Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

Happy Friday lovely people!

I've got a lovely quiet(ish) weekend lined up where I'm meeting some old friends for lunch and aside from that it's going to be relaxation and bliss on the cards.....and a whole lot of catching up on tv! This new job has taken up a lot of my time doing extra reading and trying to keep up with my gym and classes so I'm looking forward to catching up with everything else.

A few weeks ago both myself and M nabbed ourselves one of the Space NK Gift With Purchase bundles that I haven't even begun to get through; free stuff is so much fun. But obviously we had to spend £150 to get said gifts and this became my opportunity to snap up some much raved about Nars products. I'd never used any whatsoever before this so had quite a wishlist and proceeded to cross some of them off; I've previously posted about the infamous Orgasm blush - post here - and now you can read my review of the nearly as famous Lip Pencils.

It didn't take much convincing for me to add this to my basket, Anna from VDM who I'm sure you all MUST be aware of always looks gorgeous wearing hers so as we are the same colouring it was a no brainer.

Cruella, as if I could leave it after seeing that name! Brings back all the memories of the oh so glamorous Ms Deville and the colour is perfectly fitting.

It's a matte lip pencil, there is also a satin and a velvet gloss lip pencil range (come back for a future review of a satin pencil also!) and so I snapped up one from each range for comparison purposes....obviously.

The pencils themselves are typical in NARS design with monochrome packaging but have the added advantage of having a coloured base; this would be great when choosing between nude, red, pink etc but may be problematic with differentiating between reds...however I don't own enough of them at this point to worry about that!

The Lip Pencils are super easy to use, I have used liner with this one as I have a similar colour to match it but they haven't bled a single time i've used them so are good enough to use without one. The colour is so pigmented and although the matte did feel quite dry on application compared to other lip products, it didn't actually dry my lips out any further.

Clearly they are easy to use, you just need a larger sharpener to get the pencil in (rumour has it UD's Grindhouse is the best - added to wishlist!) and it's so easy to apply the colour that you could even slick on a layer whilst on the bus - though you'll definitely need to check you are in the lines for a colour this bold!

So how does it look on?

These photos were taken with minimal make up apart from the lip pencil and I love the slightly vampy look!

I love the colour, it's a perfect red and I can see me wearing this a lot in future. Even though these photos were taken in natural day light the colour in reality did seem to be darker than the photos show but nevertheless you can see the finish.

I was really impressed by the wear time of these lip pencils too. I'm sure I went a good 6 hours without the need to reapply and that was through multiple meals/snacking/drinks and I think i reapplied purely for the feeling of knowing there was something on my lips!

I would fully recommend the matte range and am tempted to look at the other colours but must resist for the next month or so.....

The Matte Lip Pencils come in at £18 for 2.4g of product and are available in 21 colours.

Have you tried one of the matte lip pencils? What's your favourite colour? Any recommendations for future NARS purchases??

L xxx

Super Facialist Una Brennan Vitamin C+ Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil

Morning!

I've been raving on twitter for a little while how much I absolutely love Una Brennan's Super Facialist Skin Renew Cleansing Oil. It's everything about it and I just cannot get enough!

Costing £10.99 from Boots, I have always heard great things but for some reason just never got around to buying it. Now I'm annoyed at myself!

Vitamin C is known for its anti ageing and brightening properties and so it's a welcome addition to my routine. Double cleansing is also something that I've become increasingly aware of and so I couldn't wait to start cleansing with an oil first to remove grime and make up and then cleanse my skin properly with my usual cleanser.

As for the contents, here;s what they say:

 Infused with Vitamin C and nourishing Olive, Grapeseed and Rosehip oils, this highly soluble oil transforms itself, upon contact with water, into a light milky texture. Boosted with Rosemary oil, Vitamin E and soothing Cucumber oil it gently dissolves face and eye make-up and removes daily impurities.

Sounds like it might be alright yeah?

I simply pour a few drops of this into my palm and then apply it to my dry face and let it work its magic. It seems to melt off the majority of my make up really easily and even manages to get through the toughest mascara and the boldest of eye liners.

