Cherry red nails!

Just a quick post to share my affection for my new love, red nails. I got this Maybelline Express Finish varnish from the event last week and if I'm honest I never thought I'd ever wear this and was prepared to pass this on to my mum.

I don't know why but I've always thought red nails were for the 'older woman' and I have never ever painted my nails in any shade of scarlet before. I took off my chipped varnish yesterday and saw the bottle on my dressing table and thought 'why not?'.

As soon as I'd done both hands in two coats I instantly changed my mind about this colour, I love it. It's so bright, fresh and makes me feel almost ladylike when wearing my Cherry polish. I can't wait to get my hands on some more red nail varnish.

I saw a lovely Revlon one today, Cherries in the Snow which I wish I'd picked up now!
Any suggestions of some other gorgeous reds?!
xx

Snog, Marry or Avoid Contest!

WARNING!! - what you see below is not the real me but my contest entry for Natalia from I would go out tonight but... blog competition.

The competition was to recreate one of the uber tanned, over make-uped and under dressed women from the hilarious British programme, Snog, Marry and Avoid. If you haven't watched it you need to see it, here's a YT clip.

I love my makeup I really do but the women on this programme are way over the top and always looks amazing after POD has done her makeunder.

Here's the look I came up with in the end, I released my alter ego 'sheree' and embraced the tango. Click photos for close ups!

Innit!! I was so happy to be able to dig out my old Tiffany dog collar and bracelet which have sat unworn and unloved for the last 5 years.

Here's a close up of my eyes, I chose the brightest aqua blue to make my eye's 'pop' which also worked really well with my orange skin and the white shadow near my brow bone. Although it doesn't look it I did pencil in my eyebrows quite a bit.

I never wear black eyeliner, often opting for blue or brown but 'Sheree' doesn't like to be subtle so I opted for Blitz and Glitz all around the eye.

Forget false lashes that look natural this looks all about being noticed and fakery so I chose the most unnatural flasies I could find. The feathers in the corner matched my gorgeous animal print fascinator.

Sporting a matching vest top and obvious clashing red bra.

A side ponytail was the obvious choice for my night out as 'sheree'.

Lipstick wasn't needed to bring together this look, Mac's Lip Erase did a great job of creating the perfect concealer lips. hmm kissable!

To get my ultra unnatural orange face I applied Chanel's Bronze Universal all over with lashings of Maybelline's mineral bronzer to intensify the colour. Of course my face colour did not match my visibly lighter body and neck but thats how Sheree loves it!

The brightest blusher is a must, unblended and really obvious looks best.

Helen also entered the competition and embraced her inner 'Tracee', boobs out, animal prints and as much fakery as possible.

On the good stuff Hel, good old Cider Vinegar, anything with alcohol will do! After 4 hours getting ready Sheree and Tracee were ready to hit the local hotspots.

Too many VK's later and Sheree's looking worse for wear, makeup streaming down the face, lipstick smeared all over and an earring missing.

Tracee doesn't look much better, she's lost one of her enormous false lashes.

My alter ego Sheree was definately in need of a POD makeunder, I would definately AVOID her if I saw her out.

(P.S - we didn't really go and get sloshed on VK's)

xx

New video with a guest star!

This morning I decided to do a response video to Lorraine (Current Custom) which didn't quite work out in the end but anyway I made a video nonetheless. I was lucky enough to have my BFF at my crib so we decided to do the video together.

So if you want to know my answers to the top 20 questions on everybody's lips check it out here.

Have a great weekend.
xx

Garnier Event

Last night I attended another blogger's event in London for Garnier skincare which was held at L'oreal's HQ in Hammersmith. About 20 British beauty bloggers attended the evening and here we all are pictured below.

If you haven't spotted my already I'm the blonde on the right, front row.

Garnier is a brand which I've used many times over the years mainly for their great sensitive skincare range. I'm also a big fan of their fake tan, the self tan wipes for body and face are amazing, affordable, really easy to use and they always give a great result for a night out or special occasion.

We were invited by Garnier to learn about their new and innovative product range, Pure Active, which is a unisex spot fighting line. There are five different products in Pure Active, a scrub, toner, cleanser, moisturiser and spot stick, all of which contain 2%Salicylic acid which helps to fight and prevent breakouts.

Not only do they help to get rid of dreaded spots they also help to fade the marks which are often left behind by past zits.

