Blistex Lemonade Blast: Heaven on Earth!!

Did you know that I am a little bit obsessed with lipbalms? You didn't well...shame on you! Ha, but seriously, I've been swearing by the Summer Fruits Eos Sphere Lip Balm for a few months now, and I absolutely love smelling it, using it and just plain looking at the packing. It smells and tastes divine, and is so adorable. I could rave about this product for a life time, but I've actually already done that, so I won't bore you for a second time ;)

Well, watch out Eos, because you may have found yourself a contender in Blistex's new Raspberry Lemonade Blast.

I received this in my Goody Bag from Girls Day Out over last weekend, and it has definitely become one of my favourite products. I absolutely love it and wanted to do a very mini review of it.

What I love so much about it: When I was in Infants, my mum used to buy me these Strawberry-flavoured lip balms that used to taste amazing. I loved them so much, that I was always reapplying the stuff, because I'd licked it off. I've never come across another lip balm that had that effect until I tried the Raspberry Lemonade Blast.

What else is so great about it? I have to admit that this isn't going to be ideal if you have particularly chapped lips, or when they're dry in the winter, but for the summer months or when you don't need a medicated lip balm, this is a delicious alternative that is really Moisturising.

Who would I recommend it to? I'd recommend this to anyone with a remotely sweet tooth! Ha, if you're a fan of fruity stuff like lip balms, perfumes, soaps etc then I'm pretty certain that you'll love this.

Would I Purchase? Most definitely. The price is fairly average for a Blistex, and I really do love it!

Sunday Summary 28.08.2011

What I've Been Doing this Week

Finally getting my eyes tested. That was long overdue

Helping to sort out my Aunt's house

Recovering from being ill - I hate being ill!

Reading...

Hunger by Michael Grant.
Second of the "Gone" Series.

It's taken me a fair while to read the second book in Michael Grant's Gone series, and whilst I did enjoy it, it wasn't quite as good as the first one. I think that the last quarter of the book just really seemed to drag, and i found myself getting bored and skipping paragraphs of narrative.

Now that I've finished this one, I'm a little bit undecided about whether or not to read the next book in the series: Lies. But I'll be deciding what to read tomorrow, and I'm currently not really sure what to pick up...hmmm!!

Watching...

Wilfred...the erm...dog...!!

Admittedly, I only watched this initially because Iw as curious to see what Elijah Wood is up to at the moment, but I have to say that after watching three episodes, I'm really loving this American/Australian comedy, which is simple genius. 

Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance at Reading Festival

It's now over four years since I saw My Chemical Romance live in Manchester, so it was really nice to be able to see them (on telly of course), live at the Reading Festival. It reminded me why I still consider them to be the best live act that I've so far had the opportunity to see. They really do have a great stage presence, and it made me really wish that I was there!

Listening to...

Bruno Mars - Marry You

I'm not really a fan of Bruno Mars, but I'm really loving this song. It was hard to beat, but I definitely prefer this version to the beautiful version that the cast of Glee did, although I still adore their version too!

Adele - Set Fire to the Rain

Again, I'm not really a fan of Adele's either, but after hearing this beautiful song following Misha's audition on X Factor, I have absolutely fallen in love with this track. It is gorgeous.

Madina Lake - Attics to Eden

With only two weeks to go until the release of Madina Lake's third album World War III, I've been taking the opportunity to catch up on their last album, which I'm a big fan of. Their first album wasn't really that great, in my honest opinion, but this one is absolutely perfect.

I love the creativity of Madina Lake's overall concept. And, I can't wait for their next album.

What have you been up to this week?

PS: For anyone who is interested, I also co-run an Entertainment blog, which I'd love you to check out :)

My New Glasses

I just wanted to do a very quick post to share with you my new glasses, which I don't actually have yet, but I'm weirdly excited about it.

So, this is what they look like eeeeiiiiii

Boots: Emma

I think I'm most excited about my new sunglasses, purely because I've never had prescription sunglasses before, so it is going to be amazing to actually be able to see when the sun comes out :D

Boots: Tuscany

The sunglasses aren't really anything exciting, but Boots didn't really have a lot of choice in my price range, and they'll still serve their purpose!

I'll have some more pictures when i get my glasses :P

What do you think of my new glasses?

Dictionary: Acetone

Holy Cracker Jacks, I just realised that I haven't done a Dictionary post in just over a year (the last one is dated 23rd August 2010). Considering that when I initially started writing my blog, I was trying to unravel a lot of the jargon that surrounds the beauty industry, it's quite shameful that it's taken me so long to add to it, but without further ado, here is another entry, and I promise to try and add more when I find them :)

For as long as I can remember, I've always been mildly aware that Nail Varnish Remover contains something known as "Acetone", and as I've gotten into the world of beauty, I've picked up the hint that there is a lot of negativity over it. But, I have to be honest, I have not got got a clue what acetone is, what it does, what it's presence in Nail Varnish Remover is for, and why it appears to be quite "controversial".

