Thursday 2 June 2011

My Bank Holiday Break

Just a wee travel  trip report as the lovely fiancé surprised me, by whisking me away for a surprise 24 hour break.
He let me know on Friday that we were going away but not where, just that it was within a 60 mile radius. This was to be Zedward's first ever night alone in the house. He is 16 but still........  So bribes were arranged and list of friends allowed round issued. 

Much mystery ensued at various junctions on the motorway - are we going east or west? North or south. So I shut my eyes and had a nap instead so the surprise could be prolonged until we finally passed Cheltenham Ladies College as we were about to park.

Wheeeeeee! I love, love, love HdV. Big beds;
Big showers;

And huge baths;

Not to mention nice toiletries from Arran Aromatics etc;
And they have a cool Cigar shack outside so you  can nip out for a crafty smoke, complete with fire and candles;
Cheltenham would have been ok, if it wasn't for the unending Bank Holiday rain :( and the fact that all the shops in the nice Montpelier area were closed for BH. 
Dinner was delicious at Blanc Brasserie though (even if they didn't have Creme Brulee).

And then next day it was all over and we had to go home again - shame, at least house was relatively tidy and un-partied in. I felt my wrinkles de-creasing whilst we were there so this is sort of beauty related ;)

Byeee
Elise

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NOTD - New Monster Plates arrived

My new Bundle Monster Plates arrived today from Amazon - Yeay!!  So naturally I had to give them a go., I'm going to be more methodical with the new set and work my way through from 201 onwards.
My Konad varnishes still haven't arrived (bad E bay seller - smack hands) so I made do with a base coat of the new No.7 Ltd edition Sultry Sands and Revlon Matt Emerald City.

This is the chevron design - I really need to practise my rolling technique as I always seem to miss the top of my nails.

This is a sort of bamboo look and I really like this one. Goes really well with the colours, don't you think?
And here I just decided to try out the other designs.

My favourite again :)


I'll give some more colours a go next week with the next plate. Any suggestions for contrasting colours??  I already found out that Rimmel's Your Majesty doesn't stamp at all (hmmph)

Bye
Elise
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Tuesday 31 May 2011

Payday! Superdrug Mini Haul

Yeay - It's payday so off I went to SpaceNK to celebrate :( Bored, bored bored! Nothing new or exciting there caught my eye, so their loss and I headed of to spend considerably less in Superdrug instead.
Clockwise from Left - NYC Skin Matching Foundation in Medium £3.99, NYC Smooth Skin loose face Powder £2.99, Beauty UK 3D-FX Mascara(Black) £2.99, Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliner in Rich Mahogany £3.49 and Rimmel Nail Varnish in Your Majesty £2.99.

Plus I finally remembered to use my NUS Extra Card(very mature student) and got 10% off everything and 175 Superdrug points.

I saw the Rimmel Your Majesty here on Liloo's blog after hearing her chat on Twitter about it (@tsunimee)  I already had the Coconut crush from my gold ombre on and just popped it on top to have a quick look  - So now it's more a metallic ombre


'Scuse the sloppy cuticles but I've been wearing the nails a few days now and they need tidying up again.


The Beauty UK stuff looks really nice as well. I shall try the mascara and eyeliner in the next week. Here's the 3D brush;
And the eyeliner;

Lasts so long that I've been out potting tomatoes, given my hands and nails a good scrub AND it's still there!! Hope it comes off with remover or I'll be sporting mahogany eyes for a few days!


The NYC foundation and powder I got mainly because I've been using Bare Escentuals minerals for a year now and I really fancy a change back to traditional foundations. If I break out then I'll go back to BE. Nice creamy texture on the foundation;

It blends in so well that you can't see it;
Then I just plonked some powder on so you can see the fineness(is that a word?) of it.;

 Again, you  can barely see anything, no powdery skin or ashy effects;just a little smear of colour, if you look really, really hard.
So not a bad hour's browsing(yes - it takes me that long!) Even if I was being stalked by the Superdrug assistant, just in case I;
a) nicked something or
b) tested anything!
Aargh - I really hate Superdrug for this - why do they have testers out if they don't want you to use them?

