Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoy whatever you're doing tonight. I don't celebrate Halloween but wanted to do some Halloween makeup. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this and I don't have any products such as liquid latex or spirit gum etc to do anything really creative so had to make do with what I had in my makeup collection. As per usual, I leave everything to the last minute and ended up doing this last night. I didn't know what I wanted to turn myself into and ended up making it up as I went along. I think it looks a little bit zombish although could have done with some more cuts and veins and rot haha - maybe next year.

I already had my makeup on from the day, my eyeshadow was very neutral in skin tones with a tiny bit of shimmer. This was mostly covered up. Because I didn't want it to look perfect, I just added more on top of what I already had on.

What I used:

• White eyeshadow (MAC Gesso) applied all over with a small foundation brush, packed onto my skin and 'scrubbed' in to get it to look a little patchy. I couldn't find a very light foundation to use cheaply yesterday so made do with eyeshadow but you could use a light foundation instead.

• Taupe-grey eyeshadow as a contour on a round eyeshadow brush to sketch out the shape and then blend downwards. Soften with a fluffy contouring brush. I used MAC Copperplate through my cheekbones, around the top of the nose to add shadow and depth to the eyes and along the jaw bone.

• Brown-red eyeshadow under the eyes to make them look sore, I used MAC Folie. I also used this colour in areas where I wanted my skin to look bruised.

• Grey eyeshadow under the eyes and on the lids to make them appear deeper set. I used MAC Scene.

• Matte black eyeshadow all over the lid and underneath for a dead and smudged makeup appearance.

• Reddish plum purple eyeshadow, I used the one from Sleek's PPQ palette to use around the bruised areas to darken and deepen the look of the bruises, I also used it in areas around the mouth and also smudged the excess on the brush around the nose to make my skin look blotchy.

• MAC Cream O Spice lipliner all over lips, use something brownish.

• For the blood I used MAC's Kissable Lip Colours in Love Peck and Strut Your Stuff. Fake blood would be ideal, liquid and gel based would give the best effect.

I also did a Halloween nail design.

I already had the base colours on for this, they are one of the new Nails Inc Gossip Girl kits (the Lily set). It is a deep plum black creme finish with a flake polish on top which flashes red-orange-green. I added China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow (glow in the dark nail polish) over the top of all fingers except the ring fingers. I used Illamasqua Gamma (neon orange) for the pumpkin and OPI Jade is the New Black (medium green creme) for the stalk and swirly leaves. I then added the face in China Glaze Liquid Leather (black creme).

I wasn't able to get a photo of the polish glowing in the dark, my camera just wouldn't pick it up, I probably need to figure out the correct settings. It is subtle but does glow. It needs to be in the light for a while to 'charge', it will eventually fade out and not glow, just like children's glow in the dark stars do. It also mutes the colour down but I like it for this as it makes it a swampy greenish colour.

Enjoy your Halloween!

Jennifer xx

Upcoming OPI collections

I'm sure you have already seen these promotional images floating around already but I just wanted to share my excitement for these collections too.

All images 'borrowed' from OPI's facebook page.

L-R: Super Bass Shatter, Metallic 4 Life, Save Me, Fly, Did It On 'Em, Pink Friday

Now, I am by no means a fan of Nicki Minaj's music but these colours are really nice looking! The glitters and purple shatter are calling me.

Metallic 4 Life: This charcoal sparkle flies with the stars in the skies.
Save Me: I drove for miles just to find this silver-rainbow glitter.
Fly: I came to win, to fight…and to wear this aqua.
Did It On 'Em: A lusty little lacquer that loves the “lime”-light.
Pink Friday: Kick off the weekend with this pop! of bubblegum pink.

OPI often bring out collections inspired by countries/cities. This time they are doing a collection inspired by Holland (or the Netherlands). All of these colours look gorgeous so I am really looking forward to them. I don't know what sorts of formulations they are, I'm hoping for some pretty cream, shimmer and micro sparkle finishes.

Top row L-R: Gouda Gouda Two Shoes, Wooden Shoes Like to Know It, I Don't Give a Rotterdam, A Roll In The Hague, Petal Faster Suzi, Dutch Ya Just Love OPI

Bottom row L-R: Thanks a WindMillion, Red Lights Ahead...Where?, Kiss Me On My Tulips, Vampsterdam, I Have a Herring Problem, & Did You Hear About Van Gogh?

