Tuesday 21 September 2010

Sun, Spa & Cocktail timesss ♥

So just a little note to let you all know I'm off on my long awaited holiday today! 


We're only gone for a week, but both myself and my boyfriend have worked super hard all summer and so this is the perfect break we've been dying for.. We're staying at the beautiful Marylanza Golf & Spa Resort in Los Christianos, Tenerife :) 

I travel to Tenerife every year at about this time due to it's exceptionally good weather and hopefully for us it will be hitting nigh on 30 degrees Celsius pretty much every day!

We are taking the Mac & SLR with us and so you might see a couple of OOTD/OOTN posts sneaking up if the Wifi works well :) 

I'm off to go shower off this Xen Tan (..the joys of being a redhead on a beach holiday!!!) and finalise my packing, then it will be Newcastle's Duty Free for me.. I promise not to go mad ;) 

Don't miss me too much ;) hehehe 

Lovesss xx

No peeking... I'm NAKED

Morning girls :) 

I, along with the rest of the Beauty Community, recently made a purchase which had been long awaited. The Urban Decay Naked Palette! 

Now I'm not going to go into great detail about the shadows, or do swatches as I'm sure you've all seen them around 237 times! 

I have however been playing around with the palette and I must say it has been one of my most exciting, worthwhile buys in a long time. The colours for me, a staunch neutral lover, are just perfect and can create looks for both night and day. 

Here is my FOTD from yesterday, with a 'Naked' eye...


Primer & Foundation are the usual Prep & Prime and SFF from MAC
I used Peachykeen & a touch of Dollymix blush from MAC with a hint of MSF in Soft & Gentle for a shimmery glow

For my eyes, I primed my lids with my MAC paintpot in Soft Ochre.. Haven't been converted to the UD Primer Potion (yet!) 

I used Virgin on the inner corners and then up to my brow bone for a highlight, I then placed Sin on my lid, but just up to the crease. 

Half Baked was used in a sweep through the crease as this is a gorgeous golden shade and catches the light well. To add a bit of interest and a darker outer corner, I took a little of Darkhorse and blended it well, creating a darker tone, but not being too over the top. Finally, I also used Darkhorse on a small angled brush to line bottom of my eye, again in the outer corner. 

The mascara which I used was a one which I have a love/hate relationship for. Sometimes I use it and it's amazing, other times, because of the size of the brush I end up with mascara everywhere! It is however, L'Oreal Extra-Volume Collagene..

To finish off, I used a nice subtle nude lipstick; Myself from MAC..


So there we have it, my first 'Naked' look for you all.. How rude of me!

Xx

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Me Likey.. Current Favourites! ♥

Bonjour chickas :) 

Hope you're all fabulous! 

I thought I'd share with you some products which I've really been enjoying over the past few weeks or so. I wouldn't call this a 'Monthly Favourites' post or anything, as I find when I end up loving something, the love affair tends to last longer than a month! 


Above we have; MAC Satin Taupe e/s, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle, Elf's Mineral Foundation in Light, The Body Shop 'Pink Grapefruit' Lip Butter, MAC Blush in Peachykeen and lipsticks in Blankety and Snob. 


First up we have swatches for Satin Taupe e/s, Peachykeen Blush & Soft and Gentle MSF..


Satin Taupe is described by MAC as 'Taupe brown with silvery bronze shimmer..' and I would have to totally agree. This is such a gorgeous shade which can be used in so many different ways. Used with a light hand it can be worn every day as a crease colour to add depth to your eyes, or built up and worn 'thicker' to create a really pretty, sultry smoky eye. So glad I picked this up and added it to my collection.

Peachykeen is a sheertone shimmer blush which is described as 'A very baby peach..' After many years of buying blushes, I've came to the conclusion that peach or bronzey tones suit my skin so much better than bright pinks & that I, overall prefer a shimmer to a matte finish. Peachykeen is a really subtle peach tone with a gold shimmer running through it. This is my all time favourite blush at the moment and I've been wearing it everyday since I bought it! 

