New visage

I've been loving using my Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in 51, but recently found a. the colour hasn't been quite right as I've paled over winter and b. it wasn't providing quite enough coverage for my rosey cheeks. Coming to the end of the bottle, I was unsure whether to risk wasting money on something which could be worse, or sticking with something that wasn't quite right.Thanks to Boots 3for2, I did a bit of both...

Voila!

Spots and open pores....gone!

I went all out and re-purchased my Bourjois Healthy Mix and this bad boy...

Revlon Colorstay combo/oily in 'Ivory'

It is a tad pink for my skin, but when combined with the Healthy Mix, it looks perfect! The colorstay adds the extra coverage and lasting power I require, yet the Healthy Mix takes the edge off the matte-ness of the Colorstay. I finished up with MUA blush in shade 1...

MUA Blush shade 1

And a little MUA pressed powder. I'm a happy bunny overall! I also purchased the L'Oreal Telescopic mascara raved about by Vivianna, but I have yet to try that yet. As for what it was all applied with, that is coming soon...Have you made any splurges on Boots 3for2?

My new eye shadow palette

With an ever increasing and slightly obscene amount of nude eye shadows in my collection, I decided, having seen it done on YouTube, to have a go and customising my own eye shadow palette. Not only would this save on packaging and space, but I thought it would encourage me to use eye shadows that were overlooked due to being at the bottom of the pile! I firstly needed to find a palette. I read lots of reviews and decided the popular z palette didn't seem value for money considering it was cardboard! I therefore ended up buying an 88 palette below, costing £4.09. It was cheaper than empty palettes online, so I decided to rip the cheap eye shadows out.

Cheapy ebay 88 palette

The eye shadows were really easy to remove and came out complete so I may save some and add to the finished palette!

Half way...

I decided to use the 'candle method' of depoting my eye shadows, as I was too scared of ruining my GHD's. There are lots of examples of this on YouTube, and I found it quite easy. Apart from  a candle I used some tweezers, a pin, and a sharp knife. I managed to depot a vast range of shadows and not crack any! I then purchased some self adhesive magnetised paper from Hobbycraft to stick in the palette and placed my depotted shadows inside. Despite appearing metal, I was disappointed to find that some of the pans still wouldn't stick (Boots 17, No7 and MUA I'm talking to YOU!!) so I've had to stick magnets on the bottom of those, covering the labels telling me what each eye shadow is!

The nearly finished article..

I'm nearly done now. I'm really pleased with it, it makes it easier to see what I have, and more importantly, what I don't have! This palette for a start contains no matte shades, particularly a matte black I think. I may increase my collection and then do the same with blushers! The above palette now contains a mixture of Boots 17, No7, Clinique, Kiko, Maybelline, Stila, and the MUA Heaven and Earth palette.

My new dressing table...

Back in April, while having a wonder round my home town with my sister, I spotted this...

in a second hand furniture/junk shop. I had been looking for a dressing table for ages, as my Argos corner desk really wasn't cutting it as a home for my prized make up possessions. I had been struggling to find anything I liked and could afford anywhere, but when I saw this, I felt inspired to do a renovation job! The dressing table has 6 drawers and matching stool, and has glass panels on the horizontal surfaces. I think it was on sale for about £80, I got it for £70 with free delivery. The table is in fact solid oak *please don't shoot me for wanting to paint it* I couldn't leave it like that could I?

After one coat of primer (Zinsser B-I-N primer/sealer/stain killer spray)

Completed drawers, complete with glass crystal knobs

The finished article!

Complete with stuff, and essential picture of the canine!

Products used;

1. Cheap foam roller and brush from any DIY store

2. Zinsser B-I-N primer aerosol

3. Homebase Sanctuary Eggshell in 'chalk white'

4. John Lewis glass drawer knobs

5. Monsoon meadow wallpaper (to line drawers and surfaces)(I got mine in b&q for less than £20 a roll)

6. Sandpaper in various different grades

Barcelona Haul

The Haul! A selection from Kiko, Cargo, YSL and Benefit

So it wouldn't have been a proper holiday without buying some new stuff to bring back - which is what I did! Full reviews will follow, but for now just a little summary of my finds!

