Things I’m Lusting After Right Now

Oooh, I hate it when my purse doesn’t stretch to let have the trinkets I adore or I’m waiting for something that looks amazing and it feels like it’s never going to get here! Both of these collections fall into both of those categories!!!


I adore Liberty. I used to be a VIP card holder there and would get invited to their champagne evenings! It was the most delightful card in my purse! I get such an amazing feeling when I go into Liberty. Partly because it’s a labyrinth that I can never manage to navigate. I either can’t find most of the store and leave early or I get completely lost and can’t find my way out. I much prefer the getting lost option!!! So, when I heard that Liberty and MAC were doing a collection together I was pretty excited! I, like so many people, have mixed feelings about MAC. Yes, I get bored of their constant limited edition collections. But this, like the Hello Kitty collection, has me really excited! I secretly love MAC. I also secretly really don’t like them. How does that work??? I hate that they’ve elbowed out so many fabulous brands but then again I rely on their products and prefer them to loads of newcomers! I find it frustrating and exhausting. I find myself just giving in and loving them. So I’m EXTRA loving the Liberty collection and really wish I could rush into the store on Thursday morning and snap up the whole lot!!! Weirdest of all, there isn’t a MAC counter in Liberty so this won’t be available there. My fave two things if I had to choose would be the beauty powders and the special scarf! So pretty…



I have the same feelings about Estee Lauder. Obviously both brands are part of the giant machine that is the Lauder Group. Being  a self employed freelancer I have to automatically despise all corporate machines but I can’t help finding myself wanting more and more of these brands! What is wrong with me??? Estee Lauder really seem to be coming out with some beautiful and brilliant goodies of late and I’m LOVING the look of the latest Bronze Goddess collection. The colours are so beautiful and vibrant! I think the liquid eyeshadows might be my fave thing from this particular collection. I love the look of cream products in spring and summer time and the colours look just stunning. It makes me want to don a fabulous bathing cotume, a head scarf and a pair of sky scraping wedges to strut around the beach in. Lets not speak of the fact that I’m tres pasty and pudgy right now after a long, cold winter! It’s all about the vision as opposed to the reality! I love the look of the nail varnish in this picture. It’s a metallic purple and will look amazing with the bright coral toned lip gloss! Ooooh, I really have to find a way to get my hands on all these pretty things!!!
What are you lusting after these days???
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

A Little Treat from Vaseline

I loved the Vaseline Sheer Infusion body lotion so much and now you have a chance to try it out yourself without spending a penny!!!
Just click here for your free sample!
Kisses,
Rebecca

Amala Hydrate Skincare

I was lucky enough to be sent some lovely goodies from the people at Content on Marylebone High Street. They have a gorgeous shop full of organic treats to delight you.
I decided to take my Amala Hydrate goodies with me skiing seeing as I knew my skin would be super thirsty after each day of being attacked on all fronts by wind, sun and snow.
I cleansed with my Hydrating Cream Cleanser morning and night. I expected to be the usual system where you put it on dry skin to melt away makeup, etc. It’s not. You do actually use it on damp skin! Novel! I felt like it left a little residue but if you used it with a face cloth you would be fine.
I didn’t take any toner with me as I had been forced to throw away some of my lovely liquids by airport security. What is WITH the obsession with liquids at Gatwick airport and why can’t they understand that I need MORE than just that tiny plastic bag with me? Nothing was over 100ml!!! There were just lots of them!!! Anyways, I did happen to have some sachets of Estee Lauder Idealist with me so I was using those for an extra hydration burst morning and night as well. More on those in another post.
Finally, I was using the Amala Hydrate Face Cream morning and night as well. My skin loved drinking up the jasmine infused concoction. It instantly looked and felt replenished. I loved the smell of putting it on. It instantly made me feel calm and happy and my skin started to look the same way. I heard a theory some time ago that if you like the smell of a product it’s more likely to work for you and that if you really breath in the fragrance then it will help you get even more of the product’s benefits. I’m more than happy to try that theory out with these products! Yum!
A couple of times over the course of my ski week I took time to soak in a lovely bubble bath. On both occasions I put on plenty of the Hydrating Yogurt Mask. You just put on a generous amount and let it “melt” into the skin for about ten minutes then wash off. Both times I did it were days I was convinced my face was going to be ravaged by wind burn. I was so wrong! I’m pretty sure the Yogurt Mask had something to do with it though. Between the Amala and the high factor sunscreen I was obsessing over all week, I think I’ve come back with skin that is even happier than when I left! It’s starting to get back the glow it lost while I was using the Meaningful Beauty products! Woohoo!!!
I was sent sample sizes of the products and they lasted me well over the week I was away. There are sample sized trial kits you can buy from Content so it may be a brilliant way to give this fantastic line a try. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Skiing Sunscreen Saviour

