin was glowing after just one use.

When I first used it, it was on slightly damp skin as directed. It was quite rough, but as I continued to scrub, all the scrubby bits melted into my skin and it turned into this delicious, almost creamy textured film of sooty goodness. It smells quite nice too- a bit herbaly and floral but with a sweet, smokey warmth. It definitely visibly brightens your face after the first use, and leaves the skin smooth and polished.

On the second use, I applied it to clean, dry skin, as I sometimes did with my St Ives scrub when I wanted a more intense exfoliation, and it was pretty rough, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are dedicated to intense exfoliation like I am! It was almost difficult to rub into the skin as it formed a kind of rough paste, but I did my best to scrub my entire face, and then rinsed it off with warm water. This application was what really sold me on this scrub- I have never felt my skin so soft and smooth, it was kind of crazy! Even today, a few days after it, my skin is still feeling super smooth.

Another plus with this exfoliator is that you only need a little bit at a time to get brilliant results, so hopefully this tube will last me a long time! I don't know what I'll do when it eventually runs out...

Overall I would definitely have to give MAC's Volcanic Ash Exfoliator 5 stars out of 5!

Next up: Nubar's Modern Matte Nail Lacquer Collection!

Listmania: Top 5 Winter Essentials

2009-12-09T17:28:00.004Z

My beauty routine is pretty much the same every day. The only changes I make to it are seasonal. Now that winter is here my big focus is always on keeping my skin hydrated because it goes through a lot during the winter. Cold winds & central heating really sap all the life out of it and make me prone to dryness and blemishes.
I figured I'd list the five products that I am using pretty much everyday now that winter is here.
1. Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

I use this little yellow tin all year round but during the winter is when I really notice how amazing it is. My lips get so dried out in the winter, and it can be especially painful at night. As soon as I notice them cracking I apply a good coat of this lip balm and they are IMMEDIATELY soothed, it's crazy how instantaneous its effects are. I also put some on before bed every night and when I wake up in the morning my lips are nice & hydrated.

2. Johnson's 24Hour Facial Moisturiser

I am kind of a fan of Johnson's skincare products as they are gentle on my skin but tough on my makeup! I like this moisturiser because it keeps my skin hydrated without clogging up my pores, which has always been a huge issue for me as far as moisturisers go- I need something light that absorbs well. It's also a great barrier between my skin and my makeup and I always look healthier and more glowing when I have applied this before I put on my makeup. As I have combination skin, the one I use is the one for 'normal & combination skin: balancing, with minerals'.3. Fake Tan!

This is a non-essential I suppose, but sometimes it's nice to have a little bit of a glow in the middle of winter to chase away the winter blues! I use some EXTREMELY CHEAP fake tan wipes from a chemist back home in Northern Ireland (I stock up on LOADS every time I go home). They are absurdly cheap, 99p for a pack of ten 'Palm Beach' wipes! I wish I had the money to spend on expensive tanning products but I just don't- so these do me fine. I also like gradual tanning products- the L'Oreal moisturiser with tan is my favourite and not too expensive, but like I said 99p for 10 wipes wins every time! (Note, the brand I used is not the one pictured, as I couldn't find a picture of mine!)

4. Boots Ingredients Honey & Jojoba Intensive Conditioning Hair Mask

This is a relatively new find of mine. Boots had them on special offer about a month ago at 2 for £2 so I snapped them up. The offer has since ended but I am still buying these tubs by the armful. Not only does it smell AMAZING, but has been doing an brilliant job of keeping my waist-length hair soft, manageble & well-conditioned, despite the drying effect of winter weather. My hair is so long that it really just styles itself, I wear it long and curly mostly everyday, but it is a job and a half keeping it in good condition and tangle free. It's quite difficult to brush as there is just so much of it, so I generally only brush it before each wash but this conditioner has been keeping it smooth and tangle free, which is a MIRACLE for me.

