NOTD - A 'Cath Kidston Touch' Mani With Mavala Madras!

Evening dolls! One more day to go then hey four day weekend! *happy dance* Do you lovelies have anything special planned for the Jubilee weekend? Hopefully the break will be filled with lots of jolly street parties, barbies, afternoon teas & plenty of red, white & blue I’m sure! ;)  I actually have a wedding to attend on Sunday which came around very last minute, so cue panic mode with whole outfit situation! But all’s well as I have something which I think will be suitable, tis an Asian wedding so will be going for plenty of colour with the obligatory heavy eye makeup look :) 

Monday will hopefully see me & a coupla friends on a little road trip to the coast to catch some sun, sea & sand *fingers crossed British weather stays on our side!* Oh & I’m driving…god help us …let’s just say we’ll be hoping & praying that we actually make it to the correct destination :-/ Must remember to hang the prayer beads on rear-view mirror…

Whilst having a sort through the few 1292346123674 photos that I seem to have accumulated on my laptop, I stumbled across this gorguz mani that I had done for me at an event yonks ago that, me being me, of course completely & utterly forgot to blog about! Whenever I see a mani that I love, the blogger in me of course snaps away with the plans to post, but then somehow, conveniently forget…shall put the blame totally with work stress & not memory loss… ;)

 

Big slap on the wrist for me for not blogging about this divine polish sooner as it is just GORG isn’t it?! I had this mani done at an event last year, which was held by Holland & Barrett at The Kensington Roof Gardens in London & which in itself was a lovely event. Not only did we get a look at lots of beauty products that are now stocked in this health food store, some of which I had NO idea, such as Burts Bee’s, Ecotools, Manuka Doctor & more but we were also offered delightful nibbles, back massages & manicures. Was really lovely & I was fortunate to be able to get my nails done in a cute Cath Kidston-esque mani with this stunning nail polish that is Mavala Madras, a polish that I have been trying to hunt down since but with no luck  :( 

There was a vast choice of stunning Mavala shades to choose from, but this one caught my eye as I adore rich red polish’s & this is just that! A really yummy jewel, ruby wine red, just beautiful. Twas my first go with Mavala polish’s too, pretty impressed & def wanting to try more!

 The Cath Kidston touch was the adorable little rose floral design that the manicurist free handed with acrylic paint! I’ve seen a lot of nail art done using acrylic paint so am thinking that next time I pass an art shop, I’m going to have to get me some as I would love to attempt to re-create it! We were generously given a divine Cath Kidston goody bag to take home with us & I thought the mani went perfect with it! :D  

Will continue on my hunt for this gem of a beautiful red, as well as attempt a Cath Kidston mani, perhaps experiment with different colours, the floral design is just so pretty! If you’ve done any Cath Kidston floral manicures I would love to see! :D

Thanks as always for reading darlings! 

Lotsa love to ya!

OOTD - "Googly Eyed"

Hi there me dears, how are we? Feeling a tad…erm vulnerable at this current moment I’ll be honest with ya, you know those most odd kind of folk who swear that their whole life proceeds to fall apart the moment they lose that life line of theirs that is their phone?? *raises hand* Guilty as charged. Pretty sure I’m not alone in this, yes?…YES?!  In my extreme eagerness to leave work today, too busy was I, skipping out of the work place in a most jolly Disney movie-esqe fashion, I was blissfully unaware until I’d gotten home that I had left my little one behind…*sniffs*

But I’m fine, no really fine…completely, like TOTALLY fine...fine. Dearest blackberry will be back in my possession tomorrow morn, which will hopefully come round before ya can say OCD. :-/

Anyhoo in an effort to take my mind of such predicament, unfold arms currently wrapped around knees & pick myself up from rocking back & forth, here is quick outfit of the day from recent sunny days...

       Dress - Bay, Trousers - River Island, Cardi - H&M, Slingbacks - Debenhams

‘Googly Eye’ dress, previously referred to as ‘The Dress Has Eyes’ but immediately vito-ed as I don’t DO horror movies, so that would’ve just been hypocritical really. Picked up on sale many moons ago from that old store Bay Trading which sadly closed down! *sad face* Tis a lovely light material perfick for the hot spells England has been enjoying lately & I do love the print ;)

 The peep toe kitten heel slingbacks from Debenhams are a fave of mine, paired with many outfits as they are muchos comfy & kitten heels are def my favourite type of heel to opt for, giving a little added height without making you feel half paralyzed at the end of the day. Fabulous.

                                         Glass Beads - Gifted, Earrings - Gifted, Rings - Primark

The accessories to go with the outfit included some pretty pearly beads lovingly bestowed upon me by my sweet cousin of four who kindly cast me in the roll of Princess in our most recent game of dress up & every Princess needs a necklace of beads don't she? Hey, I wasn’t complaining, thought they went well with the outfit & it made a nice change from the roll of evil witch that I’m usually cast as…was beginning to think she was trying to indirectly tell me something…Hmm.   :-/

Thanks for reading gems! Time to get back to an evening of withdrawal symptoms…fun times & Family Guy on the telly, always feel a bit better after a dose of  Stewie ;) Till next time!

Lotsa love to ya!

