1940s/Dita von Teese look FOTN

Before you check out this look please check out Essjay23's new blog. She used to blog over at Wordpress but has moved over to blogger and I think you'll all really love her!

I cited Dita von Teese as one of my style icons in one of my first posts back in January - see here, but it's not just her style I love, it's her makeup too. Her ever present red lips and black liner combo looks so glamorous, and is so easy to recreate.

I think this look suits everyone and is workable on any budget, you just need to find your perfect red lipstick (i.e. find out whether cool toned reds such as MAC Ruby Woo, or warm toned reds such as MAC Lady Danger suit you more - see this post at Tacky Blue Eyeshadow for more info).

Here's my inspiration:

Face:

YSL Matte Touch primer

Revlon Colorstay foundation in 110 Ivory

No7 trio concealer for under eyes and chin

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light/Medium

MAC Pink Swoon blush (lighly applied on apples of cheeks)

MAC Harmony blush (very lightly used as a contour and buffed out with a large powder brush for a more natural effect)

Estee Lauder Doublewear liquid eyeliner in Black for the beauty mark

Eyes:

The Body Shop eye definer pencil in Shimmering Steel (bottom waterline)

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Zero (top waterline)

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Shroom all over lid and slightly above crease

Estee Lauder Doublewear liquid eyeliner in Black

YSL Faux Cils mascara

MAC eyebrow pencil in Lingering

Lips:

No7 lip liner in 15 Fire

MAC Ruby Woo lipstick

I hate that Colorstay stains my 187! I have to make sure I wash it as soon as I've finished applying foundation to minimise staining (but it still happens boo hoo!). This is how I usually dry my brushes, we ran out of kitchen roll so I just used toilet paper. As long as you change the paper every so often it's fine. Is this how you all dry your brushes too?

What do you think of the 1940s look? It made me feel glam straight away!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

A quick thank you!

I won Becky at Style and the City's Aveeno giveaway on Tuesday and a huge parcel was delivered today, how quick is that!

The goodies! Becky was very sweet and included a really cute Hummingbird Bakery card (I'm building a collection of these it seems!) and some yummy chocolates, thank you so much lovely!

Click to enlarge the yummy looking recipe for strawberry cheesecake cupcakes!

I'm really looking forward to trying the Aveeno products I've received (Daily Moisturising Lotion - fragrance free, Daily Moisturising Lotion - lavender scent, Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion - shea butter, Hand Cream). I'll let you all know what I think of these products in a week or two!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

Blog awards

I've been nominated for some blog awards over the last few weeks, I love getting these awards and I love sharing the love and passing them on!

First up Louise, Becky and Jemma nominated me for the Sunshine Award, thank you ladies! If you're not subscribed please check them out!

Rules:
- Put the award on your blog
- Pass the award to 12 positive and creative bloggers
- Link the chosen ones within your posts
- Inform the chosen ones by commenting on their blog
- Share the love and the link to the person who gave it to you

I tag (and yes I'm aware I can't count haha! I've subscribed to so many amazing blogs recently and didn't want to leave anyone out! This is in no particular order BTW, I put a gap after every five so the huge list didn't hurt my eyes!):

Claire @ http://frenchforcupcake.blogspot.com

Lillian @ http://lillianfunnyface.blogspot.com

Carla @ http://messycarla.blogspot.com

Gem @ http://gemfatale.blogspot.com

Laura @ http://laurakristinexo.blogspot.com

Anca @ http://blababoutbeauty.blogspot.com

Blair @ http://blaironabudget.blogspot.com

Laura-Leigh @ http://belles-boutique.blogspot.com

Kara @ http://givemevintagex.blogspot.com

Marie @ http://allthingsmarie.blogspot.com

Rachel @ http://rachelmaya.blogspot.com

Laura @ http://redz2486.blogspot.com

Jenn @ http://beautymoogle.blogspot.com

Agnes @ http://beautyvibes.blogspot.com

Jennifer @ http://jenniferrosellen.blogspot.com

Lucy @ http://www.misslucyloves.com

Laura @ http://laurynathan.blogspot.com

Onna @ http://xxxonnaxxx.blogspot.com

Phoebe @ http://phoebe9.blogspot.com

Nikki @ http://visualaspect87.blogspot.com

The lovely Aqsa at Cherub Cheeks (check her out too!) nominated me for the sweet blog award, thanks lovely!

Rules:

- Give this award to ten sweet and friendly bloggers

- Make a post about the award (including the picture & the person that gave it to you!), put the beautiful award on your blog, and send this to ten other bloggers whose pages you think are sweet! Don't forget to leave them a comment informing them they've won the award!