I’ve returned from Meribel!!! It was super sunny out there and I didn’t get time to go get appropriate sun protection for my face. I’m so aware of how being on the slopes is unbelievably dangerous when it comes to sun damage. I also didn’t fancy putting regular sunscreen for the body on my face. Ewwww, greasy!!!
I was having a complete airport fail that included a five hour delay on our flight but managed to find my way to Boots to grab contact lens solution and sunscreen. It turns out the airport won’t let Boots carry my lens solution as it could potentially make bombs but they did have my fave new thing!
During my airport fail breakdown my boyfriend was on a search for face sunscreen to try and calm me down a little. He was the one that found the Soltan 50+. He trotted off, sorted it all out, literally picked me up off the floor where half my hand luggage had been scattered and took me off for a vino.
We put this on every morning before we hit the slopes and I topped up again at lunch times. I didn’t get any spots and I’m totally burn free! Other friends with us were using a different brand’s factor 40 and they still had shocking sunburn but I was totally damage free! I do have a couple of new freckles but nothing too noticeable. I’m also goggle/sunglass mark free!
Both of us did get irritated eyes when we didn’t take enough care to avoid them, but it’s a small price to pay! I can’t recommend this enough! Click on the pick and it will take you to the Boots website where you can stock up!

Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Super Cute Flicked Kitten Liner and Candy Floss Pink Eyes

I saw this Joules ad in a magazine and really wanted to recreate the makeup! It’s just so cute!

To do this yourself…

• Prime your eyelids with Lauren Luke eye primer
• Brush some MAC Shade Stick in Lemon Chiffon all over the eyelid
• Take the candy floss pink colour and press it in all over the eyelid to just above the crease creating a slightly winged shape.
• Using a damp flat liner brush fill in between your lashes then create a kitten flick along the upper lash line using the dark navy shade in the Lauren Luke Sultry Blues palette.
• Mascara!!!!
• colour the middle section of your cheek with a mix of the candy floss pink shadow and a flat peach toned blush
• Use an iridescent white shadow to highlight your cheek bones, brow bone and down the centre of your nose.
• Block the colour of your lips out using the Lauren Luke primer.
• Colour your lips with MAC Rose Romance lipstick then press the candy floss pink eyeshadow over the top.

I hope you love this!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Meaningful Beauty – The Verdict

So I’ve been using the Meaningful Beauty range for the last few weeks now. The verdict? For the price point it’s pretty darned good.
I haven’t had any breakouts, adverse reactions or anything like that. On the whole it seems pretty gentle.
In saying that, I haven’t noticed any particularly amazing results either. It’s just kept things on the straight and narrow. I feel like my skin has been a bit duller since using it whereas when I was on the Nude skincare system my skin seemed super plump and really healthy.
I have had a compliment or two on how nice my skin is looking. I would definitely say that it’s worth trying these products out. For me, I think it was the cleanser that was my undoing. Having gone back to using my Liz Earle Hot Polish Cleanser for a few days my skin is already starting to feel a little nicer and get that pretty glow back.
Asking to be taken off their automatic replenishment list was really painless. I think it’s a great idea and will certainly recommend it to some of my makeup clients that are uber busy career type gals. They’ll never need to give their skin care a second thought with new products automatically being sent to them as they’re due to be replaced.
Have a look for yourself here.
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Thandie Newton Inspired Look Using Urban Decay Ammo Palette

I was flicking through this month’s Vogue and there is a great piece about how makeup has really turned into a style statement of late. I’m so excited by this prospect! Finally! There was a gorgeous pic of Thandie Newton sporting metallic green eyes so I decided to see what I could do to recreate it.