FOTD - An Everyday Smokey Eye Look - 'Nude & Blue'

Aloha my beauts! Enjoying the glorious weather we’ve been bestowed with at last? Finally bonny ol’ England has become re-acquainted with the Sun :D Happy days. After suffering a week of near depression at being stuck at work, watching everyone outside enjoying the rays, ya can be sure that most of the weekend was made in the sunshine! :)

Paid my favourite city that is London another visit on Saturday to spend the day catching up with a lovely friend, throwing in plenty of nom nom food, a pampering mani & a spot of tea & macaroons. Bliss. Really didn’t want the weekend to end! Already waiting in anticipation for the next one, especially due to the fact that it’s an extended four day bank holiday weekend thanks to the Diamond Jubilee! *high five!* Do ya lovelies have anything special planned?

So I’ve not done an FOTD in a while, to be honest I haven’t been giving my eye shadows the love they deserve lately, often going for quick & easy make up looks, with plenty of eye liner of course ;) However when I DO reach for them, this is one of my fav ways of incorporating them in a makeup look, a very quick & light nude Smokey eye with a dash of colour blended & smoked out in to the crease, perfect for day time wear when you want that added extra touch to ordinary makeup. This is the look I tend to go for the most as it’s so quick & effortless & you can literally use any colour you want in the crease! Hope you like!

 Products used:

Garnier Roll On Concealer in Light – over the whole eye area

MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW25 – under eyes, on lids & any blemishes

RMK Foundation shade 102 – applied with fingers & buffed in with kabuki brush

Barry M Natural Dazzle Bronzer – along jawline & contour

BYS Blusher in Coral – apples of the cheeks

Coastal Scents 88 Colour Warm Palette – 3-4 of the nude coloured shadows mixed together & applied to the entire lid, with blue shade added in to the corner crease & blended out in to V

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner – along upper lash line, waterline & winged out

Clinique High Impact Mascara – two coats on upper & lower lashes

MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Petting Pink – dabbed on to the lips

 

The RMK foundation is definitely a big love of mine, great coverage yet doesn’t feel heavy on the face at all! I purchased my two Coastal Scents palettes yonks ago, in Warm & Original & they are definitely one of the best purchases I’ve made. Both palettes contain 88 colours for you to have many hours of fun playing around with, the qualities of which are really quite awesome, especially for the price! And psssst…just had a browsey on their website & the palettes are on offer too! :D

This time I opted for blue in the crease, but like I said, you can use any colour you’re in the mood for, or to co-ordinate with your outfit. In the past I’ve done this eye look using purple, green, pink, black & more!

Think I’ll be dusting off the poor, neglected palettes & start having a play around again, I actually have a wedding to attend this Sunday so will have to think up a suitable make up look to go with outfit…

Thanks as always for reading my lovelies! Till next time!  

Lotsa love to ya!

Monday, Tuesday...Batiste Day!

Ello ello my beautiful readers & well hey there to you too Summer! I knew you were hiding there somewhere, but not sure I appreciate your timing as I can’t really enjoy you when stuck indoors at work (with no air con may I add *cough*tightwads*cough*) now can I? Let’s just hope you last it out till the weekend then I can go skipping & frolicking happily in the sunshine along with everyone else :D

The words “Today is a Batiste kinda day” are ones that are probably seen tweeted by yours truly quite often. Yes, I am officially a member of the dry shampoo fan club! At first I confess I was a tad dubious of the whole concept but after giving it a whirl myself I am now a happy convert to this fab & innovative little product :)

The purpose of dry shampoo is basically to give your hair that extra boost in between washes, leaving it feeling fresh, clean & revitalized without the need for water. Perfect for this lazy so & so! I’m quite fortunate in that I only need to wash my hair once a week…errrrm, I’d just like to point out that this is necessary otherwise it would just get too weighed down & NOT because I lack in the personal hygiene department *side eye*

But even so, my hair does sometimes get to that “dull, lifeless, in need of freshening up, what are you trying to be, a hobo?!?!” stage in between washes, enter at this point Batiste!

 

The way to use is simple, just give the can a nice, vigorous hippy hippy shake (accompanying music of a suitable beat to help with shaking action is optional) then spray into the roots from a distance of about 30cm (....I MAY have used a ruler... :-/) Now don’t panic when you look back in the mirror & see an image of yourself but aged 50 years looking back at you…your hair is meant to look that white after all that spraying.  At this stage just go in with your fingers & give your noggin a good ol’ massage, distributing the product well into the hair & putting you in a nice, relaxed state of mind at the same time, then just go in with brush & comb through the hair, done! I also like to just tip my hair upside down & brush through that way giving it a bit of extra va va voom volume too :)

There are quite a few dry shampoos on the market but I find myself drawn to the Batiste brand especially, not just because of the divine packaging on the bottles (I am a sucker for pretty packaging!) but also the wide range of lovely fragrances that are now available. So far I’ve tried Wild – a strong & spicy Oriental fragrance, Blush – soft, floral, feminine & very pretty & Tropical which is my fav as it makes my hair smell like coconuts & transporting me straight to the Caribbean! A little holiday in a bottle ;) And Batiste has added a brand new addition to the collection, Lace.

Look at the packaging! Isn’t it divine? And the smell is lovely too, a not too overpowering, elegant & sophisticated pretty fragrance. Batiste is available from a wide range of supermarkets as well as Boots & Superdrug & retails between £2.99 - £4.99 for 200ml or 400ml as well as coming in a cute mini version for £1.53, great for carrying around in your bag on the go! :D

Have you tried Batiste? Which one is your favourite? Thanks as always for reading lovelies!

Lotsa love to ya!

Disclaimer - product was sent to me for my consideration. I am not affiliated with the brand nor paid for this post, this review has been as always my 100% honest opinion! :)