gemsmaquillage

every february, you'll be my valentine

2012-02-14T21:13:00.000Z

Happy Valentines Day! I know, I know, it's a little cheesy. I'm personally on the fence about V- Day. It's horrendously commercial and a bit tacky, and I'm one of those people that think every day counts, not just the 14th of February but I wouldn't, however say I hate it. I have never been someone that expects a present or wants someone to spend a fortune on me, it makes me a little uncomfortable! I like to think we make the effort every day with something little, like cooking each other nice meals or picking up little presents that we think the other person would like. Matt & I spent our first valentines day together very chilled out and the way we thought was best.

We got each other a card because I think it's lovely to have a nice message to keep and look back on, I did a nerdy twitter envelope and Matt went and one-upped me! We both agreed not to get presents and just to have a lovely day together, but we both ended up exchanging valentines mugs and Matt got me a rose. I got my work done for the day and we headed to a little coffee shop near my house for a bit of lunch and a drink before going on a walk. We were only meant to go for a quick "blow off the cobwebs" walk but ended up chatting and walking for over two hours, it was lovely. Now we are back home, I just had a choco-banana protein shake and we are going to make pancakes, light a candle and watch a film with maybe some hot vimto in our cheesy valentines mugs. I hope you all had a nice day whoever you spent it with! I'll leave you with some instagram photos from our walk, my username on there is gemsmaquillage - it's probably my favourite app!

yes to carrots body butter

2012-02-13T08:00:00.000Z

Whilst living in Valencia I tried a couple of products from the Yes to Carrots range since it was sold in my local Sephora. I was suitably impressed but upon returning to the UK it was always a brand I wanted to try more from but kept forgetting. I recently tried the nourishing body butter from the line and absolutely loved it. I am a big fan of body butters, especially on holidays as I feel like they offer amazing hydration that is way better than any aftersun. My personal favourites so far have been from the Body Shop and Hawaiian Tropics who make a fabulous coconut scented one, and whilst I love them, the scents are very strong. Sometimes, you want a strongly scented product and to have a fragrance linger on your skin. Other times, you want to let your perfume itself do the talking, and this is where this body butter comes in. It moisturises beautifully, is very rich without feeling too tacky on the skin (I don't want to wait 5 minutes before I get dressed, especially in winter!) and although it has a lovely scent, it doesn't interfere with my Stella McCartney perfume in the slightest. It contains shea butter and vitamins A & E to nourish the skin, and at £10.99 is cheaper than offerings by The Body Shop.

Have you tried anything from the Yes To...range?

estee lauder invisible fluid makeup

2012-02-12T23:11:00.001Z

This week I went to the Estee Lauder head office to try out their new foundation, Invisible Fluid. I love light coverage, natural makeup, so I was intrigued to find out more. Since this is a foundation, I thought the best way to show you was to apply it on camera so you can see for yourself how it looks and applies. People always talk about the foundation they are wearing but not necessarily what other products (concealer, powder, bronzer) so it can be difficult to see what the foundation is doing as opposed to all those other things. I've put a photo in here as it shows the finish quite well - this is the finished look with bronzer, concealer etc. Notice the lolworthy hair across my face, I purposely didn't edit anything at all or change any colours on the photo so you could see it all properly, apologies for the super serious face, what am I doing?! Enjoy the video anyways, hope its helpful! My shade is 2WN2

Invisible fluid is available for £27 from John Lewis.

london roundup and photodiary

2012-02-12T01:31:00.000Z

Hey guys, very late bit of blogging from me as I've been travelling the majority of the day! Have been in London for the past few days with Matt for a few different things. I have to say no to a lot of events that I'm invited to as it costs around £100 a time for me to travel to and from London on the train, but this time it worked out quite well as Matt had a meeting/interview down there that coincided with an event for me and we decided to go down together.

My top tips for saving money in London? Travel by coach and stay in the Easyhotel! The coach can be an ordeal (as you will know if you follow me on twitter) but we found out last minute about Matt's meeting so train prices were sky high. It worked out cheaper for us both to get the Megabus down and stay overnight than just for one of us to get the train. Richard Branson, if you're reading this, I hope you realise how insane that is!

We stayed in the Easyhotel (£35!?) and I would call it more of a cabin than a hotel as it is essentially the size of a ships cabin, but it was all we needed! I went to Estée Lauder to see their new foundation (review coming soon, maybe a YouTube demo too?) and then had a meeting.

The next day I headed to the MUA offices to see their new collection and then it was Matt's big meeting, and although I can't really say anything it is possibly one of the biggest opportunities so far in his life so please think positive thoughts! Hopefully it went well. We were due to go home that night but the meeting finished later than expected and connections would be missed so we stayed another night (different Easyhotel!) on a whim. We decided to celebrate what will hopefully be a good opportunity for Matt and have dinner since the day before had been a quick chipotle run, thanks to Zoe for recommending Byron Burger, it was so so lovely and I would definitely recommend it if you're ever in London! We had the courgette fries and they were amazing.

Our hotel "room" was literally an orange shoebox so we didn't feel like going back so early and headed to embankment for a little walk. It was sub zero but I'm so glad we went - I always like seeing London all lit up from there and then walking down to parliament. Today we got up early and made the most of the museums, we went to my favourite, the Natural History and then to the V and A before getting the coach home. All warm and tired in Cheshire now about to watch a film. I'd definitely recommend the Easyhotel if you are in London and don't want to pay extortionate hotel prices but the rooms are TINY. Good if you need to crash for one night before an early morning but probably not manageable for a few days or more.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far, tomorrow will be spend catching up on work and reading! I have lots of posts to write too! I am also now terribly addicted to temple run, despite having it on my phone for months and not opening it for fear I would never do work again. I don't think that's a bad score for my first couple of goes but I'll never beat Matt's 7 million!!

Edit: Just found out about Whitney Houston's death as I published this post, so sad. I used to sing along to her songs when I was a toddler. Really sad to see a whole family torn apart by drugs like that and people with so much talent live so unhappily.

coney island

2012-02-10T07:00:00.000Z

I bought two American Apparel nailpolishes in Selfridges quite a while ago whilst shopping with Fleur. I picked up L'Esprit, a really nice blue that has grey and lavender tones depending on the lighting, and this milky pink shade, Coney Island. Like everything American Apparel the branding is spot on and the shape of the bottle is beautiful along with the typography. That aside, its the product inside that matters...

The polishes are very opaque (one generous coat might be enough but I prefer two thinner coats for ease of drying) and the colours are creamy, just how I like my nailpolishes (I'm more of a block colour girl than duo chrome or shimmer) and wear pretty well. Strangely enough rather than chips, I tend to think these polishes start to wear nearer to the cuticle (speaking of cuticles, please don't look at mine in this photo! I'm in desperate need of a manicure and will be rectifying that this weekend!) because they are so opaque and this colour is so light, once the application starts to wear it can look a little tatty. This reminds me of a strawberry milkshake. It is very pale but just pink enough to avoid tippex nails!

They are priced at £9 but I got mine in Selfridges when they were on 3 for £15. I think £5 is about right really, the same as Models Own which quality wise I would compare these too. I'm very tempted by their amazing glitter offering. You can buy these online from American Apparel and selected shades on ASOS. Have you tried this line?

sweet dreams till sunbeams find you...

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000Z

I've never had a lot of problems sleeping, but I do find it hard to switch off. My brain seems to be ridiculously active as soon as I get into bed and whilst I sleep well, I can find it hard to get there. I've recently been using a couple of products that make bedtime more luxurious. Remember this post where I mentioned that I wanted to try more This Works products? Well I have been testing out their Deep Sleep Pillow Spray and I definitely think this brand is my kind of thing. The spray itself has essential oils of lavender, vetivert and wild chamomile and is designed to be sprayed on your pillow or duvet cover to help promote better sleep. I have been sleeping with this and then some nights putting the Aromatherapy Associates hair oil on too (mentioned in this post) and honestly the smell of essential oils really helps me to get relaxed and sleeping more quickly. If you hate essential oils this won't be for you, but it really does help.

The pillowcase itself is something I have been curious about for a while now ever since I saw it on Ruth's youtube channel (maybe over six months ago?) You can read about the benefits here but it helps your hair (stops as much breakage, tangling and frizz) your skin (hypoallergenic, helps skin retain moisture and prevents you waking up with lines from traditional pillows) and is also cleaner as house mites and dust mites cannot live in silk. It feels very luxurious and smooth against your skin too. Apparently air hostesses swear by these when they travel as their skin is so dry and dehydrated from the air travel that they want to retain as much moisture as possible. The company also do full bedding sets which would be a dream come true to sleep on, and eye masks infused with lavender. I'm heading to London tomorrow (actually by the time you read this I will be on my way) and I'm taking both of these products in my overnight bag as I can find it hard to sleep in a hotel room away from home.

The This Works spray retails at £15 here and the Silkskin pillowcase is £39 here. Have you tried either of these products?

feel unique beauty box february 2012

2012-02-08T13:06:00.000Z

I got my Feel Unique box today, I had already watched spoiler videos (can't help myself!) and was excited, I always feel like this box is steady (from reading blogs) and although I have only been a paying customer for two months I am happy with what I have been receiving. Here's what was in this box.

Elemis Lime & Ginger Hand & Body Wash

As you can see this is 100ml and a really great product to receive. I personally already loved this scent from Elemis and I'm a huge fan of their products in general, so this was lovely to receive!

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer

Again, this is a product I have been loving for a while. It was in the Glossybox last year and seriously makes your hair feel amazing! A generous sample perfect for travelling, it is a pre-shampoo treatment (I like to sleep with mine on) that is a miracle worker for damaged hair.

Decleor Phytopeel

I love Decleor and I love skincare, so this excited me as I haven't yet tried this. It's an exfoliating cream and I love my skin to feel smooth and exfoliated especially since I regularly use masks, I like to use an exfoliator before to get rid of dead skins cells ensuring the mask is extra effective.

Leighton Denny Polish (mini) in Diamond Rose

I love nail polish, but I'm not always a fan of iridescent colours, but hey, how were the people at Feel Unique meant to know I'm fussy like that? These polishes apply nicely, but I think this may find a new home as it isn't a colour I will wear a lot.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse

I was SO happy to see this! I didn't get this last time round (was it in the Glossybox? I can't remember) so I was thrilled to see this as I'm going through somewhat of an oil obsession at the moment and I have been in love with Nuxe as a brand since I lived in France. This is multi-use and great for hair, face and body. So excited to use it, probably the most exciting thing in the box for me.

Jean Paul Gaultier Kokorico Fragrance Sample

Ah! A perfume sample! I know these are detested in beauty boxes but you can't grumble with Feel Unique since they throw them in as an added extra. I sprayed this all over my arm before realising it is a mens fragrance. That'll teach me! Smells pretty nice so I shall pass this on to my other half.

Overall very impressed with this box, keep it up Feel Unique!

You can sign up here to the beauty box, for £9.95 a month (p&p free)

makeup mixup (3)

2012-02-07T22:05:00.000Z

Chanel Loose Powder, L'Oreal Superliner Perfect Slim, Benefit Erase Paste, Benefit Hervana, Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Calypso Coral, L'Oreal Telescopic Infinite Length, Blink & Go Mascara, Lanolips Rose, Sleek Barely There Lipstick, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation, MUA Extreme Metallics in Go Getter, Benefit High Beam, Bourjois Bronzer, Revlon Photoready Foundation, MeMeMe Seventh Heaven Primer, Urban Decay Primer Potion, Collection 2000 Concealer.

So this is my third makeup mixup post, and this is what is in my makeup bag this week. I really have been using more of my makeup since I started doing this, rather than sticking to the same old products. Of course there are old faithfuls that I can rely on and there always will be, but it has been nice to use different products, it makes me feel better about the frankly sickening amounts of makeup I seem to have amassed as a youtuber/blogger. The foundations are both favourites and I don't know why but I always seem to carry two around, I do love a good foundation. The Bobbi Brown pot rouge is in a gorgeous coral shade and I've actually been mixing it with Lanolips 101 ointment as I've always wanted to wear it on my lips but it is so drying, so the Lanolips really helps, loving their products at the moment but I will save that for an upcoming post. The rose tinted Lanolips is also in there, its the perfect shade, and very buildable, I was wearing a tiny amount on my lips in this post, you can see it in the image below. Love it! The L'Oreal liner is a thinner version of my ultimate black liner, the Carbon Gloss, have been testing that out recently, and you might have spotted the Telescopic mascara in there too, I'm giving that another go tomorrow, so far not too impressed, which is why my trusty Blink & Go mascara is in there too! Put the high beam in there as I haven't used in in eons and am determined to steer away from the Urban Decay Naked Palette that I seem to be addicted to for shadows so I'm trying out this shimmerbrick inspired MUA offering!

I'm really enjoying these posts, as always if you see something you want a further review on, just let me know! Be sure to link me below if you've been doing similar posts to this, blogger still hasn't enabled the reply to comments feature on my profile properly so sorry if I'm bad at replying at the moment, can't wait for my new website to launch! Also, if you have a Hello Cotton account (loving that website at the moment!) you can follow me here.

battle of the hair oils

2012-02-06T18:12:00.000Z

Left to Right: VO5 Miracle Concentrate, L'Oreal Mythic Oil, MorrocanOil, Seven Wonders Miracle Oil, Aromatherapy Associates Enrich Hair Oil, Life-Flo Pure Argan Oil, The Body Shop Coconut Oil Hair Shine.