I'm really excited about giving this range a go, I've never really had many spots before but recently I've been getting breakouts and I'm not overly happy about it. I really hope these will help, as you know I also have oily skin so I think these will be fab at controlling the oil production in my skin.

I was so desperate to try these out that when I got home after a lovely meal out with some gorgeous fellow beauty bloggers, Natalya, Muhsine, Kelly, Nicola and Laura and a long train journey (I arrived home at 2.30am) I had to use them.

The range also claims to work and give results from DAY 1 which honestly sounds too good to be true but this morning I awoke to find my spots visibly smaller and calmer. I'm really impressed with the spot stick and moisturiser in particular which is mattifying and worked great as a primer today.

The Goodie Bag!!

Garnier was incredibly generous and gave us all a huge eco-friendly bag full of fantastic products from a huge array of ranges to try. They also threw in some Maybelline makeup which I can't wait to try, especially the Colossal mascara and foundations.

I had such a great time, thank you Garnier and it was really nice to meet all the gorgeous bloggers again.
xx

Wet N Wild in UK

If I'm honest Wet n Wild is not a brand I've heard much about as it's an American makeup line, but on my way around Tesco's at the weekend I spotted some of their products in the cosmetics aisle.

On first impressions, the name is not great, definitely not something I'd associate with cosmetics anyway, more a theme park and of course the packaging looked cheap and plastic. Most of their products are priced at under £2 so I wasn't expecting anything fancy, but I was hoping to maybe find a hidden gem in the actual quality of the products.

I picked up two products from the collection to try, a shine free bronzing powder in Gold and a Mega Glow illuminator.

The shine free bronzing powder is not great,I can't even see it on my skin when I've tried to apply it, it's so light in colour more like a foundation than a bronzer. There was another shade on offer but it was much too dark and looked very orangey in colour.

I don't think it's something I'll ever use based on these reasons but on a good note I thought the texture of the powder was really nice, quite creamy and silky in consistancy. Had the colour been better this may have been a winner.

Below is the Mega Glow illuminator which on first impressions looks gorgeous, I was instantly drawn to this for the pretty and strange combination of colours. As you can see there are four colours next to each other, two shades of pretty lilac between two different shades of gold/bronze.

I was actually really excited to try this highlighter but was deeply disappointed as I found it near impossible to apply. I wasn't expecting miracles for a product costing just over a pound but I at least expected it to at least have some colour pay off.

To get the swatch above I had to literally scrub the powder to get that colour and forget using a brush thats even worse, nothing comes off. In the car home, Hel bought this too and even resorted to taking the pan and wiping the whole thing on her face. Also not a successful technique.

Such a shame the illuminator couldn't have the consistancy and texture of the bronzer because I love the colours and I think had I been able to get some colour off it would have been really pretty.

This is definately one brand to miss on your next supermarket sweep.

All in all I'm not terribly impressed with Wet n Wild, considering the company has been going for nearly 30 years in the US I thought the quality would be better, but maybe I tried the wrong things.

Has anyone else tried Wet n Wild? Are there any products worth getting?!

xx

Go blonder for summer!

Before I hit my twenties I found myself using this L'Oreal Expert Silver shampoo, which is specially designed for grey and white hair. Not because I was aging prematurley, but because it contains an anti-yellowing agent which acts to neutralise yellow/orange tones in the hair.

If, like me, you are a bottle blonde you will know what happens a few weeks after each salon visit. I emerge from the hairdressers with lovely ash, honey and caramel highlights, which a few weeks later become one big yellowy bush.

This used to drive me insane but then my hairdresser suggested this. It is amazing, my hair stays looking highlighted, fresh and glossy for the full six to eight weeks before my next visit to the salon.

Even if your lucky enough to be a natural blonde and wanted to go blonder for the summer, this shampoo would help to change the tone of your hair and make it lighter without the need for dye.

This stuff looks scary, it is bright purple but the colour helps to couteract the yellowness in the hair and make it more ashy and whiter in tone.

I use this shampoo every other time I wash my golden locks and leave it on for at least a minute or two before rinsing out. When drying my hair the effect can be seen instantly, my hair looks lighter, fresher and just the right shade of blonde.

This is not the only make that does a product like this, recently I've spotted lots of brands jumping on the bandwagon and bringing out tone correctors. I bought this one a few days ago by John Frieda which is basically the same and called the Tone Booster.

