Le petit jardin de liloo

Win Bliss Skincare Beauty Prizes Every Day In March

2012-03-02T12:43:00.002Z

Have you ever tried any Bliss Products? I haven't. I've always found them a little bit too high end for me. If you're like me and is a Bliss virgin, there could never be a better time to try them ... for free!

This March, Glamour Magazine is offering their lucky readers gorgeous FREE Bliss skincare beauty goodies, every single day. Each day, there's a different prize to win. Here are my personal picks.

03 March
Bliss triple oxygen instant energizing cleansing foam, £24
"Breathe new life into a lacklustre complexion back with this fantastically frothy cleanser. The first step in our Triple Oxygen regimen, it infuses your daily cleansing routine with a burst of O2. Used in our spa’s radiance-revving Triple Oxygen Treatment™, the refreshing liquid-to-foam formula is the first to deliver oxygen along with a super-powered form of vitamin C, while hydrating and gently washing away makeup and impurities. Tired skin will be left looking bright and revitalized—so ‘glow’ wash up!"

05 March
Bliss the youth as we know it anti-ageing moisture lotion spf 30, £55
Our The Youth As We Know It anti-aging collection is packed with turn-back-time perks—but we’ve managed to squeeze in one more with the latest addition to the line. A daytime alternative to the much-loved moisture cream, this lightweight lotion boasts the 10 age-battling benefits (visibly diminishing wrinkles, filling fine lines, hydrating and firming, to name a few), but adds SPF 30 to the mix for UVA/UVB protection that keeps both aging and burning at bay. It’s a ‘sun’-beatable daily moisturizing must-have!

09 March
Bliss fatgirl soap, £14
Get ‘lean’ while you get clean with this soap sister to our famed ‘Fatgirl’ formulas. Made with massaging nubs and caffeine to stimulate circulation and contour the body, ‘skin’-vigorating peppermint and grapefruit extracts, it’s a lively lather that really raises the ‘bar’ on body toning.

11 March
Bliss daily detoxifying facial toner, £20.50
This really refreshing, mega-moisturising, pH priming toner will not only help you milk your moisturiser for all it's worth, but it's amped up with antioxidants to purify and protect you from everyday age-expediting aggressors. Think of it as one small step for you, one giant leap for your skin.

12 March
Bliss triple oxygen + c energizing cream, £46
This lightweight gel-cream is formulated with a trio of oxygen ingredients and an advanced form of vitamin C to revive fatigued, sallow, stressed skin and give it that just-stepped-out-of-the-shower sheen. The unique pairing of Oxygen, which helps to support cell respiration and super-powered form of Vitamin C, which reinforces collagen synthesis, helps the skin rebound from external and internal stresses, improves skin hydration, and breathes new life into lacklustre complexions.

13 March
Bliss fabulous face lotion spf 15, £25.60
This stalwart beauty hero, with added SPF 15 instantly illuminates the skin with phytonutrients, whilst delivering a nice dose of vitamins, minerals and omegas to promote healthy skin.

16 March
Bliss peeling groovy, £49.10
This gently exfoliating dermatologist-developed formula is a triple threat against aging: it simultaneously perfects skin's texture, lightens dark spots (from sun, breakouts or other complexion-related mishaps) and lessens the look of lines and large pores. With moisture-magnetizing AAEs (amino acid exfoliators) instead of irritating AHAs, it's A-OK even for those who skew sensitive.

19 March
Bliss the youth as we know it serum, £46
A light weight illuminating moisture lotion.

23 March
Bliss triple oxygen instant energizing mask, £39.90
A super quick fix for dull, tired and sallow, 'I'm sick of my skin' skin. Engineered to mimic the effects of our spa's famous Triple Oxygen Treatment Facial in seconds.

Now I just need to remember to enter the competition on these days. Bliss offers many more products than just cellulite treatments and anti ageing care but these were my personal favourites.

Will you be entering the competition too?

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Glamour Magazine and/or Bliss.
I am not being paid or compensated in any way for writing about this competition.
I stumbled on the competition today and thought I could share it with you :)

It's live. My five minutes of fame.

2012-02-29T22:26:00.000Z

Please allow to indulge in this moment. It's not everyday that I am featured on the front page of a website. There is my photo and everything. Today, I have been featured by Spank the Monkey, aka the Buyapowa Monkey as part of the Buyapowa Blogging week.