Recently I have become somewhat oil-obsessed. My interest started way back when I worked for Clarins, women of all ages and skin types would come in to get their hands on facial oils, but I wasn't sure. I was younger with slightly oily t-zone and the idea of putting oil anywhere near my face unnerved me. I saw oils as a little old-fashioned and something reserved for a massage in a spa but since then I have fallen in love with oils for all kinds of purposes. Hair oils were huge in 2011 along with bath oils but I also love them for the face, cuticles and body. Today I'm going to focus on hair oils and give you the lowdown on what works best, and my personal favourites. I'm going to do more posts on using oils for body, bath and nails so stay tuned for those!

I have recently been branching out a little in terms of oil quality and brands. I was carried along with the MorrocanOil hype last year, and whilst it is definitely an excellent product that has a place in my routine, there are other lesser known brands that may be more suitable for some people when it comes to hair. So let's get going. I'm going to be using MorrocanOil as an example, but the same is true of Mythic Oil (£13.55 here) which contains grape seed oil and avocado oil, V05 Miracle Concentrate (£4.99 here) containing Argan Oil and The Body Shop Coconut Hair Shine. I like to call these 'styling oils'.

Best for styling
Left to Right - VO5 Miracle Concentrate, MorrocanOil, L'Oreal Mythic Oil, The Body Shop Coconut Oil Hair Shine.

Let's just get one thing straight, MorrocanOil (£30.45 here) and it's friends (with the exception of the coconut hair shine (£4.85 here) which has no silicones and is included here as it is great for handbags) contain a lot of silicone, and aren't just pure oil. In fact the primary ingredients in many of these kinds of oils are silicone-based. This has some drawbacks and benefits depending on what you are looking for. I am not anti-silicone, my hair loves the stuff and it often gets a bad rep, but its important to distinguish the difference between actually repairing the hair shaft and just coating it in silicone. There is a big difference between healthy looking and healthy, and as long as you know what the product is going to do for you there is room for both! I'm happy to buy a Herbal Essences mask for £1.79 that will coat my hair and make it look great quickly for an event (in fact I bought a lot!) but when you are looking for a product to repair your hair you don't necessarily want to shell out a lot of money for a whole lot of silicone. Some hairdressers have concerns with daily long term silicone use and this post is great to find out more. In a nutshell they coat the hair, making it shiny and fabulous - but if used too regularly on hair that isn't clarified often, they can damage the hair. The products shown above have the benefit of smoothing the hair a lot whilst not being as greasy as a pure oil. They are perfect for styling the hair with occasionally but if you're using them to repair your hair you would be better suited to a proper oil.

So what is a proper oil? Well, brands like MorrocanOil use argan oil in their product (it is the fifth ingredient) and unless someone else has a link, I couldn't find anything about the kind of argan oil they use. The list of ingredients are below taken from this Livestrong article.

cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, butylphenyl methylpropional, argania spinoza kernel oil, linseed extract, fragrance supplement, D&C Yellow-11, D&C Red-17, coumarin, benzyl benzoate and alpha-isomethyl ionone. For a similar product, One 'N Only Argan Oil, the ingredients are dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, dimethiconol, C12-15, alkyl benzoate, fragrance, argania spinosa kernel oil, Yellow 11 and Red 17.

As you can see argan oil is fifth on the list in a smaller amount than one of the fragrances used. Now, I'm not trying to say that they are being sneaky or that any of the branded oils are bad products, they really aren't. Yes, they are promising you moisture but that's marketing for you. What they are also providing you with is their ingredients list, so a few seconds of detective work tells you all you need to know. Personally in terms of moisturising my hair (and skin) I have been enjoying using the following oils, in particular an organic cold pressed argan oil (mine is by Life-Flo and can be purchased here) and I like to call these 'nourishing oils'.

Best for Nourishing
Left to Right - Seven Wonders Miracle Oil, Aromatherapy Associates Enrich Hair Oil, Life-Flo Pure Argan Oil.

The Life-Flo oil (£25 here) is cold pressed (the best oils are cold-pressed as they retain all of their original benefits - be it moisturising properties, aroma or flavour) and the only thing added to it is Vitamin E which is necessary to preserve the freshness of the oil. It is therefore much more nourishing for the hair, and the lack of fragrance means it is much more suitable to use on the face and body. It works as a styling product to tame split ends and dry locks but only in very very small amounts. Because it is a pure oil it can make the hair too greasy if you don't exercise caution, so I love to use this as a deep conditioner either overnight or all day when working from home on days when I don't film videos! The oil isn't particularly scented, if anything it smells similar to olive oil, so it doesn't wow like the MorrocanOil, Miracle Concentrate or Mythic Oil but it will definitely wow when it comes to moisturising your hair properly.

I am also a fan of the Aromatherapy Associates Enrich hair oil and the Seven Wonders Miracle Oil. These are nice oils for someone who wants nourishing properties whilst having something that smells pretty. The Aromatherapy Associates oil (£24 here) uses lots of essential oils (nothing else added) so it smells lovely, it can be used in the same way as the Pure Argan Oil as a deep conditioner and to treat frizzy ends and it has lovely luxe packaging for those of you that like branding or perhaps want to give a hair oil as a gift. It is particularly nice to use overnight because of the relaxing essential oil scent, helps you nodd off nicely!

The Seven Wonders Miracle Oil (£14.50 here) is something of a wonder product all-rounder, I've used this on my body, nails, hair and in the bath. It is very moisturising and although it does contain one silicone which is is eighth on the list after all the natural oils so it isn't so much of a worry to use it regularly. This is made in California and it somewhat of a hidden gem product (this brand also make a fantastic body lotion, but more on that in a later post) and is also apparently beneficial for the scalp although I haven't personally tried that yet. It smells sweet, almost like marshmallows, and the fact that this doubles up like the Life-Flo oil for other purposes is great, especially when travelling. It may not have sleek packaging like the Aromatherapy Associates oil, but it is a great product.

So there we have it. Some oils are best for nourishing and some for styling, I really recommend all the products mentioned here, just be careful with those silicones if you use lots of products containing them - they aren't the devil but you need to make sure your hair is clarified on a regular basis to avoid damaging your hair. When buying a fancy expensive oil check the ingredients list to make sure its going to do what you want it to! If you're looking for a real moisture boost, I recommend the three oils shown here as an overnight or pre-shower treatment. Next on my list to try? A good coconut oil.

Have you got a favourite hair oil?

melt your heart

2012-02-05T22:15:00.000Z

Hope you have all had a lovely week! I started my week in London for the launch of the new lipstick from The London Lipgloss & Rockalily London like I mentioned here. The next day I attended the Marie Claire Blog & Twitter awards bright and early with Lily, who kindly let me stay over at her house after the blogger bash. If you haven't already checked out her blog, you will probably love it, so go say hi! We met Meg (also someone you need to check out!) at the tube and off we trotted. Was lovely to see some other bloggers I haven't seen for a while and finally got to have a big catchup with Fleur who it feels like I haven't seen in eons! She won best beauty blog and I got highly commended for best beauty twitter so good times all round and thankyou to all of you that voted and enabled me to go to the awards, much appreciated!

The rest of this week has been spent catching up on things really. Had a bit of a nightmare with the Canon 600D as it has stopped reading my memory cards. Tried every trick in the book and had to bite the bullet and take it into a Jessops store. It is just over 2 months old so I was hoping for it to be fixed or replaced but they wanted to send it away for six weeks which seems kind of excessive and is also nigh on impossible as I need it on a daily basis. Its working temperamentally but will be gutted to have to send it off for so long, considering doing it when I go on holiday at the beginning of March so that I will be away for 2 of the 6 weeks but that means we won't be able to take cool holiday snaps/videos. Anyone own a Canon and know a good way to get them fixed/seen at service centres? Any advice would be much appreciated.

It has been snowing a little in the UK and of course everything grinds to a bit of a standstill. Since we braved the cold today to go to the Jessops store we thought we would take advantage of being in the city centre and used the rest of our Tesco Clubcard vouchers in Pizza Express. I can never say no to a free 3 course meal! We also realised that today we have been together for 7 months so it was sort of an unplanned meal, not that we celebrate monthly milestones, we just realised! The snow is now melted near me and it isn't quite as cold as it has been, might be able to shoot an outfit video tomorrow if it isn't rainy and grey! Hope you all had a great week!

Edit to add that I just saw the new OK Go video and wow! It is amazing! I never think they will be able to top their last video and here they are doing just that, so so cool.

benefit hervana

2012-02-04T12:18:00.000Z

This little beauty arrived in the post today and I was really rather excited indeed. It has been a while since I've used a Benefit boxed powder, and whilst the price tag isn't small (£23.50), they do last a long time. As you can see from the photos the packaging has changed from the lift-off lid to one that is attached and this time there is a mirror inside. The colour is very pretty, with berry shades, a creamy pink, warm pinky tan and rose shades all designed to be swirled together to create a heavenly shade. It also smells delicious too, which is a plus.

I was curious as to how this would look on the cheeks and a little worried that if not swirled properly it could look uneven but I needn't have worried, it gives a really pretty pink glow, different from any other pink blushers I own. I'm sure die-hard Benefit fans will already have this one, but if you're on the fence then hopefully seeing it on the cheeks might help you make your mind up. The texture is silky and smooth and a dream to blend! Have you tried Hervana yet?

caudalie beauty elixir

2012-02-03T20:21:00.000Z

I'm very dubious about celebrity endorsements. When I say dubious what I really mean is that I hate them. I feel for celebrities that are passionate about beauty, because no matter how involved they are in the creation process we all assume that they just slapped their name on there to make a quick buck, which isn't always the case, there are some really great lines created by celebrities that are often overlooked. Anyway, I digress. Not being a fan of celebrity lines is one thing, but I also grimace a little when I hear that a product is (insert flavour of the month here)'s favourite/MUST HAVE item. Remember Kylie's love for Ponds Cold Cream anyone? I saw grown women bolting down supermarket aisles to snap up the last jar of something they would have scoffed at days before, it all turns to madness. I'm almost always drawn in by this myself despite knowing better. I like to think that I have my head screwed on for the most part, but if someone told me Emma Stone exfoliated using dog food I would probably be halfway to the pet shop before I realised how silly I was being. Advertising knows we feel inferior to celebrities in a lot of ways and plays to our insecurities, they know what they're doing and even the best amongst us fall for it. I'm rambling now, because I'm not even reviewing a celebrity item here, but trust me I'm going somewhere with this, I promise...

I very often get PR emails stating that certain products are used by celebrities, it's the way the PR world works, and I'm okay with that, a part of me secretly loves it. I recently heard that this product in question was a love of Victoria Beckham, and although I am not madly in love with her, it got me, here's why... We all know VB likes to travel. A lot.

I've heard all kinds of tales and seen all kinds of photos of her long-haul flight attire, and let me tell you, she's not a leggings, sweater and travel pillow kind of gal. Travelling makes me feel like a sweaty, hideous mess. Ask Lily! I love to drive, and any time I have to get on a long train journey or the tube, I feel instantly grubby and in need of a very nice bath. Now, this is probably because of the way I travel, I'm not exactly at VB's private jet level, my journeys are more National Express and Northern Rail, but when I saw that this product was the "Starbucks Coffee of the skin" (not my words people, the words of Mathilde Thomas) I thought it might perk me up a little and make the Megabus feel more luxe (yep I really just said that.)

So what is it? It is essentially a spray bottle with organic balm mint, extracts of orange blossom and rosemary, amongst others. You can watch a little video about it here, but the idea is that you either spray it on a clean face, over makeup and then throughout the day whenever you need a pick-me-up. Caudalie is a brand I love, and the glass bottle makes this feel very luxe, probably adding to the feeling of wellbeing you get when you spritz it. It is very refreshing, and has that essential oil/spa smell that I'm loving at the moment. The 30ml size I have is around £9, so it won't break the bank, but it is a treat rather than an essential. It reminds me of a bergamot refreshing travel spray I used to use from the Body Shop that was cheaper, but a quick search of the website shows me it seems to have been axed from the lineup.

I'm not sure if this has any real benefits for the skin, I'm always sceptical of products claiming to 'close pores' since mine are manhole-sized at all times, and it might just be me but nothing has ever 'smoothed my features' instantly, but this does make me feel special, refreshed and perky even when on a megabus. If you aren't a skincare junkie you can probably skip this kind of thing, but for the skincare lovers out there, or anyone who wishes they were in a spa instead of on a commuter train, this is well worth trying.

