Another New Year Ramble

I’m pretty sure 2011 was the faster year ever. I mean really, I blinked and I missed it! But I suppose there is no time like the present to try and take stock of the last year and to have a think about what I want from 2012. I did a post like this last year actually which you can find here.

These were my New Years Resolution for 2011.

* End the year with no debt (apart from student loan and Mortgage, both of which I’ll be paying off until the end of time) and savings in the bank. Yes! I don’t owe my parents anything, wedding rings and sofa are paid off. Student over draft is gone! Ok so there isn’t a lot in the savings account but it’s a good start.

* Get my foot on the ladder of my chosen career. Erm kind of? I have embarked on an at home study course to get my CIPD qualification and should be finished by the end of January! I had hoped to finish it before the end of 2011 but it hasn’t worked out that way. Still, one month to go!

I’m going to start off with a lecture. Mostly just to prove that I have been paying attention through my HR course! Now there is absolutely no point making up vague resolutions like ‘I’m going to be a better person’. How will you know if you’ve done it or not? Objectives should be (geek time now) SMART. Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited.

So what am I going to set my sights on for this year? Make yourself comfortable, this may be a long list...

*  I want to have handed in my final bit of coursework by the end of January. 

*  I want to have applied for Associate CIPD membership by the beginning of June.

* Through the entire month of January my husband and I are ‘detoxing’. No we aren’t doing a mad diet. We are just going to go alcohol free for the month and stop buying crap snack foods. Both of us could do with shifting the remains of the Christmas binging that has made our trouser a little too tight...

*  I have enough cosmetics and skin care waiting in the wings to last any normal person the entirety of 2012. I need to actually get on and review what I have. As such I am not going to buy anything (yes it’s yet another no buy but I’m pretty good at sticking to them so I don’t feel bad going on about it on here) until 1^st April 2012. Even then I can only start purchasing again if I have finished reviewing all the products I currently own. Should I do another project ten pan? Hmm...

* Edited to add this one. I used to read a couple of books a week for pleasure but University and studying since then put a stop to that. in 2012 I want to read at least 50 books. I may even start a book review blog, we shall see.

If you’re making any resolutions please feel free to share them (or links to your own posts!) in the comments. Thank you every one who has taken the time to read me waffle on in 2011. I wish you all the very best in 2012 xx

The last Beauty Blog Link Love of 2011!

Miss Beauty Nerd is smitten over Korres' Body Butter in Basil Lemon because her skin now feels oh-sooo-soft!

 At Lipstick Musings, see how a happy mistake at the Dior counter led Shannon to fall in love with the Dior 5 Couleurs Palette in Rosy Nude!

 Looking for the perfect waterproof eyeliner? Jenn over at Spiced Beauty reviews the limited edition Make Up For Ever Wild & Chic Aqua Eyes Collection.

 Rae reviews lip sets featuring Korres Cherry Lipglosses, Clinique Chubby Sticks, and Bite High Pigment Pencils during the not-so-inventively-named Lip Set Week at theNotice.

 At Eyelining Obsessions Claire decides to try the Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Cotton and discovers a couple of potential pit falls.

 My Lips But Better shares the scoop on the MAC Naturally Collection for spring 2012!

 At Beauty Reflections, Tracy tries out the new CoverGirl Blast FlipStick Blendable Lip Duo.

 How long does it take you to use up your makeup? Katherine from Handmade Reviews vows to finish her favorite beauty products by 2012.

 Fleurissante reviews the best eyeliner ever: Guerlain Terracotta Loose Kohl.

 If you're a fan of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle but can't part with the pennies? Then head over to Beauty In The Mirror where you can find a very similar scent for only £3.99 - 15 times cheaper than the original!

 Pammy Blogs Beauty continues her Holiday Palette Review series with her take on Stila's Daydream Palette.

 Le Metier de Beaute fans will rejoice when they learn that a Blush Kaleidoscope has been created. To see it in all its glory, check out Beauty Info Zone’s review and pictures.

 Check out Bun Bun Makeup Tips' 8 days of Christmas Eye Makeup Tutorials!
--- Help celebrate AOYV's second blogiversary; one lucky lady will win a MAC lipstick and eyeshadow of her choice.

Go mad or go home.

Recently whilst pondering makeup for New Years I remembered that I never use the Sleek Sparkle palette. Can I do a wearable look with this most fall out ridden of eye shadow palettes?

No. No  I can’t. 

December Empties

Welcome to the final empties post of 2011. I love doing these posts. They motivate me to actually use up some of the crap that I own in order to really get my moneys worth. I don’t mind paying for products that I actually use!