My Soft & Gentle MSF was the first MSF that I purchased and I go back to it time and time again. As mentioned above I definitely prefer a shimmer finish to my blush that a matte one, so this is amazing in adding a glowing finish to my skin when I wear a matte blush such as 'Blushbaby'. I've also been using this on nights out to give my shoulders and chest a radiant glow. Applied lightly with my Elf kabuki it really gives an amazing finish.. I'll most definitely be taking this away with me on holiday next week to give me a shimmery bronze look for the evenings :) 


Here we have the Elf Mineral Foundation. As you can see it comes in a screw top plastic container, from which you can tap out as much or as little product as you so desire into the lid. I then use my Elf Powder Brush to buff the product into the skin. Recently I've had some irritating breakouts around my chin and then subsequently dry skin from using the appropriate spot treatments. I've been using this after applying my foundation and concealer to buff the concealer into my skin and give my skin as much a flawless appearance as possible.


MAC's Blankety (left swatch) is described as a 'soft pink beige'. It is part of the amplified family and so application is very smooth and creamy with excellent colour payoff. I purchased this after going to my local MAC counter looking for something similar to 'Myself' which is a gorgeous beige nude, but was limited edition. This is slightly darker, but all the same I have fallen in love. It looks fabulous with a tan and is such an easy go to colour which is really flattering to wear. 

Snob (right hand swatch) is an ongoing favourite. After purchasing a while back I keep going back to this; it's such a fun flirty colour and I always get compliments when I wear it. It is a Satin finish however, which does tend to be a little drying on me, which brings me onto my final product, The Body Shop's lip butter in Pink Grapefruit. I've bought lip butters from The Body Shop for as long as I can remember and they always seem to last forever! This was a new scent to me and it's actually so fruity and summery. I apply a little of this and then smooth on my lipstick and it leaves me with fab application and super moisturised lips! 

So there we have it, quite a large selection of products which I can't seem to put down! 

Are any of these your current favourites? 

Lovess xx


Monday 13 September 2010

Black & White...



x

Thursday 9 September 2010

♥ Express Delivery; MAC Bits & Bobs ♥

Evening girls, 

Just a quick one tonight :) 

I placed an order with MAC two days ago and my little black box arrived promptly today... Remember, if you place an order over £50 you receive free delivery or, if you add on named day delivery it costs just £2, a handy thing to have when don't know when or at what time it will arrive & you have to sign for it, which can get a little annoying when you're sitting around for hours on end!

Here's what I ordered...


I finally took the plunge & purchased a Pro Colour Palette, after my obsession with MAC e/s well and truly took off over the past few weeks.. I am hoping to fill this and make it my 'neutral' palette and it's already the new home to; Vanilla, Shroom, Patina, Woodwinked, Espresso & Smut with the new addition of Jest to my collection, as pictured above! I also have Satin Taupe and Sable to depot and add in, so that shall keep me busy :)
 
I also ordered a boring backup of my Studio Fix Fluid in NC20 as I'm almost out, but then a more exciting new product for me to try is the Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in 'Light Medium'.. I've only had time to swatch this and it seems really nice, I can't wait to try it out tomorrow and see how I like it on my skin. I'm hoping it isn't going to make my skin look too matte, as I do prefer a glow rather than a powdery finish. 

What do you girls make of the MSF Natural? Are there any other fabulously amazing neutrals which I NEED to go out and buy asap? 

Hope you're all fabulous 

Lovesss xx

Tuesday 7 September 2010

She's Peachykeen with Gaga Lips...

Just a quick one for all you lovelies...


I was playing about with some of the 40, yes, 40 sets of false eyelashes which I purchased on eBay.. They arrived yesterday and I was intrigued as to what sort of look they would give me.. I thought when I finished, I'd take a couple of snaps...