Edit to add: The fabulous Caroline (who, if you don't read, you should, here) commented to say that this is fabulous for acne, and let me just tell you this lady knows her skincare. I spritzed this on my face non stop on the coach journey from hell, and I am looking distinctly less hormonal spotty right now than I should be, so for all you acne sufferers, this could be worth a shot.

real techniques brushes

2012-02-02T23:18:00.000Z

RealTechniques Powder Brush

If you watch my videos you know that I have a lot of love for the Real Techniques brushes designed by Samantha Chapman of Pixiwoo, particularly the buffing brush which I have (no exaggeration) used every single day since I got my hands on it in June to apply my foundation. It was included in my top products of 2011 and I got it as part of the core collection. I have recently tried another brush from the line so I thought a blog review was in order.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (from Core Collection)

RealTechniques Core Collection

I probably would have purchased the brushes anyway to be honest, the Chapman's are truly lovely people who have always been super nice to me whenever I have been in their company. I always think it's nice to support fellow YouTuber's with their endeavors so when I heard Sam was launching brushes I knew I would be buying. It was only when I was on a Babyliss shoot with Tanya Burr in the Summer and saw the brushes in person that I realised just how lovely they were and how much I needed to get my hands on them. I love the fact that they are synthetic because you don't need to worry about how ethical the hair is, they are super easy to clean and dry quickly, and they don't shed when using cream products. I have washed my buffing brush practically every day after application with a mild shampoo and it is dry couple of hours later ready for the next use and never loses its shape, despite me sometimes not treating it as well as I should by putting it in my makeup bag and not in a brush roll. The handle is lovely and the brush applies any kind of base well, powder, mineral makeup, liquid and cream foundations, tinted moisturisers and bb creams.

The powder brush is the softest, loveliest face brush to apply a finishing powder or a bronzer with. It's really big but has the right levels of density to apply a nice amount of product. I love my Illamasqua body kabuki for buffing into the face but it is very dense and can leave a heavy application of certain more pigmented products so this is where the Real Techniques brush steps in. I don't know how I managed without it now. I think everything about these brushes are genius and would really recommend the core collection and the powder brush, I'm looking forward to trying more. I heard the great news today that the range will be stocked in certain larger Boots stores, but they are also available here online. Have you tried these brushes? Let me know your thoughts!

this works: clean skin daily wash

2012-02-02T00:24:00.000Z

First of all, in case you didn't know, I am a serious skincare junkie. I love makeup, but because of what I do I have a lot of it, so I simply don't buy any at all anymore unless its incredibly special or an item I go through quickly like foundation, mascara, or concealer. Since I make makeup videos and have a blog people always expect me to ooh and ahh over makeup products and be buying them all the time, but the truth is, I find it very hard to justify these days. Knowing I have so much makes me feel really guilty buying any more, and the knowledge that I won't possibly use it all up sits in the back of my mind and stops me from spending, no matter how pretty it is. (I should add that for some reason I appear to make an exception for cheek products, despite the fact that I only have two - even if they are round) There is always a new "must have" product doing the rounds, and when the hype dies down, honestly, you realise you managed perfectly well not having it, it can get a little crazy at times.

Skincare however, I can always justify. I am very interested in skincare (and fascinated by a lot of the lies told by companies wanting to exploit insecurities!) and have always wanted to try new things. I'm a stickler for daily SPF, prevention is better than cure and a lot of the expensive lotions and potions are insanely overpriced and don't do what they say they do. They feel nice, but they aren't going to cut your age in half. Your wallet however...that is another matter. When I got this sample in my January Feel Unique box (review here), I was excited. Firstly, it was skincare, secondly, it was a cleanser (always gets me going) and thirdly it was a brand I had never tried before.

Nothing gives me greater pleasure than trying a brand for the first time, and although the packaging is irrelevant in terms of what the product inside does, I liked the no-nonsense name and fuss-free modern clean branding. Despite suffering a little with hormonal outbreaks that I am essentially way too old for (thanks PCOS!) my skin leans towards the dryer side. Not severe dryness or cracked skin, but I am always looking for radiance boosting, hydrating and plumping products that leave my skin feeling really conditioned. I like to have a range of cleansers on the go at any given time depending on how I'm feeling. That might sound ridiculous but although I love balm cleansers that get everything off and feel luxurious, sometimes after a long day trudging around a city you need something to leave you feeling a little more squeaky clean to really feel like you've washed the day off. For me, this is that cleanser.

The packaging claims that this is non drying, which I would agree with. It leaves me squeaky clean but without the annoying tight feeling that leaves you running for your moisturiser as soon as your skin dries. It smells lovely, very grown up and spa-like. If you don't like herbal scents, this won't be for you, but I have been very drawn to that type of scent of late. I will always have a soft spot for sickly sweet scents and the Soap & Glory's of the world, but I feel like my scent preferences are maturing somewhat, particularly when I want to feel pampered. I have been using a lot of NEOM Organics products, and have been really enjoying that herbal/essential oil type scent that leaves you feeling like you've been to a spa. This cleanser continues with that trend but isn't too overpowering and is very fresh smelling. The texture looks like it would foam/lather but it doesn't, which I imagine is the reason it doesn't give your skin that tight feeling. It is lovely to use alone as a facewash or with the Clarisonic, for those of you that own one.

Like I said I got this as a sample in my beauty box, but have had a lot of use out of it since it was such a generous size. I'm definitely interested in the full size version and the brand in general. Have you tried anything by them?

Clinique - Fall in Love with Colour

2012-01-31T18:57:00.000Z

Clinique is universally famous for skincare, but it's skin friendly colour line which enhances natural beauty is equally strong, and in Spring 2012 the brand is launching 'Fall in Love with Colour' - I've been busy road-testing three new releases from the line to give you my thoughts.

Chubby Stick in Chunky Cherry

Infused with mango and shea butters, these crayons are anything but drying. They feel luxurious and moisturising and the colour is very buildable. They wear well and are easy to apply with no need for a sharpener. I was a big fan of these the last time Clinique released them and they sold out like hotcakes at my local counter so I was really excited to see this. The shade is lovely and so easy to wear thanks to the formula, which is really nourishing. A great shade to brighten up your face for a quick daily look, or to add drama to a smokey eye.

Almost Lipstick in Tender Honey

These flattering shades give a natural hint of colour with a lip-friendly moisturising formula. The range has 7 new shades as well as the existing bestseller Black Honey. Although the colours look intense, they give an extremely natural finish. The slim, twist up applicator is perfect for handbags because it's so sleek and compact, and the formula really is exceptional, just as moisturising as the Chubby Stick which makes the look so flattering and easy to wear. A great "my lips, but better" shade.

Quickliner For Eyes in Intense Midnight

These liners, with a twist up applicator and built-in smudger make smokey eyes super easy. They are pigmented and soft but also wear well with a bold 12 hour claim. Lasted all day on my eyes without smudging and would be ideal to take to work to amp up your makeup from day to night. Although it was long lasting it wasn't a nightmare to remove, and came off easily with makeup remover. I haven't worn a dark blue liner in a long time, but this was lovely, made the whites of my eyes appear brighter and whiter and was softer than the black I usually opt for.

I'm extremely impressed with the products I tried, they are all great offerings and I'm excited to see the rest of the shade range. The lip products for me, are a must-try, especially if you love nourishing formulas. Colour me impressed.

*This is a sponsored post for Clinique - however all opinions as with all reviews, are truthful and my own.

zomg

2012-01-31T06:44:00.001Z

Tonight's blog is a couple of hours late, but I hope you can forgive me since I spent the evening mingling with bloggers! I am in London at the moment and tonight I attended the launch of ZOMG - the lipstick that resulted from the collaboration between Zoe from The London Lipgloss and Rockalily.

It was lovely to see some familiar faces and nice to meet some new ones too, thankyou to everyone who said hello, it was a bit manic as there were so many bloggers there but a good night was had by all. We were treated to two burlesque acts and also bloggers bingo, here is Meg from Lips So Facto with her prize, a set of three erotic novels(!)

I'm off to bed now as I'm up bright and early to attend the Marie Claire awards, will keep you posted!

glossybox january 2012

2012-01-29T00:34:00.000Z

So here it is! I can finally tell you what is inside the January Glossybox. Ever since I tweeted a photo of the hot pink box, people have been asking me to tell them what's inside, moreso than any other month, even the Christmas box in December! The Glossybox team built up quite a buzz for the box by sending all the ambassadors roses (which I blogged about here) so I was looking forward to seeing the contents of this romance-themed box. The December box was probably my favourite beauty box ever, and I was looking forward to seeing what they would come up with for the New Year. I like the fact that the Carmine January box (review here) focussed on a New Year theme and the Glossybox team opted for a Valentines one. So without further ado here is what's inside and my thoughts:

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner

Like I said in my Carmine review, it's interesting to see Eyeko in beauty boxes since their rebranding. I won't repeat myself, so if you want to know my thoughts on that click here, but at first I was nervous at the thought of a pink eyeliner. My worries soon eased when I saw that it was a milky, creamy pale pastel shade similar to Benefit Eye Bright that is absolutely perfect on the waterline to open eyes without looking as stark as white liner. Two thumbs up from me.

Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream

Clarins Extra Firming Night Cream

Lovely to see these in here. I used to work for Clarins, and this range was very popular. These are very good sizes, usually Clarins give this away as a gift with purchase (upon spending a lot of money) so this truly is a deluxe sample size, not the size you would get from the company after making just one purchase. I love both of these so they will be very useful for travel!

Fab Gentle Body Moisturiser

I can never find anything insanely interesting to say about body moisturisers/washes/shower gels, but they are super handy for the gym and travel and this will definitely be used up and enjoyed.

Murad Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer - Dewy Finish

I was so excited to try this and loved using it. I am a big fan of Murad and anything that claims to offer me a dewy finish or a glow does right by me.

I think this is a great box to start the year off with. I love the hot pink box, like the Christmas one it feels a little more special with its own theme and definitely gets people excited. I feel like there was a lot of attention to detail with this box with the heart sticker and the little sweetie (that actually says Glossybox on it!) All the products in this box will be used up and enjoyed so I think that speaks for itself really, definitely a good one.

Just to let you know in advance, my blog will soon be moving. It is being redesigned (exciting!) and I can't wait for you all to see it. You will always, always be able to find me at www.gemsmaquillage.com, and that won't change, but my blog will no longer be on blogger. To follow and keep up to date with my posts, I recommend Bloglovin' and you can follow me on there by clicking here. Soon, google will be removing friendconnect from all non-blogger blogs, so if you currently use that to read posts, this is just a heads up to let you know it might be smarter to move over to bloglovin' or any other blog reader. xoxo

carmine january 2012

2012-01-28T11:22:00.000Z

My January Carmine box arrived this morning so I thought I would show you what was inside! I think this month is pretty cool. Carmine always has some sort of makeup in, usually two items, so if you like that in a box that is a good guarantee. Personally I need more makeup like a hole in the head, but thankfully all the makeup that has arrived in my Carmine boxes thus far has been useful to me, especially the Fratboy blush that was in the first box - lovely shade!

The same goes for the makeup items in this box, which is nice, and it is lovely to see a Korres item in there, I love Korres! Anyhow, here's what I got:

Korres Wild Rose Moisturising & Brightening Cream

I have been meaning to try this for a while, so this was nice to see. Korres is a brand I love, especially the lip butters. This will be handy for my trip to London on Monday as I'm trying to pack light. It also comes with a £5 off voucher for House of Fraser when you spend £25 on Korres.

Eldora False Lashes

It's always nice to stock up on lashes and I have heard good things about this brand. Looking forward to trying these.

Balance Me Face Oil

Although face oils seem scary to a lot of people, I really like them at night after a NEOM bath to give me a spa feeling at home. This brand has been in the box before with a hand cream that I really enjoyed so I'm excited to try this radiance boosting oil.

Westlab Himalayan Pink Salt

I know some people don't like bath salts in boxes, but I actually quite like them, I think its that whole spa at home thing striking again. This one is a detox salt that is apparently equivalent to a 3-day fast. We shall see!

Eyeko Fat Eye Stick

It is pretty interesting to see Eyeko appear in Beauty Boxes. I was a big fan of the brand but like many others was a little turned off when they re-branded with a huge price increase. They had a lot of support from bloggers and I don't think I was alone in feeling a little disappointed that they rebranded to a sleek high end design and seemingly forgot their roots. I do, however, always stand by the fact that they had some amazing products in their lineup, so I was happy to see this product in here and especially in such a wearable shade!

I think this is a great solid box to start the New Year with! Have you received a Carmine box this month? What did you think?

where do you blog?

2012-01-27T21:33:00.000Z

I have seen a few posts similar to this and I thought it might be interesting for you guys to see where I write these posts when I'm at home. It isn't the most lavish setup, but its functional till I move. It's just a super cheap IKEA desk that houses makeup brushes, mascara and eyeliners. The drawer units that you can just about see house my makeup, and the white box on the left isn't always there, sometimes it's hidden away in a cupboard, but it contains products that need to be photographed, tested or reviewed. I like to keep it there when I'm blogging because it reminds me what new items I need to try, once they get 'filed away' in the drawer unit or put in my bathroom/overnight bag I forget to blog about them and I'm always paranoid about taking photos of used products, it really bugs me for some reason!

Do you have a post like this? I'd love to see where you blog!

If I ran the show...

2012-01-26T20:39:00.000Z

All cosmetics would be this cute.

Some new Paul & Joe pieces, review coming very soon.

Every GlossyBox would come with half a dozen roses.

