Thursday Thoughties - No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara ♥

Hey Guys, time for Thursday Thoughties again, and today it's going to be on the No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara, bit of a mouthful! It claims to be nutrient enriched, so all good and healthy for my little lashlets!

It is priced at around £13.00 I believe, but I had a nifty No7 voucher from Boots, because when you spend over a fiver you get a fiver No7 voucher, which is fab.

I was in need of a new mascara so I thought I might as well spend the voucher and get a No7 one, as I haven't tried any of their mascaras. I usually go for a volumising mascara with a thick-ish bristly brush, you know the ones, but this is pretty much the exact opposite.

I love the sparkly jade green packaging, I think it makes it look quite luxurious and reminds me somewhat of Harrods! 

The brush itself is a plastic bristle brush, with three different lengths on it. The aim of this mascara is to maximise the amount of lashes and not the volume particularly, so I did have to keep this in mind as I'm not used to that. There are teeny tiny bristles one side, to get right into those lashes you couldn't usually reach. Then the two longer ones help to elongate the littluns, and extend the biguns! 

It actually does a really good job, and does give me loads more lashes than what I usually have, with certainly no clumps. I do sometimes feel though that the plastic brush doesn't always pick up a lot of the product, meaning continuously dipping back in the tube, but I can live with that. 

Scary eye picture time... Sorry for the rubbish quality I haven't got my camera with me, but you can just about see that it picks up a lot of lashes! It's also not a 'wet' mascara if you know what I mean, like if you were to sneeze when applying it (how irritating is it when that happens?), it wouldn't really cover your eye in it all because it dries pretty quickly.

Overall I do really like the mascara, but tend to use it first to catch individual lashes, and then use volumising mascara afterwards for more of a flare. 

Keep your eyes peeled as I'm going to do my first giveaway with this mascara soon if you are interested in trying it. Everyone loves a freebie!

Rating out of 5: *****

Ciao for now XxX

Mini Make Up Haul ♥

Bonjour mes amis! Over the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting up with my very lovely friend Sarah, and we had a little mooch around Birmingham. I was going in with pretty much empty pockets, but of course I just can't come out with nothing; why break the habit of a lifetime?

I got the train into Birmingham for the first time in ages! I usually hate hate hate public transport, but this time around I felt that it was actually much easier than battling through the Sunday traffic, losing my car in Selfridges as I do every single time, and it gives me a good walk either side of the journey. Win win situation.

SO, onto the bedlam of the every burning hole in my pocket!

This is what my hand looked like after we decided to venture into Selfridges at the end of our trip. I told myself not to go in there and risk buying anything, but I can't actually do it. Anyone else suffer with the same issue?

Ok, so first I headed into Boots, and after recently trying out Models Own nail polish in Tropical Sun, I was very impressed! So of course I went back, and they are currently on offer at Boots 2 for £8.00. I had seen on a few beauty bloggers/vloggers channels that Indian Ocean is one that is majorly sought after, and I can see why! Oh my life it is absolutely stunning! I found it and there were only about 2 bottles left on the shelf, so I snapped me one right up!!! It is a beautiful iridescent pale blue with an added pink tone running through it. It dries super quick in seconds, and here's what it looks like with two coats, and what I currently have on! 

(Used with Boots falsies)

I also got the Models Own nail polish in Aqua Violet, which is part of the Beetlejuice collection. I always go for colours like this because my favourite colour in the whole world is Turquoise, and my hair is this colour so it's great to match! Aqua violet is quite a deep teal colour, and is a duotone with purple running through it.  I haven't tried it out yet, but I can't wait to! Also as you can see there, is another duotone iridescent colour from Barry M called Silvery Purple. In the light you can see purples, greens, blues and silver flecks in the bottle. I have only done a little test coat on my natural nails and it is quite sheer, but I think after two coats it would be perfecto. It's another gorgeous colour from Barry M and for £2.99 it's another bargainous buy. 

I also got the magnetic varnish in the black shade from Barry M, but I need to have a proper fiddle about with it first!

I finally got my first Illamasqua product! And my gosh I am excited about it! Sarah and I spent a good old while rummaging through their collection, with plenty of 'Ooo's' and 'Aaah's'. I actually couldn't come out of there empty handed, I think it is my new lust brand. I always love bright and wacky make up and they fit my every need! I think I am going to find myself going there every week getting a new product. This is a pure pigment, which is priced at £15.50 which I don't think is too bad as I think this will be a product that lasts a hell of a long time. This shade is called Static, and is a glittery iridescent (can you feel a theme here?) pinky purple. It is amazing and looks just like fairy dust! It can be used on the eyes, cheeks or mixed with an existing product. I can't wait to have a go with it!

