URBANELYDECAYED

My Take On Tux!

2012-02-11T14:19:00.000Z

HeyHey! Back from Venice with some great ideas for a new series, but until then here's a mani to tide you over...

I'm loving monochrome mani's at the minute! Can't get enough...and I think the tuxedo theme is just too cute!

Shellac Nail Art: Valentines In Venice!

2012-02-04T20:31:00.001Z

Hey Hey Lovelies!! Off to Venice in the morning so I just thought I'd leave you with my Shellac mani for the week. I don't really do Valentines, so it's not your traditional hearts and kisses type thing! Hope you like it all the same :)

It's Carnivale whilst I'm there so I'm hoping to come back MAJORLY inspired to create some new looks!

Speak Soon xx

Pigments And Palettes Blogger Of The Month!!

2012-02-03T09:11:00.000Z

What an honor! I'm so so happy to be featured this month on one of my all time favourite blogs Pigments and Palettes. Please stop by and check it out! There's an interview with moi, and I also designed a look for Meredith's Palette Challenge. I'll leave you with a cheeky peek...

Speak Soon xx

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Five

2012-02-01T07:18:00.000Z

Aaaaghhhh!! So here it is, the fifth and final look in the Alter Ego Series. Dun dun dunnnn...Mine! I've been f-reaking out about posting this for ages now! The bloggers that have collaborated with me on this series have all produced some incredible looks so I've really been feeling the pressure haha. I think you'll all agree it's been an amazing series and I'm really grateful to everyone who's created a look for it! Thank you so so much ladies <3

Right! Rather than babble on nervously for about an hour, I'm just gonna post my look and let my pictures do the talking! So, here it is...

The concept for my look was about an alternate personality burning away inside me...my Alter E-Glow if you will haha (sorry I couldn't resist that) coursing through my veins.

On the outside I'm generally VERY reserved. My hair, my makeup, my mannerisms, anything to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to myself. But inside I have all this crazy shhh going on! I'm just incredibly conscious of how I come across to others and sometimes this makes me afraid to let go. Don't get me wrong I'm not contrived, just weirdly shy and very self conscious. So to me, my Alter Ego is the person inside I wish I was brave enough to be!

It really took a lot for me to post this look. Those of you that know me or have followed me for some time will know, I NEVER post full face shots of myself! But this time I couldn't wuss out!

I really liked the idea of the normal, reserved look juxtaposed with the bubbling eruption of the alter ego, and I also wanted to challenge my own strange obsession with symmetry. Hence the half and half approach to the look.

So there you have it! My Alter Ego! Hope y'all like it!

Speak Soon xx

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Four

2012-01-30T21:49:00.001Z

So I'm really excited to be bringing you another look from the Alter Ego Series today. It's from someone whom you may recognise from many of my own previous posts...show some love to Hoz, my baby sister (in-law)!! As well as being both a very beautiful and entertaining model for me, Hoz is also incredibly talented with a makeup brush herself! She's created some absolutely stunning looks in the past, and has now decided to start a blog of her own to showcase them. Please stop by and check her out over at Beauty_Spot. You wont be disappointed!

Anyway, less blab! Here's some pictures of Holly's Alter Ego...

If you've already stopped by and checked out Holly's blog (which I know by now you have, right?) you'll know what an amazing job she's done with this look. It's so far removed from her everyday persona! Ordinarily she rocks a rather stunning, and not to mention VERY perfect vintage pin-up style look that I have to admit I'm a teensy bit jealous of haha. This is always accompanied by an enormous smile, so to see her like this is a complete transformation!

Here's what Holly had to say about this look herself..."Hmmm, here's a toughie! What is my Alter Ego Natalie asks me...? Well my personally traits are quite simple (like me hahaha) if I were to describe myself it would be that I laugh pretty much at anything including myself! My mum says I have an opera laugh! I am REALLY laid back and easy going and I am never phased by anything. Any attitude or what I would call worrying things in general life go straight over my head. I never really get upset or angry, so for my look I decided to create the complete opposite of how I look at life. I wanted to go for a worried, sad and upset look with loads of tears, I also included colours which I HATE to wear on my eyes just to represent how un-like me this really is."

Thankfully this last pic is much more like the Holly I know and love! Anyways, hope you guys all like this look as much as me. Stay tuned for the final installment...it's mine!

Speak Soon xx

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Three

2012-01-23T19:11:00.000Z

So so so excited to be bringing you the next post in the Alter Ego Collaboration Series today! The next blogger is someone whom I absolutely love! She's witty, intelligent, incredibly talented and has one of my all time favourite blogs. I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for this blogger. She is someone who's words have been of huge encouragement to me, and it's an absolute honor to have her posting on my blog today! So, without further ado, I give you...

The Meredith Jessica from PigmentsandPalettes.com!

What an amazing Alter Ego look! Here's what Meredith had to say about it..."Eventually, I decided that my alter-ego wasn't necessarily a different persona. I started to think of it as the fiery force you feel when you're at your most confident, your most unshakably awesome. I knew it had to be bold and bright, because that's how I feel when I'm at my best. That's it, I thought. My best me. My beast me! My inner beauty beast! Behold! Pull back the skin and reveal the beast within a.k.a. "The Beauty is A Beast" ...

For fear of over-explaining it and coming across as cliche, I'm going to try and let the images speak for themselves. There isn't a lot of explanation for what I did anyways, I just did what felt right. It's an allusion to my inner animal, my rainbow of personalities, etc. But if you want to get literal, my alter ego is a really gay zebra. Brilliant."

Merediths looks are always a pleasure to behold and this is nooooo exception. It's INCREDIBLE!! And totally appeals to all my senses. The drama, the vibrant colour! Not that I would ever put myself on a par with such greatness, but it does freak me out a little, just how similar our makeup mindsets can be at times haha. I know you'll all love this look as much as me, and I hope your all enjoying the series so far. Stay tuned for the next installment...

Speak Soon xx

Makeup For Your Alter Ego: Part Two

2012-01-16T23:10:00.001Z

I'm so excited today to be bringing you the next look in the Alter Ego series, as it's been done by one of my absolute favourite bloggers. I admire this persons work a great deal, and whilst we may live on opposite sides of the world, I've come to consider this person to be a friend in the blogging world. I'm honored to have them posting on my blog today, so rather than blabber on like I usually do I'm just going to cut to the chase...

Today's blogger is the very beautiful and incredibly talented Sonja from The Beautiful Life Of The Girl Next Door. Sonja's looks are always incredible, and this one today is no exception...

Does Sonja's Alter Ego remind you of anyone?

Pink maybe? Yeah? Let's hear why..."When Natalie asked me to be part of this alter ego collaboration, of course I jumped at the opportunity. I was thrilled to be grouped with the other incredibly talented people who are a part of this. However, I also knew that I couldn't just throw something together quickly and have it measure up to these other ladies. So I had to think about it. A lot. This was an opportunity to go wherever and take it as far as I wanted.

In real life I'm a quiet, shy girl who doesn't like people looking at me. It makes me very uncomfortable when people look at me. I also don't like confrontation so I'm not really good at speaking my mind (I'm getting better though haha) and I want everyone to like me. So trying to think of my alter ego, I wanted her to be someone who was bold and doesn't mind being the center of attention. Someone who is proud of who she is and not afraid to say what's on her mind, without being obnoxious, even if it ruffles a couple of feathers. The celebrity I related the most with was the singer, Pink, who notoriously said, "Kanye West is the biggest piece of s*** on earth. Quote me." when he took the microphone from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMA's. She's not afraid to be herself and say what she thinks, she's edgy, yet feminine and I love that about her.

I wanted to do a look that represented a bolder side of myself because I know she's in there somewhere, she's just hiding under a sweet, nice, quiet girl haha!"

Like I said, Sonja's looks are always AMAZING and this one is no exception. I Love it!! The drama, the colours, everything!! And I'm sure you all do too. Make sure to stay tuned for the next installment...

Speak soon xx

New Year New You: Makeup For Your Alter Ego!

2012-01-10T13:50:00.001Z

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you've all had a wonderful holiday, I sure have! I'm really excited to be posting today, as I have something quite special for you! But first I wanted to say hello and welcome to all my new followers, thanks for joining. And a huge thank you to all my regular followers for sticking with me...

THANK YOU XX.

But now, down to business. As with every new year, come the obligatory resolutions, and while I was thinking about mine I came up with a great idea...I started thinking about what changes I should make to myself and my life, and this in turn caused me to examine my personality and character traits. I started thinking about what the opposite of me would be like, and then I had a genius idea! Why not design a make up look for that opposite me. Intrigued by this thought I started asking others what their Alter Ego would look like and then I though...why not do a series? So I asked some of my favourite bloggers and friends to join in and they said yes :D So the next few posts will be about show casing their Alter Ego looks. I'm so excited, so without further ado...

The first in the series is Kassie from Unique Desire! I love Kassie's blog and adore her looks, so I was honoured when she said she wanted to be a part of this. So here it is...

Did you guess it? All pink and perky...Kassie's Alter Ego is Barbie!

And here's why..."I had a really difficult time trying to figure out exactly what my "alter ego" would be. I juggled with icons such as rihanna and beyonce and even Shrinkle from Sugarpill. I ended up having to ask every one of my friends and even they had a hard time coming up with something. In the end I decided to go with a Barbie inspired look because I am nothing like a barbie! She is an iconic symbol of what women should be instead of being who they are. She is tall, busty and blonde. Always wears light makeup and pink. Tons and Tons of pink! She is always perky and cheerful and doesn't seem to have a sad thought in her entire being. I on the other hand am short, a brunette with a spunky attitude. I don't take crap from people and have a pretty bad temper at times. I am crazy and artistic and try not to give a damn about what other people think of me. I absolutely detest the color pink and hate wearing it, and honestly I don't really like looking at it. And for all these reasons is why I chose Barbie as my Alter Ego :)"

Kassie's look is absolutely AH-MAZING!!!! And I love her reasons behind it too! What a great way to kick off the series. Stay tuned for more of your favourite bloggers, and some more amazing looks!

Speak Soon xx

Wanna Win A $250 Sephora Shopping Spree?

2011-12-28T19:29:00.001Z

Of course you do!! What a silly question I hear y'all say!! Well if you do just head over to MakeupBee and vote for my friend Merediths (Pigments & Palettes) look. She is currently second place in Makeup Bee's Holiday competition, but so deserves to be first!! Please help make this happen by following the link and liking her look.

If Meredith wins she's has very generously offered to give $250 of her $500 prize to one lucky winner who helps her get there. For full details check out her post here.

Please spread the word and make this happen!! Good luck everyone :)

Speak Soon xx

Violent Lips & MakeupBee Collaboration: Part 2

2011-11-24T20:46:00.000Z

Well...What a turnaround! After the last post I did using Violent Lips, I'll be honest, I wasn't in a rush to do my next one! To tell the truth I was dreading it! But, to my surprise this time they worked like a dream. They applied really easily, didn't rip on application like the last set, and with minimal cutting, fit the lips really well. I don't know if this is down to this particular design, or if I just found it a little easier as it was my second time round...I'm really not sure. I don't feel like I did anything particularly different, but this time they worked really really well.

For my second look I used the 'The Rainbow' lips on my gorgeous friend Hannah. Here's the look...

If anyone can pull off these babies it's Hannah! They definitely suit her personality!

We really put these to the test this time too. Hannah wore them all afternoon so I could get a good idea of how long they would last...

What with all the laughing, they did start to crack a little, but to be fair it wasn't much. They weren't as sticky as the last set either...the Mumm-Ra effect didn't happen until much later in the day, even after drinking much Hot Chocolate. Some of the inner lip did start to dissolve away towards the end, and a little of the outer lip line began to peel, but this time I was really impressed with how clean the overall effect was, and how well they stood up to our rigorous testing haha. Hannah loved them too and said she would definitely wear them to a party or for Halloween. All in all this is what we thought...

how to make animated gif

YAY!! If I had to have one little moan about this set it would be that I thought the colours would be a little brighter, but hey ho. All in all if the rest of the sets are like this then I would defo use them again and would happily pay the $15 it costs for a set of three. If you'd like to try them for yourself just pop over to Violent Lips and check them out.

I'm really glad I got to try these out, and would just like to thank Violent Lips and Tiomi at MakeupBee for letting me be a part of this collaboration :)

Speak Soon xx

Violent Lips & MakeupBee Collaboration: Part 1

2011-11-17T23:27:00.000Z

So a few weeks ago I was asked by the lovely Tiomi of Makeupbee if I'd like to take part in a collaboration with Violent Lips...

...And of course I said YES!! For those of you who don't know, Violent Lips create temporary lip tattoos, and have some amazing designs. I'd been seeing them around for a while and was really interested to try them out, so thought this would be the perfect opportunity. For the collaboration I got to choose two designs then I had to create a look for each. I chose The Pink Polka and The Rainbow.

So today I'm bringing you the The Pink Polka modeled on my very beautiful friend Lyndsey...

Doesn't she look amazing!! All purdy in pink...

Love the colour and the polka dot design...

Incidently Lyndsey is also wearing Lash In The City Velour Lashes for this look too.

I think the lip tattoos are really cute and fun, and they look great...

...But I'm affraid that's all I liked about them! I was so disappointed, I really wanted to love these. I can't tell you how excited I was to receive them, but when I came to use them they just weren't doing it for me! I found them really hard to use and I had to cut them down soooo much. They ripped really easily and creased quite badly and I had to do a lot of doctoring with a lip liner. And within about 30 minutes Lyndsey looked like Mumm-Ra from the Thundercats cos her lips had stuck together!

That said, they did make for a very entertaining afternoon...although I'm not so sure if Lyndsey would agree after having to peel the lip tattoos off of her teeth haha.

I dont know, maybe I just need a bit more practice, and not one to shy away from intricate things, I wont give up!! In theory these Lip Tattoos are great. They look amazing, they're really fun and they have loads of great designs, but for the time being I'm just not sure whether or not they're my cup of tea? Stayed tuned for part two, who knows maybe I'll change my mind??

Speak soon xx

10 Things I Love About Autumn...

2011-10-23T09:14:00.000+01:00

What with the end of Summer and all, I was starting to get a bit down. But I thought rather than being sad and focussing on what I don't like about the end of Summer, I thought I'd be a bit more positive and focus and what I do like about Autumn. So here is my top 10 list of all the things that make me smile...

Number 1...

Autumn leaves! The colours are so beautiful and everywhere looks so so pretty...

