Year of the Brush - January

Welcome to my first month of my Year of the Brush!

Obviously I start the brush buying with the two brushes I wanted the most. The 187 and the 210

187 - Large duo-fibre brush

Ah the 187, my saviour! I've used this for stippling my foundation, it gives me a really smooth coverage. I particularly find it fab for layering up my foundation. Generally I'll apply a thin layer of foundation all over using my finger tips then use this brush with extra product over areas that are a little bit spotty or red. Works a treat as it doesn't give a streaky appearance like some flat foundation brushes

So should you go buy it?

If your skin is anything like mine (spotty, scarred, uneven) then a big fat YES. If you need a good coverage then it is fabulous at layering up foundation and gives a flawless finish. If you have pretty good skin already and just use foundation as an enhancement then I'd say it's not really necessary, finger tips or a cheaper version will suffice. It is one of the most expensive MAC brushes, but for me its worth it. Cheaper alternatives? Try Sigma F50,  ELF studio stipple brush or Crowns C406

210 - precision eyeliner

The 210 is described by MAC as a 'precision eyeliner' which I'd defiantly say was true. I'm a big fan of gel eyeliner and have previously been using the 209 brush, which is slightly bigger but it wasn't really cutting it in the inner corners of my eyes. The 210 brush gives a thin neat line all over the eyelid and a perfect thin flick at the out corner. Great for everyday eyeliner-ing! I still have a place in my heart for the 209 though, as it gives a thicker 'flick' which I love for a night out.

So should you go buy it?

If you use gel or cream eyeliner then, yes, no question. You'd be hard pushed to find a better alternative on the market.

Already planning my next month brush buys!

Ice, Ice, Baby

Last weekend me and a few girlfriends went up to London for my friends birthday. She booked for us to go ice skating at Somerset House and then for cocktails after. We had a fabulous, if a little tiring, night! I thought I'd just do a little outfit and make-up post on what I wore.

Would you believe that it is very hard to dress for cocktails and ice skating? You would? Oh, okay then.

On one hand I wanted to be warm but on the other hand I like to dress up for bars. As it goes, looking good always wins over comfort for me. I am never ever warm! Although saying that I didn't do too bad at keeping warm and ice skating is surprisingly hard work so I built up a little bit of warmth!

So here, my lovelies, is what I wore

It goes without saying that the pictures are rubbish as usual but you get the gist, I hope! (you can click on the pictures to enlarge, I think!)

Jacket - Primark
Fur Collar - H&M
Leopard print top - Topshop
Cardie (just seen) - H&M
Jeans - True Religion
Heels - Topshop
Leather biker gloves - River Island

I decided that rather than wearing a big coat, layers would be better. I would have liked to have worn a fur coat if I could have found one, but I made do instead with my new fur collar, it performed well in keeping my neck toasty! I wore it over my trusty fake leather Primark jacket which I've had for years. I'm not a fan of Primark nowadays, but this jacket has done me proud! The edges are wearing now but I'm hoping it looks like distressed leather! ha ha. I've been looking everywhere for a new leather jacket, proper leather, but I can't find any that fit the bill. Plus most of them this year have be aviator style, which I love but it dates quickly.

Anyway I digress, this is a OOTD not a shopping ramble!

These are probably one of my favourite pair of shoes, I only got them a few months ago when I realised I had no sensible black shoes. The reason I love them so much is the shape of the toes, it's really round so makes my feet look small, plus they are suede, have a hidden platform and are very comfy. They still sell them in Topshop I believe, but are out of stock online

So that was the clothes. Now for my face. Pictures again aren't very good, and I'm not wearing very exciting make-up but I haven't done a proper face post here so here we go.

Before I start I just want to apologise for my lippy looking so awful, I was just testing it to see whether I want to go with red lips and so put it on rubbish then just left it! I did go with red lips in the end and applied it a little better!