Bye 
Elise
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Sunday 29 May 2011

Golden Ombre Nails

I thought it was time that I had a go at the ombre nail effect. Lovely one here by Zoe in Pink and Blue.

I had a sort through my colours, and wouldn't you know it; I had 4 shades of most colours not the required 5, unless I wanted to do it properly by adding white to a darker shade(Nope) Then I found another mini MF nailfinity right at the bottom :D

 So we have from L to R - Revlon Scented in Coconut Crush, Nails Inc. Culford Gardens, Max Factor Nailfinity in Angel Nails, No.7 Stay Perfect in Molten and No.7 Stay Perfect (New Summer Ltd edition) in Golden Palms


 

Not a bad look but I could use a lighter shade on my pinkie really as the shade is a tad too dark.The golden tones go really nice with a tan as well.(except for the conspicuous gap on my ring finger as ring had to go back to be shrunk :( )

Has anyone else tried Ombre Nails?

Saturday 28 May 2011

Head, shoulders, knees and toes - well almost

Sorry for the delay, I've had my parents round this week so not much time free for blogging, Plus it's nearly the end of term and heaps of marking to do!
First item is the gorgeous pair of earrings from Goldsmiths - can't put the price as they were a surprise from my lovely other half. No reason - he's just lovely like that :D

White gold and they have a twist going around that you can just about see in the picture, and they are so light without poking me in the neck when I sleep in them!

I also did a wavey french on my nails with Revlon's new scented varnishes, Beach which is a yellowy, gold green and smells -beachy? The other one was Ocean Breeze which is a deep turquoise and smells very synthetic - not nice:(


 I used a stencil to get the wave effect but my nails are so narrow that it just look a little crooked.
Once you add topcoat though (Seche Vite) you can barely smell them so unless you want them to chip, it's pretty pointless. Still pretty colours though, but you need a good 3 coats or you get VNL


I also had a pedicure at college this week. The only problem is that it's pretty obvious she was learning to do pedi's. I was there for a whole hour!!!! She did give good foot massage though even if my nails are a tad ragged though.
 I had them painted with OPI in Tickle my France-y, which is a very nude colour. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to let them dry so my big toe ended up smudged, so I've cropped it off here ;)

And finally, I got home to find a small package waiting for me., I think it was courtesy of Club Olay but not too sure as there was no paperwork in the jiffy bag.
 3 pairs of Olay Regenerist Eye derma-pods. 
They say: 'Olay eye derma-pods are a triple action anti-aging treatment for eyes. They put 3 benefits at your fingertips for radiant, dramatically younger looking eyes, plus they are so quick and easy to use: just squeeze to release product, apply with a tapping motion, massage into skin.
3 transforming results
  1. The gentle exfoliating pad helps regenerate surface cells, revealing younger looking skin.
  2. It fills lines and wrinkles, microspheres help fill wrinkles for a smoother look.
  3. It reduces puffiness: Massage removes excess under-eye fluids for a more comfortable, less puffy look.
Olay's 'skin mimicking' polybeads fill lines and wrinkles to create instantly visible improvements. With regular use, regenerist eye derma-pod with penta-peptide complex and moisturisers reduces the appearance of wrinkles for dramatically younger looking eyes. For best results, use 1 pod for both eyes; to be used 3 times a week.'

There were also 2 little tubes of Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum, of which they say:
'Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum immediately hydrates the skin to give it an instant lifted appearance. It has been clinically tested to give firmer-looking skin on the face, neck and décolletage in five days and after two weeks, helps to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles for younger-looking skin.'

And finally, 1 little tube of  Olay Regenerist 30 second wrinkle filler:
'Target areas of concern with Olay Regenerist 30 second wrinkle filler. The dual action formula utilises a fill and seal technology that combines a unique Olay formula containing Penta-Peptides, Vitamin E and Pro-Vitamin B5 - along with a precision applicator, instantly reduces the appearance of deep wrinkles on the brow, in the corners of the eye, and around the nose.'

Anyone know what Penta Peptides really are?

I shall be using these over the next week, or until they run out and I'll report back what difference they make, if any. Hopefully they'll last at least 7-10 days so  enough to make a noticeable change?

Does anyone else use the Olay Regenerist range or am I the only one old enough to need it?

