Sun Therapy

Having just bought our first proper house together, the Mister and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that we may have to forego a holiday this year, something we pretty much live for.  However, enough is enough and we have already started looking around for some cheap holiday deals.

Last week we had glorious weather that stunned us all (especially up here in Glasgow), the sun was beating down most days and there were sunburn marks all round, ouch! This week however, we have had rain, hail, sleet and snow and it has just reaffirmed to me how much I need a holiday.

Despite all our money being invested in the house, it's renovations and now the hard slog of decorating ... I hope I can find a cheap holiday deal that will have me jetting off for a bit of sun, relaxation and snoozy, lazy days.

My first thought is of Spain.  My husband used to live there and we absolutely love the laid back, colourful culture.  For a chilled out week away I would love to go back to Barcelona.  Eating delicious tapas and drinking a refreshing cerveza, watching the world go by ... bliss!

Ultimately I think I would quite like  return to Ibiza this year.  Perfect for the party girl (and party boy) in me and my husband but likewise caters to our need for some serious chillaxing!  Ideal for me to dance about in the sun with neon nails and feathers in my hair :)

Sitting wrapped up on the couch just now, I am taking comfort in the hope of finding myself a cheap deal so I can look forward to a cheeky wee sunny holiday :)

Do you have holidays booked? Where are you off to this year? Go on, make me jel! ;)

x

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow!

A couple of weeks ago, Benefit invited me along to an event in Glasgow to launch it's latest foundation offering - Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow.  Yup, a bit of a mouthful that one.

It was interesting to hear that Benefit as a brand actually started off in Glasgow before spreading throughout the UK, so it seems Scottish shores have a special meaning for the company.  That aside, we were given a demo of the new foundation by the wonderful Head Artist, Lisa - which in a change to Benefit's regular line, is a liquid foundation.  This excited me, I pretty much only use liquid or 'wet' foundations so to speak so I was looking forward to giving it a go.

Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow comes in more shades than what Benefit normally offer with 9 shades varying in light, medium and dark.  I was matched to 'I'm so money ... honey' which is just about right for me when I am fake tanned.  It is said to provide a light to medium coverage, is oil free and contains an SPF25.

It comes in a frosted clear bottle which is handy for keeping tabs on your supply and it has an absolute godsend for all foundations - an application pump! Honestly, all foundation packaging should come with a pump.  As a foundation liquid, it is quite runny in consistency which I usually associate with low coverage and reduced wear time.

Despite my initial reservations, I have actually fallen in love with this foundation.  Personally I feel it's coverage leans more on the medium side as opposed to light but this is ideal for what I am after.  It is easy to apply with tools or with your hands and creates a soft, subtle dewiness to the skin without making it look greasy or oily.  It gives a natural, fresh glow to the skin.  It blends beautifully and from what I have noticed there is little to no fragrance.  For me, it lasts a full day of work with no touch ups at all although I can't be certain this will be the same for all skin types (I am normal/combination fyi).

My only negative is the SPF properties creates a little bit of flashback with the camera but not enough to stop me wearing on a night out.  I think its a wonderful spring/summer foundation for those of us who hate to go without a base even in warmer weather.

Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow is available now priced at £24.50

x

Clashing Prints

I spent the weekend 'doon tha toon' ... in Newcastle.  Well, Gateshead to be exact.

Friday was spent with Florence and her Machine ... and what a talented soul she is.  It's my 3rd time seeing Flo and she never disappoints.  I was a little apprehensive about the bigger production of the show to previous gigs but I needn't have worried, I was there for a voice, and a voice is what I got! Oh, and a cape. A stunning, flowing, bejewelled cape.  WANT.

I managed to get some grizzly outfit shots after the gig on our way into town.

Scarf print trousers: Matalan
Heels: Dune
Black top: Zara
Leather Jacket: Esprit
Bag: Mango
Jewellery: Mixture of Topshop, ROX, Links of London

I went for bold scarf print jeans that I picked up (last week) for a snip at £20 from the 'Be Beau' range at Matalan.  I love the colour, print and fit of these jeans.  Probably not the best quality but in my eyes, it's fast fashion, I'm sure in 6 months time I will have no interest in wearing them again so I'd rather spend less.

The clashing red snake-print clutch is a vintage Mango purchase.  Well, that's if you count an 8 year old purchase as vintage.  I do ... ;)  I had my friends give me the okay on the clashing prints as I wasn't sure if it was all a bit too much but they gave the thumbs up and in the end I loved the juxtaposition of both patterns.

What do you think of clashing prints? Do you dare?
x

Blonde - Classy not brassy!

I have spent the last hour looking for photos of me as a blonde.  Yup, that's right, once upon a time, I turned my back on my Titian roots and attempted to find my inner bombshell.

Unfortunately, no photos are to be found and as much as I loved the blonde it really didn't suit a pale, freckly lass like myself.  I do occasionally still reminisce about my brassy past ... and believe me it was brassy.  Home dyes and cheap salon highlights left my hair looking less than classy.

These days though, home dyes have improved in quality and colour pay off as well as being much kinder to your hair.  If you home colour your hair or are thinking of going blonde using a home dye, check out this Garnier video for Garnier Nutrisse Creme Colour....




Although specifically for blondes, Lyndell Mansfield, hair colour expert for Garnier gives some valuable tips on home dying, specifically for use with Garnier Nutrisse Creme Colour.

1) Apply to resistant areas first (e.g, areas of grey hair)
2) Apply at the root for even coverage.  Garnier Nutrisse Creme Colour comes with a precision nozzle to make this even easier!
3) Leave colour on roots for longer to ensure an even coverage
4) Use a nourishing conditioner afterwards to keep your hair smooth, shiny and in great condition
5) Always buy your home colour in advance of dying as you MUST carry out a skin test first

Hope these tips have been helpful for keeping your blonde classy not brassy! :)

x

Who lives in a house like this ....?

