Summer make-up 'the cat way'

Evening everyone!
Are you all excited for the royal wedding? I'm not too fussed about it but I think I'll watch it just so when everyone is talking about it I won't just be like 'uhhhhh.....' haha! :)

Interesting royal-ish fact:
My housemate verity (most of you know who she is) lives right near the middletons and has given me a few little snippets recently!
1. Kate middletons mum forgot her purse at the local waitrose where verity was working and convinced the staff to let her take the shopping anyway, promising she would come back to pay the £200 odd. She said things like 'do you know who I am?' and to date still hasn't paid for the food!
2. Willz was banned from flying his helicopter to kates house to see her because he was interrupting locals! ;)

Back to the make up!
Here is how I've been wearing my face almost every day due to it being too hot to bother:



* Mac studio fix fluid (or revlon colourstay, or Estee Lauder doublewear)
* No 7 loose powder
* Cream blush (topshop 'flush', illamasqua 'dixie', mac 'so sweet so easy', or may maybelline dream mousse blush in 'mauve')
* Mac MSF over the top (porcelain pink or pink power)
* Two or three coats of mascara (collection 2000 big fake lash, mac studio fix lash, covergirl lash blast or rimmel sexy curves)
* Vaseline on my lips and a bit of lippy (at the moment mac 'angel') or gloss (at the moment viva glam gaga, the pink one!) if I'm leaving the house :)

Have you taken your own stance on summer make up? Link me to your post or tell me all about it in the comments!
xo

Today's FOTN!

Hey everyone! As most of you will be aware, I've been rather ill this week, today after many sleepless nights, phonecalls and attempted doctors appointments I finally managed to get seen and got a 7 day course of antibiotics, I don't think I've ever been happier to get antibiotics!

As a result I've barely left the house and I'm sick of it so tonight I'm off to stews friends house for an authentic Japanese curry cooked by our friend hara who is over from Tokyo :) it's something we regularly do when he's over so I thought I'd best get some slap on ;)

I'm blogging from my phone again so please click the images to see them full size and in all their 'sick as a dog' glory!

























Here are the products I used:

FACE
*mac studio fix fluid (applied with the new love of my life, my 187 brush)
*mac mineralise skinfinish natural in light (applied with a borjouis kabuki brush)
*mac studio finish concealer (applied with my 224 brush)
*mac wonder woman mineralise skinfinish in 'pink power' as a contour, blush and highlight (all applied with my 109 brush)

EYES
*mac vanilla pigment as a highlight (applied with a fluffy brush)
*mac tempting eyeshadow all over the lid, woodwinked in the inner corner and carbon on the outer corner (yes, some of you will be recognising a lollipop26 combo here!) applied with a flat shader brush
*l'oreal HIP eyeliner in black (any gel liner will do) along the upper lash line (applied with a benefit bent liner brush)
*urban decay 24/7 liner in 'zero' along my lower lash line
*collection 2000 big fake lash mascara

LIPS
*Vaseline cocoa butter

I think thats everything!
Sorry about the slightly shoddy iPhone photos but it's so much more convenient for me at the moment :)

Thanks for reading! xoxo

HUUUGE collective loot!

It would appear my blogging mojo is coming back thick and fast, maybe it's because I'm deliberately putting off my final three assignments ;) I thought I'd post about bits and bobs that I've bought over the last few weeks today, just because I really felt like it! All of the images in this post were taken with a Nikon D3000 and 'kit lens' because I don't understand any of Stew's fancy ones!

First up, foundations (and a face wash!) They appear to be my new 'thing' as you can see here ;)




L-R: Boots Vitamin E Gentle Exfoliating Face Wash (I wanted to try something new/relatively cheap), No 7 intelligent balance mousse foundation (I can't find this on the website), Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation in 1C1 'shell', MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 and Revlon ColourStay Foundatiom in 150 'buff'.

Cheeks:




L-R: MAC Wonder Woman MSF in 'pink power', Beauty UK Baked Blusher in 'peaches and cream' and Beauty UK Bronzing Palette (I was sent both of these products and the lipstick later on in the post as an appology for the state of my local Beauty UK stand!)

Other Make-Up Bits:




L-R: Maybelline One by One Mascara, Collection 2000 Big Fake Mascara (as recommended by the Pixiwoo sisters!), Barbara Daly for Tesco purple metallic eyeliner (my mum bought it for herself and realised she already had one!) and Beauty UK Lipstick in 'candy'.

Nail Polish:


L-R: Barry M nail paints in emerald green, fuschia, instant nail effects pink and instant nail effects blue, Collection 2000 hot looks polish in 'fruit salad' (this was free with the big fake lash mascara) and Accessorize polish in 'electric purple' :)

Brushes:
I was lucky enough to receive a £100 MAC gift card from my dad for christmas, and another for my birthday (as well as a new car! eee!). So, armed with £144 on the gift cards (I bought gaga lipglass, vanilla pigment and a few other bits) I skipped off to mac to buy my very first mac brushes!






I opted for:
The 187 'duo fibre' brush
The 109 'small contour' brush
The 224 'tapered blending' brush and
The 217 blending brush!