Number 2...

Something you find in the Autumn leaves...Hedgehogs! Too cute!

Number 3...

Sunday afternoon walks in the crisp Autumn air. This is the Lake District near where I live...

Number 4...

Snuggly new clothes! Hmmm wooley jumpers and Ugg boots are the only thing to put a smile on my face after I've had to pack away my Flip Flops!

Image from Weheartit.com

Number 5...

Comfort food! Mmmmmmmmm...

Image from Tartletteblog.com

Number 6...

Hot Chocolate on a cold dark afternoon. Ahhhhhhh....

Image from Tartletteblog.com

Number 7...

Goes perfectly with number 6. It's Toasted Marshmallows! Mmmmm all warm and squishy...

Image from Weheartit.com

Number 8...

Trick Or Treat? Yup it's Halloween. Love it! Love it! Love it! Dressing up, playing games, eating crap, carving pumpkins, watching scary movies...Have I told you I Love it?

Image from Weheartit.com

Number 9...

Bonfire Night! I love it! Going out with friends, watching the Fireworks and sitting infront of a huge bonfire having a few drinks and eating Toffee Apples makes me smile...

Image from Weheartit.com

Number 10...

Last, but certainly by no means least it's my Happy Birthday in Autumn! Yay! Cake, presents, parties...I can't wait!

Image from Weheartit.com

So there you have it. My top 10 favourite things about autumn. Hope you guys are loving it too :)

Speak Soon xx

No Holly! Your Not Mrs. Cole!

2011-10-18T12:54:00.001+01:00

Hey! Hey! Hope your all well and having a lovely week so far. Today I'm bringing you another wearable look! Yup that's right, you heard me! Don't know what's wrong with me haha. It is still a little on the dramatic side, but this is me, there has to be some drama in there somewhere! So anyway, onto the look...

I used some Leishi pigments and glitters that I got. They cost me about 30p each! Can you believe it? Thats defo my bagain buy of the month...

Whilst I did love the makeup, I wasn't really sure about the hair. Hoz felt the need to burst into Cheryl Coles 'Fight For This Love' every two minutes so before she decided to start getting it on with the walls and waving like the Queen we quickly changed it up a bit. Having the lovely Holly from Beauty_Spot around is like having a magic hair fairy...

Me "I want it like this please"

Holly "Ok"

Prrrririiiiiiinnnnnnnngggggggg!! (that's the noise a fairy wand makes just incase you weren't getting that haha)

Done!

New hair at the ready. I liked this style a lot better I think...what about you? We kept the little bow that we made though cos it was just too cute!

So...what do you think of the look? Do you want to see more wearable stuff from me? Or something a bit more theatrical? I'd love to know.

Speak Soon xx

Lash In The City: Makeupbee & Velour Lashes Collaboration.

2011-10-12T23:51:00.000+01:00

Quite some time ago I was approached by the lovely Tiomi about doing a collaboration with Makeupbee and Velour Lashes, and as you can imagine, I jumped at the chance! I LOVE LASHES!! So I've been so excited about doing this post and have eagerly awaited the arrival of the mail man every day since...Today he came, and let me tell you, I could have kissed him! My beautiful new lashes were well worth the wait!!

Love the packaging, it's so cute! It's got a kinda retro Hollywood vibe :)

Let me start my post by telling you a little bit about Velour Lashes...

"With a blink of mink, celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Madonna have made mink lashes the hottest new beauty craze."

But if you thought they were an unatainable luxury reserved only for the elite think again! These lashes may be favoured by the A list, but the beautiful Mabel & Angela, founders of Velour Lashes, have made it their mission to bring this trend to the masses.

Handmade from 100% Mink fur (don't worry no harm was done to the little Minkies, this was the first thing I checked) these babies are the business!! They are Natural looking, lightweight lashes that can be used up to 25 times! Yes. That's right. You heard me. TWENTY-FIVE TIMES!! These lashes are not like any others I own. They're really soft and shiney, and dare I even say natural looking but with plenty of Oooomph. They have a really thin band for easy application and comfortable wear, and they are beautiful. You may be tempted to think they're a little bit pricey. But when you compare them to Synthetic lashes, mine usually cost around £6 or $9 to my American friends and I'm lucky if I get 3 uses out of them, the cost is actually less. Whats also great is that there is a wide range of styles, and they do both top and bottom lashes too.

I chose a set called 'Lash In The City' which retail at around £40 or $64.99 and I was asked to create a look for them. I knew I wanted these ones straight away because not only are they gorgeous, but they are also named after one of my fave shows :)

So anyway, enough chat! Here's the lashes along with the look I created...

I didn't want to do anything to OTT as I wanted the lashes to be the main feature...

I really do love these lashes, so much so I didn't want to take them off. Probably because I didn't even feel like I had any on! Let me just say though, these babies are BIG! But those of you that know me know I like dramatic lashes so they were right up my alley. But if you fancy something a little bit smaller check out their range of designs, because Velour lashes really do cater for all. They also have great step-by-steps on how to apply and care for your new Mink lashes so you can wear them again and again! Your definitely going to be seeing more looks from me using these little beauties :D

Make your own animation

I'd really like to say a huge Thank you to Makeupbee and Velour Lashes for letting me be a part of this collaboration :D

Anyway, hope you like the look. I'll be back soon with my new series :D

Speak Soon xx

Hello Kitty! Shellac Nail Art...

2011-10-04T10:06:00.000+01:00

Just a quicky from me today to show you some nail art I did using Shellac! Not a particularly original design, but it's cute non the less.

Just wanted to show you that you don't have to stick to plain old colours when you have Shellac!

Speak Soon xx

Bl-Oscars

2011-10-01T07:48:00.000+01:00

Ok so a million years ago the lovely Ashii of Miss Asshii Beauty and the lovely Duvessa of One Of Beautys Daughters both nominated me for blog awards - Yay!! But, being as rubbish as I am (sorry ladies) I never got round to doing the post *smacks back of own hand!! But recently the gorgeous Nykki of Nykki's Mane Blog also gave me an award so I thought it was about time I got my act together. I'm so grateful to receive these blog awards and I didn't forget, and today I finally did my post :D

I was nominated for...

by Ashhi and...

by Duvessa and...

by Nykki.

Thank you so much ladies!!

So the rules for The Best Blog Award are...

# Link back to the person who gave this award to you
- Already done above

# Share 7 Random things about yourself
- See my answers on a previous post here

# Award 15 blogs (the other two awards say 10 so I'm going with that for all three)
- I'm going to pass this on to...

Sonja at The Beautiful Life Of The Girl Next Door
Meredith at Pigments & Palettes
Ronnie at Bows and Curtseys
Kassie at Unique Desire
Robyn at Stay Beautiful
Nykki at Nykki's Mane Blog
Heather at Wifezilla Hekela
Holly at Beauty_Spot
Kayla at Beauty by Kayla Shevonne
And finally Angie at Glitter and Unicorns

LOVE ALL YOUR BLOGS GORGEOUS GIRLIES!!

# Next answer the following questions about yourself...

-What's your favourite colour

Definitely bright Pink!! It can boost my mood in an instant (sorry Elaine...there's no hope for me haha)

Haha Thank Heaven for the Mister or that could be me in that picture!!

-What's your favourite song

Hmmm tricky...I can't pick there's too many!! We were playing a game with some friends the other weekend called Drop It Like It's Hot where each couple has a laptop and we line up tracks on Youtube and try to out do each other with classic tunes (there are forfeits involved too which often include shots :S). Somebody asked me this same question then, and not only could I not answer, but my head went completely blank of all music!!

...Right I've had time to think about it! Maybe Elbow 'One Day Like This' cos it reminds me of the Mister and always makes me smile, or Foo Fighters 'Everlong' probably for the same reason because we been to watch Foo's together so many times and it's always AMAZING!! Arrgghhh I don't know! It's too hard haha

Pic from Metal.com

-What's your favourite desert

Mmmm no doubts here, it's my Mums home made trifle! In the words of Homer Simpson...Aaaagggghhhhlllllghgghhlllaaa haha

-What pisses you off?

Rude people who think they can shout and stamp their feet and bully their way into getting what they want. Doesn't work with me!! And people who always blame others for their problems...Look within!

-When your upset, you?

Try to stay level headed and identify my real emotions. It's often easy to fly off the handle and over react to things...and this just leads to regret!

georgianoble.deviantart.com

-Your favourite pet

Hmmm Fuddah or the Mister? Fuddah-or-the-Mister? Haha only joking Mister, it's definitely Fuddah. Although I do want to be a Hedgehog Foster Mommy over the Winter so he may have some competition haha.

-Black or White?

I like both but probably black. It hides a multitude of sins!

-Your biggest fear?

I'm not telling you my real biggest fear cos I don't tell anyone that, but I will tell you my other ones...Wasps and Tortoises. I'm terrified of both!! The only difference is that despite my fear I actually do like Tortoises, I DO NOT LIKE WASPS!!

Pic from Edmayo.wordpress.com

...Urgghh!! It made my ears prickle and my toes curl just looking at pics to upload *shudders!!

-My best feature is

My creativity

-My everyday attitude

Take each day as it comes, and if you don't like something about your life don't moan about it...CHANGE IT!!

-What is perfection

It's the little imperfections that I like. Makes life interesting.

-Guilty pleasure

Jedward hahahahahaha I LOVE THEM!! I'll probably get shot for saying that!! They are definitely the Marmite of the entertainment industry.

Pic from CoventryTelegraph.net

So cute in their little matching outfits haha.

Ok so that was Ashiis award...you still with me? Now it's time for Duvessas!! The rules for this one are as follows...

# Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
- Already done above!

# Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
- Done

# Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.
- This is gonna be the same as the list above.

# List your top 10 cosmetics.
- So my Top 10 can't live withouts are as follows...

Clinique 3 step. The most important thing in my beauty regime is definitely skin care. I suffered skin allergies for years when I was younger and tried all the products under the sun, but as soon as I discovered the 3 step my troubles were gone. I haven't changed my skincare regime in years, but if it aint broke don't fix it!!

Joico Moisture Surge Hair Care Range. I have really, really thick unruly hair. It's got a really nice natural curl but I often wear it straight so the slightest hint of moisture or humidity means I look like Crystal Tips. Joico really helps to keep it under control. With working in a salon I also colour my hair a lot so Joico really helps to keep it moisturised and shiney. I love it!!

CND Solar Oil for Nails. In my opinion this little thing is a miracle in a bottle!! I have really dry, weak nails. I always have had, but then I was introduced to Solar Oil. I use it once or twice a day on my nails and hands and it's amazing. It moisturises like nothing I've ever found before. It's great for natural nails, Shellac, Gel, Acrylic, the lot. I always keep a little bottle with me now.

Mac Fix+. I love this stuff. It takes my makeup from flat and powdery to natural and dewy in seconds. You can mix it with shadows and pigments for a different look and it smells beautiful. I spray it all over my face in the morning and I feel really uplifted

Nina Ricci Le Paradis de Nina Eau de Toilette Spray. My all time favourite scent!! It's sweet, it's fruity, it just smells soooo good. I love it!!

St. Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse. I love to have a year round summer glow. Whilst this is a fairly new product, it's very quickly made it's way into my beauty must haves. It's so easy to use (no more fake tan disasters for me), it has a great colour, and the price is unbelievable.

Mac Blacktrack Fluidline is a must for me. It can take a look from drab to dramatic in seconds and it lasts all night. It does dry out a little quickly, but it's staying power for me is fabulous. I have really really watery eyes, and there are very few liners I have found that can cope with this. There are other ones out there that don't dry out as quickly, and have staying power, but I find they're too shiny or they lack in opacity, so this really is the one for me.

Mac Self Propelling Eyebrow Crayon in Lingering. I can't live without it!! I really think that brows make a look. I've been fanatical about them since I can remember. I like them to be really defined, but still natural looking and Mac SPEC gives me this every time.

Eylure Lashes are another must for me. They have a wide variety, I don't need to mess about cutting them as they're the perfect length for my eyes, the glues fine, the price is good and in my opinion they just complete a look!!

Mac Gently Off Eye & Lip Makeup Remover because at the end of the day you just need something to take it all off and this works a treat. I wear a lot of liner and mascara when I go for a full on look and this is the only thing for me that shifts it 100% and doesn't irritate my eyes. Again, I've tried many makeup removers and even found some that I like, but this is just really convenient, effective, and it's done in seconds. Does what it says on the tin!!

Ok, so that's Duvessa's award. Hang on in there though cos now it's time for Nykki's.

You'll all be thankfull to know that the rules for this one are simply to pass the award on to 10 different blogs you love and feel deserve the award (same list as above). Link them in your post and let them know you awarded them.

Phew!! There you go, the end of MEGA POST haha. Thank you so much Ladies!! Hope the rest of you have fun doing yours :D

Speak Soon xx

Final Fantasy!

2011-09-29T10:15:00.000+01:00

Hey! I've decided to wrap up the Fantasy series cos I've got lots of other ideas that I really want to get cracking on! So for my final post I thought I'd have a round up of the characters so far (I'll probably do another series based around this theme in the future so there will be more to come). So here they are...

Dark Faerie...

Flower Fairy...

Forest Nymph...

Pixi...

Wise Owl...

Hope y'all enjoyed it as much as me!

Speak Soon xx

An Owl, A Pussy Cat, And A Pair Of Ear Plugs!!

2011-09-20T08:46:00.000+01:00

I know I said I was going to have a little break from the Fantasy Series, but after creating this look I couldn't resist posting haha! I liked it so much! So Leanne is round today to model for this look, but it's a wonder we can concentrate because my little cat Fudgie is going crazy! He's under our feet howling like mad because someone else is getting the attention. Haha he's such a baby. As well as Fudgie going crazy, the feathers for my look are blowing everywhere, and to top it off my Evil Arch Nemesis the Wasp is trying to get in through the window ...AAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Sometimes I think it's a wonder I get anything done haha. Anyway, after my character makeup disaster the other day (that's another story) I was determined to focus and get this look done...and I did-Yay! So today I bring you my new Fantasy Character Wise Owl...

I recently bought a new white base from Ben Nye. It's actually aqua paint, which I've never used before...I'm not sure I like it! Because it's a paint it sets hard and the rest of the makeup doesn't blend into it very well, so the look isn't as polished as I might like. Other than that I really loved it. I thought Leanne made a cracking owl haha.