I'm always wary of jumping on the scare mongering band wagon, which includes Parabens et al, because without knowing all the definite facts it's sometimes difficult to distinguish whether certain ingredients are really as lethal as companies and the media like to tell us, or if it's a typical case of "MMR" (as in, one tiny unsupported piece of research suggests a problem, but isn't really enough to prove for absolute fact that it is).

What is Acetone? In Layman's terms, Acetone is basically a solvent that is commonly used as a cleaning product. However, in the household, it is most recognisably used in Nail Varnish Remover (of course) and paint thinner.

Without jumping to conclusions, it's easy to want to doubt how safe the use of Acetone is, purely because it's also an active ingredient in something such as paint thinner. However, the next piece of information that I discovered, kind of makes me view Acetone a little differently. Because, basically, Acetone actual occurs in the human body naturally, especially in women of whom are pregnant, or have recently had a child.

What is the general problem with Acetone? I don't know about anyone else, but the main issue that I have with Nail Varnish Remover, and especially those with Acetone present, is the hideous and quite intoxicating smell. As someone who is quite sensitive to strong smells, this can be a real pain in the butt!

So, noting how strong the smell is of acetone-containing remover, it really isn't very surprising to discover that inhaling acetone has a "slight" chance of causing irritation.

Even if the possibility of an ingredient causing irritation is minute, I still feel strongly that it should not be in products that are marketed for commercial use, especially when these products are used virtually every day in places like beauty spas and Nail Salons. I wonder what kind of effect Acetone could have on women who are doing nails all day, nearly every day?

What the Professionals think: Paula Begoun, of Paula's Choice has rated Acetone at the lowest rating, deeming it as an ingredient that should most definitely be avoided.

Now that I've removed Acetone from my life...: I have to say, that since I moved over to using Boots's Acetone-Free Nail Varnish Remover, my sinuses have really appreciated the subtler smell, and although I sometimes have issues removing the deeper colours, such as dark blues, I have had no major issues getting 99% of nail polishes off my nails. Plus, I haven't found them to be that much more expensive that Acetone-containing alternatives, although I did manage to pick up two bottles of the ones that I'm using in a Buy One Get One Free Offer.

The Queen of Quirky Hearts Nail Update

On Sunday I did a simple NOTD using some 17 Heart-Shaped Nail Stickers, that I'd been keen to try out, and I was really happy to see that a lot of you guys seemed to like them too. So, I decided to do a little bit of an update, which might sound weird, but you'll understand why in a second.

I did my nails last Saturday, and blogged about them on the Sunday. On the Monday, I went home and after catching a bus, going to my boyfriends flat and walking into town so not really do that much, my nails had gone from looking like this:

How my nails looked on Sunday...

To this....

Can you tell I didn't take these two photos in the same location...???

You can easily tell by the positioning of the "hearts" that this is the same hand, and I would like to clarify that yes, I did apply a top coat over the hearts.

I have to say that I am very disappointed about how easily the heart stickers came off, especially with a top coat on.

I do think it's a shame, because they did look cute, but I think it's fair that I won't be purchasing any nail stickers.

A Thought for Thursday 25.08.2011

NOTD: The Queen of Quirky Hearts

You might be able to guess this, but I'm not a particularly girly type of girl, so when I received some 17 Nail Art Stickers, as part of a recent Giveaway prize, I was keen not to use them with a pink polish. Not that I don't like pink polish, because despite not being very girly, I do still wear pink sometimes.

Being terrible at general nail art, I've been keen to try simple alternatives, and as regular readers will know I have so far tried Konad and the "sellotape" technique.

The real motivation behind using the heart-shaped stickers with a different colour, was purely because I like to experiment and try out different colours, to see how they look, and personally, I think this look turned out to be unexpectedly fab.

A gorgeous shiny blue...I really love this polish!

I used:

• BeautyUK in Electric Blue, which I swatched, by itself, a couple of months back. I absolutely adore this colour, it's so sparkly and shiny, and just a gorgeous shade :D


• 17 Nail Art Stickers in pink. I didn't use any of the leopard prints ones, so maybe I'll save those ones for another look.

Think I need to moisturise my fingers :)

The instructions stated to use tweezers to apply these stickers to your nails, but ha, as if I know where my tweezers are, so subsequently I ended up using my fingers and nails. It wasn't the best method, but I still got them there in pretty much one piece.