Sorry for the terrrrrrible photo quality, my sister has hopped skipped & jumped off to Rome for a week with the DSLR so my laptop webcam will have to make do.. 

You can however make out the gorgeous golden shimmer in my 'blush of the moment' MAC's 'Peachykeen'.. This is a very wearable everyday peach shimmer tone blush and I am loving it! I'm clinging onto the last shreds of summer for as long as possible and this not only gives a super pretty colour, but a really dewy glow *Lovessss* 


Ahhhh man I look so tired on this & I'm not quite sure what my eyebrow is doing?!... But anyways, I also recently rediscovered my love for MAC's Viva Glam Gaga. I've found myself buying so many new lipsticks over the past few months that I've lost track of what I have; buy a new one, wear it for a week then buy another! Ridiculous really, and a habit I need to get out of! 

The eyelashes turned out quite well, I'm using the most 'natural' ones in these photos but the others are WAY more dramatic than these, maybe a little too drag queen-esq! 


Mwahh.. Kisses for you all! 

Laura xx

Thursday 2 September 2010

Do I Dare?.. Underwear as Outerwear & Costa Chic

Afternoon my little cherubs & I hope you're all fandabidozi :)

As most of you will be aware, those who are from the UK in any case, we've just had our last Bank Holiday weekend of the year.. Rather depressing if you're like me and you associate them with Summer, drinks at the Sea Front and super fun nights out consisting of cocktails, live music & the bestest of friends!

I did indeed indulge this weekend, as like I say, it's the last of the year & you only live once right!? 

Myself and my friends, the party animals that we are decided to start early (3pm...) at our local for some scrummy food and luscious icey cold beverages! 

I thought I'd give you a quick glimpse at what I decided to wear...


I decided to 'rock' the Underwear as Outerwear trend and this little leopard print with lace trim camisole style top seemed to fit the bill perfectly.. I picked this up in TK Maxx a while back for just £12.99 - The top half is actually a bra also, but it's slightly big for me so I opted to wear my regular bra underneath too!

The maxi skirt was just a simple alternative to wearing leggings or skinny jeans and was bought from River Island in the sale for around £10..

I wore my black wedges (..Previous outfit post) and teamed the whole outfit with my LV Speedy & black leather jacket for a rougher edge :)


Makeup Wise..

I wanted my makeup to take me from afternoon right through into the night..

Earlier that day I indulged in a cheeky MAC visit and picked up Satin Taupe e/s and Costa Chic lipstick & just couldn't wait to try them out after swatching at the counter..

I used both Satin Taupe and the Champagne shimmer from my Sleek palette to create this shadow look and stuck on some Sarah lashes once again to add a touch of glam! - I have to say I am LOVING Costa Chic, I got so many compliments and people asking me what lipstick it was as soon as I walked into the pub.. Such a perfect corally pink colour!

Hope you like the look & you all had a fab weekend whatever you ended up doing! 

Muchos Loveee xx

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Lancaster Mini Giveaway Winner & Small Catch Up

Evening Lovelies...

So first off I'd like to announce the winner of my itsy bitsy giveaway from the Lancaster haul post which ended on Saturday.. 

I got 30 comments on the post in question and I used Random.org to input the numbers...


The winner, as selected from the website is Number 9.. The lovely Laura from The Beauty Spark if you don't already follow her fabulous blog, then hop on over and take a peek as it's well worth a read!

Secondly...

Just a couple of lines to catch up with you all.. If you follow me on Twitter, then you'll already know, but my poor Mummy had an accident on Sunday night and since then we've found out she's actually torn ligaments in her ankle.. This basically means she can't walk or really do anything for herself as she tries to get it to mend as quickly as possible! So in between looking after her, our two horses morning & night and then going to work it's been a pretty stressful couple of days.. So I just wanted to apologise for the lack of posts, comments or Tweets.. I am still here and trying to keep as up to date as possible! 

Hope you're all well :) 

Love Laura xx