5. Original Source Shea Butter & Honey Shower Gel

Okay, if you have ever lived in a student house where money is tight and the central heating is used sparingly, you will know what I am talking about when I speak of the PAINFUL COLD of getting out of the shower in winter. It is too cold sometimes to even contemplate applying moisturising lotion- all you want to do is get dressed as quickly as possible in as many layers as possible! So I will have to admit that even in the face of the dryest winter skin ever I will sometimes skip this step. Too cold! So I always try to use a good shower gel in winter. Up until I discovered this particular Original Source shower gel I was never really too sure how moisturising a shower gel could be. I mean, not very, right? Wrong, apparently. This stuff smells SO GOOD (can you tell this is a big selling point for me on a lot of stuff?) but is absolutely brilliant in terms of keeping your skin moisturised. Now it's no replacement for lotion but I always feel a little less guilty skipping that step now and then now that I am using this shower gel!

So what are your winter essentials? Any good products you think need a mention? Comment with your top fives!
Right, speaking of Winter I am off to insulate myself against the oncoming cold weather by eating a huge plate of delicious pasta! Mmmmm Winter.

Oh also, incase you're wondering where all the makeup posts have gone, I have lost the lead to connect my camera to my laptop! It is seriously devastating and I really should get myself another one, but until then I can't post pictures... Although as soon as I get home I will be hijacking my sister's camera so never fear.

Christmas Party Time

2009-12-07T01:04:00.004Z

So it's that time of year again- yes the time for work Christmas parties! My own is tomorrow night (or tonight- eek I am definitely up way too late!) and I'm thinking about what kind of make up to rock. If ever there was an occasion that called for a dramatic or glamorous eye, it's this. If you're not too confident about going for a really 'look-at-me' kind of eye makeup then this is the perfect time of year to give it a go! I love a bit of a dramatic eye look, and my favourite has to be the classic smokey eye.

I've been having a look through some of the magazines at the minute, trying to get some inspiration, and on my way home from work today I picked up a copy of More to read for the journey. As luck would have it they had a really good feature on 'Party Eyes', including a photo of Scarlett Johansson sporting a really awesome smokey eye look.

Now, I was hoping to wear my favourite red lipstick, but I'm usually a stickler for the 'eyes OR lips, never both' rule, and I see that's what Ms Johansson has opted for as well. However, I think sometimes a smokey eye and red lip combination can work quite well. So I'm going to give this one a whirl tomorrow night, following the guide that they have included in the mag.

I'll take a few pics and let you know how it goes, but with any luck, I'll be dancing the night away and stumble across a nice bottle of bubbly as large as Scarlett seems to have acquired.

Okay off to get some beauty sleep before my big day of preparation tomorrow!

Looks I'm Loving: That Lavender Blonde

2009-12-03T20:42:00.007Z

Oh wow it's been a while! I'm definitely still going to be updating this blog, but perhaps I should come clean and let you all know that I am in my final year of university, and completely bogged down with dissertation work- yuk! Today I got a large piece of work out of the way so there might be a few updates around here for a while, but don't be too surprised if I drop off the face of the earth again come January/February time!

Anyway, I wanted to post about the trend for pastel hair colours that I've been seeing crop up from place to place. I think I first noticed it on Lady Gaga (LOVE HER, btw) but now it seems to be everywhere, most notably on the catwalk at Proenza's S/S '10 show. I think it looks AWESOME but I'm not sure if it's a look I'd want to wear, (mainly because I have some horror stories from trying to dye my own hair blonde- shudder), but I can't seem to get those cotton candy hues out of my mind. What do you think? Fun and summery or a huge no-no? For now I'm happy with my brunette locks, but perhaps come summertime I'll be sporting a decidedly more lavender look? Only time will tell.