What do you think? I think they look kinda cute :)

Appeal for Guest Bloggers

Hey guys,

I really wanted to do a proper post today, but I appear to have been struck down with the flu, so I decided to subsidise my intended post, which is only half written, with a very quick appeal for guest bloggers to cover my upcoming holiday.

I'm looking for six lovely ladies (or gents) to write guest posts, about any of the following topics:

• A Positive Beauty Pledge (okay, so I'm always on the look-out for pledgers, but y'know, might as well include it here ;P)


• Positive body image


• Tips on how to stay positive

Posts don't have to be strictly relating to these topics, but anything around the theme of "positivity" would be absolutely fantastic.

All you have to do, is drop me an email, proposing what you'd like to blog about, or if you're not quite sure at the minute, then just to express your interest.

Posts will be scheduled to go live, on my blog from the 12 to 17th September (inclusive), so there is a deadline of Sunday 4th September for posts to be completed, this is just to allow me enough time to get them scheduled and stuff.

You don't have to supply images, I can source some if necessary, but if you do have images in mind, that would be brilliant, and very helpful.

So, what are you waiting for? Send me an email and get writing :)

Bag a Bargain

I love a good bargain me, and I can regularly be found scrounging around in the local charity shops, or even the not-so-local charity shops.

Of course a lot of the stuff that you find is complete and utter tat that you can't imagine anyone would pay a single penny for, but in between all the Jeffrey Archer books, the creepy looking teddy bears and cosmetics that are probably circa the 1950s (seriously, I once found a product in a charity shop, by Simple that had packaging that looked several decades out-of-date!!), there are some absolute gems to be found.

My new baaaaag!!

Initially, I picked the bag up purely because I liked it, it seemed good enough quality, and despite a few scuff marks that could easily be cleaned up, it wasn't in too bad condition.

Plus the £1.50 price tag was a definite seller!

Looking at the picture now, it's no surprise that I liked it so much, because it kind of reminds me of the bag Ice Skating Bag that I used to carry my Ice Skates in when I was a kid, so it's like going back down Memory Lane!!

It wasn't until I got home that I grew curious as to what brand the bag was. But, I couldn't find any tags or labels inside the bag anywhere. But, then when I went to open the middle zipped compartment, I noticed the little logo on the zip....

Well lookie here!

I've been swooning over Accessorize handbags for absolutely months, so to say that I finally own one is an incredibly feeling, and to think that I only paid £1.50 for it is just YIPPEE!!!

There is no reason for this picture....I just liked it.......

In hindsight, it really goes to show that you can't snub the charity shop, because there might just be some hidden treasures in there waiting for you to find them.

What bargains have you picked up recently? :)

A Thought for Thursday 18.08.2011

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

For a long time now, I've marvelled over other girls blogs who do Face of the Days (FOTD) or "looks" and watched with envy as they create these amazing looks, blending colours and just looking absolutely fabulous! Since I started blogging, almost a year and a half ago, I've done a lot of experimenting with eye make ups, and I've improved a great deal since those early days. But, one thing that I really regret not doing?

Logging those experiments and progressive attempts through my blog.

Why have I never done it? Well, there are a couple of reasons. In the really early days of my blog, I didn't own a camera, and at the time, the mobile phone that I had had a fairly poor camera. It wasn't until last October that I was given a camera as an early birthday present, and then I just lacked the confidence to do looks.

But, another reason is because I'm not really sure if there's a proper name for it, but I have a very "heavy" brow bone, that means that you can't see my handy work:

This look is kinda messy, but I rushed it just to make a point!

You might be able to just about tell from the eyeliner on the edges of my lower lid, but this look is actually green. It's hard to tell because you can't see any of the colour on the upper lids.

And from the side...

It is incredibly frustrating, because I spend so much time on it, and the only people that will ever get to see our myself, my other half when I show him, or anyone who sees me with my eyes shut!!

But, even with my eyes closed, the effect seems to be substantially ruined by my awkward eye lids:

Creased...

The crease on my lid just ruins is, in my opinion and I just wish that I had these big eyes to show off my learning. I know I'm not the best at applying eye make up, perhaps because I'm a little heavy handed at times, but sometimes I feel quite proud of what I achieve.

A terrible job on the eyeliner, I know :P

But, one thing this post has taught me, is that I'm gaining confidence to at least show what I've done, on my blog, even if I do have to raise my eye brows to get full effect.

I feel a sense of weird relief to be able to share them on here, just so that I don't feel like my efforts are being wasted completely by my silly eyes!

