FOTD - Naked & Nude

Bit more appropriate for a day working from home although it looks a bit dull compared to yesterdays!




Completely forgot my UDPP this morning so we have Sin (cream) on mobile lid, Buck (matt brown) into crease with Darkhorse (coppery brown) outer edge of crease and tightlining top and bottom, all from UD NAKED. Usual mascara and Clinique brow pencil. Nicked more of Ems Bourjois bronzer, which I am really liking. Not sure why it took me this long to get to bronzer, have always hated that blusher adds colour to an all ready ruddy complexion but had just assumed bronzer was something worn by 17 yr olds to turn their faces teak. I might have been wrong!  Lips are just GOSH Cappuccino on its own this time, really liking this but am going to have to sort lips out as it is totally unforgiving.  Have decided will def be buying MAC Viva Glam Gaga II both lipstick and gloss as soon as they appear.

So thats me, Naked & Nude!

Over the Taupe

See what I did there?  Decided to have a play with my recent purchases so inevitably ended up with a blue eye and nude lips. What do you think? It IS over the top for day wear but when I do EOTN its dark and I cant take proper pics so decided to do it in the middle of the day so I could share.


Excuse the hair, it's having a moment all of its own today.
 

Decided to have a go at "contouring" as well. Nicked Em's bronzer and had a swipe about although frankly would putting a brown stripe down the side of a football contour it? I think not but at least the bronzer is better than blush would have been *hello clown face*.


Used Revlon shadow in Peacock Lustre over mobile lid. Revlon Matte in Riviera blue into crease and underneath.  Tightlined with No 7 Gel liner in blue top and bottom. Virgin from Naked brow bone and inner corner.  MUA in bright green inside of mobile lid and the usual L'Oreal mascara and Clinique brow pencil.

Lips are a combination of GOSH Cappuccino and Revlon Matte in Mink - just a hint of this to give it a bit of colour.  Was sure I couldn't do nude lips, am LOVING this! So be kind if you think it looks vile, but for godsake tell me!
 

Took pics with grown up camera with $$ wide angle lens, hope I don't look too melty faced as a result!

Oh and finally quick point and shoot snap of eye in close up.

 As this is a total deviation from the norm for me would really appreciate your feedback!
Post edit: am now worrying about that rather vast ski-slope forehead (savage receeding hair line or wot?!)

Huds Haul

Great afternoon in Huddersfield with Em. Boots didn't know what had hit them!

It doesn't look like this anymore. Just dropped it and smashed it to fck. Gutted - down to pan in middle.

Picked up Revlon matte shadow in Riviera blue (front) and a satin shadow in Peacock Lustre (back).  No sign of the ColorBurst lipstick in Soft Nude and Rosy Nude looked too pink toned for my licking. Settled on Matte lipstick in Mink.  Revlon was 3 for 2 which was fab.

Revlon Matte Mink.  GOSH Cappuccino

Re-stocked with my fave Avene products; Extremely Gentle Cleanser and Rich Anti-Redness cream and added a Soothing Hydrating Serum which I had really been wanting to try, again 3 for 2 on skin care, result.

I also had to pick up a Botanics cleansing Balm as raved by Welsh Beauty Blogger.  We seem to have pretty similar skin so I am hoping that I can use this without freaking out my skin, even if its just a once a week treat and I use the Avene on a day to day basis.  This smells lovely and I cant wait to try it with my Botanics facial cleansing brush. 

And of course the compulsory purchase of a Clinique Super Fine liner in soft brown seeing as those brows keeping on pulling in the compliments, the lady on the check out in Boots asked what I used.

This lot got me a Boots £5 voucher that went straight back into their tills with my purchase of the Ltd edition gel eyeliner in Blue, am dying to have a play with this.

Em hauled too so we decided to use her £5 voucher to buy Aunty Ness the No 7 Skin Illuminator she had been fancying.

From there we hurtled like a herd of turtles round to Superdrug where I picked up a GOSH lipstick in Cappuccino, which basically looks like it might be my perfect nude or the "fresh from the grave" lippy I have been dying for!

