Easter Holidays (shopping, YSL, and chocolate!)

I've enjoyed a rather lovely two weeks holiday from work so Monday morning hit me rather hard. At least waking up is getting a little less difficult now it's actually light and starting to warm up.

I mentioned previously that I had a family wedding to go to during my time off. The wedding was in Cyprus so me and my boyfriend made a holiday out of it. It was really nice to get away for a week and basque in a bit of sunshine, I haven't had a holiday like that in a while. I did a little bit of shopping before, mostly for holiday essentials, beach towels, bikinis, suncream etc, but also a bit of clothing. One of the things I bought was this dress from New Look. I was quite impressed with New Look on this trip, they had a few things I really wanted, but I was sensible. I honed in on this dress which was available in grey, cream and black. The black is exactly the same as the front and it's quite sheer and light which is why I thought it would be perfect for a holiday. It did originally come with two pin on flowers but I wasn't too keen so removed them. It's quite a figure hugging dress so looks pretty good with a waisted belt.

The dress isn't overly "dressy", I've mostly worn it with metallic sandals for a more casual look, but I did see these shoes also, and quite surprisingly, in New Look. I just love the detailing on them, and the killer heel. They are completely impractical but so pretty I couldn't not have them in my collection, and at £30, I think they're a bit of a bargain! I didn't take a decent picture of the dress on. Here's me and the boy in the hotel lobby.

on holiday, I buy perfume from duty free as there's normally good deals. However, with the pound being so weak, it really wasn't any cheaper in euros so I waited til I got home. YSL's Parisienne was on my wishlist, and I had a £5 off YSL voucher, double points coupons and a 150points when you spend over £15 coupon...Boots made sense! Also, currently when you buy YSL perfume you get a free goody bag comprised of a body lotion and shower gel fragranced with the same perfume.
I love free things, especially when you're not expecting them! Parisienne is what I'd describe as a very safe fragrance, not like the Jo Malone cologne I bought which is very distinct. This one is quite a classic scent which I was after, as I'm coming to the end of quite a few of my perfumes and need one that I can reach to at any time of day or night. I think this is a timeless fruity fragrance, classic and modern at the same time (if that's possible?!). I wouldn't pin it on a particular generation is what I mean I suppose.

At 23 years old I'm apparently too old for easter eggs, so I was given a chocolate champagne bottle instead! Yum.

I thought I'd end on a rather beautiful sunset over Cyprus and reminisce on a lovely, happy holiday.

FOTD 16th April 2010 using NARS Sheer Matte Foundation

Here's some pictures of the makeup I wore today, as I haven't done one of these in an age. Below is with flash...
and in natural light...
I kept my eyes pretty neutral using MAC's All That Glitters on the lid, Wedge and Tempting in the crease, Woodwinked in the outer corner. I lined with Loreal's Superliner in Carbon Black, and used Rimmel Glam Eyes Mascara on my lashes.

I kept the eyes simple since I wanted to do a statement lip as shown in the trout pout below.

I'm wearing MAC's Pink Nouveau which is a hot barbie-esque pink. In real life it's pretty dramatic but I realise in the photographs it's not that bold.

On my cheeks I wore my favourite bronzer MAC's Refined Golden, it's a beautiful shade that came out with the Style Warriors collection but I believe is part of their permanent collection anyway. It's a gorgeous shade, not too false looking, very suitable if you have yellowish tones to your skin. I'm definetely a fan of bronzers in general so I'm happy that my winter skin has gone and I'm back to my "natural" shade. I don't deliberately tan my skin but I only have to catch a glimpse of the sun and I tan. I think everyone has a shade they're meant to be.

I am wearing NARS Sheer Matte foundation in these photos which I'm pretty happy with. I will post a review of this foundation soon as I've only read people's opinions of the Sheer Glow.

