Wednesday Wishing

It's midweek, tomorrow is my payday for this past fortnight, and although I need to get round to paying off my debts and actually pay bills etc I can't help but scour the Internet in search of fun things to dream about owning...ever the material girl.

1) This Marc by Marc Jacobs watch is so cute. I'm loving neon at the moment, and I'm loving the fact that there aren't any numbers, just that the letters of Marc's name form the number, tres chic. This is also  splashproof, perfect for holidays.

2) I've been lusting after a McQueen skull scarf for ages and ages. I might have to pop this on my Christmas list this year.

3) Another beautiful watch, and one that's so highly revered by many a blogger. I've yet to see how a Michael Kors watch would look on my own wrist, but I'm sure that once I'd tried it on i wouldn't want it to come off!

4) How amazing does this iPad case look? I'm loving Marc by Marc Jacobs products at the moment and I love the dusty pink colour of this case and I love that it's a folio and not just a cover - perfect for travelling.

5) I bought a Maybelline Babylips from Florida when I went with J last September so I'm not too desperate to get my hands on these now that they're available in the UK. There are a few flavours I'd like to try though, and I'm sure I could make room in my stash for one or two more...!

6) I'm still on the hunt for a new primer, and saw that this was on offer in Boots. I swatched it on my hand and was suitably impressed, so roll on payday tomorrow!

7) This is an interesting little notebook I found on Amazon. It allows the user to chart and document their fitness progress over 12 weeks, with spaces to keep a food diary, exercise log and your body measurements. For an avid list maker like me this is perfect motivation to keep on the healthy straight and narrow :)

That's what I'm lusting after this week, seen anything you fancy?

OOTD// Time For Tea

 I might get odd comments or looks for saying this, but thank God the heatwave has disappeared. Don't get me wrong I do love a sunny day, but not when I have to spend 9 hours of it in a hot and busy restaurant serving fries and BigMacs to hungry customers. People have been asking me if I'm ok these past few weeks because I'm still pale, not a hint of a slight sun kissed gleam at all. I say, yes I'm fine, but the only heat I've been able to feel is that radiating from the Fry vats and the grills so there's no chance of a tan for this girl, only empty deodorant canisters. *Le Sigh.*

This aside I'm grateful for the cooler days, and most importantly I'm ecstatic to be dressing for A/W 13 like a boss. I don't care that August is round the corner, give me boots, 100 denier tights and cardigans any day. This little outfit was a steal at £8 for a my cute little Tea Dress from Primark, £3 leggings from Primark and a gold collar necklace for £2 in the New Look sale. I thought I'd pop a little brown woven belt around my waist to cinch me in a little bit, put Michael on my arm and slip on some brown boots and ta-da! A perfect little outfit to pretend it's Autumn and go out for dinner in.

Are you like me and can't wait for Autumn? Or are you a complete Sun Junkie?

Holiday, bottled.

I might, once again, be a bit late to this particular beauty party but I wanted to write about a scent I discovered today. I spritzed it on my skin and wandered around my local department store. It smelled divine and so I tweeted about it saying I couldn't wait to justify such a spend until payday (it's £45 for 100ml) and then came home. Half an hour later and I went back out of the door and hot footed it back to the beauty counter and purchased, picking up a job application form in the process. Thank (and curse) God for literally living round the corner from the shops.

And praise be to Estee Lauder to have come up with the most magical scent I think I have ever smelled, Bronze Goddess.

Bronze Goddess has everything I could possibly want in a summer scent. It smells sweet and girly, and although I'm terrible at describing smells, I keep catching the scents of coconut, vanilla and oriental flowers wafting up from my skin, which suits me down to a T. (Whether or not this perfume actually contains such notes I have no idea, but I honestly do not worry about the nitty gritty science of perfume. If it smells nice, I want me to smell of it too!)

The best bit about this perfume is that you are instantly hit with holiday memories the second you smell it. I'm currently sitting in my living room and feeling the rays of the Barbadian sun on my face as I bury my brother in the sand as a child, I'm then transported to the time as a teen when I sat by by the Dubai marina, and then to last year when I was lathering on sun cream by the lockers at Blizzard Beach water park at Disney World in Florida. Never has a perfume prompted such a retrospective trip down vacation lane for me, and since I'm not going on holiday this year, this Bronze Goddess is a very welcome addition to my scent wardrobe...

Have you smelled this magical scent? Do you indeed own it? What holiday does it remind you of?

Perfect Palettes

So I've recently re-discovered my eyeshadow palettes. I don't mean that I ever lost them in the first place, more like I put them in my makeup drawer marked 'palettes and miscellaneous' and neglected them. And now I feel bad, because I've neglected them in favour of a more simple makeup look for summer, the 'barely there' face, a bit of mascara and pink blush and that's it.

