CLOSED Christmas Giveaway!

Both me and M have had a long and busy couple of weeks and so haven't been posting as regularly as we normally would have.

Firstly we'd like to apologise for that, we've had new jobs, break ups and family deaths to deal with which has meant little time for blogging and tweeting as much as normal.

Image from Pinterest

Secondly with all the negative stuff going on, we decided to do our Christmas giveaway early!

This is to spread a little Christmas cheer a bit early, and also so you have the prize before Christmas in case there's a particular lipstick or eye shadow you were wanting for the party season!

So without further ado....

The prize is a giftcard to the value of £20.

This will be for either John Lewis, Boots or Debenhams - it's your choice!

We tried to pick one but only Debenhams has MAC, only JL has Liz Earle and Boots is a general all round winner.

The mandatory entries are the usual following via GFC and twitter, leaving your email so we can contact you and also leaving a comment to tell us what you'd buy with it (as we're obviously very nosy and want to know what everyone else wants!)

All other entries are optional but will increase your chance of winning, as will tweeting every day over the three weeks.

The winner will be chosen using Rafflecopter so enter using the widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Image from Pinterest

It's about time there was some happiness and festive fun!

Good luck to all who enter!

L and M xxx

NOTD: Model's Own Mirrorball Collection - Hot Stuff

I'm sure everyone has seen these by now but I couldn't resist posting pictures of it too, the glitter is just so pretty!

'Hot Stuff' is from the Model's Own Mirrorball collection which contain multiple types of coloured glitter to give a crazy layered effect.

I for one absolutely love them and obviously think the 'Mirrorball' name is PERFECTION!

Here it is on a pale pink (A 17 Mirror shine one), I've layered it on a few times, think it was three coats, in order to get the effect shown below:

What I love is that there are tiny glitter particles, plus hand cut pieces of glitter in so many shapes and sizes so each layer is unique.

Here it is over China Glaze's Pool Party, a neon pink that increases the effect of the glitter!

I can see this getting a lot of use over the Christmas period and cannot wait to pick up some of the others, and obviously a quick glance at the Wonderland collection won't hurt too.... :)

Do you own any of the Mirror ball collection? Which would you recommend??

L xxx

Review: Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal

I've always worn eye liner since I was about 12, I loved having black lined eyes and loooooooooads of mascara so that was what I wore every day even to school.

For the past 2 years I've kind of slacked off using it, not for any reason but I found I was using my Mac Eye shadow in Carbon to line my eyes using a wet brush and this worked out fine for me.

Recently however I've been missing the ease of using a pencil though and splashed out on these two from Rimmel, the Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal pencil which I picked up in nude and black, no doubt on a 3 for 2 deal a few weeks ago!

I've never used a nude or white eye liner but have seen how great they are on other people so thought I'd try it out myself, God knows I need something to make me look more awake in the mornings!

The packaging is pretty simple which I always like with the pencil colour coordinated to the casing making it easier to find whichever one you're looking for.

Also I love Rimmel's details of the union jack and crown printed onto the casing, very patriotic!

So here the pencils are scribbled lightly onto my arm, they're so soft and don't drag on my skin at all and the colour pay off is pretty good.

The staying power however is second to none, after taking the above photo I immediately tried to smudge the pencils with my fingers, with absolutely no effect!

The photo below shows my arm after vigorous rubbing (not enough to make my skin red or anything though!) and you can see both colours have amazing staying power.

They don't however stay on your eye without being able to be smudged, it's so odd!

You can still smudge the black in particular so that there are no harsh lines which I think is pretty darn good!

The photo below shows my eye with nothing but the nude eyeliner on the bottom and some mascara.

The colour is a pretty good match for my super pale skin and doesn't stand out too much that it looks odd.

On a side note, this photo is from after a night out.

After taking my make up off with a face wipe and then cleansing with Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish the eye liner was still on my eyes!

This wasn't the best thing but after scrubbing at my eyes with micellar water with no progress I eventually went to sleep.

In the morning the rest of the eye liner came off quite easily so that was fine but it was a challenge!

In my book these pencils are amazing, especially for the price (£3.99 - and on the 3 for 2 deal at Superdrug and BOGOHP at Boots!)

I would quite happily buy these again and might consider some different colours too!

Do you have these? Are you a big fan too?

L xxx

Review: Soap and Glory Clean on Me

I fell in love with the shower gel last year, but never thought I'd repurchase it except for in the soap and glory sets at christmas due to it's price tag. £5.50 seemed a lot to spend on shower gel but once you start using it you understand the price tag.

It's a very moisturising shower gel and you can really feel the built in body lotion in it. I really love that it's a pump dispenser bottle, the lazy girl in me loves it. This shower gel really lasts a long time too, as a little goes a long way.