I love the names of these, they are quite amusing. The colours I'm looking forward to are I Don't Give a Rotterdam, A Roll In The Hague, Petal Faster Suzi and Thanks a WindMillion.

Head to OPI's facebook page for larger photos to get more detail in the bottles.

Jennifer x

My Birthday

So last Monday (17th October) was my 22nd birthday! I spent it at my boyfriend's house who had planned a surprise for me. He kept it a secret until Saturday night when he told me to pack an overnight bag. He had booked us a hotel in Chichester in West Sussex where the hotel had a spa and a nice restaurant. I was very excited and we left the next morning. The hotel was really nice, our room was huge. Unfortunately the spa wasn't open so we didn't get to go there but on the other hand it gave us more time to explore the city. I had a great time, Chichester is a really nice small city. The best part was when we went on the canal boat and watched the water fowl and the dogs swimming. When we left Chichester on Monday, Martin took me to Brighton's Marina for another surprise, a birthday meal at a restaurant overlooking the marina. It was lovely, we ended up having the whole restaurant to ourselves which was good as it felt really romantic.

In the gardens

Chichester Cathedral

 

Aww, so beautiful

Haha, I'm not really steering the canal boat with my eyes closed, that
is just Martin's bad photography! (The real skipper is on the right).

A heron perched on fallen tree trunks

So that is what my boyfriend did for my birthday, isn't he lovely! These are the other presents I got.

Chanel Mademoiselle EDP from my Grandad
Benefit Cresent Row gift set from my parents
LUSH Avobath (one of my favourite bath things) and LUSH Gingerbread House from my sister
Bobbi Brown 1991 Lip Palette from my parents
Jamie's Great Britain Cook Book from Martin's parents (I do like a bit of Jamie Oliver!)

I will show you more of the beauty bits in later posts.

Jennifer xx

QVC TSV 23 October 2011 - L'Occitane

I love L'Occitane so I am pleased to see a new TSV from them for QVC. This is their Christmas TSV so comes in a lovely gift box. I bought last years and was very impressed and this one looks great too. This years box costs £39.96 (also on easy pay of £9.99 over four months intrest free) with £5.95 p&p.

There are two options for this TSV, warm or floral.

Warm:
1x Verbena Liquid Soap 500ml
1x Vanilla Flower Shower Gel 500ml (exclusive)
1x Citrus Verbena Hand and Body Wash 300ml (exclusive)
1x Delice des Fruits Shower Jelly 75ml (exclusive, not yet in stores)
1x Vanilla Flower Hand Cream 30ml (exclusive)
1x Milk Extra Gentle Shea Soap
1x Gift Box

Floral:
1x Lavender Liquid Soap 500ml
1x Pivoine Flora Shower Gel 500ml (exclusive size)
1x Cherry Blossom Hand and Body Wash 300ml (exclusive)
1x Plum Blossom Polishing Shower Gel 75ml
1x Pivoine Hand Cream 30ml
1x Milk Extra Gentle Shea Soap
1x Gift Box

See here for more photos and to buy.

The warm version is appealing to me, yummy!

Jennifer 

Marie Claire L'Occitane Free Gift

With this months Marie Claire, they are giving away a choice of four different L'Occitane Shea Butter hand creams. The three pictured are actually all brand new and limited edition, the fourth is the original scent. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before but L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream is actually my favourite EVER hand cream. I have eczema and this softens my skin so well. Usually it only comes in the regular Shea Butter scent which has a blue label, you can see a picture here. As it is my favourite I decided to get all three scents because I use it all the time so will be nice to have a change.

The hand creams are all 30ml which retails for £7.50 on L'Occitane's website or you can buy the Happy Hands trio which includes all three new scents for £20. The magazine was £3.60 so the three hand creams cost me £10.80, just over half price. Bargain!

The new scents are:
Hibiscus Flower
This is my favourite one, the smell is delicious. It is strange because it is a flower yet it smells really fruity, almost like apricots. It is quite Summery. I think any age group would like this, it is even suitable for men as it isn't floral or in your face.

Cocoa Flower
This is an odd scent, in a good way. It smells luxurious, slightly chocolaty but also sweet and perfumey. It is really sophisticated. My Mum liked this one especially. It is a very comforting scent too.

Desert Rose
L'Occitane are well known for their beautiful rose scents, this one delivers too. I would say this one smells quite sweet and fruity as well as rosey, it reminds me of Turkish delight. It is not sickly though. I really like it.

