Car boot haul bargains!

I am very excited to share with you all the bargains i found at a car boot. I am a great fan of car boots, i love looking though lots of peoples junk and finding some treasures - today i hit jackpot!

We usually visit a car boot at least once every month as James is currently on the look out for a cheap hedge trimmer - i am always on the lookout for anything i fancy. 

I found a stall of a very glamorous older lady who explained she has a little bit of a beauty addiction. I sympathised with her and browsed her stall finding a little basket packed with various lipsticks and lip glosses. I was so excited to find some beautiful lipsticks and i braced myself and asked how much. The lady said that her husband would kill her if she brought them home - and asked for £2 for the lot. Seeing my shocked face she said she was happy that they were going to a good home and she had back ups anyway that her husband did not know about - seriously my kind of woman!

Estee Lauder pure colour 61 pink parfait x2, Lancome Colour fever 216, Estee Lauder 186 Tiger eye, No7 high shine lipgloss whisper. 

Very happy with this stash i became even more of a bargain hunter and found another stall with bargains galore, this time nail varnishes. This stall was manned by a little old guy who clearly did not want to be there. Each item had a little sticker of the price of each item carefully written, i have a feeling his wife may of sent him. This lady must have had good taste as i found a stash of nail varnishes i loved, for the bargain price of 50p each

China Glaze - Spin me round, China Glaze - Mrs Clause, OPI - Hungry for my honey, Opi - Skinny dip'n in Lake Michg'n , Estee Lauder - Pink clouds

 

By this point i was very pleased with my beauty bargains and we began to head back to the car. Not before i spotted a familiar logo in the distance.

I have read so many reviews on this and have been lusting after this clarasonic dupe for some time. I did expect to pay more than £5 for it however. Yes you read correct £5! This is completely new and sealed and i snapped it up. Before i let the stall the lady very kindly told me of a little bag of samples she had for £1 which included a cleanser i could use for this. I looked at the bag and each item was wrapped in tissue paper. I can not resist a surprise so i picked that up too. 

Did you think i did well for £10.50? 

Wedding make up

Last weekend was the wedding of the very beautiful Katie and her new hubby Andy. Katie is James sister and she asked me to do her make up for the big day. I was very flattered and insisted we practice lots before to get it just right. As a natural beauty Katie does not wear much make up, well none other than mascara normally so the pressure was on!

Katie and Andy

We set a few dates where we would try different looks and see how Katie felt and what they looked like on camera. The following pictures were from our first attempt - we ended up curling Katie's hair to get a better effect. Katie wanted a neutral look, very light foundation, cover her under eye darkness and accentuate the eye area and a subtly lip. After each and every stage i stopped and showed Katie what i had done and if she were unhappy i could change it there and then. Luckily we had very few problems and her make up was quick and easy.

Curly hair

 After about four trials using my make up and about a month before the wedding we went shopping for some basics. We hit the department stores and tried a variety of brands, colours and finishes of foundation, concealer and lipstick until we hit jackpot on the Dior counter. The lovely lady matched Katie's skin tone perfectly using Dior Skin Nude - Natural Glow Hydrating Make up. Katie has great skin and only really needed foundation to even her skin tone and this worked great. After also finding the perfect lipstick (i can not remember the colour off the top of my head) the lady kindly gave us a tiny sample of concealer to use on the day, a lipstick sample, mascara sample and some face care stuff.

To supplement this stash i used:

• Smashbox photo finish primer
• Dior skin nude tan 002 sunlight
• Nars Orgasm
• Mac Mineralise Skin finish - light
• Urban decay primer potion
• Palmers cocoa butter lip balm
• Loreal false lash telescopic waterproof
• Urban Decay Naked palette - Virgin, Sin, Naked Dark horse
• Selection of brushes including my favourite Samantha Chapman real techniques stippling brush, Body shop concealer brush, Mac 187, Mac 275, Mac Kabuki and Avon lip brush

Wow sounds like a lot when it is listed! Katie has some step by step photos from our trials on her camera which i might steal and upload for anybody who is interested.

Here is how she looked on the day

And the make up artist

The wedding was out of this world amazing, Katie looked beautiful and the couple so happy

xxx

Graduation tips

After four years of student life i finally donned my cap and gown, whoop!