I decided to get out of this rut the other day by deciding to play with some eyeshadows and see what I could come up with. Eyeshadow is hard work on my face in the heat. You'd think that by applying a primer and pressing the pigments into my skin that they'd stay there all day, never melting, and never blending into one unrecognisable colour palette. But alas, that's not the case and I feel like the more heat the sun pours down on the UK, the more my eyelids sweat and I end up feeling all clogged up and gross.

This aside, I'm trying to get over this by embracing my eyeshadow palettes this summer. I have too many lovely shimmery gold colours that really look lovely in bright light and too many bronzes and burnt oranges that really bring out my blue eyes.

One thing that I've told myself to do is to say yes to more things this summer instead of shying away and continuing with the norm. I guess easing myself in with some gorgeous eyeshadow looks will be a fabulous way to start...best foot eye forwards then...!

What's the best palette that you own? I'm on the hunt for some more :)

OOTD // Maxi Florals & Chunky Necklaces

Here's a quick look at my favourite summer outfit of the moment. I don't do summer clothes well since I put on lots of weight, and finding anything that's comfortable and stylish is hard for me. I bit the bullet here though and bought this maxi dress from the Inspire range in New Look (£22.99) and fell in love with it. I was drawn to it mainly because the florals are nice and not too over the top, and I love the belt detailing, but also because it's a good length for me at 5'7/5'8. I find it hard to get maxi dresses sometimes because they can be just that tiny bit too short.

The necklace is also from New Look (£7.99) and I thought that it was so stylish with the chunky beads and layers, it looks fab with pretty much anything!

What's your favourite summer outfit?

Review // Vaseline Spray & Go Body Moisturiser - Cocoa Radient

I popped into Boots today for a lunch deal and ended up spending £4.99 on Vaseline's latest product. Damn you Boots! I present to you my new moisturiser... theVaseline Spray & Go in Cocoa Radient.

I was intrigued from the off when I saw this on the stand, a moisturiser, in a can that takes seconds to moisturise and dry your legs? Prefect I thought. I've since tried it when I got home and was initially incredibly impressed, the cocoa scent isn't too artificial or overbearing on your legs, the spray action coated my legs nicely and moisturising was an incredibly smooth and carefree process. Perfect for someone like me who just wants to get dressed post shower.

I was, however, annoyed to find that I had to actually rub the spray into my skin (sounds stupid, but I find this the most tedious part, i.e when you hands are all slippery and you can't hold the canister or tube of moisturiser to apply more product). I thought I could quite literally, spray & go, but in the long run this isn't too much of an issue, just me being pedantic. I'm also not entirely convinced of the 'moisturises in seconds' claim. Granted I felt it did add moisture to my skin, but it didn't absorb in seconds and I had to dance around my bedroom to the radio before I felt it was dry enough to get dressed (this activity is nothing out of the ordinary though, so again I can't really pick apart Vaseline for this one!).

Overall, a nifty concept coupled with Vaseline's moisturising expertise. I'd recommend giving this a go if you're admittedly a bit lazy with your moisturising routine (guilty as charged!), or you're constantly on the go.

Available in 3 'scents', Cocoa, Aloe Vera and Essential Moisture and priced at £4.99.

How do you feel about moisturising? Chore or something you enjoy?

Review // Smashbox Cosmetics Heatwave Eyeshadow Palette - Summer Collection

So I posted my July beauty wish list one post ago, and on it was the Smashbox Cosmetics summer 'Heatwave' palette...and I loved it, and lusted after it so much, that when I went to visit my Mum in Plymouth yesterday (and it just so happened to be payday!) I absolutely had to snap it up. I apologise in advance that my photographs do not do it justice. I even took advantage of having my Dad's old DSLR camera at my disposal and still don't think the pictures came out any better than from my iPhone (guess I'm just not that good at picture taking, turns out there's more too a point and shoot than I had first imagined...). So if you have a larger Boots near you, and are not familiar with this palette please go and view it and swatch it, don't reply on my shots. I swatched all colours in store and was instantly sold!

Outer packaging: loving the orange to pink ombre effect!
Actual packaging: So sleek and sophisticated!

Anyways, I've never tried Smashbox before, but heard great things about the brand, and their Photoready Primer (something else I'd love to try!). I've seen this palette floating around a few blogs on the blogosphere and they got me all excited...excitement akin to viewing the Naked 2 palette in Duty Free, and upon applying the Chanel Les Beiges powder to my face for the first time! It's just one of those palettes that has something for everyone, mattes, neutrals, shimmer, glitter, the lot. It's the kind of palette you could take on holiday and not need to take any other eyeshadows (which, being a summer release is supposed to be the case, am I right?) I honestly couldn't love this anymore!