It is not as purple in colour as the L'oreal shampoo more a subtle Lilac, I've only tried this once so far so I can't really see how it compares to the more pigmented and expensive version.
I've also heard that Lee Stafford does a tone correcting range which also helps to counteract the yellow and lighten the blonde which is supposed to be good. I went into Boots the other day but unfortunately they didn't have any.

In between my purple rinses I've been using John Frieda's Go Blonde Lightening shampoo and conditioner which is enriched with citrus extract and camomile to gradually brighten the blonde.

Although I'm blonde all year round I do like to go a bit lighter and brighter in the summer as I feel my hair can look a little dull if I keep the more natural, darker blonde from the winter. These products are definitely something to try if you want to lighten your hair without the use of hairdye or want to keep your salon perfect locks looking gorgeous for longer.

My summer blonde!

Does anyone else change their hair colour to match the seasons?!
xx

Sleek Original and Storm palettes!

I think these palettes might just be the best drugstore products I've ever bought, I'm in love with them. Since I've had the Storm palette I've reached for it every day, long forgotten are my Mac and Nars shadows.

With twelve gorgeous shades in each palette it means I can mix and match for a different and easy look every day. These eyeshadows are mineral based which I love, my favourite ever eyeshadows are the mineralized trios by Mac which are silky soft and really easy to work with.

The Storm palette has really pretty natural toned colours, some of which are matte, great for the crease and adding definition but most have a gorgeous shimmer to them.

Each colour is really wearable, has great pigmentation and blends nicely. Below is a look I created yesterday and I love, this is the best example of my everyday eye, neutral and simple.

I used the both eyeshadows on the far left to create this look with the lighter colour all over the lid and the darker bronze in the crease and blended inwards.

Swatched below of all the colours in the Storm palette, in order from top row left to right!

I really like that there is a mix of both matte and shimmery colours in this as I don't like the over the top shimmer look. I usually always mix one matte colour in the crease or as a wash with one shimmer.

This is another look I created today with the Original palette, it is a little bit different and experimental for me. Like I said I always go for browns and neutral tones but today the sun was out and I needed colour.

After being so pleased with the Storm palette I rushed to Superdrug yesteday to pick up another, the Original palette which is full of beautiful jewel colours and a few basics.

All twelve eyeshadows in this palette are shimmery, I chose this one mainly for the gorgeous purple, bronze and copper pans. There is another palette in the range which I think is neon colours and way to bright for me.

Some of these colours are great dupes for some Mac shadows, on the bottom row the third from the left is really like Expensive Pink and the one next to in Coppering, so if you can't afford Mac right now these are some great dupes to have.

For today's look I used the bluey, teal colour on the top row and the bronze just below it. I rarely ever experiment with colour but I have to say I really liked it, it was brighter that the photo picks out.

For lining my top lid I used my new Gosh Extreme Art Liner in number 24, it's a gorgeous dark bronze. On the waterline I used the bright blue shadow in the top row and the bronze I used in the crease in the outer corner of the waterline.

Below are swatches of the Original palette, again in order from top row left to right.

Hope this post was useful to you if you were thinking about purchasing the Sleek palettes, I really recommend them. They are fantastic quality, have a gorgeous range of colours and are really affordable for less than £5 each, not bad for 12 shadows.

If you are going to give them a go a little tip would be to use a really good eye base (I use a shadestick or paintpot) underneath them as mineral shadows tend to be harder to stick and stay on the lid. Also tap the brush after dipping in the colours before you apply to your lid otherwise there will be annoying dropout.

What do you think of these palettes?!

xx

Car Booty!!

Many of my Twitter followers will know that today Hele and I held a car boot sale. Over the past few years we had accumulated far too much junk (clothes/shoes/bags/miscellaneous) and it was time to convert the crap into cash!!

We filmed a few moments from the day - please excuse the bad editing, this was to cut out some un-PC comments by Hele! Not at all makeup related, but today's carbooting events are to help fund the habit!!




Some snaps....

Yes, in true 'booter' style we made our own packed lunch! Coronation chicken and cucumber sandwiches - yum!!!

At 6.30 am, fresh-faced, in our wellies and raring to go.....

You definitely can't miss me in these bright wellies!


Hel in postition for some hard selling and haggling with the bargain hunters!

The table was pride of place for nick nacks.

