Bloggy Award

Have been nominated by Ruth at A Model Recommends for a Bloggy Award - here are the rules in case you have been reading this blog for a while and are sat scratching you head thinking "what? why?"!!

• Post about this award and copy the rules. Link the person that has tagged you.
• Choose 3-5 blogs you would like to tag and link them too. Leave a comment on their blog that you've linked them.
• Important: This award is for unknown blogs of the ones that are just starting out.

See, its there, in that last rule "unkown"!!  19 readers pretty much puts me in that category!  Of course to fully follow the rules I now have to find 3 more blogs that don't have 24,000 followers on GF connect!  Dear god it's a mine field, I don't want to risk insulting someone by tagging them!

Ok here goes, I am tagging
Snowdrop85 - because she is always so happy and chirpy and her blog makes me smile! 
Sparklz and shine - for sheer creative genius and
Obsessive Cosmetics Disorder - I love Leanne's sense of humour and informative posts.


All of these blogs are read by a squillion more people than mine little effort so if I have offended anyone please don't hesitate to leave me a comment berating me, I shan't mind.
dx

Nails Inc - Free with Diet Coke

Would never pay full whack for a Nails Inc polish, they have too many issues. Buuuut would never sniff at one free with InStyle or, as is the case at the mo, with 2 bottles of Diet Coke from Boots!  Sent Em on a Nails Inc mish Friday lunch time and the girl done good.  She got me the bottle of Cool Caramel that I had my eye on.  Dithered over getting Denim Blue as well but the pics I had seen weren't that fab and I wasn't sure so left it.  A situation I may well rectify tomorrow! 

Am dragging Steve off to Leeds for a spot of light mooching.  (light mooching, heavy spending if I get my way!)  You saw the lust list, I intend to return with at least something off of it.

So will do some photos of Cool Caramel and any haulage and get a post done.  Am working at the Lamma show next week (I sell advertising on a farm machinery magazine and manage a used agricultural machinery website, as well as taking photos and running a guest house).  There is a strong possibility that the complete and utter lack of any kind of glamour and the need to be in a freaking field, in the rain, in January, may kill me.  If it does before they bury me some one paint the nails of my corpse with Scarab ok, ta.  Oh and if I haven't had chance to do it my top lip could do with a bit of a sesh with the hot wax - espesh if they are planning an open coffin!!

Lust List

It's out of hand, this time.  Reading blogs is seriously bad for your wealth.  I want so much at the moment I keep dropping subtle hints about spending Sunday in Leeds spending loads on make up, well I actually just say that out loud as after 20 years of marriage subtle is rather pointless.  He smiles and walks away.  Guess he is still doing subtle.

Ok list:
MAC Cream blush in Uncommon - as Lillicent is too much colour at this time of year when I am so pale.
Or a Bobbi Brown sheer stick blush, thinking maybe sheer mauve which looks like it might be far enough away from pink for me, but might be too dark.
Bobbi Brown foundation - only a sample at this stage though.  I am kind of hoping their emphasis on yellow tones might help play down my natural pink'ness, that I hate.
Mavala - Nailactan to help with my month of nail improving.
Illamasqua Scarab - for when I break the ban
Models Own - Nude Beige for classy nails in Feb
Eye shadow - ideally have a Bobbi Brown SA do my eyes and then buy everything she uses!
Another Bobbi Brown cream lipstick as I love Heather Buff and would like another to ring the changes, maybe a darker one to go with a smoky eye for evenings, well a girl can dream!

That's my lot.  Have you got any post Christmas cravings that have yet to be met?  If you have a lust list what one thing would you get right now if you were given the chance?  If several Bobbi Brown eye shadows were classed as "one thing" then they would be my right now choice!

Illamasqua - still not playing safe!

Just toying with ordering Scarab and noticed two new polishes from the latest collection one is red and the other is a creamy colour.  Throb and Load respectively.  


They say:
Feel your pulse quicken, your heart throbbing in your chest. The Throb Collection is Illamasqua’s latest offering at the altar of beauty, guaranteed to make you gasp with pleasure.

Load is a rich, cream coating for the nails.

I say:
Make of that what you will!  In spite of the name Load could be rather fab for Spring, I was on a mish for an opaque vanilla cream nail varnish in 1990 and nothing really did the job so I might have finally found what I was looking for.

