1st Giveaway!

Im really excited about this!I have been wanting to do a giveaway for a while now and decided that I was finally going to do one!

We all know how hard it is getting that MAC palette filled up! So I thought I would help out, I am giving away one pan eyeshadow in the shade : Satin taupe! This is a firm favourite in eyeshadows, I actually don't own this one, I would have bought it for myself but I am eyeing up 3 lipsticks in the new collection and couldn't really afford anything else!

                    ************ THIS IS A UK ONLY GIVEAWAY ***************

a Rafflecopter giveaway Best of Luck! Ciao x

Personal: The British Tag.

Hello lovelies,It's official I am back! 

My lovely friend Jemma over at http://www.dorkface.co.uk/ tagged me in the British tag. I kinda wanted to do this as a video but until I have learn't more about editing videos and properly planning them I am going to put vlogs on the side line. So here is a written British tag which I think Beautycrush started... honestly, I don't think I am very stereotypically english but let's see! :) 

1. How many cups of tea do you have a day? How many sugars?

This is where I say I am not very British.... I don't drink tea...or coffee. Everyone gets a little awkward when I go to their house and they offer tea and I'm like... Oh don't drink it sorry and they kinda pause like...oh god what do I offer her? 

I do drink green tea, it took me a while to be able to get in the habit of drinking this, espcially when I was working on the phones. See my problem with hot drinks is the pressue you have to drink it, I like to take my time, take an hour or two to drink a glass not guzzle it down in ten minutes. Hot drinks put that pressure on you!! Gotta drink it before it gets cold and you sip and your like oh god. the turning point and then you have to down your dirnk otherwise it's wasted!

2. Favourite part of your roast?

STUFFING. I pile heaps of the stuff on!

3. Favourite dunking biscuit?

Ahh, I don't dunk  any biscuits :/ ...Awkward. 

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

Umm. What is a quintessential British thing to do? Oh.... Drinking pimms in summer! that's british!! I do love my pimms!

5. Favourite word?

Quitessential is a new favourite!

I think my favourite british word is Twat. A lot of people think its some kind of swear word, I use it as a general one sometimes and endearing word, sometimes for someone I don't like...

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I don't know any...being a partially foreign northerner and all....

7. Favourite sweet?

DRUMSTICKS. ohh. refreshers.... fruit salads.....love them alll....

8. What would your pub be called?

Ummm...the spotted dog? I don't know...The red lip? this is why I wouldn't begin to own a pub.

9. No.1 British person?

Alexa Chung. Beaut.

10. Favourite shop / Restaurant?

TOPSHOP.

My  fav british restaurant... hmm. Toby Carvery?

11. What British song pops into your head?

I love. love love british indie you know like AM, Miles Kane, Courteeners, royal blood...kasabian. 

but I also love sam smith so much, then you have the classics....5ive. S club 7...

and so many other british artists.

I haven't really answered this well have i? I have a music post coming up actually. 

12. Marmite?

YES. but you have to have butter. if there is no butter then it's a bit too much. this is where a lot of marmite haters go wrong. chuck some butter on! 

So thats it. Think I did alright? I nominate anyone who reads this and wants to do it. Please let me know if you have by commenting below! 

Ciao x

23.08.2014

Taken from Tumblr x

Personal:break

I know a lot of my recent posts have been personal ones, I had finally overcome a lot obstacles and was ready and motivated to throw myself into blogging and life again. I even planned some exciting giveaways for september.... these will still happen but for the next week or two I will be taking another break from my blog. It appears lifes harshness wasn't done with me yet . It breaks my heart to say my cat bruce was run over and I can't quite forgive life for this yet .
Some people may say its just a pet but honestly he was like a child and best friend and he was the only thing going truly right for me.  No matter what the day held he was there at night waiting to give me cuddles and wake me up with them too. We had gotten into this little routine of how our days would go....I could go on for hours about this little quirky cat of mine.
Bruce came to me because he needed a home and frankly I needed a cat, I'm so grateful I had this little one in my life even if it was for a unfairly short amount of time.
I will see you all back in September
Ciao x

Beauty -Review Lush Marilyn hair Mask

I've been looking to try a hair mask for a while and with the recent ombre this was the most ideal time. Everyone knows that when you chuck some bleach on your hair the quality is going to go. So to stop my hair from becoming ratty I looked to hairmasks and where better then LUSH?

