London at Christmas: Part 1

Good morning!

On Monday I went to London with my mum for a bit of Christmas shopping and soaking up the festive spirit; I mean where else would you go in the UK for the ultimate window displays and Christmas lights!

We had an amazing time eating and drinking and wandering around many department stores, I ached for 2 days afterwards from the amount of walking and the carrying of shopping!

I actually took so many photos that I've ended up having to separate them into two posts. The window displays and lights were so gorgeous that I had to take more photos and it would be a shame not to show them all!

We managed to get to Liberty, Selfridges, Harrods and Covent Garden all within a day which was a pretty great achievement considering we walked the majority of the distances. This post will be about Liberty and Selfridges as we visited those first.

I don't think the front of the Liberty store needs any introduction; it's a gorgeous Tudor style building in the centre of London amidst boring concrete blocks and its such a surprise walking around the corner to find it.

I love the details like the soldiers at the doors to the chocolate shop; you don't get that anywhere else!

In the centre of the store is the infamous hall where there is currently a Matilda display. I have had the pleasure of going to the show of Matilda and it was amazing; seeing this display taken from the show was a lovely reminder of how amazing it was, it's one of my favourite films.

There were tonnes of products in Liberty that I could have snapped up. One of my favourite things in all the world are books. When I saw these books lined up on a stand I couldn't help but take a photo. It's my aim in life to have a huge book case full of leather books and I have a large amount already hidden in a wardrobe waiting for me to move out. The Alice in Wonderland book I've seen many times online but I didn't realise you could actually buy it still!
I've added it to my Christmas list as they'd sold out in store and hopefully my mum will get it for me!

I did pick up a few chocolate bits from the chocolate store for presents and also a sneaky present for myself which I'm sure will be in a future post! I couldn't resist buying something as the bags are beautiful and free in England!

Selfridges was the next stop and we wandered there from Liberty stopping off in many shops along the way including Boots and Forever 21 where I was really naughty and spent money that I shouldn't have!

I couldn't help but take a photo of the sign; it is also iconic after the tv program Mr Selfridge.

Their window displays were amazing, all snow scenes with different objects that you can buy in store. My personal favourite was the snow globe with the Selfridges store inside, it's absolutely beautiful! Though for a window display I do think that maybe there should have been some fake snow flowing around the globe for better effect!

The window displays were out of this world, the YSL clutch bag tassle actually did swing as if someone was carrying it. 

I love how the swans were carrying bags on their backs like it was a normal thing to do!

I also couldn't believe that the Kitty Slippers ears actually wiggled!

All the displays were amazing and it took some fighting to get to the front of each window and take a decent photo! Lots of people obviously have the same idea.

For lunch we went to the food hall in Selfridges and had a house salad and a pot of tea:

It was the BEST house salad I've ever eaten and was worth every penny. After choosing what I wanted they take it into a metal bowl and mix it up with your chosen dressing and pour it back into your bowl.

It was so filling and the taste was out of this world that I devoured it and didn't need anything else at lunch which is a big surprise for me ha.

Have you been to Liberty or Selfridges yet this Christmas? Will you be going?

Have you tried any food at Selfridges lunch hall? What would you recommend for my next meal there? I found it so hard to choose!

L xxx

Nail Polish Haul!

Hi there!

I've been on a sort of spending ban ever since I bought my car. Owing £4k makes me uncomfortable and I cannot wait to get that debt paid off....but Christmas and offers are killing me and I've ended up succumbing to so many deals and eBay especially!

Have you ever bought nail polishes off ebay before? I'm always dubious but can't resist especially when some of the ones I wanted were limited edition and only sold in shops for a number of weeks.

Recently I have picked up polishes from Essie and OPI and kept my fingers crossed they were genuine.

First up at the OPI polishes, both from the James Bond 007 set that came out last Autumn/Winter time. I'm a HUGE james bond fan and couldn't resist collecting them all. But unfortunately for me at the time I'd been out of work for almost a year because of uni so having minimal funds left meant I couldn't afford all of them even in the Christmas sales. So it has long been my mission to get my hands on all of the colours (aside from the real gold flake top coat....£30 for a nail polish I just cannot justify!)

2 that I was still missing were Live and Let Die, a dark green gold shimmer polish and You Only Live Twice; a red/pink shimmer.

Both of these looked gorgeous in the bottle and in online pictures so seeing them on ebay for around £6 instead of £11ish I was excited to use them.

Live and Let Die is shown below:

These pictures were taken with 2 coats of polish and one of top coat and you can see that they come out very uniform and not streaky at all.

The colour is a lot darker than I thought it would be and the shimmer doesn't show up as much which was a bit disappointing.

It's more of a sludgy green in comparison to how it photographs in the bottle but it might get used over the winter months.

You Only Live Twice is shown in the pictures below:

Excuse the awful lighting...I had to take a picture super quickly as I got to work as the lab seems to kill any manicure I have within minutes!

Again this was uniform and opaque in 2 coats and seemed to come out more true to colour than the previous polish.

I'm glad I didn't pay full price for these polishes....not only did they not come out as I imagined after comparing them to my other Bond polishes they are most definitely fakes!
The labels on the bottoms are not the same font or size and these 2 polishes smell very strongly in comparison to the others. This is an unfortunate part of ebay and what tends to put me off in the first place as you never know what chemicals were used to create them and they aren't regulated at all.

I highly doubt I will use these again as I'm always wary of suspect chemicals....definitely learnt my lesson with OPI polishes!

Essie polishes were a different story!

I purchased these three from 2 different sellers who I will link below.

After a quick browse one day on ebay I couldn't resist snapping up Recessionista and Miss Fancy Pants. Both of these are my favourite colours for winter; I love berry shades on my nails and nudes are always welcome particularly Essie ones! I believe they are from a previous winter collection though I'm not sure which.

