Big and bold with a bit a glue thrown in...

So this is my first attempt at false eye lashes and although it was a definite mission, I'm really happy with the outcome.

I ordered ELF lashes in Natural - Brown. I know I could have tried any lashes for my first go, but as I have white eyelashes I so needed to go a brown set and they are so hard to get hold off.

The set is really good and I only needed to cut a small amount of the length to get a good fit, however I think the glue is rubbish. I just couldn't get them the stick on. Luckily my lil sis had some glue I could borrow.

I love the outcome - with them being brown, they're not too dark and don't really look too dark compared to my usual look.



Obviously I was a little heavy handed with the glue after it didn't work the first time.





For £1.50 these are so worth it and I'll definitely be using them again for the wedding in 5 weeks time

20% off at New Look with Fabulous Magazine

Just wanted to give all our lovely readers a heads up of an offer running in this Sunday's, 1st May Fabulous Magazine (News of the World).

Finally, the sun is shining and we can put away those woollies for another year. And that means only one thing: it’s time for a wardrobe overhaul! So luckily for us the fashionistas over at Fabulous Magazine and New Look have teamed up to give Fabulous readers an amazing 20% OFF at participating New Look stores!

Visit Newlook.com for a list of participating stores, then simply cut out the voucher from this week’s issue of Fabulous Magazine, free with the News of the World every Sunday, and take along the coupon when you go shopping to enjoy this brilliant offer!

As New Look have tons of lovely spring/summer clothes in its well worth a look!

Terms and Conditions:

1. This offer entitles you to a 20 per cent saving on purchases of full-price, promotional and concession items only (offer excludes permanently reduced items & Idol) when spent in a single transaction.

2. This offer is valid in any participating New Look store within the UK and ROI until Monday May 9, 2011.

3. This offer cannot be used to purchase New Look gift vouchers, gift cards or e-top up vouchers (where applicable) or used towards payment of any outstanding balance on a New Look Store Card.

4. No cash or any other alternative will be given and this discount can only be redeemed once.

5. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other magazine discount (including student discount, 10 per cent armed forces discount or New Look staff discount card), or any other promotion (including other New Look magazine promotions).

6. This offer may be amended or withdrawn at any time at the promoter’s discretion.

7. The return value of the item(s) purchased using this voucher shall be the applicable return value under New Look’s returns policy, less the discount obtained.

8. Photocopied, damaged, defaced or expired vouchers will not be accepted.

Your statutory rights as a consumer are not affected.

Promoter: New Look Retailers Limited, Mercury Road, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 5HJ. Registered number 1618428

NOTD - George Frost Bite

Well today's NOTD really doesn't have a name that goes well with the weather we have been having lately but I wanted to show you this gorgeous shade!



The NOTD features another great George nail varnish, you can see our other NOTD featuring George here.



Both myself and L are fan's of George's nail varnishes, so when I saw Frost Bite reduced down to a £1 I jumped at the chance to try it out.

As I have found with these polishes they maybe cheap but I like how they apply. The above nail was done with two coats to get a good opaque finish. The shade itself is a light blue with a hint of violet and I think it's a lovely pastel shade for spring.


There are a lot more shades from this range that I would like to try and though they seem to have now gone up to £1.75 they are value for money.

Have you tried any makeup from George? Do you have a favourite pastel shade?

Wedding Makeup

In case you didn't already know - although I've already mentioned it a few times. I'm getting married on 4 June 2011 - that's 5 weeks on Saturday.

Can't believe how close it is now.

So on the day I've decided to do my own makeup. We're on a budget and I can't justify the cost of a Makeup Artist and if I'm honest I know how I like to wear my makeup and as I'm quite pale - I know what works and what doesn't.

I'm feeling ok about my foundation and blusher etc, the difficulty I'm having is deciding on my eye makeup!

I don't want it too dark or too light as I want definition to my eye.

Also I have blond (although should just say white) eyelashes - so it's quite difficult. I only wear mascara on my top lashes so any form of smokey eye is out of the question - also I think that would be a little too much for my wedding makeup.

So the question is - what colour should I go for?

I'm pale, freckly, with red hair and blue eyes. Whenever I wear browns and neutrals it just doesn't do anything for my - I look all one colour if that makes since.

I was debating a pewter/silvery type of look - but still not a 100% sure.

I want to look bright and fresh - any help welcome!

1 year old today...