Lindsay @ http://prettyaspeaches.wordpress.com

Kim @ http://pinkpoppolkadot.blogspot.com

Caitlin @ http://blogchrysanthemum.blogspot.com

Bea @ http://decaffgreentea.blogspot.com

Kirsty @ http://boobie-monster.blogspot.com

Becky @ http://beckyeyes.blogspot.com

Hannah @ http://hannahbabeyxo.blogspot.com

Amy @ http://glamourrougenotes.blogspot.com

Hannah @ http://95hannaah.blogspot.com

Chloë @ http://makeuprincess84.blogspot.com

Please promise me that you'll check out at least a few of these blogs? You're missing out if you don't!

Oh and in case you've missed it, make sure you enter my giveaway here, you could win loads of my favourite things :) You've got just over a week to get your entry in!
Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

Tag Twist!

Hey everyone, sorry I've been a bit MIA this week, I've had some revision sessions in Uni and some coursework to hand in. I've got a few exams and more coursework coming up over the next month but I'm going to try and make sure I keep updating!

Anyway, I was tagged by Essjay23 to post about products which were initially disappointing but I returned to and found that I loved them! You can read about her chosen products here.

These are the products I've chosen:

First up is hair mousse in general, I have the Shockwaves Heat Defense Volumising Mousse. I haven't really liked using hair mousse in the past as I've always ended up with weird hard patches of hair. I went back and tried it again after I ran out of Tigi Root Boost and Charles Worthington Thickening Spray (you may be able to tell that I am obsessed with bigger, thicker hair!).
I've been using 3-4 small squirts worth all over my hair and I'm really loving the effect. The heat defense is a bonus!

S&G addicts may be wondering why I've included The Righteous Butter. It's true, I didn't really like it that much when I first got it as I didn't think the scent was appropriate for winter, but coming back to it I think it'll be great for summer. It's lighter than my usual Palmer's Cocoa Butter and smells really floral and fruity, perfect for girly girls! (Just a note that this product is quite heavily perfumed so it might not be suitable for those with sensitive skin, or a sensitive nose!)

I use Boots Botanics Moisturing Sugar Scrub to exfoliate and moisturise in one step in the shower. Some people might not like this as it contains Grapeseed Oil to create a barrier on your skin, which stops moisture escaping. This translates as your skin feeling a little greasy after showering, I don't tend to use this on my upper body but I think it's perfect for my legs as they're always really dry. The moisturising effect lasts until the next day!

The Clean & Clear "Shine Control" moisturiser is one that I'm still a little on the fence about. This maybe TMI but I've come off the pill for a two month break (I've been on it for five years and felt like I wanted a detox of the hormones!) and my skin has gone crazy.
My skin is usually quite dry but a very slight oily patch on my forehead appears on nights out (probably due to the heat in clubs), but since I've come off the pill it's been very oily, I now know how you oily skin type girls feel!
I'm quite paranoid about making it worse with my usual moisturiser (Simple's hydrating light moisturiser) so I'm making use of the Clean & Clear which I bought a couple of months ago for the tiny oily patch but then forgot about. To be honest it's probably not the world's best moisturiser for oily skin, I do still get a little shiny after a couple of hours, but I'll be going back on the pill soon and hopefully my skin will calm down. I'll still use this moisturiser on hot days to combat shine though.

If you fancy doing this tag too please link me to it as I'd love to see what you choose!

I hope this was interesting, let me know if you've tried any of these products and what you think of them!
Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

Nail care and blog sale buys!

My nails have been looking a bit unhealthy lately so I've decided to stop using polish until they are stronger and have stopped peeling. I have a Sally Hansen nail treatment but I didn't feel like it was doing much, so I made an Enchanted Beauty Spot order (I am obsessed with that ebay shop!).

Here's what I got:

 OPI Nail Envy, CND Solar Oil, Essie Matte About You, CND Stickey base coat and an OPI crystal file (I had to get one after Bicky raved about her Leighton Denny crystal file!)

I've already started on the Nail Envy, I've taken before pics so I'll report back in a few weeks and let you know what I think! It's the same as most nail treatments, you apply two coats on the first day, and an extra coat every other day after that, and on the seventh day you remove everything and start again.

I'm also going to try and remember to take a multi vitamin daily, peeling nails can be a sign of a zinc deficiency. I'm veggie so I doubly need to remember this really, it's so easy for me to miss out on zinc!

I have tried a little bit of the Solar Oil, and it has one of those smells that you recognise but can't remember what it is! I think it's marzipan, although I'm not sure I've ever had marzipan??

