Tapas & Champagne Cocktails...

Hey girlies :)

Hope you've all enjoyed the sun these past few days, it's actually been pretending to be summer for the past few days where I live hehe

So on Saturday night myself and everyone from the boutique where I work went out for staff drinks and Tapas at La Tasca. This was a whole new experience for me, as I've never tried Tapas before.. I tend to stick to 'safe' foods, ones that I know, but this was a great opportunity to try something new. We then headed out to the Quayside Malmaison for Champagne cocktails... Never a good idea after the copious amounts we had already consumed! At the time, the food tasted amazing, but unfortunately it didn't agree with me and I came down with a bug, for a couple of days afterwards :(

The night overall was a great success however, with lots of sangria flowing it really got me in the mood for my holiday off to Tenerife :) 

I decided after hearing such positive things from Annabella about the Sally Hansen 'Airbrush Legs' to give it a go. I truly and honestly HATE my legs with a passion, I unfortunately suffer from hereditary 'thread' or spider veins which I am looking into getting treatment for, but since finding this little gem I may not have to spring so soon for the invasive sclerotherapy (I am terrified of needles...) 

So here we have it, my outfit choice for a Spanishy Tapas night out...

Dress - River Island

Shoes - Topshop Dupe from Garage Shoes

Oversized Bangle (Worn as Cuff) - Local Boutique

I wanted my makeup to look fairly 'glamourous' and so decided to use shadows from my Sleek 'Storm' palette: Shimmery Champagne, Mocha (matte) brown & also the matte Black...

Click to Enlarge..

Here you can see a closeup of my eyelid.. I also applied some Girls Aloud 'Sarah' Lashes to add a bit of interest and oomph :) 

So what about you ladies, did you get up to anything exciting this past weekend? Do you have anything special planned for the Bank Holiday Weekend? 

Muchos Loveee xxx

Love for TK Maxx - Part 1 - Lancaster Sunlight Makeup & Mini Giveaway!

Howdy my little cherubs, I hope you're all fabulous :) 

I've decided to start a series of posts dedicated to fabulous finds from the ever bargainous TK Maxx. I realise that not everyone has the time, or patience to deal with stores such as the aforementioned, but me personally, I love them! I always seem to find something, whether it be clothing, shoes or beauty related. 

All of these items I'm about to mention were purchased from the nearest TK Maxx store to me (Gateshead - Team Valley) and were all bought with my own pennies. 

While I was perusing the shelves of the beauty and cosmetics area I got pretty excited when I came across some clear plastic boxes filled with a "pic'n'mix" of products from the Lancaster Sunlight Makeup range. I decided to pick up a couple of these boxes and paid in total around £45 for everything you see below...

As you can see there's quite a lot of products there and in total I think the overall RRP comes to something like £200! 

I'm not going to bore you with individual pics of every single item I picked up, but I will share with you some of my favourites :)

Sunlight Palette Natural

This little gem is beautifully luminising on the skin and swirled together gives you a gorgeous overall glow which isn't over the top. Although I don't have one, it really reminds me of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks. The powder is very finely milled and doesn't have any of the 'flecks' of glitter which can be apparent in the MAC msf's. 

Pink & Bronze Blush Powder Duo

How gorgeous does this look please?! It's just a really pretty product which is ideal for popping in your bag for topups throughout the day. The blush gives a nice subtle colour which isn't 'too pink' and the bronze is ideal for contouring. Again, with this product I've been lightly swirling it together and using all over my face/neck/chest area for a light bronzey glow. 

Blush Variations - Sunny

This as you can see is a mix of 5 different blush tones which can be used alone, halved or more easily all together to create what ever look you desire. The lighter tones obviously just as blushes, but the bronze is great as a contour colour. 

I was obviously able to pick up some really amazing products for a fraction of the price and it really goes to show what can be found in these discount superstores. The quality of these products is really great and the packaging is sleek and very handbag worthy :) 

A few of the other products I managed to get my hands on include:

- Illuminating Concealer

- Face Luminizer Gel SPF 15

-Easy Manicure Paintbrush (Nail Polish in Pen format)

Last but not least, I also picked up this little beaut...

