Manic Monday #59

Hello! Welcome to another week. 

Things are still pretty manic in my home life, belongings in boxes and dotted around the house. I'm desperately clinging on to the necessities for another day or so. I'm sure I don't need 5 eyeliners, but you never do really know. I have used 2 today, in my mind that's justification right there. 

I returned to work, it was lovely to have some time away and be busy for a while, I am fully stuck in a mindless, boring rut at work as it has been quiet since Christmas. I will soon be pulling my hair out, unless things change quite soon!

I had some very sweet New Home cards from friends at work, which I really appreciated, it was very thoughtful of them.

My head space is a little fuzzy at the moment, so I don't feel like I can write a hugely witty and well versed Monday post like I usually do *canned laughter* so I won't bore you with my strange ramblings!

We're all set to move on Wednesday, I am driving a van...it'll make for an interesting day I'm sure!

Toodles!

x

Changes

[Image Source: Pinterest]

Life is full of changes.

Whether you feel comfortable with change or not, things will change.

All emotions will rear their heads at one change or another. It is OK not to feel OK about the change that may be occurring but it may also be mixed with excitement and feeling completely overwhelmed at the same time.

Just remember that all things pass and the world will still be ever changing. 

Toodles.

x

Recent Make-Up Loves

All the products pictured above are ones that I have recently been slapping on my face to make myself look mildly presentable of a morning.

I have fallen back in love with the Max Factor Skin Luminizer Foundation, when I first bought it I was applying with my RT Face Brush but found it looked cakey and didn't sit nicely on my skin. I decided to try it this time with my BeautyBlender and I freakin' love it. It really sheers out the foundation, leaving a dewy, radiant glow on the skin. 

Another rediscovery is my Wake Me Up concealer by Rimmel, this is definitely something I always end up going back to. Perfect amount of coverage, while giving a little luminosity and lift to the dark circles under my eyes and is also a great subtle highlighter for day wear. 

I finally managed to get my hands on Archery in Blonde Shell from Soap and Glory, it was always out of stock in both of my local Boots. My brows have always been light and I struggle with brow products from the drugstore. The match is great for me and it is definitely worth the hype!

My next love is, of course, my L'Oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono in Breaking Nude - I wrote a pretty swoony review on this here, so I won't go on too much. But I love paring it with the nudes found in the Naked on the Run palette.

Naked on the Run is another product I reach for regularly, it houses everything you'll need for a great natural look all in one beautifully packaged box. I am in love with Perversion too, I hadn't heard great things about the mascara and yes, it may not do what it's really made for - big, voluminous, blacker than black lashes, but it does give wonderful long, fluttery lashes which I am all about!

I really enjoyed writing this type of post, let me know if you'd like to see more of this kind of thing. What have you been loving recently? Anything I really need to try out for myself?!

Toodles.

x

Update

My life is currently in boxes and I missed yesterdays post, I honestly felt genuinely gutted about that as I have a review post that I am dying to write. 

However this week has been so incredibly busy, from start to finish yesterday I didn't stop packing and organising stuff, from that I went straight to a friends house for dinner, by the time I got home I was shattered and jumped straight in to bed. 

Things may be a bit out of the loop for the next few weeks as we are planning on moving, our moving in date is next Wednesday and I have no time off next week whatsoever, except the blessed bank holidays, so I'm uncertain if I will have time to post if at all, unfortunately I don't have much spare time this week to prepare and schedule posts!

I'm unsure what the situation will be with our internet installation, we're going to have to get that sorted tomorrow!

Today we bought pretty much the whole of Ikea, as this is our first place we have very little to take along with us! 

I am so keen  to do some home posts for you when we're settled, I'm so excited to have a blank canvas for us to get started with. I've bought a few pieces that I am super pleased to have and I'm sure will be great additions to our house. 

Now all I need is a bookcase...

I will try to post as much as I possibly can over the next few weeks but wanted to keep you updated if I do go MIA for a little while!

Toodles.

x

Manic Monday #58

 

The news that I mentioned in my previous MM post, which you can find here, is now official and is definitely happening!

We are finally moving out. 

I definitely feel more complacent with moving than I was last week and I am super excited now...I can already feel Homesense, Ikea and Oliver Bonas calling my name. Gah.

I still have my trepidations about moving as there is going to be 4 of us, but I'm putting my worries aside as I honestly think for the most part it will be such good fun being together.

Today I started some basic packing, such as clothing that I wear sometimes as opposed to regularly and have started packing bits and bobs that are dotted around our room at the moment.

