Thursday 24 November 2011

Flutterbyes

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Firstly I’d like to say hi to all my new followers! I was so happy to see 30 new faces on my dashboard (plus 30 blogs to ponder over).

As you know it was my birthday last week and my chosen night out destination was Essex. In true Essex style I bought some false lashes to wear that I thought I’d share with you. Now I’m, definitely a semi-permanent lashes girl and have never had much success with the DIY glue-ons, so with that in mind when I went to buy a pair of Eyelures, I noticed this new brand Kiss. Their lashes came with ‘easy place strings’ to help those of us who aren’t so blessed when it comes to perfect application. At a pound more than the Eyelures, I thought I’d give it a shot – anything to make the process easier!

Well not only did the strings hinder my application but they were a right pain to remove without pulling the whole set off! My night started horrendously as my lashes caused MAJOR stress!! I applied my eyeshadow first (is this wrong?) then attempted to glue the lashes, following the three golden rules. Did they stick? No. Did they get mountains of glue on them to no avail? Yes. My mum even tried but it was hopeless!

In the end I had to abandon them completely in the hope that I’d have time to try again once I was ready...which I did with a more positive outcome. I applied liquid liner beforehand and then held the glued lash in place for a few minutes which seemed to do the trick. They still detached in the corners throughout the night so I had to make a few trips to the ladies – it is so not an attractive look to sport when one falsy is hanging off!

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Once they were on, they did look really good and the set were lovely. I think it’s just me. I’m poop at applying them and lose patience very easily. Plus I spend the whole night saying, “are my lashes still on?”. Nightmare! Was a fabulously fab night though. We bumped into Mick for any TOWIE fans out there, AND we were in the same taxi that took Mark Wright home a few weeks ago before his departure to the outback. Jel??

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Do you have trouble applying false lashes? I just can’t get the hang of it!! Please tell me your secrets...

Ps, if you like the look of these, this Youtube lady seems to have the nack of it!

Wednesday 16 November 2011

The Benefit of Debenhams

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Another product related post – I do apologise!

It was my birthday yesterday (yay!) and I asked for mainly money or MAC vouchers as I feel it’s about time I lose my MAC virginity once and for all. However I won’t find out until this weekend whether I can make a trip to the store or not as all my cards and presents are at home...

The point of the story is I really want to revamp my whole skin make-up collection, but inconveniently FOUR days before I go home, see what money/vouchers I’ve been given, my Benefit Erase Paste concealer ran out! Completely gone. Not even a scraping. So I was posed with a dilemma. Do I pick up a cheap concealer to tide me over? Or re-purchase my little paste pot? Or go without? What I really wanted to do was wait until I could go and buy a new one from the place-I-want-to-try-skin-make-up-from (not saying the M_ _ word anymore!), but with a big birthday night out on Friday, I just couldn’t go without.

So I popped along to Debenhams in Southampton – about half 5 in the evening and no one else was on the counter, the poor girl was cleaning with a bored expression on her face - with the intention to just bite the bullet and re-buy my Benefit pot. Whilst there, I remembered they also offer another concealer (‘Boi-ing’) which is cheaper so thought I would give it a go. The sales consultant tested the product on me and it felt so much lighter with a lovely matte finish. At £16.50 (£2 cheaper than E Paste), I was sold!

With my purchase came two little, very welcome surprises. Firstly they informed me that with every purchase made on that day, they were booking people in for a free facial, makeover and gift to take home in the new year. Perfect after a stressful first semester! So in I booked for January 12th. And then, they decided to give me 10% off because of my student status!! Since when do Debenhams do discounts? Needless to say I left one very happy girl.

So far I’ve been really pleased with the product. I think it resembles foundation more than a concealer as it’s quite thick but ever so light. I have shade 2 which matches me well, but it doesn’t cover blemishes or dark circles as well as my Erase Paste did. So don’t worry M_ _, I will be along soon – birthday cards permitting. Fingers crossed they’re not all empty!

What MAC products do you swear by? And do you like product reviews/purchase posts? Let me know :)

Friday 11 November 2011

No7 and Rimmel make-up purchases

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As mentioned previously I’ve recently bought a new mascara and I luurves it. It’s the new No7 Lash Adapt in black. I was looking for one that created length, volume and curls (a girl can dream right?) and I’ve always been a fan of this brand so thought I’d try them first – plus I had one of the fab £5 off vouchers! It normally retails at £12.50.

I originally wanted a silicone brush as a personal preference but after speaking with the sales assistant, I opted for this one which actually has a bristle brush. She was wearing the mascara herself and said it’s great for buildable volume (as it says on the tube) without leaving you clumpy. This is what I love most about it, plus:

# It glides on easily, not catching in your lashes or going crispy
# You can reapply as many times as you like to create a darker, more volumised look without worrying about clumps
# It removes really well (after using the Collection 2000 mascara which smears like anything when you remove it, this was a welcome blessing)
# And it really lengthens well – it doesn’t curl unfortunately but that’s what curlers are for!

I’m so impressed with this and will definitely be buying it again. Sometimes I finish it off with a little of a different mascara just to curl the tips of my lashes – does anyone else mix and match at all?

