CONTEST UPDATE!

Greetings beauty bloggers!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while but I'm currently on holiday in Crete and unfortunately the wireless in my room doesn't work very well so haven't been able to get on the net.

This is just a quick post to update you on the extension of my British Icons contest - click here!

There are some great prizes to be won and you now have until the 1st September to enter!

Good Luck
xx

New hair, a step towards the dark side!

BEFORE!

I have been a bright, bottle blonde for as long as I can remember. Maintaining my locks is a very highmaintence and costly procedure, I go to my salon every 6 weeks spending on average £100 a go!

I love getting my hair done and I love how my hair looks for about 3 weeks and then the dreaded roots come creeping back. It doesn't help either that I have a really annoying flick at the front of my parting which shows them off nicely.

Anyway my roots depress me and I'm sick of them I've been meaning for a while to try to go back to my natural colour, a dark blonde but have been to scared to do it.

Yesterday I took that step!

Yes, it is still blonde but it is clearly darker in tone, bye bye platinum blonde locks. The hairdresser told me that as this was a huge step for me to take that I should start going darker gradually to be sure it was what I wanted.

I was so scared at first when she showed me the book of hair colours and picked out a really dark brown to break up the blonde. She put three colours through my hair in the end, a light blonde, golden blonde and a dark, almost brown blonde.

I'm so glad I took the step towards the dark side beacause I love my new, more managable colour hair. It feels so much more natural and not so in your face blonde. Don't get me wrong I loved having light blonde hair but because it was also long I felt self conscious about it sometimes.

What do you think, am I better suited to lighter or darker? I'd really appreciate your opinion!
xx

Ciate nail polishes!

I was lucky enough to be sent some gorgeous colours to try from the hottest nail polish brand of the moment, Ciate. I know these have been featured on a few blogs recently but I just wanted to share with you my thoughts and the colours I got to try.

I'm going to start with the feature I love the most about these little bottles, the packaging. I am a huge sucker for anything pretty and girly, I love the black bow detailing and the elegant but simple bottle shape. The bottles contain 13.5 ml of product and are curved making them easier to hold for application.

Enough of the looks, I'll go onto the most important features, the product itself. I have to say I have mixed feelings about these nail polishes and here's why.

Sugared Almonds!

I love, love, love this colour, it is the most gorgeous pinky nude with a hint of peach. Sugared Almond's is my new fave at the moment and as you can see from the photo I've used a lot. If you were lucky enough to get the free Nails Inc polish from last month's In Style mag this is a really similar colour to the nude.

The consistancy of this is really nice and thick, with lighter colours I'm always sceptical as they can be very sheer and patchy. This however applied like a dream and only two coats were needed.

Kitten Heels!

This is Kitten Heels a really beautiful bright red with a hint of pearlesence, this is the only nail polish with this effect that I have ever liked. I love it, a really gorgeous vampy scarlet, perfect for nights out and cocktails.

The application and consistancy is the same as Sugared Almonds, really easy and smooth. The brushes on all of these are quite thick which means I only need one stroke to cover my whole nail.

Paparazzi!
Now this is where the only negative I have comes up! This is Paparazzi, I picked this mainly for the name if I'm honest. I'm not usually a dark polish wearer but I thought I'd give it a go.

I really dislike this colour and the way it applies. In the bottle it's a really dark and intense burgandy colour, when applied it looks almost black and murky.

As you can see from my nails in the picture I found it hard to paint with, I had to re-do them three times and I still couldn't get it right. The consistancy of this is thicker and more gloopy making it harder to work with, lumpy and streaky.

Speed Coat!

The clear bottle in the top picture is Speed Coat a really great, fast drying, protective top coat. This product is amazing, it's really similar to Seche Vite but better.( I've applied it to all the above nails over the second coat.)

It dries your nail polish really fast and stops it chipping/denting for days. Seche Vite is good but I find this one helps my nail polish last much longer and it is not as gloopy to apply.

I apply it straight after applying my second coat of colour polish onto the wet nail and it acts as an invisable protective layer over the nail. It also adds a really nice shiny finish to the nails which sometimes makes them look plasticy, but that's how I like it.