This means that the co-buy for the Shu Uemura Smoky Layers False Lashes is live and that you get your lashes for half price (£10 instead of its usual steep RRP £20) if it reaches its best price on Buyapowa.

Buyapowa? CoBuy? Best price? What does all that mean? If you missed my introductory post about Buyapowa and the photos of what the Shu Uemura look like applied on me, you can catch it up all here.

Be quick though. The sale might be opened for the next 45 hours, but the stock is very limited.
For my review and more photos of the lashes, click here or on the photo below:

p.s This isn't a sponsored post, I'm not being paid for this post, or compensated in any way for taking part in BloggaPowa Buyapowa Bloggers week, I am just addicted to BuyaPowa, I just love the concept and am beyond thrilled that little old me got invited to take part.

Elf's response to Nanoblur?

2012-02-29T21:36:00.001Z

I was very excited to hear about the brand new release from Elf Studio Line earlier on today. Elf has launched 'Wrinkle Refiner' claiming to instantly smooth, soften and virtually fill in laugh lines, crow’s feet and wrinkles for a flawless finish. What's in it? It says it contains a rich blend of Wheat Protein, Horse Chestnut, Caffeine, Edelweiss, Chamomile, Shea, Mango and Vitamins A & E designed to retexturise skin. The caffeine ingredient reminds me a lot of the record selling Garnier caffeine roll on device. At £3.50, it would be a crime not to try, no? What do you think?

If the free shipping coupon hadn't expired this morning, this is what I would have indulged on today, to make it up to £10 and get free postage and packing on my order:

1. ELF Studio Blush Brush (£3.50)
I don’t usually do blush nor contouring usually but it’s a skill I would love to try. I have a Ruby and Millie blush brush at home, bought on a whim where you could use your no.7 vouchers but I am sorry to say that I don’t like using it. I find it scratchy, and therefore I have not been practising at trying to learn how to learn to contour your face and bring life to your cheeks. But since Lipglossiping.com said it was soft as a kitten’s paw, and since it’s only £3.50, I really would love to try.

2. ELF Studio Cream eyeliner in black (£3.50)
My usual Revlon color liner is running low and I need to invest in a new eyeliner. I think it’s time for me to make the leap to trying on a cream eyeliner. Funny enough, I do have a sleek cream eyeliner in Dominatrix somewhere which I don’t even remember having used but I can’t remember for the life of me where the heck I have put it.

3. Studio Angled eyeliner Brush (£3.50)
I know that the cream eyeliner above comes with a free brush but I have always fancied trying an angled brush. Everytime there has been an offer, it was out of stock. Today, there is no offer but it’s definitely on stock. Just my luck!

4. And last but not least, I really fancy the High Definition Powder from Elf (£6.00) which is really bizarre as I don’t usually use powder ever. A few days ago, I was having my face matched for foundation colour and I came home with the most amazing looking foundation on my face, but which left a horrible wet feeling onto my skin. I don’t if every foundation for dry skins is meant to feel slightly damp and tacky, but it made me want to powder my face and see if I could improve the feeling of the foundation. Unfortunately, the only powder I had was some remnants of an old-from-5years-ago-at-least Rimmel Matte Compact powder. And then I remember the rave Lipglossiping (I am not obsessed, honest) had around this powder, which is hailed by many as the Makeup For Ever HD powder for the poor.

Total of the damage if I had indulged? £20.
My bank would be happy.

What do you think of my Elf lust list?
Do you already own any of the above?
Are you tempted by the Elf Wrinkle Reducer?

I leave you with the video which made me want to rediscover Elf.
The one, the only, enabler in chief, Charlotte from Lipglossiping.com.
I know she wouldn't mind me embedding this video, she's particularly fond of the thumbnail youtube chose for her :)

Lashes of the Day (reviewed) for Beauty Bargains Week - BloggaPowa at BuyaPowa.

2012-02-28T01:10:00.003Z

Once upon a time, there was a monkey who started to scour the internet to provide beauty products for beauty ~~obsessed~~ enthusiasts people like me to purchase at a bargain price. Buyapowa or the wonderful world of co-buying was born. People like you and me have been able to get our hands on beauty products at competitive prices. I am talking The YSL Touche Eclat at £13 (£24.50 RRP), the new repackaged Urban Decay Primer Potion at £9 (RRP £14.50) to name but a few.