Products Used:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

BeautyUK Soho Palette: Light Green (all over the lid)

BeautyUK Soho Palette: Dark Green (Outside edges)

Rimmel Glam'eyes Eyeliner in Black (top lid)

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Graffiti (lower lid)

Some Things are Not Meant to Be Used...

Disclaimer: This is NOT real!!!

You remember when you were twelve years old, and you were finally allowed to go into town by yourself, without parental supervision? Well, I say "by yourself", but what I really mean is "with your friends". And your mum let you have some spending money, because otherwise, what was the point, and the first thing you did was raid where ever you knew you could get cheap make up. For me, it was either the market or Boyes, and the brand was typically Constance Carroll!

The colours were hideous, they smelt vile, and applying them tasted so disgusting, that looking back, I'm now convinced they contained some kind of poison trying desperately to warn little girls of the perils of wearing make up.

They most certainly were not of the highest quality, but we I was twelve, boy were they the best things ever. Why? Because I hadn't nicked them from my mum's make up bag. For the first time, they were MINE.

But, now I'm grown up (we'll debate that one at a later date), it's been a long time since I've tasted a lipstick like it...that was until I received this little gem from the loveliest ever Katie. Yes, it is a Playboy Lipstick!

Bunny! Bunny! Bunny!

But, even if it isn't the greatest tasting lippy in the world, the colour isn't too bad right?

Red....if you couldn't already tell....!

Actually, on my hand, I quite like the colour, but actually on my lips? Yeeeah, I have to say that it's a little bit too dark for my tastes. I did take some pictures, but I had this underlying urge to severely smudge it around my mouth and over my teeth so I'd look like some crazy drunken whore! Wow, those pictures would have been awesome, but no, I'm not going to be doing that!!

But, before I get accused of being the most ungrateful girl on the planet. I actually kind of like the packaging for this lipstick, in a tacky and as Katie put it herself "chav" kinda way.

When you think about it, most lipstick's come in tubes that are actually really boring and exactly the same as every other brand, so it's refreshing to have some interesting packaging.

BUNNY!!!!

 The famous logo by itself is of course the height of *cough* sophistication. But joking aside, I think that this lipstick is going to look lovely on my shelf, as a decorative piece. It certainly isn't coming anywhere near my mouth any time soon.....!

Arty?? Maybe....??

Something I am really curious though. I wonder if Hugh Hefner picks out the colours himself. I can guarantee that he sure as hell doesn't test them on himself (or any of the pretty ladies that he kisses!!!) because if he had, he really wouldn't be selling these beauties!!

Girls Day Out: Leeds 13th August 2011

Happy Monday Ladies,

I hope that you are all well and had a fab weekend :) My blog has been super duper quiet over the past few weeks, but following this weekends very first Girls Day Out, I have so many products to try and review for you guys, that I have absolutely no excuse not to blog.

Anywho, I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that played a part in Girls Day Out on Saturday. The weather wasn't perfect, but it didn't rain (well, not once the train had got past Doncaster!!), so I was happy at least. Katie heckled some buskers...well, they did seem to gain more money afterwards ;) Lunch at the Red Hot World buffet was....interesting, that's for sure and lots of shopping was done (of course).

I want to give a huge shout-out to all of the girls that came, and yet again, a big thank you for coming, because I was convinced that it was only going to be the two of us, so that was fab. And it was amazing to meet everyone, since this was the first time that I had ever come to a meet up.

Make sure you check out the blogs and/or websites of all of these ladies:

Katie

Kim

Hannah

Alison

Sinead

Charlotte

Carla

May

I also have to say an enormous thank you to all of the brands that so kindly sponsored and/or supported Girls Day Out, with products, information packs, press releases etc. I have to say that Katie did 99% of the legwork in this area, and she did such a fantastic job. I really was overwhelmed with how much brands and PR companies so generously donated, and as previously mentioned, I now have so much stuff waiting for review, I'm going to be kept busy for a very long time, as you can see...

There was also a skull scarf, but I forgot to include it.
Why? Because I was wearing it ;)

The Blistex tastes delicious by the way ;P

A bit dubious of a Katie Price Bronzer, but we shall see!!

Molton Brown were incredibly generous!

The companies that I would like to thank are:

Molton Brown

Grace Cole

Green People

Blistex

Poundland

Katie Price

Givenchy Parfum

Maison D'anu

Bluebeard's Revenge

Organic Surge

If there are any brands that I have missed, then I'm sure Katie will remind me :)

Now a proud member of B.I.T.E

You might have noticed (or you might not, since I've only just put it up there!!) that I have a new button on the left-hand column of my blog, which looks like this:

Basically, I am now of proud member of B.I.T.E, which stands for Bloggers. Integrity. Trust. Ethics.



