French Connection Spring/Summer 2010

Regular readers of my blog may have noticed I love French Connection. It's my absolute favourite brand for any occasion ... so as you can imagine I was excited to see their spring/summer 2010 offerings.

For the coming season they not only have another fantastic collection that will leave me beg, borrowing and stealing but the new ad campaign to accompany it looks set to be as iconic as the legendary FCUK campaign from a few years back.

The uber cool new ad campaign is thought provoking with a tongue-in-cheek analysis of 'the man' and 'the woman'. Handing out advice through witty slogans written in 'Franglais' shall we say, while models showcase the spring/summer collection. The visuals are simple yet provocative and the message humorous yet keeps the collection as the focus. These are the kind of images I would frame and put on my wall - thats how much I love them!

The MAN


The WOMAN


Campaigns like this really bring out the geek in me (I studied Advertising at Uni) and i'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else thinks of it .... and the collection itself. I am already lusting after the Bella Jumpsuit, the Mister Magic Jacket and not to mention FC's infamous strapless Wizard Dress in yellow! Love.

What do you think of the new campaign, love or hate? And what are you lusting after from the Collection?

x

Nicola Roberts Purple Eyes EOTD (picture heavy)

A few weeks ago I was asked to try and recreate the dramatic smokey purple eyes that Nicola Roberts sported on her documentary: The Truth about Tanning. Did you see it? It was an eye opener into how damaging sunbeds can be - a must see!

Anyway, back to Nicola's eyes ... here are a couple of very dodgy pics of the look. Sorry, I literally took a photo of the screen with my iphone. I'm sure there is a better way but ... ah, here you go ..
I decided to tone down the look ever so slightly as it is quite dramatic and dark on Nicola's eyes and could be overwhelming if you're not used to wearing your eye make up so dark. I'm actually so disappointed at how my camera has picked up the colour as it was much more intense and very similar to what we see in Nicola's pics in real life.
Enough already with the cringeworthy photos!!! Okay okay, so onto how I created the eye. I hate anything too complicated, it's just laborious, time consuming and requires far too much precision when using too many different colours so I stuck to 3 shades to create the look.
I used Bourjois Bleu Lavande and 2 shades from the Sleek Graphite palette. First up was the Bourjois Bleu Lavande, all over the lid. Then I used the dark purple from the Sleek palette (bottom row, last colour) in the outer v, socket and blended right along the crease, I also sweeped this underneath the eye. I then used the shade next to this (bottom row, second last shade) which is slightly darker with a hint of navy to add some depth, again this was blended along the crease, outer v and underneath the eye.

Finally, I used MAC Blacktrack to line the eyes and UD 24/7 liner in zero for the waterline. I added some of the white from the graphite palette to highlight the browbone and added lashings and lashings of mascara.

For the rest of the face, I used Revlon Colourstay in Buff, Bobbi Brown concealer in warm ivory, Nars Laguna to contour, MAC Springsheen blush, MAC Redhead MSF as highlight and Rimmel Foxy lipstick with MACs ample pink as a gloss. In hindsight I would have gone for a peachier look on the lips.

How does this look? Was I close?

x

Vintage Playboy

I guess these days, most people associate Playboy with tackiness. It has become a full on brand offering cosmetics, clothes, toys and even stationery. Once upon a time it was for adult consumption only but these days 10 year olds are running around with Playboy schoolbags and pencil cases!

Personally, I am fascinated by Playboy but more so it's beginnings. What it has evolved into, I can take or leave and I certainly don't make a habit of reading pornographic literature... although I have been told they churn out some rather interesting articles, aherm. My fascination lies with the images of old, the beautiful women on the covers and the art of suggestion. Back in the day, it was something less sleazy than today's offerings.

I thought I'd show you some of my favourite covers from days gone by ... I am determined to have one of these blown up and hanging on my wall one day - sounds a little batchelor-esque but I think it would look pretty cool!

Above covers from 1965

Above covers from 1967

19711982 (I wonder if PB ever marketed these sunnies - I bet they'd be a hit!)