I'll reveal the contents of the hot pink valentines box as soon as I'm allowed!

Every bathtime would be like this.

If you haven't already tried NEOM Organics, you really must. Luxurious, grown-up baths that make you feel like you've been to a spa. Keep your eyes peeled for my thoughts on these in upcoming videos.

All fashion magazines would cost £1 and feature bloggers.

Very impressed with the new look Company magazine!

Every room would burn this candle.

This smells like big red chewing gum, I love cinnamon!

today I...

2012-01-25T23:43:00.001Z

Today I had phone meetings, drank amaretto coffee, "spring" cleaned three rooms (partially) filmed, edited, got angry at final cut pro, edited some more, got more angry at final cut pro, made delicious food, admired my early valentine roses sent by Glossybox yesterday (Thankyou!) and got excited about the glossybox itself which is hot pink.

What did you do today?

It's all over now, baby blue.

2012-01-24T22:47:00.000Z

Shirt - Primark

Shorts - Zara

Watch - Michael Kors

Necklace - New Look

Ring - Dorothy Perkins

Just a quick outfit post I snapped the other day, as today has been hectic! I didn't really like these photos and wasn't going to post them but its been a crazy day, its almost 11pm and I haven't blogged yet! Been a busy bee, but came home to some gorgeous roses from GlossyBox (click here to see them) which made my day! Thanks guys!

makeup mixup (2)

2012-01-23T15:46:00.000Z

Benefit Porefessional, Estee Lauder Daywear Tinted Moisturiser, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqu, Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream, No7 Blush in Soft Apricot, Body Shop Matte Bronzer, Vivo Brow Palette, YSL Mascara, RMK Lip Crayon, Collection 2000 Concealer, Look Beauty Double Hip Lip in Rose Riot.

This is my second post showing you whats in my makeup bag this week (see my last one by clicking here) and I'm so pleased you guys thought it was a good idea. A lot of you said you were inspired to try something similar which is nice! I'm easing myself in slowly, some things are the same but some different! Again, if you see anything here you'd like to see a review on please let me know and if you have a similar post I would love to see it!

stay young, go dancing

2012-01-22T15:21:00.000Z

Hope you all had a lovely Sunday! I am in Manchester at the moment at the end of what has been a busy but good week. Had a lot of good news this week which is always welcome!

Winding the week up with a few drinks and taking my new shoes from my last post out for a spin. Met a lovely subscriber today (hello Jenna if you're reading this!) which always makes my day!

Hope you all had a fantastic week, I'll leave you with a couple of Manchester snaps, loving the fairy lights still being in the trees!

don't deconstruct

2012-01-21T22:25:00.000Z

Today I got a lovely package from Le Bunny Bleu. I know people sometimes think bloggers being sent things is super sketchy, but if done properly (ie only accepting things you actually would buy with your own money!) it opens bloggers and readers eyes to brands they never even knew existed. I had never heard of the company, but I have always wanted Tory Burch flats (and balked at the price) and I love anything cute despite being in my mid twenties. They have a lot of cute shoes on their site but I picked these since they will go with absolutely everything. They are really sturdy and well made and have already attracted compliments despite only being on my feet for one evening. Like I said, they will go with everything, but I plan on showing them in a lookbook video if you want to see what I choose to wear them with. They have a London store so next time I am in the capital I'm definitely heading there and having a peek.

I popped the third photo in to show you my lipstick since its one I've been reaching for a LOT recently. Its one of the Look Beauty Double Hit Lip products I posted about here in Rose Riot. I really like it, its heavily scented with a fake vanilla smell, but nowhere near as obnoxiously scented as the Sleek Pout Polishes which I love the consistency of but can't use often because of the smell and inevitable taste. The lipstick is creamy and the gloss isn't sticky and this shade is bright enough not to be boring but not so fluoro that it will leave you self conscious in the daytime. Thumbs up.

Hope you are all having a lovely Saturday evening!

date night, futures bright

2012-01-20T23:25:00.001Z

Had a little date night tonight at Pizza Express to celebrate some exciting news Matt had last night. His band The Cape Race had their song used on Mentos commercial during American Idol which is so exciting! I'm very proud. They work so hard it's nice to see something pay off for them. I've had some good opportunities too recently that may never come off so I shan't go into detail but I'm so happy at the moment and optimistic about the future. Soppy but true, I love writing on here every day and reading all your comments, feeling the love in a big way tonight. Hope you all had a lovely Friday evening whatever you're up to!

the fault in our stars

2012-01-19T22:03:00.000Z

Swotting up on DSLR's, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green & A Nerdfighters Note :)

Hi guys, I'm in a great mood today, I'm so inspired to blog and make videos at the moment its unreal. I'm currently sat in Starbucks in the Trafford Centre having a blogging session and fulfilling my new years resolution to improve my channel quality by swotting up on this book that the very talented Duncan Howsley from Lab Exposure bought me and Matt for Christmas. I spent today with Duncan sorting out the design for my new website. I'm so excited for you all to see it, this current site is a bit of a mess, I patched it together from three different themes and tweaked things but I want it to be clean, streamlined and much easier to navigate. The mockups Duncan did today look so lovely, I think you guys will love it. I love collaborating with people on things when you have the same vision and taste, especially when they are far more talented and can do things you can only picture in your head. Most of you will have seen some of Duncan's work before, he's a talented photographer too and does a lot of music videos also. We worked together on Katie Sky's debut music video which a lot of you have seen but I will embed below, and also a lovely acoustic video for Matt's band (as well as many others for them) which I'll put below too. Speaking of Katie, her music video was picked up by The Box just before Christmas, it's so crazy to think that something I did makeup and styling for is being watched on television by so many people, very cool!

Matt picked me up a copy of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green this week too. I'm a proud Nerdfighter and have been watching the Vlogbrothers since their Brotherhood 2.0 days when I found out about them on a forum and they had a handful of subscribers. Its amazing to see all their success from VidCon, DTFBA Records and The Project for Awesome. I actually got to meet John last year when he was in the UK reading from Paper Towns and I'm a huge fan of his writing so I'm excited to read this since the reviews hint it may be his best book yet. The signature in mine was green and it came with a Nerdfighter note :)

So here's to feeling inspired and motivated and having extremely talented friends!

Shame

2012-01-18T23:48:00.001Z

I haven't blogged this evening yet - I've had a nice meal at Nandos with Matt, his Mum and his sister and then we went to the cinema to see Shame.

I just HAVE to post about this. What an awkward film! I've never felt so uncomfortable watching a film (and this is coming from someone who liked the original Funny Games) - it was so graphic and awkward, me and Matt can't stop laughing at the fact that we basically watched a glorified porno with his family. Excellent.

bend to squares

2012-01-17T17:25:00.000Z

Dress - Dahlia

Coat - H&M

Watch - Michael Kors

Bracelet - Gift

Ring - New Look

Nails - Look Beauty Nail Pop in Mink

This is one of my favourite dresses. I got it last year from the Dahlia concession in Topshop Oxford Circus at the end of a bad day where I took my emotions out on my debit card and bought seven dresses (two of which were Dahlia) - they also have a website here which is filled with lovely items. I think this is equally nice with bare legs in warmer months and I always feel put together when I wear it.

Not much to say today, been really busy, I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day sometimes! Just wanted to say thankyou to anyone who has voted for me in the Marie Claire awards so far, its much appreciated. If you haven't and would like to, the voting is open for a couple more days here and I'm nominated in three categories, two beauty and one fashion. Thankyou! Hope you've all had a good day.

giveaway - orange circle co

2012-01-16T23:08:00.000Z

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of Orange Circle Co and the Tshirts they make. I have featured the deathly hallows shirt (below) in this post and this video and I also love the galaxy print inverted triange tee I'm wearing above. The quality is fab, the price is great and although I deal with companies every single day for youtube or my blog, I've never had a better interaction than I have with Orange Circle. I predict big things for the company in 2012!

A lot of you liked the Deathly Hallows TShirts and even sent me links of you wearing them, which was cool to see! Because of the good feedback, we decided to team up and give away the two Tshirts I have from them, one galaxy print deathly hallows tee and one galaxy print inverted triangle tee. The giveaway will run for two weeks so will end at midnight on January the 30th and the prizes will be sent directly from Orange Circle once your size has been received. To enter, you need to be a follow of this blog on Google Friend Connect and comment on this post telling me what you got up to today, simple!

You can check out Orange Circle's website here and the twitter here. Good luck!

shiny and new

2012-01-15T20:21:00.000Z

I mentioned in my last post that something cheap and cheerful had been keeping my hair super shiny of late and promised to reveal all today. In case the photos weren't a massive clue, its the Herbal Essences Hello Hydration mask. I have never tried Herbal Essences before, which might be surprising since its a very accessible brand, but this was my first hit of the Essence, so to speak. To be honest, I bought it because it was cheap. I was in Sainsburys and my hair was feeling horrendous. I was going out for a meal that night and wanted something to whack on my hair before I went. I wasn't staying at home so I couldn't raid my beauty arsenal to get something, and these were reduced from the usual price (RRP between £4-5) to £1.79. I used it with no expectations and my hair was amazingly soft and shiny, almost too soft! My usual styling routine left it a bit flat but the next time I used it I tweaked my routine for more volume and was in love with how shiny my hair was.

On the drive home I passed another Sainsburys and, well, this happened.

I think the image speaks for itself, but I'm in love. I thought I would save myself buying conditioner for a while and snap these up since they are under £2 at the moment. No idea what the others are like but the scents intrigued me and I know the blue one is a keeper. For reference it smells like Hawaiian Tropic sun tan lotion, which is quite possibly one of my favourite things ever because it reminds me of being somewhere warm, eating a lot, being horizontal and reading. All good stuff I'm sure you'll agree.

Now, I know what you're going to say, these bad boys are full of silicone and they don't really do anything other than coat your hair. The thing is, I'm okay with that. My hair reacts nicely to silicone, it loves the stuff. Don't get me wrong, I've tried so hard not to use it, remember that phase when I lived in Valencia when I tried co-washing? Remember when I stopped using sulphates and silicones? Even after the initial stages when I'd been using the products for 5 or 6 months, my hair was dry and unhappy. My frazzled, abused locks love silicone and probably always will. If you're trying to avoid it these tubs of shiny wonder probably aren't for you, but if that kind of stuff doesn't bother you, snap those bambinos up whilst they are so cheap!

baby got a brand new weave

2012-01-14T18:18:00.000Z

Top - H&M

Ring - Dorothy Perkins

Despite the title of this blogpost, these are just clip-in extensions, I want a weave so badly but I keep hearing horror stories and don't know anywhere cheap in Manchester to sew them in, so this will do for now. I actually stopped wearing extensions a while ago, mainly because none of mine matched anymore but also because I started hating my boring old hair once I took them out, and that is never good! A few months of not wearing them made me love my own hair more, but I was itching to experiment and get an inch or so more length so off I went to the hair shop.

Honestly, I didn't want to spend a lot of money, the best clip in extensions I have tried were by Foxy Locks, and I would recommend them to anyone looking to invest in ethical, high quality hair extensions, especially if you will wear them regularly, they will really last. Since I am trying to stop wearing them as often, I didn't want to splurge and just wanted to get a bag of hair and make my own clip ins since I already have a ton of clips. When I got to the hair shop, the girl took one look at my multicoloured head and said I would need at least two, maybe even three colours mixed together which equals £££. Since I honestly don't want to wear them too much I didn't bother, but as I turned to leave I saw a new stand with shorter length extensions in them labelled at £5.99. I quickly realised they were so cheap because they were synthetic, but I had a feel and they seemed lovely, and they are also heat resistant which means unlike barbie hair they won't melt when you heat style them. I wanted to buy a bag to experiment with since it was so cheap but couldn't find a colour to match, that is, until Matt grabbed the first one he saw and said it would match. I looked at it thinking that is NOT my hair colour, but lo and behold, it was, and its pretty much the best match I have ever had for extensions, even when my hair was all one colour. Thumbs up.

The hair is by Sensationnel and is silky yaki weaving hair (14 inches) in 4/27STK, for reference! It might not be human hair but it feels amazing, and since its man-made I don't have to worry about it being ethically sourced. Even if it doesn't last long, it was super cheap, and although it is a bit shinier than human hair, my hair is looking pretty dang shiny itself at the moment thanks to a super cheap new favourite product (all will be revealed tomorrow) so thats not a problem!

I'm having fun swishing my hair around but I'm trying not to get addicted like last time, here's hoping!

une intuitive touch bb cream foundation

2012-01-13T23:39:00.000Z

I've had this for a little while and finally got around to trying it this week. Une is a brand I'm still curious about. It's a sister to Bourjois which is my all time favourite high street makeup brand and one that for some reason or another I've never really got my head around. I love the fact that all of the ingredients come from organic farming and they are ecocert approved, but I find their prices a little too high for something I have no expectations about, although I have tried and loved their cleanser also their lipgloss. I'm very much a BB cream enthusiast but I tend to stick to the asian brands (my favourite being Missha) because I think most of the high street brands that brought out BB creams last year kind of jumped on the bandwagon. You can't blame them really, but I have always been happy with the ones I've used so never really needed to experiment.