I had a look at a few different masks but this one was tailored to bleached hair and keeping off those red tones, kinda like a 2 for 1 for me really. It's around £9.50, it has quite a runny consistency which I didn't expect. I didn't use loads just on the ends of my hair, so the pot will last 3-4 times for me, if you were bleaching your hair all over you would probably need a pot a time and I would probably leave it on for longer then the recommended 20 minutes. It doesnt't really lighten my hair, I've been using it for 2-3 weeks now but it does keep the red tones at bay and it does make my hair soft so its enough for me to keep repurchasing! Extra note - you may smell like you've dipped your hair in tequila ( that's the smell I get from it! )

If you just want to look after your ombre once a week this is ideal for you!

Ciao x

Beauty - Review: Body Shop Almond nail and cuticle oil

A few posts back I wrote about the importance of using cuticle oil and how this can affect the skin around your nails. In the post I wrote that I had bought this but not really thought much of it. After digging it out I decided it deserved another chance.
Firstly that beige nib at the top was pointless.... that's what put me off initially.
After that the pen is actually really good, for a girl who hates touching oil this is ideal. In fact I take this everywhere with me now, when temptation strikes to pick at the skin I get this and dab it round instead. It's working miracles for my nails. It's got a really nice scent to it and dries quite quickly. I guess all in all it does what any other cuticle oil would do it's nothing special there, I will keep buying it because I don't have to touch the oil and spread it around with my fingers. £7.50 though...  that's pretty much around the same price as the oil I got from home when you convert it so I don't think this is outrageous.

Have you tried this?

Ciao x

Personal: Staying creative

Lately, as you will know with my last few posts everything has been breaking on me. Life itself has been a little down and a struggle and it's hard to stay motivated and creative in this time. Usually I slump and then I will just wake up and decide enough is enough, I will push through no matter what - and I have.

I've done everything I possibly can to fix my laptop and I have now figured out another way to get my pics onto the computer - Hurray! I can post again! I think I know how to fix my sewing machine fingers crossed and I am gaining back my Joie de vivre. Something that keeps me going is looking for inspiration everywhere. When my laptop was down I relied heavily on instagram and I love pinterest or tumblr when I am on my computer.

I have been making a visual inspiration book to refer to for my art, designing and even styling - I think everything influences each other, just pictures and pictures of what inspires me and ideas that I want to take forward in my work and whenever I feel uninspired I can flick through this.

An app I love using is: Freeprints - you get 40 free prints a month ( though I think its only 20 in the first month) you can print these right off your phone! Usually my screenshots are where most of my inspiration is kept on my phone so I usually print a batch off each month to put in my sketchbook. You only have to pay for postage. A lot of sites that print photos offer you a batch of free prints as well, and this is cheeky but I signed up to a few different ones to get as many free prints as possible ( Don't judge me! Aha )

Anyway, slightly off the beauty mark post but it is something I really wanted to mention as you could do this for so many different things, you could use it to make actual pinboard of idea's, collages of photos to frame ( like those giant instagram frames), sketchbooks allsorts! -> something to inspire you!

Have you done anything like this?

ciao x

Personal: Nose Piercing

My laptop has resided to not acknowledge my camera so this post is picture-less and until I can figure out what to do, we may not have many posts coming up. I can just about post this in safe mode. I seem to be breaking anything electronic that I touch lately - my sewing machine is dead as well.

Anyway, I digress. I wanted to do a little post about getting my nose pierced as I've had it in for a week now. This is something I have wanted to do for quite a few months now, every time I saw one on somebody I just felt it transformed their faces and added an extra little something. I think it does suit me, so much so some people didn't realise I only just got it! I got quite anxious before I got this because my last piercing experience I was 12 and even though it was just my ears she managed to do it wrong... and I generally get anxious about things anyway.

This time I went to holier then thou in Manchester and they were so lovely. I didn't catch the name of the chap who did mine but he was really good at calming me down explained it shouldn't hurt as much because he was using a needle not a gun ( and no he wasn't allowed to use magic cream...:( ) and bam! In goes the needle, I just sat there like is that it? - He laughed did, the awkward part where they swap the needle for the stud and that was it! The sorest part is definitely after, I couldn't yawn properly because it hurt to stretch the nose. It was a little bloody for 2-3 days and now its pretty much healed where it doesn't hurt. I fiddle with it far to much which makes it sore and I know I shouldn't but I'm just a very fiddly person! I also caught it a few times when washing my face but all in all I love it! It takes 3 months to fully heal and I am going to put in a hoop, I only didn't get a hoop now because I thought a stud would be better for my sisters wedding, I even picked a colour to match the dress haha.