You can buy Ciate direct from their website, Powder Rooms or Asos for £9.They have some gorgeous colours, I will definately be ordering some more.

Has anyone else tried Ciate?
xx

Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara review!

I have been using this mascara religiously for the past month and I have to say I love it. Bourjois makeup doesn't usually excite me and if I'm honest this is the only product I own by the brand.

When Liner Effect first came out I dismissed it immediately as I usually like my mascara's to have a huge/fat brush as I used to think this gave my lashes a better, fuller effect.

I was wrong, Liner Effect mascara with it's strange design and thin brush transforms my lashes, making them fuller and longer helping to open up and exaggerate my small eyes.

Bourjois describe this mascara as ' Emphasising lashes at their base for a perfect doe-eyed look', this is exactly what it does, the second I apply this my eyes are instantly opened and emphasised.

It's all down to the clever design of the brush.

The wand is made up of two halves of rubber bristles, one side is shorter and the other thinner and longer.

The name of the mascara, Liner Effect is all down to the shorter side which you use to wiggle along the root of your eyelashes. This leaves a 'liner' effect giving the illusion of thicker, darker and fuller lashes.

This is really clever as with normal mascara wands it is difficult to get down that far, right to the root because of the length of the bristles. I have to admit I was sceptical as to this would make a difference but it definately does. I don't have the biggest eyes so I like to emphasise my eyelashes and this mascara really helps to give the wide-eyed effect.

After wiggling the shorter side along the base of the eyelashes turn the wand around and comb the longer bristles through your lashes. This side is amazing at lengthening, volumising and creating curl.

Close up!

The formulation is really great and is enriched with khol, it is non clumpy and is really black which means I only need two coats in order to get great looking lashes.

I'm so glad I've found a great mascara that costs less than £20,as recently I can't bring myself to buy my usual Chanel mascaras and thanks to Bourjois I haven't needed to.

This mascara also comes in a waterproof formulation which I'm thinking of investing in this week as I go on holiday next week.

I've heard waterproof mascara's aren't very good is this true?Which ones does anyone recommend?
xx

British Icon contest

EXTENDED DEADLINE UNTIL THE 1ST SEPTEMBER SO GET CREATING GIRLS!!

I started my YouTube channel about a month ago and I always said that if I ever reached 500 subscribers I'd hold a contest. Before I had a chance to have one I'd gone over 600 so now I'm having a 600 subscribers contest instead.

It took me a while to think of a theme but the other day while I was e-mailing some people in America about me custom purchasing some UK brand makeup for them (Makeup Merchant), it hit me. My latest contest is British themed, all the prizes will be by UK brands and products that those outside the UK find hard to get hold of.

This is your chance to win some great prizes! Here's my latest video on the contest.



A list of the prizes:

1st Prize

• Illamasqua Bronzing Duo - comes in 2 colours, winner can choose.
• Gosh 134, Darling lipstick
• Gosh Banana's Velvet Touch eyeliner
• Barbara Daly eyelid primer
• Sleek Storm/Original palette (which ever you like)
• St.Moriz self tanning mousse
• Boots Botanics duo eye makeup remover
• Superdrug eye brightening cream
• Barry M Pink Flamingo nail paint
• Barry M Dazzle Dust in colour of you choice

2nd Prize

• Sleek Storm palette
• Barry M 129 lip paint
• Barry M Pink Flamingo nail paint

3rd Prize

• Sleek Storm palette
• Collection 2000 Dynasty nail polish

What you have to do?

• All you have to do is re-create the makeup look of any British icon from any profession or decade just someone who's style you admire.
• If you have a YT channel please do a video entry in the form of either a tutorial or just the look stating who and why. When you've done your entry please make it a response video to my last video.
• If you DON'T make videos then you can still enter on your blog just do a look post with lots of photos and your inspiration. Please let me know by commenting on this post with your link.
• If you have neither of these then you can e-mail me pictures to ymbeautyblog@yahoo.co.uk
• You MUST be a subscriber of my YT channel to win!