When I was sent this product after the launch I was intrigued, especially since it was in a compact, unlike any other BB cream I have seen. I'm going to go ahead right now and review this solely as a foundation, since although the formula claims to be "skincare infused" I'm not sure what benefits it actually offers. The packaging is sleek and mirrored and slides out to reveal the foundation (6g) and the compact is refillable which is nice. It also comes in an Une pouch that can be used for an iPhone or Ipod. The brush that comes with this would only really be good for concealing and really a sponge would have been a better tool but I usually disregard the little brushes that come free and so do most people I know, so that doesn't matter too much. I applied this with my Real Techniques buffing brush that I use for all my foundations, it really is a wonder brush. It applied smoothly and creamily and made my skin look amazing, didn't accentuate any dry spots and had a nice finish. In conjunction with my Mac concealer it did a fine job of covering up some annoying hormonal breakouts too. The coverage is light and natural but completely evens out the skintone, which is the look I tend to go for in a base.

The only downside to this product is the fact that on me, it didn't last all day. It started to gather around blemishes and dry patches towards the end of the day which doesn't happen with my favourite foundations, but it did last a reasonable amount of time. The colour I have is 104 and is perfect. I think I will carry this around for touchups when my skin is not so good and wear it as my base when my skin has no annoying dry patches. It really does give a lovely finish. You can find Une in Boots and Superdrug and depending on offers this foundation is priced between £9 and £15.

my kindle, and other animals

2012-01-12T21:56:00.000Z

If you don't follow my incessant daily rantings and rambling here on twitter, you won't be aware of the earth shattering news that I purchased a Kindle. Yes, I know, put down your cup of tea, this is a big moment. Just kidding, you don't give a damn about my electronic goods, or maybe you do, you're reading this after all (thanks for that by the way.)

It happened a bit like those films where people hate eachother and then realise they are actually passionately and completely in love and never want to be apart. I was always a traditionalist when it came to how I read books, I never buy newspapers really, I read all my news online or on the flipboard app, but books, booooks, they're just different aren't they? I love to line them all up like little intellectual soldiers on my shelves and see just how far along a book I am by where my bookmark is, I love to get a book thats being adapted for the big screen before those annoying new covers come out with the stars of the film all over it (seriously, who wants those?) I swore I would never stop buying books as long as they kept making them, deep down I think I just have a hard time letting go, its the same reason I love vinyl and I still have Fern Gully the Last Rainforest on VHS. IT'S JUST WHO I AM.

Then one day I saw one of the new Kindles and I just wanted it, needed it, had to have it (in that creepy way Sarah Jessica Parker had to have that perfume) and wouldn't rest until it was in my possession. See, the new Kindle is £89 compared to the old £149. Its not like I didn't think it was worth the higher price, its just that paying more meant I was saying "Okay Gemma, you're really moving over to e-books now, this is it" whereas the cheaper Kindle is reassuringly more "This is amazing for travel and you won't feel guilty spending money on REAL books to adorn your shelves." It's the perfect middle ground for someone like me. Amazon, you got me.

It arrived, I charged it and admired its "screen" - all the while still taking forever to get used to the fact that there is no backlight. I bought my first e-book (a Sam Harris book, for those of you that are curious) and generally stroked it creepily in a "my precioussss" kind of way. I showed it to people, they annoyingly didn't seem as impressed with it as I was, I don't know why this surprised me, we're almost in 2012 and its only a Kindle, but this was new territory for me, I was in my element. Matt loaded it up with e-books he had converted from his iPhone and I was good to go, except, wait, my Kindle was naked.

Everywhere I looked people had cute cases for their Kindles, now this may sound a tad dramatic, but I almost had a breakdown in my search for one. I ordered one on amazon on next day delivery but 4 days later it never even got dispatched so I cancelled that and looked towards the high street. I was going on holiday and obviously my precious couldn't travel unprotected, but where the dickens was I supposed to go? I asked twitter where I could get a nice case on the high street and the reply was unanimous: Ebay. Excellent, except Ebay isn't the high street. (At least now I know nobody reads my tweets properly so I can be as offensive as I like).

I tried electrical shops, and despite offering twelve designs of cases (hard and soft) for a TomTom, no Kindles or Kindle covers to be found. Argos only had ones for about £50 which was a bit ridiculous, Asda didn't do them, Tesco had SOLD OUT (what is this, a golden ticket!?) and I wanted to set myself on fire in protest. They did however re-stock and I managed to get a nice coral Belkin one and my new child was safe in my handluggage.

People have asked for my thoughts on it, and honestly this won't be very long, because I just love it. I seem to read very quickly on it, its light, easy to hold, easy to use, the screen is a dream and I bought a little book light from Waterstone's that just clips onto the back of the case. Perfect. I will always love a bookshelf, but for travel this is amazing. I haven't found that not having a keyboard is bad, it isn't easy to type massive sentences (it's a bit like writing a high score on a games console) but to search for books its fine. Without wifi enabled the battery will last weeks, I have a zillion books on there already that Matt already owned, and the purchasing process was fine and dandy. I do wish that ebooks were a tad cheaper. Maybe I'm a cheapskate but if I can buy a paperback from amazon for £5.99 why am I paying the same amount for something that involves no materials, no printing, no ink, no transit, and no postage? I think that is the only niggle for me, but otherwise it is the stuff of dreams. I've had so many people ask if I recommend it and the answer is YES YES YES! Do it.

Do you have a Kindle? Are you as obsessed as I am? Where did you get your case? Ebay? Thought so.

makeup mixup (1)

2012-01-11T18:10:00.000Z

Stuff I'm using at the momento: Body Shop Bronzer, Mac Studio Finish Concealer, Urban Decay Primer Potion, Benefit Porefessional, Fashionista Blushes, Une BB Cream Foundation, L'Oreal Super Liner, Burts Bees Pomegranate Lipbalm, 12 Mirror Shine Lipstick (beehive), Mac Lipstick (Hue), Look Beauty Double Hit Lip in Rose Riot, Vivo Brow Kit, Vivo Pressed Powder.

If you watched this video you'll know that one of my aims this year is to use more makeup. Not buy more makeup, god knows I have the stuff coming out of my ears, but to use different products rather than sticking to the tried and tested old faithfuls. My makeup storage is not the easiest to navigate and quite frankly I don't leave myself a great deal of time in the morning to sit and sift through the products to try new things. I know which products will cover my spots, stop me looking shiny, and prevent me having panda eyes by midday and I tend to stick to them, but that is a tad lazy for a beauty blogger to say the least.

I have devised a pioneering technique at the forefront of scientific research in order to ensure that products I should be using and reviewing get, well, used and reviewed.

I call this technique: putting different stuff in your makeup bag.

I bought this clear makeup bag from Tesco last year (love saying that in January) because its easy to keep clean, easy to see everything, and the right size to prevent me from carrying every blusher I own around with me like some kind of high maintenance blusher princess from hell. I take it to Matt's with me where I spend half of the week, and it sits on my dressing table and means that when I'm getting ready in the morning I can look from my makeup drawers in sheer panic to the simplified bag with my favourite stuff in it whilst a sea of calm washes over me. Quite frankly, it makes me feel like a normal person, which is always a good thing. I do however, tend to stick to the same things in there - Chanel foundation, Collection 2000 concealer, YSL mascara, Bobbi Brown Blusher, L'Oreal liner, Bourjois Bronzer, A couple of unimaginative lipsticks, and then the too-big-to-fit but oh so handy Naked palette.

This morning I filled my bag with some old faithfuls, but also some things I've either never used or want to use up. There's a primer in there, because I'm horrible at using primer, and a few different bits and bobs I've wanted to review for a while. If you see anything you want to know more on, let me know! I aim to do a couple more of these as I switch the products up (hence why this is labelled 1) so keep your eyes peeled! I confess, the Naked palette still travels with me. Baby steps...

kinema in the woods

2012-01-10T17:50:00.000Z

The Kinema, and us ready for our anniversary date.

I posted last week showing you guys some of the Instagram photos I took whilst in Lincolnshire. I have a few more photos taken with my proper camera (and a vlog) but I wanted to dedicate a post to somewhere we went on our anniversary date, the Kinema in the woods.

I saw this on the wikipedia page for Woodhall Spa before we went, and was intrigued. You can read about its history here, but essentially it opened as a cinema on the 11th September 1922. Its believed to be the only UK cinema still using rear projection (the cinema roof is too low to project from the back of the auditorium so the image actually comes from behind the screen and is flipped by a mirror) and has two screens, one of which has an organist in the interval on Saturday showings.

I absolutely loved going, the little walk through the woods to get there, getting snacks in the interval, and even though we watched a modern film (Mission Impossible 4 - very stressful) the old school feel was lovely. It wasn't any more expensive than going to another cinema and it felt like an actual event, the refreshments were the same price as buying them in a supermarket so nobody did the naughty act of sneaking in food and drink, it was nice to support the owners because you didn't feel ripped off, and lastly, and perhaps most shocking of all if you regularly go to large cinema chains, everybody made a huge deal of making sure they had collected all their rubbish and stray popcorn before leaving the theatre and putting it in the bins that were brought in at the end. It felt way more respectful.

I'm so jealous of anyone that lives near to this cinema, I would love to see all my films there! Stuff IMAX, give me the Kinema any day. A few of you tweeted me to say you lived nearby and had been, anyone else?

my thoughts on blog awards

2012-01-09T22:51:00.000Z

Hey guys!

More of a diary style update today because there are a couple of things I wanted to talk to you guys about! Firstly, some lovely news, I was longlisted for the Marie Claire awards that I mentioned in December. A huge thankyou for nominating me, I really appreciate it and I'm nominated for Best Beauty Blog, Best Beauty Twitter, and Best Fashion Twitter. You can vote here if you feel so inclined! The blogs with the most votes go on to the shortlist and then eventually the winner.

As always when there are blog awards happening, twitter is awash with opinion. You know I love a good dose of opinion! Essentially many people feel that established magazines use bloggers to generate hits on their site when they send their readers to vote, and only get involved with bloggers to benefit themselves. A lot of people were concerned that the blogs were not linked to, and that the prize itself was to either blog or tweet for the magazine. Given the recent drama surrounding Cosmopolitan magazine and bloggers, I can understand bloggers feeling a little slighted.

I have my own opinions on this whole thing. Basically, yes, the magazines do receive a lot of traffic when they have a blog awards, and of course, it benefits them. I'm a little confused as to why that is wrong really, since magazines are businesses, and what business nowadays would go to the trouble of running a set of awards and potentially an awards ceremony at a cost to them if there wasn't something in it for them? I do think it would have been right to link to the blogs, but Marie Claire later rectified this, so good for them for taking note really.

Of course the prize itself could be seen as working for free, but honestly, having written for the website of such a big magazine or running the twitter for them for a bit is incredible experience and especially useful for someone wanting to be recognised for journalism or social media. Whilst these aren't my main goals in life, I would find it incredibly interesting. It really is the way of the world, its the reason that someone would intern at Vogue, pay all their own travel expenses and make cups of tea for free in the hope that it might open doors in future. Its a two way street, with benefits for both sides, and whilst you might not personally feel its worth your time, it also isn't mandatory to take part or even tweet about it if you do happen to be nominated.

The fact of the matter is that blogs keep magazines current and magazines give bloggers a credibility they would otherwise struggle to find within mainstream media. Would I like magazines to recognise bloggers more consistently? Absolutely. Do I think bloggers have good worth? Yes. I definitely think bloggers should make sure they aren't exploited. I ignore about ten emails a week from organisations who just want me to put links to their competitions and PR companies that want me to basically just copy and paste a press release into a blog post without having tried the product. Its important that bloggers don't let this happen, but its also important to realise that as long as you feel something will potentially benefit you and your blog, its okay for it to benefit a company too. Personally I'm happy to be nominated and it doesn't mean I'm naive or inexperienced.

What are your opinions on blog awards?

feel unique beauty box

2012-01-08T20:33:00.000Z

Although I have posted about different beauty boxes several times and done this comparative video, I have never posted about the Feel Unique box. This is the first box I have received by them, and it is the only box so far that I pay for. I decided to sign up since I love their online store and the brands they carry, and I was consistently impressed with the contents of their boxes from reading other blogs. They seem to have a steady quality and whilst they don't give away full size products, I think this keeps the subscribers happy in the long run because people don't rave or completely trash the box every month. Its good, and its samples, and the brands are good. That's kind of what I expect from a box anyway. Its not to say I wouldn't pay for any of the other boxes, I would, but I do receive them as PR samples so this is the one I opted to give my hard earned cash to so I could try it out.

This box is the New Year box and contains mostly skincare (which I love) personally I need more makeup like I need a chocolate fireguard and a hole in the head, I have way to much already. Unless we are talking concealers and foundations which are never going to be in a sample box, I'd rather have skincare and hair products any day. This box contains two Dead Sea Spa Magik salt brushing exfoliators, a generously sized cleanser from thisworks (which smells lovely, very herbal and spa like), a Caudalie body moisturiser, a Phyto conditioning treatment, a Lierac moisturiser (again, generously sized) and a bonus sachet sample of a Lierac serum.