** Update 29 February 20:35 GMT **
The co-buy is live

Buyapowa enables people to come together and buy products at slashed down prices. The more people buy one item, the cheaper this item gets. Once you buy an item of your choice, you are given a referral link to share, and the more people you bring in, the lower the items gets for everyone. And if you bring more people into the co-buy than anyone else, you'll receive yours for free! The catch? There's none but the early bird catches the worm. Some co-buys are very popular, (100 units of The Urban Decay Naked 2 palette were available for £26 and sold in less than 45 minutes) and you have to be very quick at times!

Not a day goes without me checking the Buyapowa website for bargains to be made. I don't know how Buyapowa does it and how it came about but in my little French head, it feels like it was created with Beauty Enthusiasts in mind, to enable to get us beauty products for cheaper. Being a massive fan of Buyapowa, and holder of a big gob, Buyapowa got in touch with me to see if I wanted to be part of Buyapowa Bloggers Week and choose a product to be made available for the public to buy on Buyapowa. **

False Lashes being my ultimate favourite thing about the world of makeup, I stayed true to my roots and chose the divine 'Smoky Layers' False Lashes from Shu Uemura. I had been lusting over these lashes for as long as I can remember until one day, the lashes were finally available to buy on Buyapowa and I got them for half price. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eva Longoria swear by them and I have been dying to try them on myself but not for their retail full price of £20, and feel a little bit like a celebrity myself .

What's so special about the Smoky Layers from Shu Uemura? The superposition of soft fluffy feather layers enhancing your lashes in an unique, in almost a 3D way. I have tried many times to find similar lashes for cheaper, only to be disappointed. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe these pictures will show you how divine and exquisite these lashes are.

The lashes come in an elegant sturdy plastic case, which slides open at the side.

Excuse for I am a little bit excited to show you what they look like on the eye. *weeeeeeee*

Application will take a little bit longer than your average mono-layer lashes. The smoky layers lashline has to be thicker to be able to hold the drama of the superposition of feathery layers. But once they are on, they are on and you will feel like a million dollars.

Want to buy them at discounted price too? The Smokey Layers will be available for purchase on buyapowa.com sometime this week. Make sure to visit http://www.buyapowa.com/cobuys to be able to see the selection of gorgeous items the Beauty Bloggers chose for you. Below a sneak peek on what's on this week.

Liloo from Le Petit Jardin de Liloo: Shu Uemura Smoky Layers false lashes
Charlotte from Lipglossiping: Tom Ford Lipstick (Scarlet Rouge)
Charlotte from Charlotte’s Obsessions: Benefit Porefessional
Nic from Strawberry Blonde Beauty: Chanel Blush Horizon de Chanel
Yinka from Vex in the City: NARS Gina Blush
Kim from Dottie K: Illamasqua Pigments Trio (Ore, Furore, Android)
Sarah from I Heart Cosmetics: YSL Faux Cils mascara
Jen from A Little Bird Told Me: Chanel le Vernis (Paradoxal)
Amrita from The 6 Inch Stilettos: Benefit They’re Real mascara
Lily from LLYMLRS: Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner (Black)
Bettina from Beauty Swot: Benefit Watt’s Up Highlighter
Jennie from Sailboat: Illamasqua Cream Blush (Promise)
Claire form The Beauty Scoop: YSL Rouge Volupte (#13 Peach Passion)
Khila from Miss Budget Beauty: Benefit Hervana Blush
Zoe from The London Lipgloss: NARS Multiple (Orgasm)
Charli from Charli…: NARS Laguna Bronzer
Lucy from Lucy’s Stash: OPI Holland mini collection
Milly from Pearls and Poodles: Benefit Coralista Blush
Emma from Milkteef: Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh EDT
Stephanie from May Loves Makeup: Pureology Pure Volume Shampoo
Kate from gh0stparties: Smashbox Softbox eyeshadow palette
Charlie from Lady of the Lane: Too Faced Natural Radiance face palette
Karris from Karrisx: Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Palette
Jen from Beauty Junkie London: St Tropez Bronzing Mousse

This isn't a sponsored post, I'm not being paid for this post, or compensated in any way for taking part in BloggaPowa Buyapowa Bloggers week, I am just addicted to BuyaPowa, I just love the concept and am beyond thrilled that little old me got invited to take part. Oh and I have just totally pinched this disclosure text from Charlie, Lady of the Lane. It’s so well written ^_^
** I didn't know I could choose whatever product I wanted, I thought it had something I had already tried. Otherwise I would have chosen the Babyliss Big Hair which I am absolutely obsessed about.