It's a thick white gel that lathers up to an creamy moisturising gel with a pretty fresh scent I've come to expect from soap and glory products.

I'm really impressed with how soft it leaves my skin feeling and how long the product last and after initial doubts in the price I definitely think it's worth a repurchase especially as it's usually on 3 for 2 in boots.

What are your thoughts on this? Did you also think it was expensive at first for a shower gel or is that just me?

Love M

xxx 

I'd never really heard of Soap and Glory up until Christmas last year but boy oh boy did that change at Christmas!

I had so much that I was overwhelmed and didn't have a clue what to think of it all!

I've slowly been making my way through the massive Big Splendour set throughout the year and this is one that has taken some time for me to get around to using.

I don't really know why, just because I had so many other sets of things i think.

Now I've finally started using it I wish I'd done so ages ago!

It smells divine as you'd expect and a small amount foams up so much.

I personally still love to pump loads of this onto a shower puff or flannel as it feels really luxurious on the skin and really moisturising. I would definitely buy this again based on this alone!

However it also comes in beautiful packaging with quotes written on that I absolutely love, and it also lasts FOREVER!

I've been using it for weeks and only a small amount has gone so this is well worth the money.

I'd repurchase....but I think this will keep me going until Christmas where obviously my mum has already been hinted at (I circled the Boots catalogue!) and she'll be getting me the set again ;)

L xxx

A/W NOTD: Nails Inc's Chester Square

Another of my AW nails!

This time it is Chester Square, a beautiful red brown colour.

This applies in 2 coats and gives a really glossy sheen, much like the other's I've previously posted about in this series.

I do love a glossy nail!

This kind of colour is great for day wear and night wear whatever you're doing as it's such a classic.

I find that it chips after around 3 days, but I'm one of those people that always forgets to reapply a top coat after the first time so maybe you could prolong it more!

What do you think of this colour? Is it one you'd wear?

I do love AW colours on nails!

L xxx

Review: Vichy Cleansing Gel

I picked this up a few months ago when there was a new deal in Boots, I think when you picked up 2 other products this came free? 

I'm not exactly sure but this normally retails at £12.50 on my last check, which as a free gift is a great deal!

I love Vichy as a brand, everyone seems to be loving French pharmacy brands as a whole and this is no exception.

I have previously raved about the Normaderm moisturiser and this is the Deep Cleansing Purifying Gel.

I've been using this as a cleanser in the mornings.

My cleanser of choice is Liz Earle but as I have so many to try and to use up I often trial these in the morning.

This cleanser has almost gone now as I've been using it for such a long time.

It's a foaming gel that you use on wet skin and rinse off (I use my muslin cloth for this).

When using this I find I have a 'squeaky clean' face afterwards and the tight feeling on your skin.

I know some people aren't fans of this feeling so thought it was worth a mention.

It's not my favourite feeling, I used to love it but as my skin is now drier I feel a cream cleanser is better for me.

This is perfect for the morning as I know my skin is clean of oil for the day and a light moisturiser will see me through the day before applying heavier creams at night.

One thing I did love was the squeezy tube.

I like to vary how much cleanser I use depending on how much make up I have on my face and it's nice to see how much you've got coming out and how much you have left. 

Also I loved that they were each sealed individually, always a plus with all the bacteria around!

If I enjoyed the squeaky clean and tight feeling on my face I would definitely buy this again, a little goes a long way and this definitely helped keep my skin oil free.

What Vichy products are your favourites? Do you like the Normaderm range?

L xxx

Countdown to 'Class of 2012' (4)

So after my really good pledge to lose weight/tone up a few weeks ago, in order to look good at graduation I was full of the best intentions.

However after an alcohol fueled Halloween week causing me to miss last week's weigh in due to my horrific hangover and also a plethora of interviews to attend I've been pretty bad at going to the gym and eating healthily.

For those who follow us on twitter, you'll know that I got one of the jobs I was interviewed for and now work in Boots (hurrah!).

This means I have been sooooooooooooooooooooo busy this week starting I haven't had chance to think much about what I've been eating and keep forgetting to weigh before I eat.

However I have remembered to do it this week and ......... I have stayed the same.

This doesn't bother me too much, I'd rather maintain than gain so hopefully ill lose something over the next few weeks!

I have ended up buying some meal deals and also taking some pasta salads etc with me.

As my shifts are at random times it's a little hard to plan my meals and I'm hoping it will become easier when I have set shifts and know what I'll be doing with my day.

Do you have any tips for me about how to cope with random meal times and rushed breaks?

In order to cope with attempting to tone up, I have also upgraded my membership so that I can turn up to the gym whenever which increases my chances greatly of actually turning up!