If you shop at Feel Unique a lot and like the brands they carry, this box will be right up your street, you might like some months more than others but in general from what I have seen, its very consistent. I also love the sleek black and hot pink box and the fact that you could stack them all together after a few months and use them as drawer units to store things. This isn't a box that shouts from the rooftops or is flashy, but it does deliver. If you're interested in signing up you can do so here - priced at £9.95 (delivery included) I'm certainly happy.

home sweet home

2012-01-07T23:34:00.000Z

As some of you might know if you watch my vlog channel, Matt & I are planning to move in together. We are in the very early stages, trying to choose an area, working out our budgets and all that fun stuff, but we have started to collect a few things for when we do finally have a place. I think its nice to get little stuff together before you find somewhere, for practical reasons so you don't have a huge amount of things to buy your first month in the new place, for excitement, and also because the kind of style I like (eclectic and vintage looking) takes a bit of time to put together, collecting things here and there so it doesn't just look like you went to a supermarket and bought everything from one place.

One of our favourite home shops is the Derbyshire Craft Centre at Calver Bridge/Curbar Edge. They have a lovely little coffee shop and although the shop is only small, its really reasonably priced and sells cute brands like East of India. We were driving past today and decided to pop in just before they closed. Luckily they had a sale on and we picked up some bargains. Everything seen here cost a grand total of £23.

I think we managed to get quite a bit for our money! I would definitely recommend the shop if you are nearby or passing through, have a gingerbread latte whilst you're there and walk up to Curbar Edge. The view is beautiful :)

Lincolnshire photodiary

2012-01-06T19:09:00.001Z

As I mentioned in my last post I'm in Lincolnshire at the moment on a little mini-break (Bridget Jones love) for Matt's birthday (today) and our six month anniversary (tomorrow) and we are having a lovely time.

The free hotel wifi is a little bit unreliable in the room so I'm using the blogger iPhone app to write this, really handy if any of you bloggers don't already have it!

I thought I would do a little photodiary of what we have been doing so far, we have more photos on the big daddy Canon DSLR but we have instagrammed a bit on our trip. My instagram username is gemsmaquillage if you want to follow/say hello and Matt's is themattrace. Here are our photos so far!

Introducing joliebox

2012-01-05T21:49:00.000Z

I'm a little late posting this as I was away on holiday when a lot of people got their boxes, but I wanted to post anyway because I thought you guys might want my thoughts, and I'm pretty excited!

I've always had a soft spot for Boudoir Prive - the high end, niche brands appealed to me a lot, and I was more than excited to discover a wedding invitation dropping through my letterbox informing me that the beauty box was teaming up with Joliebox from France and becoming Joliebox UK. As lots of you know I'm a huge Francophile having lived there for a bit, and I am head over heels in love with French skincare. I was already a fan of Boudoir Prive but this development left me excited for the access this would give them to even more brands, particularly ones that are harder to get hold of outside of France. The box is now sleek, black and polished and I'm more than a little in love with it.

The contents of the first box didn't disappoint, here they are:

1 OPI Gold Shatter Polish - Shatter polishes aren't something I use a lot, but having tried some of the 2true metallic ones towards the end of 2011, I found that they could be surprisingly wearable, so I'm excited to use this!

2 Mitchell and Peach Shower Wash - This smells very fresh and clean, lots of lavender so perfect for a pre-bedtime shower. Very handy for travel, in fact I'm writing this from my hotel room where I brought it along!

3 New CiD Cosmetics I-Gloss - Yet to try this, but if its anything like their lipsticks I'm sure I'll be in love.

4 Jane Iredale 24 Carat Gold Dust - A multi-use product that I will likely use on my cheeks. Very pretty.

5 Yon Ka Vital Defense - At the ripe old age of 26, products like this are things I'm thinking more and more about!

(Bonus) Kusmi detox tea - I love tea, so this will be nice to try. I like the fact that they are thinking of beauty from the inside out.

(Bonus) Joliebox concealer brush - A lovely touch and a brush I'm sure I'll get use out of.

Overall, colour me impressed. Some great full size products and a well rounded box. Very excited to see what else they have in store.

If you haven't seen my Battle of the Beauty Boxes video where I compare the services yet you can watch it here.

Stay tuned to my youtube channel for a new Beauty Box feature!

all lace and secret places

2012-01-04T19:50:00.000Z

I mentioned in my last post that I got a lace cardigan from Primark at the same time as the blue lace top. I think this was £8 again and although I love it, it is very flimsy and I'm scared I won't be able to wear it so much. I quite like it buttoned up as a top, and again I'm wearing my maroon Forever 21 skirt and Primark super cosy tights because I honestly am not feeling very adventurous when it comes to clothing today.

I spent the day sleeping mostly as I was up all night. If you follow me on twitter you will know that we had some intruders last night and our street/area subsequently had the police here all night which was less than fun to say the least. I decided to have a day off twitter because I was feeling a bit blah, and a few people took a jokey comment I made last night completely the wrong way. (In a nutshell, someone said I reminded them of Adele, and I joked that since she is significantly larger than me (fact!) it might be time to gym the Christmas weight off. As always on twitter, 140 characters is sometimes taken the wrong way and this turned into me thinking Adele was huge and it wasn't okay to be for her to be the size she is. That is of course, ridiculous, I am the LAST person in the world to think people need to conform to sizes dictated by too-thin-to-have-periods mannequins and fashion campaigns, so I wanted to clear it up. Adele is beautiful, but she is larger than me, just like I'm a lot larger than Nicole Ritchie, its just a fact, and it wouldn't be at all healthy for me, at 5ft 2 to be her weight. Glad I got that out of my system, because I feel like it was taken horribly the wrong way.

I'm off to Lincolnshire tomorrow for a few days to celebrate Matt's birthday and our anniversary. Can't wait to get away for a bit together, I'm taking my new camera lens so hopefully will have some nice snaps for you upon my return. Hope you're all staying safe in the UK with this crazy weather we have been having!

Lace cardigan - Primark

Skirt - Forever 21

Tights - Primark

navy and maroon

2012-01-03T15:44:00.000Z

Remember yesterday when I was discussing my love of lace and collars? I wasn't kidding. I picked this top up in Primark a couple of weeks ago on a whim, it was about £8 I think, and I also got a lace cardigan for the same price. The cardigan seems super fragile, but this is a little more "sturdy" - well, as sturdy as Primark gets. I love the collar, of course. You need a strappy top underneath as its sheer which I'm not crazy about, I love lace with fabric underneath, but the back is a jersey style material which is good because I hate how a strappy top looks under sheer things from the back, is that just me?

I wore it with my Forever 21 maroon skirt, sorry this photo is so blurry I'm waiting for my camera remote to come and when you're home alone its impossible to focus yourself and try and stand in the same spot! At least it gives you an idea of what it looks like together. I'm also wearing Primark super cosy tights (my favourites) in navy blue, its so windy today I need them! The ring is also from Primark a while ago, and the nail polish is a lilac Look Beauty one with Miss Sporty glitter on top. Hope you're all faring okay if you're in the UK with this crazy weather! I know today is the first day back at work for lots of people so hope its not too bad!

I used to fly like peter pan

2012-01-02T18:25:00.000Z

Dress - Internacionale

It seems like everything I've liked online or picked up in a shop recently is either made of lace has a peter pan collar (often both.) I tend to wear mainly dresses or skirts and blouses and collar detail is a cute way to liven something otherwise plain up. The only thing is, it makes an outfit more memorable, which can be a good thing, but isn't fantastic if you want to get wear out of an item without making people think you only own one dress. Enter the collar necklace.

I first saw this idea on Dolly Bow Bow - I have been a fan of the online store for years and have loved watching both the store and Kate's channel grow, I finally got to meet her a few times this year, she is seriously so lovely! When she posted a video here about the new collars I knew they were perfect for solving my dilemma. You can wear the collars with any round neck top as they can be fastened at differing lengths. If you're unsure its best to watch the video I linked above as Kate explains and shows the product. She was very generous and sent me the multicolour collar I'm wearing here, but I purchased the black one myself along with some lovely earrings which I'm sure will be making an appearance on the blog soon enough. If you haven't already checked out her stock I would recommend it, the items are great and I personally love supporting other bloggers, especially when they are so lovely.

I got a lovely surprise when I opened my presents from Matt and saw this necklace from Topshop, a similar idea but heavier and more like a necklace. I wore it in yesterdays post here! He had clearly been paying attention to my purchases and knows I'm a sucker for a collar. Brownie points.

Have you tried anything like this? I think they are the perfect way to spruce up an outfit or perhaps bring a classic wardrobe staple up to date. I'm on the lookout for more so if you have any links leave them below!

Also just want to thank you all for the lovely comments you left on my last post. I honestly hated all the photos I took yesterday, sometimes you just feel off don't you? Your comments made my day, surprising how you can feel so self conscious and other people have no idea at all! Thanks for the nice comments about The Middle Parting. I still keep looking at myself with disbelief in the mirror but I'm getting used to it! Its good to mix it up every now and then!

so this is the new year

2012-01-01T21:05:00.000Z

Happy New Year!
Jumper - Next
Collar Necklace - Topshop (more on this tomorrow!)

Sorry I look pretty serious on that photo, it was the best of a bad bunch, I am not photogenic today! I gave up trying to take photos. On all the ones I look happy on I look like a big nerd, so for the lulz...

Such was my woe at trying to take a cheery photo that Matt tried to help me and we ended up losing our minds. He hates this photo, he thinks he looks like he's on day release, so sorry Matt!

New Years Eve and New Years day are really just a night and day like any other, aren't they, but there is something about that shift between the 31st of December and the 1st of January that makes us all get dressed up, consume copious amounts of alcohol and then spring clean, join a gym and make some goals for the next 364 days that follow. Personally I like the reflection and fresh start that New Year brings, but I can take or leave the night and the pressure to have fun in a certain way that it brings. I love a good night out but I always feel spontaneous ones are fun, everyone that's been old enough to go out a few years running has a lame New Years story to tell!

I had a lovely low-key night last night, I had curry and drinks with Matt and we chilled out and watched Eastbound and Down and Flight of the Conchords and then I read drunken youtube comments from Lily. Perfect. Sometimes the best nights are the low-key ones. 2011 was a good year for me, filled with ups and downs like any other, but I came out of it very happy. I had a lot of changes this year that I'm sure you all know about, but I'm so excited for a clean slate and all the things that 2012 has in store for me.

I posted a soppy facebook status here, but I'll echo it again today and say that I massively appreciate anyone that takes the time to read or watch my stuff. It means a lot more to me than you probably realise, and I mean that! I've had some fantastic opportunities in 2011 that wouldn't have happened without the support and encouragement you guys give me, so genuinely, thankyou! Feeling the love. My plan for 2012 involves a massive facelift of this website, to learn how to properly use my Canon 600D and Final Cut, and to master lighting for videos to bring you guys better content. I also have something exciting that I'm ploughing a lot of time and money into in 2012, I'm excited to share it with you once its ready (hopefully within the next couple of months) and I can't wait!

Also....drumroll please...I'm sure some of you will gasp in shock and disbelief at this but...

In 2012 there will be a post on here EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am vowing to stick to this, with scheduled posts and organisation, I can do it - please don't let me get away with not posting every day! If you haven't seen my latest video and want to be nosy and see what I got for Christmas you can do so here:

Here's to 2012!

holiday lookbook

2011-12-26T23:05:00.000Z

Hey guys, I'm actually writing this high in the sky on the plane home from my holidays, but of course by the time you're reading this my feet will be firmly on the ground in rainy, cold England. I wanted to be somewhat productive on holiday so I filmed a video lookbook of some of the outfits I wore whilst I was there, and here are all the stills and information on where the items are from. If you haven't seen this video or you aren't subscribed to my youtube channel then its embedded below and you can subscribe here. They are mainly nighttime outfits since in the daytime I was pretty much glued to the sunlounger in a bikini reading my kindle, but nobody needs to see that. Most of the items are things I have had for a while to be honest, but I've seen things pop up again recently so you never know, if you like anything you might be able to find it or something similar.

Dress - Primark

Sunglasses - Primark

Hair Bow - H&M

Earrings - Next

Flip Flops - Old Navy

Dress - Topshop

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Studded Sandals - River Island

Top - Topshop

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Skirt - Forever 21

Dress - Jane Norman

Earrings - Next

Charm Bracelet & Leather Bracelets - Pandora

Hope Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Ring - LLYMLRS

Nails - Bourjois Rouge Fashionista

Lips - Mac Viva Glam Cyndi

Dress - H&M

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Necklace - LLYMLRS

Sandals - Miss Selfridge

Dress - Primark

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Wedges - New Look

Top - Anthropologie

Skirt - Forever 21

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Top- Customised Mens Primark TShirt

Skirt - Forever 21

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Studded/Beaded Jacket - Topshop

Ring - Topshop

Nails Bourjois Rouge Fashionista & Rimmel Disco Ball

Dress - New Look (from this post)

Sunglasses - Primark

Earrings - Next

Bracelet - Dolly Bow Bow

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:05:00.000Z

Hi everyone! Hope you're all okay.