First we had a rail, which broke and then resorted to lying all our unwanted (outdated, some of these garments are over 6 years old about time they were scrapped) clothes out on the grass. We then gave up and left two huge boxes for the car booters to rummage through!

Hel taking a well needed break from all the bartering, having an ice cream break under the table and out of the rays. Most of the day we had to shelter on the floor as it was unbearably hot.

Car booting was fun but we certainly didn't make our millions and definately won't be doing it again for a long time, it's ebay all the way from now on. However we did make enough to buy ourselves a few high end makeup treats each. On the way home we stopped off at a giant Boots store and after browsing many a counter neither of us parted with any of our hard earned cash.

xx

New Videos!

Just a quick post to let you know I've put up a two-part video about my makeup shopping this week so click here to have a look. Please rate, comment and subscibe if you like!

Have a great weekend everyone
xx

White jeans weather!

After about a week of miserable, gloomy and rainy days I was beginning to wonder if the hot weather we had here a few weeks ago was just luck but no the sun is back and the white jeans have come out.

I'm always cautious about wearing white jeans, the minute the sun comes out, even early in the year I want to put them on but have to hold back as I think they only look right when summer is really here!

Luckily the sun is here to stay, so the weather reports say and it's finally time to dig mine out of the wardrobe! I just thought I'd do a quick outfit of the day post to show you what I wore them with today.

Keeping it simple as usual, I teamed my Topshop white straight legs with a long black vest top from H and M and a gorgeous coral, short sleeved cardi from Zara.

Accessories wise I went for the statement River Island gold rope necklace and black Gucci shades. I also put my gold MK watch on after this as I can't go anywhere without it!

Newly painted lilac toenails made an appearance in these amazing shoes that I LOVE and purchased from New Look a few weeks ago. They are my first pair from NL and I'm so happy with them, they're all leather and cost just £27!!

The heel is not too high. but then again I never don't wear a heel so I can cope in pretty much anything. I like how it's a cone shape and has a little platform at the front. These are so comfy, the leather is really nice and soft, I'm pleasantly surprised with NL.

Tan is my favourite colour and these go with anything and everything. These touch on the gladiator sandal style but with a little added glam using the studs and silver inserts which you can just see in the little cut outs!

What are you wearing now the suns out?!

xx

I heart Anatomicals!

There are so many organic and natural brands that have totally bombarded the market but this brand really stands out amongst the crowd.

It’s bright, fun looking packaging and tongue in cheek product descriptions give this brand a certain edge other ‘natural’ brands just don’t have, while at the same time being surprisingly affordable.

I was actually sent these three products to try but I have purchased Anatomicals before, I'm a big fan of the Help my Paw handcream which smells divine and really helps the eczema on my hands.

You need a blooming shower! Rose and Jasmine body cleanser.

I'm not usually a morning person but after using this for the last few weeks, I'm happy to say I no longer need to drag myself into the shower anymore. The floral scent of this product is just right, just enough without being too overpowering.

Anatomicals have perfectly captured the scent of an English Rose garden in this cleverly designed bottle which has a pump top, making getting to the product so much easier. And as the name suggests this is much more than your everyday shower gel, it’s also a cleanser, which leaves me feeling refreshed, smooth and hydrated, ready for the day ahead.

The seven deadly skins! Body scrub.

This could not have been sent to me at a better time, as summer is fast approaching fake tanning preparations are in order. Everyone knows to ensure no fatal errors in application a great scrub is needed and this bottle has been my saviour, helping me to get the perfect tan.

The clear, citrus smelling gel is not too fine that it grates at your skin like sandpaper but has just enough granules enabling me to exfoliate large areas with not much product. I am not usually a fan of scrubs, they are either too rough or not rough enough but this product is bang in the middle.

Not another rough day please! Body moisturiser

Having naturally dry skin I find it difficult to find moisturisers I like, usually they are too greasy, don’t sink in properly or simply too fragranced, this however was none of those things. I have to say I can’t rate this product highly enough, it is not greasy at all and sinks into the skin almost like water. This moisturiser, has made my skin silky smooth and smelling gorgeous for the last few weeks, I love this.


I have to say I’ve been really impressed with Anatomicals, I love their quirky, brightly coloured packaging and descriptions which make me giggle every time I use them. These products are fantastic quality and best of all affordable at around £3 a bottle.

Everything I've ever bought from this range I've loved and would re-purchase which is a rare occurrance for me as I rarely buy beauty products more than once unless I'm really impressed.

