32 Brushes For £8.00??

Bonjourno, long time no blog! This is because I have been doing some blogologging on my wedding, over on my other page! If you want to check that out, click HERE. I am have also began a weight loss journey on there, so if you'd like to follow that, please do! Right, back to the world of beauty, I have missed it! I've got a few products to share over the next few posts, and also my July Glossybox post isn't up yet, so that will be very soon.

So today I just wanted to show you a little bargain. Basically, I have had the same brushes for about 3 years, and they have done really well. They were from the Birmingham Holistic health show, and were great quality. However, with finding that I don't have time to wash eyeshadow brushes everyday, when I want to use a new colour I end up with rainbow eyes. So It was really eyeshadow brushes I was after, ideally I'd love a couple of MAC 217's, but at £17.00 a pop, it's just not the right time!

So I had a little scout on Ebay, and this is what I found.

This wrap of make up brushes, was a mere £8.59! Link to the product is HERE.

There are 32 goats hair brushes, including plenty of eyeshadow ones! So just to tide me over, I think they are a complete bargain. There is an eyelash/brow brush, spooly, fan, eyebrow, eyeshadow, various fluffy face brushes and a HUGE mega fan brush that literally covers my whole cheek. 

Obviously, the quality isn't the best I've ever seen and there's been slight shedding on the large fan brush, but apart from that I can't really complain. What do you expect for eight quid? I haven't put them to the test yet, because they look all nice and pretty in their packets, plus I wanted to do this post first. So maybe if you are just starting out experimenting with make up, or just want to save a bit of dough for the mo, like me, they might be worth a clickety-click.

Super Mega HUGE fan brush!

The Ebay Seller was extremely quick dispatching, with me receiving them two days after I ordered them, so I can definitely recommend them!

Happy spending!

Ciao for now XxX

Freebies ♥

Gooooood Day everybody! The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, and I'm in the office, like many people at the minute! So as soon as I finish, I need to try and catch some rays! 

Today I'm going to do a little post on a couple of recent freebies. I must admit I did have one more product to put in, but I've forgotten to bring the item with me to photograph it which is a little irritating, but more on that in a little while.

So I popped into Birmingham with my friend Sarah and I have been on a spending ban. However, this weekend that did seem to fail quite miserably. Thumbs up to me huh? I had a voucher given to me by two of my friends Lucy & Becky, from when I worked at a hotel, for my birthday for House of Fraser. As you can imagine I was super excited so we headed there. Cue decent quality photos... ;)

Chubby Sticks! I LOVE these little guys, they are amazing. For just being at work when I don't need something super colourful, but just a hint of a tint, and a moisturising one at that - these fit the bill! They are £16.00 each from Clinique as mentioned in a previous post, but I think they are so worth it. So I went to buy one as I'd already bought a Chanel Lip Gloss (post coming soon) with the remainder of the voucher. The lady on Clinique then informed me that if you buy two products you can get a freebie!

That word is lethal to me, if it's free, I'm there. I'm all for a bargain and proud! So another Chubby Stick it had to be, so I got them in Pudgy Peony and Oversized Orange and I love them both. Free with them, there was a choice of two make up bags, but this one is a limited edition version for the Olympics/Jubilee and it's SO gorgeous! It's a bright, chic, city style print with London emblems on and little Clinique make up bottles. UhMazeBalls.

If you thought that was nice enough, it was full of goodies! A Superbalm moisturising lip gloss in Raspberry, a rinse-off Foaming Cleanser, a Dramatically Different moisturiser for dry skin, a Super Defense SPF 25 anti age cream, and a mini high impact mascara in Brightening Black. I haven't managed to try the products yet, but it's a great feeling getting such a pretty make up bag with all these products to try in it! Get yourselves to Clinique!