L-R: Hibiscus Flower, Cocoa Flower, Desert Rose

I really like the patterned packaging, these are all inspired by African countries (Egypt - Hibiscus Flower, Ivory Coast - Cocoa Flower and Morocco - Desert Rose) so reflect African prints. I also think they look quite Christmassy too, a bit like wrapping paper and the bright colours look so festive. They would make great Christmas presents, the scents are available in lip balms and body creams too.

The actual texture of the cream is very thick, a little goes a long way. You will not be left with greasy hands though as it sinks straight into the skin. This is another reason I love the Shea Butter creams, no greasy marks all over my mouse and keyboard at work!

L'Occitane's Shea Butter hand cream is one of my beauty must haves so if you are looking for a really good quality hand cream, go try this, you wont be disappointed!

Jennifer

MAC Fall Colour Lipsticks

These are lipsticks which I already had in my collection but have been released with the MAC Fall Colour collection. The shades featured here are all PRO colours so are available all year round at PRO stores and via phoning mail order. The shades I have are Violetta, Show Orchid and Neon Orange.

L-R: Violetta, Show Orchid, Neon Orange

Violetta is a fuchsia based purple lipstick. Whilst purple lipstick may seem strange, it is very wearable for a lot of skin tones. On some people it may appear more pink than on others. On me it is quite close to the bullet colour. It is an Amplified finish which is one of my favourites as they are well pigmented and last on the lips well. It works particularly well will green eyes as it compliments them, making them appear brighter and greener. This colour looks nice when patted on to be sheerer and also topped with a fuchsia pink gloss.

Show Orchid is an amazing bright fuchsia pink with a purply fuchsia irridencence. It looks almost like a duochrome on the lips. Even though it is bright, it is still very flattering when paired with simple neutral eye makeup. It is an Amplified finish and almost completely opaque. This colour could be patted on for more of a stain or sheerer finish.

Neon Orange is not what I would call neon (think highligher pens) but it is still very bright. It is the sort of colour which colour easily be shyed away from, however it still looks very nice on the lips when paired with neutral eyes. You could even add a little pop of colour such as a tiny bit of cyan liner smudged into the lower lashes or by using burnt oranges/coppers and browns on the eyes too to create a monochromatic look. It is an amplified finish and is very creamy and opaque.

I think all three of these colours make nice additions to my makeup collection. The colours are fun and can be used in many looks. I also love to do neutral eyes and bright lipstick.

Jennifer

MAC Fall Colour Eyeshadows and Chromagraphic Pencil

Here are a couple of Eyeshadows and a Chromagraphic Pencil I picked up from MAC's Fall Colour collection. All are part of the 'Wild Colour' section which consists of some amazingly bright colours. I chose Three Ring Yellow and Royale eyeshadows and Hi Def Cyan Chromagraphic Pencil.

Three Ring Yellow



Royale

Three Ring Yellow is a bright yellow with a green undertone. It is a Veluxe Pearl finish so is very soft and pigmented. It is easy to blend and work with. I like that it has the green undertone so it isn't a straight yellow, some people may find it easier to wear due to the green in the shade. It is quite similar to Sweet & Punchy eyeshadow which came out last year with the To The Beach collection. If you have this colour you may not want to get Three Ring Yellow. Sweet & Punchy is more of a yellowed green apposed to a yellow with a green undertone, in other words, Sweet & Punchy is more green. Sweet & Punchy is also a Veluxe Pearl and a little more pigmented.

Royale is a deep blue with a purple undertone (I found this a very difficult colour to capture so these pictures are not accurate). It is a matte finish so can swatch a little chalky but when used it works really nicely. It is a little sheer but still pigmented enough although may require a bit of building if strong colour is required. If so, a shader brush such as the 239 would be best for that. I used it in my crease with a 217 to crease diffused blending but built it up where I wanted.



L-R: Three Ring Yellow, Royale

L-R: Three Ring Yellow, Sweet & Punchy

Top: Sweet & Punchy
Bottom: Three Ring Yellow

Chromagraphic pencils are a new product to me but I read really good reviews about Hi Def Cyan so decided to try it out. It is a lovely cyan shade, I really like to use bright blues and teals along my lower lashes so I knew I'd get use out of this colour. I am really impressed with it, it is so creamy and pigmented in just one swipe. It dries down and doesn't move at all until you take it off and even then it doesn't want to come off! Chromagraphic pencils are PRO products so are available all year round at PRO stores or via phoning mail order if you do not have a store near you. It is nice to be able to get a few of the colours at regular stores in the meantime though. Some shades are not eye safe, this particular colour is not suitable for the inner rims (waterlines) of the eyes but can be used along lash lines or on the lids.