When you've had enough of rubbing it over your face you simply add water and it turns to a milk and can be rinsed off, easy peasy. I then follow this with a cleanser and hope that this is helping to cleanse my skin more deeply and thoroughly.

I cannot go any further without mentioning the smell. If I could drink this, I would and I have found myself sat in the bathroom just sniffing the bottle; I'm a fan of the old citrus scents and this one is fabulous!

Needless to say after using this for a few weeks my skin feels thoroughly cleansed and it hasn't had any negative reactions whatsoever; I'm a firm fan and with Boots often doing 3 for 2 deals on skincare I can certainly see this becoming a firm favourite, especially for £10.99!

Have you tried any of the Superfacialist range? What's your favourite? 

I've used a few things from the range before but this is my favourite so far!

L xxx

101 things is over!

Hey All 

So last week, our 101 things ended! I can't believe how quickly those 1001 days have gone. A lot has changed and after some chats with L I'm going to be taking more of a back seat on the blog. At the moment I just can't find the time to give to blogging as much as I'd like. Last week I started my certificate of competence in work so as well as uni I have a portfolio to now complete as well as working full time and everything else. I will miss blogging as regularly but hopefully stepping back means I can really enjoy blogging again and it will come across in my posts!

So today I though I'd share how I got on with my 101 things.

1. Learn to drive - this didn't happen I have no desire to!

2. Read 5 classic novels (The Best of Everything Rona Jaffe, The picture of Dorian Grey) So only two. That's not great!

3. Get the dream job (either go back to uni or find another) Starting back at University in Sept which should lead to the dream job!!

4. Sell a cake to someone  ( 3 cakes sold last week, huge smile)

5. Visit Paris- I had the opportunity but a lack of leave from work meant I had to turn it down. GUTTED

6. Try 10 new foods (1. Sushi 2.wasabi peas 3. hollandaise sauce, 4. seabass, 5. black pudding 6. kippers, 7. Taramasalata 8. Pate 9. Lava Bread 10. Creme Brulee )

7. Go on a girls holiday

8. Ring to my grandparents more often (ringing them fortnightly, it's hard as neither of them can hear me, now ring on fridays to have a quick chat)

9. Give Star Wars a chance and watch all the films 

10. Start a hobby or exercise class (Half there on this one, I now regularly run, I also do kickboxing and the gym)

11. Volunteer in a homeless shelter

12. Get out of my overdraft -I am technically out of it but paying back the debt regularly

13. Get extensions (my hair never grows past shoulder length :( boo) (they are now fitted and I love them, post found here)

14. Watch 100 new films (1. The Vow, 2. 500 days of summer 3. Avengers 4. The Midnight Meat Train 5. Hard Candy 6. The Lazarous Project 7. Spy Hard 8.Horrible bosses 9. XMen origins 10. Usual Suspects 11. Passengers 12. Basketball 13.The mothman prophecies 14.Nightwatch 15. Flightplan 16.The Mist, 17. Peacock 18. Borat 19. American Pie Reunion 20. 2 days in New York 21. Magic Mike 22. Spiderman 23. Batman 24. Ted 25. Friends With Benefits 26. Twilight 27. Casino Royale 28. Quantum of Solace 29. Skyfall 30. Silver Linings Playbook. 31.LOTR 1 32. LOTR 2 33 LOTR 3 (really wasn't interested in them so don't know the names but I sat through them. 34. Star Wars iv 35. Star Wars v 36. Star Wars vi 37. Avengers Assemble 38. Django Unchained, 39. Wreck it Ralph, 40. Antiviral, 41. The Campaign, 42.Taken 2, 43. Les Mis, 44. Anchorman 2 45. Hunger Games Catching FIre 46. Star Wars 1 47. Star Wars 2 48. Star wars 3 49. The Impossible 50. White house down 51.  I'm sure there is more. I watch them and forget to add them. I gave up adding these to the list! )

15. Get down to 10 stone (Eating healthy and exercising now. Got below it for holiday but haven't maintained)

16. Visit 5 new places in the UK (1. Stratford upon Avon, 2. Brighton 3.Southhampton 4. Lake District 5. Ogmore by Sea

17. Have a BBQ on the beach like old times

18. Have organised storage for my make up and nail varnish (make up now sorted out and stored better but still not how I want it. Post on it here.)