Here’s the breakdown on how I did it.

• run a metallic green eyeliner across the eyelid and under the lower lash line then blend it out with a synthetic brush.
• using my Urban Decay Ammo Palette I took Mildew and went over all the eyeliner, worked it into the inner socket and in a straight line across the lid took it across the outer corner into a nice, messy wing shape.
• with a socket brush I put some Maui Wowi on the inner corner to keep it highlighted.
• using the same socket brush I blended some Smog into the outer corner crease and under the lower lash line.
• blend all the edges with a clean fluffy brush and go over the brow bone with a matte skin toned shadow to blend the edges further.
• line the upper and lower lashes with MAC Pearlglide in Molasses.
• Mascara!

I used a NARS Multiple in Mustique on my cheeks and my ELF lipstick in Rosy Tan on my lips with some sheer gloss over the top. I didn’t powder my skin at al as I wanted to keep a nice dewy look to it so that I didn’t end up looking drag queen-ish.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this! I’ll try to do lots more videos for you if you fancy it. Let me know!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Avril Lavigne Black Star

Really? Avril Lavigne has a fragrance? When I think of Avril Lavigne I conjure up images of a pouty, grumpy teen angst skater chick that’s stomping her feet and lusting after boys in converse that are several days overdue for a shower. Not really a fragrance creator kinda gal, I would have thought.
However, I throw my hands up and admit that I was wrong. Apparently she does have time to take out of her busy frowning schedule to create a fragrance. I was sent a sample of the fragrance to try and I didn’t have any other smellies on so quickly smooshed it on the regular spots. I’m sitting her bathing in it as we speak.
I don’t hate it. I think that’s the most shocking part of this for me. I’m a bit funny when it comes to fragrances and, unfortunately, this one quite tickles my fancy. Drats. I’m too old and fabulous to be running around town smelling like a teen angst poster child!!!
You can get yours here if you fancy giving it a go. I’m not sure that I’ll be running out to get it. Smells good but I can’t bring myself to do it!!!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

A Few Of My Thoughts on Being Beautiful

After my A-Mazing morning at Headmasters on Thursday I started to think a little bit about what my thoughts on being “beautiful” really were. I was astonished at how a blow-dry made me feel like a completely new person and questioned why I’d been feeling so scruffy for so long.
I realised that the older I get, the more attached I am to my curves. Gone are my teenage lustings after the perfectly waifish bone protrusions. I look at women like J-Lo, Heidi Klum and Sophia Loren and hope to be as luscious as they are! Don’t get me wrong, I still need to work out to keep those curves under a little bit of control, but I’m not going to starve myself any time soon! In fact, if I’m ever tucking into a cream bun or some such, I’m thinking about how it’s actually making my tushie more Dita Von Teese style gorgeous as opposed to flat and icky.
Another thing that dawned on me is how easy it is to let trends stress you out instead of make you feel glamorous. I often feel so inadequate for not looking how I “should” in the latest Zara/Topshop offerings. I pondered how much fun I’d been having recently playing “grown up dress ups”. Last Sunday I went all Breakfast At Tiffany in a cute black dress, heels, an up-do with an alice band and flicked eyeliner. For my anniversary dinner I’d gone all vintage vixen with a soft romantic look for the hair and makeup and a very tight vintage-tastic tweed dress. It’s these things that make me feel like a gorgeous girl rather than trying to squeeze myself into skinny jeans and a floaty nude coloured jersey tank paired with biker boots or funky trainers. My body was never that way inclined and, I suspect, never will be.
The point I’m trying to get across is to please have fun with fashion and makeup. We’re not creating world peace here, peeps. Please don’t take any of it too seriously. I promise you’ll feel ten times more gorgeous the minute you let go of what you’re “supposed” to be wearing. Stop thinking “red lipstick doesn’t suit me” and start thinking “I love red lipstick, I’m going to wear some today”! Mess around with it, if you mess it up, take pics so you can laugh at yourself then wipe it off! Next time you’re going down the street for milk strut down there in your gorgeous heels and a tight, tushie hugging dress! I used to vacuum my house in a tiara. I really must get a new one and start doing that again.
Just try to do one of these things a day. These things are the little ways to feel a bit special every day. If you feel just a bit special every day you’ll suddenly find that you feel a lot special all the time.
Don’t forget to let me know what little things you try! I love hearing back from you guys!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Last Night a Blow-Dry Saved My Life