It's just a quick little post today to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I'm still over in Gran Canaria at the moment but I'll be back in a few days and should be back to posting every day within the next couple. I'm addicted to writing at the moment and I'm excited to hit it when I get back into the country :)

I hope you've all had an amazing Christmas and got everything you wanted; but if not, I've seen a few people that have been winning some awesome stuff like Kindles (can't put mine down!), iPods and Christmas hampers from Innocent Smoothies at this page of their website. The day may not be beyond salvage!

Once again, I hope it's been great and I'll be back soon. Here's a picture of me and Matt in some silly Christmas jumpers.

xoxo

leavin' on a jet plane

2011-12-17T14:40:00.000Z

Hey guys, I'm writing this post from the departure lounge at Manchester Airport, I'm off to Gran Canaria for 9 days with my family for Christmas, we have a little apartment out there so we try and get out as much as possible for some sun! I said a sad goodbye to Matt, he couldn't come as he couldn't get the time off work, but my whole family will miss him, its the longest we have ever spent apart and I know it sounds a bit soft but we are so used to being together every day it will be so weird! I left him with his Christmas presents in the airport in a big comedy stocking, he looked like Buddy the elf! Also just want to say a quick hello to a subscriber working in Boots in Manchester airport that just said hello to me, you made my day!

Anyway, on to the point of this blog post, my current bronzer that I'm in love with. It's the iBronze by New CID cosmetics, when I was first sent it I was hesitant to try it, because baked bronzers usually mean shimmer to me, but its lovely! The pink tones add a natural 'real' tanned look to your skin, the colour you actually tan, so it looks nice and natural. I'm quite fussy with bronzers and not many really impress me, but this is a thumbs up from me, you can see in the photo its not orange and doesn't give you an overly 'made up' look.

I'm signing off now, but will hopefully have some blog posts up for you whilst I'm away, I'll have some internet access but I'm not sure how temperamental it will be. If I don't speak to you all have a great Christmas and I'll see you on the 26th!

strawberry lace

2011-12-15T16:39:00.000Z

Dress - New Look

Jacket - Primark (years ago!)

Glasses - Ray Ban Wayfarers in Dark Havana

I wore this dress to Matt's Band's Christmas gig last Saturday, it was a spur of the moment purchase and was hanging in New Look all alone, so I'm not entirely sure if it was old stock or something that was returned as it isn't on the website anymore. Regardless, I love it. Its sleeveless, which will come in handy on my holidays, but I'm not one for parading my arms around (I lack Jennifer Aniston's tone) so I threw on a jacket, (my trusty almost five year old Primark one that is in dire need of being replaced) and some Primark super cosy tights because apparently I am incapable of not wearing those at the moment.

I love how cherry red the dress is, it was really difficult to photograph the lace properly but its lovely, and the elasticated waist makes it super comfy but fun to wear, very festive at this time of year with tights but the nice bright red will make this lovely in Summer too. Perfect. I also realised I never wear my glasses in blog posts or videos really. I've got a killer headache today - I should wear them more than I do so being a good girl today!

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmaquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

portable television

2011-12-14T21:07:00.000Z

Shirt - New Look

Hair Bow - Primark

Ring - Primark

Nails - Models Own Misty Grey & Rimmel Disco Mix
Lips - New CiD Lipstick in Dusk & Barry M Toffee Lipgloss

I love this shirt I picked up in New Look the other day. Its been in stock for a while, I know Kelly, Lily & Emma have it and I've lusted after it but not bought it and then this week there it was just smiling at me. I've worn it a lot tucked into my black River Island shorts with opaque black tights, its easy to wear because I don't feel like it needs any jewellery and I also think it looks pretty nice with an updo because of the neckline. I say 'updo' but this is lazy girl hair at its finest, I literally scrunch it up and wrap a bobble round it, depending on what I'm wearing it either looks effortless or crack-whore, thankfully this shirt makes it a bit more of the former. I put a ribbon on the back of my head to make it look a bit more 'done' - this is just what I do to make myself think I've made an effort!

I wore this out tonight for a family meal before we go away on Saturday. I think I'll actually take this on holiday with me as its so lightweight and easy. I think maybe I've worn it to death the last few days, does anyone else do that? You find something you like and then you make people think you don't own any other clothes? The nails I'm wearing are the same as yesterdays post, I love this combo, its all frosty and winter-like. Speaking of yesterday, I headed over to the Moose Bar at Spinningfields in Manchester with Matt to hear about the new Badoo iPhone app for their social network so I will be letting you all know about that soon enough. We actually won a bottle of champagne for being the worst at something, but more on that to follow...

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmaquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

the hallows

2011-12-13T19:06:00.000Z

T-shirt - Orange Circle Clothing

Skirt - Forever 21

Super Cosy Tights - Primark

Cardigan - Primark

Watch - Gift

Nails - Models Own Misty Grey & Rimmel Disco Mix

I've been wearing this t-shirt to death recently, it's one of two I got from Orange Circle Clothing (you'll probably be seeing a variation of this outfit on my youtube channel too very soon!)

For reference, I'm wearing the Deathly Hallows shirt in navy blue in a womens large for a looser fit. (I wear a UK size 10)

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmaquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

battle of the beauty boxes: carmine

2011-12-13T10:11:00.002Z

This is part of a Beauty Box feature on Gemsmaquillage. The video at the end of this post compares the different beauty subscription boxes on the market at the moment, and these blog posts will show the contents of three boxes sent out at the end of October: Boudoir Prive, Carmine and Glossybox. All of the beauty boxes are of course wide reaching and appeal to a large demographic, but I think each box has its own strengths and particular appeal that certain demographics might find especially appealing.

Carmine is the newest Beauty Box offering. Using the platform of an online community with noted bloggers as columnists, Carmine appear to be targeting the readers of beauty blogs and the viewers of beauty youtube videos by aiming to build a community and discussion around the arrival of each box and its content. Brands featured include Caudalie, Daniel Sandler, NEOM Organics, Dainty Dolly, New CID Cosmetics and Cosmetics a la Carte and the box seems to have an emphasis on makeup.

Here's the October Box:

Trind Nail Repair

Balance Me Hand Cream

Daniel Sandler Eyeshadow

The Balm Blush

Caudalie Face Cream

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

battle of the beauty boxes: boudoir prive

2011-12-13T10:11:00.001Z

Boudoir Prive has a members-only, French theme, with a focus on high end luxury brands that may otherwise be unattainable. They also run an online store where you can purchase items you received in your box at full size. Brands they have featured include Korres, Cargo, Rahua, Zoya, RMK, Agent Provocateur & StudioMakeup.

Please note, since this box was featured Boudoir Prive has merged with JolieBox from France, and will be relaunching in the New Year as JolieBox UK. This is really exciting and will hopefully bring even more exciting brands to the box.

Here's the October Box:

Korres Body Butter

Shams Perfume

Rose & Co Salv

Cetuem Mask & Face Cream

Zoya Nail Polish

Leonor Greyl Huile de Palme

Studio Makeup Liner

(This Box also included a complimentary facial from RMK to be redeemed)

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

battle of the beauty boxes: glossybox

2011-12-13T10:11:00.000Z

GlossyBox is perhaps the most publicised box of the three featured on my blog. They have a strong online presence and have recently launched a mens version of their box, to be sent quarterly. Brands they have featured include All For Eve, Illamasqua, Nars, Nuxe, Stile, Leighton Denny, Philip Kingsley, Xen Tan & OPI.

Here's the October box:

Stila Smudgestick liner in Moray

Dermalogica Multivitamin Thermafoliant

Dermalogica Power Recovery Mask

Dermalogica Bag & Lip Treatment

Leighton Denny Nail Polish

Robert Piguet Perfume Samples

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

december glossybox

2011-12-12T10:27:00.001Z

So this month's Glossybox is the Christmas one, I've been looking forward to it since we were on the London Eye for the ambassadors welcome party. The Glossybox team promised us a great box for December so I was eagerly anticipating my pink box coming in the post, except this time, it wasn't pink. I love the red festive box, and the fact that rather aptly its "glossy". The contents didn't disappoint either, I was impressed upon opening the box but even more impressed after having used the products - as an ambassador my box comes a bit early so I can try the products and give you my review of them in time for the boxes being delivered. So here's what I got in my box and my thoughts...

Deborah Lipmann polish in Razzle Dazzle - This was what I was most excited about when I opened the box. I don't own any Deborah Lippman polishes yet, but I have heard amazing things about them and the range is well known for amazing chunky glitter polishes. This is a mini, but still a really good size, and the colour isn't something I already own which is good. I'm already wearing it, and its the perfect winter glitter, very Christmassy. I was glad to try out the brand as I have never seen Deborah Lippman in person so at £16.00 a bottle I was hesitant to order online. You also get a little remover mitt which I have placed in my purse for emergency removal scenarios as one little mitt removes polish from both hands.

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel in Yogi Flow - I love Rituals products so was happy to get this, its a full size product and feels lovely in the shower, I always find foaming shower gels make me feel a bit luxe, but this one smells lovely too, really nice product.

MeMeMe Seventh Heaven - At first I was a bit confused by this product, I was excited to try it but unsure if it was a moisturiser or a primer? Its described as a face base, and having read a few reviews and after trying it myself, its basically a primer and moisturiser in one. It smells lovely but it is very strongly scented for those of you that might be sensitive, and a little bit goes a long way. I used my normal moisturiser and then dabbed a little of this over areas that my foundation sometimes looks a bit cakey on, and it made my foundation application smooth and gave me a lovely glow.

Cargo Lipgloss in Las Vegas - I was looking forward to trying this as I haven't tried much from Cargo but always wanted to. Apparently this is their new formulation of lipgloss, and since I never tried the old one I can't compare it, but its lovely and perfect for me since it isn't sticky and is actually pretty moisturising. It isn't very pigmented, but I think that has more to do with the shade I was sent, a really pretty champagne shimmery gloss that looks lovely over neutral lipsticks. Definitely one I will keep in my handbag for touchups.

Blink & Go Mascara - I saved the best till last. This was possibly the product I had the least expectations of, I am well and truly a mascara snob, my drug of choice being YSL Faux Cils. I have yet to find a mascara that just works like that does, and nobody was more shocked to find that this comes very close for me. I applied it for the first time on a day when I wasn't leaving the house, so sure was I that I would want to put lashings of YSL on top. I was wrong! I'm looking to repurchase this, and since its waterproof its probably a good alternative for my YSL and will be great for me over Christmas since I go on holiday on Saturday. Surprised and impressed by this.

Have you got your GlossyBox today? What do you think?

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

in december, drinking horchata

2011-12-09T21:50:00.001Z

I'm definitely feeling very festive at the moment. I've still not finished my Christmas shopping, and I definitely only have seven days until I go on holiday too but lets not think about that right now. I'm loving cold winter nights spent in warm surroundings, reading my favourite things and drinking my favourite hot chocolate (Cola Cao from Spain which I have to ration until next week!) lighting my favourite candles of the moment (Yankee Candle Cherries On Snow & Candy Cane by For Every Body) and listening to my favourite girl, Zooey Deschanel singing Christmas songs. I've also been listening to Horchata by Vampire Weekend manically and obsessively because it makes me feel very very festive indeed.

My fairy lights are up and my room is glowing from all the tealights I've been lighting. What have you been doing to feel festive?

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

(vital)umiere aqua

2011-12-08T23:12:00.001Z

I realised tonight that despite championing this foundation on my youtube channel, I have yet to give it the praise it deserves on my blog. By foundation, I of course mean the (by now rather infamous) Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. Touted by Chanel in the English description an 'ultra light skin perfecting makeup', I think I have to agree more with the French description, 'effet seconde peau' or 'second skin'. I used to be a big fan of Chanel's Teint Innocence, and I feel like this gives me a similar finish with a more up to date formula. Its by far the best foundation I have ever used.

This foundation genuinely makes your skin look lovely. It doesn't go on like a mask, hiding everything it its wake and leaving you with that doll-like creepily even tone that makes you run for the bronzer and blusher to create some dimension and life. It gives a finish that is dewy but not shiny, natural but not bare, luminous but not sparkly. I would say its a medium coverage, 'ultra-light' in my mind seems to describe how it feels on your skin rather than the coverage, which is decent. Its water based, so its lovely for dry skin, but likewise I know people that suffer with oily skin find it equally nice.

I wear the shade Beige Sable (B30) in Winter and Beige Desert (B40) in the Summer when I have more colour, neither one oxidises or wears off easily, and I'm not particularly religious when it comes to primer or setting powder. Its not cheap, at £31, but a little bit goes a long way, a bottle lasted me the best part of four months, I thought it would never end! (It still hasn't ended - I had to purchase a lighter colour to reflect the changing seasons before I could use it up) In case you're wondering, its lovely when applied with your fingers, but I like to buff mine into my skin using my Real Techniques buffing brush.

I'd definitely recommend asking a Chanel makeup artist to apply it to you if you aren't sure, I did this before I bought it, and wore it around the Trafford Centre for a day of shopping before going back and buying it on my way home, suitably impressed! You can buy it online here.

