TAG - 8 Things!!

I got tagged from the lovely Alexis aka Faffaholic & Beth aka CBethGlitter so i shall complete my tagee duty (it feels like a modern chain letter like in school, our teachers used to tell us to hand them in & not pass them on!! ha ha! i like being naughty so i'm carrying it on!!) i'll try to make it as cheerful as possible!

8 things i'm looking forward to:
1. Waking up one day & being truely happy
2. My family party tomorrow!! so exciting!!
3. My Job interview in a couple of weeks, really chuffed about it & the woman loved me on the phone tonight she called me chick when i was saying goodbye! a good sign i think.
4. My holiday to spain with my ex manfriends 'other woman' should be so wrong to do but it feels so right!
5. Seeing my doggies in spain, i hate being away from them & especially my baby, he follows me everywhere when i'm there, doesnt leave myside & sits by my suitcase when i'm ready to leave. miss him!
6. Getting my degree, after 4 years i'm sick of learning & i've finally finished.
7. My exams being over!
8. Getting a job & having money, so i can buy lots of nice things without the guilt that i feel now when i purchase some lovely things.

8 things I did yesterday: (this may be a tough one)
1. Breathed! ... just kidding! Avoided revision
2. Applied for jobs!
3. Took off my nail polish ... i'm starting to struggle
4. Twittered, Blogged & facebooked!! a 24/7 occurance
5. Talked to my ex boyfriend who lives in australia which was lovely
6. Watched T.V.
7. Planned holiday stuff with the 'other woman'! ha ha! she's called Helen & is lovely!
8. Stayed up very very late!

8 Things I Wish I Could Do
1. Accounting! it would really help the chances of me getting my degree
2. Be a lady of leisure, testing makeup & blogging about it all day! *sighs* the dream
3. Be invisible on demand so i can spy on people, get on planes & travel without anyone seeing me!
4. Go out with no makeup on! i have to put on makeup to go to the spar, i'd love to go barefaced!
5. Be happier!! i'm such a misery guts at times & get really down when i'm tired i'd love to just relax & be happy all the time.
6. Have the courage to stand up for myself & tell my mum what i think of her & what she's done to me when she's been drunk
7. Go on youtube & do some videos! i may get there eventually but not just yet!!
8. Not be allergic to the things i am, so i dont have to check before eating anything/putting things on my skin! it would be heaven!

8 Shows I Watch
1. Top Gear
2. Rugby
3. The IT Crowd
4. Black Books
5. Sex & The City
6. House
7. Family Guy
8. Ugly Betty

I Tag 8 Beautiful Bloggers
Sarah - http://kiss--and--make-up.blogspot.com/
Hannah - http://repeattofade85.blogspot.com/
Tiffany - http://kissandmakeupx.blogspot.com/
Kassandra - http://www.doughead-doughead.blogspot.com/
Carlinn - http://superficialgirls.blogspot.com/
Whitebutterfly01 - http://whitebutterfly01.blogspot.com/
Cris - http://diamondenigma.blogspot.com/
Katie - http://ilovebeauty-ilovemac.blogspot.com/

If you've already been tagged then no need to do it again obviously

thanks for reading & hope you've all had a lovely day
Cya soon
Nicola
xxx

Baby Mac Haul & a FOTD with it!!

Hey Ladies!!

So I was online yesterday as per usual avoiding my revision & on twitter someone was looking for magnets for their mac pans & i remembered a website i'd seen them on & so passed on the address & then of course couldn't resist having a browse for myself! The site is full of discount mac & branded makeup so i had to give it a try to test it out for you guys! (that's my story & i'm sticking to it!) Well i got 2 shadows & an eyeliner for about £20 including delivery & it came the next morning! how good is that! i didnt even pay for next day delivery & ordered the stuff in the afternoon! so i'm very impressed with the service! The site address is

http://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/

Try it if you're looking for some new stuff there's loads & let me know if you grab some bargins & if you like the site!!

So i got electric eel and black tied eyeshadows and Violet underground eye kohl.





So my sort of face of the day!! i have green eyes so always told to wear purple shadows but i dont like wearing them, i love greens & turquoises but with a little of my new violet underground on my waterline my eyes looked so green so i suppose its a compromise on the purple & i'll wear this instead of purple eyeshadow! (excuse the scary eyes & skin, i was wearing mineral makeup - more on that at a later date!)






I have bought a couple of more things from another site to test it for you as well so expect that soon as well as the other pigment sample seller! I really need to stop shopping!!!

Anyway hope you all are having a lovely week
Cya soon
Nicola
xxx

GLITTER!!!

Hey ladies,

Just a quickie post about glitter! When i was doing my nail polish experiment a while ago i ordered some nail art glitter from ebay which cost £3.68 for 12 colours from china, it took 9 days delivery which is brilliant seen as i ordered some orange nail polish the same day from the uk & it hasnt arrived yet! & i thought i'd try it out today, sometimes when you add glitter to polish it can dissolve or the colour of the glitter can bleed into the nail polish colour, so i thought i'd paint my nail with clear nail polish & then dip the nail into the glitter & see if it looked ok! i love it, its very very messy, my room is covered in glitter but everything looks so pretty & sparkly so i dont mind!! My problem now is which colour to choose for the fancy dress party on friday so i need your help! so take a look & tell me what you think! i love the gold, blue & pink nails the best, i'm going as a hippy but could change it to 70's disco glam with the addition of the mad hair, a load of glitter & heels so these glitter nails would look brill!