Flair and Vixen False Lashes: A review and a giveaway

2012-02-26T01:59:00.002Z

Alongside their cute Lovehearts Collection, Mua Cosmetics also released a range of recession friendly false lashes. The Company got in touch with me to see if I wanted to review some for them. Little they know that I already ordered them in the same hour the lashes were available on the online store. I am a massive fan of lashes, and I was dying to see what I could get for £2 of my hard earned money. Out of the 5 styles available on the collection, I decided to order 'Flair' (a subtle pair of eyelashes designed to enhance your natural lashes by lengthening them) and the Vixen Lashes, for a full on volume effect.

Let's have a look at exhibit, my natural barely there lashes. I am sure you will agree that they need all the help they can.

I usually go for volumizing lashes rather than lengthening ones but I really wanted to try a more natural model, in a bid to wear them for work without attracting too much attention.

Despite a thick looking lashline, Flair were very easy to apply on my lid and needed very minimal trimming on the outer corner. I wanted to see how they could improve the look of my lashes without doing any preliminary work to my lashes so I refrained from curling my lashes and adding mascara. The result? A very natural effect, perhaps too natural for me and it didn't really do anything for my stupidly short and thin lashes really.

I think these would look good if you have fuller lasher than me and if you blend your own lashes with the false ones. I usually rely on the lashes to do the full work for me and Flair didn't work hard enough for me. It's my fault really, to have wanted to step out of my comfort zone and go for something a little different.

Now now now, ladies and gentlemen, here comes Vixen. I am not going to beat around the bush here: Vixen totally blew me away and I can't believe the drama I've managed to achieve for just £2.

Application was a doddle, it felt like the lashes were made for my own eyes as they didn't need any trimming whatsoever. When does this ever happen? They were so easy to apply. I used my own glue (Eylure) so I couldn't tell you what they would be like with the MUA glue. The lashline holding the soft flutter of lashes is thicker than my ultimate favourites lashes in the world (Eylure and Ardell) but it didn't impact on how easy the lashes were to apply.

As for the 'finish' of the lashes, they have a slight shine to them, but they are definitely not as offensively shiny many budget lashes tend to be. I love the edgy spikey shape to them, the length is spot on and I love their sturdy yet pliable composition. Those of you who prefer human hair lashes, or lashes trying to replicate the look of your natural lashes would want to stay from Vixen. Vixen is about full on volume, full on drama and what they lack in 'human hair looking feel' they gain in durability. These bad boys are going to last you a long time, make your £2 go even further while your typical Eylure or Ardell will start to look a bit sorry for themselves after the 4th time you've worn them with mascara and all that jazz.

I went to Sainsbury’s wearing my Vixen and this makeup this evening. The lady at the till complimented me on them. I was a bit shy but happy at the same time. Because sometimes I can’t take a compliment, I pointed her to look at my attempt at contouring the cheeks. She agreed it was crap but she kindly said ‘It is difficult to do, isn’t’. Bless her

When Vixen they finally arrive in my Superdrug, there is no doubt I am going to stock up on them for myself and for my best friend at work. My mind doesn't compute how they can be at £2. It's like the meal deal TV advert for Subway: you can scratch your head all you want, you can't get your head round how much you can get for your money.

It can't get any better than that, or can it?
Yes it can. I have 1 spare pair of Vixen and Flair to give away to one of you, my lovely readers.

This giveaway is for all my blog readers from all over the world. It will end on Monday, 5 March 2012, 23.59 GMT (UK).