I highly recommend the Chromographic pencils and I would like to get the green and one of the nude shades when I go to the PRO store as they perform so well.

Jennifer

MAC now available online at House of Fraser!

I like choice when I am shopping, so think it is great that House of Fraser have added MAC to their website. It gives us customers an extra place to go online if a product we want is sold out elsewhere.

Anyone who is wondering what House of Fraser are like at delivering, they are great. I've had a few packages from them in the past and they always come quickly and are well packed so no worries there. House of Fraser also stock a lot of other great beauty brands, some of which are exclusive to them such as Deborah Lippmann.

You never know, sometimes they might put some MAC in the sales!

Just as a little help, these are the delivery rates for different MAC stockists:

MAC's website
www.maccosmetics.co.uk
Free delivery over £30 - sometimes free delivery codes are floating around online so remember to check beforehand). £2.95 standard delivery.

Debenhams
www.debenhams.com
Free delivery over £30 - sometimes they have a promotion where it is completely free. £3.99 standard delivery.

Added bonuses: Beauty Card. If you don't have one of these, get yourself down to a Debenhams store and pick one up pronto! This is amazing and if you are a bit of a beauty addict like me, you will rack up the points quickly. Beauty Card holders get free delivery with the code SHBC.

Debenhams often do 10% off beauty deals.

Selfridges
www.selfridges.com
£4.95 standard delivery. No free delivery available.


House of Fraser
www.houseoffraser.co.uk
Free delivery over £50. Free pick up in store. £3 standard delivery under £50.

Jennifer

MAC Fall Colour Collection Mineralize Skinfinishes

This collection is a very exciting collection for a lot of MAC fans, it gives us the re-release of their hard to find Mineralize Skinfinish (MSF) in the colour Lightscapade! These things go for £50 onwards on Ebay so is a highly desirable product from MAC. It also re-releases another MSF, Porcelain Pink. Due to demand of Lightscapade, it is now sold out on MAC's website so if it is something you want, I would suggest giving a counter a call to see if they have any left.

I originally wasn't going to get either of these MSFs, I wasn't sure how well they would show up on my skin and whether they would be worth it to me. After seeing lots of swatches and reading reviews before it came out in the UK I decided that I would get them. There was a lot of hype surrounding Lightscapade and I didn't want to fall into it so had to make sure that they were products I would use. I read descriptions where people were describing it like teeny opals on your skin or rainbows and it sounded so nice. People wearing it looked so fresh and dewy. Porcelain Pink seemed like an iridescent pink sheen on the skin and looked really pretty.

L-R: Lightscapade, Porcelain Pink

Lightscapade

Porcelain Pink

First up, Lightscapade. As you can see, mine is lacking a lot of the blue and peach veining that some have as well as most of the old versions of this MSF. I still really like it though. I wasn't able to get to a store to handpick mine so had to order it online and hope for the best. The picture doesn't show much of the veining that it does have (I really need to get a macro lens), there are some little light blue areas.

LUSH - Phoenix Rising Ballistic

Another one of LUSH's new products to celebrate their 16th birthday. This one is a ballistic and is the same shape as their existing Vanilla Fountain. It is a gorgeous purple colour with gold lustre all over it which is difficult to see in the pictures.

Here's what LUSH say about this ballistic:

'All the myth and magic of a phoenix, pressed into one bathtime experience, which lets you arise at the end feeling refreshed and ready for the next 500 years.

Your phoenix will sink to the bottom then rise in triumph, her mythical sparkling purple and green plumage unfurling through your bath water.

She’ll release gentle shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil to leave your skin feather-soft. Exotic essential oils of fruit and spices take your mind on a flight of fancy to distant shores where you are lying on a beach drinking spiced rum.

Actually, you won’t want to rise again from this bath – you’ll want to just stay on in there gliding on the dream! The phoenix is often quoted as using cinnamon sticks to make her nest. So we’ve topped this ballistic with some, so she has some handy nesting material, should she wish to stick around at yours for a while. Meanwhile, it will also add to the delicate spiciness of your bath.

The work on this website had been going on in the background at Lush for quite some time. Having a current website trading plus a new one that is being built made for very confusing conversations when talking about things for ‘the website’. To end the confusion, we gave the website under construction the name Phoenix.