Make-up Product of the Month: March - OPI Alice in Wonderland Nail Laquers

I was only after one red nail varnish when I purchased these. My brother recently got married in Cyprus and his fiancee wanted me to bring a red varnish with me to paint her nails in case she forgot. Now, I have plenty of red nail varnish, it's one of my favourite colours to paint my nails with and when done properly, looks classy. Anyway, I thought I had an excuse to buy yet more and after seeing this set I was sold. I bought this just before I saw the film so it was quite fitting. I've never bought OPI before, I've always thought them a bit overpriced. I know you get a lot in the container, more than most brands, but I've never used an entire bottle of varnish up before so didn't think it's worth it unless you're buying a colour you know you're going to use frequently. This set is great because the four mini nail laquers are 3.75ml each, for just over the price of one full sized laquer. This way I get to try out some slightly more unique colours too.I love this one called Absolutely Alice. It's a bright blue, glittery varnish, not like any I've seen before and is great for making a statement.Below is Mad As A Hatter, possibly my favourite from the collection as again it's really unique. This is with two coats, which when photographed probably doesn't look like enough coverage, but in person, it's enough! The only downfall of the glittery varnishes is they chip like crazy. It has that consistency where once it chips you can sort of peel off the rest of it.

Next there are two reds in the collection and below is my favourite of the two. It's called Off With Her Red! and has an almost orangey tone to it. I think it's a very flattering tone with a creme finish. It's nothing ground breaking or unique, but is a lovely shade and one I'm pleased to own as I didn't have a "tomato red" shade like this already.Thanks So Muchness is a deeper berry red which is more pearlised than the other red. Personally I'm not blown away by this shade. It's nice but not too dissimilar to shades I already own.

So there we have it, a nice little collection, and for me a good introduction to OPI. I would love to hear any recommendations of other shades I should own in the full size as I think I could be swayed into buying the full size!

Beauty Product of the Month: March - Purity organic skin care

The change of season usually means a change of skin care for me. Even for people who have found their perfect products usually still need to change it with the weather, because drier, warmer conditions have an effect on your skin. One skin care range I was quite eager to try out was the Purity organic skin care which is available from Superdrug. This is a British brand which looks very unobtrusive on the shelves and one which I hadn't heard much about before. I literally stumbled upon it, read the back of the bottle and was sold. If you want to find out about individual products I would recommend viewing their very useful website at:

http://www.purityorganicskincare.co.uk/ otherwise, let me give you a quick overview of what this brand is about.

Purity use ingredients with 98% derived from natural origin, approximately 82% of which are processed from organic farming. Compared to the percentages of other brands that class themselves as organic, that's pretty high. With such a high organic content, you'd expect to pay a high price, and that's where this brand is different, because no product is over £8.99, and that's for an anti-aging product. Just think how much people are prepared to pay for anything claiming to have anti-aging effects.

I bought myself the Conditioning Cleansing Lotion (150ml) and Facial Moisturiser (50ml), costing £4.99 and £5.99 respectively. A fair price I think. Purity keeps the cost of its products to a minimum by using just a small number of natural ingredients that are highly effective, rather than a great number of different natural ingredients. The Conditioning Cleansing Lotion for example contains Aloe vera, Avocado Oil, Oats and Rose water for its main natural ingredients, all of which have a specific purpose in making this an effective conditioning cleanser. 150ml of product may not seem a lot, but I find I only need a small amount to cleanse my entire face. The consistency is quite runny, but that doesn't mean you need to apply a thick amount like the bottle states. Just slightly more than a pea sized amount nicely covers my face and with cotton wool, easily wipes my make-up away with it. The moisturiser is very thick, I'd compare it with the consistency of body butters, but without the grease, a bonus since no-one wants a shiny face. Like the cleanser, this is unperfumed, it's not entirely fragrance free, there's just the natural smell of the ingredients used in it.The packaging is nothing to get excited about, it features plain, clear bottles showing the white product within, and just very simple, small text describing the product under the title. It may seem quite boring to look at, and admittedly, not what drew me in when scouting the aisles, but I think this brand is a breath of fresh air amongst so many that offer miracles they can't deliver. It doesn't promise to transform you skin, but is a low budget, high quality product that can help maintain good skin.

Make-up Product of the Month: February - MAC Da Bling Eyeshadow

This eyeshadow is already available on the permanent line but has also featured on the Spring Colour Forecast collection. On the one hand, I feel a bit like these repromotes from MAC are a tad lazy, I would like to see some new colours, but on the other, this repromoting gives people a chance to discover a product they might not have known about otherwise. Also the fancier packaging the collections usually come in are a lure, although for this collection the packaging is as standard.