The Matte About You was just bought for fun really, I'm looking forward to experimenting with different polishes to see what they look like as mattes!

I bought the CND Stickey base coat to test whether it is better than the one I'm using now, which is Seche's Ridge Filling Base Coat. I still seem to get loads of chips even with Seche Vite top coat, I'm not sure if this is because I'm quite a clumsy and hands on person, but I want my manicure to last longer dammit!

The OPI Crystal File, as with all crystal files, is supposed to reduce/prevent split and chipped nails by 'sealing' the ends of your nails and should last years and years. I usually clip my nails and file them with a cheap nail file, so I'm hoping that having a decent file really will make a difference.

That little lot came to about £30 including delivery from the US (it took exactly a week to arrive from the date or ordering), if I were to buy those from UK online retailers I've worked out it'd cost about £57 (not inc. delivery). Obviously there's a risk of customs/import charges but I've been lucky and haven't had to pay one yet. If you're thinking of ordering I'd make sure you keep your order small as a bigger package is probably more likely to be stopped at customs.

I've also picked up some bits on blog sales (my first blog sale buys!):

MAC Shimmermoss shadow from Laura (Lollipop26)'s blog sale and MAC 226 brush from Sinead (DaintyDollymix)'s blog sale. They're both lovely girls, if you're not subscribed to them you're missing out big time!

Shimmermoss was on my wishlist so I'm glad I managed to pick it up. The 226 brush is a limited edition, it's only been released twice before by MAC. I was recently asking on Specktra (makeup forum, join it, it's amazing!) if anyone knew if the 226 brush was being re-released this year but it doesn't look like it so far. Weirdly, a few hours later Sinead's blog sale went up and there was her 226!

Not sure if you can tell but I always paint my MAC brush numbers with clear nail polish, it stops them from being rubbed off which can happen if you use them a lot!

As you can see they both included cute notes, thanks girls! Laura's card is a Hummingbird Bakery one, it even has a recipe on the back, I'll be trying it out soon!

Here are some comparison swatches of Shimmermoss with my other green MAC eyeshadows (I realise it's a blue-y green but I don't have any similar blue shades to compare it with, I only have dark blues!):

L-R: MAC Juxt, Swimming, Shimmermoss, Humid and Emerald Green pigment

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

Indian wedding inspired FOTD

I came across a huge photo album of an Indian wedding whilst browsing Facebook recently (I tend to look through random friends of friends of friends photo albums when I'm bored) and I thought the Bride looked stunning!

Her outfit, mehndi (henna) and makeup add up to a gorgeous and intricate look and I felt really inspired. Apologies to her for including this photo here, I don't even know who she is but if it is you and you want it taken down please email me.

I had another play with my Greasepaint Sticks for this one:

Face:

Estee Lauder Doublewear Light in 1.0

MAC Select Coverup concealer in NW20
MAC Dollymix blusher

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Light/Medium

Eyes:

MAC GPS in Below Ground and Slick Black
Urban Decay Half Baked on lid

MAC Satin Taupe in crease

MAC Black Magique (black with gold shimmer) in outer V - from Holiday 09 Smoke and Mirrors palette

MAC Shroom to highlight and on inner corner

Estee Lauder Double Wear Liquid Liner in Black

Lancome Hypnose mascara

MAC Lingering brow pencil

Lips:

One layer of MAC Ruby Woo

Bourjois Effet 3D Max lipgloss in 65 Cassis Petillant

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

FOTD and Greasepaint Stick experimentation

Hey everyone! This is my makeup from yesterday. My eye makeup photos didn't turn out very well so I decided to re-do and re-photograph it today to show you properly. I ended up having a play with one of the new MAC Greasepaint Sticks, and I really love them for eyeshadow bases! I tried using one in my waterline however, and my eyes are still stinging 6 hours later, not sure what happened there!

I'm wearing one of my new Dorothy Perkins dresses in this pic, still haven't worked out where to do OOTD's in my flat, sorry! I'll have a think this week as it's something I definitely want to start doing at least once a week!