Well, it was yesterday. And it didn’t necessarily “save my life” but it sure was the best day I’ve had in ages! I don’t treat myself to luxuries like this very often so I jumped at the chance when I was invited to try out one of Headmaster’s new blow-dry styles for 2010.
I went to the Mayfair salon. Nice! I felt so tres chic sitting with a tea and croissant at a nearby cafe waiting for my blow-dry appointment, darling! When I got there everyone was so friendly! I was shown downstairs and introduced to my stylist, Jonathan. We both immediately agreed on the style I should go for. The Charleston Curl.
My hair was washed, prepped and blow dried. All by the one stylist. I love that! Sometimes being shuffled from person to person in a salon can leave you feeling a little like cattle. I understand someone different washing it, but when someone else then blow dries as well. Yikes. None of that at Headmasters though! Noooo! It was lovely! Jonathan ascertained that I like big hair. My fave saying is “the higher the hair, the closer to god”. So he went for it. Considering there wasn’t any back combing involved, he got some serious volume out of my fine, limp hair! Thanks L’Oreal Tecni Art products! Woohoo!!!
Then came the curling. With all the chatting we were doing I barely noticed he had a super hot cone tong so close to my head. (Some of you may recall my incident last year when I sizzled most of the skin on my neck off when I dropped one mid-curl). I’m so sad I didn’t take a pic before I left the salon but here I am 8 hours later after being attacked by the wind several times whilst floating around London.
It looked soooooo much better earlier in the day! I, honestly, haven’t felt that pretty or that amazing in a very very long time. Even this morning I’m still on a blow-dry-high. I walked across the street to Liberty and floated around in there for ages. For the first time I didn’t feel like an imposter scruff that should be thrown back to the general mayhem of Oxford Street! I made my boyf meet me for lunch so he could tell me how gorgeous I looked as well! He was obliging as usual! Best boyf ever!!!
I can’t wait to go back to Headmasters! I’ve been avoiding hair salons as much as possible since I got to London seven years ago but I’m really excited now! They couldn’t have been more friendly or amazing if they tried! Click here to check out all of the 2010 blow-dry styles available and to make a booking. It’s perfect for if you have a special occasion, or if you just want to feel like a non-scruff! From just £24 it’s a steal to feel this good!
Anyone got any tips on how I can get my hair to stay looking like this while I’m skiing next week? All suggestions gladly received!!!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx
PS, just for clarity, I received my style free of charge. It certainly went a way to making my day amazing but it hasn’t clouded my review at all. It really is worth going along, getting styled and feeling like a glamour queen for the day!!! xxx

FOTD – I don’t even know how to describe this

My house is totally shambolic at the moment. I have a decorator in finishing my house as well as fixing up the horrid job the last decorator did. That means furniture is all over the place, dust is everywhere and I just generally have to live in chaos. I am not the type of person that relishes chaos. I adore order and routine. In fact, I thrive on it. When order, organisation and routine go out the window things like this happen…