In Glamour magazine this month, they are giving a free sample of Balance Me products. I got hold of the face wash, worth £11.00! The magazine is £2.00, I haven't yet tried the wash, but I've heard a lot of good things about it. Also in Birmingham, a little Nivea concession had been set up in the Bullring, and I got four samples of the Nivea Soft moisturiser. This is because fashion designer Nicola De Main (no, I don't know either) has designed the new pots that it comes in. I forgot to bring the samples with me to photograph which is annoying, but they are small enough to take on the plane with me to keep hydrated through the flight.

I've also had an Urban Decay lip gloss free with a palette I bought, as mentioned in a previous post. Don't hesitate to ask for samples, they can only say no. However, with spending nearly £40.00 on one product, surely a little sample wouldn't hurt. A little bit of charm mixed with a little bit of cheek should get you everywhere! That's what I learn of my Nan anyway, she's the Queen of bartering. 

Ciao for now XxX

P.S. I'm going to be starting a new blog, all things wedding related, if that interests you then watch this space!

Ebay Wishlist ♥

Hello! I always find myself rooting through Ebay like a virtual car boot sale, put a hundred, million things in my watch list and never buy them. Anyone do the same? So I thought I'd compile my gatherings on here, so I can keep them where I can see them and you can see them too, and let me know what you think!

I'm going to split them into clothes and accessories, and make uppy bits. Here are the clothes first, underneath I shall put links to each one so you can check prices and things if you are interested.

Star Lobe Cuff Studs | Coral Vintage Ring | Khaki Slouch Top

Nude Studded Loafers | Coloured Skull Bracelet | Tan Chelsea Boots

I love love LOVE all these items, especially the boots, they are a bargain!

34 Make Up Brushes | False Lashes | 28 Blusher Palette

Duo Lash Adhesive | Nail Gem Wheel | Bioderma Make Up Remover

Yes I still haven't got myself a bottle of Bioderma. I'd rather go to Paris and get it than buy it off Ebay for a little break! So until then, I'll keep wishing! All of the items are a good bargain and are high up in my wishlist.

Little bit of a different post, hope you liked it. Something pretty to look at anyway!

Ciao for now XxX

Update & Organising ♥

Happy Monday lovers! Can Happy and Monday be in the same sentence? Ermm...Possibly not with 5 days until the weekend.

Today is going to be a wiffly waffly post, just giving an update on what's cracking on in my world. It may be painstakingly snoring, so feel free to press that little 'X' at any time! 

Work has been pretty busy, so Ed and I haven't really seen much of each other over the last week, but we are going on holiday to Cyprus on the 5th of July for 8 days, so that will be a nice break. We return on the 13th, and then it's my birthday on the 16th! I wish it wasn't a Monday, I can't get excited for it really because everyone is at work and such, so I'll just sit in a dark corner eating cake all day. Also, on my birthday it will be the year anniversary of our engagement! I can't believe how quick it's gone, it was one of the best times of my life going up that Eiffel Tower <3. Anyway, enough of the soppies.

Another bit of exciting news, that has all come about very quickly really, is that we may be moving into a house! We found one that we really liked pretty much straight away, granted it needs working on, but it's perfectly liveable at the moment. We live in a two story flat at the moment, with no garden or anything, so it will be so lovely to be able to have BBQ's (if the sun ever comes out), parties, BOUNCY CASTLES! Exciting! So everything is in the motions at the minute, and things look hunky dory, but I'm not getting excited until the keys are in our hands. You know how it goes with house buying, it's all a bit touch and go. Fingers crossed!

Just briefly, I started organising my dressing table yesterday. As you can see, not quite done yet!

I love this dressing table, Ed got it for me when we first moved in so I absolutely love it, it's just my style! However, with the move and everything, it seemed to just get bombarded with stuff and have no actual purpose because I didn't have a stool with it. But now I do! I have been using Ed's beside table to house a lot of my make up, and I always do my make up there because the light is good, but it isn't very fair on him really! So I spent some time tidying it all up yesterday, and it's starting to take shape.