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How to enter

All I would like you to do is to tell me in the comments below:
Tell me about a pair of false eye lash that you have repurchased many times, or anything else you want to me about false eyelashes
--- your name
--- your email address
--- how you found out about this giveaway

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Any additional entries? Yes

I don’t usually do this for self funded giveaways but since MUA Cosmetics have kindly donated the prize, you may tweet about the giveaway to gain an additional entry:
”Win a pair of @MUAcosmetics #vixenflair Flair and Vixen False Lashes on @tsunimee’s blog: http://bit.ly/vixenflair”

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Rules

1. This comment giveaway is opened to all my blog readers, from anywhere around the world who follow me through Google connect, Google Reader, bloglovin, hellocotton or by email.
2. Please make sure to answer the comment giveaway question:
Tell me about a pair of false eye lash that you have repurchased many times, or anything else you want to me about false eyelashes
3. This giveaway will end on Monday, 5 March 2012, 23.59 GMT (UK).
4. There will be 1 winner and the winner will be sent the 2 pairs of lashes
5. Winner will be chosen at random with random.org
6. If you have tweeted about this giveaway, please make sure to enter the tag #vixenflair and to have pasted the url of the giveaway correctly as I won’t be able to count your additional entry otherwise.

You might also want to read:
- Mua Cosmetics Lovehearts Lip Balms – My review.
- 8 reasons why you still can’t apply false lashes – My guide.

Disclosure:
Lashes were purchased by myself. Mua Cosmetics kindly donated me a spare pair for the giveaway.

Smoky, Stormy and ... Scenty from Revlon {notds}

2012-02-25T00:34:00.002Z

When Revlon released its first scented polishes, I couldn't help but feeling very unimpressed. The concept of 'scented polish' make some people feel a big uneasy and uncomfortable. I was very much welcoming the idea but the concept didn't quite work out for me. I was faced with a huge dilemma: It had to be a compromise between the shade of the polish (which is essentially why you buy a nail polish for, right?) and the scent.

If I wanted the orange polish, I had to contend with the smell of papaya, which is by no means my favourite smell. I blame my mother for that and a childhood growing up surrounded by nauseatingly smelly overripe papayas. Then you had this gorgeous blue polish but which smelt of loo freshener. To add insult to the injury, they had my favourite scent in there (coconut) but Revlon decided to make a shade of silvery streaky shimmery off white mess. Since when coconut are shimmery? What a waste of potential good polish.

Revlon is back in 2012 with a new collection of scented polishes.This time round, all the polishes all have a jelly glittery finish and are based from fizzy fruity drinks to explain the existence of glitter rather than the fruit itself. Will 'Orange Fizz' smell of Fanta rather than a delicious fresh orange is only one's guess but I am disappointed again. Maybe scented polishes and me are not meant to be. If they are your thing and you want to try them out, they are on offer at Boots and Superdrug whereby you can get 2 polishes for £10 and make a little saving (Usual RRP is £6.49)

To make your time a bit more worthwhile, I wanted to show you some very quick 'swatches' of the two other 2 Revlon polishes I bought last year. I didn't think I would ever write about them: Smoky Canvas and Stormy leave me as cold as the thought of eating a lettuce leaf. But I'd figure I might as well show them you, as there is a special promotion on Revlon products at the moment.

This is ~~Boring Concrete~~, Smoky Canvas

Both polishes applied easily enough despite a very runny formula. Opacity was achieved in 2 coats which is a good thing as I didn't enjoy applying them. Bottom line the design of the bottle puts me off: There is something so 80s retro about the gold ring on the cap of the bottle.

I mean it's a decent grey but nothing special about it.

I am not doing a good job at writing about products which leave me unimpressed, am I? Let's end the carnage here, shall we?

Let me know if you have purchased some of the new (or old) Revlon polishes. I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures xx

Free 7-day Supply of Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation

2012-02-24T21:58:00.000Z

While I was checking the offers at the Boots Kiosk, I stumbled on this offer which I wanted to share you. You can get a 7-day supply of the New Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation when you have a complimentary makeover or skincare consultation with a Benefit Consultant.

My Boots store hasn't received yet the foundation. The consultant told me to ignore the deadline printed on my coupon from the kiosk (20 March) and booked me for my mini session and a colour match on the last day of the month of March, after work.

What they say:

Hello…it’s flawless time! Our new oil-free brightening liquid foundation builds from light to medium coverage for a natural complexion you can believe in. It’s you…just more luminous & healthy looking.

Umm, I am not sure how flawless I can be with just with light to medium, but I am happy to find out for free and go home with my week worth freebie! The foundation (at least in my little store) is due to be released on 31st March at the price of £24.50.