If you feel so inclined, I'd love it if you could vote for Gemsmquillage in the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards here in either the Fashion or Beauty categories.

holidays are coming

2011-12-06T11:25:00.001Z

Good morning, thought a little catchup was in order, I never know what to call these posts really! Here are some shots from when we paid a visit to the Manchester Christmas Market. I love the Christmas Markets but it was insanely busy when we went, I wanted to get some cool video footage but every time I got the camera out people almost knocked it out of my hands, definitely need to go back early afternoon when everyone is in the office!

I've been a busy bee recording, editing and writing all the video descriptions (my least favourite part of uploading) for lots of videos that Matt is kindly going to upload for me whilst I'm on holiday. I'm going to Gran Canaria on the 17th December for Christmas so I will be completely out of the upload loop. Christmas and New Year is my absolute favourite time to watch Youtube videos, its basically like my TV anyway (I rarely even switch my telly on anymore!) but at Christmas there is more downtime to curl up with a hot chocolate and watch videos.

I'm also doing Vlogmas, in case you didn't know! Its basically where I upload a vlog video every day of December, they are on my personal channel here. I'm actually really enjoying it, filming with the new camera makes everything look much better, it takes hours to edit and upload but its so worth it!

Speaking of the new camera, I am LOVING it. Matt won a Canon 600D on the Lola Lola website and we are sharing it, hopefully you will all have noticed a difference in the video quality on my channel recently. I think I've become a bit of a DSLR snob, I have a video to upload that was filmed before getting the new camera and its paining me to put it up!

I can't believe how quickly time is flying at the moment, its pretty scary! Its crazy to think we are almost in 2012. Hope all your Christmas shopping is coming together, shamefully I have yet to make a real dent in mine despite the fact that I'm going away so soon! Must get my act together!

I know this is a shameless plug but Marie Claire magazine have launched their blog & twitter awards, I would love it if you felt inclined to nominate my blog, youtube channel or twitter in the beauty section, you can do so here! Have a lovely evening!

My latest beauty videos:

pop it, lock it, polka dot it.

2011-11-28T21:54:00.001Z

Top - Primark

Ring - Primark

Nails - Nail Rock

I decided to play around with the Nail Rock nail wraps that were in my November Glossybox (you can see my video on that here) I've tried the wraps before in the black and white stripes and loved them, although they didn't last very long. This time I've applied the polka dot pattern, and put my trusty Seche Vite UV topcoat over to see if it makes them any more long wearing. I think these kind of things are good for a night out or an event but don't tend to stay around as long as they claim. We shall see!

In other news my boyfriend Matt that some of you have seen in the videos I make on my personal channel has finally made a blog. I think he is generally quite witty, but then again I'm biased. He's going to be writing about the music industry (he works at an indie label) general life observations, maybe a bit of technology (probably mac related) and I may make the odd appearance there if we do something fun. You can follow it here if you like. Comments should be enabled tomorrow.

Ps serious cool points for anyone that recognised the Miley Cyrus reference in the title. Yeah, I can hoedown throwdown like a pro.

saturday night's alright

2011-11-26T17:32:00.001Z

Dress - Bank

Jacket - Primark

Lipstick - Look Double Hit Lip in Berry

Just a quick post before I head off for a much needed catchup with my friend Caroline. Its really starting to get cold outside so I'm not entirely sure that this faux leather Primark jacket I bought many moons (literally 4 years) ago is going to be sensible much longer, but tonight it will have to do the trick! I have bought one winter coat this year but since I'm jetting off to Gran Canaria for Christmas in a couple of weeks I'm hoping I can make do with that and my Barbour, there haven't been many coats catching my eye recently in all honesty!

Hope you all have a lovely Saturday evening whatever you get up to! Just a quick reminder that I'm selling adspace for the month of December here, so if you want to promote your blog, online store or website, you can order in a couple of easy steps. The last day to finalise ads will be November 30th. Have a lovely weekend!

http://test.skimlinks.com

cherry blossom cupcakes

2011-11-25T15:38:00.001Z

Good afternoon guys, hope you are all getting ready for a lovely weekend. I've had a lazy yet productive day of video editing and blog planning. I have a spanking new camera (more on that in another post) and am so looking forward to creating blog posts now, I've uploaded a youtube video with it already, you can see that at the end of this post!

I'm about to head off for tea and cupcakes at one of my favourite places, Cherry Blossom Bakery in Macclesfield, so I thought I'd share some photos I took there recently. I would really recommend it if you want to grab a bite to eat or a cup of tea, the owners are absolutely lovely and their pricing is amazingly competitive, much better than other places to grab a drink in town (ahem, Cafe Nero and Costa I'm looking at you) and you get to be in gorgeous surroundings and drink from a pretty teapot. I was introduced to the Bakery by Matt's Mum (pictured!), and I'm off there now with Matt and his sister so we will try and take some snaps with the snazzy new camera!

If you're ever in Macclesfield the bakery is on Church Street, opposite another place I love, Kooky Borough (which you'll see in a future post) - well worth a visit!

My new video with the camera:

sweet sweet melody

2011-10-24T23:50:00.000+01:00

I shot a lookbook video today in Macclesfield forest and I thought I would take some photos for the blog whilst I was there! I was sent this dress by Pilot and I loved wearing it in the warmer weather on its own and now layered with tights and cardigans. I'm just a sucker for chiffon really.

The adorable jewelry is from an online shop called Cheap Frills. I chose the lucky necklace and they kindly sent me the cute cat ear ring too, I've had a ton of compliments on them when I've worn them and I think the cat ring is gorgeous!

I layered the dress with a cardigan from Zara and my trusty "leather" jacket from Primark that has been going strong for about 4 years now, maybe even longer. Its completely wearing away on the arms but I can't bear to part with it! The bag is vintage, my Grandpa bought it for my Nana when they were on holiday in Cyprus years ago and she never wore it because she thought it was heavy and a bit big for her. Its completely my style and I was over the moon when she said I could have it because its something I would have bought myself and it reminds me of my Grandpa every time I use it.

You can see the outfit video below, I used a track that I absolutely love right now, by Katie Sky. She has just been signed and I think she's tipped for big things. You can get a free download by her by clicking here, and you will see more of her on my channel as I'm doing the makeup for her music video shoot for this song next month and I plan on bringing you some behind the scenes footage if you like?

look beauty excitement

2011-10-20T13:28:00.000+01:00

As a blogger, I see high street makeup collections come and go, and although it's always nice to see an affordable range, it's not often you see a collection that just has everything. Its hard to describe exactly what makes a collection so appealing, just the right combination of beautiful packaging, pretty shades, products that work and a winning price point.

I always feel like high street makeup has to compromise somewhere, usually in the packaging and sometimes in the formulation, but I understand why, and I think the British high street in particular has some real gems to be proud of, but some ranges just make you ooh and ahh. The last time I felt so impressed by the look and feel of a range was when Topshop Makeup launched, and now here I am feeling excited over the cosmetic offerings of Look Magazine.

I don't feel like I need to really give it any introduction, if you live in the UK you will no doubt have read a copy or six of the magazine, and I think the pretty pictures speak for themselves. I'm still playing with the products but wanted to give you guys a glimpse at the range, this will no doubt be popping up on my youtube channel in no time.

Look Beauty is currently available in Superdrug Westfield Stratford and will be rolled out to bigger Superdrug stores nationwide starting from next week. My top picks upon first impressions are Babydoll Lipstick, Stretch Factor Mascara, Mink Nail Pop, Flirt Blusher and Buff Lip Slick. Will you be picking anything up?

mexican wave

2011-10-19T07:43:00.000+01:00

I'm a sucker for Mexican food. If I had my way, and didn't have to fit through doors, I'd probably eat it for every meal. Unfortunately, I like my jeans to buckle, so I have to either whip up a healthy version at home, or save it for a treat. People that know me know I'm partial to the odd trip to Barburrito, its my go-to place in Manchester if I need a quick meal, but if you're ever around the Arndale area and fancy Mexican, I'd really recommend Pancho's if you have a bit more time on your hands (but not much more, don't worry!) and fancy something that doesn't scream retail chain.

Tucked inside the Arndale food market alongside butchers and grocers (remember those?) there are actually two Pancho's within burrito-slinging distance of each other. Everything is freshly prepared and its got a much more personal touch than Barburrito, not to mention a more wallet-friendly price scheme that means you can have a beer and meal for under £6!

In short, its not cordon bleu, and there is no fine china, but if you're shopping and need to grab lunch, why not try something a bit different than a quick M&S wrap or a McDonalds?

Do you live in Manchester? If you do have you been to Pancho's? I'd love to know, and Mancunians, feel free to share your recommendations!

unscratched lenses, of a brand new prescription

2011-10-18T17:36:00.000+01:00

The day finally came, I got some new glasses.

I have worn some variation of glasses or contacts since my high school days (nothing like typing that phrase to make you feel old) starting out with some ugly blue metal (nu metal?) frames that made me look ridiculous and restricted my accessorising fun, ending up in some Gucci frames that were nice but really didn't suit my face. I stopped wearing my glasses (naughty) because I just didn't feel like me whilst wearing them, and my prescription was small enough to get away with squinting occasionally.

When I first tried contact lenses after years of telling myself that I could not under any circumstances touch my eye, I felt like a new woman. Turns out, I could touch my eye, and not only that, but I could do it twice daily in return for perfect vision. Who'd have thought? I loved suddenly not getting any tired eyes or headaches and the fact that contacts allowed me to wear whatever glasses I wanted to, but moving to Spain and not taking enough lenses with me meant that I ended up once again being naughty and not doing what my eyes wanted (or needed) me to. In my defence I did visit the optician in Spain but it was pretty confusing because no matter how confident you feel in a language, an eye test is an odd thing to do in your own tongue, and a lot of the terminology won't be in your vocabulary.

I came back to England and put off ordering any more contacts simply because I could see okay without them, but the headaches and tired eyes started again and I vowed to change my disorganised ways once and for all. I also had a hankering for some trendy glasses that I could wear when I wanted to, for health reasons even the most avid lens wearers should have a pair of glasses to hand in case of infection or just to give your eyes a little break, but my trusty (and hideously outdated) Gucci frames not only didn't suit me, but also had my high school prescription.

I'd been longing for some bigger frames, call them geek glasses, hipster glasses, Where's Wally glasses, whatever you like, I wanted them. I'd tried them on but felt a bit ridiculous and always chickened out of the final purchase. Being a blogger definitely has its perks, and recently a company called Coastal Contacts offered to let me try their services and order some glasses of my choosing. I took the opportunity to get my dream glasses, the Ray Ban Wayfarers in Dark Havana which is a deep tortoiseshell, it almost looks black from far away but up close looks a lovely colour and isn't as harsh as the black in my opinion. They do have a UK site and a couple of other countries (see the flags in the top left of the screen) and I'm going to be ordering my lenses with them for days when I don't feel like wearing glasses, but my package arrived with FedEx promptly and safely and I'm more than happy to recommend them.

Apologies for the iPhone photos in this post, I'm not at home but I was so excited by my new glasses I wanted to blog immediately! Have you got a Ray Ban addiction?

moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.

2011-09-06T23:36:00.000+01:00

Last week Matt & I took a little Peak District Roadtrip, here are some photos we took on our travels, our little video is at the end if you haven't seen it. Enjoy!

simple math

2011-08-19T00:20:00.000+01:00

Well hello there, long time no see on the blog! You might have noticed I've changed things around a lot. I hated the way my blog looked and it made me reluctant to post on here, Im sure you all know I'm more of a youtuber and the immediacy of the video format honestly made me prefer posting over on my channel, but I was always jealous of bloggers with nice neat layouts and I wanted to post about more than just makeup, I just wasn't sure how to go about it. You'll notice there are categories now so you can sort through my posts a bit easier and find things you like, and a slideshow of recent or featured posts, so you can see what I've been writing about recently in case you haven't had a peek in say, the fashion section in a while. You'll see links to all my social media on the right and underneath little buttons so you can share any page you like on facebook, twitter, delicious, stumbleupon etc. Anyway, enough rambling about that, on with the actual post...

I've recently rediscovered this blouse, which I've had lots of compliments on, but is actually from Primark. I think I bought it about two years ago so unfortunately you won't find it in stores at the moment. It was one of those items that I wore a couple of times and then forgot about, until recently when I found it stashed in an old weekend bag on its lonesome. Don't you love it when that happens? Its like going shopping and spending zero money. Can only be a good thing.

These photos also show two other things I've been a tad enamoured with recently: My two finger cross ring from LLYMLRS and Barry M Lilac nail polish from the ice cream range. I seem to have worn these every day recently, although I recently purchased the Barry M peach melba shade, so maybe I will be wild and mix it up a little bit. I'm crazy like that. I'd been meaning to get some jewellery from Lily for ages, there are still a few pieces I want that are out of stock so I will likely be placing another order soon, prompt delivery, would definitely recommend! I always like buying from bloggers if I can rather than just a random etsy store. Speaking of bloggers and jewellery, I have a lovely bracelet that I recently bought from Victoria, and haven't taken off since, I'll post about it soon but if you want to check out her store in the meantime its here!

Hope you are all good, let me know if you like the new layout, I really hope so! I think its a lot cleaner than before. Have any of you rediscovered something in the back of your wardrobe you forgot about?