Beautiful Colours Take One

The palette itself is encased in a light bronze/gold coloured plastic with the Smashbox brand name and logo embossed on the bottom right hand corner. It feels incredibly durable and heavy duty, like it would last a long time and protect the shadows if you took it on the move - again, perfect for a holiday. Inside the palette you'll find a large mirror covering the whole of the underside of the lid, 10 beautiful colours and a dual ended brush.

Beautiful Colours Take Two

The colours themselves are gorgeous and incredibly pigmented. Smashbox describe the shadows to be a 'luxe wet-dry formula' and the texture of the shadows is nothing like I've felt before, and, dare I say it, I'm loving these over and above any other shadow(s) in my stash. They apply so easily - it's like they melt onto the skin, gliding off the finger/brush and settling so lovely on your eyelid and are then so easily blendable. Ooof they're so lovely!

I found, however, that when I was applying them they didn't apply so well with the brush, and found that using my finger to blend and put them on my eyelids created a much nicer effect. I don't know if this was just the type of brush I was using however, so I'll have to try some others.

I literally do not have a bad word to say about this palette other than the fact that I wish I could have photographed it a lot better! I just know I'm going to be using every single colour, both for day and nighttime looks, it's just that versatile. The colours work well together, and there are so many looks that can be created here from just one palette that I think it's definitely good for the price.

Priced at £36 (hello lots of Boots points) I believe that this is well worth the money and I can't wait until tomorrow to add it to my makeup routine in the morning!

Are you a fan of this palette? Or Smashbox in general for that matter? 

Beauty Wishlist // July

Images taken from the Boots website. Collage made via BeautySets

Another month, another lot of things to wish for and want in the beauty world. I'd most love to get my hands on the Estee Lauder spray blusher, how fun/messy does that sound!

Anything you're wishing for this month?

June Empties

I didn't do so well on empties this month, save for the excessive amount of shower gels I've been using up! I blame this on moving house, and using different products from different houses, which hasn't given me much opportunity to use things up. I've selected lots of products to finish in July though...!

So what have I finished?

Wilkinsons Blackcurrent Shower Smoothie
I bought this in a whim when I first moved into the flat and realised I hadn't unpacked my toiletries. It was under £2 and I thought it smelled nice. On further use I fell out of 'like' with it, and found I was making myself use it up in the shower. It's supposed to be a body scrub but I couldn't feel any scrubbing action, the buffing beads are tiny. Definitely not repurchasing.

Philosophy Peppermint Bath and Body
I bought this as part of a Christmas scents set from TKMaxx a while ago. The Peppermint scent appealed to me because the product itself is red and sparkly...yummy! I enjoyed using it and will definitely be checking out the Christmas Philosophy scents this coming December.

Body Shop Vanilla Shower Gel
I received this as part of a goody bag when I went to the NE Body Shop Event. It's a lovely scent, and does the job of getting you clean but I don't think I'll be repurchasing this one (I have sooooo many shower gels!) 

MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage
A long, long time ago at a MAC counter far, far away I sat down with an MUA and had a bit of a skin consultation. At the time I wasn't aware that MAC had a skincare line, or that it extended slightly into their makeup range. I was after a primer on that particular day and came away with this, and loved it ever since. In fact I have a post dedicated to it coming soon, so if you're into your skin primers keep your eyes peeled! Definite repurchase.

MAC Brush Cleanser
I have so much love for this brush cleanser, and I've just purchased another one. It's £9.50, lasts ages, works fabulously, and can be used as part of the back to MAC scheme. It's perfect, and no doubt about it I will continue to repurchase it!

B.Pure Micellaire Water
I've thoroughly enjoyed using this cleansing water...it's refreshing, lifts minute dust and dirt off your face and leaves you feeling clean and fresh. It's under £5 and available in Superdrug. I would repurchase it but I've just discovered L'Oreal's cleansing water and I'm in love with that...sorry B. Pure!

What have you finished this month?

Summer Face Essentials (High Street/Drugstore)

I don't know about you but when the summer weather hits the UK I panic about my face. This sounds a bit dramatic, but I panic with good reason...is my SPF high enough? Is there even SPF in any of my products? Will my foundation melt and make me go patchy? You know the sort of worries us girls face.