Interested by this offer? Visit your Boots kiosk, print your coupon, check with the consultant when they have the foundation in stock and book your free consultation session.

L’Oréal Color Riche – Mini polishes: My entire Collection

2012-02-24T02:00:00.000Z

The folks at L'Oreal have been working very hard lately. To name but a few products, they have released a bb cream, a concealer set to rival the iconic Touche Eclat, a primer, a mascara with no hint of lashes insert in sight, a lumi magique foundation and and and about 40 mini polishes. I am quite happy with my current primer from Loreal (I have the resurfacing smoothing primer in a pot) but I can see myself weakening at the knees and try the foundation at some point. Today, I want to share with you my impressions on 4 shades of mini polishes, part of this huge line from Loreal called 'Color Riche'.

Each polish contains 5ml of product and you will not be able to help yourself but wondering, from the onset is £4.99 is not a little bit steep for this amount of product, being a high street product and all. However, as soon as you open the bottle, you begin to notice that this is no ordinary mini polish. The brush is delightfully flat and wide which allows for a super speedy coverage. In fact, if you enjoy the actual process of applying nail polish like me, you'll be a little bit disappointed as it goes so quick! I need to warn you: the nail on my index broke, so the pictures are a bit gloomy.

Luxembourg Garden first caught my eye. It's a gorgeous teal polish which I was looking forward to try as I don't own similar shades in my collection. The coverage was really impressive and needed 2 coats for an opacity I was happy with it. However I was a not fan of the finish: you can definitely read the tell tale signs of my sloppy application and see where the brush strokes have been.

Next, this is Parisian Rooftops. In my head, this was going to be a dupe of Mavala Elle, a gorgeous purple grey. In reality, the polish rendered more grey than I would have liked, and the hint of purple is too faint. The name suits the shade I guess and I can definetely picture some roofs, in Paris or elsewhere sporting that colour. Application was super easy and I achieved the opacity that you see in one coat. Two coats would have given me a more even finish but the bottle is so tiny that I wanted to see if I could get away with one coat. I am disappointed, despite the lovely finish and the decent colour, I am sulking as I wanted a grurple.

Next, comes my favourite shade of them all. Mysterious Icon is an absolutely gorgeous blend of purple, grey and gold shimmer and is to die for. The polish reminds me a little bit from a polish from OPI (it's my year maybe?) but a little dirtier. The best is that only one coat was needed and I really felt it made the £4.99 I had to part to own this polish go a little further. I predict this shade to be a sell out, and I feel I need to restock at the week end before the whole world knows about this fabulous shade.

Last but not least is Beige Countess which disappointed me the most. Nothing wrong with the formula, nor the finish as beige countess applied very easily on my nail. Nothing wrong with the coverage either, it certainly needed two coats but the brush is so handy, it made the application seem like the breeze.

It's the colour I am not a fan of. I love my nude polishes but I am very particular about them also. I feel Beige Countess doesn't go with my skin tone, there's not enough contrast with my skin tone and I can't wear it. This will explain why I only applied the polish on 2 nails only. No point wasting a nail polish when I know straight away it's not going to work. I was hoping Beige Countess was going to be a mini Nails Inc London. What a shame. Never mind.

Overall, this is a lovely collection. Even though the polishes cost more than I would have liked to pay for them (£4.99 each), I feel they are very good quality and they really excel themselves with the brush. Now would be a perfect time to get your hands on them as there is a 3 for 2 offer on all the polishes (and other make up items from the L'Oreal Color Riche) at Boots and Superdrug. If you're only going to purchase one shade, make the mysterious icon be yours.

Please, please please, if you have yourself tried any of the polishes from the Loreal Riche collection, let me know in the comments below: I would love to hear about it and see your pics. xx

Spring has arrived at 17 Cosmetics

2012-02-23T20:44:00.001Z

Many are excited by Valentine's Day and Pancake Day. For me, the main event after Christmas which I always look forward to is the arrival of warmer weather and double figures in temperatures. Today was lovely, temperature in my little neck of the wood has reached 10 degrees and it has been giving hope that the worst of winter, might be over. The cherry on my cake today was to discover a new collection at the 17 Cosmetics 'Counter'.