I don't think I ever realised how much stuff I posses, but this will be a great opportunity to have a good clear out!

It's very cathartic, I have already filled a huge bag with clothes that I never wear anymore and am being quite ruthless with things that I'm hanging on to with the "just in case" mentality. Clutter drives me crazy, so I have a feeling that the ruthlessness will prevail.

I'm looking forward to this new chapter in my life and the countless trips to home ware stores...!

How was your weekend? Did you have an enjoyable one?! I'd love to know!
 
Toodles.

x

Independece

 Independence is a value I hold quite strongly in my own heart.

I love being independent, doing my own thing, being able to hold my own and not needing to rely on anyone else to get to where I want too. 

One of my biggest feasts is having to rely on someone or becoming dependent on someone. 

I hope that never becomes a reality. 

Toodles.

x

Roller Lash Mascara

It's just not a true Benefit release without huge hype surrounding it, needless to say Roller Lash was not forgotten.

And boy, was it worth it!

I got my cute mini Roller Lash from Elle Magazine's March release like I'm quite sure all beauty fiends did. I love mini mascaras anyway, they're great for travel and find they last long enough to know whether you do actually love the mascara or if it's just one to miss next time you purchase one. 

The wand is great, it reminds me of the Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express with the curved edge and the plastic bristles, the way they grab even the tiniest eyelashes remind me of my ever loved Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara.

The formula is meant to help the lashes keep a curl for longer than usual, it does on me to a degree, but I wouldn't say that the element of it is a new groundbreaking technology. The formula is quite wet on the first few applications, which I'm not a huge fan of but I defintiley find with Benefit mascaras they do get better with a little time, but it still coats every lash really evenly and gives great separation. I find you can layer it quite a few times without it becoming clumpy which is a huge bug bear of mine. 

It's a great mascara for day and night wear, in the day I layer it on a couple of times, trying to coat all my lashes, in the evening I like to double it up with something with a little more volume such as Max Factor's Masterpiece Transform (which I find impossible to use on it's own, but that's a different story for a different day).

The packaging for the mini is cute and the packaging for the full size version is, of course, even cuter. Priced at £19.50 and considering how long mascaras last I think I would definitely end up picking up a full size version of this. However I am hoping they do actually start selling the mini's in Boots like they do with the They're Real version!

I'm a sucker for a mini.

Personally, I am much more of a fan of Roller Lash than I was of They're Real, the flail-type ball on the end of the wand was hideous when poke-self-in-eye situations happened!

Have you managed to try Roller Lash yet? What do you think to it? Do you think it's a contender for They're Real?

Toodles!

x

Manic Monday #57

Hello! Happy Monday, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was jam packed full of seeing family and friends, my big brother turned 29 on Saturday and of course, it was Mother's Day yesterday and before I knew it my Monday alarm was tinkling away in my ear.

I had some pretty nerve wracking news today, it could potentially see some pretty huge changes in mine and Ben's lives quite quickly.

It has all come around very quickly and unexpectedly, so I'm finding it a little overwhelming. I am currently in my usual head-in-sand cycle of putting my headphones and listening to music.

But on the flip side it is also very exciting and will create some amazing memories for us to look back on. 

As things aren't 100% set in stone quite yet, I don't want to divulge the information just in case everything falls by the wayside tomorrow morning.

Once it's set, I'll reveal all!

A little cryptic one for you guys today, I am sorry. On Wednesday I am continuing my roll with the beauty stuffs. I'm sure I'll decide on Wednesday what I actually want to write about!

How was your weekend? Did you celebrate Mother's Day or any other occasion? I'd love to know.

Toodles!

x

Interaction

Social media is a wonderful thing, as is technology but sometimes I wish people would think back to when we didn't have mobile phones that are now even more powerful than some PC's.

Having dinner with my family today was a social event, yet several of my family members spent most of the time with their noses in their phones. 

At the table next to us a family shoved an iPod in front of their 3 year old to keep her 'entertained'.

New habits like this breaks my heart a bit, when I was a kid iPods/pads/phones weren't invented, myself and my cousins would entertain each other and play outside using our imagination to come up with the oddest games that nobody else would get.  

It's such a shame that people think they have to utilise their iPad for the entertainment of their child.

Interact, take notice, talk, listen, laugh and enjoy each others company. 

Not once did I feel the need to reach for my phone, check my Twitter or Instagram feeds...I enjoy seeing my family and catching up with them, we don't always get to see each other that regularly.