Arty pic of No 7 Ltd edition blue eye liner!

Swatches, reviews and eotd's etc to follow!

EOTN - colour alert!

Eastenders was a bit dull last night so I decided to have a bit of a play.

Having done it downstairs in the dark it was stupidly hard to get a good photo and got none of me looking into the lens.

Here's what I did.
UDPP on bare lid (in past have used on top of foundation on lid, it works much better straight onto bare skin.
Flash (purple) from UD Preen all over mobile lid
Painkiller (bright blue) from UD Preen into crease, outer corner and under bottom lashes
Creep (black) from UD naked into crease to darken things up
Blend madly.
Virgin (cream) from UD naked brow bone to soften edge. 
Tight lined top with Creep.
Black eyeliner on water line top and bottom.

 Whilst initially I was all a bit "ha look at me" *nervous chuckle* the longer I wore it the more I got used to it. It got the thumbs up from Steve and Em too so might have another go sometime when I am actually going out!

Scuse the foundation lips, all part of the experiment!
I am loving having nice stuff to play with, dying to get to Boots today and trawl through the Revlon Matte collection!

Huddersfield - batten down the hatches, I'm coming in.

Have had a really lousy couple of weeks, sometimes life's like that. Move on.

Tomorrow I am going into Huddersfield and it seems to have become a bit of a Revlon mish.  Have been googling the matte collection and am feeling the love.

Am rather fancying matte eye shadow in Riviera blue and maybe in the dark green if I can get it  - it's not on Boots www.

Will be checking out the lipsticks too - sort of fancying Cocoa Craving depending on how it looks in the flesh.  The new ColourBurst lipstick in Soft Nude, looks fantastic, although again no sign of it on Boots site, Rosy Nude and Blush are also worth a peek.  Tragically am loving the whole quilty case and "Revlon" stamped in the front of the lippy, so high-end wannabe you have to love them.  This is a boundary pusher for me, am so in love with the whole nude concept am prepared to overlook the fact that it might not suit me so watch this space for some "fresh from the grave" fotd's soon!  Also need a complete Avene stock up and want to get the serum as well to try. 

oh and I might also perhaps maybe just possibly buy a teeny tiny bottle of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. maybe. But dont tell anyone, ok?

Guest Post on Modesty Brown

Check out my eye shadow journey on the fab Modesty Brown here!  The pics will make you lol!
 

NOTD - Art of Darkness mani!

My asos delivery arrived this morning. £11.50 with free next day delivery for Scarab (Red) and Viridian (Green).  These are two luscious nail varnishes that are going to get some serious wear and for some reason they cry out to be used in a slightly off the wall kind of a way, hence the little green nail on the end - doing them all in Scarab seemed a bit of a waste!  Am now considering Viridian nail with Scarab tip.

Maybe asos had run out of really big boxes?!

Am going to take some pics with my proper camera this eve but wanted to get these up asap.

Both with top coat

 With regard to application, smooth and opaque in 2 thin coats.  Scarab brush is fantastic; narrow, straight, firm but flexible.  Viridian's is a bit crap tbh it is really really long - will try and get pic of how much longer and as a result errs on the side of moppy, would not have been impressed had I paid £13 for Viridian and got this brush, as I paid less than I would have for a Revlon polish and the colour is so stunning I am going to overlook it!  These dry to a lovely satin finish but its not til you add a top coat that they really come to life.  These feel like they are going to wear really well, I think thats down to being able to apply 2 thin coats, much less chippy than great wodges of polish.
Today is a happy nail day!

FOTD - 21st Feb

Was taking pics for a guest post I am writing for another blog - watch this space! - and thought this would be a good fotd pic.


Eyes - tightlined with Darkhorse, Sin on mobile lid, Buck in crease.  Brows Clinique superfine liner in Soft Brown. L'Oreal Mascara.


Lips - Bobbi Brown Cocoa pencil and Buff Heather Cream Lipstick


Face - Lancome Teint Miracle and MAC Creme blush in Lillicent.