What does this mean for my blog? Well, it just means that I proudly work to the following code of ethics:

• I will blog honestly but constructively


• I will encourage good relationships between bloggers


• I will support blogs that are victims of plagiarism


• I will not engage in cyber bullying - between each other or against brands or PR's


• I will openly disclose press samples sent for review, sponsored posts or affiliated links


• I will not break embargos


• I will not sell press samples

Why I wanted to join:

"As the blogging community continues to grow in leaps and bounds we recognise that it is not always easy for bloggers, brands, publications and PR's to know where to start.
B.I.T.E. is a non-profit resource for all of those elements to come together and work in a harmonious fashion.
Our intention is to highlight bloggers - big and small - who we trust and feel brands, PR's, other bloggers and the general public can trust also."

I feel deeply honoured to have been accepted as a B.I.T.E blogger, because I've always tried to play by these ethics, so to have them acknowledged is really great. There are some great bloggers who are part of this "scheme", and I personally think that it's a great idea.

If you're interested in becoming a B.I.T.E blogger, check out their website.

My Life in Make Up

So, I'm having a little bit of "bloggers block" and don't know what to blog about today, therefore, I've decided to  do a little tag that I spotted on EllyBellyBaybee. Some of you might find it interesting (woohoo!), but most will probably find it dull as dishwater, for which I can only apologise!

1. How old were you when you started wearing makeup?

Does this picture of Princess Tiammii
 (or however you spell it)
wearing make up freak anyone else out??

I honestly can't remember, purely because I've never really been a big wearer of make up. I wore it occasionally, when I was at School, and even when I got to Uni, I only wore it for a night out. 

I do remember that I always used to steal the make up from my mum's bedroom from a very young age, especially her amazing blue lipstick that turned pink when you applied it (that lippie was awesome!)

2. How did you get into makeup?

I guess that it really started in 2007, when a really good friend of mine introduced me to Barry M, and I just fell in love with the incredible bright colours. The first product that I ever bought of Barry M was their Glittery Green Eye Crayon, and I remember wearing it in Woolworths one day (I know, Woolworths, let us take a minute to reflect *sigh*) and the girl at the till complimented me on it, and then the girl in HSBC Bank did too, which was a really nice confidence boost, and I think it all stemmed from there.

  

3. What are some of your favourite brands?

There aren't really any brands that I favour, more the specific products that each one has to offer: For mascara, I love Rimmel. For foundation, I love Bourjois. For eye shadows, I love Urban Decay or BeautyUK. For nail polish, I could be here forever, but I love Rimmel, BeautyUK, 17, OPI....!!

4. What does makeup mean to you?

Make up, to me, is a way of expressing a part of your personality, even if it's that bold side that is hidden behind a shy exterior.

5. If you could only wear four products on your face what would they be?

 

Gorgeous

Eyeliner

Mascara

Moisturiser

Lip Balm...which is pretty much all I'm wearing today :)

6. What is your favourite thing about makeup?

I'm quite a creative person, so I love how creative it allows me to be, by playing around with colours and messing around with application etc, so it's kinda fun. Of course, most of this experimentation is terrible and only seen by myself and my other half, but it's still so much fun.

7. What do you think about drugstore makeup vs high end makeup?

Personally, I am 100% for Drugstore make up, purely because it's all I can afford most of the time, and from experience, the majority of cheaper priced stuff is more than what I need, so I don't typically see the point in paying extra.

Urban Decay is the only higher priced products that I ever buy, when it comes to make up, which I buy very rarely, but I love the gorgeous colours that they offer in their palettes, and I've yet to discover a good dupe for their intense shades.

8. What is one tip of advice you can give to a beginner?

Whoa! Just, whoa!

Don't be afraid to play around with colour, because it really is amazing to see how different colours can look together, to how you imagine them in your head. But, most importantly: HAVE FUN!!! Make up isn't meant to be taken seriously, it's about having fun, and feeling confident about yourself. 

9. What is one makeup trend you never understood?

Wearing a pale lipstick with a really dark lipliner. It looks revolting, especially when the lipstick has gone, and the wearer is left with this horrid ring around their mouth. Yeuck!

10. What do you think about the beauty community on YouTube and Blogger?  

Despite there being a heck of a lot of nasty trolls lurking around both You Tube and Blogger, who plod around dumping their shit on people who don't deserve it, for their own personal gratification, overall, I think that the beauty community is absolutely fantastic. I've made some incredible friends, who all know who they are, and who are all so supportive. 

I tag you all to answer these questions, because, well I guess I'm just a nosey so-and-so :)