From top to bottom: Proenza Schouler S/S '10; Lady Gaga; Gagarella in her video for 'Bad Romance'; Nylon Oct '09; Lily Allen in Papermag; unknown. Further reading: POP Fall/Winter 09

Testing The Trends: Blue/Purple Eyes With Ruby Lips

2009-10-21T17:22:00.007+01:00

Yesterday, after posting about the purple/blue eye with berry lips trend I decided to have a go at it myself. I've been so fascinated by this one as it's so different from the make up I usually wear, and it just seems to break all my rules about colour. It reminds me so much of bad 80s makeup that I see on old pictures!

Yikes!

So it was with a healthy amount of trepidation that I broke out my blue eyeshadows! It turned out to be totally unwarranted because I completely LOVED this look. It was a lot of fun to wear and I might even wear it on a night out! This is definitely not a look for wearing down to the supermarket that's for sure, (excuse the picture- I didn't really take as many as I should have and this was the only one that showed the eyes off properly)!

I think the most fun part of this was using a bunch of colours I very, very rarely wear and all at the same time!

I started off with a primer and then applied Urban Decay's Shattered, a teal colour with a goldish sheen to it. Then over the top of that I applied an aqua blue colour by Gosh. It is the top left colour in the Quattro Eye Shadow compact in Aquarius. This ensured the whole eyelid was covered in an intense opaque aqua. I then used the bottom left colour from the same Gosh set (a slightly shimmery royal blue) from just past the centre of the eyelid to the outer corner, blending upwards and outwards. I then switched to Mayhem from Urban Decay, a lovely velvety purple colour and blended this on the outer corner of the eyelid, covering the outer third of it and finally finished with Urban Decay's Last Call, a shimmering mauve and popped a bit of that into the very outer corner of the eyelid.

I was trying to create a gradient effect, fading from aqua blue to pinky purple over four sections of the eye, building the colour each time.

I then used an Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Electric, an aqua blue with glittery bits in it, I filled in my lower lash and waterline with this, ensuring I went all the way around the eye, joining it up with the eyeshadow on both sides so the eye was completely surrounded by colour. Then with an eyeliner brush and some of the Mayhem eyeshadow I went over the outer half of the lash line, creating a slight gradient there too. I then finished the eyes with a quick line on the upper lash line in MAC's Blacktrack and a few coats of MAC Zoomlash mascara in Zoomblack. I think applying a black line makes the look pop a bit more and helps define the eyes.

I didn't get any good pictures of the lipstick sadly, but I used my Chanel Hydrabase in New York Red, which is my default red lippie and went over it with a L'Oreal Kiss Proof Ultra Glossy lipstick in 510 which is a rich burgundy plum. I'm actually not a fan of this lipstick, so I'm not sure why I used it. I'm not fond of the way it goes on, it doesn't seem to be very pigmented and the application isn't very smooth- the colour turn out a bit patchy, but it was fine to build the colour to what I wanted it to be. In hindsight I wish I had used my Urban Decay lippie in Gash, it's a really lovely burgundy pink (and it smells amazing, like chocolate orange sherbet or something). I then finished with a rich plum lipgloss. Mine was just a generic Boots one but it always does the trick.

Anyway I really had fun with this, I think the trick for me was to keep the lipshade quite rich and vampy as it suited my skintone and hair better and made the whole thing look a bit more glamourous and less Cyndi Lauper!

Looks I'm Loving

2009-10-20T15:29:00.005+01:00

Looking at a few of the magazine covers from October I spotted a couple looks that I really love and a few trends that I think are totally wearable.

I'm loving the whole vampy, sultry, gothic look at the minute. I think the fact that MAC's Style Black has been one of the most anticipated and then sought after collections this year, really highlights how big this trend has gotten. Vampires seem to be EVERYWHERE at the minute, from Twilight to True Blood, and it seems the make up world is no exception. I think Kristen Stewart looks great on the cover of Interview, and the whole execution of the vampy goth look here is so perfect- from the smoldering eyes and wine red lips to the pale, almost glowing skin. I think it's brilliant.