For a few hours, forget your phones, your feeds and ask how someones day is. You might learn something you might never have known if you didn't ask.

Toodles.

x

Letters to Friends #4

Dear Friend,

You're coming back.

You've been gone for quite some time and you're set to return quite quickly, the days are flying by until I will see you again. I won't lie to you and say that I have missed you or pined for you throughout the whole time you have been gone, as we hadn't had the best of times before you left, but recently I have been dreaming about you, missing your friendship and I actually am really looking forward to seeing you again.

Yours and my friendship has been quite extraordinary to say the least, you remind me so much of another friend but in other ways you are absolutely nothing like them. There is a side of you that I really don't like and I am hoping that your experiences may have made you change this habit, it definitely hasn't been a great attribute to our friendship.

But, you are loyal, fiercely so and I damn well admire you for that. You have so many other amazing traits to your personality that it seems a shame to hold on to the past. I think things will be fine upon your return and I am really hoping that things will be the same as before, I do miss you.

You're another person who I can be quiet with and not feel awkward.

Toodles.

x

Japonesque Velvet Touch Brush Set

I wanted to talk about some amazing brushes that I have been keeping under my hat until I felt I had well and truly tested these bad boys out. 

I am, of course talking about the Japonesque Velvet Touch brushes, I had never used Japonesque brushes before but saw them featured in Lisa Eldridge's Christmas Gift Set and thought to myself "if Lisa recommends them and they're £19, it's a no-brainer"...they were out of stock everywhere I could find them for a month or so, but managed to get them in early January from Beauty Bay. I did mention how tried and tested these are, right?

The handles are so incredibly chic and stylish they have a lovely  finish on handles, even though it is a silver finish it doesn't look cheap as it sometimes can.

 

The bristles are incredibly soft, you would definitely think these are real hair brushes but they definitely aren't, the softness makes for great blending and application, they're also very moveable which also aids the blending ability of this set. The softness is particularly great on the powder brush and the eyeshadow brush. 

I would like the blending brush to bit a little thicker as I really like to blend the edges of my eyeshadow, but you can't have it all! Did I say they are £19, oh wait I did...these are £19... 

Oh and did I mention how soft these are? No? They also clean really well, they pretty much looked brand new after I had washed them.

 

It's a great set of brushes and for an amazing price, I would definitely love to try out some more Japonesque brushes at some point! 

Have you tried any Japonesque brushes before? Or any of the make-up for that matter?! I would love to know if it's worth giving it a try!

Toodles.

x

(P.S - I may have just read that these were limited edition...oops)

Manic Monday #56

 [Image Source: Pinterest]

The start to a new week. I am starting the week off by attending a Clean Bandit gig in Birmingham, I am super excited to see them, I've been a fan of theirs before the blew up to what they are and I can't wait!

Gigs are always a bit of a bittersweet experience for me, I love to experience live music, I enjoy the atmosphere and being surrounded by a group of people who all enjoy the same thing as me. I find the whole experience quite euphoric. 

On the other end of the spectrum I suffer complete and utter anxiety for the majority of the day leading up to the gig. Alongside enjoying being in a crowd of people that are there for the same reason as me, I also panic endlessly that something bad is going to happen to me in such a huge crowd of people. 

I experienced my first panic attack at a gig and ended up leaving early, I convinced myself that I was going to die that night and needed to get out. Ever since then I have always struggled with attending gigs but still attend them as I love it and don't want to miss out on that aspect of my life.

I am pre-writing this as I will miss my posting time and thinking about the panic that I will feel tomorrow is making my heart race a little, however Ben is joining me and I always feel safer with him by my side. 

I will have to build myself up mentally for the evening but I will definitely enjoy attending it in the end. It is always worth me pushing through those barriers.

Do you struggle with attending events with large groups of people? How do you deal with it?

Toodles.

x

March

 March, I am happy to see you, as you bring with you that air of Spring.

Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day and I managed to spend a few hours out in my garden with out freezing my fingers and toes off.

You bring with you bright yellow daffodils, which I adore, they are always the first flowers to bloom in our garden, you bring a fresh air that seems so much easier to breathe than Winters, but best of all you bring sunshine.

I do love sunny Winters day, March, but yours are definitely better and not stolen away quite so quickly.

I really do see Spring as the beginning of the year.

You also host my brothers birthday, you're a good egg, March.

Toodles.

x

Favourite Drugstore Matte Eyeshadow?!

I know, I know, drugstore, amazing and matte don't usually hang with the same crowds. Drugstore or affordable make-up isn't exactly renown for it's matte formulas, but...but,but,but I think I have found...dare I say, the one.