*cue improvised ghetto press release*

To complement the relatively recent release of their amazing coverage bb cream, 17 Cosmetics has just released a range of bright and summery nail polishes at the usual bargain price of £2.99. The colours are absolutely gorgeous. Two in particular have grabbed my attention: Glisten, a golden peach polish, and Juicy, a happy, bright lime shade.

Temptation to indulge in the polishes is going to be incredibly difficult, especially since there is a 3 for 2 offer on...

Edit: 21:49
Resistance is futile. No point even trying, is there? :P

They have landed, finally :)

2012-02-23T19:47:00.000Z

As we were promised, the Eylure Katy Perry false eyelashes were released a few days ago and they are right here waiting for us to enjoy them. My bank balance is not very rosy at the moment but I just couldn't wait to check them in person.

As I expected, the Cool Kitty lashes (blue box) are my favourite and they are looking absolutely stunning.

The 'Oh My' (purple box) the other pair which was on my lust list are in reality a superposition of 2 pairs of lashes for added drama and intensity, which explains why they are £1 dearer. My experience with Eylure double lashes is not overwhelming: the very thick double lashline makes the placement very difficult and I rather stick two pairs of lashes that I already own together to achieve a double layers effect. I can't wait for a 3 for 2 offer to restock on my favourite pair (Eylure 101) and get a 'Cool Kitty' at the same time.

Have you treated yourself with the Katy Perry lashes yet?

Bargain Alert Slendertone at 73% off! System Abs Belt.

2012-02-21T11:17:00.002Z

DealCloud have teamed up with EssentialGoodsUK to offer you a mind blowingly amazing deal. The Slendertone System Abs Toning, the very one I was very fortunate to trial is at 73% off. Usually the belt would retail at £129.99, but for the next 6 days, and subject to stocks limits, you can make a saving of a whopping £95 and get your belt at £34.99.

Does the Slendertone belt work?
Does it hurt? Read my extensive and detailed review here.

When will you ever get the chance to get a Slendertone belt at 73% off?
Probably never again! Get your belt before it sells out.

Mavala Osaka: Your nails, just prettier

2012-02-21T01:31:00.001Z

When was the last time you finished a nail polish? I don't remember either. Apart from when my bottles become very gunky and I don't think that the remaining contents are worth wasting drops of a precious expensive nail polish thinner, I really don't remember when I last finished a nail polish. If this is you, then Mavala nail polishes could be perfect for you. The little cute bottles contain 5ml of product and you don't feel so bad of buying some, even though your collection is pretty vast.

Before I properly got into nail polish, my favourite polish was the now discontinued Vanity from Miss Sporty, a very sheer polish which would make my nails so prime, proper, clean, elegant. 'Vanity' was of such poor quality, the bottle had to be thrown away, after a month of being opened. First glimpse of Osaka reminded me of Vanity but with an added delightful shimmer.

I might be totally barking the wrong tree here but I would like to think that Mavala inspired themselves from Japanese Cherry Blossoms when they created Osaka.
It must be. The Japanese city Osaka has a Cherry Blossom every Spring, and cherry blossoms are pink.

Doubts on origin of inspiration aside, Osaka is a truly gorgeous sheer pink with an amazing glow. If you can't bear seeing the white of your nails, you will want to avoid to stay Osaka, or use it as a top coat to add a little pink glow to your nails. My photos show 2 coats of Osaka and I like it that. For me Osaka just celebrates the beauty of your natural nail and let it shine through.

A few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to wear this polish as my nails suffered some dark yellow staining, due to some careless behaviour. Seeing the bare and naturally distorted white line of my index finger doesn't me fill me with joy and confidence, but overall I just really feel elegant, delicate and feminine when I wear Osaka.

I find Osaka, apart from bad nail day moments, ultra wearable and I can see myself grabbing for it very often. If I haven't lost the teeny weeny blighter before then, that is.

Have you got a polish which you like to
wear on your 'good nail days'?

What? Mavala Osaka, mini polish, 5ml
How much? £4.10
Where? In many Boots nationwide

Deal Alert Mac 3D Glitter at 45% off

2012-02-20T12:21:00.001Z

I would be a bad blogger if I didn't tell you about this bargain. My close friends and people who've seen me in real life would know how a massive fan I am of Mac 3D Glitter. I've worn it on many occasions and whenever I wear it on my lids, I always get lots of compliments. Please excuse the hastiness of this post, and also the external pictures I've used. I've just seen this deal on Cheap Smells which I just have to share with you.

