Lipsticks et al.

My quick nip into town the other day just to use my free No7 voucher resulted in me coming back with this little lot...

This post is a little late as you may notice the Grazia magazine is last weeks issue. I used to buy Grazia and Look magazine both religiously but due to a lack of funds recently i've been sticking to the monthly's instead, but Grazia was only £1 exclusive to Tesco so couldn't resist and i have missed it!

Lauren Conrad's Style book has been out a while and when it was first released i was going to buy but after reading a review by Lollipop26 and then having a quick flick in WHSmiths i decided the £14.99 price tag was not worth it. However i spotted it at £4.99 - a bargain if i say so, even if the text is rubbish the pictures are enough to keep me happy and reminds me why i miss The Hills.

The cuff is a sale purchase from Dorothy Perkins, my first cuff in fact and thought it would like great teamed with piles of bracelets including my Pandora, i like the armour feel it has and have been scouring Asos for some armour rings to go with.

The No7 Gel Eyeliner i picked up using the free £5 voucher so it only cost £5, i've not used it yet so look out for a review soon. I did struggle to pick something to be honest, i've heard good comments about the Hot Cloth Cleanser a rival to Liz Earle's but i didn't need another cleanser and there wasn't much from their make-up line i needed either. I decided the Limited Edition collection was the best option as it's the only new make-up they've had in ages. I did want one of the lipsticks but they were sold out so settled for the eyeliner, i never used a gel one before so any tips would be good, hopefully it will be as good at the Bobbi Brown ones.

Now onto the lipsticks, i didn't intentionally go in to buy any other make-up but was having a play with the Rimmel colours and found one i liked and then saw it was 3 for 2! The 3 lipsticks are from the New Colour Show Off collection that Georgia May Jagger advertises and cost £6.49 each. 




L-R: Stare At Me, Shake Up Pink, Tell No One






Swatches:

Stare At Me 250

Shake Up Pink 020


Tell No One 030

My favourite has to be Tell No One, it's a lovely bright coral colour that's very on-trend, sometimes i combine it with Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Coral Reef which is a perfect match. I am a little disappointed with Shake Up Pink only because it swatches differently to application, it goes on a bit sheer but a few layers later it look ok.  The only other negative if i had to say is the price, they are the most expensive lipsticks of all Rimmel's ranges but like i said Boots has 3 for 2. I'll definitely be going back to buy some more colours as they're really moisturising which doesn't always happen with pigmented lipsticks, hopefully a watermelon pink if they have one.

Topshop and No7 make up buys

This is a bit of a carry on from my last post which concentrated on clothes now it's time for the make-up. A trip to Topshop means i never leave empty-handed and after spending over an hour choosing clothes, i stumbled across their make-up bag range and their buy 3 products and receive a free make-up offer - you know me a sucker for an offer!

 My make-up haul!

After reading Saskia the Style Fairy's post of Tophop's blushes i couldn't resist, I'm not usually a cream blush fan as i can never seem to apply it correctly and normally end up removing my base - not so good. I've been after a bright pink colour for cheeks that would suit my skin tone for ages and their Crushed Berry seemed perfect, a rich magenta colour which looks quite bright in the pot but when applied it becomes more sheer but you do have to build up the layers to achieve a pigmented colour.

I also picked up a coral coloured blush called Nutmeg which compliments my Rimmel Apricot Punch nails and Revlon Coral Reef lip gloss, perfect for that slightly flushed look.

I think Nutmeg will become a daily staple for an understated work look and Crushed Berry for nights out when i can vamp up my make-up. As you can see the handy compact comes with a mirror, great for on-the-go touch-ups.

Like Saskia the Style Fairy - you really struggle to capture the blushes on camera but i did my best!

Ignore my very bad split ends, my hairdresser feathered the front so now it's really noticeable when I'm in need of a cut but I'm trying to grow it!

I used a combination of both colours on the cheeks but in real life you can notice the blush - i promise.

I also picked up two make-up brushes from Topshop, Eye Shadow £4 and Eye Liner £3, i tried them out today and the Eye Shadow brush is a winner, great for blending. The Eye Liner I'm not convinced yet, the bristles were quite hard and scratched my eye lid a little but i reckon if i wash it before i use it again hopefully the bristles will become softer and it'll be easier and kinder to my lids to use.