I have a very limited and random collection of makeup in my top drawer in my bedroom and I decided to play with it in an attempt to get away from the dust this afternoon. In fact, please excuse my under eye circles, under eye highlighter is not one of the items in said drawer of randomness.
I found a discarded sponge applicator from an eyeshadow and decided to try apply some smashed up dark brown eyeshadow with it to my brows. I was feeling an 80’s office vibe from my hair and wanted brows to match. Then I found a Barry M lipstick in 144. I literally put it on from the bullet without lining, prepping or using a brush. It looks a lot brighter in these pics than it is in real life. It actually comes out quite dark.
Without any appropriate creme or powder blushes in the drawer of randomness I just put some of the lipstick on my cheeks.
I already had on some Armani eyeshadow duo in 1 from the Manta Ray collection but wasn’t loving it with the lipstick. I found a rose gold toned lipgloss and decided to smooth that over the top of the powder. I don’t actually hate how it turned out!? Perhaps the dust has gone to my brain…
Do you ever just mess around with makeup in a totally random way to see what will happen???
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

NOTD – Bourjois 28

I’ve had this varnish for a while. I really like it. It’s one of those Bourjois ones with the fat brush. They say it takes one second per nail. I say it takes slightly longer but I love it all the same.
This pic was taken having put some OPI Nail Envy on as a base followed by two coats of colour. I haven’t put a top coat on yet.
I know most people are all wearing pastel polishes at the moment. I just saw this in my polish bag and felt compelled to put it on. Is that something that ever happens to you???
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

FOTD – Soft Romantic Look

This is a demi-reproduction of a look I wore to my anniversary dinner with my boyf on Friday night. I had on a very vintage styled tweed dress that was uber fitted, gathered across to one side on the neckline and embellished with a black sparkly flower applique to clasp it all together. To offset the structure of the dress I had a really soft, textured side bun in my hair and I wanted an equally soft, unstructured make up look to go with it.

Here I’ve primed my eye with my Benefit FY Eye and pressed a wash of the pale side of my Armani shadow duo in 1 from the Manta Ray collection. I then took a soft, thick angled brush and went into my outer corner and crease with the dark side of it. I was careful to keep this going in a round shape as the last thing I wanted was a cat eye.
I left my eyebrows au naturale as I really wanted that super soft romantic feel. To get definition without loads of eyeliner I took my Bourgois black eyeliner pencil and rubbed it into the very roots of my lashes then put on loads of mascara.
I used a creme blush in a light, bright pink to give my cheeks a flush and to try look somewhat more youthful. I also used my Nars multiple stick in Mustique to strategically but very subtly highlight. When I put on the creme cheek colour I put a little of the colour on my lips as well using my finger. I went over that with the Nars multiple really working and massaging it into my lips using my ring finger. I wanted a bright, pale lip that didn’t look like I’d actually spent any time making it perfectly lined, etc.
On the night I managed to feel really pretty and all my effort didn’t go unnoticed and the boyf even decided to surprise me with a bottle of champagne before dinner to toast how pretty I looked and what a fab year we’ve had together! Mission accomplished!!!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx
PS, HUGE apologies for the seriously shocking lighting. I was holding up a study lamp trying to get any light I possibly could. This house was not designed for photography at all!!! xxx

Things I’m Loving and Hating

I was totally struggling on what to do for a post tonight having spent all day in the garden and being too grubby and red in the face for a FOTD.
Then I wanted to tell you all about a lipstick I’ve been dying for and finally got my hands on but turns out does nothing for me. But my camera flash is wrecking all the pics!
So now I’m going tell you all about what I’m loving and hating right at this moment in time.

1. I’m not loving having ten more days of my Meaningful Beauty try out. don’t take this as a sign of how the results post will go but I’m just bored and want to play with other goodies in my bathroom already!
2. I LOVE the sun being out!
3. I don’t love the red patches of skin that seem to be remaining on my face after my run in with the chicken pox. what the???
4. I’m loving L’Oreal hair mousse in the white tin brushed through my hair for when I want to do an up do with volume. Total staying power for my incredibly fine and flat hair!
5. I don’t love having to figure out three outfits for a weekend to revolve around one pair of shoes. (I stay in London at the weekends)
6. I love that I’m skiing next week!
7. I don’t love that I’m still unemployed.
8. I love all my twitter friends and can’t wait for the next wine night!!!!