Can you tell how absolutely BUZZING i am? I still can't quite believe I own these! They're such a treat for me, never in my life would I have been able to just drop over £100 on brushes so this was such a lovely present from my dad :) I've decided to build up a 'core' brush set before I start getting others, so like foundation, powder, blusher and basic eye brushes... then things like liner brushes, concealer brushes etc.. :D!

If these are a bit out of your budget then click Here to find brushes that are extremely similar to mac ones for much more affordable prices!! :)

Random Bits:

Five packets of haribo eggstras, these are limited edition for easter and i LOVE them so i stocked up today ;)


BUSTAMOVE!! I was lucky enough to receive a Nintendo 3DS (YAYYYYY!) for my birthday (with Pokémon black, may I add!) from Stew so I bought this for a fiver from GAME today as it was my favourite game as a kid!!

New Look:


Floral cape/lightweight cardigan type thingy - £6 in the sale
Little tartan flats with bows - £7 in the sale!

PHEW! so thats all of it (that I can remember, anyway!) Hope you enjoyed that :)

xo

Today...

I finished the final draft of my dissertation! 11,903 words! The relief is amazing, I'm not completely happy with it but I feel like you could write a dissertation for years and years and it still wouldn't be finished!

I'm going to get it bound on Tuesday morning, have any of you had dissertations bound? Where did you go and how much did it cost you? How did you have it done? (hardback or softback) I'm struggling to decide what would look best but still be relatively cheap?

Now all I have to do is:

1. 900 word evaluation of modern leadership techniques in multinational organisations.
2. A 2,000 word 'talent management plan'.
3. A 3,500 word report on international entrepreneurship in Japan.

I actually feel quite relaxed considering I only have about a week to get those done (my final hand in date is the 5th may)! I know what you're thinking, that's nearly two weeks right? But with two bank holidays etc getting everything printed and finished is a pain in the bum and I have very limited access to the Uni library! :(

I can't believe that in just under two weeks my degree will be over! Stew and I are going to london shopping on the 17th may to celebrate/because there's a couple of london-only shops we want to go to! If any of you are around I'd love for you to say hi!!

Absolutely loving being able to blog easily from my phone! My old iPhone (the 3G) was so slow I never really bothered!

Just a quick note, if I have blogged from my phone and the images look really small (I haven't worked out how to fix that yet!) then just click on them and they'll get bigger!!

xo

Recent bits and bobs :)

Just a few pictures of recent happenings :) hopefully they'll come up ok I'm posting this from my shiney new iPhone 4! :D x

I'm still alive!

Hey Everyone :)
I just wanted to write a really quick update this morning to let you all know i'm not dead, and that there is going to be a lot going on here at the blog soon! So heres a little summary of what I've been up to:

• It was my birthday on April 11th, I went home with Verity to visit my family and was lucky enough to receive a pandora bracelet from my mum and nan, and a new car from my dad! It was totally overwhelming and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing and generous family :)
• My degree is almost over! I hand all of my work in on May 6th and then thats it! I just can't believe it! I'll be applying for masters degrees for next year so its definitely not the end of education for me yet!
  
• I upgaded my SIM only contract (that I was using with Stew's mega old iPhone 3G) yesterday and got a shiney new iPhone4! Although I don't really feel like I have a new phone.. is a bit weird :/
• BIG things will be happening with my blog after May 6th. First, I'll be starting a 'naturals' series, bringing you natural, organic and vegan products from lots of different brands and testing them to see if they perform as well as the non-natural products! Lots of brands have collaborated with me so far and I am SO EXCITED to just hand all of my work in and really throw myself into blogging again, I've really missed the community and I feel like the drama has all calmed down a bit now, so I'm ready to return properly :)
• I'm taking part in the Aussie 'lighter style' challenge at the moment which appears to involve me trying on silly wigs and then picking a new cut and colour for my hair! It's already so much fun and i'll be blogging about it really soon!
  
• I'm still eating healthily but haven't weighed myself or anything for weeks, I've just been so stressed out trying to finish off all of my uni work and everything that I just haven't been focused on it.. I'll have nothing to stress about over the summer so it'll be time to get fit, healthy and back on the blogging wagon!
  

Have you missed me? ;)
xo

More love for Liz...

When I first started using the infamous and much loved by all bloggers Cleanse and Polish it broke me out, big time, all around my jawline. I was absolutely distraught and the lovely PR for Liz Earle sent me the Deep Cleaning Mask starter kit. Immediately upon receiving it I smoothed it all over my face and jawline and was instantly relaxed and soothed by the warm, tingly sensation all over my skin :) Once I had carefully rinsed it off with the sponges, I inspected my skin carefully.