The Dressing Table/Vanity is from Ikea, as well as the wire baskets next to it which are full of skincare, nail varnishes loads more when I'm done. I sat at it this morning and it was great to have everything organised within easy reach. If you want to know where anything else was from just leave a comment and I'll be sure to let you know.

If you can see the candle at the bottom there, that was from John Lewis and is called Fairy Dust. If you have a John Lewis near by, please go and smell it. It's blummin' AMAZING! It's so sweet and fills the room with the gorgeous scent after a few minutes. 

So there's my little rambly post, Operation Wedding Dress is in Operation Fail mode at the minute too, we have been eating far too much crap. So after our holiday, it's back down to the nitty gritty! 

Ciao for now! XxX

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

BeDazzled: A Deep Peacock Smokey Eye Tutorial ♥

Oh Hai! Today I'm finally going to do my first make up tutorial kind of post. I have wanted to do one for ages but I never seem to have the time! However, Ed and I went out for a meal on a whim last night, so I only had about 15-20 minutes to get ready, which shows how quickly this look can be done. At the time, because I am a donut, I didn't realise I was going to turn it into a tutorial so I haven't taken step by step photos fail, but, there are only three main colours too it and it isn't too difficult so I Shall explain step by step.

Here is a piccy wiccy of the finished look.

It was inspired by a teal and purple top I wore that night, so I continued the look right up to my eyeballs, 'cuz that's how I roll. So to begin, aside from your usual foundation routine and blush/bronzer/setting routine, I'm only really 'tutorialing' (what a great word I have just made up, somebody call Oxford) the eye look here. Firstly you will need the MUA Palette in Undressed, using the shade 12 (see red arrow). This is a gorgeous grey shimmery colour, with a very slight blue undertone, a great starter for our smokey look!

You will also need the Poptastic Palette by MUA, using shade 1 and shade 7, which will give our Deep Peacock look it's pop of colour.

Other friends we will need in this tutorial are:

Any Eye Primer (I use a plain cheap lipbalm, it's amazeballs!), Nyx chubby eyestick in Cottage Cheese, MAC fluidline in Blacktrack, a couple of shadow/blending brushes (these are rubbishy old ones, but still do the trick), black kohl eyeliner - mine is by Peggy Sage but MUA do a great black for £1.00 which is in waiting for when I have finished this one, No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara, Maybelline Falsies Mascara, Fine Liner Brush, Urban Decay flat shader brush from Naked 1 palette. 

Obviously all the products here are optional, and can be adapted to something you have got at home!

Let's get to it!

Step 1: Prime the lids with your choice of primer, this will make the colour last and pop.

Step 2: Take a shadow brush, and shade 12 from the Undressed palette, and pack it all over the lids. (Don't worry about being too neat here).

Step 3: Take a clean blending shadow brush, and blend out the edges, so there are no harsh lines. Blend it up to just past the crease of your eye, but don't wing this grey shade out to the side very much.

Step 4: Take the turquoise shade 7 from the Poptastic palette, but don't load the brush heavily as this will put too much onto the eye. The key to this look is graduate and blend blend BLEND! Put this colour on the outer corner and above the crease. Keep dipping the brush in the palette and blending it out until there is a bold colour, but a soft gradient outwards. You can also wing this out towards the last point of your brow.

Step 5: Take the purple shade 1 from the Poptastic Palette, and take that over the grey beginning at the inner corner, towards the middle of the eyelid - but leaving a little of the grey colour still showing in the middle. Take a clean blending brush, and continuously blend until you are happy that it's smokiiinnnn'! With the flat shader brush, bring a little of the grey under the eye, the purple on the lower inner corner and the green on the outer, and blend out. This really makes a difference to a smokey eye.

Step 6: For added definition add a light shimmer highlight colour to beneath the brow bone, this also gives the edges of the gradient something to blend into to complete the look. I used a random off white shimmer colour from a palette I had in Cyprus, but any will do! Also, take the Nyx Jumbo stick in Cottage cheese, and pop some in the Inner Corners. Light will hit this and give the illusion of widened eyes.