I mentioned that I was somewhat tricked in to buying this eyeshadow, because the MA in the store was wearing pink eyeshadow herself. It really wasn’t a colour I thought I would buy and pull off myself. Originally I wanted Expensive Pink but after seeing how dark that was in real life, knew it would only make me look washed out and ill looking. Although I thought Da Bling was much brighter than I was used to, it’s a lot more flattering than I expected. A combination I find works really nice is Da Bling on the eyelid, Twinks in the crease, and Hush on the brow bone. I really like how this makes green eyes (hate to use this word) “pop” (cringe, but it really does!) It’s not a colour I thought would compliment green so well but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The colour payoff is quite good, it’s a veluxe pearl finish, which I find means it goes on quite lightly but can be built up for a more intense wash of colour depending on your personal taste. This is always the first colour I notice when I open my palette, it’s a refreshing flash of colour amongst my neutrals. Well worth a glance over if you haven't seen this colour.

Beauty Product of the Month: February - Lush Sea Vegetable

I’m running late on my products of the month, I usually do this at the end of the month, but I still haven’t mentioned February’s favourites, so here I go. I don’t think this is one of the most obvious products to buy from Lush, there are a lot of soaps that probably look more appealing, I know I’m usually more drawn to the girly, pink products but sometimes I like to mix it up a bit and go for something a bit different. To me this is almost a masculine scent, but I still find it very appealing so not sure what that says about me. It says on the Lush website it’s great for sharing amongst the whole household, and is perfectly balanced for boys and girls, which I’d agree with, because my boyfriend loves it too. I love it because it smells so FRESH! A mix of lime, lavender, and seaweed which is actually a lot nicer than it sounds. I keep this on my sink in the bathroom for hand-washing along with liquid soap, but I think it would be a nicer soap to use in the bath or shower because it contains sea salt for good exfoliation. There is one part of the soap which I think has bits of seaweed in, it’s kind of coarse feeling so while this is great for giving your skin a good scrub, I don’t really think it’s entirely necessary just for hand-washing. The only other con with this is the shape of it, but the good thing about Lush is they will cut the soap for you, any shape or size you want, so you don’t have to settle for the pre-cut slices. I did because I’d already spent far too much time in there, and I bought home a cube of soap which is not very practical. Aside from this, I really love the soap, Lush soaps are a great buy, and if you like your solid soaps, they are ethically the best to go for since they use a palm free soap base.

Collection 2000 Hot Shot review (and Layla update!)

I’ve seen Hot Shot nail varnishes from Collection 2000 around the blogging sphere when they were first released and have just got round to trying them out myself. I think my opinion of them will no doubt echo what a lot of bloggers have said but here’s my two cents anyway.
Hot Shots are smaller than the average nail varnish size, at just 8ml, but they are super cheap at only £1.99 each. I got these on offer 3 for £5. I suppose at this price I can’t expect a great deal and the first time I used them I was pretty shocked at just how crappy they were - chipping on the same day I painted them! The only consolation was that I only needed a couple of coats for a complete non-streaky glossy finish and they did dry quickly. I didn’t want to completely disregard this product though so I tried it over a coat of Barry M base, top coat and nail hardener et voila! It stays on as long as any other polish, so far I’ve had 3 or 4 days wear with only slight chipping starting on a couple of nails. I suppose I should’ve tried this first as I know it’s recommended to always wear a base coat with nail varnish, but I confess I just don’t do this very often!
So now I’m happy with them I wanted to share with you the colours I got, it seemed pointless before sharing a product I hated! I got three pastel shades, which I love the names of by the way. Wham is a great grey colour, a paler version of Barry M’s Grey. Button Moon is a pretty unique colour I think, it looks kind of mint green in the pot, but on is more a turquoise blue colour, a lot more striking on your nails and guaranteed to get you a few comments. Sorry about the extremely sloppy application in this photo. I did this quick just to throw it in here. At least you get the idea about the colour.Finally Dynasty is a very pretty pinky purple colour, more pink than purple once you’ve painted your nails with it.
So Hot Shots are pretty hot after all, just get yourself a good base coat! I think for the price you can’t really complain. There’s quite a few shades to choose from, a great way to experiment with colour and matching your nails with your outfit.

On a completely different note, I wanted to show you by parent's pup Layla. I mentioned her when they first got her, and meant to keep you updated on her but then for one reason or another I didn't. I'm not sure how relevant it is on a beauty blog! Anyway, here she is, at 7 months old, she's pretty much full grown now. Every time I go to see her she'd grown so much and seemed to forget who I am at first. It's hard to get a good shot of her, she doesn't stay still for long and her fur is so long and wild it covers most of her features. She's a bit of a scaredy cat at times but she's just a bundle of fluff and I really miss her!