The glitter


The Right hand


The left hand



Hope you're all having a lovely day & keeping smiling!
Cya later
Nicola
xxx

Face & Hair of the day!!

Hello ladies,

I thought i'd show you my face of the day it was basically a poor excuse to test out my new colours because i've just sat in my pj's all day with a full face of makeup! ha ha! & then i did a bit of a tester hair style for my fancy dress party next friday, its a bit mad but i think sufficiently hippyish!



The old mug shot


A Close up


A Random Silly one! (simple things ... )


So here's what i used!

Eyes
Mac Painterly Paintpot
Mac Juxt eyeshadow on lid
Mac Deep blue green pigment in crease
Mac Naked pigment as a highlight
Elizabeth Arden eye definer liquid liner in black
No7 Lash 360 in black

Face
Mac Prep & Prime Skin refined zone as a primer
Chanel Teint Innocence Foundation in beige
Bobbi Brown creamy concealer in sand
No7 Natural Blush in Soft apricot
Clinique true bronze in sunkissed
Mac cream colour base in cooled pink for highlighter
Mac Pro set powder

Lips

Dermalogica Climate control lip treatment
Natural Collection moisture shine lipstick in Rose Petal
Chanel cristalle gloss in colour 12


The Crazy Hair!



He he! i'm yet to decide whether or not to do this hair style or just go for wavy style with the headband! so let me know what you think! it is a fancy dress party so i could get away with the mad hair but if i look a dick i'd prefer to be told, because i want to look good!! i cant wait for the party, my family parties are the best & i think i need a bit of fun after everything thats happened recently & i'll put some pics of it on here so you can have a laugh at my mad family! my little brothers going as a smurf so i have to paint him blue! ha ha!

ooh after all the drama thats happened since monday i forgot to mention that my dog had his operation & is fine & dandy & fighting fit, i got to see him & my other 3 dogs via webcam today & loved it, miss him so much & he's deaf now but my 2 big labradors could here me calling their names & were getting really excited & looking for me! i miss them so much but its good that i can see them even if its only via the webcam!

Anyway i hope you're all having a lovely weekend & enjoying the lovely spring weather, i'm stuck inside pretending to revise but secretly blogging!!
Cya Soon
Nicola
xxx

Mac Haul! At last!!

Hey ladies!!

My mac stuff came ... finally, although i have more pigment samples on their way to me but i couldn't wait any longer! There's quite a bit of stuff & it makes me happy!

Everything!




From Mac





Prep & Prime Skin Refined Zone Treatment (i'll do a review at a later date)
Brushes -
150 - Large Powder Brush
190 - Foundation Brush
187 - Duo Fibre Brush
168 - Angled Contour Brush
275 - Small Angled Shader Brush
239 - Eye Shading Brush
194 - Concealer Brush

They're all great brushes but i should be banned from buying foundation brushes, i already have 2 & never use them so i should have known better but i was on a mac binge that day & had to have it! it does look pretty standing there proudly in my brush holder!


From http://maclovesvina.ecrater.com/index.php



Pressed pigments with a free elf pallet - $12.99
Naked
Teal
Deep Blue Green
Mutiny

Juxt eyeshadow, i ordered a used one that had been swatched but ended up with a brand new one, i'll explain after. but i don't remember the price sorry!

Painterly Paintpot Sample - $2.99

Otherwordly Paintpot sample from the Alexander McQueen collection - $4.99

Pro Set Powder sample - $2.99

Violet pigment sample - free

This ecrator store sells pigment samples, pressed pigments, slightly used full sized products & brand new products. I mainly visited this store because of the pressed pigments, i own a couple of the colours already & cant be bothered to press them myself. I ordered this at the beginning of march but it got lost in the post. The customer service is brilliant & she sent me a new order & had to buy a new juxt eyeshadow as she didn't have another used one & it came a week after she shipped it from Canada which is great! On the site it doesn't give the option for international shipping, so email her & get the quote the shipping rates are very reasonable as well.

I really recommend buying sample pigments or pressed pigments as they're so much more convenient than a full sized pigments, i think i have about 6 full sized pigments & they're in colours i'll never use up, i really didn't use my brain when i bought them, if you're tempted by a full sized one go for a multipurpose colour or one you'll use all the time, like vanilla. Ah well lesson learnt, so now if i see an amazing colour which i wouldn't use a lot i get them in a sample size much cheaper & not a massive deal if the colour doesn't suit you, also if you get pressed pigments it's much easier to travel with them & definitely less messy than loose pigments.