YSL Rouge Volupte in Lingerie Pink

My first purchase, at the airport! Isn't the packaging just to die for? It was more of a rushed purchase than I would have liked, but I think the lipstick is beautiful. As it is so soft the colour can go on a little thick and make me a little washed out, but it looks beautful after a quick blot. Think I paid about £18 for it at the airport.

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

I had a make over at benefit in  a branch of sephora while I was away, and came away with this. Really like it, it makes my lashes exceptionally long, only negative so far is it seems quite difficult to get completely off!

Cargo Shanghai Palette

I also bought this little palette in Sephora. The white shade makes a lovely highlight, and the darkest shade is beautiful, but I'm not completely sold on the nude and pink shades, as the colour pay off doesn't seem great and they are a tad chalky. When used together they do make a nice neutral eye look though.

Kiko purchases

Kiko is a brand I hadn't come into contact with before, but had heard lots about. It is an Italian brand, who I believe have just opened their first store at Westfield in London. They do an amazing range of make up, and best of all, it's dead cheap! I've lost the receipt now, but the eyeshadows were around 4 Euro each, the nail polish was 2.50 Euro, the eyeshadow brush (MAC 224 dupe anyone?!?) around 6 and the duo fibre brush around 12 Euro. Initial impressions are fantastic, the nail polish (with Barry M topcoat) lasted a whole week without a single chip! I'll do another post with the eyeshadow shades but they were all light neutral/highlight shades.

Flormar Pretty Lipstick shade P311

Last but not least I saw a Flormar shop in the shopping centre by our hotel and popped in for a look - I cam away with this lipstick which was only 2.50 Euro I think! 

I could quite easily have come back with so much more, had Easyjet hand luggage restricitions not stopped me!

Barcelona! *Picture heavy post*

This is a long overdue post...
From 11th-16th September I went to Barcelona for a few days in my week off from uni. The weather was beautiful, the hotel was lovely, as was the little stash of cosmetics I brought back! For now though,  a few photos of our trip...

The view from our hotel room, and the AV Diagonal

Super king bed ♥

No prizes for guessing which is my side of the sink...

Me at Camp Nou before the Barcelona v AC Milan game

Enjoying a diet coke on the beach

One of the 7 beaches in Barcelona

A comedy shot at Camp Nou..

We both absolutely loved Barcelona, it had the perfect mix of weather, culture, beaches, the football (kept the boy happy) and the food was beautiful too. I highly recommend it! We stayed at the Barcelona Princess, it was a little way out of town (15 mins on metro), but meant it was a little quieter, 5 mins from beach and directly next to the largest shopping centre in all of Barcelona! I would highly recommend the hotel, it also had a sauna, jacuzzi, gym and 2 pools, one on the 23rd floor with incredible views.

To finish off however, I would like to highlight the fact that a. I only took hand luggage, and b. My suitcase was MINISCULE!

See?

A little poem

All good girls do love their brothers,

But you so good have grown,

That you love other girls brothers now

Much better than your own!

This was found in an old poetry book written by a distant relative of mine in 1908! The book was filled with handwritten poems, we are unsure if they were all written by the same person or if some were copied from elsewhere. This was my favourite though! How neat is that handwriting?!?

I heart PIE

What with it feeling bloomin' cold over the last few days, it feels like Autumn is well and truly on its way! I therefore felt the need for two things. Pie, and mashed potato! I decided on a steak and Ale pie, which I had never cooked before, and I entrusted the filling with my little slow cooker who took good care of it! Here are the results:

Do you like the wording on the top? Tres comical, no? I served it with buttery mash, potatoes and carrots. The recipe did 3 big portions and enough left over filling for 2 more portions the next day. Here is my mini version for lunch the following day:

It was really lovely and one of the best pies I've ever tasted, if I do say so myself! It was really easy to make, and perfect if you have a slow cooker, as you can just bung everything in and leave it for hours! The recipe for seriously steak and ale pie came from bbcgoodfood.com.