My nails, the very ugly reality

My hands and nails are incredibly dry at the moment.  Have been using Nail Envy since November on my nails but not seeing any great benefits.  Was reading Lady of the Lane last week and noticed Charlie had been getting great results with the Mavala range so I decided to give it a whirl.

In the interest of being scientific here are photos of my nails as they look today.  Brace yourselves its not pretty!

Left hand top pic and right hand bottom.  Look at that flaking, these pics are making me cringe and I apologise now if you are sat with your arms crossed and your hands trapped in each armpit to protect them from these images!

I am going to start today with the Mavala hardener, which contains formaldehyde and carries all manner of dire warnings and will continue with the Nail Envy on top of that until I get chance to pick up one or both of the cream and serum Charlie has been using to hydrate her nail bed and cuticles.  Certainly looking at her pics these products have really worked for her.  I am not wanting to get my nails longer, I really like them this sort of length but I want all 10 of them completely flake free so fingers crossed! 

Update since I wrote this: have been using the Mavala Scientifique, perhaps a tad more frequently than I should, and have decided on a total ban on nail varnish for a month - although not totally sure I can stick to that.  Have only used the hardener, hand cream and olive oil for the last few days and already my nails and hands are looking so much better.  Am thinking if I can stick to my no nail varnish rule then I might treat myself to something fab at the start of Feb to break the ban.  At the moment thinking Illamasqua Scarab..... but prepared to be inspired - please tell me, if you were about to break a self-imposed month long nail varnish ban which polish would you really really want to break it with?

OMG - Just had an epiphany!

My poor friend, Fran, is flying back from the States today after nightmare delays and I am seeing her next week.  It has just dawned on me, after yet another fruitless trawl round the internet that she might be able to buy me the UD Naked Palette at duty free on her way home *faints with excitment that that might even be a vague possibility*  Can you believe it has taken me a week of her being in the States to even think of this..... she has just text back, not at airport yet as scared she might lose her hotel room, her words "you would think ww3 had broken out, they really don't do snow here" and I am being completely heartless and texting back "yea, whatever, just tell me if you find it, you have no idea how much I need this palette - like normal people need air. Safe journey, but let me know as soon as you hit duty free ok."  I think she might hate me now. Would it be tragic to admit that my heart is racing with even the hint of a possiblity that she might get it? It would wouldn't it.  Oh well, call me tragic.

19.20 update - no word from Atlanta airport so it's not looking good.  But I enjoyed the frisson of excitment, you probably noticed!  This could be one of those things, like men, where the thrill of the chase is sooo much better than the reality, although unlike men if that is the case at least I can sell this on ebay!  

08.31 further update - Fran text last night to say she hadn't been able to find it.  Feel like I am on a quest for some mythical thing, that may or may not exist, UD Naked palette - the unicorn of the make up world!

Hairdryer update

You might remember this post when I bought my Tresemme hairdryer, where I was rather sniggering about the benefit of ions.  Well, today I am eating my words.  Yesterday I dried my hair and it looked crap all day, thick, frizzy and clumpy.  I wasn't sure if maybe I hadn't rinsed properly or had gone mad with the styling products or maybe my errant hormones had decided that they were no longer satisfied with trashing my skin they were taking my hair out too.  This morning when I picked up the drier I noticed that the "ion" button had slid into the off position.  I slid it back and dried my hair.  Which looks like a totally different head of hair, it took 5 mins less to dry (when you get up at 5.45am every  day that counts) and it is sleek and smooth and only needed a quick blast with the ghd's to tweak it.  So maybe there is something in all that "ions" malarky after all!

In other matters last night my skin was all over the show.  Its that time of the month so the roseacea is having its way and I had 2 massive lumps on my right cheek as well as an attractive scattering of pimples across my nose.  As part of my new nail care regime I am eschewing nail varnish (it. is. killing. me.) and slathering on olive oil at all times.  And as I sat in bed checking out the wreck that was my face I thought "what have I got to lose?" and applied a thin layer of olive oil to my face too.  When I woke up this morning I was expecting perhaps puffy eyes, as I realised too late that smearing your eyes with oil might not be the best plan in the world, but actually my skin was looking pretty good, roseacea was down a smidge and it seemed to have enjoyed its night coated in oil.  Just thought I'd mention it, next time you skin is feeling dry and stressy it might nip into the kitchen and find your olive oil!  Have a nice day ladies.