I also love the very fun and pretty, pale pink eyeliner from the cover of Velvet. I think it's a great way to take what is a very simple and natural look and add a cute and subtle, fun little twist to it. I think it's something you could definitely pull off during the day as well if you wanted to add a little bit of fun into your everyday make up. It's also great if you want to wear something a bit bolder (like the head to toe leopard print they've styled it with) and don't want your make up to make the look too fussy.

Blue/purple eyes with a red/burgundy lip is going to be a big look this autumn/winter (check out Richard Philips for MAC to see a make up collection that will help you get some great ideas for this trend). This is a look that I am interested to try out for myself because it seems quite difficult to wear in theory (it reminds me of bad 80s makeup!), but I can't wait to try out the colour play of having blue eyes and red lips! Definitely a fun look and I'm going to try to work out a wearable version for myself pretty soon with a picture post to match.

A trend that's also going to be quite big this autumn/winter is orange toned eyes. I love the smokey take on this on the front of Harper's Bazaar, it makes it really sultry and will be brilliant for nights out and Christmas parties, especially because it looks great paired with red, whether that's red lips and a red dress as they have done here, or one at a time if you think that red on red might be a bit too matchy!

Speaking of bad 80s makeup, contouring is back in a BIG way, as evidenced by this shot from Vogue Japan.You might not want to take it as far as this (!) but it's a look that's amazing when done right. I'm definitely investing in a good matte bronzer asap so I can give this one a go! As for the Chanel temporary tattoo bracelets, I'm not sure if that's a look that will be big, I've certainly not seen any on the high street, but I so wish it would! I think it's so cool- I'd love an armful of temporary tattoo bracelets!

And last but not least- Karlie Kloss looking beautiful and proving that sometimes there is nothing so elegant and beautiful as a simple red lip.

Weekly Roundup

2009-10-16T14:20:00.006+01:00

Every week I will be posting a bunch of links to other blogs and articles I find that are interesting and beauty-related! I thought it'd be a good way to roundup all the cool news and reviews from that week in one entry rather than me posting about them everytime I find something interesting.

Not beauty or make up related per se but I still thought this look at one of MAC's posters for New York Fashion Week was rather cool.

These smudge pots look amazing! I'm definitely going to be getting my hands on one of these when I get my next paycheque! And the video presentation she does is so cute "look, It's still there!"

Daisy's review of the Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static is really great. I've never owned anything by Illamasqua before but this makes me want to go out and buy this gorgeous, shimmering eye colour.

If you read my "Top 5 Essentials" post then you'll know I love Barry M nail paints, and it seems Madamoiselle Robot does too! I love that she's used two colours here it's a really cute look, and she must have a super stylish young daughter as the shades she picked are two of my favourites right now!

Halloween's around the corner, and whilst I'm going to be attempting a few easy to do, not too expensive costume looks, pixiwoo have come up with this awesome vampy makeup look! It doesn't look too difficult and I love that she has just used a regular tube of fake blood rather than some fancy special fx makeup.

Taylor Momsen- raccoon or gothic princess? What do you think?

I LOVE DIY STUFF! I think it just appeals to my purse strings more than anything ha! I do like the idea of knowing what's going into my products though and this depuffing cucumber honey eye nourisher sounds really soothing. I would definitely suffer from a puffy eye if I've maybe had a few too many drinks the night before so I might be trying this very soon.

And lastly how AMAZING does Blake Lively look here? I think this is my favourite look I've seen on her. Normally I'm a fan of super teased hair, especially on her, but those super sleek, soft curls are making me question my affinity for crazy hair. The makeup is lovely too, very pretty and fresh. I like how she's kept it understated and sophisticated, as her dress is quite elaborate and anything too vampy or bold could have made the whole thing look messy.

Halloween Face - Marie Antoinette

2009-10-15T02:29:00.007+01:00

There are some awesome Halloween tutorials croppping up on Youtube. The amazing Kandee Johnson has some really impressive videos, Edward Scissorhands & Tim Burton's Mad Hatter being two of my favourites.

