Some New Loves

Hello! Long time no blog! Sometimes real life takes precedence, along with a lack of money situation, but I have still been reading all the blogs I follow- that I definitely can't do without! I have missed writing though so I thought I would do a post on some new things I have acquired of late.
Firstly I have finally got my hands on one of the Rimmel Apocalips glosses. Or lip laqueur as they call it- it's basically a liquid lipstick. Best of all it was free as I was able to use my Boots points. This made me very happy after a particularly meh day at work!  I chose the shade 'Celestial' as the dusky pink shade is very 'me' and easy to wear. Though I have to say I was very tempted by Apocalyptic. And Stellar actually...  I wore this yesterday for the first time and I'm very impressed with both the formula and pigmentation. I'm not that keen on the smell but that's a very minor niggle! It also has pretty good staying power. It does lose it's glossiness after a while but the colour does stay, a bit like a stain. The applicator is also a bit different in that it's a doe foot with a sort of dip in the middle. It seems to aid application and gives good coverage with one swipe as it were. All in all this is definitely one to try. At Boots these are £5.99 but Rimmel currently has a 3 for 2 offer on so now is the time to buy if you want a few!

I am now also the proud owner of my very own Grumpy Cat necklace courtesy of my lovely boyfriend. Frankly who doesn't want a moody feline adorning their neck? Granted it probably isn't appropriate for some work situations. But do I care? No.

Thanks Stuart xx

You can get this beaut at Punky Pins here.

I have also got a new 'Smile' bracelet from Bekl after seeing them in Glamour magazine. At least £1 of the sale goes to Beat Bullying UK. I paid £2.99 for this two weeks ago but they have since gone up to £3.99. They are for charity though and are very cute, especially the rainbow one which I didn't see previously.

So yeah, just some bits I'd thought I'd share! Hopefully my blogging mojo with return now I've had a little break also! 

Snowman! (and Woman)

Had to be done. 

My mum did quite a lot of this!

And not so much of this. Bit of a quality difference! A bit Alan Carr-y also?

Rather late Xmas Gubbins!

Better late than never ey! Here is an assortment of piccies of some of the thing I got for Christmas and a few things I picked up in the sales.

Lushness- I especially love the cool vintage style tin!

Cardi and slippers from Mother!

Really funny book from Father and a chick lit from my sis which I have nearly finished-expect a review soon!

Yankee candles. The baby powder one is gorgeous and really strong. The clean cotton ones are equally as nice but not so effective. Possibly because they are tea lights and smaller.

Yay I finally have Porchester Square after lusting after in for ages! Cheers sis! My dad also got me this lovely leather and steel bracelet. Very simple but what I tend to like jewelry wise.

Now for the sales stuff. I didn't really get much as I thought the sales were a bit pappy this year. Saying that I don't really go into clothes shop so I could have been missing out. I was thinking really of Boots- they didn't seem to have as much on sale this year for some reason.

I've been in love with this scent since summer-now I finally have it! The set was £21 something.

I think this was £6- it's gorgeous anyways, I like all the colours and a good way to try them before shelling out loads for a full size.

Nice violet soap from TKMaxx

The Works- Bargainous books

I love this perfume no matter how 'tweeny' it is! £5 for all this though!

New boots from Joe Brows. £19 odd. Can't wait to give these an outing

Bargain bag from TK Maxx - RRP £37, down to £10. I love the tealy colour and it has a pretty flowery lining.

So all in all a pretty good haul! :D

New Year, New FOTD

Hi, well I'm back to blogging after having a little break over Christmas. What with driving around all over the place and a general lack of motivation I haven't managed to get anything up for ages now. I hope you've all had a lovely time :) Today however I seem to be doing my best to avoid actually doing anything productive, i.e; tidying the hovel that is my bedroom so I have had a play about with the MUA Dusk til Dawn palette. I have to say it is rather dramatic for a day in the house but hey! Johnny Depp might decide he wants to visit Wrexham and knock on my door...

I actually used a lot of the colours from the palette for this look. To start I used the excellent MUA profession eye primer. The shade third from left on the top was used all over followed by the last two top shades on my lid and outer half respectively. In the crease I used the second shade from the left from the bottom row and the second shade on the top. To deepen it I used a little of the black from the bottom row. The top second shade was also used to line my bottom lashes and the first top shade was used as a highlight. The 4th top shade was used on the inner corners.

Phew. Apologies if that is hard to follow! I love the finished result though, it's a bit different to a usual black smokey eye.

I also used a Natural collection black pencil liner on my top and lower lash line and waterline as well as my trusty Loreal Volume Millions mascara. If you've never tried this then you really need to, it's the mutts nuts.

For the rest of my face I used the Maybelline BB cream, Natural Collection powder, Sleek Suede blush, Famous First Date blush in Keira, Elf highlighter in Luminance and for my lips Elf mineral lipstick in Nicely Nude and MUA Intense Kisses gloss in Sealed with a Kiss.

I'm all set for Johnny in my hoody, haha.

MAC Fanfare Dupe

Fanfare is my first ever MAC lipstick and it has definitely made me want to try more! They are expensive though so if you were after that particular shade I have here a pretty good dupe for you. Actually it was my sister who persuaded me to do this post after comparing them and noting how similar they are. The lipstick in question is Rimmel Rich Moisture lipstick in Adorable. This is a discontinued shade I believe but you can pick it at Amazon for only £1.44. Least at this moment- I'm sure you could find it elsewhere. My sis got it from the local market where they seem to have loads of discounted, discontinued products. But considering MAC lippies are £14 this is rather more bargainous! Here are the pics for your perusal. 

Left-MAC Fanfare Right-Rimmel Adorable

As you can see the Rimmel one is slightly darker, but it's pretty darn close I'd say, especially if you are on a budget.

Initial Thoughts- Milk_Shake Conditoning Whipped Cream

I got this in the December Glossybox and was keen to try it out as my hair needs all the help it can get. Lately every day is a Dougal day! I've only used it a couple of times but I thought I would share my initial ideas. Here's what the bottle says. 'Formulated to condition the hair keeping moisture balance and preserving the hair color integrity. It leaves the hair soft,shiny and healthy. The milk proteins improve the hair structure and conditioning, special emollients give long lasting hydration and the Integrity guarantees the great color sealing' So, quite the spiel. This product is all about 'Integrity' though I can't say I get it. It's like someone from the Apprentice got carried away with their favourite buzzword! Anyways, you are meant to apply it to clean, damp hair then style. 

It doesn't say how much you are meant to use so I just had to guess and hope I wouldn't end up looking a greasy mess. I reckon I used a golf ball size blob and used it from the middle down to my ends. First thing that struck me was the vanilla scent. It's strong and quite artificial. I'm not sure whether I like it! I do at first and then it reminds me of those tree shaped vanilla car air fresheners. It is incredibly light in texture and disperses easily when raked through.  I'm also not sure if it actually did anything to improve the conditon of my hair as both times it hasn't felt any different after I've dried it. I'll keep trying it out to give it a fair test though.  This one is 100ml but I believe the 200ml can costs about £15. I can't say I would pay that much but as I said I'll give it a chance! 

I have to say that it does make me slightly hungry!

Have you tried this yet? What do you think?

Romania 2010 & 2012

Lauraeve89's photostream on Flickr.

Pics from my trips to Romania in 2010 and 2012.
News of the Connecticut shootings really does make you realise just how fortunate you are and that there is always someone else worse off than you.