Face:

YSL Matt Touch (primer) on my forehead, nose and chin

Maybelline Liquid Mineral Foundation in Ivory

MAC Select Coverup Concealer in NW20 (chin, nose)

No7 Concealer trio - the middle colour under my eyes

MAC Peachykeen blush

MAC MSF Natural in Light/Medium

Eyes:

Left eye on photo - Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC Bough Grey on inner 1/2, MAC Birds and Berries on outer V, MAC Undercurrent Pearlglide liner, YSL Faux Cils, MAC Lingering brow pencil

Right eye on photo - MAC Slick Black Greasepaint Stick, MAC Bough Grey on inner 1/2, MAC Birds and Berries on outer V, MAC Undercurrent Pearlglide liner, YSL Faux Cils, MAC Lingering brow pencil

I love how the GPS really brings out the shadows, especially Bough Grey! The next photo is just to show you that UDPP doesn't really affect the colours of shadows, whereas the GPS intensifies them:

I applied the GPS straight from it's tube and quickly blended it out with a No7 blending brush as they tend to set quite quickly and you only want a thin layer under your shadows.

This is what the GPS looked like under my shadow

Lips:

MAC Ever Hip lipstick

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

CLOSED - 150 follower giveaway!

I have reached 150 followers! I'm so happy that people are enjoying my blog and I'm really excited to offer my subscribers the chance to win some goodies as a thank you for all the lovely comments and feedback!

I decided a couple of weeks ago what I wanted the prizes to be - the theme is "my favourite things" :)

OPI Done Out In Deco (the mysterious 6th polish in my recent post!)

MAC All That Glitters eyeshadow (this is from the CCO so it has a slightly different box than usual but is still exactly the same product inside!)

No7 blending brush

Girls Aloud Nicola lashes

Mini Palmers Cocoa Butter

Blistex Relief Cream lip treatment

Mini Umberto Giannini shampoo and conditioner (for some reason the shampoo doesn't have the silver 'Umberto Giannini' printed on like the conditioner - naughty Boots!)

A small sample of my first MAC product - Emerald Green pigment
Some cute earrings!

Rules:

You must be a follower to enter

For one entry comment on this post and tell me what is your favourite beauty product 
(can be a type of product e.g. lipstick, eyeshadow, or a specific product e.g. MAC Ruby Woo lipstick)
OR who your style icon is!

Please leave your email address so I can contact the winner!

To gain an extra entry (+1) you can follow me on Twitter and RT my tweet about the giveaway

To gain an extra entry (+1) you can make a blog post about my competition or put a link in your sidebar
(please link me to your RT or blog post in the comment)

Please only enter once (it'll make it easier for me at the end!)
Ends Sunday 2nd May at 23.59 (GMT)

The winner will be drawn at random

Open worldwide

Good luck!

(Please don't feel like you have to RT or blog post, it's totally up to you! I love new followers but I don't want followers who just want prizes. Please only enter if you genuinely enjoy my blog and you are likely to remain a follower after the contest has closed!)
Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

MAC Art Supplies Runway Ripened lipstain swatches

Bare lips

A beautiful deep berry red colour on application
Which one hour later has faded and turned my lips a nice pink colour, but unfortunately has clung to the dry patches a lot
Two hours after first application and there is not much left really. 

I think my obsession with applying lip balm quite often may have aided the fading. I really want these lipstains to work as the concept is great, and I love the look of different coloured lips without a tell tale lipstick finish.

I think I need to keep experimenting with them, and maybe make sure my lips are less dry next time!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

MAC Art Supplies Stylesetter lipstain swatches

Bare lips

First application. The colour is even and feels like nothing, I really like it! I thought the colour might be more of a light pink than this but oh well! I'm excited to try Runway Ripened tomorrow!
After two hours the lipstain had faded almost completely!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

MAC Liberty of London haul

Here is the second part of my haul. I feel a bit bad about spending so much on MAC this month but I can afforrd it at the moment and I love everything I've got!

Pretty packaging! I know some people hate it though!

L-R: Blooming Lovely, Ever Hip and Petals and Peacocks lipsticks, Bough Grey and Birds and Berries eyeshadows, and Frankly Fresh, Perennial High Style and English Accents lipglasses

Close up of Birds and Berries and Bough Grey

Left flash, right natural light

L-R: Blooming Lovely, Ever Hip, Petals and Peacocks

Left flash, right natural light

L-R: Frankly Fresh, Perennial High Style, English Accents

Left flash, right natural light

L-R: Bough Grey, Birds and Berries

L-R: Blooming Lovely, Ever Hip, Petals and Peacocks, Frankly Fresh, Perennial High Style, English Accents

Me wearing Petals and Peacocks, it's quite bright but I love it!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

MAC Art Supplies haul

A nice little package arrived for me earlier today:

Here's what I got from MAC's Art Supplies collection

Top-bottom: Undercurrent, Petrol Blue and Designer Purple pearlglide liners, Slick Black, Below Ground and Greengrease greasepaint sticks, and Runway Ripened and Stylesetter lipstain markers

I was a bit annoyed about this:

The whole thing shot out when I opened the lid, I think it might have been the warm weather but it wasn't stuck down at the bottom end of the stick (hope you know what I mean!) so the tip got mashed.