They look super difficult though and require a lot of special fx make up, which is not something everybody has in their kit, or can afford to buy for one night of the year. This year, I'm going as Marie Antoinette!

I've always wanted to be her for Halloween but it's more effort than I usually put into a costume (last year I decided on Halloween morning that I was going to be a geek and only had to buy 2 things for my costume, everything else I had, hmm). So I'm going to splurge this year and get a wig and a fancy poofy dress and everything! It means though, I have to keep the make up cheapish and try and create a look from stuff I already have. I also don't want anything too difficult to pull off, because as amazing as the Mad Hatter look is I would probably end up with feathers just stuck all over my face.

So tonight I gave myself a trial run, and was actually pretty pleased with the results!

It was pretty straightforward. I applied my normal foundation and dusted a white powder all over instead of my normal face powder. The white powder I used was from a super cheap palette of about 70 eyeshadows & blushers, etc that my mum got off eBay. I think it's from Hong Kong- there's some pretty funny Engrish on the back. Anyway, I think it was a bit too translucent for the look I was going for so I'll need to get a more opaque one from a costume shop or a goth shop. I then used a lightish brown/tan shade on my eyebrows, slightly exaggerating the length & curve at the end.

Afterwards I put some MAC Dollymix blush on the apples of my cheeks, and I was quite a bit more heavy handed with it than I usually am. Next I used Chanel Hydrabase New York Red lipstick to give that blushing pout Ms Antoinette is rockin'. I applied it first to my index finger and smudged it into my lips to give it a softer look, more like a stain you'd get from eating too many raspberries.

Afterwards I applied a light-medium brown shadow all over my eyelid and finished it off by lightly sweeping a tanned bronze from the inner eye to the centre of my eyelid (both were no name ones from my cheapie palette). In most of the photos/paintings I saw, Marie looks like she's not wearing much mascara (which is UNTHINKABLE to me!) so I used a Rimmel Lash Maxx black mascara and tried to remove as much of the excess mascara as possible and swept it over my eyelashes twice, concentrating mostly on the roots and not worrying too much about coating them all the way to the tips. I finished by adding a beauty spot on my right cheekbone, (which you can't really see in the pictures), even though she doesn't seem to have one I thought the look was definitely calling for it!

And that was it! It was pretty simple and didn't take very long and I really had a lot of fun doing it! So much so that I might do a few other looks for different outfits incase any of you are having trouble getting inspiration. They'll be just like this one- cheap, relatively fuss free and mostly with makeup you're likely to already have.

Sorry I didn't have many pictures or closeups for this look. I took a whole bunch but apparently posed in the same way for every photo without realising it. I seriously had about 9 or 10 pictures of me doing this pose.

Buuuuuuuut, the most important thing about this costume is that, in order for the outfit to look as authentic as possible I will have to eat small, delicious, pastel-coloured cakes all night. Tragic.

Back To Mac - Costa Chic

2009-10-14T21:17:00.006+01:00

I recently did the whole 'Back to MAC' to get a free lipstick. It was the first time I'd done it! I will now be obssessively hoarding my MAC empties so I can make good use of this!
I really, REALLY wanted to get Up The Amp, a lavender pinky colour that is a super wearable way to get in on the purple lip trend but sadly it's pro stores only. Sad face.

So I decided to go with Costa Chic instead, a bright frosted coral!

It's really awesome- I'm a bit wary of orange lips as I'd be afraid they'd wash me out, but this is like a step down from that so it's definitely more wearable. This is it with today's neutral make up, and below that it's paired with a slightly darker eye.

I like both looks but it's easy to see how versatile this lipstick is as it looks good for both a day and a nighttime look. I'm the kind of girl who enjoys wearing a bold lipstick during the day- I know a lot of people might be apprehensive about it, but I think this would be a good way of easing yourself into bright lipticks in quite a gentle way. I feel kinda 80s in it as well! Does everyone remember Claudia Kishi from The Babysitter's Club books? She's one of my all time style icons and I definitely feel like she would approve of this lip shade!