19. Continue blogging

20. Get a new piercing (I got a surface piercing by my tragus)

21. Go to go ape (tree top adventure) - The boy has promised to take me here now!

22. Be a tourist in my own town (go on the red bus) (I have now been to the museum) L and I decided the bus was too exprensive!

23. Purchase a food processor (seems a random one but I love cooking and baking) just haven;t been able to afford one. One day I will.

24. Win a competition (I'm yet to win a competition) (won a necklace from Adorning Ava a competion hosted on http://www.theagoraphobicfashionista.com/, whooo)

25. Purchase a Mulberry (I got myself Mulberry shoes so I'm counting this)

26. Visit the science museum (L and I went in February)

27. Buy a high end foundation (after being thoroughly disappointed by Chanel Perfection Lumiere I purchased Mac Pro long wear and I love it, full review here)

28. Purchase my first item of Mac (eeeek, I love it all already, here is my haul)

29. Own over 100 nail varnishes (With the addition of my Ciate Mini Mani Month I've reached this)

30. Do my third half marathon

31. Actually train for it (the other two I've done with out training and that ended in pain) I trained a bit but let myself down the 8 weeks before!

32. Go to a Roller Disco / Derby 

33. Learn a language

34. Get first aid qualified

35. Donate platelets 10 times (providing I test ok to do it, if not give blood every 3 months) (It turned out my viens weren't suitable for platelet donations but I have given blood as regualry as I can!)

36. Host a Dinner Party

37. Go to 3 weddings (this I can't control but I love weddings) As of June this will be done and I have one in september so technically that's four

38. Be in the audience for a tv show - brother took me to x factor

39. Watch the sunrise on a beach - another one the Other half has promised to take me! Next sunday we should be doing this!

40. Visit a food festival

41. Go to newt beer fest

42. Go to V fest

43. Go to Glastonbury

44. Actually meet up with a friend I've not seen for 4 years (whooo saw her on 18.5.12, will be doing this more)

45. Reach 100 blog followers (whooo we have recently done this withint the past week 5.9.12 so happy to have reached this)

46. Ride a mechanical bull

47. Inspire someone else to do this list

48. Stop biting my nails and get them strong and healthy (By using nail envy for almost a month and painting them less they are definitely better, haven't bit them in ages either. Started biting them again this week (10.8.12) so annoyed at myself)

49. Sell 50 things on ebay (15.2.12 15 items sold, 29.2.12 5 items sold 19.4.12 10 items sold, 1.8.12 sold 8 items, 3.7.13 3 items sold)

50. Go to a gig  I've been to quite a few! It's great to be back listening to music!

51. Make a three course meal for my family 

52. Say yes to 20 things you'd normally say no to (I am really trying to do this and have lately definitely been putting myself out there and going to occasions where I only know one person which usually is the birthday person)

53. Learn the flute

54. Grow a plant from a seed  Whooo grew some herbs!

55. Knit a scarf (yay I completed this and I'm pretty inpressed)

56. Go to a comedy show (went in bristol on 30th June 2012, was really funny)

57. Do 10 outdoor things/ country walks (1. Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly Mountain, Lake district weekend camping. More walks!)

58. Kiss at the top of the London eye

59. Spend new years eve in a place I've not spent it before and a different place each year (this one is now sadly not able to be completed! Personally I hate New Years Eve and set this to make me enjoy it more which hasn't happened and this year L and I decided to have an quiet night in after spending way too much the weekend before)

60. Attend a midnight première (L and I went to see Twilight)

61. Take a pole dancing class

62. Start saving for a house deposit  (this could be happening. I have the option to buy a house but since breaking up with the Ex and moving into a houseshare I'm now happy living with people so I'm unsure what to do.)