Step 7: Take some gel liner, or whatever you are comfortable with using, and line close to the lashes with a fine brush. I haven't winged mine out, as it may be too much, but if you want to go on all out there, feel free! Bring what's left on the brush close to the lower lashes for subtle definition. Take a kohl pencil, and line the waterline.

Step 8: Use your favourite mascara to create volume and flare to the lashes. I use the No7 Definition mascara to give me the look of more lashes with no clumps, and then Maybelline Falsies Flared to add length and volume. You can also add false lashes here, I just didn't have time!

Step 9: Finish the rest of your usual make up, adding a subtle lipgloss or nude lipstick. I used MUA love hearts lip balm in 'Sugar Lip's', as with such a heavy eye you don't want a garish colour to clash with it. The lip balm just give's a nice gloss, and a nice finish to the look.

And you are done! A lot of reading I know, but at least it's always here if you fancy having a go. Let me know what you think of the look! What are your favourite eye looks at the moment? Do you love the MUA palettes? I do!

Here are a couple of pictures of the finished look!

 I'm not as moody as I look here, honest! Haha!

Ciao For now! xXx

Acrylic Storage ♥

Mornin' all! Even though it's afternoon...

I thought I should share with you today, all about acrylic storage for all your make uppy things. I've seen a lot of Bloggers and Youtubers have acrylic storage, and I've been like hmmm do I or don't I, because it ain't cheap you know guys, and I'm all for the cheap!

However, I went to the Muji store in Birmingham for the first ever time over the last weekend, and I was amazingly surprised at what they have in there! It's the oddest shop really, and sells the randomest of items, but I really liked it.They have got layers upon layers of acrylic storage, and I have walked past that shop a hundred times without noticing it. So I thought I would just get two pieces to start with, see how I like it, as they are priced at around £7.95 each.

I got one that I guess is like a pen holder, with four upright compartments, and two low longer ones. I also got a single story wide drawer. They also do this drawer with a flip top lid but they are slightly more pricey. They are the same width so they fit on top of each other nicely, and they also have thin rubber grippers on the bottom so they are easy to stack. These are more or less to hold everything I use day to day, but I absolutely love being able to see my stuff, and that it's all nicely organised ready to pick out what I want.

Birds eye view! I really recommend this as a way of storage if you are stuck, I feel so much better just organising this little amount into the acrylic storage and I definitely am going to begin to collect it so I can organise my whole collection. If you fancy a gander at Muji, take a look HERE.

And just a little picture of my Peanut to finish the post. She's all tired out after a long day of chewing hay. <3

Ciao for now XxX

Mini Online MUA haul ♥

Hellooo lovers. I did my first order from the MUA website, and thought I would share with you my little experience. I am an avid lover of MUA cosmetics and I have too much a LOT of their range. However, the Birmingham Superdrug is always either sold out, messy, or never have the product that I want in store, so I have given up going on that front. I had seen the new 'Undressed' palette was out too, as well as the lip booms that I didn't have any of, so I thought to myself - without further ado, I shall order from the world wide web. Order HERE.

I am terrible for being an online web window shopper. I don't know what it is, I look at the price and sit and think about it more if it's on the screen in front of me. Also, it drives me crazy that I have to pay for shipping, BUT if I went into Birmingham I know it would cost me that in petrol or a train ticket anyway, so I have to get over that. They can't be just sendin' stuff out for free now can they!

I ordered by about 1pm on whichever day I did it on this week...my memory fails me, and it came the next day! That is a jolly good old service if I do say so! There's nothing better than getting a package off the postie, even though you know what's in it. True, right?