So here is the full list of what I used

Face

Benefit 'That Girl' primer
Clinique Redness Solutions foundation in calming neutral
YSL Perfect Touch foundation in 6
MAC Pro Longwear foundation in NW25
YSL Touche Eclat
MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW 20
Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder in translucent
Benefit Hoola
The Body Shop Baked-to-last bronzer in warm glow
Benefit Dallas
Benefit Girl Meets Pearl
Topshop cream blush in neon rose
Nars Orgasm

Eyes

No.7 Beautiful Brows pencil in black/brown
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
Urban Decay Sin, Naked and Sidecar (from the Naked palette)
MAC Eyeshadow in Ricepaper
Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Noir
Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black Ink
Barry M liquid eyeliner in no.1
Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion
Benefit Bad Girl Lash
Eylure lashes - ? which ones!

Lips

Revlon Fire and Ice lipstick

Phew that is a long list of stuff, no wonder it takes so long for me to put it on!!

As for the night out, it was really fun. Somerset House is definitely the best place to skate in London during the Winter and they do sessions right up to 11pm on weekends!

It's lovely at night because the lights look so pretty and they have a DJ, also there was plenty of good looking guys there, I reckon it would be an ideal place to meet someone, accidentally fall over in front of them! Haha. I would 100% go again. Oh God am I giving dating advice now? I really should shut up!

After ice skating we went to a Cocktail bar in Shoreditch, as reccomended by my boyfriend (no, I didn't find him on the ice!) it was called Lounge Lover and I wish I'd got some photos of the place. But you'll have to take my word and go there. So gorgeous, the decor is amazing! Plus the cocktail list is huge. I'm a massive cocktail lover and they were delicious. You have to book tables really, but go on the website and check it out, I'm not affiliated with them, promise! I just know a good cocktail when I taste one! Try the Rock Candy and Black Diamond Sour, delicious!

Me drinking a Rock Candy, which comes with a marshmellow floating in it. SUPER (psst. I'm not that orange IRL it's just the lighting/camera!)

So there you have it guys and girls, my super long OOTD. MOTD, and review of a night out!

2011 - Year of the Brush

"An artist's best asset is her tools"

Unknown

That's why this year I've decided to make it my year of the brush. 

The idea is to replace my half decent but old/mostly naff brush collection with shiny new MAC brushes. As much as I love new brush, I would much rather buy a lovely lip gloss or eyeshadow from MAC, so this year I've decided to buy two MAC brushes a month, and stick to it!

I've chosen MAC because I feel they are the best. Yes, Sigma are good and I would be pretty happy with a full collection but MAC are the real McCoy! 

I already have three MAC brushes, the 188, 242 and 209

It may not be the most exciting thing for you guys to see through the year. But 24 brushes equal 24 reviews and I hope it might help you too! I chose to do it over a year because MAC brushes are pretty pricey and my other resolution this year was to pay off my overdraft and start saving some money up!

This Can Only Mean One Thing Girls.....

 

MAC spree!

My sister was away for Christmas this year, but made up for it on her return, by presenting me with this MAC gift card!

Soap and Some Fur

Here is said haul from last weeks sale/meant to be getting birthday presents/oops accidently shopped for me trip! Like I said not very exciting.

 

Krispy Kreme is probably the most exciting thing here, and let me tell you, it was gooood.

Top - H&M Fake fur collar. L-R Krispy Kreme doughnut (hole with sprinkles, in case you wondered), No. 7 eyebrow pencil, Lush Karma bubble bar, Lush Cinders bath ballistic, Lush Figs and Leaves soap, Lush Oatifix facemask. 

See? Not exciting.....

Still, as it's you guys, I'll do a little review of everything

H&M Fake Fur Collar

I don't have a good picture of this, it didn't photograph very well. But I do have an outfit post with it coming up soon. It's basically just a large piece of brown fur with a clasp at the front. I actually was attempting to buy a brown fur coat but couldn't find one, so this was next best. It's actually amazing, looks great over jackets and macs and sort of gives my old jackets a new lease of life. Very pleased, £10 well spent!