I almost forgot the Skin Tint i bought as well! I've been using tinted bases instead of foundation for a while, sometimes i prefer the lighter coverage so i can let my face breathe a little and i find a tinted base is really all i need to even out my complexion. My favourite product is Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector in Champagne Shimmer (02) for 30 ml it costs £22.99 but i get a 25% discount because we sell the brand at work! Now the Clarins I've been using for about 2 years and i haven't found anything that can really compare, the texture is light and creamy and glides on the face easily to highlight and illuminate the skin - beautiful! Topshop's Skint Tint is £10 for 30ml so much cheaper but the consistency is thicker and it doesn't seem to glide on easily, it has more of a sticky texture. As i have olive skin i picked up the Medium and thought it would be fine for my skin-tone, i made the fatal error of trying it on my hand and it look good - now i know you're meant to swatch it on your jaw line but maybe i was so overwhelmed by Topshop's make-up i forgot - naughty girl! The colour i got is a little dark for me but I've mixed it with the Clarins Complexion Perfector which is lighter colour and it looks OK - so not totally a waste of money.

This is the swatch - you can see why i bought the Medium looks great colour on the hand - might use it as a body make-up product for covering the unsightly bruises after a few too many vinos!

Just to mention my mum who has black skin bought the Skin Tint in Dark and it blends really well into her skin-tone and she loves it.  My mum really struggles with make-up for her skin-tone so to find something from the Topshop range means a big thumbs-up from her - btw if anyone can recommend any products for black skin it would be much appreciated!

Overall i really like some of the products from the Topshop range - the prices are great and they have some great on-trend colours. I'm definitely impressed by the £6 blushes and will be collecting the whole collection. The packaging is very cute and modern and will appeal to young (and older) girls alike. The free make-up bag was not really that good a deal - never a good idea to have a cream/beige bag, you only end up with make-up all over it and it gets grubby very quickly, it's also very small so i might just use it for work.

On to No7 a great drugstore brand who's Creative Director is make-up legend Lisa Eldridge! I have already blogged about Boots free £5 No7 and Ruby & Millie vouchers before but with 2 vouchers burning an hole in my purse i needed to use them soon as. The first product is new and  i think only available in the larger stores, a Concealer Compact £10.25 is a trio of colours which you can blend together to create the perfect colour for your skin-tone.

I can never find a good colour match for concealer but using this trio compact makes it so easy - buy now!

The final product of the day is a new nail polish, i was after a dark red for a/w to combine with a vampy lip and Temptress is a reddish brown which i will be combining with camel tones.

Do you have any recommendations from the Topshop or No7 ranges?

Don’t you just love a freebie?!

Today i set my alarm for 7.30am in preparation for snagging a freebie! When i say a freebie it’s kind of one of those offers where you have to buy something to get a freebie, but if you’re planning on flexing the plastic anyway it’s a win-win situation. 

The item in question is Pandora jewellery – now unless you’ve been living on another planet recently, you can’t have escaped the phenomenon of their charm bracelets. I first fell in love after seeing them advertised in Grazia a few years back, they were quite exclusive and not readily available.  Now it seems as they’ve gained more publicity, everyone has jumped on the bandwagon and you can’t walk through my local town without a girl wearing one, forget Girl With the Pearl Earring, how about Girl With a Pandora Charm Bracelet?

My local family-owned jewellers Pearces were running the promotion – Spend £75 or more on Pandora jewellery and receive a free leather bracelet, now i know this has been running all over the country and i imagine has been very profitable! I’ve had my silver snake chain for over a year and have mostly silver charms but i was looking for some coloured beads inspired my newly painted nails!  After queuing for about 30 mins i purchased 2 charms, a pink Murano glass £28 and a Pink Opal £50 and picked a white single braided leather bracelet worth £35 for free!

Have a look at the goodies:

Along with my purchases and free bracelet, came some chocolates, polishing cloth to keep my silver super-shiny and brochure of Pandora’s full range of jewellery, ready for me to eye up my next buy.

Polishing cloth – missed off man pic.

 

Free leather bracelet!

Two new charms!

What my silver Pandora bracelet looks like with the new charms.

And need to show you my inspiration for the pink charms – my newly painted Revlon Pink Nude nails with Leighton Denny’s Angel Dust over the top for a sparkly finish.

With flash so you can see the glittery finish – best i could do with the camera after about 10 attempts!