So here is what I ordered:

*NEW eyeshadow palette in 'Undressed' - £4.00

*Love Hearts Lip Balm in 'Sugar Lips' - £2.00

*Nail Polish in 'Shade 13' - £1.00

*Lipstick in 'Shade 15 Juicy' - £1.00

*Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencil in 'Jet Black' - £1.00

*Single Matte Eyeshadow (my brow colour) in 'Shade 19' - £1.00 

*Pressed Powder in 'Shade 1' - £1.00 (my favourite bargain!)

*Lip Boom in 'O.M.G' (orange/coral shade)

*Lip Boom in 'Cheeky' (baby pink shade) - Currently two for £4.00

Sorry about the picture quality again, I just take quick snaps on my Iphone so I can be Speedy Gonzales in my blogging. Or I'm just too lazy to pick up my Canon.

So here is the Undressed palette. I like the name, I like the shades, I like the pigmentation, I like the price, I like the compact packaging...Someone who created this will be getting a bigger head by the second if I continue! But whoever did, deserves the recognition. For the price, it is really great, and I can't wait to give it a good whirl over the weekend - which I plan to post some Face Of The Day blogs I hope. 

There are three matte shades and the rest are shimmers, here is a quick swatch of Shade 2, Shade 9, Shade 10 and Shade 11 if you can even see it because the pic is very blue - apologies! This is just one little swipe, so you can see they have good pigmentation, with the ability to create a multitude of looks. Four quid well spent.

Here is the Love Hearts lip balm. I really wanted something out of the Love Hearts range because the packaging is so cute! They do have nail polishes too, but I figured I have too many, so lip balm it was! This is Sugar Lips, and it is a bright pink lip balm that smells AMAZEBALLS. It's so vanillery! Nice and big pot for a lip balm too, and will definitely be making a more permanent home in my handbag.

Here is a light swatch of it, a nice and sheer pink lip balm.

Onto lip booms! I have actually ordered another one with my Mom, but the two I got were O.M.G and Cheeky. The sticky marks are just where I have taken the packaging tape off, I have got them off now! So O.M.G is a gorgeous orange, coral colour and yet another product with an amazing vanilla smell. I literally can be at my desk with the lipgloss wand up my nose, eww I just love the smell. 

Cheeky is a barbie-pink colour. The lipsticks are a little waxy when you first try them out of the packaging, but after a few strokes on the lip, you are good to go with great pigmentation and coverage.

Swatch of O.M.G, glossed over on the left, withouht gloss on the right. 

Swatch of Cheeky (just to confuse you) without gloss on left, with gloss on right.

The ethos behind the Lip Boom is that it is a four in one product. Matte lipstick, lipgloss, lipgloss over the lipstick, and lipgloss as a highlight in the centre of the lips. Well I think it works a treat, and think I shall have the full collection soon enough I hope! Have you got any Lip Booms or other colours you think I should try??

Right I've waffled enough now, but I am always pleased when I have a new MUA product, they never cease to amaze.

Ciao for now XxX

Thursday Thoughties - Illamasqua Skin Base ♥

Hi and Happy Thursday Thoughties! This week, as I mentioned in my previous post, I purchased Illamasqua Skin Base foundation as opposed to NARS Sheer Glow. This was not because I don't love the NARS Sheer Glow, but there are so many high end foundations out there that I haven't even thought about trying yet, so my mission is to work my way through them all until I come across one to stick to.

As I briefly mentioned yesterday, I went to the Illamasqua counter in Selfridges to get the correct shade matched to my skin. The make up artist on the counter only put this shade over half of my face, whereas the NARS lady put three different colour lines on my forehead so I could see which blended in perfectly. I wasn't convinced this was the right shade, and that it was oh-so-slightly too dark, but the girl on the counter was pretty much horrified that I had counteracted her expertise. So in the end I agreed with her and purchased it anyway! I am a world class donut, because I have got it home and I still think it is slightly off.