Like all MAC lipsticks, it's super creamy and doesn't make my lips feel dried out. The colour's great (as to be expected) and it lasts for ages too. One thing is that my lips are super dried out at the minute, they always get this way in winter and no matter how much care and attention I give them they tend to get all rough, and the frost finish tends to highlight this- not a good look really. It's not so bad though and I figure it'll be a really great shade for the summer anyway.

I definitely rate this lipstick quite highly- can't wait to save up more empties and get a few more freebies!

Face Of The Day

2009-10-14T14:33:00.005+01:00

I'm still feeling quite sickly but not as bad as yesterday- going to my GP today to hopefully be given some magical antibiotics to make my throat all better though yay! I should probably be trying to look as sick as possible so the doctor will pity me but I can't do it. I couldn't dream of leaving the house without a full face of make up I mean, the horror! Today I have gone with what is, for me anyway, a pretty simple look.

Just a basic brown eye/liquid eyeliner combo and a pale pink gloss. I took a few close ups so you can see exactly what's going on with this look:

MAC Plushglass in Posh It Up. I like this because of the slight gold sheen- I think it's more interesting than just a basic pink gloss. More like a rose gold.

Urban Decay shadows in Midnight Cowboy (base), Gridlock (contour) & a touch of Scandal on the inner corners. Finished with MAC's Blacktrack Fluidline and a slick of Zoomlash mascara- (although sadly it appears I have missed the roots of my eyelashes, darn it). I also popped a bit of Roach eyeshadow on my brows because I'm naturally a dark blonde and it looks like I have no eyebrows if I don't fill them in with quite a dark shadow.

For my foundation, etc I'm wearing:

Max Factor Panstick in 13.
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Silky Beige.
Mac Powder Blush in Dollymix

And that's it for my FOTD!

My top 5 beauty essentials

2009-10-13T18:11:00.004+01:00

Ugh I woke up this morning and my tickly cough and mildly sore throat has turned into full blown tonsilitis- not fun. I don't quite feel like playing about with make up today. So I figured I'd give a rundown of my top five beauty products instead!

5. Barry M Nail Paints

I love love love these nail polishes. I don't think it's necessary to go out and buy expensive polishes- I, like everyone else, love the Chanel jade, but I'd never buy it when you can get a nearly identical shade from superdrug for under £3. I find it hard to use up polishes too and would hate to spend an obscene amount of money on a nail polish only to have it go all thick and goopy.

4. St Ives Apricot Scrub

Value for money is important to me. I'm a student so I'm ALWAYS broke and I need stuff that's gonna do the job I need it to and not break the bank. I LOVE this stuff. I've been using it since I was about 16- it's an essential that I couldn't live without! I like that the scrubby parts give a good vigorous exfoliation without being too harsh on my skin. I also find that instead of drying it out or leaving it taut, my skin feels super smooth, soft and energised afterwards. And all for under £5!

3. Baby Oil

I love this stuff because it's cheap and it's got a few uses so it doubles up as a number of products. Plus I love the way it smells. I put it on straight out of the shower to keep my skin moisturised, use it to remove eye make up, pop it in the bath with some lavender oil and sometimes I use it to shave my legs if I run out of shaving foam! A great multi purpose product.

2. MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

I CANNOT apply regular liquid eyeliner, but I loved the look, so In my first year of uni I went to my local MAC counter and told the girl my eyeliner woes. She told me that if I bought a pot of this stuff and a little angled brush I would never look back- and she was right! I wear this everyday and it's so super easy to apply and has been from day one. If you're like me and love the look of liquid eyeliner but can't work out how to apply it I highly recommend this. It gives such a nice dark, clean line and stays put all day too.