Leanne also made my day when yet again she went out shopping wearing my creation. She makes me larf! Anyway hope y'all like it! I've got another couple of characters left in this series then I'm affraid that's it, but no worries I've already started on my next theme :D

Speak Soon xx

And The Winner Is...

2011-09-18T20:05:00.000+01:00

Meredith Jessica! Yay weldone Meredith! I picked the winner last night with the help of the lovely Kate. I say help...I drank lots of wine while Kate wrote down all of the entries on little bits of paper for us to pick out of a hat (well actually a handbag) haha. I did help a little bit...I wrote down some of the names too! The problem is I can't read my own writing haha so I thought it was probably best if I read all the entries out for Kate...that's my story and I'm sticking to it! I know I could have used random org, but I'm a bit old fashioned and I liked the idea of doing it this way more! As you can see we were busy little bees...

All in there were 352 little pieces of paper with all y'all names on. Kates writing hand was very tired...My wine glass lifting hand was also very tired haha.

We put all the little bits of paper into a bag, then Kate closed her eyes and picked one out...

And it was the lovely Meredith! Yay weldone! I can't wait to see what looks you come up with when you get your prize...

Just email me your details lovely and I'll get it sent out to you as soon as possible. I'm sure Kate will disagree, but I've really enjoyed doing this giveaway...I may just have to have another some time soon :D

Anyway, should be back with another new post soon. I'm going to carry on with the Fantasy Series, but have a couple of other posts to do first so...

Speak Soon xx

Don't Forget...(CLOSED)

2011-09-12T13:17:00.002+01:00

There's only a few more days left to enter my giveaway!! Just click the link in the side bar...you know what to do!!

All you have to do is follow! Good Luck Everyone :D

Speak Soon xx

Nymphomania!!

2011-09-10T14:06:00.000+01:00

Of an entirely different sort, I might add! This is Forest Nymph, the next character in my Fantasy Series.

This one was a bit of an experiment for me. I knew I wanted to have roots embedded into the skin, but I was too impatient to wait for my scar wax. So I decided to use a hot glue gun (not on my model though, don't panic!). Hoz had a really great idea to spread a surface with Vaseline so I could slide the glue gun roots off when they had dried...it worked a treat! The only thing was Hoz couldn't move much once I'd stuck them too her face haha.

I stuck the roots on with eyelash glue then dusted them with shadow, they seemed to take the colour surprisingly well. Although they did come away and need to be re-stuck a few times. All in all though, given the constraints I still quite like it...I have got some scar wax now though! So what do you think?

Speak Soon xx

Pixies Lot!

2011-09-08T11:14:00.001+01:00

Hey y'all!! This is Pixi the next in the Fantasy Series. Not only am I introducing a new character today, but I'm also introducing a new model too...this is the lovely Leanne. Doesn't she make a beautiful Pixi! I've got a feeling you might be seeing a lot more of her in the future :D

I'm still loving the Fantasy Series so your gonna have to bear with me, there's more characters to come. Hope your all liking it as much as me :D

...Ooo just to let you know, Leanne went to ASDA (Walmart for my American friends) made up like this!! Brave girl haha.

Speak soon xx

Gotta Be In It To Win It!! (CLOSED)

2011-09-07T14:08:00.002+01:00

Hey!! Just a quick reminder, don't forget to enter my giveaway!!

Just click the link in the side bar. Good Luck Everyone :D

Speak Soon xx

When Good Fairies Go Bad!!

2011-09-05T11:53:00.000+01:00

Yay! I'm having so much fun doing this fantasy series, I've got a feeling it might go on for a while! Hope you don't mind haha. So anyway here's the next character...meet Flower Fairy.

Aww I loved creating this look! I got to go shopping for accessories with the lovely Holly, then it was back to mine for wine and makeup...can't think of a better combo! Although I'm not really sure your supposed to give fairies too much wine...

Bad things happen!! Hope y'all like it :D

Speak Soon xx

Darkness Falls...

2011-09-02T16:48:00.000+01:00

Ok so as promised here's my first character from my Fantasy Series. I'm going with an Enchanted Forest theme as it's always been one of my favourite things to imagine since I was a little itty bitty...This is Dark Faerie.

I absolutely love this look, and I loved every minute creating it, but I was a little disappointed with the pics!! I just couldn't get the colours to show up to well. In real life they were beautifully rich metalic teals and purples, but sadly in the pictures they were wishy washy silvers and browns...Oooops haha never mind, I still love it anyway. I think the look suits Kat to a tee and she said it was her favourite one so far (even tho she didn't like having her neck painted hehe). You can't see to well on the pics (bit of a disaster all round this time) but I painted broken butterfly wings all over her neck. They looked beautiful :D

So what d'you guys think? Hope you like it!!

Speak Soon xx

AWWW YEAAAHH!! IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME...(CLOSED)

2011-09-01T10:43:00.001+01:00

It may be in the words of Pauly D but as promised it's finally here!! My Thank You giveaway. I managed to get hold of a little something before I went away (which is a good job really because I've been so ill, and so busy since I came back). I'm actually quite jealous!! I really wanted one of these for myself, but I could only get hold of the one. However, I'll happily give it away to one lucky winner to say thank you for all your support. I was trying to think of a way to do this that would be fair to those of you that have been there from the start, but also to welcome new followers. I think StarrySkies had a really good idea when she hosted her give away, so I'm going to do something similar...every follower will get an extra entry for every comment they've left on my blog up to this point! I've already been through the comments and collated this information so you don't need to send me this. All you have to do is publicly follow my blog. That's it!! Simple!!

So I guess you'll all be wanting to know exactly what you can win...

It's the Sleek Mediterranean Collection!! It consists of a beautiful palette full of gorgeous colours, a pout polish and a blusher. Like I say I'm very jealous about this, but you guys deserve it more than me :D

So to enter you must be a public follower of my blog, and those of you who have commented on my blog up to this point will all get an extra entry for every comment. Thats it! The giveaway will run for two weeks, so the closing date will be on Thurday 15th September and I will announce the winner that weekend.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!

Oh just on another note...some of you may notice that I've changed the name of my blog. When I first set up my blog it was to coinside with the launch of my freelance nail business, and was intended to be a blog more about that, but as you can see thats not the case haha. Those of you that know me from way back when will always have known me online as UrbanelyDecayed so I decided to change my blog name to that too. Hope y'all still like it! Nothing else has changed apart from that.

Anyway I've got a Fantasy series coming up so I'll be back shortly with some looks for that...

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Speak Soon xx

Does Anyone Speak Mandarin?

2011-07-28T20:55:00.000+01:00

As promised here's the other fishy look I did last week. It's a little bit different to the other one haha...

I'm sorry I don't know where this pic is from, please let me know :D

Some time ago the very lovely and incredibly talented Sonja aka StarrySkies over at TheBeautifulLifeOfTheGirlNextDoor ask me to do a look based on a Mandarin fish, and here it is...

I was so excited and planned the look immediately, but I've been waiting for a willing model haha. Oddly not everyone is queuing to be turned into a bright green sea creature...now if I'd have said smokey eye that would have been a different story haha. I spent ages on this because I really wanted to do Sonja proud. I did have to change some of the colours up a bit as I didn't have any yellow liquid liner, but hope you still like it...

I absolutely loved doing this, it was so much fun...I'm beginning to think I should be a Theatre MUA, I definitely love me some drama haha.

Aww, the Misters Sister was a fab model and sat there for hours while I painted her face haha, it's ok though, she loves it!!

Anyway, hope y'all like the look.

Speak Soon xx

My Name's Natalie And I'm A Polish-Aholic!!

2011-07-27T14:06:00.000+01:00

First off I just want to say a MASSIVE MASSIVE THANK YOU to you all!! I checked in this morning to find I have over 100 followers - WOOHOO!! I'm so happy I could do a little dance haha...

see more Gifs

Honestly when I started this blog I wondered if I'd ever get any followers, so to have 100 is amazing to me. I really do appreciate every single one of you, and I love all the amazing comments you leave, it really spurs me on :D I will be holding a little Givaway to celebrate which I will hopefully get up before I go on holiday on Saturday. I'm off to Oludeniz...I cant wait!!

Picture from guardian.co.uk

I really will try and sort something out before I go, but if not I'll have a look at what goodies I can find while I'm away and hold it when I come back. Either way there will be something to say THANK YOU!!

Anyway, back to the reason I was originally posting today. I wanted to show you my mani and also tell you about a little Facebook group called Polish-Aholics Anonymous. If polish is your porn you really need to check out PAA on Facebook. The girls on there are so lovely, and really helpful. If you want to see a swatch of something, look at endless albums of inspirational nail art or get great honest advice on nail products then this is the place for you. Hope you check it out :D Anyway, PAA hold a Monday Mani challenge, not surprisingly on a Monday haha, and last weeks theme was glitter. Needless to say I posted many manis, but I didn't manage to get this one done in time, so I thought I'd post it on here.

Its one of the duo's from Illamasquas Boo/Hiss range. This one is Boosh & Hiss and it's a beautiful black creme base colour with a pink and gold glitter polish to overlay. I love it!! What do you think?

Anyways, I'm off!! Gotta start deciding what to take on holiday, and, knowing me that could take some time haha.

Speak Soon xx

Back To The Future

2011-07-26T08:28:00.000+01:00

The gorgeous Kate was up at the weekend, so we decided to play with makeup. We went partying on Saturday night (well about as much partying as two old birds can do) then decided to do some looks after breakfast on Sunday.
I had in mind that I wanted to do a kind of 50's look, but with a modern twist. At first I thought Audrey Hepburn, but as the look went on I lent more towards Brigitte Bardot, it suited the mood. That just got up, slightly dishevelled but incredibly sexy kinda look...

Fresh skin, flushed cheeks, flirty eyes, bed head hair. I think you get what I was going for...

I really love how it turned out! I think Kate looked Beautiful...but then again she always does!! Haha

Anyway hope you like the look too,

Speak Soon xx

Under The Sea...

2011-07-24T18:39:00.000+01:00

The Misters Gorgeous Sister was up again this week, and we decided to play with makeup!! Ever since she was little Squaz has always wanted to be a Mermaid so today we decided to make it happen!! I took a little inspiration from Ariel, but you know me, I had to go that little bit further. Here's what I came up with...

I Love this look!! It's so cute and I really loved creating it...Squaz must have liked it too as she drove 170 miles home in it and even stopped for fuel haha!!

To achieve the effect up the side of the face I cut out shapes from masking tape and stuck them to her skin. This worked really well as I was able to blend the colours up the temple, but still had the shape I wanted when I peeled back the tape.

Anyways, hope y'all like the look as much as I liked doing it!! I'll be back with some more sea themed looks later...

Speak soon xx

Let Me Tell You About A Little Place Called Makeupbee!!

2011-07-19T09:52:00.000+01:00

A couple of months ago now I got an email from a lovely lady called Tiomi who wanted to tell me about a new site she's set up. This new site I'm talking about is Makeupbee, and if you haven't already checked it out you really should!! It's full of AH-MAZING makeup looks, great reviews and fabulous new friends to be.

Makeupbee is a great place to share ideas and find inspiration. It's a one stop shop where you can post your own looks, be inspired by others, and promote yourself if your a Blogger or Youtuber. It's really accessible and easy to use and you can get started in minutes. It's got something for everyone. Whether you want to get ideas to create a look, post your own, or find the latest product review, it's all there. It's a really great community, I've already made some new friends and also gained some new followers for my blog. One of the more unique things about Makeupbee is that Tiomi the founder encourages you to promote your own Blog and Youtube channel, where as a lot of other sites tend to frown on this. As an MUA and Beauty Blogger herself, Tiomi really values the contributions made by the Makeupbee members and is happy to celebrate these.

I'm really loving the site and have been contributing for a while now, so as way of appreciation Tiomi made me her first 'Queen Makeupbee' and featured me on their Facebook page to help promote my blog, please stop by and check out the interview. The 'Queen Makeupbee' is going to be a monthly feature and will focus on a different Makeupbee each month. So why not sign up...who knows, you could be the next Queen Makeupbee!!

Speak Soon xx

Walk Like An Egyptian

2011-07-14T14:59:00.000+01:00

Makeup Geek are having a competition to create a makeup look inspired by Ancient Egypt, so I thought I'd show you my entry...

I've been fortunate enough to travel to Egypt a few times now and I absolutely LOVE IT!! I love the country, the people, the culture...but most of all I love the mysticism of the whole place. I'm in love with ancient Egypt!! I've been in the Pyramids and Temples and sailed down the Nile and it's incredible even today. But if ever I invent a time machine I would like to travel back and see it in it's hey day, in all it's glory. I'm slightly embarrassed to say, but one of my favourite films is The Mummy haha. I watch it over and over again...Oh dear!! Anyway, inspired by the treasures and hieroglyphs I came up with this look...

I changed it a little part way through as I didn't think it was really wow enough, so I added a few more gems to bling it up a bit ;)

Ok, Ok, you can stop laughing at the thought of me inventing a time machine now!! I've just told you my favourite film is The Mummy, I'm well aware of my limitations haha...

Anyway, hope you like the look as much as I liked creating it. And I hope some of you lovely ladies are also going to enter...I'd love to see your looks :D

Speak Soon xx

Make The Grade...

2011-07-11T14:41:00.001+01:00

Just another quickie from me today. Thought I'd show you my graded mani. It started life as Illamasqua Viridian, but as much as I love this colour, one colour manis are just plain boring!! So, I decided to add a little Orly Lunar Eclipse into the mix and this is what it turned into.

I really wanted to do some nail art over the top, but I left my kit at work so no can do :( Maybe I'll update later in the week with this if I can...I'm feeling something Peacocky maybe? Anyway hope y'all like it.

Speak Soon xx

In Your Honor

2011-07-04T15:57:00.001+01:00

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends!! I rocked my stars and stripes for you this weekend when I went to watch my all time favourite band the Foo Fighters!! Yeah...Love me a bit of Dave Grohl!!

I couldn't think of a better way to spend the weekend. Me, The Mister and The Nephew had an amazing time!! But, it means it's short and sweet from me today...I'm cream crackered!!

Speak Soon xx

Alice In Underland!!