This is what the bottle looks like and it is in shade 3.5. I honestly think I must be a 3, if that is a touch lighter. I also found that this seems to have more pinky undertones, whereas the NARS had yellow undertones which I think suited me better. Make sure when getting matched you can go out into daylight and have a glance in a mirror, because £25.00 is a lot of money to get the incorrect shade. 

While writing this I just checked on the Illamasqua web page to see if this 3.5 shade is pink or yellow undertoned, and it is pink! So I was right, whereas shade 03 is yellow. I can put up with it after blending with powders and bronzers, but it's a bit of a pain, so do make sure you speak up - unlike moi, I'm just a weakling.

These are my pyjama bottoms in the pictures by the way...aristocats ftw!!

This is what a little bloberino looks like, I guess the same as any would when I put it on my hand like that...Anywho, onto coverage and things that matter. I found I have to work quicker with this foundation as it does start to dry. However I do think this is an advantage as it is a buildable foundation, so if it dries quicker, the more layers for coverage I can pile on. I must say all colour quibbles aside, I do very much like the coverage of the skin base and it is pretty flawless. I am less shiny as the day goes on with this foundation, as I have oily to combination skin, this is a plus.

Here is how it looks on the old boat race. My skin has cleared up over the last few days too thanks to a really cheap skincare routine I am currently doing! I shall share more about that soon, but it is like a miracle. 

It's a good foundation, but I don't know if I would rush out and buy it again soon, OR that it is just because of the colour that I am disappointed...maybe I'll try again with a different shade, but it doesn't look to bad here after bronzing and setting so I'll stop moaning now!

Random quickie...how amazeballs is this jumper??! I want it so bad but I would throw up if I spent £100 English Pounds on a jumper! I fully love it though.

Overall a nice foundation, with a good coverage. Would like to try it in the correct shade!

Rating out of five: ****

Ciao for now XxX

Jubilee Make Up and Celebrations ♥

Oh Hello! I feel like I haven't blogged for SO long, it is because I have been at home or being a busy bee. So we have just celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and it really does make you feel all patriotic and proud to be British AND gives us make up nuts a great excuse to experiment! 

I had already sort of planned it out in my head how I was going to crazy-up my face, so it was just a case of doing it! I used my 120 palette from Ebay that I totally love, and know when I need a colour I don't have, I have that to fall back on. You can purchase it HERE. For my brows I used MUA Royal Blue pencil, white pencil and then a random unbranded red lipstick, set with a reddy-orangey eyeshadow, because I actually don't have a red eyeshadow! On my lips I used a lip tattoo, which I actually found pretty difficult to do. I bought a cheap one for about a quid off Ebay, whereas I wish I had spent the money and got a Violent Lips one now because I ended up peeling this off after about two hours because it was driving me mad. It gave the effect I wanted for a little while I guess, but at least I will know now for next time.

This is Eds sister Maria and I, attacking her with my Deely Boppers!

These shoes I got for £3.00 from Primark which was a total bargain, and the stickers were also from Primark for a pound. So Jubilee shoes for £4.00! Not bad, apart from they really hurt and I soon changed to flats...

I made some jubilee cupcakes too, and it was actually a pretty good recipe, the cakes were perfecto! Get the recipe HERE. I use 'Goodtoknow' for nearly every recipe I do, it's such a great website and definitely worth checking out.

Maria, Jonny, Ed and Me! <3 

Pair of Union Jacks =)

Ed and I, and he is also getting attacked by my Deely Boppers. 

It was a good day, and ended up with us all watching Aladdin, as you do! I am literally off to London in about two hours, so I'll get to see the aftermath of the Jubilee down there. If you haven't read my post about why I am going, my Grandad is a Chelsea Pensioner and it is his Founders Day tomorrow, where a member of the Royal Family comes to review them. Fingers crossed it is Kate! I think I would die if it was! 

Also, I must try and keep away from Carnaby Street, or else my purse shall die too!

I may try and blog from my phone tomorrow, so I'll update then!

Ciao for now XxX