Googled tightlining recently, just hope I am doing it right? Loading very straight Ruby and Millie eye liner brush with powder shadow, putting into lash line and wiggling it down onto base of lashes?  Whether my techinique is actually tightlining or not I love the effect.  Wish wish wish I had taken a pic sat eve as I did a full on smoky eye with Creep as tightliner top and bottom and into crease with Sin on mobile lid, black kohl liner on water line top and bottom and stacks of mascara and just made sure that my eyebrows were extended a smidge further out than would be usual for day time. It was a much more made up look than I would have considered even a few months ago. In my opinion they looked bloody fab - and UDPP underneath made sure it all stayed perfect through a marathon 7 hrs of drinking, dancing and merriment!  Also used the last of the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua for the evening, its a bit too dark for the day but perfect for a night out so am building up my secret stash for an Chanel purchase asap!

Botanics Facial Cleansing brush

Was intrigued by this when it appeared in Makeup Savvys Best of Jan post and decided to give it a whirl. At just over£6 it wasn't going to be breaking the bank if my skin wasn't loving it.

I have been using it for a month now with my Avene cleanser and my skin has never looked better.  I get the brush wet in warm water, apply a squirt of the Avene and swoosh it around, its a really really soft brush, so much so that any pressure compresses the bristles so its much better to apply no pressure and just swoosh a bit more often.  It feels lovely, like a million tiny fingers massaging your skin and it cleans and lifts away make up and grime and leaves my skin feeling really soft and totally unstressed.  Which is great, as my skin is really re-active.  Have had no issues with this at all and am thrilled by how much better my skin is looking. Redness is at an all time low, although think thats more to do with retiring the Elemis pro-collagen products and using only Avene than the brush, but I do have large pores in my chin that get very congested and they are visibly shrinking and my nose, which was often bumpy, red and prone to spots is really smooth and blemish free.  Overall my skin tone is really improved and I think cleansing with the brush which is mildly exfoliant is also helping my moisturisers (Avene rich compensating cream, Avene Rich anti redness cream and Avene Rich skin recovery cream) to work their magic. The only downside is a slightly funky smell, only apparent when swooshing it round my nose but it was a tad off putting at first, although I do have a very sensitive sense of smell so it might just be me, not enough to put me off using my brush though.

If you dont have redness issues and are looking for a lovely balm cleanser Welsh Beauty Blog has posted about the Botanics cleansing balm today, which sounds lush.  As Botanics are currently doing 3 for 2 on Botanics you could get the brush and the balm and pick up something else for free - result! 

Nail update - they're back!!!

Excuse slightly chipped Nails Inc, its been on since Sat eve with no top coat.  But look and marvel at the improvement in my nails!  I am delighted.  All I had wanted to achieve was short and without flakes as I don't do long nails and bar one patch on the tip of my left hand ring finger nail we are pretty much flake free.  This is how they looked 9th Jan, not a pretty sight. They had a month with no polish which made no difference, just to be clear the no polish wasn't really about avoiding polish, it was about avoiding nail polish remover.  So after a month with no discernible improvement I went right back to my old habits, but this time including Mavala Scientifique once a week and Nailactan every single night;  brush teeth, say prayers (Dear God, please help me find a way to afford Illamsqua Scarab AND Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua on Saturday. Thank you. Amen), apply Nailactan, schimples.  

Next time I have 5 mins between polish applications I'll get a naked nails pic so you can see just how the flakes have improved.  Happy Monday all.

Post Edit: sometimes our prayers are answered!  The incredibly fantastic and wonderful Helen at Sparklz & Shine has just sent me a link to Scarab and Viridian at the stupid price of £11.50 on ASOS, with free next day delivery today into the bargain! Don't mind telling you am giddy with excitement!!

Nails Inc - Caramel

Usuall gloopy Nails Inc mess that I thinned with nail varnish remover, my nails are so going to drop off.

Worth it though as I love the colour, even if it does bring out a smidge of the pink in my skin.