Eight is supposed to be a really lucky number in Chinese culture so I’m going to leave it there in the hopes that it brings me some luck!!!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

FOTD – MyFace Cosmetics

On Wednesday I received a very exciting package full of MyFace goodies. I’ve heard amazing things about their foundation so was thrilled to try out the other bits and pieces as well.
As you saw from yesterday’s post, there were a lot of items in my parcel so I decided to create a face using nothing but what I’d received. This is what I came up with…   I was going for something very wearable as I was going into town to meet a colleague and then for a quick drink with a friend.
I put the foundation on with a duo fibre stippling brush and it was really easy to work with. I wanted a little more coverage than it initially provided so it took a few goes but it layered quite nicely. If you’re after medium to full coverage then this isn’t the one for you. As you can see, my freckles were all in full sight, etc. The concealer did a pretty good job. It covered up the chicken pox mark I’m still trying to fade on the end of my nose. Yay! However, I have some pretty heavy duty dark circles and this really didn’t do the trick. Ordinarily I’d use a highlighter and some light relfective powders. But I think my Bourjois Healthy Mix concealer does a better job for these bad boys. The face powder set it all in place but it didn’t offer any extra coverage or anything like that.
I didn’t use any primer on my eyes, just the Bling Tone shadows and they had pretty good staying power. I have very greasy eyelids so they did crease a little but not nearly as much as most shadows. I used Morocco as an all over base, Sp”ice”y up to the crease and then used a little Black Ice on the outer corners and a little into the crease. I didn’t use a liner or anything, just lots of the mascara. 
I LOVE the Fair Nude lip pencil. I think the colour is really pretty and the pencil was really nice. I used it under the Boho Chic lipstick. Personally I prefer a lip colour with a slightly more pink tone to it but this still came up really nicely. 
The Bling Tones are very glittery. They’re not the type of shadow I’d ordinarily go for. However, I went to see a colleague and she commented on how pretty my make up was. She LOVES glitter and liked how there was some under my eyes as well. I looked in my mirror and yes, there was glitter almost all over my face. If you like glitter, then you’ll love these. It’s not fat, chunky glitter. It’s more like fairy dust, but it’s glittery all the same with lots of glittery fall out. I think if I was going out for a big night I could use one of the more fun colours to create an amazing look, but I don’t think they’re for everyday in the office.
Tinkerbell style kisses,
Rebecca xxx

MyFace Cosmetics

Have you guys heard of Charlotte Tilbury? Makeup genius and goddess in general? If you haven’t then you need to look her up! She is also the lady behind MyFace Cosmetics. This line is so cute and all the packaging, names, etc are all based on iPods! Cute!
My favourite thing I was sent is the lip liner in Fair Nude. It’s so hard to get a great nude lip liner and this definitely is one!
When you go online to look at the products you’ll notice that they’re grouped into shades; Fair, Medium, Dark. It makes choosing your colours super easy. I was sent products from the Fair range and in shade 03. I think if I was to purchase I would get 02 as 03 was a teensy bit dark.
They also have a bunch of shadows called Bling Tones. Cute name! When I first saw them I thought they were super sparkly and cute but something I wouldn’t get much wear out of. Here are some swatches for you. I’ve done a regular swatch next to a swatch using a wet cotton tip as well.  Obviously my fave colours were the Carribean Queen and the Bellbottom Blues at the bottom.