63. Take a sleeper train

64. Go to a national park  Breacon Beacons and the Lake District!

65. Watch wiked - my brother has given me vouchers to make this happen!

66. Watch a live rugby match - I still want to go to the millenium stadium but i have seen some now!

67. Identify 10 constellations

68. Buy a homeless man a meal

69. Drink 10 cocktails I've never tried (1. French Martini 2. Vodka Moonshine 3, Flirtini 4. 10 Feet Tall Grog 5.Summer Fruit Soother, 6.Del Boy, 7.Missippi Mudslide 8. ) 

70. Make a bar area in my house /  flat

71. Take a road trip  Went to the lake district!

72. Bake 10 new things (lemon roulade, profiteroles, pannacotta)

73. Sort out my music collection and regularly add to it. (I'm now using spotify and making playlists all the time.)

74. Watch a ballet

75. Go to a burlesque show

76. Get a fish pedicure   Never again!

77. Create a tumbler and do project 365 (take a photo everyday for a year) (again I've now missed the opportunity to complete this. Maybe I'll start soon and just aim for 6 months) I did 100 happy days! That's enough for me!

78. Go skiing (can be a dry ski slope)

79. Read 50 new books (1. mini shopaholic by sophie kinsella 2. book of the dead by patricia cornwell 3. James Patterson Private London, 4. 50 shades of grey, 5. 50 shades darker, 6. 50 shades freed, 7. the hunger games, 8 catching fire, 9 the mocking jay 10. James Patteron 11th Anniversary 11.We bought a zoo Benjamin Mee, 12. Blue Monday Nicci French, 13. James Patterson Kill Alex Cross, 14. The People Next Door Christopher Ransom, 15.Jamer Patterson Merry Christmas Alex Cross, 16. Salmon fishing in the Yemen Paul Torday, 17. Chris Carter The night Stalker, 18. Chris Carter The Executioner, 19. Silver Linings Playbook David O Russell, 20. The lucky one Nicholas Sparks,21. A Walk to Remember Nicholas Sparks, 22. The Help Kathryn Stockett, 23. Rojer Stelljes The St Paul Conspiracy, 24. Roger Stelljes Deadly Stillwater 25. again not updating this regularly means I've missed out on lots of books. At least 6 more books were read on the exs kindle. I'm back reading regularly which was what I wanted and I forgot to add so many books! )

80. Get engaged (hopefully this will happen as by then I'll be 25 and I would like to be engaged by then ) This is another one now off the list after me and the Ex broke up as it definitely won't be happening in the next 10 months but I'm also happy it won't be. A friend said something to me on her wedding day that really hit home about how much I had settled for something that wasn't right for me. It was hard to hear but she was 100% right. Now I'm doing what makes me happy!

81. Give up alcohol for a month I did this before tough mudder! I'm not sure it made any difference

82. Send 20 handwritten letters to loved ones

83. Make my own skirt

84. Send a shoe box to Africa at Christmas

85. Go without chocolate for a month   I did this in February. I don't think it made any difference 

86. Take an evening class / short course

87. Have a friend choose a complete outfit and you have to buy it

88. Bake 5 celebration cakes ( 5 baked, brothers vw van, mums flower cake and cupcakes and boyfriends hockey jersey, 30th birthday cake and baby shower cake)

89. Send anonymous flowers to someone having a bad day/week

90. Sleep on a beach

91. Make my own wine

92. Go to the driving range This was so fun! I want to do it more!

93. Learn basic household DIY (plumbing etc)

94. Dress up for Halloween and have a party (L and I did dress up and go out but no party!)

95. Go go-karting or zorbing

96. Go on a camping trip  I really actually like comping!

97. Do 5 random acts of kindness (bought a homeless man some food, will be doing more often seeing how grateful he was)

98. See the Northern Lights This is booked!! I'm so excited!!

99. Learn to surf

100. Volunteer abroad

101. Be happy with what I have at the end of this

51 things complete in that time!! Half started and some not attempted!! A lot has changed for me but I'm so much happier now. I have made another bucket list but one without a deadline! Having a list with things to tick off definitely helps!!