All that no nail varnish for a month - total waste of time. Have been wearing it now for 2 weeks and nails are looking waaay better. Result.

Colour is pretty accurate in these pics btw.
Happy Friday folks

Je ne regrette rien

Mais je might just regrette my latest act of madness!  Read yesterday on Daily Mail website (guilty pleasure, I love me a bit of racist homophobic zenophobic claustraphobic, whatever, trash purporting to be news!) that Hollywood actresses have now taken to shaving off the peach fuzz they have on their faces because being filmed in HD shows everything.  Apparently Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe did likewise, but no doubt because back in their heydey no one was threading, waxing or epilating like we do today.


Weeeeeell, I though to myself, all this bleeding waxing followed by monster break out, or the humiliation of having beard threaded off in front of a crowds of gawking shoppers under a spotlight in the middle of Debenhams might just be at an end.  And before you could say Sweeney Todd I had run a razor over one side of my chin.  Then sort of had a moment and broke out into a cold sweat.


So now I wait to see if the re-growth is all stubbly and horrid, in which case I'll brazen it out til its long enough and then wax it off.  If not then maybe I will try a larger area! It is only a bit of fuzz not a major issue but there is quite a lot of fuzz on my face so would be great if it worked without any ill effects.  Will keep you posted.   What do you think? A step too far?

L'Occitane Rose 4 Reines Hand Cream

Firstly, there is no upside to a 20 hr day.  Just so we are clear on that.  However, duty free shopping on Stena Line was a revelation - UD Naked palette on a Ferry crossing the Irish sea? It's worth the foot passenger fare just to pick one up.  They had a load of UD stuff so I treated Em to the Preen palette, needless to say she was rather chuffed!

When I am away at a show my hands really suffer.  We are hauling boxes of magazines, shifting heavy counters, handling some of the filthiest luchre you have ever seen.  Really, farmers tend to keep their cash wadded up in a ball with used tissues, old sweets, a bit of cow or sheep shit depending on where they farm and gad knows what else.  Washing your hands is both a joy and incredibly traumatic, the filth that comes off is disgusting.  Generally made worse by the fact that 10 mins earlier you were eating something.  Without cutlery.  Suspect I am now immune to foot and mouth, scrapey and bovine spongiform encephalopathy as a direct result of ingesting masses of all of them over the years! So I decided to treat myself to this on the ferry home.

They say:
Enriched in shea butter and vitamin E, this cream nourishes, protects and helps repair hands from daily aggressions.
Hands are moisturized and delicately perfumed with the fresh and velvety fragrance of the Grasse, Bulgarian, Moroccan and Turkish roses.

I say:
I could eat this with a spoon.

It is the most delicious hand cream I have ever used with a full on, incredibly intoxicating rose perfume that lasts for ages. To my nose there is nothing "delicate" about this perfume, its not the demure, fresh rain, clean scent of English rose but the proper, gutsy, bawdy, head filling wallop of all those massively perfumed roses, so strong a smell you can taste it, a wanton hand cream if you will, a ho for your hands! I now want the entire range.  

But most especially the Rose Nuit de Mai edt:
 The Nuit de Mai Eau de Toilette evokes the atmosphere of those May festivities with a floral woody sensuality. The fragrance opens with the fresh and delicate note of wild rose, heightened by cinnamon. At its heart, a bunch of May roses blends with the delicious accord of violet and blackberry. Lingering woody base notes reveal the captivating scents of sandalwood, cedar and vanilla.
Rose with woody base notes? Dear god sounds like heaven in a bottle.

I paid £13.50 duty free for the hand cream, its £13 on the L'Occitane website! 

Off on my travels again

This time instead of standing in a field in Nottinghamshire I will be doing it in Southern Ireland so the outlook is wet with a chance of incomprehensible.  I am so excited about this trip.  I am so excited.. nope it's not working.  This particular machinery show happens every 2 years.  This is the 6th time I have done it.  I am very very stupid not to have got myself a sensible job at some point in the last 12 years.  On the upside I am working with Fran, who went from being a colleague to being a great friend in the space of about 20 mins the first time we worked together.  And I have packed emergency "show" supplies, we have prosecco and Gruyere and poppy seed straws for when the going gets tough.  And Twirls.  Lots and and lots of Twirls.  Wish me luck.