From ebay seller http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/le-boutique-cosmetics



Cream Colour Base - Cooled Pink - £6.69 including P&P
Cream Colour Base - Antiqued Gold - £6.69 including P&P

These cream colour bases are both pro colours & the antiqued gold is still available but the cooled pink isn't from mac pro, i use the cooled pink as a highlighter & i'm going to use the antiqued gold one for the fancy dress party & as a highlighter when i'm tanned! I bought these on good Friday & got them on the Tuesday which i thought was amazing as Sunday & Monday we're bank holidays so the seller must have posted them on a Saturday so i highly recommend, they sell a few mac things & it's good value as well.


From www.Thebrushguard.com




Ok i'm such a sucker for watching youtube videos & buying what people use or review & so ended up with these & they're great! They keep your brushes nice & perfect & protect them when you travel so are a winning purchase for me. They cost $8.50 with P&P & arrived very quickly & i think a good low cost investment if you have expensive brushes.


Swatches!!





So there you go! i've still got a few samples to arrive & i'll do a blog when they arrive with a review of the seller, i've so far tried out 3 sample sellers so i'll do a comparison of them once the final stuff arrives but they're all great to be honest but prices differ which could be an important factor to some people so i'll do a price comparison as well!

Hope you have a lovely weekend & thanks for reading
Cya Later
Nicola
xxx

LUSH!! Review! & a brilliant tip!

Hello ladies!

I thought i'd give my opinion on the lush soaps i bought before i went to Spain & my shopping experience at lush. Basically lush makes me vomit, i literally have to cross the street to avoid walking past it because the smell is so overwhelming for me. I can remember one christmas going in because my mum loves herself a bit of lush & i wanted to get her a nice gift from there, well i lasted about 2 minutes i literally had to drop my basket, run out the shop throwing christmas shoppers aside & find the nearest bin to vomit into! such a dignified sight i can assure you, me running through the arndale centre in manchester & throwing up in a bin! but hey ho it happens to the best of us!

So i decided to give it another shot, mothers day was approaching & i was going to be in Spain with my mum for it & i also wanted to get my former man friends mum some nice things for letting me stay with them. Plus all the youtube videos i'd watched on the stuff i wanted to try it out! so i'll put official pics up from the site rather than the stuff i have mainly beause its all chopped up in jiffy bags & also i'm in bed & cant be bothered to get all messy with the stuff.

Basically my shopping experience was, me with a scalf over my nose, jacko style, grabbing, smelling & if i didnt wreatch it was bought! whilst swearing quite loudly about how everything smelt awful, & my embarrased friend Jodee aplogising to the staff who were just laughing at me.

I thought once i got through the lush smell barrier all the products would smell like they're supposed to but to me everything smelt like lush! so i bought the soaps that i'd heard of from youtube & bought 2 of each.

Honey I Washed The Kids & Porridge

Sexy Peel


So i was going to split them out evenly between the 3 of us but ended up keeping 3 & giving the other 3 to the manfriends mum & my mum got nothing, a little cruel but shes not the best mum i've ever had & was happy with a card i had made with my baby pics on it! So everyone was a winner! ha ha!

I took them over to Spain & my bag reeked of lush but i didnt try them over there, i never use soap so its a bit foreign to me, i'm a shower gel girl personally & so couldnt be bothered to use them over there & chop them up so brought them back with me & tested them a few days ago.

Ladies this is the tip of the Century so pay attention, my skin was a little need of exfoliation that night, my post holiday skin had kicked in & so was looking dry. There is no better exfoliating treatment in the world than a pair of scrub gloves, soap or shower gel & pure rage!! i swear i came out that shower having removed 5 layers of my skin!! i hope you all never get this rage & just settle for gentle exfoliation but i took my anger out on my skin that evening & by god it looks great for it!

Back to the soaps, they were soap basically, all smelt the way they should once they were under water & the layer of lush smell was removed. Honey i washed the kids smells of honey, porridge smells of porridge & sexy peel smells of citrus

I found they were all creamy & non drying if that's the right word, & i've heard that people find porridge too harsh an exfoliator well it wasn't harsh enough for me but i can understand people describing it as scratchy because the bits in it are uneven & spaced out & really big & the smell of the soap isnt delicious enough for me to repurchase but i would definitely buy honey i washed the kids & sexy peel again!

So has anyone got any products they'd recommend for me? i might do an online shop next time to avoid the potential vomiting session & anything i dont like the smell of could be given away, i dont think you can return soap can you, i dont think i've ever tried! plus i know i'd never be bothered enough to do it, i never return anything!

Thanks for reading

Cya later
Nicola
xxx

A Little Haul & update!

Hey Ladies,

Haven't done a blog in a couple of days after getting unceremoniously dumped by my manfriend as some of you may know so i thought i'd ease my way back in with a haul. Yey! my philosophy in life is new stuff always make it better! So here's what i got! (& its not my mac one yet some stuff still hasn't arrived)



I got the majority of it from fragrancedirect.co.uk which is a discount internet shop i guess, you can get some proper bargins so i was loving it! i only went on to order the nail polish but got carried away a little!

i got

Evian Affinity original matifying lotion - £1.99
Almay bare it all legs instant tanner - £1.59
Almay sunless tanning gel for face - £1.50
Hard Candy nail enamel in trailer trash - 99p
Hard Candy nail enamel in skimpy - 99p
Loreal Glam Shine in 100 - £1.50
Bourjois smooth & strengthen nail polish - 99p

from ebay
Duo medical adhesive - £6.50
Bottom false lashes - £2

I haven't tried out the majority of these products after my craptastic week so i'll give an opinion on my repurchases!

