Thing's I've learnt this week 17th - 23rd Jan 2011

One

Turns out you can eat Lush's BubbleGum Lip Scrub! I was sneakily licking away at it thinking it might be slowing dissolving my insides. But I asked the girl behind the counter in Lush and she OK'd me for the sugarfest!

What's that? A tongue print? (sorry I'm gross)

Two

Nothing feels better that a clean and tidy make-up draw.....but nothing is more tedious than cleaning out your make-up draw.

Look - how pretty!

Three 

You can go out with the tags still in clothes without anyone noticing.

I did with twice this week, once accidentally and the other time on purpose. Remember me saying how I'd keep the tag in my new jacket for a little while longer here? Well I did, and I wore it out as a little tester! Suffice to say I will now be taking the tag out and keeping it, as I didn't see anyone else in it! The second time this week was in a top, luckily I noticed when I went in a changing room to try stuff on and I'm pretty sure the tag was hidden well away, so I got away with it!

Sorry Vanessa. I like your hat though

Four

I don't like Coke/diet Coke/diet Cherry Coke, I want to like Coke but I just can't. But I do like the nail varnishes that come with said fizzy drinks.

 

Anyone for some free Coke?

What are your revelations this week girls?

Murder by Heels - OOTD

I finally found an area in my house that worked for a full length photo without using a mirror. Woop!!

Regardless I still look stupid but you can see my outfit properly this time.

Top - H&M
Jacket - Topshop
Fur collar - H&M
Jeans - Topshop
Shoes - Topshop
Hat - H&M
Necklace - River Island

Would you guess that I like Topshop and H&M lots?

Props to me for walking about 3 miles around London and the from the train station (which is a 20 minute walk up a hill) in these beautiful but lethal heels. 5 inches of sheer pain. My feet were bleeding when I took them off, probably because 'these heels weren't made for walking', but when you never dress sensibly, like me, then that is the kind of suffering you have to put up with.

(please ignore the hat, its supposed to be a trilby but it actually looks like a bloody halo from that angle! Unfortuantly I'm not that angelic!)

Oops

One of these days I'll be able to save. But not anyday soon

Heels - Topshop - £70

Swoon.....In my defence though, they were the only pair left in the shop and they just happened to be my size. Must be fate

Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees

Not many people spell my name right. And not many nail companies name products after me.

So a big THANKS OPI!

Hahaha. No I'm kidding I just happen to have the same name as the 'Executive VP & Artistic Director of OPI Products Inc.' (Suzi Weiss-Fischmann)

But nail colours are 10 times more pretty if they include your name in them!

Review - Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation

Depending on who's blogs/vblogs you read/watch, you might have heard of Vichy. Also if you are European, you probably know about it too. But for those who are relatively new or had never heard about the brand then here's something I copied and pasted about it from Wikipedia (sorry, I know you should never use Wiki as as source!)

"Vichy ("Vichy Laboratoires") is a premium brand of dermo-cosmetics owned by L'Oréal under its Active Cosmetics division and is sold exclusively in pharmacies. Thermal spa water from the hot springs of the town of Vichy, France, is the only water source used in its formulations. The company was founded in 1931."

I originally heard about it from this fabulous lady and if you haven't heard or watched Lisa Eldridge work her magic then you MUST. I watched this video about acne covering with lots of interest and decided that I must buy the Vichy Dermablend foundation (along with the Clinique redness solution's). This was just before Christmas and at the time I could only find it online and a lot of the colours were out of stock, plus what with buying Christmas present I didn't really have the money. Also I was very happy with my Clinique foundation so I just forgot about Vichy.

Last week I was having a mooch around Boots when I found a whole Vichy stand! I think this is a relatively new thing from Boots as I've never seen it before. So I pounced on the foundations! The problem is that they were in boxes with no testers making colour matching a bit difficult (this might not be the same for your Boots though, I went into another Boots this week that did have testers) luckily I chose wisely and the colour is pretty perfect for my skin!

So, onto the product

It is marketed as 'Corrective foundation' so in my eyes is best for skin that needs correcting i.e. redness, acne, scarring. My skin is pretty gross, I suffer with blackheads, whiteheads and spots underneath the surface. My cheeks are the worst area, so I've decided to show you guys a before and after.

I chose the colour Nude (25), my skin colour is naturally quite light, but I use fake-tan and like to wear my face products as dark as I can get away with. I usually wear a NW25 in MAC. Vichy only comes in 5 colours which is a bit rubbish, but you can always mix!

The foundation is a liquid and so goes on best with a foundation brush or stippler in my opinion. It gives a full coverage and I would almost say its more like a concealer than a foundation but without the caked-on-feeling you often get with concealers. I've been using it alongside a lighter foundation and using over areas that need a particularly heavy covering. What I really like about this foundation is that you don't need to layer it on, it just gives a full coverage from the first application. This means that it feels light and fresh on the face.