2011-06-29T14:12:00.000+01:00

Hey y'all!! So yesterday Kassie form the fabulous Unique-Desire tagged me in a Disney Princess post. I'll be honest, I'm not really much of a Disney fan...or a Princess for that matter!! But I thought what the heck, I'll give it a go. I Love Kassies blog, she creates some absolutely stunning looks so I really wanted to do her proud!! I thought I was going to struggle for inspiration as the only Disney thing I have ever Loved is Alice In Wonderland. I loved the book when I was a child (ahem even still now haha) and have loved all the different re-creations of it since. So imagine my glee when I took the challenge and discovered I was Alice - Yay. The questions were as follows...

Alice

*You have/had long blond hair...Check!

*You constantly day dream of another world...Always getting told off for daydreaming

*You have an active imagination...VIVID!!

*You’re very curious...This has often got the better of me :S

*You try to show off your knowledge...Hopefully in a way that helps others "/

*You are polite or talk very formally...I was brought up well haha

*You don’t like books without picture...Not true!! I love all books

*You love or have a cat...The gorgeous fuddah

*You tend to act more mature than your age...Mostly!! I have my moments though

*You have been told that you’re mad or not right in your head...Ha not to my face!!

So that gave me 8/10 which was the highest score I got for any of them. I've not included all the other Princess questions, but if you want to see them please pop over to Kassies blog and take a look. After you've answered all the questions you then have to do a look inspired by your Disney Princess. Now...those of you that know me will know I'm probably closer to Callow Lilys Alice as opposed to Disneys!! So what I tried to do was take inspiration from both, along with some of the scenery and other characters.

So anyway here's my final look...

I tried to make it look like I was falling down the rabbit hole. So whadayathink? For this I'm going to tag everyone that reads this, that wants to do it. Don't let not being a Disney lover put you off...it's fun.

Speak soon xx

And You Thought Disco Barbie Was The Bomb...

2011-06-28T15:54:00.000+01:00

Meet Shellac Rockstar!! The newest offering from CND. I've just started doing this in my salon and I love it!!

Shellac is definitely my favourite and most popular service so I think this will go down a treat. Any previous beef I've had with Shellac has merely been that I get bored!! But now with Rockstar I can have different colours and glittery textures...Hurray!! It's also prompted me to start experimenting with Shellac nail art too so I'm sure there will be some posts to follow about that. But anyway, enough of the chatter!! Have a look at some more pictures...

Isn't it Beautiful!! This particular mani reminds me of Crystal Barbies Shoes haha. I really don't know why I'm obsessed with Barbie at the minute?? But anyways, hope you all like it :D

Speak Soon xx

Here Comes The Sun...I Hope!!

2011-06-22T14:33:00.001+01:00

Depressed by all the rubbish weather we're having I thought I'd make an offering to the Sun God Ra. Hopefully he will hear my prayers and send me some nice weather as I've got another six weeks before I go on holiday and I can't cope with anymore rain!!

To create this look I applied NYX JEP in Milk as a base above the crease and NYX JEP in Black Bean as a base for the lid. Next I used NYX Morocco in the crease and Sleek Acid palette Black on the lid. After this I added the Sleek Circus palette purple above the crease with Sleek Circus palette red above this. I followed this with Sleek Acid palette orange above the red, and Sleek Acid palette yellow above this. Then I used Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Pink to highlight. After this I lined my lash line and water line with Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero and Ransom. Then I used NYX Morocco to line the lower lash line and NYX Candy Glitter liner in Crystal over this. To finish I applied Girls Aloud Lashes in Nadine.

I also entered the look for MUG's weekly challenge too. Stop by and have a mooch at all the looks if you haven't already. Everyone's done a great job. Anyway, hope the weather's better where you are.

Speak soon xx

Pretty In Pink!!

2011-06-15T11:26:00.000+01:00

Today I thought I'd show you some of my favourite Pink Lipsticks. I absolutely love lipsticks and my favourite colour to wear is Pink!! I like all of these for different reasons, but the top four are my absolute favourite...

Ok so first up is Corrupt by Illamasqua. It's a bright, deeply pigmented matt pink. This colour is very bold, but I really do love it!! The formular is a little drying though so I have to remember to use a balm after I've worn it.

Next is Narcissus from NYX. I didn't hold out much hope when I placed my first order of NYX Lipsticks...I mean how good could they be for a quid? How wrong was I!! Narcissus is one of my all time favourite lipsticks. The formula for this one is very dry though, but as long as I remember to wear a balm before I apply it everything's fine.

Then it's another lipstick from NYX I'm affraid (in fact 6 of the top 10 are). Louisiana is like a Cremesheen version of Corrupt. It's not an exact colour match and it's not quite as bright, but it's still very beautiful, and very definitely one of my favourites.

Next up is Sky Pink a beautiful Lustre, and yup you guessed it, it's from NYX haha. I love this colour for everyday wear. It's a nice soft neutral pink with a sparkly twist.

While the first four on the list are my faves, the next few aren't in any kind of order, they just happen to be pinks I like. Chloe another colour from NYX (what can I say, they're really good value for money) is a beautiful deep pink with a blue shimmer. One of my favourite combo's.

Mac's Of Royalty is another great lipstick for everyday use. It's Cremesheen formula is really moisturising and it's neutral colour goes with everything.

Now, I was so excited when I saw the next lipstick. I really thought Macs Superior was going to be Macs Rags to Riches Dazzle Glass in a stick...I was so let down!! For me it's just too sheer. I guess I forgot to check the finish before I bought it!! I admit I did sulk about this for a while, but then I learned to appreciate it for what it is...a sheer version of Rags to Riches haha. When full on glitter just isn't appropriate (shocking thought I know) in comes Superior. A quick slick of this and I'm pink and glittery but in a more subtle and grown up way. Winner!!

Another beautiful colour is Christie. It's a gorgeous Pink colour with a Gold Frost. It's another one that's great if you want a soft pink with a shimmery twist for every day use. I think all the swatching had made my lips a bit darker by this point, as Christie is a little paler than this normally.

Next up is Paris. A beautiful Pink Cremesheen. The formula is really moisturising, the colour is really pretty, and yes it's another win for NYX.

Then finally, last but not least, is Hot Wired by Nars. I really like the colour of Hot Wired and that's about it!! I think there are more things I don't like about it than do. Lets start with the smell/taste, which is horrible!! I can't even describe it, I just know I don't like it!! Then there's the texture...it's far to sticky for my liking. Add that to the fact that it comes in a pot and it takes me about 20 mins to apply it with a brush, and it's a wonder I wear it!! But like I said, the colour makes it all worth while. It's a deep hot pink with a blue shimmer and it's gorgeous!! What more need I say :D

So there you have it, my favourite pink lipsticks. What's your favourite Pink Lipstick? Got any recommendations?

Speak soon xx

Tan~talising

2011-06-14T15:28:00.001+01:00

Put your hands up, who likes a nice tan? Me!! I do, I do!! That said though, I am fully aware of the dangers of over exposure to the sun, so for the most part I do try to fake it. I have no desire to look like Magda from 'There's Something About Mary'.

However, those of you that know me will be aware of my frequent and many Fake tan disasters. Streaks, patches, orange hands, orange feet, just plain orange haha. It's safe to say I've spent a fortune and tried more than a few!! So imagine my surprise when someone introduced me to St. Moriz Dark Tanning Mousse. I'm a firm believer that you get what you pay for, so to say I was a little sceptical of a fake tan I'd never heard of that only cost £2.99 for 200ml, would be to say the least. But I thought what the heck and gave it a try...and I'm so glad I did!! Holey Moley!! This stuff is a miracle in a bottle!! I love it!!

Unlike most other Fake Tans I've tried, this one does exactly what it says on the tin "A professional flawless tan for a deeper sunkissed glow. Instant bronzing, longer lasting, faster drying, no streaks".

To apply I did the same as I always do. I shower and exfoliate but don't moisturise. I know a lot of people say to moisturise before application, but for me it just seems to lessen the effects of the tan. What I actually do though is moisturise my elbows, knees, fingers and toes. For this I use Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter, but I guess you can use anything. Next I apply the tan. I like the Tanning Mousse in the St. Moriz range and I use a mitt to apply it (this is essential!!). I squirt some onto the mitt and apply in circular motions around my body (I get the Mister to do my back...which he's usually not too happy about). I honestly can't believe how good this product is, even the Mister comments on how easy it is to apply so it must be good!! Also I no longer have to wander around the house like a zombie waiting for my tan to dry, I was able to get dressed straight away and get on with my day. So anyway, onto the results...

This picture was taken straight after I applied the tan. I topped up after a couple of days to make sure the colour stayed the same all week. After seeing the results I went out and bought loads haha. That's how impressed I was. I got mine from BodyCare a UK high street store which unfortunately doesn't have a website so I can't post a link for you, but I think you may be able to get it on Amazon. If you are out and about on your travels though and happen to see this you should definitely pick some up and give it a try. I can't wait to try the St. Moriz Shimmering Souffle. Hope y'all find this useful :D

Speak soon xx

In Ore...

2011-06-13T18:11:00.000+01:00

Just another quickie to show you today's look. I used Illamasqua Pigments in Ore and Furore, along with some colours from the Coastal Scents Metal Mania Palette...

I know it's not very bright and summery, but I'd just tried out a new tan and thought the goldy bronze colours went quite well with it. What do you guys think? Hope you like it :D

Speak soon xx

It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To!!

2011-06-12T21:13:00.000+01:00

Just a quickie from me today to show you my current mani. I Love it!! It's purple and sparkly...what more need I say!!

I used one coat of CND Sticky Base Coat, two coats of Illamasqua's Baptiste, one coat of Illamasqua's Boo, then I added to the tips with Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday. Hope you like it!!

Speak Soon xx

Arabian Nights Part Two...

2011-06-05T13:26:00.000+01:00

Hey Everyone!! Hope your all good!! We've had a little bit of sun here in the UK over the last couple of days so we made the most of it and went off to see the Misters family...hence no posts. We had a lovely time though and now, inspired by the sun, I'm back with a new look to show you.
One of my all time favourite types of makeup is Arabic, but I haven't done anything Arabic inspired for a while. I've had an idea in mind for some time now though, so I got my beautiful (and thankfully ever willing) friend Kate to model for me. So here's the look...

I know the pics a bit posey (haha the things I get Kate to do) but I wanted her to get her hand in the shot so you could see my attempt at Henna. I love Henna and have always wanted to have a go. One of the Misters friends does it and she said she'll teach me, but for now I just did my own interpretation with Illamasqua's Abyss liquid liner.

For this look I used the Coastal Scents 88 Shimmer Palette, Barry M Dazzle Dust #82...love these, and a tiny touch of Mac Deep Truth. I used NYX JEP in Milk and Mac Blacktrack to line. Oooo I also used a tiny touch of Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Static for the inner eye.

Anyway hope you like it!!

Speak soon xx

Across The Universe...

2011-05-28T20:19:00.000+01:00

Phew!! The lengths I go too to bring you guys a new mani...aha just kidding!! Sadly the glittery effects of the Disco Barbie mani were short lived, so jonesing for my next fix, I changed my nails again!! Still on a bit of a blue kick and infinitely craving glitter I came up with this bad boy...

Just when you thought Across The Universe couldn't get any better, it was hit by a meteor shower of sparkling Swarovski's and BAM!! This baby was born...

This polish by Deborah Lippmann has got to be one of my all time favourites!! It's incredible!! It's like the night sky fell down and landed on my nails. What can I say, no picture can do this polish justice!! I just couldn't resist that little something extra though to make it my own.

Aside from being so darn pretty it's also a really good polish. The Jelly formula is great, it coats evenly. It's easy to get even glitter distribution without to much fuss. It dries quickly. I like the brush...heck I even like the bottle!! I have absolutely no complaints...other than maybe the price, and that it's not so easy to get your mits on in the UK! But apart from that...I LOVE IT!!

Whats your favourite polish...or brand...or even colour? I'd love to know :D

Speak soon xx

Disco Barbie Had A Baby...

2011-05-24T17:36:00.000+01:00

Told you I'd be back soon with a new mani!! As you all well know, there's been a distinct lack of colour in my life for the last two weeks, and possibly even worse than that...NO GLITTER!! So in a desperate attempt to rectify this problem I came up with a new mani, and I think you'll agree it covers all the bases. There's colour, there's glitter, and just to make sure it was totally over the top there's a couple Swarovski's chucked in for good measure too!!

I LOVE IT!! I feel so much more myself again now. It reminds me of a sparkly blue disco dress I used to have for one of my Barbies when I was a kid. Not brave enough to don one of these I seek fulfillment in my later life by replicating it on my nails instead. What can I say...I guess a part of you never grows up :D

I'll no doubt be back tomorrow with another new mani to show you...

Speak soon xx

Shellac Attack...The final update!!

2011-05-23T21:33:00.000+01:00

Hurray!! Day 14 has arrived!! Wow this has actually been even harder than I thought haha. Keeping the same nails on for two weeks when your a nail freak is not easy let me tell you. I've come close a few times to just taking it off...not because it was wrecked, but more because I was so damn bored!! But I didn't, I persevered in order to show you what it looked like two weeks in. So without further ado here are the pics...

As you can see there is regrowth. This gets a bit annoying as it starts to catch on things, and if your a picker like me it's temptation overload. And there's definitely some ghosting now, which I really don't like. But to be fair it is two weeks in and that really is to be expected. The tips have started to wear a little bit, but there's nothing major. No chunks or chips missing, which you've got to admit is pretty darn good. It's still really shiny too! I have to apologise for the pictures though. I didn't realise the lighting was so bad and by the time I'd uploaded them I'd already taken the Shellac off to do my next mani, so I'm afraid they'll just have to do.
You know I really can't say enough good things about this stuff, it really does what it says on the tin. As long as you don't bore easily then this could be the product for you! In an attempt to alleviate my boredom I'm going to practice some nail art with it, maybe then I'll be more inclined to wear it for longer? Next time I'll post a colour too so you can see how that wears. But for now I'll be getting over the fact that I've had the same nails for two weeks by having a different mani every day haha! So expect a few nail related posts this week...

Speak soon xx

And the award goes to...

2011-05-11T12:24:00.000+01:00

Wow!! It's like the Oscars around here! I've never been more flattered, I might actually be blushing a little bit! That's because I've recently been given a couple of blog awards and I just wanted to say a great big Thank you!

Firstly I wanted to thank Jess over at Weighing Down On Beauty. Some time ago Jess was kind enough to award me with The Versatile Blogger Award. Unfortunately due to an ongoing problem with my reading list, the problem being that it completely disappears for over a week at a time, I didn't know about this straight away. And since catching up I've been waiting for an opportunity to thank her...THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH JESS!! :D

And secondly I wanted to say a huuuuggggge thank you to Starryskies over at The Beautiful Life Of The Girl Next Door who awarded not one, but TWO awards!! The Kreativ Blogger Award and The Stylish Blogger Award. THANK YOU SO SO MUCH Starryskies!!