The almay instant tanner is really good, i've seen it cheaper at the pound shop (so classy) but it does exactly what its supposed to, an immediate tan that lasts til you wash it off, now if you buy one & its unbelivably dark for you, all i do is mix it with a bit of moisturiser & it tones it down a bit & looks more natural.

The Bourjois smooth & strengthen nail polish, i dont know if this is still avaliable at a bourjois counter as i got my 1st bottle years ago & found it a few weeks ago & it despite the fact that i hadn't used it in forever hadn't thickened like most polishes do. I think it's brilliant & makes your nails feel immediately stronger on application, it also makes a good base coat as it fills in any ridges in your nails. So when i saw it on the website i bought another just in case its no longer available in drugstores.

Duo medical adhesive, i think everyone knows this is the best adhesive for applying false eyelashes so i don't think my glowing review will change any ones opinion!

I hope every ones week has been a little more joyful than mine, but i've had some amazing girls on twitter talking to me so thanks Kassandra, Hannah & Anne-Marie, you've really helped. & my amazing family, my surrogate mum (my aunt) kept me company last night, she fed me, got me drunk & kept me busy & my best friend/cousin Becky is always checking up on me bless her even when she's busy! i love how women pull together & support each other when a mans hurt one of us!!

I may crank another blog out before bed & do a quick lush review! & if anyone wants a review on anything just let me know, i want to know if the matifying lotion works personally!

Thanks for reading & i'll cya soon
Nicola
xxx

Customising Nail Polish!!!

Hey Ladies

Thought i'd do a quick little blog about customising nail polish, i never thought about doing it, i think my personal aim was to collect every imaginable shade of nail polish ever invented so there was no need to mix my own! but i gave it a go today after seeing a blog last night & her mixes looked amazing!

http://drfrankenpolish.wordpress.com/

that's her site if you want to check it out!! anyway at the moment i will do anything to avoid revision so searched ebay for cheap polishes, glitters, pigment samples etc to get started. Then i remembered i have loads of nail polish i don't use so gave it a go this morning before any new supplies are delivered! so i grabbed an old Liz collinge nail colour transformer i got years ago in the shade pear shimmer, which was basically a pearl shade. I then added to it some mac violet pigment & then a little bit of mac rich purple pigment & then shook a nail polish bottle like i've never shook before! (my arm was hurting)

I immediately applied it to my nails, & after 2 coats, it was love, i expected my first attempt at a mix would be terrible but it isn't!! its like a metallic pastel lilac if that makes any sense & looks so nice, its now been applied to my toes as well!!





With flash



Without Flash





In other news my dog has to have an operation tomorrow & i'm unbelievably worried & when this happens i bake like a mo fo!! & tomorrow i fear will be no different, i love baking & when i do it when worried it takes my mind off my life for a bit so really helps & then i get to feed people as well which makes me happy! i may post any recipes if they're nice, i use these stress baking sessions as a tester of new recipes, no ones counting on them then if they're rubbish as opposed to if i was making them specifically for something! i can remember a few months ago when i was worrying about my manfriend, i cooked more food & cleaned more than i have ever in the space of 36 hours! i could have held a street party with amount i made!

I hope you've all had a good weekend & if anyone knows of good combinations for mixing polishes let me know i think i'm addicted now!!

Thanks for reading & i'll cya later
Nicola
xxx

Rimmel & Natural Collection Review!

Hey Ladies,

I thought i'd do a little review of some of the stuff i got last week, i do have a mac haul coming up i'm just waiting for some pressed pigments & stuff to come so i can do it all at once rather than broken up & i'll review the products & any sellers i used as well so it gives me time to test them out for you in the meantime & give you a proper tried & tested review.


Rimmel London

Colour Rush mono eyeshadow in 010 - envy



After seeing a pixiwoo tutorial on Rimmel i was impressed & so thought i'd try out a few of their products. In her tutorial she used this colour & i've no idea what she did to get the colour on her lid because it certainly didn't apply well at all on mine, i tried it over a white & dark base & on its own & nothing gave me the colour that's in the pan. i find it so chalky & hard to work with so really not impressed with this shadow or the pigmentation of it. If anybody has this & knows what to do with it to make it apply better let me know otherwise its gonna be put at the back of the makeup drawer unloved & neglected!


Exaggerate waterproof eyeliner 250 - emerald sparkle



Love the colour of this eyeliner, basically if its turquoise or green i'll buy it! (you may have picked up on this already, if not you will) but this has tiny gold glitter in it & i find it a little scratchy which you don't want near your eye but i am willing to put up with it. Its very creamy so could be used as a base as it spreads well & is good as an eyeliner as well of course, i haven't tested the waterproofness of it yet but it lasted well on my eye when i applied it, so i would consider repurchasing this but would look for an alternative without the glitter first.