So I would say if your thinking about it and you really want one! Go for it - it really doesn't hurt as much as you think it will!!

Ciao x

Beauty: Body Shop Peach Vineyard

I wasn't sure if I was going to ever get to blog about my favourite collection from the body shop but when I went in the other day there it was...

Last summer I got the peach vineyard shower gel and exfoliating scrub..actually I got two shower gels because I loved it so much and they were stopping stocking it. I didn't want to blog about something that wasn't really available but last week in the arndale store in manchester there was vineyard peach shower gels... Let's say I rejoiced and I will be going back to get more. To celebrate this I also finally dug out my Peach vineyards which I had been saving for a rainy day and realised this was stupid and I actually needed to use the for the purpose in which they were bought.  I smell peachy fresh now. I don't know about you but I always buy something and when I reallyy love it I try to not use itbecause I want to save it, I am trying to break this habit because I actually end up wasting products!

I love body shop shower goodies and this smells divine.
Which are your favourite smells? I recently smelt a new raspberry one I am going back for!

Ciao x

Don't forget to re-follow http://www.dorkface.co.uk/ on her new blog lovin account!

Beauty: Bleach - Ombre kit

Ombre is something I have wanted to do for so long, I know its probably been overdone now but I really thing it adds a je ne sais quoi to peoples hair. I've been going through some physical changes this week with the nose stud and upcoming hair cut, I feel like I need a change and I am slowly starting to do all the things on my to do list this had to be one of them! initially I was going to highlight my hair to ombre but saw this kit and thought I should give it a go!

The kit has:
- 2 powder satchets
- 1 blending satchet
- bottle of liquid ( I forgot the name)
- box and brush
- gloves
- hair mask.

This was crazy easy to use, I would recommend having a friend do it for you as it would be heaps easier that way and probably more precise. I also used some foil to wrap the hair in once it was bleached and you will definitely need an old t shirt that your okay with getting bleach on.

Just a small background on my hair: it is ashy blonde and I have been semi permanently dyeing it for a year now and previously dyeing in permantly. The last times ( before the highlights) I have tried to bleach my hair it failed miserably so I wasn't expecting amazing results just something lighter.

I mixed the bleach up first. then used the blending satchet and drew a line where I wanted the dye then added the dye after rather messily but you could see the dye taking.
[EDIT - Here is a rubbish pic of me with it!]

The end result: I'm really impressed actually!! It pretty dyed to what I expected my highlights went proper blonde the blending cream has worked really well to make a natural ( as possible) fade into the dyed part. In  this picture it looks a little reddish and not as good as it does in real life. I'm going to maintain the blonde with Lushs Marilyn hair mask and the Lee Stafford Blondes shampoo. If I think my hair is in good nick I might use another box next month though I really like this dye I may just keep it like this! It's a little red toned but I think thats more the dye I put on a few days before and it doesn't always look so red hopefully the shampoo and mask will control it!

Ciao x

Ps have a look at http://www.saltandchic.com/ - some gorgeous outfits!!

Laptop down. I repeat laptop down.

I have a whole months worth of posts planned that may never happen it seems the day has come that my laptop has finally caved in on me. I have 2 posts planned however the next one needs editing and I can't figure out how to do this on my phone :( I'm not sure how long this will go on for or when I will be starting to post again! Hopefully soon! 😣😦 ciao x

Style: Cinema trip

I haven't done a style post in a while, I've been feeling really shmeh and unexcited about my wardrobe at the moment but bought this top on saturday from Huq in afflecks, the top is by glamourous. Excuse the freshly washed hair, it was drying au natural.

x
PS see something new on my face? post coming soon!

Beauty: MAC Eyeshadows - Naked Lunch & Shale

Does anyone else find it hard to take pictures of eyeshadows sometimes? I feel like these pictures don't do the shades justice.... Since it's payday I decided to treat myself to two new MAC eyeshadows, anyone building a MAC palette knows this is HARD work and rather expensive so I get one or two every other month.

 I had been looking a a lighter shade to use in my inner corners or to highlight and I had seen a lot of people raving about Naked lunch, It has a really soft goldeny hue to it I think it's going to be a popular lid sweeper as well rivalling Urban Decay in my 1920s looks.

Whilst browsing I noticed shale and just fell in love, I had to have it! I think its going to be perfect for a smokey eye look! It's a light purple-y grey, you really need to see this one in person. I haven't seen a shade like this before! ( The second pic makes it look darker then it is!)

Tell me your favourite shades!!

ciao x