As the rules for the three awards are different, one asks for 7 facts and 15 bloggers and the other 10 facts and 10 bloggers, and because I've messed up I'm just going to do 10 facts and 10 bloggers for all...hope this is ok :D

So here we go, 10 facts about me...

1) I come from a big family, the youngest of FIVE!! I have two brothers and two sisters and I love them all...even when they are being mean! I have a cold at the minute and my brother says I sound like Yoda!! Please! I was trying to talk to him the other night and he kept doing impressions of me as Yoda! I couldn't get a sensible word out of him. It did make me laugh though. I absolutely love having a big family :D

2) I'm not married but I've been with my partner for 13 years. We don't have any children yet but we do have a little chocolate Burmese kitty called Fudge. I think we might be getting him a friend soon...I am not a crazy cat lady though.

3) When I was little I used to decorate eggs with my Nan, we'd make them into little people and hang them on our Christmas tree haha. I miss my Nan.

4) My favourite thing to wear is Pyjamas! I think nothing of getting in to my pj's in the middle of the day. I'll be sat there with a full face of make up on, my pj's, my fluffy moo cow slippers and my leopard print dressing gown...the mister shakes his head at me but I don't care haha.

5) Oh that's another thing...I love animal print! My friends despair of me and one of them calls me Bet Lynch. I do like to go a bit over board when I go out with her though purely because I know it drives her mad hehe.

6) I have a 30 Year old Niece!! I have several nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews too, but Chel's the oldest.

7) I currently have purple hair with bright pink slices through it. I think I've had every hair colour under the sun. When I was at school it was blonde, then for a very brief stint it was barbie pink! After that it was black, then brown, then back to blonde. Finally I settled on red/purple some years ago and have stuck with different variations of this since. I love getting my hair done!

8) When I was little I used to be very very shy. I wouldn't say boo to a goose! This is NOT the case anymore haha.

9) My friends are very dear to me, I've had some of them for years! 28 to be precise! It takes me a long time to let people in, but when I do I'm loyal to the death.

10) I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Waltzers! I could spin around for hours. They just make me laugh so much :D

And now for the 10 bloggers that I'm passing these awards on to...

The M Face
Beauty For Thought
All You Desire
Dear Makeup Diary
Weighing Down On Beauty
Stay Beautiful
Unique Desire
Makeup By Danisaddiction
Beauty By Kayla Shevonne
Nukleopatra

Phew!! So there you have it. Hope you all enjoy your awards, don't worry if you don't want to respond...I've awarded them because I think y'all truly deserve them anyway.

On another note...It's nearly my one year Blogiversary!! Think a little giveaway might be in order to say thankyou to all my lovely followers. I really appreciate the support :D

Speak soon xx

Shellac Attack Update!!

2011-05-09T20:56:00.000+01:00

So here we are on day seven (just counting on my fingers to check that's right haha) and it's still going strong! I hope you know how much this is driving me crazy...I never have the same nails for this long! All in all the mani is wearing really well. I'm only just starting to get the tiniest bit of tip wear, and when I say tiny I mean TINY! My nails grow very slowly so there's not a lot of re-growth showing yet which is great too...I reckon I could actually get a lot longer than two weeks out of one of these mani's from a re-growth point of view! There is a touch of ghosting though where the white has grown beyond my natural smile line. I really don't think it's noticeable to any normal person though, I think it's probably me just being really picky haha.

So anyway, on to the pics...

So what do you think? Good eh! To combat the hum drum of the two week French mani I might go crazy and do a crystal one next...something totally over the top :D

Speak soon xx

Two Faced (Or Three or Four...)

2011-05-04T21:41:00.000+01:00

I was going to post a new look today, but my eczema has been playing up this week, so instead I thought I'd show you some of my face charts. Whenever I have a new idea I scribble it down on a piece of paper...the problem with that is I HAVE LOT'S OF IDEAS!! Much to the Misters dismay there are endless piles of paper all over our house :S Drawings in pencil, pen, felt tip, makeup...basically anything I can get my hands on to draw with! Couple this with my addiction to 'post it's' and you've got a problem! In an effort to combat this problem (and keep the mister sweet) I got myself a little book to scribble my ideas in. I LOVE my little book and will quite happily spend the afternoon drawing away to my hearts content. The problem is that drawing the face charts has become almost as important as doing the looks :S I still have tons of paper everywhere because I sketch my ideas in rough first so I can make sure they work before I put them into the book!! Crazy right? Poor Mister haha maybe one day we will have a tidy house. Whats that saying...a tidy home is the sign of a boring mind? Haha that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Anyway here's a few of the face charts. Some of them may look familiar, but some are still to come...

I can't wait to do this one!! I've got a model lined up already, I just need to set some time aside to do it!! I'm going to sculpt all the little leaves out of acrylic and make the cross too...

I still really want to recreate this look I did at Muse...

I'm doing this one on my friends beautiful daughter Demi, she's gonna be perfect for it. I love Callow Lily soooo much :D

I designed this one for my sister-in-law cos she was dressing up as Boy George. I've been fascinated by his look since I was a kid.

This was a failed attempt at a competition entry. I didn't manage to pull it off in person, but I liked the idea.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the next few...

Anyway hope you like them. Does anyone else have a look book? I'd love to know it's not just me that belongs on 'How clean is your House' haha

Speak soon xx

Shellac Attack!!

2011-05-03T21:12:00.000+01:00

I haven't done a nail post in a while, cos I've been really busy lately and haven't had time to change my nails as much as I'd like so I've been wearing Shellac. I didn't post any of the looks as they've just been plain old colour mani's (even tho they have been very beautiful). But then I got to thinking why not...I could do a shellac post and update on the wear throughout the course of the two weeks!

For those of you that don't know about Shellac, it was the first gel/polish hybrid. It applies like polish but wears like gel. It's chip resistant for up to two weeks, has zero drying time and a long lasting mirror finish. The product is from CND and I've been loving it ever since it came out about a year ago. It's definitely my most popular service in the salon, and I have people who have had up to FIVE WEEKS wear out of it! That said, it's not for all! Some of the stylists in the salon found it didn't really last that well for them, but part of me wonders if that has something to do with the colours they use on clients hair?

So anyway here it is...

I decided to do a French mani, which is unheard of for me because I love my colours! I don't know...I just fancied something different! I was in a bit of a rush though, so I'm affraid it's not perfect!

Like I say though, I do change my nails A LOT!! But I'll try and persevere with the same mani for as long as I can so you guys can see how it wears.

I took some without the macro setting on my camera so you could see that the colour is not as grey as it looks in the other pics...

So what do you think? Have any of you had a Shellac mani? How did you like it? How does it compare to the other Gel polishes on the market? Let me know.

I'll be back with an update so you can see how it's going!

Speak soon xx

My New Job Kicks My Old Jobs Ass!!

2011-04-29T23:40:00.001+01:00

Have a look at what I did at work today!! This is what happens when you have a shop full of gorgeous girlies and a big bag of makeup haha.

I really don't know why I uhmm'd and ahhh'd about my career change for sooooo long...I TOTALLY LOVE MY NEW JOB!!

This is Claire, one of the stylists at the salon where I work. When she volunteered to let me do a look on her I don't think she quite knew what she was letting herself in for aha...

I wanted to do something quite bright and dramatic for Claire as she never really wears a lot of makeup....

Claire's hair was styled by the very talented and very lovely salon owner Susan...

...her hair's actually really straight so it was curled around a tail comb and set with heat to make tiny little curls that were then back combed and scraped up to give it some height.

This is the gorgeous Ashleigh! She just screams Vargas Girl to me...what about you?

Her features are perfect for the vintage pinup look, and I've been itching to do this on her since we met...

Ashleigh's hair up was styled by Claire. I wanted some vintage rolls so Claire worked her magic...

...then after some shots we decided to change it a bit. We took part of it down and Ash put some waves in it.

Gorgeous!! I absolutely LOVE the hair!!

So there you have it!! My fab day at work. I'll have to post some of the nails I've done recently too. Hope you like the looks :D

Speak soon xx

Sucker Punch!!

2011-04-26T07:27:00.000+01:00

I know there's a lot of these looks around at the minute so I'm sorry, but I just had to do one. My Makeup today is based on Baby Doll from Sucker Punch. Now before anyone says anything I know I don't look like Baby Doll...she's blonde and beautiful, and I'm quite the opposite!! I just couldn't resist doing the look though, I think it's stunning! Ugh I can't wait to see the film, the misters taking me later...soooo excited! The imagery that I've seen so far looks absolutely beautiful, I can't wait to get even more makeup inspiration.

Hmmmmm...I thought I'd be brave today and include a full face shot :S

Excuse the hair, I'm growing out my fringe and it's driving me crazy! And don't even get me started on the messy brow Aaarrrrghhh!

So there it is! Hope you like it. Has anyone else tried this look yet? Or even seen the film? Hope it's good :D

Speak soon xx

10 Things I Love About Summer!!

2011-04-25T07:45:00.000+01:00

I've been getting a bit excited lately, what with all the gorgeous weather we've been having...my favourite time of year is here again! So I thought I'd do a post on what it is about summer that makes me happy :D

Number 1...

Bold, bright makeup looks! I Love em! I know you can wear these all year round, but when better than SUMMER!!

Number 2...

New summer shoes! I would wear flip flops every day of the year if I had a choice! I literally have to have them pried from my feet when the rain and snow come, so imagine how excited I am when I can wear them again :D

I got these little beauties (and two other pairs) the other day :D

Number 3...

Maxi dresses! They're cool (in more ways than one), comfortable, and hide a multitude of sins...a girls best friend ;)

Sadly this is not me in my maxi dress, it's actually from Look.co.uk

Number 4...

I like mine big!! Get your minds out of the gutter people...I'm talking about Sunnies. Think Victoria Beckham or Nicole Richie and your on the right lines.

Now I'd never wear these little apple sunnies from ASOS.com but I do think they're super cute :D

Number 5...

If there's one thing that always puts a smile on my face it's flowers. I have very fond memories of spending lazy afternoons in my Nans Rose garden,or looking out onto a sea of orange Lilies at my Mums house. Sadly the Mister does not understand my love of flowers and just thinks they are a waste of money!! That said he does occasionally surprise me with a lovely bunch :D

I'm not sure where this picture is from...I just think it's pretty!

Number 6...

You can't have one without the other...one of my most favourite things ever! Butterflies!

I quite often like to visit the Butterfly House near to where I live, it's set in a really beautiful park.

Number 7...

Now I know some of you may not understand this one, but I'm putting it in anyway! I absolutely Love Buzzy Bee's...only the Bumble kind though.

I think this picture is bee-utiful haha sorry I couldn't resist. I only wish I could remember where it was from.

They're so fat and cute and fluffy. Not like their evil cousin THE WASP!! Them I do not like!!

Number 8...

Now I don't know anyone who doesn't like the next item on my list...

Scream it...ICE CREAM!! I love the colours in this picture from bluecottonmemory.wordpress.com

Number 9...

Where better to enjoy number 8? Yep that's right...the beach.

I may live in the UK but there are still some beautiful beaches where I live...

This picture from arts-link.com is incredible! If I didn't know better I would think it was taken somewhere more tropical.

Number 10

One of the best things about summer for me are the light nights. There's nothing better than getting the bbq going and having a few beers with friends. Just sitting in the garden watching the sun go down...AMAZING!! Sadly we don't have a garden at the minute, but we have some very lovely friends who invite us round to theirs :D

If one picture were to sum up the joy of summer for me it would have to be this one from weheartit.com

So there you have it, my top 10 things I love about summer. So what about you? What are you looking forward too? What puts a smile on your face? I'd love to know...

Anyway hope you like the post!

Speak soon xx

I think I'm turning Japanese...

2011-04-24T11:36:00.000+01:00

I'm still slightly obsessed with the Geisha look after my recent stint at Muse. I haven't got round to re-creating that look yet, but when Hoz was up I thought I'd have a go at another one. It's not by any means a Geisha look, but it is inspired by elements of this type of look. Whaddayathink?

I really love this picture!! Hoz will probably kill me but I just had to put it in haha

The eye colours are mostly from the Coastal Scents Metal Mania palette and the 88 Colour palette, and the aqua is Mac's Liquid Line. I'm really loving this again lately and it seems to be appearing in all my looks. The lashes are ah-hem...Girls Aloud!!

Anyway hope you like the look...

Happy Easter Everyone :D

Speak soon xx

Macaroooooned!!

2011-04-23T07:13:00.000+01:00

Totally un-makeup related post today! I've been baking and I just wanted to show you my wares haha. I made Snickers Macarons mmmmm...

I got the recipe from Tartlette, my favourite food blog. Not only are Helene's recipes delicious, but her photography is stunning. She has one of the most beautiful blogs I've ever seen. Unfortunately my culinary expertise are none to match that of the blogs author, but I did my best. So this is my breakfast today...

Arrrhhh who am I kidding!! This is my real breakfast haha...

If your interested in the recipe follow the link. I changed it a bit cos I'm a little less committed...

Hope you like it :D

Speak soon xx

The Glitterati...

2011-04-21T17:44:00.000+01:00

No I'm not doing a review of a British Rock band from Leeds...it's the NYX Glitterati Cream pallet silly!! After my recent post My Mister's Gorgeous Sister a lot of you have been telling me that you've heard really bad things about The NYX Glitter Pallets so I thought I'd post some swatches. I'll be honest it's not the best or the easiest thing I've ever worked with, but weirdly I still like it...maybe it's cos it's just sooo darn priddy!

I have the GGCP 01 Glitterama Pallet and NYX describes it as:

"Multipurpose gel-based glitter combination in a pallet! With 21 delicious shades to choose from, you can sparkle up you face, body and hair any day!"

The first buggit thing about this pallet is that I couldn't get in it!! I can only assume it's a one off flaw as I've not really heard anyone else moan about the packaging, so we'll let that one slide...even if I do have to open it with a knife every time I use it :S
When I do eventually get into it and swatch it on my fingers I'm mesmerised!! The colour selection is amazing, the colour payoff on my fingers is incredible, it's not even tooooo bad on my arm. I can't wait to try it...