I had a very busy weekend, there were 9 family staying at my house - yes 9!- the weekend before the ceremony and it was beautiful to have everyone together. As you can imagine everything was a little rushed organising so many people but when i finally arrived the sun shone and i had a fabulous day. 

There are a few tips i would like to share for graduation which i wish i had known previously. Some are self explanatory but with being so busy the weekend before i forgot a few things

• Wear something you are comfortable in. Do not worry about what other people are wearing, just make sure you are wearing something that you feel nice in. I bought a selection of  'proper' graduation dresses, shirts pencil skirts, they did not flatter me at all and i would have been conscious all day. So i went with a Navy and flowery dress bought from Marks and Sparks for £20 in the sale. Actually i would say that 70% of the girls at my Uni went for smart but colourful dresses, you don't have to stick to black and white!
• Do not over think your make up, try to look like you just a little more polished. I noticed lots of girls who had done their make up like they were going clubbing, this event is about you and your cleverness not a night on the tiles. They stood out but not in a good way, keep it neutral  - saying that i went for pink lippy. That said i saw one girl with bright pink short hair, very loud dress and lots of piercings. She looked great - if you are a little more adventurous on a daily basis don't change yourself for this day, it is celebrating you as you are now. 
• I have naturally very straight hair and i knew under a cap it would make me look a little bit flat, but a friend with curly hair straightened hers so it did not look big. I would 100% recommend whatever style you choose avoid hair completely up, your hat will cover any elaborate styles at the back and you will look pretty bald on your pics. Also avoid making your hair too big on he top, i saw one girl taking out 20 pins from her perfectly back combed hair as her hat would not fit. 
• Take extra hair grips to hold your hat in place, i totally forgot to take any and my hat was slippy slidey - although you give measurements they are never going to be a perfect fit, the pins will give you some security while walking across the stage.
• Get there EARLY! We were advised to get there an hour and a half before, that time goes nowhere - there is lots of queuing to be done, to register, collect gowns, pictures, parking... if you want to truly enjoy your day beat the crowds and have more time to be with your friends and family. 
• There really is some truth in the benefits of wearing a shirt - the buttons really help hold on your graduation hood. The hoods have teeny loops on the end of the V which fit around a button and secure them in place. This can be rectified by sewing a little button onto whatever you are wearing, i saw a few clever ladies had done this, i was jealous. I was constantly putting mine back into position and made it a chore to wear, get sewing!
• Wear comfortable shoes, my shoes were not very pretty but were formal, comfy and i could walk in them easily. If you are not one of those girls (like me) who can wear 9 inch heels on a daily basis (like my cousin) i would not risk it for the day. I felt really sorry for beautiful clever girls stumbling across the stage because they are not used to higher heels. 
• And finally smile - you really deserve it. University is fun but it is blood hard - take this moment to shine.

Me and Mother Bear - how beaut is my mum?!

My nephew Ollie Bug

Mum, Me and Gramps

A cake from my family - yum!

Curly hair

Auntie Kerri and Oliver

Me and Gramps

New hair, what do you think?

With a busy two weeks of graduation and a wedding it was about time i bit the bullet and paid to get my hair done properly. I am a box of dye kinda girl, i just cant justify spending lots of pennies when a home dye gives me ok results. Recently however my hair has started to go a little yellow which meant i was due some professional treatment and i feel i can justify the expenditure with two big events coming up. I actually cashed in some birthday money i had not claimed off my Auntie to treat myself  (i get I.O.U's until i find something iu really like). I get a little nervous visiting the salon, i dont do very well with salon small talk but my hairdresser today was lovely and put me at ease with a brew and a chit chat. My hairdresser recommended i had some brown put through with the blonde as she thought it would suit me so i told her to go for it! she put one brown foil for every 3 blonde so it stayed light.

Before

Severe roots

Eeek!

First customer in :)

Lots and lots of foils

Blonde and brown

Roots vanished, yay!

Finished

As you can see it is lots darker than before, i think it will take a few days to get used to as its a bit strange seeing myself right now but i do really really like it. My hairdresser assured me in a few washes the brown will lighten lots and settle as it has been put on top of bleach blonde. I had about an inch off the ends to make it healthier, some long layers and shaped round my face and a fabulous blow dry. What do you think, keep up with the darker tones or have more blonde next time? I will  upload pics again after a few washes so you can see it when its settled.