Natural Collection

Moisture shine lipstick - Rose Petal



I got 3 natural collection products for £5 so at that price my expectations weren't great, & i have to say i'm really surprised how good they are, now they're not as good quality as mac or a higher brand but taking into account the price & comparing it to the Rimmel stuff i'm pleasantly surprised. The lipstick is a lovely shade for me, a creamy pink/peach shade & it doesn't dry my lips out which is great & the staying power is ok, so for a cheap lipstick i like it!

Blushed Cheeks - Sweet cheeks



The above picture is the blush to the left & the lipstick to the right!

So i bought this blush mainly because of the name, yes i am that pathetic that i bought a blush because its the name my man friends calls me! anyway i didn't think i would wear this blush, but its cheapness & lack of pigmentation i consider a good think as it allows you to apply a subtle hint of colour or build it to however strong a colour you like!

Loose Powder - neutral translucent



this wasn't my final item for the £5, i bought a clear mascara which i use for my brows which does what it says on the box & is fine! i purchased this a while ago & though i'd offer my opinion, its not the best powder & certainly isn't translucent as it leaves you with a slight peachish tinge but not bad for the price, to use under the eyes as a finishing powder is a no no as it leaves you cakey but on the rest of the face to set your foundation its ok!

So that's about it for the reviews, i'm not a massive drug store makeup user but will definitely trying more, thanks to our little Georgie guru & her love love love for Maybelline lipstick i'm going to buy one as there was a lovely looking peach one she had bought & i dont think i've actually tried a Maybelline product! so i'll let you know how i get on. I would like to try out a new skin care regime as well but not spend fortunes like i usually do, so if you guys know of any good things for combination skin let me know & i'll check it out!!

Hope you're having a lovely weeekend, how nice is the weather & i'm stuck in revising or more accurately avoiding revising by writing blogs! ha ha!

Thanks for reading & i'll cya soon
Nicola
xxx

A fashiony/accessory haul!! & a little annoyance of mine!

Hey girls!!

I had a lovely trip to the trafford center in manchester this afternoon with my cousin Becky & despite my intention to not spend anything i obviously did! However my achievement for the day was that i entered selfridges, looked at the mac counter & purchased nothing!! mainly because i think i own everything now! i shall do a collective haul of my mac stuff a couple of cream colour bases arrived this morning & its love for me! but this is what i got today minus a massive bottle of sweet chilli sauce from selfridges! (get it, its amazing on everything!)


Topshop headband - £7
Sex Shoes from matalan - £16!!! <3 them!
Scalf thingi matalan - £3

Another headband matalan - £3.50
Bracelets matalan - £4
More bracelets matalan - £5
even more bracelets topshop - £9

i also bought a dress but my ginormous boobies are a little squished in them but it fits the rest of me grrr!! so need to return it!

i saw so many topshop head bands really hippyish for my fancy dress but i looked at them & thought i could make the exact same ones with some supplies for a tenth of the price & really unique, so i'm gonna give it a go & put the results & a how to up if you fancy it! let me know!!

anyways a little point of annoyance, i know most of u will have seen on twitter the comments & banter about the little girl on YT doing makeup tutorials & stuff & i really cant get over it! i was thinking about venturing into YT when i eventually work out how to but to think i might be contributing to little girls (shes no way 13, my cousin is 9 & is older than her for sure) wearing that much makeup & feeling the need to wear it doesnt sit well with me! in no way am i blaming gurus they do an amazing thing helping people & teaching & entertaining but correct me if i'm wrong but we used to use our mums hand me downs at 8 & in no way took it so seriously as kids do these days & to see an 8 year old with shadow insurance & mac makeup is frightning to me! i didnt become so self aware as she is until my teens & i know i sound old but when did it stop being ok to be just a kid! i'm not criticising her at all, shes got the confidence to do it which is great i'm criticising the parents for allowing their child to expose herself to the harsh criticism of the internet! i would never leave a horrible comment on a childs video (if i were to i'd advise her to stick to an accent & fill in the eyebrows but am resisting) There are gurus who are adults & still find it hard to ignore horrible comments so for a child it could be really damaging! & i find it so sad that kids are like that these days & i certainly dont want to bring a child into a world where shes expected to be like that, to look perfect! i didnt give a frig what i looked like & if my hair was straight enough i just enjoyed being myself yes i liked to look nice & girly but never covered my face in makeup to do that, the rising cases of anorexia in childeren really scares me, my cousin is 9 & asked me if she was fat a couple of months ago & it broke my heart! i am in no way skinny or have ever been but i've always had confidence i enhance myself with makeup i dont cover myself so i'm someone else! & i'd love your opinions on this subject because i'm really passionate about positive body image! i've had my mum hurl every insult at me calling me fat etc & i've always ignored them & thought differently & had confidence so to see girls thinking they need all the diets & makeup is awful they're beautiful exactly the way they are!