...and that's where the problems begin!! Try as I might I just can't get the same payoff on my eyes as I do on my fingers or my arm :( Admittedly some are better than others, the density of glitter in some of the shades is a lot greater than in others and it tends to be these ones that have the better payoff. The others seem to have too much gel which almost obscures the glitter!! I've also found that this gets worse the more you touch it as the gel starts to cream a little and goes opaque, then you can barely see the effects of the glitter at all. The swatches in the pics are all done with 4 swirls of the pan and one swipe onto my arm so you can see the inconsistency.
I've tried all kinds of ways to apply these to get a decent effect. Straight onto the skin, over shadows, with my fingers, with a brush. I've even tried the little foam applicators that come with it, and if that's not desperate I don't know what is. I don't think I've used one of these since I was about 6 and I used it to smear blue eyeshadow all over my face!!

That said, the little foam applicator wasn't too bad if you just want a light effect. The only way I can get the same effect on my eye though is to trowel it on!! No seriously, I spread it with a small pallet knife. But this in itself presents further problems as the product is too thick and starts to crease. I just can't win!!
So I guess all in all this pallet is ok if you just want a light smattering of glitter and you're not bothered about the inconsistency between colours, but if your looking for a full on Drag-tastic glittery look this is not the product to go for.
On the whole I do really like NYX products, some can be a bit hit and miss but most are good value for money. Given that the glitter pallet is not very expensive I'm glad I have it...even if it is just to look at haha!! No honestly I think I will use it again. I'm going to persevere cos if I can crack it I think it could be fabulous!!

Hope this is helpful :D

Speak soon xx

My Mister's Gorgeous Sister!!

2011-04-19T21:20:00.001+01:00

A couple of weeks ago my partners sister came up to stay, and we thought we'd have a play with makeup. I'd just got the NYX Glitter palette from the lovely Kate, and I was itching to give it a try!! Hoz is amazing at makeup, so the pressure was really on!! This is what I came up with...

I was so excited to get the NYX Glitter palette!! It appeals to all my Magpie qualities. I was totally mesmerised when I swatched all the glitters...I couldn't wait to start!! But never has anything been more disappointing. No matter what techniques I used I couldn't get the same effect on the eye as I got on my fingers :( I tried them straight on skin, over shadows, with a brush, with my fingers...the list goes on!! No matter what I couldn't get them to work. I will find a way though cos I LOVE the colours and the way it swatches and want to be able to get this effect on eyes!! Have any of you tried this palette? Please let me know if you've found a way to make it work. I want to be a glittery disco ball!!

Hope y'all like the look!

Speak soon xx

Cracking Up!!

2011-04-12T18:23:00.000+01:00

Just a quicky today of a recent mani I did. I got a prezzie from the lovely Kate in the form of some China Glaze crackle polish so I thought I'd give it a try. I've only used the Barry M crackle polish before and as this only comes in black I was happy to try a colour. I absolutely love the Barry M polish so I knew this would have to be good to compare...

I quite like the colour, it's very summery! But as it's still quite wintery here I decided to team it up with Kensington nail polish from Nails Inc which is a blackened teal colour. The polish applies well and as per usual you can determine the size of the cracks by how thickly you apply the polish...I want quite big cracks so I apply it quite thickly.

All in all it goes on well, but I still prefer the Barry M polish, they just need to make it in colours.

The one thing I did'nt like about the China Glaze polish is that it leaves a kinda film on top of your base colour which darkens it a little. This obviously didn't matter for this mani, but when I tried it later with a pink it was much more noticeable.

Has anyone else had this problem or is it just me? Whats your favourite crackle polish?

Speak soon xx

The Kingfishers tale

2011-04-11T07:30:00.000+01:00

So today I thought I'd do a tutorial inspired by one of my favourite ladies from over at Makeupgeek, the very beautiful and incredibly talented starryskies214 aka...

thebeautifullifeofthegirlnextdoor.blogspot.com.

If you haven't seen her blog already please check it out cos she's got some amazing makeup looks to share. So a couple of weeks ago starryskies created a gorgeous look based on this beautiful picture of a kingfisher and I was so inspired I had to do one too. So here it is with a picture tutorial to boot :D

Here's the original picture...

and here's my look. If you'd like to know how to create this look please keep reading...

First tape off your eye and cover the lid with NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk. Then apply Mac Painterly Paint pot up to the brow and blend...

Pat a metallic yellow onto the lid, leaving a small amount of white next to the tear duct...

Working towards the outer lid, pat on a mid orange colour next to the yellow. I'm using colours from the Coastal Scents Metal Mania palette...

Next apply a darker orange from the same palette and work out towards the tape. Make sure all three colours are blended across the lid...

Using Mac's Paparazz-she apply colour to the crease and work back towards the inner eye...

Next use Mac's Spectacle of Yourself to define the outer V...

Apply NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk below the brow, and to the tear duct area...

Blend this out and apply a small amount of Mac's Tweet Me along with Mac's Vanilla. Remove the tape...

Using Mac's Black Track line the upper eye, creating a wing on the outer edge...

Using the same product line the water line and create a second wing. Apply some of the yellow shadow to the inner lower lash line. Use Spectacle of Yourself for the outer lower lash line...

Then apply Mac's Liquidlast in Aqualine along the whole of the lower lash line and fill in your brow...

Next add a couple of coats of mascara. I'm using Bourjois Clubbers Extreme...

Use NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk to define the area between the two wings and if you don't want to go any further your look is now complete...

But if your like me and want a bit of drama add some false lashes!! I'm using Girls Aloud Festival Lashes. No surprises there ;)

Now the look is done!!

Thanks for looking, hope you like it!! Let me know if you'd like to see more tutorials...

Speak soon xx

London Muse: The final instalment

2011-04-10T20:21:00.000+01:00

So we're back after a lovely lunch and I just can't wait to get stuck in and practice what I've learned. I luck out for the second day running and get another incredibly beautiful model, Hannah, the Special Effects MUA.
So this for me today is a biggy. I suck at neutral stuff and can never quite get my contouring right...probably because I love bright colours so much that I never practice neutrals :S
Franco wants us to do a soft, romantic beauty look first, then he wants us to do a more dramatic eye and lip. I decide to stick to neutrals colours for the dramatic eye too, as like I said, it's not something I ever really do.
Franco is great at coaching and spends a lot of time advising us as we work. He shows me how to hold my brushes differently to achieve a softer more blended look, and he encourages me to note how the different ways feel on me, so I am aware of how they feel on my model. I think this is a really good point!

So here it is, my soft, romantic beauty look...

and then with the more dramatic (but still neutral) eye...

My blending isn't to great for the second look...in his fabulous Italian accent Franco says "I like the shape, but lets clean it up dahling, it's a little bit dirrrty!!". This makes me smile :D

With that my time at Muse is done :(

I've really had such an amazing time and can't thank everybody enough for giving me such an incredible and unforgettable experience. Thank you to the lovely Jen aka MizzWorthy for hosting this amazing competition in the first place, and thank you to Illamasqua and Muse for providing the very generous prizes. I still can't believe how lucky I am!!

After the class I stay on a bit and talk to Josie about some of the other courses. She's so knowledgeable and helpful and is able to recommend another course that will help me along my chosen path.

Watch this space for more from London Muse...I'll be back!!

Speak soon xx

London Muse part 3

2011-04-07T07:21:00.000+01:00

Yup!! Another sleepless night :S When we got home we went out for tea and after that I was so tired I was sure I would sleep, but no...I just stared at the clock waiting for day two :D Finally its morning and I'm on my way to catch my train. I'm in desperate need of a little pic me up...

could do with this on an intravenous drip I think!!

Before I know it I'm back in London and on my way to Muse. Thankfully this time I don't get lost.

image from internships4u.com

When I get there it's a different Makeup Artist for day two. The incredibly talented Francesco Lo Cascio. Franco has created makeup looks for many a huge star and has also worked under legendary make up artist Pat McGrath on prestigious runway shows such as Alexander McQueen, Max Mara, Fendi, Valentino, Emporio Armani, Amanda Wakeley, and Alessandro Dell'Acqua. In addition to this he also works along side my personal favourite Alex Box!! It doesn't get much better than this. To be taught for the day by such an incredible talent is a once in a lifetime experience. Every time I google makeup looks now and Franco's in any of them I'm like "Eeeee I was taught by him". I'm pathetic I know, but I just can't help it!!

Franco's published work as seen on the London Muse website

I think this is yet another great thing about the Muse courses, your taught by leading industry people who have a wealth of experience in this field, who can talk to you about exactly what the industry is looking for.
At first I'm quite terrified, I'll be honest. But as soon as Franco speaks he puts you at ease. He's so friendly and encouraging and down to earth, all that just disappears. I could have sat all day watching him contour and highlight. Given these are my weakest areas I have a lot to learn.

Day two of Bootcamp is all about

-Etheral elements....poetic beauty - creating & applying mood makeup
-Supernaturals......into the twilight -skills of enhanced contouring

It's not long before Franco gets stuck in to his first look, which is a soft, romantic beauty look. Although both the days are incredible I feel day two centers more around my weaknesses. I can happily slap bright colours on and come up with an ok dramatic look, but when it comes to neutrals I really struggle, so for me this was great.

showing two different shapes to create when contouring...

you'll notice one side of the face has a different shape to the other

After the romantic look and all the contouring Franco also did some bonus looks for us. He did a really dramatic blue eye and taught us lots about cleaning up. Francos phrase of the afternoon was..."no it's dirrty!!"

I asked about making lips look bigger so he showed us that too...

and then purely just to show off he got us to time him while he did everybody's favourite...yep you guessed it, the smokey eye.

IT TOOK TWO AND A HALF MINUTES!! Amazing :D

All I can say is my pictures don't do these looks nearly enough justice!!

After this we all went for lunch together which was lovely (Pret again!! Gotta get my fill while I'm daan saafff)

Eeee can't wait to get back to start my look :D

Speak soon xx

London Muse Part 2...

2011-04-06T09:00:00.001+01:00

Sooooo...full of Pret I managed to find my way back to Muse, and now it was my turn, mwahahaha!! I couldn't wait to get stuck into the drawers of makeup that I had lovingly stared at all morning. I can't even tell you how AMAZING it was. There was Mac, Illamasqua, NYX, Dermalogica...the list went on and on. While I was in the park I had some time to think about the look I wanted to do. I had so many ideas, but in the end I chose Geisha. I didn't just want to do a straight Geisha look though, you know me, nothing simple. So I decided to do it with a kinda 80's twist, like something you maybe would have seen on one of the Blitz Kids.

Ok so this image from Shatterjapan is a recreation for the BBC drama 'Worried about the boy' but it conveys what I was going for. If you want to see some genuine and very incredible photography from that era visit Derek Ridgers.com

So anyway this was what I came up with...

I'd been thinking about getting Illamasqua's white cream foundation and pressed powder for a while so I thought this would be the perfect time to try it out. I've seen Alex Box use this at some of her master classes and she gets such an incredible finish with it, but as you'll see my attempt isn't that great :S I think I would have been better applying it with a stippling brush so I could buff it to a smooth finish, but hey ho you live and learn.

I really think my models look is perfect for this...

bit too messy for my liking!!

I really like the idea behind my look and the colours I chose, but I wasn't too happy with finished product. I like to take my time when I do fantasy looks to make sure the blending is good and the liner is sharp, but I was so nervous my hands wouldn't stop shaking and I had to rush as I'd spent so much time doing the base (white is HARD!!). I really lucked out with my model though, I could have done anything and she still would have made it look amazing because she was incredibly beautiful!!
I couldn't believe how quickly the day went. Before I knew it we were done and I was back navigating the streets of London to find my way home...

image from Flickr.com

Anyways...hope you like the look. You will be seeing a re-creation of this in the future when I've got the time to do it properly :)

On the train home I can't wait for tomorrow...I can see another sleepless night ahead!!

Speak soon xx

My Recent Musings...

2011-04-05T13:20:00.000+01:00

So the day finally arrived!! I got to go to London Muse School of Makeup and it was AMAZING!! When I won the Illamasqua competition back in November I thought this day would never come (I'm such an impatient pants) but it did, and I went, and boy do I have lots to share :D

Logo from London Muse School of Makeup

As the course is held in London and I'm a Northern lass I needed somewhere to stay, so we sweet talked the Misters Mum, and off we drove to Buckinghamshire. I was so excited I was bouncing off the walls of the car all the way there...think Donkey in Shrek 2 "Are we there yet? *pop* Are we there yet *pop*". We got there at about 10pm the night before and proceeded to chat till stupid 'o' clock in the morning as we hadn't seen each other for a while. Big mistake when I needed to be up at 5.30am the next morning :S No worries though as I actually didn't sleep a wink from excitement!!

Arrrhh my lovely home for the weekend

After watching the clock all night it was finally time to get up and go...
I decided to catch an early train as I know all to well what my sense of direction is like. I was so glad of this forward thinking when I actually got lost and spent an hour wandering around London in a panic!! You wouldn't think I lived there for years :S

I guess I could have got the Tube...

but sometimes it's just quicker to walk...even when you do get lost!!

Image of Graffiti Snail by Artist Slinkachu featured on Metro.co.uk

Anyways I finally made it and miraculously still managed to be the first person there. By this time excitement had turned to nerves and I actually thought I might be a little bit sick!! This quickly passed when I walked in and met Dee our makeup artist for the day. She gave me a lovely warm welcome and told me there was nothing to be worried about and we sat and chatted for a while as the other students arrived. We were all really lucky as the class was very small, four of us, which was ideal really. I think this is a really great thing about the Muse classes, as it means you get a lot of one on one attention.
Once we had all arrived Dee (Deanna V'Lcevska) chatted to us, and asked us all about our backgrounds and how we had come to be there that day. We actually had quite a mixed class. There was Claire, the Burlesque Dancer and my gorgeous model for day one. Hannah, the Special Effects Makeup Artist and my beautiful model for day two. Chelsea, who was there as part of her 18th birthday present, and Me...the old bird in the corner who dabbles in a bit of 3D Nail Artistry. After this Dee talked to us about her role in the industry and the type of work she does, and about what we were going to be doing that weekend...

Day one of the Catwalk Trends Bootcamp course was going to be about...

-Iconic pop....the 80's beat goes on- creating graphic pigment techniques
-Glam grunge....pure rock n roll excess-shadow blending for maximum effect
-Power brows....wild and unleashed-achieving the latest brow trends
-Geisha.....make up goes manga-how to create bold statement makeup

Then Dee began the first of her looks on her beautiful model Josie...