 The Body Shop Seaweed Pore Perfector – Already bought a replacement, I credit this with sorting my skin out. Love!

Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover- This is my Holy Grail eye makeup remover. I have a few others to use up but once they are gone I will go back to this. It’s like Lancôme Bifacil but much, much cheaper.

Mini Crabtree & Evelyn shampoo – Hotel freebie that I used for my makeup brushes.

ELF Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths – Like the blot tissues and Batiste I really shouldn’t bother putting these in these posts. Holy grail again. 

LUSH Lip Dip Lip Scrub – This needed to be used up as the use by date was approaching. Love it but have replaced it with this years version which contains popping candy. Om nom nom.

 Cowshed Cow Pat Hand Cream – I got this free with a magazine, it works well but stinks like crap. I loathe the smell. It’s almost as bad at The Body Shop Hemp hand cream which makes me gag.

The Body Shop Shea Body Butter – Again another magazine freebie. I actually used this as a very rich hand cream as I don’t like applying body butters to my body (too thick, just a personal preference). Love it but refuse to pay full price for these.

 Accessorize mascara – It’s an ok mascara but the wand is too big for me and this went bad within a month of opening it. Yes it’s not overly expensive but a month?! I was really annoyed. Would not buy again EVER.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Mascara Sample – I genuinely loved this mascara and it just got better as it slowly started to dry out a little. The full size is tempting...

No7 Extreme Length Mascara – The formula and the wand are nice enough. The blue shade wasn’t great though. It didn’t really show up well.

MUA Clear Mascara – Of course there is plenty of product left but I use this on my brows and it gets pretty disgusting very quickly. It’s only £1 though so I don’t mind throwing these after a couple of months use.

Lipsmackers Vanilla Coke Lipbalm – The label fell of this ages ago. I get these from Primark and they are actually really nice little lipbalms. I have a few waiting to be used.

Revlon Colorstay Foundation – I like this a lot, I really do but the lack of a pump is so irritating that I won’t buy it again.

NYC Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder – It’s dirt cheap yet works brilliantly on my pale skin. This is a bit of a cheat though. The packaging split and ended up disintegrating (despite sitting safely in my drawer... I don’t understand it either). I put the little bit that was left in with my Estee Lauder loose powder as that can be a little dark for me where as this is lighter.

Elf Blot Sheets – I have multiple backups. Nothing much to say on these. I don’t know why I bother including them as you all know I use these up every month!

Benefit Sugar Bomb(diggity)

I might have to collect all of these. Only when I have enough Boots points mind. There is no way on this earth I’m paying £23.50 for these. The packaging is typically Benefit, pretty and metallic although the cardboard still annoys me. It’s not exactly hand bag proof. I also preferred the old style lift of lids to these hinged ones but it’s a minor complaint. And I suppose 12g of product will last me through several lifetimes.

It is mighty purdy in the pan though (sorry, I’ve been watching Coal on the Discovery Channel with my husband). There is a baby pink, a mauve pink, a lilac and an orange/ peach. Swatched individually they aren’t up to much. A bit too sheer, a touch too shimmery.

Swirled together though and things look a lot more promising. It’s a warm shimmery peach. Granted still a little frosty for my taste but very pretty nonetheless. 

I can’t see this showing up particularly well on deeper skin tones but it’s just right on my pasty skin. So it’s pretty in the pan, pretty on the skin and has a pretty (sensing a pattern here?) light sweet scent to the powder too. I like Coralista more but I do still like this x

*Bought by me... with points of course*

Mini Christmas Gift Set Haulage

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend I just thought I share a couple of things  that I got for Christmas. Mostly because I’d like to know if people would like reviews so please do let me know in the comments!

First I actually treated myself to the Benefit Tan About Town kit. This was £9 and you get itty bitty samples sizes of the Hoola Bronzer, Foundation Faker (way too dark for me so I use it as cream bronzer) and Badgal mascara. The samples of the bronzer and foundation are a bit flimsy but overall it’s a good chance to try some otherwise rather pricey products.

For Christmas my husband picked me up the Illamasqua Freak gift set. This particular set has sold out although they have just released a new version containing different products. I got a 75ml of the Freak fragrance, Hemlock nail polish, Datura sheer lipgloss and Queen of the Night pigment. I’m loathe to review the cosmetics as they are ltd edition and sold out however I think I have found a pretty good dupe for Queen of the Night so I may post that.