So Phoenix has been very much on everyone’s mind here at Lush; not least Jack, who has been working on it for over a year. When he went into the lab to invent new ballistics, he couldn’t shake his mind free of it – and thus we now have a Phoenix Rising ballistic!'

Ingredients:

Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Icing Sugar, Cocoa Butter, PEG-6 Caprylic / Capric Glycerides & PEG-60 Almond, Perfume, Bergamot Oil, Cassia Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Fair Trade Shea Butter, *Cinnamal, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 42090, Colour 77891, Colour 77491, Colour 77510, Frosty Holly Lustre, Gold Lustre, Cinnamon sticks

*occurs naturally in essential oils

This product is suitable for Vegans.

£2.95/100g

When I first opened this to give it a stiff, I was hit with this very intricate smell, it smelt complex and alluring and made me want to keep taking more sniffs at it to figure out what was in it. I smelt spices in the background with the main event being fruity berry notes. This is they type of scent that LUSH used to make back when I first got into the company, unique kinds of fragrances. Then they went very samey, products were released with the same scents in them and there was very little for me to choose from that I actually enjoyed using and smelling of. I'm so glad that LUSH have created this, it takes me back to when I first fell in love with their products and reminds me of some products which are sorely missed amongst longtime LUSH fans.

September 2011 Favourites

Here are my favourites for September, there was quite a variety of brands in there.

First up, a new perfume. One of my favourite bloggers, Vivianna from viviannadoesmakeup.com is a big perfume fan. I have noticed that we have quite similar taste in perfumes and when she said that this was her favourite perfume I decided to give it a go. It is Lady Million by Paco Robane. I would never have picked this up, the packaging isn't something that would have drawn me in, probably due to being a mega shiny golden diamond shape which doesn't really look very classy, although I do like it now for being a bit different. The perfume inside is gorgeous though, a typical 'me' type fragrance, floral and fruity with a bit of sweetness thrown in there for good measure. It isn't a headdy sweet or floral fragrance, I think it has a good balance. Top notes of Neroli, Lemon and Raspberry. Middle notes of Jasmine, Orange Flower and Gardenia. Bottom notes of Patchouli and White Honey. Yum!

Next there is VO5's Miracle Concentrate. I've seen this doing a little bit of the blog rounds with people saying that it helps with frizzy hair and keeping it looking glossy and healthy. I needed this. I use this after towel drying my hair then apply a few drops from the pipette into my hand and rub them together before running it down my hair. I focus it in the ends to stop them from flying away and then do the lengths and finally the top to smooth it all down. Then I blow dry my hair. It makes my hair dry quicker and always gives it a sleek finish.

I also ran out of my foundation, Chanel Vitalumire so needed to get a replacement but wasn't anywhere near a Chanel counter. I'd wanted to try Bourjous Healthy Mix after hearing a lot of good reviews so this was a good opportunity. Off I went to Superdrug and picked this up for £9.99, over £20 cheaper than my Chanel foundation! I found a really good match in Healthy Mix, better than the Chanel shade. It is a teeny bit lighter in colour and not as yellow. I really like this one, the coverage is a bit more than the Chanel one and it sets more so doesn't appear as dewy but still gives me a fresh complexion. I've been applying it with a MAC 187 and I get a really nice finish. I would definitely buy this again, I much prefer it.

The two eyeshadows are from MAC's MAC Me Over collection, I reviewed them here. The colours are Carbonized (the brown) and Mythical (the coppery colour). I've been using these a lot during September, they are so flattering and fit so well with Autumn. They go with a lot of my clothes too and are great for work. I've put them together in a few different ways and they always come out looking nice.

Underneath is MAC's Superslick Liquid Liner in On The Hunt. This is black and was in my favourites last month too. I've been using this pretty much every day. It is such a good glossy black and lasts really well.

Lastly, Blistex Intensive Moisturiser Lip Cream. My lips get ridiculously dry and chapped. I needed something intensive that was going to work. I saw this on Rachel's blog allthingsrachy.blogspot.com ages ago when she said that she gets very chapped lips when she has a cold and this is what she uses. I'd been meaning to give it a go and saw it in Boots one day and remembered her blog post so bought it. She was so right, it is amazing stuff! Seriously, if you get chapped lips and nothing else seems to be giving you the desired effect, go get this. It was relatively cheap at £2.59. It has a plastic slanted applicator so you can apply it straight from the tube. I tend to put a little on my finger and apply it like that so I don't put too much on, you don't need a lot.

Jennifer xx