So you can see what kind of coverage it gives, below is a picture of my face naked, then with MAC studio fix foundation on (which I'd say gives a heavy coverage) and then with Vichy Dermablend. I took these pictures in the same light on the same day with no other products on.

I'm sorry I'm subjecting you to my awful skin, its in the name of beauty I tell you! Also please click on the picture to enlarge - you get a much better idea!

So what do you think? I can defiantly see a difference! Although MAC SF covers there are still a couple of red areas, with Vichy they've practically disappeared!


So would I recommend it?

Yes! Since buying this product I've pretty much gone concealer free (apart from eye bags!) and whats gorgeous about it is that it can be worn everyday. MAC SF is probably the heaviest foundation I own but I wouldn't wear it day-to-day because it's almost mask like. Whereas I've been wearing Vichy to work and everyday since I purchase it, it lasts really well and I've been getting home and looking in the mirror, and thinking 'wow, my face still looks perfect'

Any negatives?

The colour selection is one, like I said I found the perfect colour in Nude, but you might not be so lucky. It's worth trying to mix colour though! Other then that, nothing. Even the price is good £14.30 for 30mls

You can buy it here

Let me know what you think if you've tried it!

FOTD - Cinema trip

I went to the cinema in the week with a friend. We went to see Love & Other Drugs with Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal in. I've wanted to see it since I saw the trailer. It was really, really, bad, so cheesy and lame. Not a recommendation from me at all!

But I decided to do my eyes and make-up a bit funky. I couldn't be bothered to take my make-up off from during the day, so just piled it on over the top. It's not very good but it's a try so here we go.

 Without flash

With flash.

Eyes

UDPP
UD Naked Palette - Sin & Toasted
MAC eyeshawdow - Jest
Lancome eyeliner
UD Glide on eye pencil in Whisky
Benefit Badgirl mascara

Lips

MAC amplified in Full Fuchsia

Really bad. But I never use brown eyeliner so I thought I'd show it off.

Filling a hole, and opening another right back up

Last week I went to the dentist, just for an innocent little check up and tooth polish? Sadly not. My dentist found a dreaded hole and also managed to make time for me to have it filled in during the appointment. I have no problem with dentists, fillings or injections. But the three of them together is a little bit overkill. Especially as the injection of local anaesthetic in my gum not only made my cheek and mouth numb, but also my whole neck and tongue. I was like a big slobbering mess, it was tres tragic.

As I was feeling so very sorry for myself, I decided to go shopping. So there we have it, my resolution to save money this year has already crashed and burned. I'd actually sneakily been eyeing up these beauts

River Island £59.99

Or a similar pair from Topshop. I like loafers, especially loafers with heels. But, alas, it was not to be, neither my local River Island or Topshop stocked them, so they'll have to be on the wish list until I shop further afield.

No matter though, because instead I got all this.

Topshop (and a smidge of H&M) haul

......but wait? What's that snakeskin print thing in the corner....a top?.....a scarf?......wait a minute, it's not......is it? YES! It is ladies and gents, that is a pair of bonafide snakeskin print leggings......Oh I see....slowly edges away.

Let me just give an explanation here. I have been keen on buying a pair of patterned trousers/leggings for a while now but never really gave it much thought in terms of patterns. So I saw these and thought, ah ha! Printed leggings, and proceeded to carry them around the store without trying them on. When I got to the till they happened to, kind of be, still in my hands.......

Oh snakeskin leggings , how I want to hate you, but when I put you on you make me feel like doing some kind of crazy interpretive dance, you are so comfy and have given me an illusion of a slightly bigger arse. Which must mean they are magical leggings. Let me just show you my leggings on, so you too can marvel in there glory

Granted they are ridiculous. I have limited options to wear with them and realistically they can't be worn that often without people being like 'oh, there's that nutter again in her snakeskin leggings', plus I dread to think what my boyfriend will say. But they were £22 so I don't care. Even if they never see the light of day I'll still be wearing them for my in room dance sessions. 

Conveniently they also match with my new Topshop jacket, kinda seen in the above pictures and here.

 Image from Topshop.com

If ever a jacket wanted to be leather it's this jacket. So soft, almost buttery. But leather it is not, not for £58 it isn't anyway. This in black leather is my idea jacket, as the shearling detail is removable, but this in beige plastic is pretty nice too. I think I might just keep the tag on for a bit though, I'm a bit scared that I'll find everybody has this jacket, because of the price and the fact I found it in my local Topshop, which isn't very big.

Also in the line up are a pair of ribbed knitted cream over-the-knee socks. I actually want a pair of tights like this but I'm not really having much luck, so these will suffice until I do.

Lastly a felt trilbly style hat, £7.95, H&M, I like that it's plain. And cheap!

So did I get over my filling? Yes, but it left a big hole in my purse!

Light Fantastic

This page is from Elle - January Edition. I took a photograph rather than scanned because I am lazy.

I love everything on this page - the colours also make me think summer is coming!

The Tom Ford sunglasses are top of my wish list. I can't find them online though, not sure if they are out yet!