No.7 Beautiful Brows pencil in 10 black/brown

This will forever and always be my eyebrow pencil of choice. I am severely lacking in the eyebrow department and have used this pencil for years. I like the texture of it, it goes on some smooth making it easy to use. Plus it's only £2.50 with the Boots £5 off No.7 vouchers that they do all the time.

Lush


Karma Bubble Bar

My favourite Lush smell. So fresh, it's gorgeous. I actually got the Gorilla Perfume for Christmas in Karma too which is equally as amazing. Makes the bath bubbly and orange. You need this in your life!

Cinders Ballistic

I won't say much on this as it's Christmas stock, it was half price. Smells like Christmas candy, so yum. They bring it out every Christmas I believe. Put it on your wish list for next Xmas!

Figs and Leaves

I've never brought a Lush soap before. I'm not a hard soap kinda girl. But this was half price too and smelt lovely. I like figs a lot, plus it promised to soften skin. I used it in the bath the other day and was pretty happy with it. Looks pretty grim though! It's inspired me to used soap more often, haha, I sound like I'm really dirty or something! I mean soap rather that shower gel!


Oatifix Facemask

 

I have expressed my love for facemasks before. This is soothing, smells like flapjack mixture, I am tempted to eat some, probably not wise though. Just softens and makes skin feel nice.

I also recieved my order from HQHair last week. They had a 30% off sale after Christmas, which was fab because it included Nars. Unfortuantly the Nars products I wanted were out of stock so I just got few bits and pieces. I'm silly for not getting more but I think I was in a rush at the time and wanted to get my order in before the offer ran out.

May I just comment on how good HQHair is, they do some really hard to find products on there and shipping is usually free and super fast.

Murad Hydrating Toner

I've never used Murad products before, but have heard good things. 

I needed a new toner and wasn't sure where to go for one, but I saw this one on the website, it looked good and I'm trying to step away from drying, spot killing, all singing, all dancing toners as I don't think they are helping me. 

Whats weird about this toner is that it's a spray! I've never used a spray toner, I have to psych myself up on cold mornings to spray it on my face as it make me chilly! Actually though it's a pretty good idea, the pump does well at covering all my face in the toner, then you just wipe it with a cotton pad (or you can just let it dry, lets just say I don't have time to let things air dry in the morning!) and I guess you could say it is invigorating! It's hard for me to comment on the effectiveness of it because I've only been using for a week but it's very gentle on my skin, makes it feel very clean and smells really good. Plus the spray action means that you use less so it lasts longer. Seriously I've only used the tiniest amount in the bottle so far! I'm sticking with it for now. I'm quite intrigued to try more Murad products. Anyone have any experience in them?

Butter London nail polish in Henley Regatta

Butter London is another product I've heard lots about, mainly from this lovely lady, but never used. I'm not sure where you can buy it from shop wise, I've never seen it in any stores, but it's easy to come by on the web. It boosts being '3 free' i.e. no nasties and is a mid to high end polish costing £10 a bottle. 

I chose this colour, because, er, well it's gorgeous?! I cannot resist a bit of glitter! I haven't painted all my nails in it yet but in desperate to do my tootsies. So far on the one thumb nail I swatched, no chipping, 2-3 coats needed for coverage and a lovely sheen without a topcoat (but do remember it is a shiny glitter!)

Another brand that I'm interested in now, will defiantly purchase some more colours!

New shoes!

I went shopping the other day. Not really for sale shopping, but more for birthday presents for other people. Whilst I was out I thought I'd take a browse. I was sorely disappointed to say the least.....utter rubbish! I did get a few none sale items that I'll do a haul post on soon though (don't get excited though, it's nothing interesting!).

But here is what a wore for said shopping trip.

 

Again taken in Topshop changing rooms! Cheers topshop!