We all watched as she created one incredible look after another for us to see, sharing invaluable tips and hints with us along the way.

Josie was an amazing model, she sat for picture...

after picture...

after picture hehe ;)

First was Grunge, then after Grunge came 80's, then after that was Geisha with a power brow...

Dee had a wealth of knowledge and was happy to share, she was even happy to answer my incessant questioning, which would usually try the patience of a Saint :)

Before we knew it the morning was gone and we were off for lunch. I had Pret and sat in the park...arrrhhhh I've missed London!!

After lunch it was our turn...Dun Dun Duuuunnnnnn!!

Speak soon xx

Matchy Matchy!!

2011-02-18T09:00:00.006Z

Inspired by my All Sorts mani I thought I'd match up my eye makeup. I always love yellow and black when I see it on others but never really wear it myself, so I thought I'd give it a try...

So whadduyathink huh??

I used NYX Jumbo pencil in Milk as a base, along with the white, yellows, blacks and grey from the Sleek Acid and Circus palettes.

Excuse the messy brows...every time I try to change the shape a bit they just end up all over the place :S I've still got sore eyes too, hopefully they don't effect the look too much!!

Speak soon xx

It takes All Sorts...

2011-02-16T10:39:00.000Z

Hey y'all!! Another quick mani post for you today. I'll have lot's of them coming up as I prepare for the salon launch...SO EXCITED!! I will try to contain myself and mix it up a bit with some makeup looks too though :D
For todays look I've used a number of Nails Inc products (no surprises there), but what maybe is surprising is that I persevered with the NYX polishes!! I haven't changed my mind much about the White yet, but I actually really like the Hot Blue cream now...funny!! This time when I used it it applied smoothly and evenly and I only had to use two coats. Work that out?? Anyway, I really liked my mani, it cheered up a gloomy day and made everyone smile :D

The original idea came from Wah Nails, but I altered it a bit to make it my own. Colours used were Nails Inc Brompton Place (pale pink) Walton Street (dark pink for dotting) The Serpentine (dark blue for dotting) and Aubrey Walk (black/blue for large dots). I also used NYX White and Hot Blue along with a couple of Rio Nail art pens in blue, pink, yellow and black. I'm a couple of days in to the mani now and the NYX White is not wearing well :( Gonna have to find another solution. Anyone got any suggestions?

Soooo anyway hope you like the mani :D Speak soon xx

Seeing spots...

2011-02-11T16:49:00.000Z

Hey everyone!! Hope your all well. I was going to do a makeup look today, but my eyes are really sore and I don't want to mess around with them so I guess I'll just have to show you my mani instead. I think I've said before that I'm a massive fan of Nails Inc polishes. I know they're a little pricey, but they have an amazing consitency and a good range of colours so they tend to be my go to polishes. Sadly they don't do a pure opaque white though and a lot of the mani's I've wanted to do lately need one, so I decided to try NYX. I think NYX products are really good value for money, the shadows and blushers and lip products I've tried have good colour pay off and an excellent price point, so I though I'd give the polishes a go...sadly I'm not impressed!! Admittedly I haven't tried all of the polishes that I bought yet, but the couple I have tried aren't winning me over. I got a couple of creams, some pearls and some jellies with glitter in. The two I've tested so far are both creams, one is a mid blue colour and the other is the white. Neither apply evenly and both colours took four coats (I could have kept going to be honest) to get anything near to an even opaque finish. Also, In terms of wear, I found that because I had so many layers of colour on my nail the slightest chip actually meant the whole nail peeled of in one sheet!! Sorry NYX, I love your other products but it's going to take something special to win me over on the polish front. Nails Inc pleeeeaaasssse bring out an opaque white!!

Anyway here's the mani...

For this look I used Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base coat with NYX white for the background. The dots were done with a dotting tool using Nails Inc Haymarket (duckegg blue) Dover Street (lilac) Drury Lane (coral) Brompton Place (pink) and Carnaby Street (yellow). This was all followed with a top coat of Seche Vite.

Have any of you guys tried NYX polishes? How have you found them? Do I need to give them another go?

Anyhoo, hope you like it :D Speak soon xx

Tweet Meeeee

2011-02-07T14:36:00.001Z

Yup!! It's another quick look with some shadows from Mac's Peacocky range. I swear you'll be sick of them soon :D

Still loving these shadows. Todays look is done with Odalisque, Spectacle of Yourself and Tweet Me.

Speak soon xx

Go on, make a spectacle of yourself!!

2011-02-03T19:55:00.002Z

Just a quick look with some of the shadows I got from Mac's Peacocky range...

I'm wearing Spectacle of Yourself, Paparazz-she and Tweet Me

I thought it was the perfect excuse to break out the old Illamasqua birthday lashes too :D

Aww they make me so happy!! Silly I know, but they do...

The liner is Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero

I LOVE these shadows!! I've been patiently waiting for what seems like forever, and I'm not disappointed let me tell you. Even though the shades are not particularly unique and are very similar to ones I already have, the quality is fantastic and definitely makes them worth purchasing. Smooth creamy texture, rich pigmentation, blendable beyond belief...and they're MA-HOOSIVE!! What more could you ask for?

Is anybody else loving this range? Speak soon xx

Don't be cocky...Peacocky!!

2011-02-01T21:47:00.000Z

Can't wait for Mac to launch Peacocky!! I'm so excited, so in homage to the launch I've created my own interpretation of the their promo shot for the line. Hope you like it...

I'm really looking forward to the Mega metal eye shadows, what about you? Did anyone get or is anyone getting anything from the range?
Speak soon xx

Pssssstttttt!! I'm back....

2011-02-01T20:14:00.000Z

It's been a while!! Hope your all doing well. Lots of things have happened while I've been away, I've been a busy bee :D First off it was my birthday, admittedly this was a while ago now though, but I had the best time. I got lots of lovely prezzies including...

The Urban Decay NYC Palette...

some beautiful roses...

a copy of Alex Box by Rankin

Tickets to a Kirsty Meakin workshop, aaaand lots of other things. It was fab! I saw all my family and friends over the weekend, but on my actual birthday I got to stay in bed. Heaven!!

If only my bed was actually like this...

And I got cake so I was a happy girl (not this cake, but cakes cake right!) :D

Then...

I met Alex Box...Eeeeeeeeee!! Which was incredible. It's not the first time I've met her, but I tend to get a bit star struck so I didn't really speak last time, I just stared in awe. This time though I was a bit more composed and managed to actually get a few words out. She's so incredibly talented, but what amazes me most is how down to earth and genuine she is. I talked to her about getting into the makeup industry and she gave me some really honest but encouraging advice, then Alex signed my book, which made me so happy :D

After this I was contacted about a blog feature!! The beautiful and very talented Madi over at The M Face interviewed me and did a post about my blog :O I was so flattered, not to mention really shocked. I love Madi's blog, we seem to share a love of feathers, glitter and a touch of the dramatic so there's no surprises there really. If you haven't checked out Madi's blog please do, she's one talented cookie, I guarantee you'll like what you see.

Then, oh yes theres more, I decided to stop playing at being a nail tech and go for broke (hopefully not though ay!!) . I've acually taken the plunge and set up my own business. I've ditched the security blanket a.k.a my full time job, and have set up my business operating out of a very busy Salon in a town near where I live. I launch in two weeks and I'm a nervous wreck :S I work really hard though and I've got a lot of great support behind me so I know I'll do well. Fingers crossed though all the same. I actually hide my hands every time I tell someone I'm a nail tech at the min cos I have no nails left :S

So thats where I'm at and what I've been up to. Hope your all having lots of exciting adventures of your own. Coming up I've got some new makeup looks and designs for nail art so keep checking in. Speak soon xx

The Art of Darkness

2010-11-28T20:11:00.000Z

Hiya! Just wanted to let you all know I'm still alive and kicking and I've finally got a new computer so I should be back on track with the posts shortly. In the mean time though I just thought I'd show you what arrived through the post the other day...

Aren't they beautiful! I had a bit of a play the other day and the products are amazing. The liquid metals are stunning and the pigments are so pretty. I'll have some Art of Darkness inspired looks to post soon xx

Yes! We have no Bananas...

2010-11-06T21:35:00.000Z

But I do have some amazing news. I woke up this morning and really wanted bananas on toast but we didn't have any. Not to worry though, nothing can spoil my day as I've just found out that I won the Illamasqua/MizzWorthy competition!!!! I'm absolutely thrilled XD
I had so much fun creating the entries, and I really put my all into the looks, but as much as I dreamed it, I never truly thought that I would win. I'm stunned!!
I'd just come home from a nail workshop with the amazing and very talented Kirsty Meakin and was checking out my favourite sites, I clicked on to MizzWorthy and saw the title 'the winners' and my heart sank. I know it sounds stupid but there was always a little glimmer of hope up until that point. I started to scroll down the page and nearly fell off my chair when I saw a picture of my beautiful friend kate sporting my Flora & Fauna look!! I started screaming the house down. The Mister came running up the stairs all panicked to see what was going on and I could barely speak. Then I started to cry...silly girl. It really does mean that much to me though. I Love MizzWorthy and Alex Box is my idol, so the fact that they chose my look amazes me. And the fact that I get to go to Muse school of makeup in London is the best thing ever. I've never had any proffessional training and have always wanted to go on a makeup course but have never been able to so this is incredible. I would have been more than happy with that but to top it off I also get the Art of Darkness collection too :D I don't think it gets any better. I am going to share this with Kate though for being a fab model. She definitely deserves a treat after sitting there for hours letting me draw all over her.

For those of you that didn't catch the look the first time, here it is again...

You can check out the post on Mizzworthy's blog and on Illamasqua's blog too where you can also see The winning entry for the video section, Krysanthes very amazing 'Oriental Demon'.

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone that commented on here and elsewhere, I really appreciate it. And I just wanted to thanks again to the very lovely Jen at MizzWorthy for all the work she puts in to these competitions so people like me can have the chance to do something they've always dreamed of. And of course thanks to Kate for being a beautiful model.

Anyway, think I've gone on far too much. It's just so exciting though! I'll hopefully be back soon with some new looks. My computers broken at the moment hence the shortage of posts (I've hijacked the Misters work computer to post this) but I should have a new one sorted soon. Please bare with me xx

When the circus comes to town...

2010-10-10T15:18:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd show you entry no 3 for the Illamasqua comp. This one is called Acrobat. I took my inspiration from one of the existing characters, Jester. I wanted to create a love interest for him so thought along the lines of cheeky, playful and fun loving. I also wanted the character to have a dark side too that played to jesters sense of tragedy. He has a big smile on his face, but there is sadness in his eyes...

Character description

This is Acrobat, Jesters partner in crime and the focus of his unrequited love. Cheeky and mischievous, she is playful and free of heart. Her tomboy spirit is effortlessly alluring, but sweet as she may look Acrobat likes to play with peoples emotions, leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake.

I think this is my favourite one so far. I didn't do a face chart for it, I just decided to wing it and see where it went, which is probably why I was still up at 1am doing the look. Sorry Kate :) I definitely prefer doing pretty looks with colours and glitter and lashes Oh my!!

Here's a couple of close ups of the eyes...

I really wish I'd taken the brow out on the right, but like I said I was winging it and it was only a thought after I'd done the eye makeup. Never mind...

Anyway hope you like it. I should be back soon with some new mani's, got some new glitter acrylics to play with :)

Hope everyone's having a great week xx

The Heart of Darkness

2010-10-03T20:31:00.000+01:00

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd show you my second entry for the Illamasqua competition. I wen't a bit darker with character number two. I stuck with my original inspiration of the environment but this time I was influenced by the undergrowth. I was thinking about all the insects and beetles that crawl around in the mulch and then it hit me! Why not do a character based on the actual imagery from the packaging...so my next character is called Scarab. I decided that because I was drawing from the packaging I would also stick quite closely to the colours from within the new range. So this time the collection has been my influence.

Character description

With her metal hard exterior and the blood of carrion fresh on her lips you may be forgiven for thinking the worst. Words from the Book of the Dead drip from her lips and whisper through the air. This is Scarab. Warrior of the Underworld, protector of the dead. Entrust to her your heart and she will see it comes to no harm. She will guide you through the darkness and awaken your soul. Scarab offers you the path to happiness and light. An offer you may want to take, as come dawn Scarab offers you the only safe passage out of the Enchanted Forest.....

I know I should have gone down the neck with the white, but I was running out of makeup remover and figured I'd tortured the lovely Kate enough this week. Whilst it would amuse me no end to send her home dressed like a beetle somehow I didn't think she would appreciate it...

I really like the colours, and the effect across the forehead turned out exactly as I'd hoped. When it came to the dusting underneath the eyes though I messed up and things didn't quite turn out how I wanted. Even though I knew better I touched the dusted shadows and ended up smearing them everywhere so I had to change the look to cover up the mess. I've added a quick pen drawing so you can see how it was meant to be.

I really annoy myself sometimes...there'll be a little voice inside my head going "don't touch that you'll ruin it!!" but try as hard as I might I can't stop my hand and before I know it I've messed it up :S

Ahhh well never mind...I'm entering it anyway so fingers crossed.

Hope everyones having a great week. I'll be back soon...hopefully with entry number 3!!

A walk on the wild side...

2010-09-29T12:44:00.000+01:00

As promised here's my Illamasqua/Mizz Worthy competition entry, and you didn't even have to wait that long! For those of you that don't know Illamasqua is running a competition in conjunction with Mizz Worthy. To enter you have to create a character to attend a banquet in an enchanted forest with the other 13 charaters created for the launch of the Illamasqua Autumn range. The prize is amazing!! Not only do you win the entire Autumn range but you also win a spot on a two day course at The London Muse School of Makeup, and of course you stand a chance of having your work viewed by the amazing Alex box. I am so excited about this!

My character is called Flora and Fauna. As well as the other 13 characters I took inspiration from the environment where the banquet is to take place. I started to think about what sort of creatures could be roaming around an enchanted forest and what sort of life would grow there. I've always loved the idea of an enchanted wood and loved any books that referenced this kind of place when I was a kid so it wasn't hard to let my imagination run wild. Being mythical I could choose anything so didn't strictly stick with just the idea of a forest, I brought in a bit of jungle as well. I was originally going to do two separate makeup looks, one for each character as I had decided to do twins. But then I started to think about different personalities existing in the same body and decided to do half a face to represent each. I liked the idea of them battling inside one body and the darkness and mystery of never knowing quite which one you were talking to.