L-R: Stylesetter and Runway Ripened lipstain markers, Greengrease GPS, Greengrease smudged out, Below Ground GPS, Below Ground smudged out, Slick Black GPS, Slick Black smudged out, Designer Purple, Undercurrent and Petrol Blue pearlglide liners

 Designer Purple (purple with pinky purple sparkles), Undercurrent (turquoise-y teal with gold sparkles) and Petrol Blue (navy with blue and silver sparkles) close up, Stylesetter and Runway Ripened close up

I tried to take close up photos to show you all the sparkles but my crap camera just doesn't do these liners justice, they're beautiful! They are SO creamy and soft, so creamy and soft that I managed to snap the tip of Undercurrent when swatching (I fixed it though!). Be careful with your pearlglides!

Greengrease, Below Ground and Slick Black GPS close up

I found it hard to capture the green-ness of Greengrease, it's quite dark. I'd say if you have Slick Black you don't really need Greengrease (unless green is your favourite colour like me!)

I found that Slick Black was the easiest to smudge out, it felt softer than the others

I'll be putting up some FOTDs and lip swatches of what I bought over the weekend, keep your eyes peeled!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

Hair, jewellery, Dorothy Perkins dresses and ASOS magazine

I went to the hairdressers yesterday to get my hair cut and whilst in town I picked up some hairdye. It's so much cheaper than getting it done at the salon. It's easy for me because I just dye it one colour all over.

I also picked up some cotton buds - these are life savers when I'm doing my makeup! Great for sorting patchy foundation, messy eyeliner, splodges of mascara and getting foundation out of your eyebrows and off your lips!

I couldn't resist a little look in Primark but I was good and only picked up a cute but cheap ring, it was only £2 and I think it's perfect for summer. I also ordered a couple of bits from Dorothy Perkins - these earrings and hair clips:

This dress (such a bargain, the sale price is £7 and I got 25% off my order!). And this dress (I'm in love with this one, it'd be lovely for a garden party (or more likely the pub beer garden)! I think I might get the white version too!).

Here is a little pic of my new hair. My fringe looks a bit weird, I think I was messing with it. I'm wearing some of my MAC Liberty of London goodies in this pic, I'll post a proper FOTD tomorrow!

A copy of the new ASOS magazine arrived for me today too. I love getting these, I think it's luck of the draw whether you get one or not. Some of my favourite features and pics from this issue:

 Cover ASOS magazine April 2010

"Morning after Barbie"

Amanda Seyfried

Pug!!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter

OCC Lip Tars - Grandma and Pageant reviews and swatches

I ordered these Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars in Grandma and Pageant from The Make-up Artist Boutique on Monday night, there is a 15% off sale at the moment and along with a £5 discount voucher they emailed out to registered members (I think as an apology for their payments being messed up at the beginning of the sale) and a 5% off code from The London Beauty Review I thought there was no better (read: cheaper) time for me to try the much talked about OCC Lip Tars.

After googling and browsing swatches (there aren't that many out there though) I decided on Pageant (described as deep, saturated fuschia) because it looked pretty, and Grandma (described as classic, cool, clean coral) because I've been hankering after all things coral, it is Spring after all!

The Lip Tars arrived today and after a mess about I've decided I like Pageant but I'm not so keen on Grandma. Pageant seems to be a more opaque version of MAC's Girl About Town, which I love, but now I feel like I didn't need to buy it because I already have Girl About Town, but hey, backup.
Grandma, which I had high hopes for after seeing Temptalia's gorgeous lip swatch, disappointed me, I find it to be more orange coral than pink coral.

Anyway, enough talking, here are my swatches:

L-R: OCC Grandma, OCC Pageant, MAC Girl About Town lipstick

OCC Grandma lip swatch - for some reason this seemed to settle into the dry patches on my lips more than Pageant did. I think this shade is too warm for my skin tone! It does look OK in this picture but I think it's the camera tricking me... it doesn't look this nice in real life!

 OCC Pageant

I've got a bit of a cold at the moment but I'll try and include one of these in a FOTD soon!

I think I'll keep Grandma even though I don't love it on me, it might look better when I'm a bit more tanned in the summer, and I've seen lots of good OCC Lip Tar mixtures on blogs, a bit of experimentation is in order!

Like on Facebook, subscribe via RSS feed, follow via bloglovin', hellocotton or on Twitter