(images from We Heart It)

Can't believe we've been doing this for 12 month and never thought when this all started that we'd get to 793 followers - unbelievable!!

We were thankful with just the 1

We just want to say a big thank you to everyone that follows us, reads our posts and leaves us comments. It's definitely the thing that keeps it all going.

Also want to say thank you to Giddy Princess, who initially started this blog with L - we'd never be here now without her help :)

We've currently got A LOT going on with L's wedding only being 5 weeks on Saturday, but we will look to arrange a belated giveaway after the wedding.

So keep your eyes peeled!

Thanks

Beauty Blog Link Love

We hope you are all enjoying the great weather and long weekend! We have some great blog posts for your reading today:

See some before and after photos in My Lips But Better's review of the new Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation.

Queen of Turquoise reviews lipstick with polka dot packaging!

Sarah from Iheartcosmetics finds the best bikini wax in London town, at Strip.

Have you encountered the awesomeness that is Sugarpill Cosmetics yet? If not, then you're in luck, because Krasey Beauty has the scoop on the line!

Were the Cucumber Wipes a 'yes'? Find out over at Jeweled Thumb.

Find out why Urban Decay Good Karma Brushes remind Makeup Morsels of Martin Luther and his 95 Theses.

Daily Polish shows off a gorgeous blackened blue nail polish you can buy for a steal by drugstore brand Sleek.

Retrodiva knows it's spring when she suffers from her first sunburn of the season. Find out her tricks for treating it and preventing peeling.

Phyrra debuts Geek Chic Cosmetics new collection, N7 and gives you a sneak peek of an upcoming collection, Mana Screwed!

AOYV suggests five must have coral blushes to try this season.

Creamy pink lippies go head to head in The Lip Print's Pink Month featuring Lime Crime, MAC, Maybelline and more!

Remember those really expensive Rock and Republic blushes? Musicalhouses has found a cheap dupe of Rock and Republic's Kinky blush!

Whether you're a beauty blogger or just a product lover, you *need* to check out theNotice's first tips for beauty bloggers photography post!

K at Beautifully Addicted To feels the Pinch with Topshop blushers.

***

Audrey Dao is giving away $400 worth of NuMe hair styling products, including a hair straightener valued at $300!

What would you choose with a $50 Gift Card from Apothica? Enter to win at Prime Beauty!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Beauty Blog Link Love

Cream Blusher - Topshop Pinch

Today's post is on a great new cream blusher I've picked up from Topshop in Pinch. I had put out a query regarding cream blusher on Twitter and Topshop seemed popular so I popped in for a look.

After trying out all the shades I settled on Pinch which is a vibrate hot pink.

The texture is great and a little goes a long way...if I apply too much my cheeks look quite flushed!

Cream blusher is not something I have been tempted to try before, I am a fan of just using Benetint or powder blush. But I am pleasantly surprised! Especially as this retails for £6 at Topshop and as you only have to use a tiny amount it will last ages. I have so far been applying it with my finger as I feel it helps to blend it in better.

My only negative is I have some dry patches on my cheek at the moment and this cream blusher stick to these and looks awful. But I don't get this with my Benetint or powered blush.

Are you a fan of cream blusher? What brands are worth a look?

Thanks

Beauty UK Glam Nails in Jade

The amazing sunny weather has made me a little more adventurous with my nails for work today - probably a bit too bright for the office, but I don't care ;)

How amazing is this colour?

I absolutely love it and have to admit that this is the first time I've tried it since I picked up last year.

I actually really love the quality of the Beauty UK polishes for the £1.99 they cost. It's taken 3 coats to get a gorgeous, streak free finish. If it wasn't for the colour I think you could usually get away with 2 coats for a great finish.

Definitely going to pick up some more - already got Smokey Lilac which is amazing!

Fresh and a little bit Fruity...

Now the sun is shining I am craving lots of fresh bright colours! Luckily it seems the highstreet and make-up brands are feeling the same.

ASOS has a whole nail section called Zing It On, which is full of fun bright and fresh colours. They also have some great make-up choices in these shades.

Sleek have there new i-Divine Palette in Paraguaya which which you can see here, its full of lovely peaches and apricots.

Barry M have some amazing shades which you can see the full range here, but my faourites are Peach Melba, Strawberry Ice Cream, Lemon Ice Cream, Pink Flamingo and Coral.