1. MAC blush in Dollymix

Oh my god I love it. I love the bright candy pink and the smooth, even way it blends into my skin. I could not leave the house without this on. I sometimes try to be more adventurous and try other blush shades but I can't be unfaithful to the best blusher ever. I can't even remember when I bought this- it feels like I've always worn it!

And that's it- my top 5 beauty essentials! What about you? What are those products you couldn't live without? Or maybe you've just discovered something amazing and need to share it with someone? Post in the comments and tell me all about your beauty faves!

Hey there!

2009-10-12T23:29:00.002+01:00

Hello! I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now and I have finally settled on having a place where I can rave about make up and how awesome it is. I love make up but I am certainly not a professional MUA by any means. I figured there are a lot of girls like me out there who love make up but aren't so hot on the technical aspects, ie. applying it to make you look like Angelina Jolie.

This blog will be like a testing ground of sorts for me, where I can mess around with different looks and new cosmetics, and hopefully inspire other girls (and boys) to mess around and have some fun with their make up! Hopefully this will become a place where we can use the comments to share tips and tricks with each other and hone our mad make up skillz yo.

To start off I thought I'd share with you my (FAILED) attempt at a tutorial from Youtube, the Sophia Loren look by the AWESOME Pixiwoo Girls.

As you can see this is totally not a look for me AT ALL. I don't think the brown shadows I picked were right really, and WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT FLICK? It's really bad. I cannot do them for the life of me. I have been wearing gel eyeliner everyday for the past 4 years and I still cannot apply it. Go figure.

So I decided to just get creative and come up with something by myself, plus I have a short attention span.
I recently picked up the MAC Style Black Cream Colour Base in Bat Black and wanted to have a play with it so using my index finger I sort of half patted/ half smudged in over the lid of my eye so that it was packed on quite well and then, just using the same finger, smudged it up over the socket bone to blend it a bit and even out any harsh lines or messy bits. It's quite tricky as this stuff is SO dark and quite messy, but I eventually got both eyes to look the same and not too messy. Then, using a flat, rounded eyeshadow brush, I packed some midnight blue eyeshadow over the top to keep the Bat Black in place and just to add a nice intensity to it all. I used Goddess by Urban Decay, but I guess any nice navy/midnight blue would do- although mine has fine shimmery sparkles in it and I think this definitely adds to it.

Then, using the tip of the same flat eyeshadow brush I went over the eyeliner that was already in place on my lower lash line with some more of the Bat Black Cream Colour Base. I wasn't worried about being too neat either because I guess I was kind of inspired by the smudgy, grimy, gasoliney look of the make up in the ad campaign for Style Black.

It's like looking at the same picture twice, no? To finish off I put some gel eyeliner on my waterline with an eyeliner brush- I like MAC's Blacktrack Fluidline, but it depends on you I guess, I know a lot of people prefer the Bobbi Brown stuff. Or you might just prefer to use an eyeliner pencil.

And that was really all I did but I think this is a much better look for me! I definitely think it's peraps a bit of my inner goth trying to claw her way out because I never usually wear such dark eyeliner on my lower lash line (not since I was 14 anyway) but I'm kind of liking it! I also think my inner goth was making make all those glum faces- usually I'm a bit of a ham in front of the camera.

Ah- much better.

So the make up I used was:

Base (BTW, this is usually the same everyday, so if for some reason I forget to add this I always wear these three):

Max Factor Panstick in 13 (yes I know, but I cannot afford to wear Chanel everyday/ for playing about with tutorials).
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Silky Beige.
Mac Powder Blush in Dollymix

Eyes:
Mac Cream Colour Base in Bat Black
Urban Decay eyeshadow in Goddess
Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack (which I LOVE and wear everyday)
Mac Zoomlash in Zoomblack

Lips:
MAC Plushglass in Posh it Up
Number 17 Lipstick in Hearthrob (cheap but really great)

I hope you enjoyed this first entry and we'll see what other crap I come up with to put on here- hooray! If you have any suggestions or queries, just post them in the comments and I'll see what I can do :)