Going up they are then called Purple Haze, Black Ice, Sp”ice”y and Morocco. You can’t really tell but under the Bellbottom Blues there is a silver swatch and that one is called Silver Screen.
I’ve got another MyFace post coming up where I used nothing but the items in these pics and came up with a wearable day look using the Bling Tones. I’ll tell you all about how they blend, wear, etc then!
I hope you liked this spoiler for now!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

Vaseline Sheer Infusion

I’m not great at the sleeping portion of my life. I will wake up several times a night and it’s really hard for me to get to sleep in the first place, it drives me bananas, to say the least. Quite a large part of this is due to the fact that I have such dry skin. It itches and gets so uncomfortable that I can’t even sleep. Especially around the backs of my arms and across my shoulders. ARGH!
Yes, I’ve tried all the high end, cult followed body lotions you can poke a stick at. I’ve tried all the body oils as well. It still doesn’t change that I have this dry, itchy skin that keeps me from sleeping and being generally happy.
Over the last week I have had quite a few nights now where i haven’t woken up once! I am loving it! And I’m putting it down to my new body lotion! I also love that it has made my body feel amazing silky!
It’s a new lotion from Vaseline that I was sent to try out and I would like to say that it’s life changing! It has this thingy called Stratys-3 technology. Meh? Long story short, it’s a special system that gets the moisture into all three layers of the skin and keeps it there.  Boy, oh, boy does this Stratys-3-hoosie-wotsie work! I’m adoring it! Even after a whole day out in the cold garden doing loads of hard labour I’m feeling all nice and soft and silky and pretty! Yay!
So for the low down: it’s a nice medium consistency. Not too runny and not thick or greasy. It sinks in quickly so you can quickly get dressed straight after putting it on in the morning. I really like the smell. It’s not offensive at all. The packaging is really nice. It’s not big and clunky like a lot of body lotions.
I am totally going to use this lotion over and over and over. It’s going to be difficult to get me to try another lotion out after this one! I’m completely hooked!
Kisses,
Rebecca

NOTD – Hollywood Gold

It was totally worth the wait. I’m in love. I also love that it arrived just in time for the Oscars on Sunday! I’ll be feeling all Hollywood Gold just like the gorgeous red carpet stars!
If you haven’t already got your mitts on this one then grab it while it lasts!!!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

FOTD - Pretty Ballerina

I love ballerinas. I’ve always wanted to be one. Clearly lacking any grace, elegance or muscle tone means I’ve had to give that particular dream up. But it doesn’t mean I can’t do my make up like one!

I used my Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and concealer as a base followed by Stila Convertible Colour in Petunia. I powdered using my ELF Mineral Foundation and primed my eyelids with ELF Mineral Eye Primer.
To start my eyes off I used a pale pearlescent Nars creme shadow. I’m afraid I don’t have the name of it anymore. Then I used a fluffy brush to go over that with the pale pink side of my Nars Silk Road shadow duo and went through the crease with the dark pink side. To contour a little I used the dark brown colour in my Avon Mocha Latte quad.
I lined the upper waterline with my Bourjois Clubbing Waterproof liner in Blue Neon as putting blue close to your actual eyeball helps to brighten your eyes and make you look more awake. Then I lined my upper and lower lash line with my no-brand black gel liner using a flat liner brush and went over it and the lower water line with my Avon glimmerstick liner in Blackest Black. From there I dusted the apples of my cheeks with MAC blush in Cheek. It’s such a pretty pink colour!
My lips were really easy. Just a slick of Max Factor Lipfinity in number 20 followed by ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick in Baby Lips.
Now I’ve got my pink dress on and I’m ready to pirouette across my living room!

Kisses,
Rebecca xxx
PS, please excuse the eyebrows. They’re getting threaded again next week! x

Bourjois Healthy Mix

There are a bajillion reviews on the blogosphere about this at the moment. If you want to know all about the fruity mix that makes this such a “healthy” foundation, then this review isn’t for you.
I just want to give a nod to the usability and reliability of this product. The more Bourjois products I use, the more I love this brand.
I don’t tend to use my fingers when I’m applying someone else’s make up and it’s not my preferred method for putting on my own. However, when I’m trying out foundations for my blog I always use my fingers as I know it’s what the majority of busy women tend to do when they’re getting ready in the morning.
I did exactly that when I was running out the door yesterday and put my face on. A pump and a little of this was waaaaayy too much for my face and I needed to reel it back in a bit. Despite that it still managed to blend really nicely rather than swimming around on my face. I went over my shockingly dark under eye circles with the matching concealer as well. The coverage as fantastic without looking like I had an inch of makeup on. I really enjoyed using it.
What I enjoyed the most was that when I got home around 11.30 after running around in the sun all day, jogging through London Bridge Station and several wines with some of the other blogger-gals, my face still looked nicely made up! My skin didn’t drink it up at all! And I hadn’t had time for a primer to speak of!
I did set my foundation with a dusting of mineral powder so I’m sure that helped as far as staying power but I haven’t been that impressed with a drugstore foundation in a long long time.  I can’t recommend this enough!
I tried to find a link for you so you could purchase some online but couldn’t find one. My local Superdrug had heaps of stock though so next time you’re out, take a look at Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation and concealer!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