The last 4 weeks have been a little chaotic to say the least.

I'd hardly set foot in the door of my new house before the renovations were kicking off.  Three and a half weeks after it all started, the building work is nearly done and soon it will be time to start decorating.

We decided to avoid hassle further down the line by getting all our work done at the same time so we don't have the disruption in the future.  To sum it up, we have moved our kitchen into  a completely different room, split the original kitchen into 3 separate rooms to create a study, utility room and 'powder room' (downstairs loo to you and me) and a complete makeover of the main bathroom.

While all this has been going on I have had limited internet access, no cooking or washing facilities and a house full of unpacked boxes.  We have managed to get by living out of a bedroom and a small space of couch in the living room.  Needless to say the novelty has started to wear off and we just can't wait to get our house back to really put our own stamp on it.

I plan on posting some before and after photos over the next few months as we manage to finish off rooms but I will leave you with some snippets of my new home through the eyes of Instagram....

The view from my couch until yesterday ..!!

new purchases for the garden :) 

restoring my old singer sewing machine table

one of the gorgeous chandeliers that came with the property

my new bath! 

Drumroll .... here is the first of the before and afters!!  This is what will be my dining room which leads onto the back garden.  I wanted more light in the room and the space to feel bigger. I love the idea of bringing the outdoors in and think that this space will be one of my favourites in the house.

Next project after the house is finished will be Project Green Fingers! The garden needs a serious update.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Ta-da!

These wardrobes came with the house, I am undecided if I should keep them? What do you think?

The bones of my new kitchen - it will be finished this week :) 

I've started filling the cupboards - exciting! 

My new shower area in it's early stages - the full bathroom will be complete this week too! :) 

I will keep on sharing photos in between the usual beauty, fashion, lifestyle posts.  There is so much decorating to do, I am sure it will keep me busy for the foreseeable, so any decor tips, send them my way!  :)

x

SHIMMER TWINS

If you are looking for some bad lashes to rock your world... then look no further than Shimmer Twins!

Launched in December 2011, Shimmer Twins Treasure Lashes are the ultimate in party lashes whether you be raving, moshing or glamming it up with the girls on a Saturday night! 

AMAZING!

After being sent a couple of Shimmer Twins Treasure Lashes samples I am absolutely in love and will be stocking up for my professional kit as well as keeping some faves aside for myself.  The lashes are created by celebrity Make-Up Artist Holly Sillius who originally made some bespoke lashes for a 'lash' party.  The collection evolved after she started making them for others including for music videos and festivals and now her own line of amazing and dramatic eyewear. 

The brand itself has a super cool image with Jaime Winstone as the face of the brand and having already been featured on the cover of style Bible,  iD Magazine.  They have also found themselves quite the celebrity following with the likes of Caroline Flack and the X Factor contestants all being fans! 

Jaime Winstone

Treasure Lashes come in a range of plain lashes (rrp £8) or creative (rrp £15).  The creative lashes are pretty much amazeballs ... there, I said it! (hate that expression) but they so are! From gold star lined lashes to iridescent pink hearts, they are loud, vivacious and scream GLAMMA!

You can buy Shimmer Twin lashes at ASOS and Urban Outfitters.  Keep posted for some future face of the days featuring Shimmer Twins, I just can't wait to get a night out wearing the gold star lashes.  I think they will look wicked! 

What do you make of Shimmer Twins? 

x

SPACE NK: Make Up Brushes

Hasn't it been an age since I last blogged?

Moving house was hectic and renovations even more so.  I am living with only a livingroom and bedroom and teeny en-suite at the moment so taking any blogworthy photos has been a little difficult as well as having little to no time to sit down with the laptop.

Anyway, I have wanted to blog about these make up brushes for a LONG time so with a spare 10 minutes this evening, here goes ....

I got to try out some Space NK brushes, which led to me purchasing some Space NK brushes.  Their quality is comparable to high end make up brands and unfortunately so is their price.

I have the blush brush (RRP £28 - my own purchase), the eyeshadow brush (RRP £18 - PR item for review), and the foundation brush (RRP £25 - PR item for review).

The blush brush is large, dense and squared off in shape.  It is actually quite different from blush brushes I have used in the past which have been softer, fluffier and rounder but I have to say this is working well for me.  It gives good placement of the blush and covers a larger area of the cheek, which dependant on the overall finish you want may not always be a good thing.  It has made it into my everyday make up bag so it is a thumbs up purchase.  It's biggest flaw is its price ... for £28 I would rather buy from a major brand ... however, I managed to purchase in the January sales but would never repurchase at full price i'm afraid.

A closer look 

As far as the eyeshadow brush goes, it is great for placement of shadow on the lid, I also use to blend as the brush is quite fluffy despite being densely packed. Again, the price tag lets me down but this is probably because I expect cheaper as it isn't branded MAC, Space NK, Bobbi Brown etc.

Space NK brush on left, MAC 190 on left 

The foundation brush is my favourite of the 3 with it being comparable to the MAC 190 but with only £1 price difference I would personally go for the MAC brush everytime.

Space NK left, MAC right

Although the Space NK foundation brush is a little bit wider, it makes little difference to make up application and these 2 brushes are near enough like for like.

As much as I really really like Space NK brushes, I wouldn't purchase them over branded make up brushes like MAC unless I picked them up for half the price on sale.  With so many similarities to their more popular competition and very little in the way of price comparison, I can't see these brushes standing out in the market place.

Have you tried Space NK brushes? What are your thoughts on quality and price?

x