How do you guys feel about fragrance reviews? Goodness knows I have plenty of bottles of perfume and I’ve done mini reviews in a collection post before. But is anyone actually interested in a review of Freak? I’m not sure how effective reviews are if you can’t sniff it for yourself... x

Flight appropriate/ travel friendly makeup

Over the last month I have had multiple short trips away, several of which have involved flying with no hold baggage. This means that the capacity for cosmetics is tiny. You need to take into account your liquid allowance, packaging that is unlikely to break in your bag and crucially for me I don’t want to have to bring any brushes. I just don’t have room for them in my bag or time whilst I’m away to paint a master piece. I like to keep things quick, easy and fool proof. So without further ado here is my little travelling companion.

It’s just a clear plastic wallet type thing. It actually held a load of little empty travel bottles that I bought from Primark but I kept it to use whilst flying. Don’t forget you need all of your liquids in a clear bag for going through airport security. It’s so much easier to pack this than it is to faff around with bags at the airport.

For eyes and cheeks I keep things brush free with cream products. The Topshop cream blush packaging is sturdy but light weight (also crucial!). The shade Neon Rose is quite versatile for me too. For me the Benefit Creaseless Cream shadows last well and a smudge of Skinny Jeans and a swipe of black liner is my go to look if I’m in a rush. Foundation (here in a little Bare Minerals Sample pot to save space) can always be applied by fingers in a pinch. It’s not my preferred method but it will do! Under eye concealer is essential right now (I haven’t had a full 8 hours sleep in weeks) and the Benefit It Stick concealer pencil is handy for on the go covering of blemishes.

The real trick is samples. Why take a full tube of mascara when a mini will do? Mini primers, mascaras, perfumes all save space and weight. Moisturiser can go in a spare sample jar too. When travelling I actually prefer lip gloss to lipstick purely for the ease and convenience. You generally don’t need a mirror to apply.

Finally my trusty Too Faced retractable kabuki and a pressed powder (preferably with a mirror so you don’t have to carry a separate one) travel everywhere with me. And there we go. Everything I need to look human on the go with minimum fuss and hassle. If only my normal daily makeup routine was as simple as this! x

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a fabulous day! My husband and I are having our first Christmas by ourselves and I’m very excited for it! I plan to eat my own body weight in festive food, get more than a little tipsy and generally have a merry old time xxx

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

All I Want This Christmas....

I’m a little sad to see the end of my Selfridges Advent Calendar today. It’s been a fun 24 days. If you missed the original post the calendar costs a whopping £80 and I was curious to see if by the end of it I would feel like I’ve gotten my money’s worth. Yes. Yes I think I have! I’ve never tried products from Shu Uemura or Khiel’s. There is no way at this point that I would ever splash out on so much Lancôme skin care, a YSL liner or Lancôme mascara. I have enough perfume samples to last a life time. Enough rambling, here is what I got.

Perfume! And lots of it. Each sample is around 5-7ml (I can’t read the writing on a couple though, I think Armarni Code is smaller) and there are some in here that I’ve always wanted to try. We have Emporio Armarni Diamonds, Lancôme Trésor, Viktor & Rolf Flower Bomb, Armarni Code, Lancôme Miricale and YSL Belle D’Opium.

Some Lancôme cleansers (there is a whole lotta Lancôme in this calendar). Bi Facil is my favourite eye makeup remover but I can’t justify the price of it so it’s lovely to have some again. The Eau Micellaire Doucer (express cleansing water for eyes and face) is not my favourite product but I will use it.

More Lancôme, the Génefique Yeux (eye cream) and Rénergie Lift Volumetry (day cream with SPF15). Both are good sizes (5ml and 15ml respectively) and both are skin care items I couldn’t justify the cost of normally.

Ah the makeup. I was initially worried this would be full of skincare which whilst nice isn’t as exciting as actual cosmetics. There are two mascaras (Lancôme Hypnose and Hypnose Drama) a 5ml sample of Lancôme Teint Miricale foundation, a Lancôme Juicy Tube, YSL Rouge Pur Couture lipstick (mini) Lancôme L’absolu Nu mini lipstick and a YSL waterproof eye pencil. The foundation I thought was a strange choice as the chances of it matching anyone aren’t great. It is shade 03 which is of course too dark for me. I will be popping it in the post to my mother.

Kiehl’s is a brand I haven’t come across before. I don’t know why, I just don’t think of them when shopping for skin care. Now I have the Ultra Facial Cream, Creme de Corps body lotion, Midnight Recovery Concentrate and Ultimate Strength Hand Salve to try out.