I must say it is very nice to be treated and pampered for a morning!

Lots of love
xxx

Korres sunflower and evening primrose eyeshadow

Korres is a brand that i have recently discovered thanks to my fiend Danielle who has been sending me some goodies to try. This product is  I was very excited about this eye shadow quad which contains four beautiful neutral eye shadows.

What they say,

"Korres Sunflower and Evening Primrose Eye Shadow. Velvety, easy to apply pressed eyeshadow, with sunflower and evening primrose oils that care for the delicate eye area"

Firstly i would like to address the packaging of this set, there are four separate eye shadows with individual lids which i found strange. When i have a palette i would like to be able to easily have access to all the colours at once without opening four lids. On closer inspection i found that these individual eye shadows glued onto a black base. There This really disappointed me, Korres have not even matched the plastic base to the colour of the individual pots, it makes the whole set seem cheap. I appreciate when a company takes attention to detail and Korres have skimped on this palette. As an individual eye shadow i quite like the packaging, it feels good quality and the closure is secure so no opening in your handbag. Individual eye shaddows can be purchased here for £12 each.

Brun - Golden

Rose Pink - Light Pink

The colours in this set are gorgeous, each one is usable and i find that unusual in a palette. Even my trusty Naked Palette has a few unused shades so i am thrilled to make use of each colour. I think the names of the shadows could have been a tad more inspiring - light pink does not sound fabulous does it?

The texture of all of the shadows are soft, smooth, velvety. Each has amazing pigmentation and only requires a small amount to cover the eye area and each one is easily blended. They are very finely milled and do not get cakey or flaky on the eye and have minimal fall out. The product boasts sunflower and evening primrose oil which is supposedly kind on the eye area, they do not crease and were kind to my skin but i am unsure of the real benefits of the oils.

I have seen some claims that these are very long lasting and i would say they compare to Urban Decay eye shadows, not quite all day but nearly there. I have used the colour Brun wet as an eye liner and it intensified the colour and stayed most of the day. Rose Pink is my favourite shade, more of a rose gold than pink it works great alone on a lazy make up day or fabulous blended with Brun for a little more impact and golden makes a great highlighter for neutral looks.

L-R: Golden, Light pink, Brun, Rose Pink

Golden, Light Pink, Brun, Rose Pink

This set retails for £48 but i have found ones on ebay for the bargain price of £12, BUY IT!

 I would love the chance to visit a store to swatch other Korres eye shadow shades as i think the quality is amazing and i could justify the £12 individual price for a 'must have' shade. 

xx

Nars Orgasm and Sleek Guipure dupe review

I have owned Nars orgasm since Christmas and have loved using it. The colour is very pretty and super build-able. At first i found the glitter a little too much but i have learnt to work with it and it has become a daily essential. Some time ago i received a Sleek palette as a gift and have only just got round to trying it. I have read many reviews on the elusive Sleek Rose Gold blush and how similar it is to Nars Orgasm but found another of their blushes, Guipure, could be used as a dupe. The Sleek Palette retails at a very reasonable £9.99 whilst Nars blushes set you back £21.

Sleek Blush by 3 palette and Nars Orgasm

Sleek: Crochet, Guipure, Chantilly Nars: Orgasm

 These blushes are different, Nars has a pinker undertone while the Sleek is rather more golden however on the skin they have quite a similar finish.

 Nars Orgasm has a strange texture, it seems gritty in the pan and to get a swatch with your finger you have to rub very hard. I found this puzzling when i first started to use this blush but have found it does work well with a quality blusher brush. Sleek Guipure on the other hand is very powdery, it takes very little pressure to pick up lots of product and only requires a light hand.

L: Nars R:Sleek

L:Nars R:Sleek

L: Sleek R:Nars

Ok these are not identical but they are both great blushes with a pretty golden shimmer. I personally think that Sleek Guipure would look fabulous on holiday and make the best on my tan, wheras Orgasm suits my very pale skin tone. If your strapped for cash grab the sleek palette, you wont be disappointed especially as you get two other beautiful colours for under £10!


xx