Also Models Own and Barry M both do some great eyeshadows in these shades. I am not sure I am brave enough to try alot of the oranges, yellows and greens, but I love the peach and coral shades.

Are you a fan of these shades? anyone got any must have buys?

Thanks

I need you help.......

Wedding Nails.

So on top of the already mass list of jobs and decisions you have to make, you also need to make sure the little things are sorted.

I've been trying to decide what to do with my nails on the day. I'm managed to whittle the decision down to wearing pink. But now I'm not sure whether to keep it simple and pale or go all out and bright.

A key factor in this decision is the state of my nails. I actually used to bite my nails and only stopped around 12 months a go. I'm really happy with how they look at the moment, but my white tips are not great, so for me, a french polish is out and possibly the palest opaque shades as well. I just wouldn't be too happy.

So with that in mind, here are some colours I've tried out.

Starting from my thumb and working my way down.

1. Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Hoola Hoop

2. Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream

3. Nails Inc Warwick Avenue

4. Fearne Cotton Pale Pink

5. Essie Yes We Can Pink

So which one do you like?

I think I'm liking the Barry M at the moment.

Vintage Pretty....

Scarily its less than 7 weeks now till my big day!

So as I'm attempting to make my own wedding cake. I've made the decision to do cupcakes for the quests but I do want a cake to at least 'cut the cake'.

Anyway with that in mind I tried to make a mini 3 tier cake.

And heres my attempt........

It actually looks a lot bigger than it is - its about 4/5 inch wide and about 8/9 inch tall.

I just made a basic sponge recipes

4 oz butter

4oz sugar

6oz flour

2 eggs

a few drops of vanilla essence

I put all the mixture into a tray and then cut the tiers out with pastry cutters, sliced them in half and used raspberry jam and buttercream and put them back together. Finally covered the whole cake in a thin layer of buttercream and then put on the ready roll icing.

For the decorations I used old broken earrings (that I washed and sanitised first) stuck on with icing.

It's a bit bumpy with I'm really happy with my first go.

Models Own EOTD

Don't you just love it when you rediscover a product that you completely forgot about! Even though I now have my make-up really organised I tend to use a lot of the same products on a daily basis. But I noticed a Models Own eyeshadow duo that I hadn't really used so decided to wear it for work. The duo was from the gift you could get with some tokens from Fabulous magazine, which you can see a post here. The duo is a charcoal/black shade and a pale gold, below is the look I did using the Charcoal shade. Products I used:

• Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect no 71


• Lily Lolo Blush Away


• No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick


• No7 Mascara in Brown


• Models Own Duo Set - Charcoal Shade


• Bourjois Round Pot in 03 Rose Perle


• E.L.F Studio Blush in Merry Berry

Thanks

We love ELF

Just quickly wanted to share this with you.

You can get free shipping and a free gift (a Super Glossy Lipshine in Mauve Luxe) when you spend a minimum of £10.00 until 12.00 (midday) tomorrow - 16 April 2011.

Sparkly tips - NOTD

Just a quick little NOTD for you! I tend to just where plain nails, I never really dabble with Nail Art of any sorts. But when I received my E.L.F Innocent, see post here, though I love the colour I decided to try and jazz up the colour a little. I used E.L.F on the main nail E.L.F Innocent and Metal Madness on the tips. I really like sparkly tips that Metal Madness has given me in the NOTD.

You can get E.L.F for £1.50 each and can see the range of colours here.

Are you a fan of nail art (even my basic attempt)?

Thanks

K

Current Skincare Regime

Ok so this is my current skincare regime.

Firstly I wanted to say that until I started this blog I never really had a proper skin care regime. I was lucky if I took my makeup off in the evening. Weirdly I never felt that my skin was terrible, however I have noticed a massive improvement in my skin since taking up the current regime - just can't believe I didn't noticed that my skin wasn't in great condition.

Anyway I've split this into my daily and my weekly products.

Daily

Yep I have Primark facial wipes, Germolene and Sudocrem. I'm still not great with a nightly routine, but I usually take my makeup off with Primark Facial Wipes that costs £1.00 for two packs - bargain. They seem to really take it all off for me and fit in perfectly with my lazy routine. I then tone with Lush's Breath of Fresh Air - this is an absolute fav of mine and I've mentioned it quite a few times already. My face never feels tight after using it and just keeps my skin calm.

When I do have break out I tend to just apply a blob of Germolene and Sudocrem. Germolene helps the spot heal quickly and Sudocrem helps with the redness.