If your wondering where to buy this fab brand then I always buy mine from John Lewis and I've recently seen them on the shelves of some big supermarkets such as Morrisons and Sainsbury's.

Has anyone else tried Anatomicals? Whats good to try next time?!

xx

Amazing offer!!

Who doesn't love a bargain? I know I do. I recieved an e-mail recently telling me about this fantastic offer from Naked, a natural skincare brand and thought I'd share it with you!

Naked Bodycare are currently offering a staggering 50% off everything on their website! All you have to do is grab the code from either their Facebook or Twitter sites.

All their products are SLS, Paraben and Petrochemical free!! I love trying out new natural/organic brands as I hate the idea of loading my body with chemicals so can't wait to give these a go.

They have a fantastic range of skin, body and hair care products to try. I can't wait to give the Rose softening face wash and the Coco de Mer body cream a go! Another thing I like is that they are really reasonably priced at around £3/4 a product so with 50% off a complete bargain!

The offer is only available until the 14th of June so go check it out before it goes!

Boots Botanics beats Mac

Since discovering MAC's liquidlast liners I had to upgrade my eye makeup remover. If you've ever used these eyeliners you'll know they just don't budge and my usual eye makeup removers just didn't touch it.

I went back to MAC and the MA recommended their Gently Off remover which is half-oil, half something else, and really does the job. It's not cheap, and I'm not keen on spending £11 on a remover, but I had no choice as my eyes were getting so red from all the rubbing.

At the weekend I went to stay with Hele in Leeds and showed her my first MAC skincare product. She laughed at my frivolity and showed me a very similar product that she had discovered recently, for a mere £3.

Initially I was sceptical, but did borrow it after a night of cocktails. And I have to say I prefer it - it removes just as well and feels lighter on the eyes, not as greasy. This little gem from the Botanics Range (which I love) at Boots also contains Iceland moss which hydrates and soothes and also has a high sugar content which is known to calm the skin.

If you use hard to remove makeup such as the liquid last liners or waterproof mascara I'd definitely give this one a go, it is also fragrance free so it's really gentle on the eyes. I bought myself two this weekend as its buy one get one half price on the whole Botanics range.

I really love this range by Boots, great quality products at affordable prices which are all natural and contain plant extracts. I will do a more in depth post and reviews about all my products from Botanics, I have so much from this huge range.

Has anyone else tried anything from Botanics?!

xx

Style Warrior!

Like with all Mac collections I was excited about the prospect of getting, yet more makeup but if I'm honest I felt really let down by this collection. I literally had to force myself to buy these two items and mainly for the boxes they came in.

The packaging itself of the products is OK, I just wish Mac had done one or the other instead of mixing two designs. Animal print on it's own would have been much nicer in my opinion.

I think we'd all be lying if we said we didn't like a bit of animal print now and again. Although I'd never leave the house wearing a tiger or any other safari species for that matter, I definately would have a bit in my makeup bag.

After seeing so many pictures of this collection on Temptalia and other websites I knew I wouldn't be getting much from it, the colours just weren't for me and I knew they wouldn't suit my skintone. The only thing that interested me were the Lustre Drops.

There were three Lustre Drops released in this collection and I ended up buying one in Sun Rush. The pink was pretty in the bottle but almost invisible on the skin and the darkest bronze was way to orange for me.

I've been using this over the weekend and I love it, it's a really pretty and versatile product. Sun Rush is a gorgeous peachy, gold which looks beautiful when used lightly as a highlight or even as a eyeshadow/base. The MA also told me that if you mix it with your foundation or moisturiser it gives you a lovely dewy finish.

The other thing that I picked up mainly for the compact, to add to my growing collection was a bronzer in Solar Riche, a warm, red-toned bronzer. I already had the other in the collection, Refined Golden (too dark), which came out with the Neo Sci-Fi collection last year.

Although this is lighter and not as orange in tone to Refined Golden it is still a little dark for me so I apply with a really light hand and blend it well to get a really nice bronzed glow. Solar Riche swatch below.

To be honest I was a little bit disappointed with this collection, most of it was too dark or too sparkly, comprised lots of re-promotes and the colours just weren't for me. Yellow and orange lipgloss??!

But after that said, I'm happy with what I got, especially with the Lustre Drop.

Did anyone else check out this collection? What did you think?!
xx