So I thought I'd take a quick peek into my stash and come up with my high street/drugstore face essentials. Normally I don't like to wear a lot of makeup in sunny weather. I'm of the belief that if we sweat when hot, then we sweat for a reason and the more I put on my face the more uncomfortable I feel about products melting and making me look patchy. Fresh and simple is the way forward in June, July and August in my opinion...

That said, I like to start off my summer face by using an all in one base, like a tinted moisturiser, or my favourite BB cream, Dr Jart Water Fuse (found in Boots, £18). I find that this gives me just enough coverage, yet it doesn't settle heavy on my skin, perfect for a sunny day when I want to feel light and fresh. The rest of my face follows the fresh and simple look, I apply a light dusting of blusher and highlighter/bronzer, for example a lovely summery pink shade like Benefit's Hervana (found in Boots, £24.50) or a new edition to my stash and fast becoming a favourite, Seventeen's Shimmer Brick in Pink Bronze (found in Boots, £4.99). My all time favourite eyeliner, L'Oreal Super Liner Crystal, helps me put on my winged liner (never leave home without it!) and for summer I've found a new one with small light reflecting particles that softens the harshness of the black (found in Superdrug, £6.49). My mascara remains the same at the moment, but I might change it up for the waterproof version, and is Maybelline's The Rocket (found in Boots/Superdrug, £7.99). To finish off I like to apply a light cover of a beautiful summer colour onto my lips in the form of a tinted lip balm or a light coverage lipstick, Revlon comes out on top here with their Colourburst Lip Butters (found in Boots/Superdrug, £7.99) or their newest lipstick collection, Ultimate Suede Lipstick (found in Boots/Superdrug, £8.99). The shade pictured here is Front Row, such a lovely light pink shade to complement the rest of the makeup. 

How do you apply your makeup in the summer? Are you all for fresh and simple or do you like to apply a full face? 

What's In My Bag (Updated)

I recently found out about this competition from Money Supermarket asking bloggers to display the contents of their handbags in order to win another fantastic and iconic handbag, and in my opinion the bag to end all bags, the Mulberry Bayswater. As a self confessed bag lady (seriously, I'd make an Ikea blue bag work if I had to) this is the most perfect competition for me. Originally I thought about showing you the bag I take to work, which would contain my McApron, my McHat and a number of hair nets and till reciepts, but I want to step away from work for a minute and show you my actual day bag for when I'm out and about and not smelling of chips.

You may be forgiven for thinking, "why on Earth is she showing us all this expensive stuff, doesn't she have a tatty old shopper bag that she takes to Tesco?" The answer is no. This is my everyday bag, this is honestly my everyday stuff, and yes, it looks rather fetching hanging off the bag hook of a Tesco trolley...

So, what's is my bag? 

I like to cart around the (necessary) kitchen sink with me in my beloved Michael Kors Jet Set Tote. In fact when I was emptying this out to photograph everything I found a spare pair of (clean) knickers and a spare pair of tights. Glamourous eh?! I do, however, have the usual things you'd expect to find in a lady's handbag: my new Mulberry Long Locked purse that I wrote about here, my house keys on my Cath Kidston lanyard, a Radley Umbrella, my new Beats by Dr Dre Mixr headphones (they're pink!), my Ted Baker mini makeup bag of beauty essentials (see below), my Cath Kidston blogging notebook, a Parker pen, a Jack Wills rollerball perfume and my iPhone 4s which is encased in a Disney Store Minnie Mouse cover. Everything's nice and neat and ordered, just the way I like it. Truth here is that you'll never find old wrappers, a million lipsticks or random bits of gum in my handbag, that's just not me at all! 

Inside my Ted Baked makeup case I carry a few must have beauty items that I may need in an emergency, or just as I go about my day to day business. These include my Tiffany & Co sunglasses to hide tired eyes from the sun and friends, a travel deodorant (so useful!), some hand sanitiser, Benefit Fake-Up concealer, a little Cath Kidston pocket mirror, some eye make-up remover pads just in case, Nivea lip balm, a hair tie, an Illamasqua eye pencil, some tissues, a generic MAC lipstick, and my newest lipgloss from Revlon. All must have essentials for on the go touch ups, right? 

As part of the competition Money Supermarket have asked for a total price of the combined total of the contents of your handbag. My total is...please make sure you're sitting down for this...£1,028. Wowee. That's a lot of pennies. I haven't included the value of my keys because I'm not entirely sure what price to put on them, maybe a month's rent? That'd bring the total to £1,478. I sure am glad I'm sitting down to the tune of that sum!

What's the most expensive thing you haul around in your bag? I think this is an interesting question to pose, much like the 'how expensive is your face tag'...perhaps I ought to do that next...