Infinity Bronze Lip Variations

This is such a cute little pot and the colours look super pretty, but I've decided to give this away to one of you lovely ladies :) 

This will be open to all of my followers (I will check that you do actually follow, as if not this wouldn't be fair).. Just leave a little comment below if you'd like to enter with your e-mail address so I can contact you should you win, I'll use random.org or something similar to find out who is to receive a little parcel in the post hehe. I'll keep the giveaway open till 9pm on the 28th of August - Next Saturday...

How about you lovely ladies... Have you found any fabulous bargains recently?

Much loveeee Xx

♥ 'Happily' Tagged by the Beautiful Miss Onna.. ♥

Evening my lovelies..

So i've been tagged to complete the 'Happy 101' tag by the ever beautiful Miss Onna over at Onnas Little Blog...

I find these tag posts can really help you to learn and find out more about your fellow blogger ladies :) 

♥ 10 things which never fail to put a smile on my face...  ♥

1. Family - I lost my Daddy very suddenly 3 years ago & I think when something like that happens it really makes you appreciate those who you love so much more..

2. My gorgeous Boyfriend Spencer 

Egypt Feb 2010

3. My fabulous friends who are there for me whenever I need them & my lovely Blogger/Twitter ladies :)

4. Holidays, sunshine & travelling to different places

Holiday destination 2009 and the place where I shall be sunning myself once again in 5 weeks ♥

5. Beauty & Cosmetics

6. Fashion

7. Fake Tan!

8. My Mini Convertible =)

9. My Horses

William

10. Good food...

I hope you don't mind me adding in a few snaps, but I thought i'd liven it up a little and give you all something to have a peek at :)

So in return, I now tag these ten beauties to complete the tag and tell us 10 things which makes them happy!

1. Sabrina - http://a-littleobsessed.blogspot.com/

2. Marie - http://allthingsmarie.blogspot.com 

3. Ariel - http://arrriiell.blogspot.com/

4. May - http://www.maylovesmakeup.com/

5. Lily - http://lilylipstick.blogspot.com/

6. Jessica - http://jessica-ex-oh.blogspot.com/

7. Madi - http://themface.blogspot.com/

8. Fern - http://fernlaura.blogspot.com/

9. Natalie - http://beaumakeup.blogspot.com/

&

last but not least a new blog to me this week, Georgia over at http://itwouldbemine.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoy reading this post, and whether i've tagged you or not, feel free to do it!

Oh and remember, should you have any specific questions to ask of moi then pop over to my Formspring - Leave them there and i'll get back to you! 

Lots of love Xx

Maxi Dress & Mini Cardi

Hello Girlsss 

♥

Apologies for the ridiculously weird position and shape that my shoulder/arm is making, I'm not quite sure what happened there!? 

Dressed for a day of holiday shopping with the boy, I thought I'd take a quick snap to post up on my bloggy blog

I obviously wanted something comfy as I knew I'd be trudging around the shops doing 'boy shopping' so I opted for this plain bandeau floor length black maxi dress which I picked up for just £24.99 from River Island. I covered up my shoulders a little by throwing on this teeny tiny knitted waistcoat from All Saints, and added my trusty print scarf for a splash of colour. 

I'm still yet to work out the self timer option on my DSLR, hence the half body shot photo! 

Hope you're all well and having a fabulous weekend :) 

♥ 

Love Laura Xxx 

The Working Girls Makeup of the Week..

This summer I've gone from being in University full time.. (Well I say full time, what I really mean is a measly 3 days..) to now working full time. To be honest it's really starting to take it's toll on me and with another 41 hour week to look forward to ahead of me, I hope you can forgive me for the serious lack of 'entertaining' posts. 

With me being up early and in work for 8.30am I needed a look which was easy to achieve, but still fairly polished. I work in a Designer Menswear Boutique in my home town called Northern Threads, click here if you fancy taking a peek at some things for your other half!

I thought I'd post a few pics showing how my makeup has been for the past week or so; simple, easy and most importantly quick to do! 

I decided to keep my eye makeup fairly neutral, you know me, not particularly adventurous when it comes to colour! By keeping it neutral it means I can wear anything I like and not have to worry about whether it'll look OK, or whether it will clash. 