Sorry about that ramble! but let me know if you're as disgusted as me about it!

Hope you've all had a lovely day!
Cya Later
Nicola
xxx

Last Night FOTD! & Little Haul!

Hey ladies!

So last night i was sat in my lounge with my big brother who's returned home for easter weekend & got a text from my cousin/best friend go for a drink with her! i was looking awful & she gave me an hour to get ready & i dont think the results are that bad!!!




So Here's what i used!

Eyes
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Mac Teal Pigment applied wet with mixing medium
Mac Dark Soul Pigment
Mac Fluid Line in Blacktrack
No7 Lash 360 Mascara in Black
Mac Eyekohl in Smolder

Face
Smashbox Photofinish
Bobbi Brown Moisture rich foundation in warm sand
Bobbi brown corrector concealer in light bisque
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
Lily Lolo Flawless Matte Powder
No7 Natural blush in soft Apricot
Clinique true Bronze powder in sunkissed


My Little Haul!





So i had a little shop this morning & was very controlled! (you'll see why in my next haul!) & today i got;

Office plastic 3 drawer set to organise my makeup! from staples - £8.93!
Mesh Pen Holder for my face brushes from staples - £3.91
Vanilla Coffee Beans! had to share this because i love coffee & vanilla so together i hope they're amazing i'll let you know!! from Exchange Coffee Company - £2.40

& now the good stuff!!

Rimmel 3 for 2 at boots!
Colour Rush eyeshadow in Envy £3.42
Exaggerate Eye Definer in Emerald Sparkle £3.61
60 seconds Nail Polish in Green With Envy (you may cotton onto my love of greens & teals) FREE!

Natural Collection 3 for £5
Blushed Cheeks Blush in Sweet Cheeks (had to buy it, its my man friends nickname for me!)
Moisture Shine Lipstick in Rose Petal
LashCare Mascara - Clear mascara for my eyebrows!

Other stuff
Batiste in Blush £2.05 - God send! love this stuff!
200 Cotton buds £1.08 - essential for makeup!!
Dove invisible deodorant £1.29 - never used dove deodorant spray before so i thought i'd try i'm normally a sure gal!

Swatches



you cant really see the lipstick or blush! they are on the hand but the others have shown up! the eyeliner on the left & eyeshadow on the right!


Hope you ladies are having a lovely saturday, the weathers so nice & sunny where i am today! & i hope you all have a lovely easter weekend! if you want any info on anything just shout!!

Cya Later!
Nicola
xxx

Ins & Outs 1

well i said i'd do another blog earlier so its 2am & i'm doing it now! its not the products i cant live without like i said but a quick ins & outs!!

Ins

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm - my mum always swore by it & i never knew why, it stinks to high heaven as do all clarins products to me that why i dont bother with the brand but i was in Spain & applied my foundation & my skin was a little dry so it looked as if as i was wearing foundation so i grabbed my mums tube & slapped some on & i've finally found a purpose for it! it makes your skin glow & removes the look of foundation without removing any of the coverage! i need a new tube for myself! to prove it my man friend said how beautiful i was looking that night!

Mac 187 Brush - Its complete love for me, often the hype of something disappoints you when you eventually experience it! it didnt with this thank the lord. I use this one for my blush application & it is so nice to apply with this. I have ordered another so i have one for foundation but could use it as my highlighter as i'm got the 168 brush which is supposed to be good for foundation! decisions decisions

Food - So the last 6 months i've really struggled with food & basically halted my eating, its never an intentional avoidance of food but i lose my appetite completely so if i'm tired i forget to eat & so i lost about 2 stone maybe more. I am sick to death of my friend lecturing me & telling me to just eat! well i got back from Spain & i've forgotten & literally not stopped eating! Comfort eating on a massive scale but if it shuts him up when i update him via txt on his birthday on Sunday so be it!

Internet Shopping - I am currently at home all day every day revising for my final uni exams & basically my 4 year degree, not only am i doing that but i'm sat at my laptop all day missing my friend! so my mind needs occupying & accountancy aint doing that! but beautiful makeup & gorgeous clothes do so my bank balance has been battered! Blaming it all on mark for being out of contact & not being online to entertain me so i will inform of this upon his return to the matrix in 3 weeks or when i see him in 7 weeks (maybe then when its too late to return the stuff) :)

Outs

My man friend & my dog - enough said! the 2 things i love most in the world are in Spain & i'm in the UK :( completely miserable doing everything to keep my mind off it but nothings really working! missing them so much!

My Bank Balance - See above! its been raped & is a shadow of its former self!! ha ha! ah well money doesn't buy you happiness apparently but it can buy you a shit load of products & lovelyness!! that's enough for me plus in these current times i think my moneys safer where i can see it in my makeup collection & wardrobe rather than in a bank!! :)

Dove Hair minimising Deodorant - I bought it for the novelty factor & though oooh i'm going on holiday that'll be useful! Useless is the word i would use having tested it. The available fragrances stunk & i managed to stand the wild rose choice so bought it & noticed no difference whatsoever! it works as a deodrant so i cant complain! but i don't like the smell enough to buy this one over a normal one!

so there you go girls! let me know your ins & outs if u have any doesn't have to be beauty really but i love product reviews so let me know!