Just to mention as my laptop has been slowly dying on me, not to mention the cracked screen after i stood on it oops – note to self don’t put laptops on the floor beside my bed, i bought a netbook from Curry’s. The one i got is advertised on TV, Packard Bell Dot something in the Bank Holiday sale until wed was £329.00 now £199.00 – complete bargain. It comes with a pouch to keep it safe and software including Photoshop so i can make my pics look better – (no cheating on beauty pics though!), Windows Home XP, webcam and a wonderful invention Windows Live Writer. A program that lets you upload your blog posts live to you blog – genius.

 

And it’s so dinky it can fit in your handbag – have a look compared to Glamour mag – now i just need to find a new handbag worthy of my netbook , get me I'm officially a proper blogger hehe! Soon to be found on my day off in Cafe Nero with a fruity frappe and a chocolate croissant (what calories?) – oh i do miss Starbucks please open in my town!

Well that’s about it for today, before i go a quick shout-out to my new hair – hardly new really but finally got my fringe cut so i can see again – also working the No7 Plum Rebel i got the other day with a bit of eyeliner (cheap & cheerful Collection 2000) and Clarins Eye shadow Colour Quartet Palette in Earth over the lid. Not gone into too much detail as you can’t really see the make-up – sorry, i will try harder in future!

What bargains have you got recently? Please share!

Nail polish haul

There are many things that i love so much that i have a huge collection, these are in no particular order:

- Shoes
- Handbags
- Dresses
- Watches
- Lipglosses/Lipsticks
- Nail Polishes

The last of which is where this new post comes in, i just picked up 4 new colours to add to my ever growing collection of polishes.

This is already what my collection looks like!

Boots still had their spend £5 and receive a free £5 Ruby & Millie or No 7 voucher offer on so i couldn't resist a little pre-pay-day beauty splurge.

The polishes are from left to right: Revlon Nail Enamel 900 Pink Nude, Revlon Nail Enamel 028 Minted, Rimmel 60 Seconds 805 Grey Matter, Rimmel I Love Fruities Lasting Finish 053 Apricot Punch.

Now i have been trying to get my hands on the Revlon Minted for ages but is always seems to be sold out but today it was in stock and they had a 2 for £8 offer on so after debating over the dark reds i indulged in the pale peach colour which compliments the green well for a mani and pedi duo.

The Grey Matter from Rimmel is one of their new shades and i predict along with the usual muddy browns and vampy reds, greys will be big for this Autumn/Winter, you can tell by how popular a colour is by how many their are left on the shelf and they were only two of this colour but plenty of the rest of the new collection which included a shiny black and deep purple.

The final polish is from the I Love Fruities collection, which i think is only available in some drugstores, i got mine from Superdrug as my local Boots didn't stock them. Now i think these have been out a while and the colours are more suited for summer, there are 4 shades in the collection, Cranberry Zest, Lemon Drop, Strawberry Fizz and Apricot Punch. They are all quite bright fun colours that would look good equally on toes and hands. The reason why they are called I Love Fruities is that when dried they have the scent of the name of the polish! I was a little sceptical but when i tried the Apricot Punch it definitely smells of apricots, which beats that nasty chemical smell that gives you headaches. I'm not sure how long the scent lasts but its a great novelty idea to encourage us beauty lovers to part with our cash on yet more nail polish. The best thing is the colour has great depth so you only need one coat - bonus!

Take a look at what they look like on and in comparison to the bottle.

These are all with 2 coats - but like i said the Apricot Punch only needs one coat and the Pink Nude could probably do with a third. Which one is your fav?

As mentioned in my previous post i did pick up the other lipstick shade from the Limited Edition Autumn Collection its called Plum Rebellion and costs £9.75 or £4.75 with a No 7 Boots voucher.

It looks quite pinky on camera but in the flesh it is a dark raspberry colour.

And the swatch - just one coat.

This is the perfect shade to team with camel - the new black for the season, just take a look at Fall 2010 Runway show from Chloe - divine!

Heres's a sneak preview of my next post for all you fashion fans i will be looking at the must-haves for Autumn/Winter, I'm talking the Camel, Aviator Jackets, Leather, Pointy Courts, Shearling Boots, Old Lady Handbags - Neo Speedy anyone? Looks like we're heading back to the 70's.