Then we headed into Primark because we had heard they were doing nail art pens, but unfortunately ours had ran out! However they are doing a few beauty products so I picked up one of their lipsticks. They aren't named or numbered but it is the spotty one in the picture below, and is priced at £1.00. It is a light muted pink, and actually isn't the best product in the world and smells a bit like playdough. It's quite drying, but over lip balm it's actually a nice colour on the lips. For a pound I guess I can't grumble, but I doubt I would re-purchase.

Next was MUA at Superdrug which you know I love, and for a pound each these lipsticks are no comparison to the Primark one. They are just great! So moisturising and glossy with such a great range of shades! The colours don't pick up too well on my Iphone camera but it gives you an idea. The second from the left is 'Shade 12' and is a shimmery pink (not coral like it looks here), the next is 'Shade 5' and is a shimmery very light pink (gorgeous for everyday wear!) and the last is a deep pink with bluey undertones, and is 'Shade 3'. All gorgeous and I don't ever have a bad word to say about MUA really!

Swatched from top to bottom: Shade 3, Shade 12, Shade 5 and the Primark muted pink.

So here we are in Birmingham Bullring after we got attacked by Illamasqua! It was a lovely day and nice to see Sarah and I look forward to catching up again soon!

Have you bought anything new recently? Anything I should try? I would love to know!

Ciao for now XxX

Make up, nails n stuff! ♥

Hey everyone! So I thought I would just do a little update again with what has been crackalacking! Ed & I are off to the lake district tonight which is a lovely picturesque part of the UK, and covered in lakes! (If you hadn't already guessed...) So we have been before to this particular hotel, but it was only on business last time. We liked it so much we thought it would be nice to spend the weekend there for Eds birthday tomorrow, so we can have a little relax and an explore. Then we go to Cyprus 2 weeks today! Woohoo I'm excited, so much going on! 

So firstly, I have FINALLY bought a 120 palette. Something I am sure you have all seen before, but it has taken me years to get on the bandwagon! I don't know why really just haven't bothered, but I am glad I did now! It did take the mickey to come as it is from China, almost 3 weeks! But it was worth the wait. If you just type into Ebay '120 palette' they all come up. Usually they set you back about £10 - £15, but I quickly jumped in on a bid only one and got it for £7 with postage, so keep your eye open for a bargain! 

Sorry about the shocking picture, it was just a quick one to send to my Mom! The colours are wickedly pigmented, and I think it is going to last me rather a long time!

We went for a curry with Eds Mom and Dad for Eds birthday as we won't be here, so I thought I would try the palette out. Here I am wearing a very light lemony nude shade, applied firstly all over the lid. (After applying primer), then if you can see the blue patches on my top, I matched that to the nearest blue on the palette, and put that on the outer corners and crease. To define it a little more, I went in with a darker turquoise shade (a little like my hair colour), and further defined the crease, and super blended it all. I quite like these colours together, nice and springy! Earrings £2, Necklace £4, Shrug top £8 all from Primark. On the lips, George ASDA nude lip liner £4, and MAC Hue over the top £13.50.

Again sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but we were zooming really quick out to the cinema to see the Hunger Games!! I thought I would do a really quick 5 minute Katniss Everdeen inspired look - not exact, but how I liked it! I did a messy side plait as she has it, thick black winged liner (Blacktrack fluidline from MAC £16.00), mascara (MUA curved mascara £3.00) and Hue from MAC on the lips (£13.50). I thought the film was absolutely amazing and the second one can't come quickly enough!

So for tonights Lake District adventure, I have done my nails ready for the weekend. I decided to do a graduated glitter nail, because they always look pretty cool, especially when I have my fakies on. Fake nails are 200 pack from Boots (£8.00), my holy grail fake nails! Polishes are both from Primark and come in sets of four (not these colours together though), and the sets are £2.00 each. They are great quality varnishes and the blue is a one coat wonder! To graduate glitter, start about a quarter way up from the cuticle to the tip, then let it dry. When dry start a little bit further up, let dry etc etc you get the drift! If its a holographic glitter like this, try and get most of the larger glitter pieces towards the nail tips, it may be fiddly but gets a much better graduated look! Finish up with some Sally Hansen Diamond Shine nail hardener (£10.00) - not really a top coat but works wonders for me! 

So there you have it! Do you have any good nail designs to try? I would love to see!

Thanks for reading and I'll post some piccies when we return! 

Ciao for Now xXx