Thanks for reading

Cya soon
Nicola
xxx

Cheap Mac!!! :)

Hey Ladies

Quick little blog (unlike normal) about a website i discovered last night! i'm not gonna take credit for spending hours & hours searching for it, a fellow blogger missChievous mentioned it in an old blog post! The products are authentic & there's loads of brands available, i spent hours looking at the mac stuff last night! So i thought i'd spread the word because living in the UK & Europe we get such high cosmetics prices compared to the US! we should start a revolution & demand lower prices!! anyway so the site is

http://allcosmeticswholesale.com/index.html

The shipping costs are very reasonable & i'll do a quick comparison of prices i'm mainly focusing on mac because that's what i was looking at! so these are all products that can still be bought at mac, the site also does discontinued products as well although inevitably you'll pay a higher price but if you love it its worth it!

Plushglass - Ample Pink - $8.99
Slimshine - Ultra Elegant - $8.99
Technakohl eye liner - Jade Way - $10.99

So the total is $28.97 with $7.75 postage

Giving a grand total of $36.72 so approximately £25

If you buy from a mac store it comes to £36!!

£11 is another product & i find it ridiculous that is cheaper to ship stuff over from the US than buy it in own country! but if that's what i gotta do i will! I love a bargin!

Hope you're having a nice day & i'll probably be doing my favorite product tag later. i'm really avoiding doing revision for my exams!!

Cya Later
Nicola
xxx

Face Of The Day ... Kind of! Need some help girls!!!

Hey Ladies

So in may its my aunts 50th birthday party & it's fancy dress! i literally cant wait, i'm going as a hippy!! so girls that means i will be going all out for it & plan on having a brilliant night my family parties are the best, my man friend invited himself when i told him about it! he just said well i'll get a flight back to the uk & go as a hippy as well to which i replied you can come by the way! ha ha! bless! so i'm properly going for it, i'm getting extensions, more on that later, gonna be super beach babe brown (current tan plus fake tan, no sun beds ladies) big eyes & just looking fab! my friend wont be able to make it now so i want to show him what hes missing when he sees the pics!! ;)

So i need your help, i tried a make up look this afternoon minus eyelashes & i really dont know what to do, i want a summery look but cant really find any good ones on the net that i like so i'd love your help if u can & give me some ideas! i want massive eyes! i've got 2 sets of lashes for the top & a set of bottom lashes as well i just need decide on the shadow i'll be using!!

as for the extensions mentioned earlier, i decided to go for some. i've got really long hair as it is but i dont care i want to look & feel amazing so i think its worth it. I'm not getting them done at a salon or anything but i'm planning on buying wefts of hair & sewing them in myself! so tell me what you think about that & if you think its a good idea! i'll basically do it the traditional way of doing a horizontal corn row & then sew the weft to that! They'll be in for a week tops because i dont have time for the upkeep! but i think they'll be a great option to have if i keep the hair, i might go back to spain with them in & wow the friend! he told me last time how gorgeous i was looking with my makeup properly done! the cheek i thought he liked a more natural look! apparently not, so i might make an effort for him now & show him me with full makeup (hes never seen it)

so my face of the day (& an idea for my hippy look)





So its a gold & green look although it looks light green & dark green on the pic.

my products ...

Eyes

Too Faced shadow insurance
Mac Rubenesque Paint Pot
No7 Stay Perfect Eyeshadow in True Gold
Mac Emerald Green Pigment in crease
Mac Dark Soul in crease
No7 Lash 360 in Black
Elizabeth Arden Eye Defining Liquid Line in Black (Love it!)

Face
Smashbox Photofinish
Bobbi Brown Moisture rich foundation in warm sand
Bobbi brown corrector concealer in light bisque
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
Lily Lolo Flawless Matte Powder
No7 Natural blush in soft Apricot
Clinique true Bronze powder in sunkissed

So if you could help in any way with colour ideas or tips then i'd be so greatful!! i'm wearing a black maxi dress which is has a few colours running through it so no colours would clash with it s it can be anything, i'm up for trying all suggestions!

Thanks for reading & i hope you've all had a lovely wednesday!!
Cya Soon
Nicola
xxx

Products That I'm Using Now!

Hey ladies, so I thought I’d keep up my one a day blog update which I seem to be addicted to now, a little late tonight but I thought I’d do a products that I’m using now thing, I’ll try & give an opinion on some of the products if they’re great or terrible & I’d love to know what everyone else is using & if there's a star product you love let me know, I love to try out new stuff!

I had a really good day today, I basically have 2 best friends in my life, my man friend mark being my first & my cousin becky being the second. I haven’t seen her since Christmas day & she came round today & I loved catching up with her & ranting about my friend & how much I miss him etc & she listened & was there for me!