I will post anywhere in the world and you can enter as many times as you like. Here are some photos for ideas and inspiration.

Elizabeth Taylor

Amy Winehouse

Victoria Beckham

Jordan, A.K.A Katie Price

Lily Allen


The CLOSING DATE for this contest is the 20th of August 2009 at 12pm.

Good Luck and get creating!
xx

A cake fit for a Princess!

Those that follow me on twitter will know that I had grand plans to make my daughter, Lily, an amazing 3rd birthday cake. Lily like most pink obsessed little girls wanted a cake fit for a princess, so myself and Helen started planning weeks ago to find inspiration and ideas.

Over our time as BFF's we've made some good cakes but none as complex and ambitious as this. We found our inspiration in the most unusual place, YouTube, not only is this site great for make up videos, there's also a huge community of avid bakers.

The following Betty Crocker video fuelled our obessesion and we set our sight's on creating the perfect, pink, princess palace.

We needed the use of two kitchens in the process of making this colossal cake, it was baked in four batches at Hele's house and then transported by a top of the range and safety tested car seat to the decorating headquarters.

When we first assembled the vanilla sponge building blocks it did not resemble a castle of any kind. We were both quite worried at this stage and even contemplated nipping to Sainsbury's to buy a back-up just incase it all went horribly wrong.

We had planned on making our own home made icing but as that meant buying almost all of Sainsbury's stock of butter we decided to cheat and rely on good old Betty once again. I dread to think how many calories were in the 5 tubs of icing we bought.

Everyone, especially this cake needs a bit of slap and we didn't hold back with piling it on!

Clearly a light hand is needed for the finishing touches, Hel had the utmost concentration and precision while transforming this wreck into a beauty queen!
We used anything pink, glittery, sparkly and sickly to make this castle fit for a princess, here's a close up of the main entrance to the palace.

Taa Daa!

Here we are so proud of our masterpiece, we just hope it tastes as good as it looks!
Unfortunately it isn't as pretty from every angle, we encountered some structural problems along the way but we like to think this adds to the character. It's going to strategically placed in the corner of the room to hide it's flaws.

What do you think of our ambitious cake creation? Better than Betty's? Fit for a princess?

xx

A night out in Reading...

This is going to be a picture heavy post but I always love seeing other blogger's photos about their lives outside of the beauty community, so I thought I'd share my night out in Reading pics with you.

Since finishing my degree I haven't celebrated properly, it doesn't count if you don't spend hours getting ready and if a few too many cocktails aren't involved. Over my long weekend away both these things happened in copious amounts.

On Friday Hele and I drove down south to stay with one of our school friends Anna, we spent the first night eating great food and laughing at the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall which was surprisingly funny (lots of nudity and puppets?).

Saturday day we went to Windsor, it did rain but it certainly didn't dampen our spirits, I've never been and had no idea how gorgeous it was. We saw the castle, went shopping and had a late lunch at Brown's.

After a few home-made cocktails (me and Hel are cocktail trained, well we were a long time ago) we spent a few hours pampering ourselves and getting ready. Here are the finished results:


My Face:

Dior Forever Foundation
Mac Studio Scuplt concealer
Benefit Boi-oing concealer
Benefit Erase Paste

Nars Sin Blusher
Bobbi Brown new shimmer bronzer
Mac Pearl cream colour base as highlight

Eye Makeup:

I kept it really simple as I was wearing false lashes and sometimes I feel I tend to overdo it a little.

I used:
Mac's Eccentricity mineralize quad from Colour Craft collection, the lilac and darkest colour.
Mac's liquid last liner in Dip Down
MaxFactor False Lash Effect
Mac's Hello Kitty corner lashes

On the lips I went for YSL Rouge Volupte in no7 Lingerie Pink, love this colour but I never seem to wear it enough.

Outfit of the night:

I love this dress, it's made from jersey T-shirt material and is so comfy. The snakeskin mesh pattern is only on the front, it is from Oasis, a store I rarely buy from as I think they are a little over priced for the product. This cost £42 which I think is a little expensive but I had to have it!