Yet again, surprise, surprise - L'Oreal have knocked it out of the park for me, personally, with this beauty - Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono Matte in 106 Breaking Nude.

I currently own 4 of these lovelies, but this particular one is one that I pretty much use on a daily basis. Whether it's in the crease or a swash of colour over the lid on particularly lazy days. 

The texture of this is very soft and you can pick up a hell of a lot of shadow whether using a finger or brush to apply. Application is great, it blends seamlessly with other mattes, shimmers or cream bases. I have been wearing this a lot with Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze, the two go amazingly well together.

The fall out on this is also very minimal and it does stick around all day, which is great. I'm not one for reapplying make-up throughout the day even if it has pretty much disappeared besides my stubborn mascara.  

It is a very ashy-toned brown, which is a great fit for a huge range of skin-tones, particularly my cool-toned skin. This tone also makes this a great colour for using as a contour, it is very similar in tone to the Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder, but it definitely isn't as ashy as that one!

At £5.49 per shadow I would definitely recommend at least trying this particular shade, I would like to think you won't be too disappointed! 

Have you tried any of the L'Oreal Color Riche L'Ombre Pure Mono's before? How do you think the other finishes compare?

Toodles.

 x

Manic Monday #55

[Image Source: Pinterest]

Happy Monday! Currently, I would like to remove my tonsils from my body and never have to deal with them again. But enough about me and my self pity! I hope you all had wonderful and productive starts to your week. 

I read an article earlier which got me thinking about blog content a little deeper than I necessarily have been since I started. I generally like to ad-lib my posts, finding that my favourite posts to write are ones that come to me as I am writing them and find pre-planning posts quite difficult. You may have recently read in this post that I was chuffed at being planned up until the middle of March and if you are a regular around here...you know this hasn't been the case the last couple of weeks and I have missed my regular posting days! Naughty blogger! 

But I was musing earlier on the following; What is it that makes the content that you read interesting to you as a reader? Do you like the blog that you read to have personality emanating through its words? Is it clear-cut, no-muss, no-fuss reviews? Do you have to be interested in the subject matter? Is the content generally similar to your own? Does it have to be well written? How about the layout and feel of the blog?

I know that I like a fresh, clean and minimalistic blog to look at. I am indifferent about long or short posts, I generally only have the attention-span for a long post if I am genuinely interested in the subject matter. I think I have a varied interest in subject ranges, but know that home ware, typography design, literature and beauty are my absolute favourites. I do also like to dabble a little in thought-provoking posts and opinion led content. 

I like to think that my blog reflects the above, I do have a varied subject content, I am trying to clear up my blog a little on the design side to make it clean and fresh looking - difficult without any creative software at present! All I know is that I enjoy doing it and having something productive to do in my spare time! 

I am definitely an advocate for a The Devil Makes Work for Idle Hands and I am trying to keep myself busy in the evenings, blogging is a great outlet for me as I have always loved writing, both creatively and in diary-type formats.

What are your thoughts on the above? Do you have specific likes and dislikes for the points I mentioned? Or are there other elements of a blog that you find appealing?

Toodles!

 

 x

L'Oreal La Palette Nude

 

 

You may have guessed through my posts, I'm a sucker for L'Oreal. Make-up, skincare, haircare...the whole shebang and when I got an email from Boots pre-Christmas with the announcement of the L'Oreal La Palette Nude, I nearly squealed with delight.

The palette itself is slim, sleek, chic and nicely compact. It has a huge mirror inside, which would be great for travel.

I went for the Rose palette to mix up my pile of neutral palettes, this one is a mixture of pink and purple hued nude colours, with a highly unusual but incredibly beautiful pinky, peachy gold toned shimmer slap bang in the middle. This particular colour is completely different to anything I have seen before and is definitely not one that I would go for but I find it's a great highlight for the inner corners and brow bone.

Through playing around with the shades I have unknowingly used all of the shades and I gotta say, they are all great colours.The shades do lack that pack-a-punch pigment that can be found within the L'Oreal Color Riche L'ombre Pure eyeshadow pots that are amazing, but the La Palette Nude is still great for day wear and with a lot of layering, primer, smoking and blending you can still get great evening looks from it.

The brush that comes with it is half sponge applicator *shudder* and half brush...which isn't overly great for anything other than applying colour to the lower lash-line. It's quickly been lost in my brush storage. 

Have you got around to trying either of the La Palette Nude's yet? What do you think?

Toodles.

x