Products That I'm Using Right Now

HAIR

Shampoo - Loreal Elvive Re Nutrition Shampoo

Conditioner - Loreal Elvive Re Nutrition Conditioner

Hair Mask - Loreal Elvive Re Nutrition Deep Conditioner

Do you see a pattern?! Seriously ladies, I’ve used the most expensive products on my hair & these are just as good & cost so little (especially when they do buy one get one free in superdrug or boots I buy loads) it smells so good & I’ve got long hair & if I’m in a rush I shampoo my hair over the bath no conditioner & it feels like I’ve used it! & then I’ll use the leave in condition which is amazing!!

Styling Products - Loreal Elvive Re Nutrition Leave in conditioner, Bed Head Superstar Blowdry Lotion (smells devine)



BODY

Body Wash – Lush Honey I Washed The Kids Soap

Body Moisturizer – Palmers Cocoa Butter (the best)

Anti Perspirent – Dove Hair Minimising Roll On (Stinks & not sure if it works)

Fake Tan – All natural baby! Just got back from spain! He he! Normally St Tropez Lotion!

FACE

Makeup Remover – Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple Cleanser (amazing used it for 4 years)

Cleanser – Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel

Exfoliator – Dermalogica Skin Prep Scrub

Mask – Dermalogica Skin Refining Mask

Moisturiser – Dermalogica Active Moist!

Love dermalogica ladies their double cleanse system is brilliant & I use the philosophy cleanser instead of the pre cleanse by dermalogica because I have a big bottle but may try the pre cleanse once I’m finished with it so if any of you have tried it let me know how you got on with it!!



MAKEUP

Primer – Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

Foundation - Bobbi Brown moisture rich foundation in warm sand

Concealer – Bobbi brown corrector concealer in light bisque & Stila perfecting concealer - dont know the shade, its rubbed off! (i have very dark circles & so need a corrector as well as a concealer)

Powder - Lily Lolo Flawless matte powder

Blush - No7 Natural blush in soft apricot

Bronzer - Clinique true bronze pressed powder in sunkissed

Highlighter – Benefit High Beam

Eyebase - Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Eyeshadow – Nothing today

Eyeliner – Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in Black (love love love) somedays I’m in the mood for a gel liner somedays a liquid! Today was a gel!

Curler – Regular drugstore one!

Mascara – No7 lash 360 mascara (seriously not supposed to be waterproof but is for me i’ve done some serious crying tonight & its not moved plus really does wonders for your lashes)

Lipstick - Nothing

Gloss – Nothing just carmex balm!

Nail Varnish – Ciate Paint pot in plastic fantastic (see last blog) but after a day hasn’t chipped which is better than the other ones!

If anyone hasn't already done this Tag I Tag you!

Ciaté Paint Pots

So i got this little hat box full of Ciaté Paint Pots at christmas, used them a couple of times but me being me forgot about them til a sudden urge to occupy my mind today by painting my nails took over!! & i saw this in my collection! so i thought i'd try all the colours & let u guys know what they're like! It was £19.58 from asos (the collection isn't avaliable anymore but some of the colours still are individually) & for that price you got 6 colours & a top coat! which comes at about £2.85 a polish, when they retail individually for £7.35 so good value!





Plastic Fantastic



Went on well after one coat but needed 2 for a strong colour, really gorgeous pastel pink with a slight purple look. Still avaliable individually on asos & possibly my favorite of this collection.

Knickerbockerglory




I'd buy it just for the name, it went on well with the first coat so in a rush it would be enough coverage, but i'd shove another one on if i had the time! A gorgeous barbie pink! Chips like a mofo! i love the colour but literally have to touch it up the same day i apply! got a really good dupe though from no7 called berrylicious which doesnt chip as much!

Mistress



Really classic red & need a couple of coats of it to reach its potential & a great dupe for Nails inc Victoria & albert! Still avaliable on asos!


Dangerous Affair



A little uneven application but could be fixed on the 3rd coat but could mean it chips easily!

Mines A Mocha




Awful awful application such a wishy washy colour & after a second coat a horrible brown colour! still avaliable but i wouldnt bother if i was you!

Paprazzi




Again awful awful application it doesnt go on even & couldnt be corrected with more coats added! which is such a shame because its a lovely deep dark red which i love, i'm sure an alternative could be sought out!

So there it is, they're not the best nail polishes, the application can sometimes be fine & then other times awful so i wouldnt recommend the brand really unless theres a colour which your cant live without, if thats the case then be prepared to reapply because they do chip & peel!

Sadly today being a sunday & the fact that most of my friends had a hangover so wern't online to chat & keep me busy & there being nothing on tv my fingers started to press buttons & i ended up on the mac website! i'm actually scared by the reality of what i've done. i crumbled & went on a brush shopathon,

heres the damage
i got another 187 stippling brush,
190 - foundation brush
150 - large powder brush
168 - angled contour brush
194 - concealer brush
116 - blush brush

i resisted products which is something but still i will receive the package with utter shame! but it would be rude to send them back i think so will have to keep them i suppose! ah well! its my friends fault! i can blame everything on him for a month without him being able to reply! result the month long shopathon begins now! yey! :)

may do another blog later to keep me busy about products i cant live without or something!

thanks for reading ladies
cya later
Nicola
xxx