 

NARS Velvet Lipgloss pencils

Last weekend Em and I went to Leeds with the intention of buying only make up and had a great time.  She was treated like dirt by the SA on the MAC counter, without which humiliation no cosmetics shopping trip is really complete.  Lose the attitude, it maybe MAC, you maybe beautiful but the contempt? UGLY.

Wanted to check out NARS Sheer Glow as had read so much about it and can confirm that it is neither sheer nor especially glowy.  Lovely though I would imagine.  The 2 SA's on the NARS counter in Harvey Nichols in Leeds are officially the nicest make up SA's ever.  We chatted for ages, they were really interested in the whole blogging thang and kept hauling new stuff not yet on the counter out from underneath it to show me!  There is a hot hot hot pink gloss due out soon, very opaque and an incredible colour for the young and firm of pout.  Think it might be these actually just debuting only on the NARS site
http://www.narscosmetics.co.uk/the-latest/spring-2011/perfect-match-lip-gloss.html  
And some lovely lip gloss pencils.  

Clearly this is a case of reinventing the wheel but this time the new wheel is better than the old one, it has alloys and white walled tyres.  Ok enough with that analogy, that really isnt working! The gloss pencils are lovely - I got to have a play with one and they are more like a sheer lipstick than a sticky shiny gloss.  These are also on the NARS site so not sure how new they are?
 
All you lip product junkies should keep your eyes peeled for these!

EOTD - Going out

Off to Leeds to see Clare Maguire and Hurts at the O2 so wanted something a bit more interesting than my usual matt brown eye.

All from UD Naked of course! Virgin all over, Gunmetal into crease with a smidge of Darkhorse on top to stop it looking to frosted blue eyeshadow.

Natural light from window

Scuse weird expression, face doing its own thing again!

Nail Update

I am almost certain that in 3 months my nails will be lovely.  Right now, not so much.  Some of them are better than they were a month ago, some are looking much worse.  I gave up nail varnish for a month not because nail varnish causes me a problem but because the remover I was using very frequently, every couple of days minimum, does.  It makes the skin on my hands bubble up and peel off, whichever brand I use, and as such cant be doing my nails a whole heap of good.

I am using Nailactan every night, it is quite incredible in that you put a tiny amount onto your cuticle last thing at night, rub it in and you wake up in the morning and you can still feel it on your skin.  For this reason I am sure that when the nail that is currently snuggled up under my cuticle becomes my nail tip it will be in tip top condition!  

I am also using the Scientifique, the tiny bottle of scary stuff that smells like roast chicken, but only once a week now just to toughen my tips.  Although as I am filing my tips right back as I do not want any tip length til all all the peeling and flaking is gone there is no real benefit to using this at the moment.

Having naked nails hasn't been a brilliant idea for me.  When they are polished, even when very short they look so much better I am much less tempted to put them near my teeth and of course cant see the flakes.  So they have had a month off but are in no way good enough for Scarab so that plan is on hold.  I bought a nice nude Barbara Daly, Suede, in Tesco's today which is what I am wearing above.  Its a lovely taupe but because the bottle seems to have been opened loads (would it be so hard to put a plastic seal on them?) I had application issues. It was very gloopy and hard to get a nice finish with and the colour has split a little and no amount of rolling or frantic shaking would mix it properly.



I am saving this little beauty:
 
Which was sent to me as a surprise by Leanne over at OCD.  Isn't it stunning??  Just look at the colours in this.

Have to admit to having a bit of a play with this on Friday as soon as it arrived!  Only on one nail though, but god its seriously in car crash territory, my nails were so mesmerising I could not stop staring at them.  As soon as all 10 are in good nick and a nice length this will get an outing, if Em tries it first I'll photo hers.