I then just apply my Boots Eye Cream and Optimum Swiss Apple Facial Serum. If I feel my skin is a little dry and then apply my Neals Yard Orange Flower Moisturiser, but with summer approaching the serum is working just fine.

In the morning I just quick swipe Lush's Breath of Fresh Air over my face and then moisturise with Neal's Yard Orange Flower Moisturiser and apply Soap and Glory Moisturising Eye Gel.

Weekly

When I have a bit more time - which isn't often, I use my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish which is amazing! Then at least once a week I use St Ives Apricot Scrub and Soap and Glory's The Fab Pore. I can really see a difference in my skin when I've used any of these. It just seems to be at it's best.

So I've now seemed to have gone from a person who was lucky if she took her makeup off once in a week, too someone who has quite a detailed regime.

Easter Goodies...

With it nearly being Easter I decided to do some easy baking with the little one and we decided that rice krispie cakes would be super easy to make. We choose to make Milk chocolate with Smartie Mini Eggs, White Chocolate with Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs and Milk Chocolate and Cadbury's Mini Eggs (p.s these also had some mini mini eggs mixed in with the rice krispie's). I have to say the White chocolate and Creme Eggs were my favourite.

We just did:

100g Melted Chocolate

100g Rice Krispie's

Cake Cases

Decorations

Melt the Chocolate, add in the Rice Krispie's and mix, place them in the case and add some decorations and then pop in the fridge for roughly 1-2 hours.

Thanks

NOTD George Venom - Matt nail polish

Hey, I know I am really late onto this but I wanted to do a little post to show off another George nail polish I have picked up. You can check out our posts on some other colours here , here and here. Today's polish in no 58 in Venom, which is from there matt collection, from what I remember these have now gone up to £1.75 and are available Asda. Now I have so far not been tempted by matt nail polish but I saw a post on a NOTD on Beauty and the Blog. She did a great french manicure involving a matt black polish base with normal polish. So after seeing this post I decided to look for one and spotted Venom in Asda. I really like the polish and can't wait to give it a go as a french manicure style. A couple of weeks ago when I did a post on some new make-up at George I noticed that they have also launched some more matt colours, a couple of them are below in pink and red. Are you a fan of matt nails? Any more George colour I should look at? Thanks

Liz Earle Wedding Kit

Ok so I'm getting married on the 4 June 2011, and I've started to get a bit freaked out about my skin. As any bride out there knows, you want to look radiant on your wedding day!

Well to help with this Liz Earle has put together a special Wedding Kit, in celebration of the Royal Wedding.

'perfect for brides-to-be, bridesmaids or mothers of the bride that includes all they need to look their radiant best on the big day'

Contains: Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser 50ml pump, Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer 30ml, Skin Repair Moisturiser normal/combination 50ml tube, Brightening Treatment Mask 50ml, Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion 50ml, Botanical Shine Shampoo 50ml and Botanical Shine Conditioner 50ml (with a choice of 3 conditioners).

The kit will be available from 4th April –31st May 2011 and will cost £35- saving an astonishing £21.20!

Liz Earle's Customer Expert and Presenter, Caroline Archer has written a great blog post called ‘Liz Earle Wedding Day Beauty Countdown’ which you can find here: http://blog.lizearle.com/lizearle/2010/08/liz-earle-wedding-day-beauty-countdown-2.html.

Thanks

Beauty Blog Link Love

The Lip Print gets the Smooth Infusion treament thanks to Aveda and Oscar Oscar salons.

The Pink Sith invites you to marvel at the Givenchy Prisme Yeux Quatour in Candide Garden, which is a nice departure from tired old Spring pastels.


Over at The Glamorous Gleam, Mz. More introduces a dupe for MAC's Ripe Peach blush: Sleek's Life's a Peach!

Got a craving for something sweet? well, Krasey Beauty has swatches and a full look into the MAC Cosmetics Quite Cute collection!


LaaLaa may not have been wearing makeup so much as of late but that doesn’t mean her brushes have been neglected. Take a look on Dolce Vanity how she deep cleanses her brushes.

Tracy@Beauty Reflections got to try the new Sebastian Color Ignite Line and it whipped her hair into condition!

My Lips But Better put OPI Black Shatter to the test under various conditions - see the results!

L from Beautifully Addicted To re-discovers a favourite foundation in Bourjois 10hr Sleep Effect.