And finally 7ml of Lancôme Génefique, 7ml of Lancôme Visionnaire  and 20ml of the Shu Uemura Skin Purifier.

Overall I think they are good sized samples. I would have preferred to see a different brand of mascara rather than two Lancôme ones and I would perhaps have included something different than the foundation sample but other than that I’m thrilled with the contents. If nothing else I’m all set for many many weeks of Sample Sunday! I won’t buy it again next year for fear of getting repeats but yes, I do think it was worth it and I have very much enjoyed it! x

Accessorize Collagen Mascara

Having used up the entire sample of Estee Lauder Double Wear Zero Smudge mascara (which by the way got better and better as the tube started to dry out, love it!) I decided to replace it with this. It’s frankly one of the most adorable tubes of mascara I’ve ever seen and it costs a very reasonable £6 from Superdrug. Sadly though this is not mascara love. My tastes have changed since using Rapidlash. Now my lashes are much longer than they were I’ve gone from liking natural looking defining mascaras to loving full on thick black doll like lashes. 6 months ago I would have adored this mascara but alas not right now.

The wand is huge. Benefit Badgal huge. It’s a personal preference thing (as mascaras always are) but I have little hooded eyes and often end up blogging mascara everywhere when using this. The bristles are arranged in a spiral shape and initially I thought the large gaps would lead to clumping but actually this gives fantastic definition. The colour is black enough but I find that the wand deposits so little of it that it takes a couple of coats to build it up to an inky black.

Without mascara

With Mascara

The effect is very natural, soft fluttery lashes. I should love this but right now I’m craving a little more drama. It holds a curl fine, it has never flaked or smudged on me (apart from the blobbing) and comes off without too much scrubbing. It layers well without clumping up too. I actually feel a little guilty for not liking this as much as I think I should. In short I think it’s an excellent day time mascara but I’m going to have to buy something else to wear in the evening x

*Added, since I wrote this post something bad has happened. Less than 1 month after opening this mascara for the first time I opened the tube one day and was met by a foul stench of gone off mascara. It had turned literally over night. I tweeted Accessorize but no response... I'm pretty pissed off about this actually. DO NOT RECOMMEND!!*

*Bought by me*

Too Much Stuff

In 3 months time this pokey little blog will be two years old. I know, I’m as shocked as you that I have found enough to ramble about for that long! The side effect of being hopelessly addicted to makeup and feeling justified in buying things because of the online makeup junkie community is that I now have enough slap to make up the rest of Glasgow as TOWIE cast members. I did go through a period a while back where I felt overwhelmed and guilty about my collection and posts describing similar sentiments crop up on other blogs too. I thought it might be interesting to have a quick ramble on the methods I have found to combat this and to keep my collection manageable.

1. Use everything you have. I go through phases where instead on picking what I wear on a whim I go through my entire blush/ eyeshadow/ liner collection and wear a different colour everyday with no repeats until I have worn everything. If you get to a product and think “oh bum fudge I’m not actually exited about wearing this product at all” put it to one side and reserve it for point 2.

2. Deep cleanse. If you don’t use it/ love it or can’t find a use for it then get rid. This could be via a blog sale (mine is here and gets updated periodically), throwing it if it’s getting on a bit or just giving it away. When I have my sister or my mum to stay they always go home with more makeup than they had when they arrived. There is something immensely satisfying about knowing that whilst the product wasn’t for you it at least wasn’t a total waste of money if someone else is getting some use out of it.

3. Budget. My husband and I get a set amount each month that we can spend on whatever crap we like without the other moaning. His typically goes on horrendously violent computer games (ok I do moan about that a little). Mine goes on makeup. Some months I don’t ever spend the entire budget meaning I can have a splurge the next month. Having limited funds means you don’t feel guilty about being broke by payday because of impulse buys and it makes you think harder before purchasing too. I only have £50 a month to play with so I try to spend it wisely.

4. Mix and match. Finding ways of using what you have helps dampen the urge to go out and buy something else. Got foundations that are too light/ dark/ pink/ yellow? Sample pots are your friends. Mix them up until you get something that works. You might even be pleasantly surprised, I’ve found combinations that work infinitely better together than they do on their own.

5. Clever storage. I need everything within arms reach, tidy and easy to find. Otherwise I just get lazy and grab for whatever I left out yesterday. I’ve rearranged my storage since my last video but if you check out the collection post tab at the top you’ll get a rough idea of what I have. Plus if you can see everything you have you are more likely to be reminded that you don’t actually need anything else.