Pictures aren't that fab as usual!

Jumper - River Island
Jeans - Topshop
Grey socks - ASOS
Boots - River Island
Hat - Miss Selfridge
Louis Vuitton Epi Leather Speedy

These are my River Island sale boots (ok, ok, some sales are good) I love them. Really comfy, if slightly too big, but two pairs of socks do the trick!

Oh and my LV bag was my Christmas present from my lovely boyfriend, boy done good!

Hypest Hype? Moroccan Oil

As I mentioned before I became the owner of some Moroccan Oil over Christmas.

Since I heard about Moroccan Oil (which shall be known as MO now, for typing reasons!) I've been wanting to try it. But I am a pikey and refused to buy it. As much as I love my hair, I've never been keen on putting many products on it. It just adds to the greasy-ness. But as I've heard so much hype about it I was actually considering purchasing it, but instead I decided to get my mum a bottle for Christmas (she has a much different hair type to me - coarse...if you will - sorry mum) thinking I could nick a bit. Before I got a chance to steal a drop or two. I was presented with this lovely set from my boyfriends mum - who had obviously been listening when I rambled on about it. (I'm so good at rambling)




Cute, huh?!

It's actually the travel set and contains:

Intense Hydrating Mask
Moisture Repair Shampoo
Moisture Repair Conditioner
2 x Oil treatments

So I get a little taster of everything. Although the actual oil is the only thing I'm reviewing here.

I decided the best way to review it properly was to take a photo of my hair using the MO and a photo without using it. In these pictures I used the same shampoo and conditioner and then blow dried and straightened my hair with the same products. The only difference was the application of MO on the ends of my hair in the second picture (oh and it was obviously done on different days)

Here we go - for your viewing pleasure



I was all ready to diss MO in this post, because I couldn't tell much difference, until I saw the pictures side-by-side. I think if you click on them to enlarge you can see better, but there is defiantly an improvement on the smoothness of my ends! I would say it looks healthier. My ends aren't that split, because I'm a good girl and get my hair trimmed regular, but the cuticles look smoother. Maybe not a huge difference, but you have to remember my hair is already quite straight and rarely goes frizzy.

Personally without the photo I wouldn't have noticed much, the product didn't make my hair 'feel' any different, nor did I think it looked much different in the mirror.

So would I recommend it?

I reckon it could be a godsend to girls with curly, frizzy or unruly hair. For those with similar hair to myself it's not going to be life changing but the photo's do tell the story! One positive for me is that as it just goes on the very ends of your hair it doesn't make it any greasier, something that I was worried about. Plus its not at all time consuming to apply. In regards to repurchasing? I'm still a haircare pikey! I'll certainly use these bottles up and see how I feel after, I really only used a small amount so it probably works out as good value for money in the long run. However when purchasing you can just buy the small 25ml bottles for around £12 rather than forking out £30 straight off to get a feel for the product. I guess if it weren't for the price I'd just say use it!

Is this review just silly though? Have you all made up your mind on MO already? I do hope it helps someone! Feel free to post any questions in the comment box if you want more info!

Tumblr Nails - NOTD

I don't really understand Tumblrs - they are just a collection of pictures, right?! Anyway, I accidently came across this Tumblr whilst 'Googling' for nail art pictures. It is a collection of nail art pictures from other people (I am aware I sound utterly stupid here, but I really do not understand Tumblrs, and on that note, why is the word missing a vowel!?)

To cut a long ramble short, I copied a picture I found on there. You can find the original here

I went with pinks because I had the most shades, but blue is cuter.



I'm pretty proud of my attempt. The dots are no where near as uniform as the original but it'll do. And wahhhh how bad are my cuticles?!

Pinky - Nails Inc in Warwick Avenue
Ring finger - Barry M in Pink Flamingo
Middle finger - OPI in D.C. Cherry Blossom
Index finger - Revlon in All Fired Up
Thumb - random white & mixture of all colours