Do you have wishlists?

Love M

xxx

Harry Potter Studios: The Dark Arts Tour

Hey All

Last weekend L and I headed to catch up with uni friends for a Harry Potter themed weekend! Our friend is so crafty and had totally decked her house out and made an amazing Harry Potter Monopoly. As it was Dark Arts special we decided to head to the studios for another tour!

We'd all been before but there are so many things to notice I think every time you go you notice more things. We knew there would be extra things to see as on facebook there were some sneak peaks! We've been lucky enough to get special badges every time L and I have been!

The great hall is amazing and being able to walk through the same doors as all the cast have is amazing! It holds a crazy amount of double decker buses (I want to say 20+ I've forgotten the exact number!)

The hall was laid for the Halloween feast! Originally in the films real food was used but as the days went on resin food was used instead! It all looked so realistic!

There were death eaters around to have photos with! Of course we couldn't miss that opportunity!

The Horcruxes was one of the new exhibits! They were amazing to see. We all wanted the Ravenclaw Diadem!! It was so pretty!

The vanishing cabinet was amazing! The detail in all the set work really is unbelievable.

Imagine having had a part in making all of these, the books, the skulls, the random objects that probably came from an image in someone's head.

Borgin and Burke's was one of my favourite new additions for the Dark Arts exhibition, seeing all of the bits and bobs on display was so interesting

The Dementors were also hung up from the ceiling which was amazing to have them hanging around just like the real thing, very creepy.

Malfoy Manor was also there and was really good to see, the fire flickered in the background and all of the casts wigs and outfits were present on dummies which made the scene come to life.
The muggle teacher Charity Burbage was also hanging from the sky just like the scene at the manor with Voldemort and Nagini, who was also present on the table.

Another amazing thing was the case full of death eater masks, they were so detailed and unique to each person who had had their faces cast.

The death eater masks were beautiful! The detail to the was amazing! Everyone was different and cast from the actors face.

It was like an emotional rollercoaster looking at the new scenes. They even had real snakes for us to touch; the real snake they used for Nagini couldn't be shown as she was shedding her skin but they had some of the smaller ones for us instead which as just as good. The man was really informative and it was very interesting to hear about lots of the other animals he has for films.

Dolores Umbridge is arguably one of the most hated characters of the entire series; but obviously one of the most brilliant too. Her sugary pink sweetness goes way overboard into leaving you with a nasty after taste and her wardrobe and office match this overload!

I've seen pictures of Mary Berry sat here drinking tea from the celebrity opening of the exhibition; she suits it perfectly but in the complete opposite way.

One of my scariest but favourite moments was wandering through Diagon Alley which was totally different to normal. It was eerily quiet and the lights were dimmed; not to mention the terrifying Death Eaters who were wandering around too, look how scary they were!

Last time we went we didn't take photos outside, this time we had a little pose! It's great to have the cars and Privet Drive to have photos in! The night bus is also there which is amazing!

One thing we all loved is the books. Everything was thought about. All the currency was properly minted and you can buy the coins but after they started to disappear on set in later years plastic coins were used! In the books used on set one was written in Runes. Some made sense some didn't and it also had English in so Hermoine could read it. The staff are so knowledgeable and are on hand to give information!

This time we decided to treat ourselves to the butterbeer mugs!! We are both fans but it does get sickly, imagine caramel cream soda and it's similar to that!



We both went to the shop with huge lists but tried to be sensible. We both left with chocolate frogs and Hermione wand pens. L also snapped up a Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain t-shirt too which has barely left her back since, perfect Sunday wear!


Have you been to the Harry Potter Studios? Will you be going to see the Dark Arts exhibition?
We are already planning our next trip to see it, we cannot get enough!

L xxx