6. Keep inventory. I have a spreadsheet with every single item of makeup I own listed my categories. Why yes, I am a sad bastard. What can I say, I have a psychology degree which is basically just statistics and biology. I love me a good spreadsheet. But it helps avoid the tendency to say “well I don’t think I have that many lipsticks” when I can clearly see on the spreadsheet that I have 49.

7. If all else fail a Project ten Pan or no buy can work wonders as long as you don’t go nuts after it. It helps to realise that you don’t need to buy makeup every few days to survive.

Do you have any tips for stemming the makeup tide? Or are you a self confessed hoarder with no desire to develop any self restraint. Let me know in the comments! x

Random Turquoise EOTD Ft The Illamasqua Sirens Palette

I love this palette (reviewed here) but I tend to mainly use the light gold and shimmery deep brown shades more than the gorgeous matte turquoise and dark teal. So I decided to mix it up a little. I used the bright turquoise o nthe lid (over a sticky white base), the deep brown in the crease, teal in the outer corner and gold on the inner corner and first third of the lower lash line. I then blended the teal across to meet the gold and lined my upper lash line and lower water line with my Sleek ink pot gel liner. By the way once that stuff is on your water line it does NOT move. It’s better than any black pencil on there!

I believe that is the Estee Lauder Double Wear mascara on. I kept the rest of my face very plain with Revlon Tawny Peach blush and Smashbox Crowned lipgloss. I really like the blues and brown mixed together! X

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in Shade 08

Of course I’m not privy to the details but I will take a wild guess and say that Ms Moss was probably paid a fair chunck of money to have put her name to these. Could she or anyone else at Rimmel not be bothered to name these? The boring lack of naming aside these are a nice little collection of lipsticks with an interesting range of colours from a classic red to an interesting purple. Each costs £5.39 and comes in sleek black packaging with Kate’s signature in red across the tube.

Shade 08 is a neutral rosy pink. It’s the kind of shade I like to wear to work as it is low maintenance and doesn’t become noticeable as it fades on days when I’m too busy to top it up. The formula is creamy and opaque although not particularly moisturising. The wear is average on me.

It’s a nice lipstick and the colour range does appeal to me. The only thing I don’t like is the scent. It has quite a strong almost fruity scent although thankfully it doesn’t have any taste. The scent fades quickly enough for me to cope with it. I am giving serious consideration to buying other shades x

*Bought by me* 

December Glossy Box

For me this is a bit of a Glossy Box swan song. I have now cancelled my subscription. Not because I was disappointed, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting the boxes and I think they have excelled themselves this month. It’s just a budget thing. I actually gave two of my friend 2 months subscription to Glossy Box for Christmas! Anyhoo onto this months box. It came in a festive red box rather than the usual Pink. Eeh it’s like a early Christmas present!

The contents didn’t disappoint. The box was surprisingly heavy this month mainly due to the inclusion of a full sized (£5) Rituals Foaming Shower Gel. Rituals are a brand I have bought from before and I do love their products so I’m excited to use this one.

The mini Cargo lipgloss is a nice inclusion as I haven’t actually tried any Cargo products before. The shade I have is Paris, a mid toned pink with a lot of fine shimmer packed into it. It is frosty looking rather than gritty. Perhaps not a shade I would have chosen but I will wear it. The full size is £10.

The Fab Face Cleanser is a generous sized sample (28.3g, the full size is 141g and costs £13) and I’m always on the lookout for a good cleanser.

Next up we have a mini Deborah Lippmann Polish in Razzle Dazzle and a Stripped to Go remover mitt. The shade is certainly seasonally appropriate. It’s a deep sparkling raspberry. The full sized bottles are £14 so it’s not a brand that I would have ever bought for myself so I’m thrilled to get this one.

Finally a brand I haven’t even heard of before, Nouveau Lashes with their Noir Mascara. This is another full sized product (£14.99) and the info card has a discount code for their lash serum on it which, given that my Rapidlash is almost out and my lashes have started to go downhill again, is very tempting. This is the heaviest mascara tube I have ever come across. It certainly feels like a luxury product!

I don’t think there is any way that you would argue that you haven’t gotten your monies worth here. I had high expectation for the December box and it has lived up to them and then some. Honestly I was worried as I didn’t want to end up feeling guilty for ordering them for my friends and then them not liking the products but (fingers crossed) I think they will enjoy these. It will be sad to see people posting about their boxes next month but I think I have enough samples to last me most of 2012 so I really shouldn’t complain! X

*Bought by me*