I'm hoping next week will run smoother as I now have 5.5 weeks until graduation which is not a lot of time at all!

I need to find a dress too eek!

Do you have any other tips for me??

L xxx

Eylure Shape and Shade

After seeing a photo @LydiaEmillen (you can find her blog here) posted on twitter I instantly noticed her perfectly groomed eyebrows and had to ask her what she used. Eyebrows is something both L and I notice on people and I think a well groomed brow really finishes a make up look and frames a face. I have very fair brows due to being blonde and if I don't use any product on them they are easily hidden.

My two favourite before discovering this pencil were the New CID i-groom pencil which costs £15.50, found here. This comes in one colour which is meant to suit everyone. It works really well on my faint eyebrows! It comes with a groomer on the end and both have lids to keep them clean.

Image from New CID website

The second brow product is the Eylure Brow Palette. This is a set with two brow shades a highlighter and a wax, aswell as stencils. I'm not someone who has got into using a wax yet. I just can't get into the habit and only one of these shades suit my brows. This retails at £10 and can be found here. While I like the powder it wasn't my perfect brown product as I found I only used one thing in the set. The brush was ok but got dirty quick.

Image from ASOS

Onto my new eyebrow love. The Eylure Shape and Shape. I use this in Shade 3 for Medium to Light blonde. This is £5.39 from Boots and is currently on buy one get one half price.

It's a simple packaging with the colour of the product the colour of the packaging. It comes with a cover for the pencil but not the groomer which I would prefer it did.

It comes in three different shades and is described as being good to fill in sparse brows. I agree with this. It really fills in the bald patches in my brows. I always seem to have a slight bald patch annoyingly, and this fixes it.

The pencil itself is quite hard but I like this. It's easy to do lots of little strokes to build up brows so they look natural. I find some pencils that are softer hard to build up a natural look as you get large strokes.

The brush part is pretty standard. It does the job well. I like to brush my brows down after I've applied the pencil as I find it gives the best result and blends the pencil into the brows further.

As you can see here it's quite a natural blonde shade. For anyone one with lighter hair that doesn't like to dark of a colour and just to enhance there natural brow to shape the face this is perfect.

Please ignore my unplucked brows and slightly swollen make up free eye I was sporting a very unpretty eye infection that meant no make up. I still did my brows to give my face a little something. As you can see it just gives a nice natural effect.

This is my new favourite eyebrow product. Thanks for the recommendation Lydia. 

I have such brow envy! and make up envy in general of Lydia! Doesn't she look flawless!

I really want to try the New CID i-fix next in my quest for the perfect brow. Have you used any of the products mentioned? What's your brow go to product?

Love M

xxx

Hair Style: Big Bun Ring

Huge buns are seen everywhere at the moment. They are such a popular hair style and see on many celebs. They look elegant, clean and simple and create a smart look to any day or evening outfit. The gorgeous Lauren Conrad has been seen sporting this look along with many others.

image from shxxox,blogspot,com

This is a look I've been embracing regularly as it's so quick and easy to do. I did a tutorial a few weeks ago using my regular size bun ring that you can find here. This was using a regular size bun ring as I thought my hair was to short to be able to use a bun ring any bigger.

For Halloween I purchased a bigger bun ring from Claire's for a bargain £5 seen on other sites for around the £15 mark!! You can find it online here. Careful ordering from eBay I ordered one advertised as large and it was a regular small one.

Here you can see the size between the bun ring used in my original tutorial and my new one. If you see my original tutorial you can see I have quite short hair. It's around shoulder length and it's rather fine. I was surprised my hair covered it as well as it did.

 Here is the big bun ring in. I love the size of it and the way it looks and it's a hair style I do a lot. I fix this in the same way as the small one. There are step by step instructions on the link above. I do the same thing for the big bun except use a normal hair band as the small elastic ones are too small. You need a band with a good stretch that will fit over the bun but hold the hair tight once over it.

Another way these buns can be achieved is by using a clip in bun. Beauty Works has a great selection of them. Website found here!! They have loads of different styles I'm especially loving the Instant Celeb Bun which is going on my wishlist. The lovely Laura from Secret Diary of a Fashion Journalist showed how to use the messy bun hair piece in this post. It looked so great on her I instantly added a note to my wishlist.

The lovely Laura! Looking amazing in her Beauty Works Bun!

How amazing does it look! So if you don't have enough hair you can definitely fake this trend easily with great results!

What do you think of the bun trend? I'm thinking the bigger the better!

Love M

xxx

Review: Kate Moss for Rimmel Matte Lipstick Collection with Swatches

When I saw the advert for these lipsticks I knew straight away I had to have shade 107  a gorgeous plum shade perfect for Autumn winter. I loved the shades of her previous collection so when I went to pick it up I picked up the nude shade 113. Somehow I have no will power and recently picked up the other 3 too. 

They are all gorgeous shades and I love the bright red packaging with the black accents on. These lipsticks are all matte. They apply well with very strong pigmentation.

The whole collection provides a colour for everyone. From nudes to reds to plums. They are a little drying but with a matte lipstick I don't expect much else. They last well, look amazing on the lips and are very reasonably priced. Both Superdrug and Boots have these on offer at the moment on 3 for 2 or buy one get on half price. Here's the link for boots.

Shade 101 is a gorgeous baby pink. It is a soft shade that doesn't look to pale or to barbie on the lips. This is a very wearable day shade. I find myself reaching for this a lot as it's so easy to wear with any look. It reminds me of an affordable matte version of Mac Angel (you can see my review here)

As soon as I saw this shade 113 I wanted it. It's a toffee nude shade that is perfect for pairing with a smokey eye. When I saw it I was instantly reminded of my current girl crush Mila Kunis (eye inspired look here) I do find sometimes it reminds me a little of a concealer lip so I've been reaching for lip gloss to put over the top. Lately I'm loving a bit of lip gloss which I never though I would. It does annoy me when my hair blows in it though. Any tips on how to cope with gloss I'd love. The other day a fly actually got stuck to my lip. Not a good look!

Shade 110 was one L picked up before me. I wasn't sure if it would be too orangey on me but I actually really like it. It's a coral red orange shade. It's quite bright but does look really nice on. The red tone to it makes it much more wearable on my skin tone.

Shade 111 randomly is named one mine. I'm not sure why this one is and the others aren't. This is a true piller box red. Excuse my messy application. This is a lipstick that could do with a lip liner prior to application. I think this will replace my current red favourite Diva Red by Rimmel. I love a red lip. When I wear it through the day I feel like a power women. I love it.

Last but by no means least shade 107. A beautiful deep plum shade. This is perfect winter berry shade. I love wearing dark colours through the colder months. Even though I'm pale I personally think they look ok on. I try to wear a subtle eye though so it's not to much.

I really like all the shade in this collection and think they will all be worn a lot. Have you picked up any of them yet? Do you mind a matte lip? For a gorgeous colour I'm more than happy to put on a little lip balm. 

Love M

xxx

Halloween 2012

This year we decided we wanted to go all out and dress up. We haven't been out in fancy dress for a while so wanted to make the most of it. Originally we decided L would go as Cat Women and M would go as Black Widow after a trip to a fancy dress shop and realising we would be too tall for the shop bought catsuits M changed her mind to go as Black Swan.

  

We both made our costumes in the end. L had on disco pants and a leotard with gloves, a waist belt, boots, pearl necklace and mask. M had on a corset she added feathers too, layered up tutus, black tights and feathers stuck to her body.

To embody the gorgeous Anne Hathaway as Catwomen M did L's hair in her Lauren's Way dream rollers. (review coming soon) this gave L's hair lots of volume.

For make up L wore her amazing Mac Russian Red lipstick and used Rimmel lip liner to get the perfect red lip. She used her Rimmel Scandeleyes Black liner to shape her eyes and the Naked 2 palette to add a touch of eyeshadow to her eyes. She used a combination of Rimmel foundation and bronzers to contour her face. The make up for the look needed to be simple but flawless with all the features defined. 

And of course some gorgeous lashes were needed.

The finished look. With Mac red nails and of course a drink.

M had a practice a few weeks prior to halloween as she wasn't too sure how the make up would turn out.

Here M applied black gel liner all over the eyes then used various blacks and whites to create the feather effect. Although the shape isn't quite right M prefers the feather effect here.

On the night her make up looked like this.

M used Rimmel Match perfection foundation in the palest shade and set her face using a matte white eyeshadow. She used blues and whites to create the feather effect but they didn't stand out as much. Using her favourite product for a natural contour she used No7 blush in honey and a bit of black eyeshadow blended. On the lips she used the new Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks in 107 and 111. She also put in red contacts to finsh the look.

To extend the feathers from the corset L stuck them along Ms shoulder and up her neck using Eylure eyelash glue. They lasted all night with only a few falling off.

She used her new large bun ring from Claire's and added some feathers too.

Once we had got ready and had a fair few drinks in M's house we headed out. As it was mid week we weren't sure where to head and ended up in our favourite cocktail bar.

Our favourite long island ice teas that the barman made red!

How amazing does Russian Red look on L

M trying to do a slightly ballerina pose!

We had a brilliant night out and loved getting dressed up! Did you go out for halloween?

Love L and M

xxx