My pores were smaller and had less impurities (the polite word for minging blackheads), the break outs along my jawline were greatly reduced, less red, and less sore, and my skin looked clean, bright, and radiant. Since then I've used this mask roughly once a fortnight (i'm really lucky and don't really have many skin probolems) and I'm completely in love with it. The sponges make removal so much easier and quicker and I really love the scent of the face mask and the little storage bag :) I'm becoming completely and utterly Liz Earle addicted and I'm converting all of my friends to the ways of Liz because I really can't fault any of the products I've tried so far. My skin has balanced out and now loves Cleanse and Polish :)



The kit contains a 75ml tube of the face mask and two sponges, all zipped up in a gorgeous Liz Earle storage bag :) it retails at £12.75. After that, a 15ml tube will cost you just £4.85 and two replacement sponges just £1.55! Bargain :)

The Liz Earle websites offers a number of solutions for any problems your skin my have and they can all be found here! Happy shopping :)

xo

ps - keep your eyes peeled for a SuperBalm review and Stew's take on the Men's Cleanse and Polish!!

Could you be the next face of O'Neill?

Hey Everyone! I thought I'd hop onto the blog today to talk to you about the new  O'Neill Superkini



The Superkini is the latest addition to the bikini world and is made out of nanofront™ material, so it sticks to you your body when wet (no saggy bums or tops here girls!). Let's face it, bikini season can be scary and the last thing you want is for your bikini to be sagging down or going wrinkly and horrible when you emerge from the water. The Superkini stops this from happening, amazing!

O'Neill are currently running a competition on their Facebook Page to find their new 'O'Neill Girl'. Twelve finalists from the facebook competition will be flown out to Ibiza in June to walk the One Way Runway!! The winner will be chosen on Friday 13th May and will then be flown to a secret beach location for a photoshoot in September 2011 to star in the S/S2012 campaign for O'Neill.
This truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I have a few friends who would be perfect for this campaign and I'm going to be sure to tell them all about it asap :)

If you want to be in with a chance of winning this absolutely amazing competition you need to:

• Upload a photo of yourself in airtime on the O'Neill Facebook Page and get your friends to vote for you! Please remember that you need to be over 18 and hold a valid passport (to fly out to IBIZA on June 7th-10th 2011).


• The photo should show why you should be the face of this amazing new O'Neill campaign and the more friends that vote for you the more chance you have of winning!

The panel of judges will include supermodel Elyse Taylor of Victoria’s Secret, Surfer Rain Jackson, top fashion editors and an O’Neill Marketing Team member! How exciting is that!!

The application on the O'Neill facebook will allow you to post your pictures between April 1st and May 13th to be in with a chance of winning, you can also share information with your friends to get as many votes as possible!

I think this competition sounds really, really exciting and I'll definitely be keeping up with all of the pictures on the O'Neill Facebook! What about you? Could you be the next face of O'Neill?

xo

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Everyone wants Healthy, Sexy Hair... Right?

After bleaching my hair from dark brown to white blonde a few months ago, (FYI: I bleached it 8 times!!) I was absolutely desperate for some sort of hair relief! I was sent the Healthy Sexy Hair shampoo and intensive repair conditioner, with I raved about here. I still love both of those products and am on my second lot of both now! I've found that when I use them and then blow dry my hair, the amount I need to straighten is minimal, and that can only be a good thing!!

I was then sent the Soy Renewal Treatment (which i've almost used up now) and most recently, the Reinvent Colour Care Top Coat.

Soy Renewal Treatment
I can genuinly, honestly say that without the Soy Renewal Treatment, I would probably be bald. This is an oil and the list of benefits it gives is almost longer than my arm, it adds instant shine, protects from heat, reduces and controls frizz, boosts moisture levels, increases elasticity, helps to smooth the hair, and reduces drying time. <-- Yes, that list is from the back of the bottle, but I have personally experienced first hand, all of those things. Every time I wash my hair, I apply two pea sized blobs of this all over my hair, on the odd occasion when I forget to use it or don't have it with me, the difference in my hair is massively noticeable! Because this is an oil product, the little 125ml bottle has lasted me forever (a little goes a very, very long way!) so its well worth investing in :)

Reinvent Colour Care Top Coat
This is the newest addition to the Healthy Sexy Hair family. Sexy Hair say:
"This unique, transparent gloss gives hair colour a boost between services. Your hair colour will be revived and extra shiney"
This is used on hair after shampoo'ing and conditioning and is then rinsed out. I've used this 5/6 times so far and have had a few problems with it. When I rinsed it out my hair felt lovely. However when I blow dried it my hair was frizzy and felt really, really dry. I didn't use the above soy treatment when I used this because I didn't think it would be needed but I've had this issue time and time again! I don't know what I'm doing wrong as alll of the other Healthy Sexy Hair products I've tried have been amazing!! :( I'm going to keep using this and trying it out in different ways to see if i'm just being a bit of a turd and doing something wrong...

The Soy Renewal treatment is available here for £14.95, and here for £14.45.
I haven't been able to find the Top Coat online anywhere, so I'm assuming it probably hasn't been released yet! If you're interested in it, you can call 0845 230 9660 and speak to someone at Sexy Hair about buying it :)

I really, really want to try the Straight Sexy Hair range soon because the longer my hair gets, the less it will stay straight! So annoying!

Have you tried any Sexy Hair products? What did you think?

xo