Jellyminx shares a super simple Nail Art tutorial.

Kimberly from KimmieKarmaLove learns to Bite the Bullet and to wear a black base!

Madame B Fatale has a tutorial on soft green and purple eyes.

Are you having problems with your foundation? Check out Spiced Beauty's HDsecret.

Alyson at The Gloss Menagerie has some Inglot AMC lipgloss swatches to share with you!

At Music and Makeup Jo can't stop raving about a £1.50 Accessorize eye dust bargain and features it in this face of the day.

Spring is here, so Mariella at Musing on Beauty reunites with her fake tan and reviews Clarins Delectable Self Tanning Mousse.

Daily Polish has teamed up with a top London salon to give away a FREE Minx or Shellac Manicure or Pedicure! Enter now!

theNotice is giving away two rather surprising products that'll get your skin summer-ready in no time flat. Find out what they are!

Bug Eyed....

Love these little babies and with the AMAZING weather we've been having I've actually been getting to use them.

Picked them up from Primark for a £1, thats right a £1 - crazy

Not sure they totally suit me, but I don't really care cause I LOVE them.

Battle of the Eye make-up Removers

In the search for the perfect eye make-up remover I ended up with lots of different ones on the go at the moment. They are Johnson's, Botanics Soothing Eye Make-up Remover, Botanics Face Nourishing Eye Make-up Remover, L'Oreal Absolute Eye & Lip make-up remover and lastly Bourjois Express Eye Make-up Remover. So I wanted to give you a run down on each one and show you how they removed my Body Shop Mascara, First up is Botanics Face Nourishing Eye Make-up Remover:

This can be picked up from Boots for roughly £3.99 for 75ml, and a little does seem to go a long way. This is quite a unique product, the product is more like a balm that you massage onto your eyes firsts then you wet with warm water and remove with cotton wool. As you can see from the picture above with the cotton wool it actually removes the Mascara quite well and I don't end up with any morning left over eye make-up residue (its a problem I seem to suffer with blonde eye lashes). It is also very gentle on the my eyes and doesn't leave them sore at all. I would buy this one again especially as it is value for money, though it does take longer to use then a regular eye make-up remover.

Second up is another Botanics purchase its there Soothing Eye Make-up Remover, you can buy this from Boots for £3.05 for 150ml.

This is a two part solution that you need to shake before use and apply/use with cotton wool. This is one of the worst of the bunch for me, I have to use two lots of cotton wool on one eye to get all the make-up off (I don't even wear much eye make-up on weekdays). Though it is cheap I wouldn't repurchase as my eye's feel sore the next morning after applying this as I have to rub my eye's with the cotton wool to ensure my eyes are clean. Third up is Bourjois Express eye Make-up Remover, this retails at roughly £4.99 at Boots and can be found withe the Bourjois make-up in store. This is my absolute favourite of the lot and I will be repurchasing (after I use up my stash). It is a two part formula that you shake together again and apply with cotton wool. This only takes one (maybe two) swipes and all my eye make-up is gone and I don't have sore eyes or morning residue. I feel this gives me everything I need from my eye make-up remover as I feel it also moisturiser the eye area. Next up is Johnsons Gentle eye make-up remover, it retails at Boots for £3.05 for 100ml.

Again this is a two part solution that you shake before use and I apply with cotton wool. Now I picked this up as it states 'Gentle', well i have found nothing gentle about it! My eye are sore and sting a little, and as you can see I have persisted in trying this out but it really doesn't seem to work for me. It just doesn't seem to remove my eye make-up and it does make my eye sting.

Last up is L'Oreal Absolute Eye and lip make-up Remover, this retails at Boots £5.40ml.

I actually picked this one up by mistake I was actually looking for the gentle eye make-up remover that L'Oreal do but ended up with this. Though it removes the make-up really well (the second best of the bunch) its not as gentle as I would like on my eyes, they do feel a bit sore after I use it.

Out of the choice I have at the moment the Bourjois and Botanics Nourishing one are the ones I would repurchase and have enjoyed using. I am determined to use up all of these though even if they make my eyes a bit sore. Another one that I have tried but have not mentioned here is Simple Gentle Eye make-up reomver but after a week of use that went in the bin as it really made my eyes sore. I still want to try No7 and I have a clinique sample to try so I will update you on how I get on with these two as well.

Do you have a favourite? Or any others I should try?

Thanks