I bought them from this seller who has a range of products including Essie for a mere £3.62 so I snapped them up and they combined postage for me too which is always lovely.

Beyond Cosy is a polish that I have previously bought in the Winter Collection from Essie last year (see here) and I've used this one plus Leading Lady quite a bit since! I knew I was going to have to pick up the full size one soon and luckily for me Fee from Make Up Savvy put up this post with a link to a discounted version on ebay I couldn't help it! 

I ended up getting it from this seller who Fee mentions in the same post and it's such a gorgeous colour!

Here's a design I did with Beyond Cozy underneath and Recessionista on the top; its one of my favourite ways to wear metallic and glitter polishes!





The flash used above is my awful iPhone flash and is very blue so the colour is not very true here but the gold glitter shines so nicely!

I have used Miss Fancy Pants since purchasing it but didn't take a photo. As I already owned Chinchilly (also by Essie) it was only natural that I compare the two and found that they are very similar, which MFP being slightly lighter.

The picture below shows Chinchilly just for reference; I'm sure MFP will make it into a NOTD soon as I can't stop using any of them!

What do you think about buying cosmetics off eBay?

Most of the time I avoid it but nail varnish is normally ok; save for the OPI ones as they're such big money makers!

Do you like my purchases? Will you be buying any of them?


L xxx

Review: Origins Zero Oil Toner

Morning sweet cheeks!

What a cringe way to start a post eh? Ha i couldn't resist, it's the festive spirit taking over.

Are you a fan of toners? I used to be until i read that most contain too much alcohol (when I was about 15) and so I stopped using them. Over the past few years though I still seem to buy them and in all honesty i was a bit baffled, why was I buying them and not using them?!

I picked up the Origins Zero Oil toner when my skin was super oily, which seemingly changed overnight and ever since my skin has had it's oily t-zone but been too dehydrated and temperamental for me to even think about using this toner and so it was confined to the back of my desk drawers.

Recently though my skin has stopped being so sensitive and I still have that oily t-zone so I decided it was time to get it out and give it a go or donate it to someone who could actually use it.

Origins Zero Oil Pore Purifying Toner contains saw palmetto and mint to combat oil production, salicylic acid to aid exfoliation and blocked pores, aloe leaf juice and glycerin to help with redness and a whole load of essential oils.

I apply this in the mornings with a cotton wool pad and concentrate on my t-zone with a quick swipe over the rest of my face.

It feels really cool and refreshing and definitely helps to mattify my skin ready for moisturiser. It doesn't feel like it has stripped my skin like other strong toners have done in the past and I was generally surprised how much I have liked using it and have actually been getting through it rather quickly!

I love that it contains salicylic acid, it's one of my favourite products for skincare because it has never reacted badly with my skin and has so many good effects especially in terms of exfoliation.

I've been surprised at how well this toner has worked and it's changed my opinions on them, maybe some of them really do work!

Which is your favourite toner? Do you use any of the Origins toners?

The Zero Oil toner can be bought online or in store for £18 for 150ml.

L xxx

Rimmel Match Perfection Silky Loose Face Powder

Hello lovelies!

I'm sure most of you use a powder every morning to set your base, and possibly even throughout the day when reapplying or touching up your make up.

I've always been a pressed powder fan, but M is a fan of loose powder. Seeing the Rimmel Match Perfection on one of the many offers in Boots I couldn't help but snap it up!

Rimmel are obviously a UK beauty fan favourite. Not only do they have a massive range of products to cater to everyone's needs, they're well priced, have a fun advertisement campaign and are almost always on offer so you can maximise your money. What more could you want?!

The Match Perfection range has many fans, myself included. About a year ago when both me and M were looking for products w could use to contour our super pale faces with we ended up picking up the lightest and darkest Match Perfection foundations to help us to do the job, and as you can imagine they were great and still get used today.

I knew I needed to pick up powder so in a 3 for 2 deal I picked up my usual Stay Matte Pressed Powder and then this one as my 'freebie' so I could try it out.

This loose powder comes with a little puff thing, which looks cute but isn't any use for me. I wouldn't be transporting this with me anywhere as I don't generally touch up my make up throughout the day so this has been donated to my younger cousins who have loved having some make up!

The inside of the pot is like any other loose powder product, it has a plastic covering with holes in to allow only a certain amount of product to be accessed at one time. I'm sure shaking it everywhere would defy this but generally that's not something you do...

Having tipped a little out and applied to my hand I was a little worried at first, it looks very light even on the back of my super pale hand!
The colour I picked up was Translucent, so I was hoping this would blend in nice and easy.

However I was glad to be wrong and it blended in beautifully and didn't leave any white residue marks as I thought it might when a flash was used:

To apply the loose powder in the mornings I used my Real Techniques Powder brush and Setting Brush.

The powder brush I swirl in the pan and then in the lid to ensure an even and uniform coverage on the brush which then hopefully translates to my face, I then use the setting brush for applying powder under my eyes on the delicate skin and around my nose to combat shine. Here are the results:



The powder applies really well and I don't find that I lose too much of it and find more on my top than my face. It sets my make up really well without being too cakey or powdery and doesn't make my skin too matte looking either.

It seems to withstand the hot/cold air con in my lab pretty well and hasn't been disappointing in keeping shine at bay as many other expensive powders I have tried before.

Here's a close up so you can see how natural and not powdery/cakey the effect is:

I've been quite impressed with this loose powder in comparison to its pressed powder counterpart, I'd definitely not be put off buying them in future like I previously have been.

Rimmel just seem to know what they're doing and for the price this will not disappoint whatsoever!


What's your favourite; pressed or loose powder? Are you a big Rimmel fan?


L xxx