NOTD – Giorgio Armani No 47

Everyone is raving about Greige nails at the moment post fashion weeks. I decided to go for the original, and in my mind, the best for today. This Armani polish came out with the Manta Ray collection for Autumn and I love it. In some lights it looks grey, others beige and sometimes it looks almost lilac. The perfect greige!
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

The St David’s Hotel & Spa, Cardiff

I’m not going to lie, I was dreading the weekend. Thus far in my life I have avoided going to any Hen functions and that was the way I planned to keep it. But when one of my nearest and dearest friends asked me along to her Hen weekend I couldn’t say no. So I was dreading it. What made me not want to go even more was the fact that it was in Cardiff. When I think of Cardiff I conjure up all kinds of images relating to drunken football-style-sports lads running around causing general mayhem or students running around everywhere being generally student like. Neither of those things fill me with joy.
This is where I have to tell you that I couldn’t have been more wrong and here I sit on Monday ready to tell you what an amazing weekend I had and how I really want to go back and do it all again.
When the girls and I turned up we had just missed the French team by twenty minutes and it turns out we were actually staying in the rooms they had just vacated! Ooh la la! The six of us were booked in for a special Shopping Weekend package that included a lovely twin share room, vouchers to John Lewis, a cocktail each and return taxi trips between the hotel and the shopping centres! For £169 per room it certainly was a bargain! We dropped our bags off, collected our shopping vouchers and headed straight into town. I was so surprised by how great the shopping is in Cardiff! It’s so much more civilised than London with most of the same high street stores but none of the awful crowds! The St David’s Centre is a lovely shopping experience that I highly recommend.
On one of my disastrous journeys into London in the pouring rain last week my umbrella had broken so I used my vouchers to pick up this gorgeous number in John Lewis! If you click on the photo it will take you to where you can pick up your own!
The shopping trip was the last time we needed a taxi till we went back to the train station. (By the way, that taxi trip was only £6!) Our lovely dim sum style dinner and the bar we went to for drinks were all located within walking distance from the hotel! It was perfection! Being the girls we are, all six of us decided that a cheeky drink in a bar then going back to the hotel for tea and pink cupcakes in our pyjamas was a better option than dancing the night away till 4am.
I’m so glad we made that decision! Otherwise we would have missed the amazing breakfast buffet the hotel puts on! Yum! It was a brilliant way to start the morning! Then we spent from 11.30 till 2.30 loitering around in the spa! It was terrific. We had booked the Hen in for a full body massage but I hadn’t been organised enough to make any bookings ahead of time for myself. Unfortunately the spa was fully booked but I don’t feel like I missed out at all! The relaxation room has a bunch of massage chairs in there. I spent two half hour sessions in it and I had to be peeled away so I wouldn’t miss lunch and the train ride home! I LOVED the massage chair! It was even better the second time around after I’d been in the jet pool, the jacuzzi, the sauna, the pool and had a little rest at the juice bar! I honestly felt like a new woman when I sat down to lunch (which was amazingly delicious, by the way).
All in all, I had an amazing weekend and I feel like a prize idiot for thinking I was going to have such a rotten time! I can’t recommend The St David's Hotel & Spa enough! I’m so wanting to go back for a quiet weekend with my boyf after Easter! The hotel is architecturally very interesting and the service was beyond friendly. I really hope you make the trip and have as fabulous a time as I did.
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx