Sunday, 19 May 2013

Introducing Charmnest


I was contacted by the lovely Greta and she informed me that she had started her own jewellery site 'Charmnest' where she was selling cheap but lovely costume jewellery. I love jewellery pieces as a great way to accessorize an outfit so I was excited to check out the site to see what was to offer. I only bought two pieces and wished I had bought more but I was too excited and just wanted to pick something to receive it (looking back at this it sounds so stupid!). But don't fear as when I get paid I will most definitely be ordering some more lovely pieces!


It's an unusual design and it's pink, what is there not to like about this little number! I don't own anything at all like this and don't think I've seen anything similar in any shops as of late. And to top it all of at only £2 you just simply can't say no. This is also available in a almost lime green colour.


This little baby is the hardest thing to photograph to show all it's goodness. I'm afraid my photo doesn't do it any justice but from what you can see of it its a cute little arrow with black gems in it. It just slips on to my wrist but isn't too big that it slips right back off. And again at such a bargain price of £3.50 is amazing!

I thought i'd show you some other bits I hope to order soon...

1. Angel Wings Necklace £6.50 | 2. Chunky Ring £3.50 |

And as a added bonus until the end of the month (which isn't long!!) Greta is very kindly offering bloggers a 20% discount using the code BLOGGER20.

Has anything caught your eye?



Saturday, 18 May 2013

A New Addition To My Polish Collection...


The last time I bought a product from Models Own was about 2 years ago in one of their amazing sales. I've always wanted to buy polishes since but for some reason I just never have. Also I'm one for quick simple colour, I only wish I was artistic enough to do some amazing designs like some I see on blogs or instagram. But to get me started on my long journey I saw these and thought it was an easy way for a starter to begin.
Models Own chose their 8 bestselling polishes and paired them with their most popular nail effects. The duo polishes consist of a plain coloured polish coveted 'Paint It' and either a glitter polish or another effect named 'Cover It'. The one I purchased was 'Snow Mix' which is made up of 'Snow White' polish and 'Ibiza Mix' glitter polish from the Hed Kandi range. I have yet to try this out but can tell I am going to love it!

Available from Models Own Site | Boots

Do you own any of these yet?



Friday, 17 May 2013

RiRi ♥ M.A.C Summer 2013 Collection


You will probably see this pop up on about 10,000 beauty blogs at some point this week but as a MASSIVE Rihanna fan I had to mention it on my blog. The images for her Summer portion of her year long collaboration with M.A.C cosmetics have been revealed and I must say I will probably buy all of it!
The first part was her redesigned version of the cult classic Ruby Woo lipstick 'RiRi Woo' which sold out within the first 3 hours of going on sale. This went on sale to coincide with her Stadium Tour on May 5th & 6th. I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of these and I refuse to use it until I at least get myself a backup (yes i'm that sad!!)
I admit that the main reason I am attracted to this collection is because it's Rihanna. The past year or so I've found myself not needing to buy from collections much but this one is a certainty.


Lipsticks
RiRi Woo - Matte Cool Red (Retro Matte).
RiRi Boy - Retro Matte Version Of 'Up The Amp'. (Retro Matte).
Heaux - A Deep Berry (Retro Matte).


Blush Duo
Hibiscus Kiss - Cool Coral / Matte Neutral Bronze.


Lustre Drops
Barbados Girl - Light Golden Bronze Shimmer

Out of the whole 5 items the one I could probably do without least is the lustre drops as I've had them before and never found them of much use.

What do you think of the collection? Will you be buying anything from the collection?



All images taken from Google.

Thursday, 16 May 2013

Trevor Sorbie Catwalk To Salon Event


Yesterday after work I got home, touched up my makeup and hair (which was a little bit of a waste of time as it was pouring down with rain and I had no umbrella!) and got picked up by the lovely Laura. Off we went into Brighton to meet up with some other lovely bloggers for an event at the Trevor Sorbie salon.
Me and Laura were a tad early so after a quick look in Boots (The BarryM stand had been stripped so hopefully the new polishes were going in!) we started to make our way down to the salon but as we were still early we sat in Starbucks for a little chat. After a little bit we made our way into the salon and was greeted by Lisa & Clare and were offered a drink. We both went for a cheeky white wine.
Soon enough the rest of the girls turned up and we were treated to two demonstrations of some catwalk hair that both Anna and Fergal had worked on during London and Paris fashion week.

Anna treated us to this 70's inspired look from the Marc Jacobs A/W 2013 London Fashion Week show. She explained that where was a lot of time inspired looks this year but a lot were 80's or 90's and that Marc Jacobs went different with using the 70's. Also a far side parting is going to be all the trend for later in the year so they included this within the look. I loved the look of this but don't know if I would be brave enough to wear it out but Anna did recommend not to tease it as much to make a smaller version better for a night out.

The look Fergal recreated was The Wet Look Sporty Ponytail from the Peter Pilotto A/W 2013 show from London Fashion Week. This look was created with water, mousse and oil to create the wet look. The key to this look was the placement of the ponytail. Too high and it gives off a girly look, too low and it just wouldn't look sporty. The most interesting part of this look was how the ponytail was finished off. Not with just a normal hairband but with a length of elastic, wound round the ponytail to make it stick out of the head. Resembled to an actual pony's tail where it comes away from the head gives it that sporty look. Then the ends are drenched in water and oil to help keep it looking wet throughout the show.

The two finished looks.

After a little chat we were treated to the chance to have our hair done. We were asked if we wanted to bring pictures along of any catwalk hair styles we liked and maybe wanted to recreate. I chose a picture I found of Cara Delevingne with a kind of soft beehive with loose waves.


I had the pleasure of Fergal completing this look on me and boy did he do a good job.


I absolutely love it and only wish I was this creative with my own hair at home although Fergal did talk me through it and give me a few hints and tips so I may try and recreate this at home at some point!

Girlies getting their hair done.

Lauren from BelleDuBrighton having her hair curled.

 Hannah from HVA Beauty and Style getting her hair braided!

I had an amazing night and we were even given a little goody bag on our exit which I'll post about another time as this is already quite a lengthy post! And even more generous we have been offered a free colour, cut and blowdry! I was so shocked when we found out as I am not a natural blonde so am in desperate need to get my roots done!

If you live in or near the Brighton area I definitely recommend popping into the salon. It's such a relaxed environment, that mixed with the amazing friendly staff is sure to make for an enjoyable time at the hairdressers!




Monday, 13 May 2013

The Speckled Nail Invasion


There's been a new invasion in the nail trend world... Speckled Polish! This hot new trend has been backed by many brands bringing out their own version of the current obsession. Textured nails are quickly becoming a thing of the present including Barry M's summer pastels and Nails Inc Concrete polishes.
I thought I would do a quick roundup post of whats to offer in the land of pretty nails...

Barry M Sequin Nail Effect | £3.99

Available in Pink, White or Black, the Barry M sequin polishes are a textured finished nail paint. The Pink & White have a mixture of multi-coloured sequins within the sheer base polish whereas the Black is plain gold which gives it a very elegant look. If you don't like a textured finish to your nails then these may not be for you. Available from the Barry M website, Boots and Superdrug.

Illamasqua Speckled Polish | £14.50

On the other end of the scale and probably the first raved about speckled polishes are from Illamasqua. Available in 5 different shades; 'Freckle', 'Speckle', 'Mottle', 'Fragile' and 'Scarce'. I have yet to see these in person but can tell my the images that they sure are pretty. They are all sheer colour bases with a mixture of micro black and small glitter. These are probably the least textured out of all of the polishes available out there. These are limited edition so if you haven't picked them up yet what are you waiting for! Available from the Illamasqua website.

Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots | £2.99

The cheapest of the three at just £2.99 a bottle are the Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots. Available in four shades; 'Rainforest Canopy', 'Shooting Stars', 'Speckled Pink' and 'Chalkdust'. They are made up of the four different shades for a base with differently sized hexagonal glitters. I've been told the key to these polishes is the layering, 2-3 coats and you have yourself a pretty, party perfect manicure. So far I have only been able to find these in Superdrug but have seen some people buy them from Boots.

Do you own any of these polishes? Which are your favourite?

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Friday, 10 May 2013

Beauty Haul | May 2013


First let me apologise for the lack of posts lately. I've had a bit of a busy time lately as I had a job interview yesterday which I was so nervous for. But fingers crossed I get it as I hear back in a couple of days. And also I've come to realize that I'm too tired after work to even think about sitting down to write blog posts (that's what getting up at 2:30am does to you!). So this is where I am going to try and be more organised by writing all my blog posts in advance on my days off so they are ready to schedule for the coming week. Anyway with that out the way let's get on to the actual reason I'm sitting here typing, a good old beauty haul! First the boring stuff...

Boots Build Up Removal Expert Shampoo | £3.49
I tried to find this online but it's not actually on their site so i'm guessing it may only be in selected boots stores. I used this a couple of years ago and then for some reason could never find it to repurchase it. Now I know it's because they changed the packaging. I love this product as I use hairspray a lot and although I always use ones that brush out I can always still feel it in my hair. I use this 1-2 times per week depending on what products I've used that week.

Garnier InvisiDry Deodorant | £2.19
Not the most exciting purchase but I do have to be careful with what deodorant I purchase as I have had really bad, painful reactions before to certain brands. I love this one and it just works for me. Plus it's usually on some kind of deal wherever you shop.



BarryM Nail Art Pen 'Black' | £4.99
These nail art pens are all over the blogs at the moment so I thought I'd get in on the action. I have yet to try it out as I always want to use it and come to a blank when I think what designs shall I do. I went for bog standard black to start with but it is also available in white and pink.

Allura Nail Art Decoration Kit | £1
Whenever I'm in town I like to always have a look in Poundland as you can sometimes find some right little gems in there. Can you sense a theme here? (Nail Art Alert!!). I want to jazz up my nails for the summer so I bought this nail art wheel with some pretty gems in a multiple of colours. I know these are available on eBay but I thought for £1 i'll try these out.

MUA Nail Polish 'Frozen Yoghurt' and 'Pistachio Ice Cream' | £1
I know there's been much controversy over MUA and the fact that some of their new products are ripping off other brands. Will this make me stop buying their products?? As much as I am against ripping off other brands isn't that what most of them do? Look at clothes on the high street. You can get something from Primark for £5 which is selling in Topshop for £30! Without blabbering on I saw these two colours and fell in love straight away.

Essie 'Cute As A Button' | £7.99
I have recently become obsessed with Essie polishes! I know what your thinking, where have you been all this time?? But before they became easily available in superdrug and boots I could only find them online and I'm very much a person who likes to see things in person before buying them, especially when it comes to nail polish. I had seen a lot of people going on about 'Cute As A Button' and once I found it knew I had to have it!

Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects 'Grey' | £3.99
As you may have noticed the latest nail trends seem to be the gelly polishes, speckled nails and textured nails. I've always steered clear of the textured polishes and I have always love the shiny smooth appearance of a colour. But something came over me on a recent shopping trip and I felt intrigued like I had to at least give them a go so I picked up this polish as when I'm not wearing a bright polish ready for summer I love greys!

Chit Chat Nail Varnish | £1
Another cheapy find in Poundland was this Chit Chat polish. A couple of months ago I found the gold and violet glitter polishes from chit chat and when I saw this rainbow coloured glitter I knew I wanted to try it. These polishes aren't the best but for £1 you can't really complain!


Natural Collection Blush 'Pink Cloud' | £1.99
I don't know about you but Natural Collection always reminds me of when I was at school and just getting into makeup . It was cheap so affordable at a younger age. So I feel sometimes it gets forgotten about among all the bigger brands. Not all their products are for me but I have seen a couple of reviews on their blushers so I thought I would try them out.

Superdrug Coconut & Sweet Almond Intensive Conditioner
I can't remember how much this was and I can't seem to locate this on the Superdrug website so again I guess it's selected stores only. But this is another popular product flying around Twitter and Blogs. I sometimes find the ends of my hair can go quite dry a lot of the time so I'm hoping this will help solve that little problem.

MUA Pro-Base Eye Primer | £2.50
I basically bought this as I've used Urban Decays Primer Potion before and have yet to buy Too Faced Shadow Insurance but wanted to try something new. For a couple of years I was using the MAC Paintpots and kinda just grew bored of them. So I thought I would try this MUA one out.

What beauty items have you bought recently?

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Saturday, 4 May 2013

#BtonBloggerMeet

This time last week I was all excited and ready to meet some more local beauty bloggers at my very first meet up organised by Laura from LolaAndBehold and held in my hometown of Brighton. I know how much effort she put into the day and after many conversations just how slightly stressed she was getting but it all turned out for the best as it was a fantastic day filled with beauty chatter, girl talk and some lovely goodies from many brands. I'm going to show you a little overall of the goody bag later in the post because I feel it deserves a more in depth post of it's own as we were spoiled so much.

First I met up with Sophie and Laura. Me and Sophie agreed to be Laura's little slaves and helped her haul all the bags to the venue. We all met in The Globe pub which is a lovely little pub situated near the seafront. Soon enough the other girls joined us and we were straight to chatting. Once everyone had arrived and had got to know each other a little better we stood around to watch a demonstration from two lovely Lush girls on how their fresh face masks were made. If I had a good memory I could tell you a little more about this but I can barely remember yesterday let alone last week! The fresh mask in question was the 'Catastrophe Cosmetic' which is perfect for when you get those pesky spots right before a night out or big day and you want to calm them down. Here's a bit from their website about the mask...

"Irish moss gel will soften the skin, whilst almond oil will moisturise and leave it supple.
Fresh blueberries are full of vitamins and minerals and are anitoxidant. Rose absolute and chamomile essential oil will reduce redness and irritation. Calamine and talc will deep clean and soothe the skin at the same time.
Combined together they provide your skin with a good deep cleanse without causing puffiness – leaving the face cool, clear and calm. 
This is a deep cleansing mask that it designed for regular maintenance to keep the skin clean and clear. Regular deep cleaning can avoid spots occurring and keep skin in top condition."
We were very kindly each given a full size pot to take home and try which was perfect for me as my skin is in much need of a de-stressing and I am currently suffering from a few breakouts here and there.

After another little chatting session we then sat down and Laura handed out the press packs and lovely goody bags that she had spent time and effort putting together. We were even treated to a little raffle where in the end everyone won a little something which was nice. I won a St. Moritz face tan which I can't wait to try out. We also each received Aprils Birchbox which I was so excited about as I have yet to experience any monthly beauty boxes.

This is a little overhaul of what we were given. As you can see it didn't even fit on what I use for my photos! I will do a more in depth post on everything we received later on in the week.
After a quick stop off at M&S and The Cornish Pasty Company for a bite to eat we were off to My Salon Looks in Hove where we were treated to a glass of bucksfizz, some macaroons (my first experience of these and unfortunately they didn't live up to my expectations!) and two demonstrations of tissue highlighting and the Shu Uemura experience.
After we were surprised by a generous gift of either a hairdryer or hair straighteners (I went with the straighteners, now I can stop stealing my sisters!) we trotted off to the body shop for a quick mooch and then we split up as we had a couple of hours to spare before dinner. Me, Sophie, Laura, Lilla and Hannah went off for a little cocktail and then made our way to Donatello's for a wonderful Italian meal. This is where I became a bad blogger and was having too much fun chatting to the girls to remember to take pictures.
All in all it was a fantastic day and I met some amazing girls who I can't wait to meet up with again. Like I said I will do a more in depth post on the goody bag later this week so look out for that. Here are all the lovely girls blog links that attended...