Cardi is from H and M and has a gorgeous ruched and puffed sleeve effect which can't be seen well in the photos. Shoes are Moda in Pelle.

Hel's outfit:

I love this cute dress, it's a beautiful tan/butterscotch colour but unfortunately I'm too pale for it, it looks perfect on Hel though. Dress is from H and M, bag is from Reiss and her shoes are from Carvela.

Me and Anna!

Hel and Anna with a jam jar of cocktail (don't ask haha)!

Fish face!

Clearly distracted, I think a really hot man just walked past!

Hope you all had great weekends!

xx

ELF's Studio Range!

I can't believe it's August already, the weeks just seem to fly by at the moment, anyway I just wanted to do a quick post about my latest haul.

ELF (eyes, lips, face) released their new Studio range a couple of weeks ago and after hearing some great things about these products I couldn't wait to get my hands on some. ELF is not a brand I've ever bought from, it's only available online and I rarely buy makeup over the net but this time I made an exception.

Usually all ELF products are priced at an amazingly low £1.50 but the Studio range is a little more expensive at £3.50 an item.

I originally went on the US website to check out the range and spotted a great looking concealer palette but unfortunately the UK didn't get this, I'm hoping they will add it as I really wanted it. Apart from that I got everything I wanted and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised with the products I purchased.

This is the Complexion Perfection powder compact, a really clever and useful product which I've never seen before. This quad of pastel colour correctors is supposed to even out your skin tone by neutralising redness, dullness and dark circles.

ELF recommends that you swirl all four colours together and dust all over your face but I tried this and it didn't seem to do anything.

I find what works best is to use the colours separately so where I have redness I use the green and dark circles the yellow which is great at setting under eye concealer.

I have no idea what the pink is for though, any ideas?

I also purchased two of the quad bronzers in Warm and Golden which are both gorgeous.

This is the Warm Bronzer, a really lovely mix of browns, plummy colours and a highlight. This product really is gorgeous and really flattering, it leaves me looking bronzed with a hint of healthy sheen.

The quality of the bronzers are really good, both are really soft, well pigmented and easy to apply. Sometimes with other cheaper brands I've found it hard to get much colour off them or they are just too rough in texture to work with but these are just as good quality as the more expensive brands out there.

This is the Golden Bronzer, a cooler combination of colours and a little more shimmery than the Warm bronzer. Both to be honest are not that different when applied to the cheeks but I think I prefer the Warm a little better, it's a litte darker and the plummy tones seem to suit my skin.

Swatches:

Top row is the Warm Bronzer and below is the Golden Bronzer quad.

This was the item I've been hearing the most about and was the most anticipated from the Studio line, their Contouring Blush and Bronzing powder.


If your thinking you've seen this before it does look suspiciously similar to Nar's infamous Orgasm blush and Laguna Duo compact which I coincidentally already have. I will do a comparison on these tomorrow.

On first impressions this duo is gorgeous, the blush is a beautiful pink with a hint of peach and the bronze is a lovely warm bronze with a hint of shimmer (a little darker than Laguna).

Again the formulation of these is lovely and soft with great pigmentation.

One thing I really like about all the compacts in the more professional Studio line is the sophisticated and understated black packaging. It is similar in size and form to the Nar's compacts but without the rubbery and hard to clean texture.

After choosing all my items from the Studio line I couldn't help but take a peek at the nail varnishes on offer, I've heard for the price that they are good quality and have a nice range of colours.

I ordered two colours which really caught my eye, Mod Mauve and Blush.

Mod Mauve is gorgeous a really nice deep plum but Blush on the other hand is just not for me, a peachy, shimmery gold.

Neither are anything like the swatches provided on the website so if your looking to order from ELF beware of this. On the site Blush looked like a really pretty peachy pink, nothing like the colour it actually is.

I recently wrote a review on Mod Mauve on The Nail Buff's website.

Has anyone else tried any of the new Studio range? What do you think? Is there anything else good that I missed?

xx