I also picked up their Amazing Eyes Liquid Liner in black. As a complete dunce when it comes to eyeliner I was wary of using it but really wanted to learn how to create that lovely flick-look, and thought ‘practice makes perfect’.

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For someone that could never draw a smooth line using liquid-liner, I’ve surprised myself with this product and would recommend it to anyone. It has great staying power (lasting all day), is so easy to use and I find the thin brush useful rather than tricky as I can build up a thicker line in stages. This retails as £8.75 but again I had a voucher so got mine for £3.75!! Bargain.

One more product that I’m in love with of late is the new Kate Moss Rimmel lipstick in 05. It’s a sheer muted pink colour with a slight shimmer and it’s my new go-to lipstick. It feels lovely to wear, very moisturizing and I like that it has a slight sheen to it opposed to a matte finish. They are £5.49 – I want every colour!

Have you tried anything from the Kate Moss Rimmel range yet?

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Wednesday 9 November 2011

My secret addiction

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I must confess, I have an addiction. No it’s not to shoes, bags, or Lush products (well maybe a little). It’s rather rare – I’ve never met anyone with the same problem.

“My name’s Rebecca and I’m a sleep-mask-aholic.”

A sleep-mask?! Well I’m not sure of their official name but you know those masks you place over your eyes when you go to sleep? You get them on long-haul Virgin Atlantic flights, you can buy them in La Senza and Matilda’s mum wears one in the classic film? Are we on the same page now?

I’m not too sure what their purpose is or even how I became addicted but no word of a lie, I cannot sleep without mine on. This is not a good thing. One, having a piece of elastic strapped around your head for eight hours cannot be good; two, if it slides off (you see mine’s silk) it wakes me up; and three, the darn thing makes me spotty! So for that third reason alone, I need to break the habit!

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I started wearing a sleep-mask about six years ago because my then bedroom would let light flood in of a morning and wake me up. Now, my bedroom both at uni and at home are pitch black (just the way I like it) and there is no reason whatsoever for me to wear my little ‘In Your Dreams’ mask. It looks stupid, can be irritating and is clearly not good for my skin – I realised this as obviously overnight having something rub against both cheeks and forehead, combined with an oily t-zone creates a very spotty me :(

It has to stop! But I’m finding as I try and wean myself off it, that I’m so used to having the pressure against my eyes that forces them shut and therefore me to fall asleep, that without it I lay wide awake. I feel like I actually cannot sleep without it on and leave it under my pillow ‘just-incase’. Except ‘just-incase’ is turning into every night again. Without it I feel as though my eyes can open (duh!) and therefore they do. Whereas with my mask on, they don’t have a choice and I get to sleep much quicker. It’s not even about darkness now (which I guess is their sole purpose) but about keeping my eyes shut long enough for me to fall asleep.

I’m weird I know. But it is actually a slight issue now and I don’t know how to break it. Unless I’m really reaaally tired, I always resort to the little silk number.

Am I the only eye-mask freak out there? Do you have any tips as to how I can break my habit?

Sunday 6 November 2011

October catch up

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My Sunday catch up posts have taken a serious deep in frequency of late so I decided to use the first weekend of November to revive them. November is a very special month after all...not only is it the month before Christmas(!) but my birthday falls right in the middle of it!! Yay for presents, balloons and total adoration (only joking).

So what have I been up to lately? Hmmm quite a lot so I’ll list it for you, otherwise we may be here a while:

♥ Third year is in full swing (who knew it meant working every minute of every day? Sigh)
♥ As you can see my blog has had a little makeover with a sparkly new header courtesy of Abby – Thank you!
♥ As of Monday my blog button will be hosted on lovely Louise’s beauty blog – she’s my absolute favourite blogger but has a lot to answer for as her videos/posts distract me A LOT from uni work :)
♥ I recently grew whiskers, ears and a tail for Halloween as you can see. My friend was a copy cat ;)
♥ I’m having a birthday night out in Essex in a couple of weeks and we’re going to Sugarhut! So excited as I’ve never been to Brentwood before
♥ I have a new blog on tumblr that is linked with an assignment of mine. If any of you are like me and on a countdown to the end of uni, you may want to have a looksie – we can share fears, worries and moments of sheer panic
♥ I’ve been Christmas shopping for myself (oops) that family can give to me which I’ll show you in another post with my new camera!!
♥ I’m making full use out of the more wintery weather with boots, scarves and coats. Although I’m hoping it gets colder soon as this doesn’t feel like November weather to me
♥ I have developed serious procrastination issues. Does anyone have a cure? In desperate need!
♥ And I’ve discovered a few new blogs lately that I love, one in particular is Laura’s – she is hilarious!

All in all my life seems very mundane of late so I don’t have much exciting news to share with you. Last night I went to my first firework display in Southampton (usually we just watch it from the flat as the view is bloody good) but I really fancied going to one this year. It was over the docks and so pretty. You’ve gotta love bonfire night food too haven’t you? Hot dogs, burgers, jacket potatoes…delicious!

Did you do anything for Guy Fawke’s night? Hope everyone stayed safe.