So that's my selection of favourites, most of the covers after the 70's became much more vulgar hence the reputation of Playboy but I like to delve into the history books every now and then back when it was much more creative and with a hint of innocence.

x

God Save McQueen

Long Live McQueen!
1969-2010

This isn't just ordinary nail colour ... this is M&S nail colour ...

A quick trip to Marks & Spencers for a birthday card last night and I end up face to face with a display of nail polish deliberating over which colour to purchase first!

The colours look lovely, the packaging very simple & cute and priced at £2.50, it was only fair that I take one home to try out.

I was drawn to this pastel pinky lilac shade ...
It does apply quite thinly and very streaky so I had to apply 3 coats to ensure it was smooth and opaque. Despite it taking a while to apply the end result was lovely and I am really pleased with the colour, shine and quality of the nail polish - 24 hours later and still no chipping! :)

I thought the name of this particular nail colour was simply 'pastel' as per the bottom of the bottle but looking at the website it may indeed be called 'Lilac'.

For £2.50 it's an absolute steal so go and get your hands on some!

x

Sonia Kashuk Hydrating Lip Balm

The only way I can think to describe this is ... Vaseline Rosy Lips in a tube.

I bought this in the Space NK sale for virtually pennies (I can't remember the exact price). I decided on the shade Dainty which is a pink with a l'il bit of peachy/orange undertones. It is very similar to Vaseline rosy lips in colour, texture and pigmentation but this definitely goes on a lot smoother and feels more moisturising.


You can see from the swatch below how smooth and glossy it looks and how similar to rosy lips it is!

I've been using this everywhere I go. Its great to wear as a gloss that hydrates the lips at the same time, so fantastic for the cold weather! The other great thing is it contains and SPF 14. I don't always like an SPF, especially in things like foundation (it photographs terribly) however for lips that are so easily forgotten when it comes to protecting them from the elements, I think it's great!

I have also bought a few other bits and bobs from Sonia Kashuk which I am not so impressed with that I will blog about in the future.

Has anyone tried this lip balm or anything else from Sonia Kashuk? Rate or slate?

x

MUFE Smoky Lash Mascara

I hadn't really read any reviews on this mascara when I decided to buy it in Sephora on a little visit to Barcelona before Christmas.

The name in itself was enough to encourage me - Smoky Lash. It conjurs up an image of dark, sultry, sexy, mysterious lashes... but the reality didn't quite match the expectation.

This mascara claims to lengthen, curl and volumise whilst being intensely pigmented.



Hmmm, no, not quite. It is very pigmented but instead of luscious, full on lashes, MUFE smoky lash left me with flaking, dry, heavy lashes! Not good.

The mascara applies really clumpy and messily on the lash - even when you wipe any excess beforehand. When it dries it feels heavy on your lashes to the point where you want to rub it off your eyes. After a couple of hours you will probably want to start picking at the clumps of mascara which in turn just causes more flaking. At no point in the day can I look in the mirror without finding dry mascara excess somewhere on my face.

If you want to look polished this is not the mascara for you, its not even suitable for carrying off a really smoky eye as it just looks a bit dirty, dried out and slept in! I literally look like I have just woken up from a heavy night on the vodka jellies wearing this!

However, some girls do like a very layered clumpy lash, almost spider like, in this case it may still be worth trying but as for me, I will be steering clear of this mascara.

Anyone else tried it? What do you think?

x

Dreaming of home ....

So after another failed attempt to sell our flat, I am feeling all dewy eyed over yet another delay in us finally being able to secure a new home :(

*Sigh*

I shouldn't torture myself ...



Black Doors! I love a black glossy front door. I think they are so chic and a little mysterious!





A relaxing lounge with calming, neutral tones and best of all Sheepskin!! Love! So retro, so cosy, so lush!



I adore these framed silhouettes. I can imagine one day filling a whole space above the fireplace with silhouettes of my whole family :)



I've always had a bit of an obsession with dressing mannequins (i know there is a correct name for them but i forget). I have never owned one but often eye them up on ebay from time to time, hopefully if i get a big enough dressing room in the new place, it can be a welcome addition to drape jewels and beautiful fabrics over.

Fingers crossed, we have better luck this month!

x