Character description...

Flora & Fauna

The twins embody all life in the enchanted forest. Two personalities co-exist in one body. Flora is gentle and sharing, radiating light and calm. But Fauna is wild and unpredictable. She is exotic and alluring, yet dark and possessive. Make sure you know which one you are dealing with or you might just end up being dinner!

Face on...

Flora...

Fauna...

one side...

then the other...

The look was created on my beautiful friend Kate who sat very patiently for 4 hours while I did this. I still can't believe some of the things she lets me do...Awwww :D I paid her handsomely with dinner and cups of tea (we had pancetta wrapped asparagus, fried eggs, oven baked vine tomatoes and sauted potatoes...it was delicious even if I do say so myself. Oooo and we had apple and blackberry pie for desert). Anyway back to the look.

My original sketch...

My face chart...

I had to tweak some of it from the original face chart as it didn't quite work, but it was so much fun. I made the reptile spikes out of Fimo for one eye brow and the snail for the other (at some point he became known as Simon...I have no idea why. I think it was delirium!) The patterns are all hand painted and some of them have stencilling over. Let me know what you think, or if you're entering yourself. I hope to have another character done soon.

Fingers crossed xx

I'm Back....

2010-09-29T11:29:00.000+01:00

And with lots to talk about!! I just wanted to say a HUGE thankyou to Kayla at Beauty by Kayla Shevonne for nominating me for a blog award. This is my first ever blog award and I was absolutely thrilled when I came back off holiday to find out. I don't know much about these things but I believe...

The Rules Are:

• Thank the blogger who awarded it to you.

Again thankyou Kayla. I would be nominating this straight back to you if you hadn't already got one. I love your blog! Your mani's are a constant source of inspiration.

Done!

• Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experience using five (5) words.

To: Have fun sharing my passion/creativity (OK so I couldn't do this in 5 words :D)

Done!

• Pass it on to blogs which you feel have real substance.

I'd like to pass this on to Michelle at Lacquerized, she is amazing! Michelle creates the most beautiful mani's and is actually the reason why I got into nails. I was so excited and impressed by the work Michelle creates that I actually decided to retrain as a nail tech and set up my business NOTD.

I would also like to pass this on to Nihrida. I love Nihrida's blog, not just because she creates beautiful nail and makeup looks, but because she is honest about life. She is very open about how she feels and some of the struggles she faces and I find this really helpful.

The next one is a little bit different as it's not really a beauty blog, but it's certainly one with substance. I'd like to pass this on to Toshia at A Cysters Journey. Toshia writes a blog about life and living with PCOS, but she also tackles other issues like Bipolar. I don't suffer from PCOS myself but one of my friend's does and it's effected her life quite dramatically and Toshia's blog has helped me understand this. I also like her blog because she's very honest and talks about things that a lot of us feel but are maybe too scared to admit.

The next blog I'd like to nominate is Nukleopatra. I love Jonna's individuality and sense of style. Someone who shares my love of animal print :D. Jonna has also been really encouraging to me since I started my blog so this is to say thankyou.

And last but by no means least I'd like to pass this on to Nina at Meowmisu Makeup. Nina creates the most beautiful makeup looks ever. Her colour choices are perfect and her blending is amazing. I know Nina's work from Makeup Geek and have recreated many of her gorgeous look's in the past.

and Done!

Told you I had lots to say. No pics in this post, but the next one will have my entry for the new Illamasqua/MizzWorthy competition.

See you soon xx

Off on my Jollies!!

2010-09-08T14:53:00.001+01:00

If any of you guy's are going away have a great time. See y'all when I get back :D

A little bit bugged!!

2010-09-07T16:51:00.001+01:00

Hiya!! Just wanted to do another quick nail post (this is NOTD after all :D) but while I'm on I also wanted to apologise too. I've had an issue with my Google account for some time now as it wont allow me to comment on my blog. It's not just mine I might add...it wont allow me to comment on anyones blog. It's driving me crazy!! Being new to all this stuff and being a bit of a Dolly Dimple when it comes to computers I don't really know what to do to sort this out. I will get to the bottom of this and I will one day be allowed to comment on my own blog, but in the meantime I just wanted to say Thankyou to anyone who has taken the time to leave a comment. I do really appreciate it. You know, I also can't wait to comment on other blogs. I follow loads and see so many amazing and inspirational things it would be nice to show my appreciation. For the time being though this will have to do.
So anyway here's my mani. Note the bug...I've taken inspiration from the situation. I used Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base coat on all the nails, with Nfu. Oh 122 for the leaf colour. I drew the leaf pattern on with Nfu. Oh 123 & 125 and then painted a layer of Nfu. Oh 56 over the top to give it a bit of sparkle and depth. For the Lady Bug I used Nails Inc Eaton Mews (one of my faves) with a black from my nail art kit. Hope you like it xx

Do any of you guys have a blog? Leave me a message and let me know. I wont be able to message you back but I can certainly take a look at your blogs :D

And they say a Leopard can't change it's spots...

2010-09-05T22:29:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post today to show you a couple of recent mani's. Having a bit of a Bet Lynch moment I think as they are both leopard print. The first one is done with Barry M 289 (Gold) with Mac So rich, so pretty for the spots. Not sure what I think about this one...it's a bit over the top. Needless to say it didn't last long. The second one is a bit more subtle, not sure if it's possible to use the word subtle and leopard print in the same sentence but you know what I mean. It's made with Mac Military with So rich, so pretty for the spots again. This is definitely more me than the last one and I like the contrast between the finishes. Anyways, hope you like them :D

What look are you rockin at the minute?

NYX Swatches Round 2

2010-09-02T09:54:00.000+01:00

Hey Guys!! Hope your well :D Back to the swatches today. I've got five glosses to share from my NYX haul a while back. As promised I'm trying to swatch them all but it will take some time so bare with me :D

Ok so lets start with the taste...if your not a fan of cherries then some of these may not be for you!! Personally I don't mind cherries so it really didn't bother me that some of the glosses taste like Chapstick. If you don't like them then no worries theres two other flavours. The Nyx Girl glosses taste like Starburst so no complaints there and the others taste like Huba Buba lol. Haven't had Huba Buba in years so I thought that was quite funny. Non of the flavours are particularly overpowering so unless you have a specific aversion to any of them this really isn't a problem. Anyways the taste doesn't actually last that long so just hold your breathe for a couple of seconds and its gone. Voila!! Problem solved!! For two quid it's not worth moaning about!!
Onto consistency. I actually thought this was really good!! Very smooth, creamy, not sticky or gritty. If anything a little thin but c'mon they're two quid!! They're really moisturising aswell!! Again I was pleasantly suprised, as I was with the lipsticks, about the length of wear. Nothing miraculous, but I have high end glosses I've paid over £20 for and these babies have outlasted them!! Something else I liked was the applicator. I found the Doe foot made it really easy to apply and distribute the gloss evenly. All in all I'm really pleased with the ones I've swatched and tested so far.
Hope this is helpful for y'all xx

Want It Wednesday

2010-09-01T13:57:00.000+01:00

Mac Fabulous Felines (more products available in this range)

A Day in the Life of a Bird

2010-08-29T22:41:00.000+01:00

Hey!! Hope everyones ok. I was intending this to be another swatch post today, but I haven't done a look for sooooooo long!! I've had this on my mind for ages and today I finally got to play :D It's based on a little bird I saw when I went to the zoo (a zillion years ago now lol) I knew I had to do a look as soon as I saw it cos I just loved the colours and the spots and it was a perfect excuse to play with feathers. It was also a chance to try out some more Girls Aloud lashes (I don't have a problem...honest!!) I got them ages ago when Robyn at Stay Beautiful posted a heads up on her blog that Asos were selling them for only £2.25. Bargain!! I decided to custom them a bit by adding feathers to make them fit in with the look. I think it worked quite well and might just try this again with some other lashes. Anyways hope y'all like the look :D

Here's a picture of the cheeky lil' fella. Its from the zoos website again cos I didn't take my camera and the ones on my phone were a bit naff!!

And here's my look :D

If anyone wants to know what products I used just let me know. Thanks for looking xx

Want It Wednesday

2010-08-25T09:47:00.000+01:00

Pieces of Rope style handle Tote bag £36.00 from Asos
Alice Denim pleat Leather boots £110.00 from Asos
Eclectic Wristwear set £15.00 from Asos

Cherry Culture had a sale...

2010-08-22T18:17:00.000+01:00

And I went a bit mad!! Usually I Ooooo and Arhhh over eyeshadows and pigments, but lately I'm obsessed with lipstick and gloss. So imagine my delight when I went on CC and they had a sale on NYX lipsticks and glosses XD I like NYX cos its purse friendly and great for bulking out your colour collection between the more pricier products like Mac, Illamasqua and Nars etc. For the most part the products are really pigmented and apply well!! Anyways I ended up buying 19 lipsticks, 13 glosses and 1 eyeshadow!!! Got a bit carried away :S I'm going to attempt to swatch and review them all, but Im gonna do it in installments as its too much to do in one go!! So heres the first lot for you to look at...

I wasn't dissapointed with any of the colours or their payoff. The lipsticks have a really creamy consistency, in fact so creamy I was convinced they would wear off in minutes...not so!! I've been wearing Gem for over 2 hours now and its still going strong...not bad for just over a quid!! The only one that wasn't quite as creamy was Narcissus. It had a drier consistency than the rest and I had to work a little harder to get full colour payoff but after a few swipes I was good to go, and I love the colour!! All the lipsticks have a faint flowery scent which isn't unpleasant, however Rose Bud had a very strong scent somewhat like flowery discinfectant!! I didn't like this!! All in all though I'm really pleased with the colours and the quality. The only problem I have now is picking which one to wear :D I'll be back soon with some more swatches. Hope you like xx

Strawberry Eaton Mews

2010-08-16T11:03:00.000+01:00

Hiya!! How y'all doin? I'm in hiding atm cos I botched my fake tan!! Luckily I have a couple of days off work so I'm lazing around the house catching up on the films, tv, blogs and magazines that I haven't had a chance to see lately. Its a bit of a shame because the weather is lovely but I'm definitely enjoying my guilty pleasure ;)
I've also been painting my nails a lot so today I bring you another mani. I recently discovered I Love Nail Polish, if you haven't already seen the blog you should check it out. I found this cutey strawberry nail art on there and thought I'd give it a try :)
I used Nails Inc Eaton Mews (not sure if you can get this anymore) along with a green and yellow from my nail art kit. I absolutely Love Nails inc lacquers!! They're so shiny and the colour lasts me at least a week. I tend to change it cos I'm bored rather than because it wears. I also Love their Kensington Caviar Base coat and top coat too, they're amazing!!
I really like the mani but I think I'll lighten up the green and do less dots next time.

Hope you like it, thanks for looking xx

Oh my Gosh...A Purple Rainbow!!

2010-08-16T10:31:00.000+01:00

Hey!! Hope everyones having a great week. Thought I'd show you a recent mani today. My friend Kate (from the Arabic makeup post) bought me some Gosh Rainbow a couple of weeks ago so I thought I'd show you what I did with it. God only knows what kinda rock I've been living under not to have owned this sooner...its GORGEOUS!! I tend to prefer dark nails so rather than have it on it's own I thought I'd layer it up with something but I didnt fancy black...Hmmmm what to have?? I was considering this whilst watching Prince Purple Rain and I thought Ooooo!! Nars Purple Rain!! What a combo, it was so pretty I couldn't stop looking at it all night, not to mention endlessly annoying the Mr to look at it too :) I went to bed a very happy girl...

Whats you favourite Gosh Combo??

Arabian Nights

2010-08-05T09:19:00.000+01:00

Hey y'all!! I thought I'd show you a look I did on my beautiful friend kate a couple of weeks ago for Makeup Geeks Arabic challenge. We both had a day off so decided to play with makeup and this is what happened...

I used a mixture of Mac and Coastal Scents products (let me know if you wanna know what they are). The lashes are...yep you guessed it Girls Aloud for Eylure :D

Hope y'all like it xx

The good, the bad and the down right ugly!!

2010-07-07T15:37:00.001+01:00

Hey!! I've been MIA for a while...had lots going on. Some things good, some things not so hence the title.

So lets start with the good...

Firstly I graduated from my L&P course at the Creative Academy which I was so excited about. Then I went on a Minx and a Shellac workshop which was fun (more about them in a future post)

After that I had a couple of days off so I decided to organise a treasure hunt for some of my neices and nephews. They all dressed up like Pirates (they looked so cute) and I made them little clues and we traipsed off around the neighbourhood looking for Treasure. It was so much fun and at the end we had a party :)

This is where it starts to go bad...After the party I decided to take them paddling in the river near my house. I was safely spectating from the embankment whilst the kids paddled in the water. There I was telling them all to be careful, not to fall in cos they wouldnt wanna walk the two miles home soaking wet, and then what did I go and do....Yep I fell in!! I was trying to help my nephew across the last stepping stone on to the embankment and I lost my footing and belly flopped straight in!! At the time it was funny, there was another family there and they fished me out, we all laughed and off we went, I thought everything was fine. Later that day my whole body went into shock and completely seized up!! I couldn't move my leg or my arm and I had a really bad chill. This went on for days and I ended up being really ill :(

Off the back of that I got a really bad cough and cold and then came the face full of cold sores. I hate them so much. They make me want to cry and hide away like a hermit until they're gone. They hurt so much (more than falling in the river I might add) and they're so damn UGLY!! I didn't want to post a picture of some ugly cold sores so heres some pretty Bluebells from the woods :D

Cos I felt so rough I haven't done any looks or posts but now I'm better and I've got a look to share with you :D Its continuing on from the trip to the zoo (which seems ages ago now). Todays look is based on a Lizzard I saw whilst I was there (I think its a Monitor Lizzard but I cant remember now).

Heres the look...

This is the bad boy we saw at the zoo. I had to use a pic from their site as I didnt get any decent shots myself.

And heres my interpretation

I tried to recreate the scales through some net but it wasn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be :S

If I could change anything I wouldn't have put the scales on the outer section of the eye. Nevermind...

Products I used:
Mac Blacktrack fluidline as a base and liner, bright green and black from the Sleek Acid pallete, Mac Old Gold Pigment over the black, Mac Vanilla as a highlight and Urban Decay Heavy metal glitter liner in Mullet under the eye.

Hope you like it xx