Anyway, I'm away for the Bank Holiday but I'll report back on any beauty finds on my return.

Bye
Elise
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Monday 23 May 2011

Boots 17 - All chic'ed up (plus a mini-rant)

I'm really liking the packaging of the Boots  17 range now. Very Vintage!

I got a voucher out of the Boots machine for a free Hide & Chic eye concealer with any product from the 17 range and I've been looking for a very nude lipliner, so for £2.59 I managed to get a lipliner and a concealer - brill value!
 This colour is called Fawn and it's a really pale nude, just right to go outside your lipline to give a good pout effect.
 Lovely and soft as well, so no dragging, even though it's a regular pencil, not a twisty up one.
This is with the Gosh lippie in Tropical Pink I blogged about the other day.
The free concealer is quite nice as well
Until I opened the cap - messy!!!!
Nice coverage though a little pale for me - most concealers are as I am very tanned at the mo'.
Blends in well;
And here's a before shot - Urgh wrinkles!


And after:

For some reason my photo has reversed my eye - weird!! 
As you can see, it doesn't blend so well on my eye - real streak going on as it dried too quickly before I could get any blending going on!! (But at last my eyebrows look neat.)

The mascara is the NYC Showtime Volumising Mascara (£1.99)I bought from Superdrug the other day. A very nice everyday mascara - nothing hugely wonderful, but it'll do for work and shopping. 

I need some input for a real show-stopper as all the ones advertised look great until you see the small-print - filmed with lash inserts - Grrrrrrrr! (that was the mini-rant)

The uploader also keeps turning my photos upside down, which is a real pain!

NOTD - Nails Inc Garrick Street and OPI Meet & Jingle

2 NOTD as I couldn't make up my mind and wore a different colour on each hand.
First up is the lovely Garrick St by Nails Inc that I got in a Lucky Dip box from a a Facebook promotion by Nails Inc. 6 mystery colours for £15!!
This went on lovely and smooth, with no VBL. It took 3 coats to be opaque though. Very shimmery and iridescent. The above was taken indoors
And this one was outdoors in natural light - amazing difference in colour!!!

The second one for my right hand was OPI Meet and Jingle. I love this colour - red with a hint of gold, but it was a bit thin and chipped within hours. Also the ends wore thin really quickly.
Still a lovely colour though.

I wore these through the weekend and the wear on the Nails Inc was brilliant - hardly a hint of nail end showing but I was glad to get the OPI off.

Bye

Elise

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Friday 20 May 2011

Hair of the Day courtesy of Grace :)

Following Grace's blog  Ooooh Pretty  - Top Knot I decided to give it a go.
I armed myself with a bun roll, hairclips and huge can of Elnett

What do you think?
 

I didn't get it very puffy cos I have a fear of back-combing LOL

Thanks Grace 


Elise 
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I Need a New Camera!!!!

It's official my camera and iphone are just not up to taking photos for this blog. Every phot I've taken today has either come out blurred or strangely yellow! Aaargh! 
Nevertheless I shall do the best I can with what I've got :)

I did a wee shop at Superdrug today and bought a GOSH lippie(£6.49) in  Tropical Pink. This is a lively bright pink and it feels quite smooth when it's on. I've had it on a couple of hours now and it's still there(just) through several cups of coffee.
Sorry - this is the best of a bad bunch (photos) Or I could use the orange ones -LOL
I also got a MUA eye-liner (£1.00) in Shade 3 which is a nice gold/bronze but   you can see from the above piccy (just) - application is really hit and miss. It is a lovely colour but it's really thick and hard to spread along so you end up having to so little blobs, then play join the dots. I may save this for nail art.

Swatch -  GOSH Tropical Pink, MUA Eyeliner - Shade 3

BTW - I can't get the eyeliner off my hand - I'm going to leave it and see just how long it takes - even MAC eye remover hasn't budged it yet!

I also got NYC Showtime Volumising Mascara (£1.99). I can't show you this as I still have heaps of Rimmel on. but it looks like a good everyday brush

One for rushing around in the morning when I haven't got time to do mega lash combing - unlike the Rimmel Day2Night one.

Nice little mini haul for under a tenner :)
Bye

Elise
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