I recently purchased the MAC Prep+Prime Skin Base (Primer) and have been using it every day. I've found it's given my skin a really nice glow underneath my foundation and really keeps my makeup in place all day without the need for touch ups. For instance, I've been at work 11-4 today, makeup was applied at 9am and these photos were taken at roughly 5.30pm with no touch ups in between - Not bad going really! 

Products used to get this look:

MAC Prep+Prime Base

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 & NC20

MAC Espresso to fill in brows

Benefit IT Stick to conceal

MAC Soft Ochre paint pot

Stila Lemon & Pointille shadows

MAC Espresso in crease

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack

Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara

MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty

Lancaster Sunlight Palette in Natural for an all over glow

Lipsticks used this week have included MAC's Snob, Hue & Pretty Please

So there we have it.. 

Do you ladies end up doing the same?.. Choosing & wearing the same makeup for a week at a time for ease? 

Hope you're all well! 

Oh and a massive thank you to you all for reading and following, I hit the 300+ mark last night and it just made my week, it really means a lot ♥

Lots of love Xxx

Weak, Limp, Lifeless?.. Nourkrin the answer?

Evening girlies :) 

Over the last couple of months I've been attempting to keep a check on my hair growth as I was beginning to feel like my hair was naturally thinning down and not growing through as thick as it once did, when I was younger. 

My hair it's self has never been super thick, but even my friend Kirsty (..who is also my hairdresser) mentioned to me that she thought the overall quality of it was diminishing and that it's condition  was no where near where it once had been. I have a MASSIVE attachment to my hair after once having a bad experience with a hairdresser who basically butchered my hair, we're talking a good 6-7 years ago now, but it's still left me with awful memories of having to grow out the 'razored edged' cut which was so 'cool' and 'right now'! 

Ever since that experience I have literally stuck to just having trims of my current cut, which is basically long overall with long layers through it for movement and then a sweeping side fringe. I go mad when Kirsty even tries to take off more than 1cm! 

After taking on board her comments about my hair thinning down I began to really take notice of how much hair loss I was having on a day to day basis, i.e. in the shower or when styling my hair (..I rarely brush my hair at all!) To be honest with you all, I was mortified..

When showering I realised that not just a few, but a handful of hair was coming out :(

I really started to worry until I started reading up about hair thinning and hair loss. There is literally so many products out there which claim to put a stop to, or significantly reduce the rate of hair loss/thinning. To me, my hair getting slightly thinner is just a superficial thing, and I realise many people probably have thinner hair than I do. But after reading about different treatment programmes, I have decided to start using the following products. 

 

 

 

 

 

Nourkrin Shampoo & Conditioner


The Nourkrin programme has been specifically designed for women and men who are experiencing hair loss or natural thinning. The main part of the Nourkrin system is the totally natural food supplement tablets which are to be taken over a course of 3 to 6 months. The supplements are recommended if you have serious thinning or actual bald patches and are to be taken in conjunction with the usage of the Nourkrin Shampoo and Conditioner.

Nourkrin claim their shampoo '..has been clinically created to provide support for thinning hair, and combat hair loss in men and women' whilst their conditioner '..provides gentle nourishment and makes the hair soft and easy to comb, helping to provide the ideal environment for the recovery of healthy hair.'

Due to me merely wanting my hair to grow through a little thicker, I thought I would by-pass the 6 Month Supply of Supplements, which are a rather pricey £179 (Currently on offer from a staggering £299 in Boots) and just start out with the shampoo & conditioner.

I was lucky enough to be able to purchase both items, they are supposedly notoriously hard to get hold of, in my local Boots store, with the shampoo costing £8.99 for 150ml and the conditioner £9.99 for again, 150ml.

I am yet to use either, but thought my journey to achieve thicker locks may just be something which may interest you ladies. I plan to do updates on the condition of my hair as a whole, the amount of hair loss and whether it has reduced and also whether I have noticed a difference in the regrowth of new hair coming through.

I will be coinciding my Nourkrin hair recovery programme with regular 6 weekly trims in order to keep the ends totally split free!

I hope I haven't bored you to insanity with this post, but I just would love to be able to share this with you all (..especially if it works!)

Hope you're all well my little peaches!

Much love xx