Cheapsmells has lots a small amount of Mac Cosmetics on special offer at the moment: Eye Shadows, Pigments, Lip stuff and the most mind blowing silver glitter in the universe: the 3D glitter, which quite frankly doesn't compare to any other glitter. The glitter products is quite a versatile product: You can use to make your own glitter nail polish, or even do a funky lip art, bla bla bla but what I use it first and foremost is as eyeshadow and have *all* the attention on me, when I wear it :)

Go and get it while it's still on stock. Needless that I am not affiliated whatsover with Mac Cosmetics nor Cheapsmells. I am just a big fan of Mac 3D glitter.

Of course, to be able to use this glitter baby on your eyes, you will need to use some kind of glitter sealer, glitter glue. This is my favourite one. It's quite hard to find but plenty of brands do glitter sealers/glues these days, Too faced, Urban Decay to name a few.

The future is bright, the future is ~~orange~~ glittery :)

The cutest lip balms ever?

2012-02-19T22:55:00.000Z

Lip balms: Now this is something I didn't think I would write about. I don't usually use a lip balm. In fact, it's probably fair to say that I am not a lip person really. I find lip products {or the ones I've tried so far} uncomfortable and sticky. I also sport very long hair and I get paranoid at the thought of the lip product getting on my hair. I was offered the chance to try 2 lip balms from Mua Cosmetics, taken from the Love Hearts Collection, collection which was released just in time for Valentine's Day celebrations.




The lip balms exist in 5 shades (although, at this precise moment in time, I can only see 4 on the website). Today, I want to share with you my impressions on 'Sugar Lips' and 'Great Lips'. The packaging is just too cute for words. To give you an idea of the size, the container is about the same circumference as a bottle of Batiste. On opening the lid, I was greeted with a lovely smell of vanilla. I found the formula very light, smooth, moisturising, and most of all not sticky. A little goes a long way. Just a teeny weeny dab is enough to bring moisture to your lips. The cherry on the cake? The lip balms cost £2.




The daughter of my colleague at work (she's about 12?) was there when I received my parcel. Her eyes lit up when she saw the giant sweeties. I thought I could give them to her if I didn't get along with them, but I am afraid I am going to have to keep them. This is too good and too cute to 'waste' on teens. I love the light formula, the scent and the packaging too much to give them away.

This is totally the kind of lip balm you'd be proud to show off from your handbag, whatever your age, teen or all grown up. The lip balms reminded actually of the film 'Ratatouille', when the all grown up grumpy critique got all soft and gooey when he rediscovered his favourite dish from his childhood. If you've grown up with love hearts, this is a must have for you and for all girlfriends' Christmas stockings. I know, i know, it's only gone past Valentine's day. The thing is I don't even know if this collection is limited edition.

I don't remember the date when they'll be physically released in Superdrug stores, but you can already get your paws on them via the official website. Postage is low (£2.95).

What: MUA Cosmetics Love Hearts Lip Balms
Where: MUA store online and Superdrug Stores

How much: £2

Cappuccinos, Moon Dust and Fantasy Fire Nails {notds}

2012-02-19T19:41:00.005Z

I should really spread out my nail polish posts, add a bit of variety but I am too excited a-gain and I am dying to tell you about my latest nail polish acquisitions. I didn't plan to buy a nail polish for a long time. A giant tidy up over Christmas made me come to terms with my nail polish collection and see the madness of it all. I didn't plan even less to buy a Max Effect mini polishes from Max Factor. My first experience with a mini polish from Max Factor was absolutely diabolical, and cloudy blue is probably the worst polish I have ever played with.

But when I saw the little firecracker of 'Fire Fantasy' on Benebelle.com, it was love at first sight and I couldn't rest until I, too, get my hands on it. Both Superdrug and Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on Max Factor products about 2 weeks ago, so I decided to treat myself with 3 mini polishes. I'll spare you the details of how tricky it was to find a shop which had at the same time the 3 shades I wanted. In the manner of 3 for 2, I would like to show you three manicures today.

First of all, this is Cappuccino. No hint of creamy brown beige coffee shade here, this polish, to me, looks like a dirty grey purple and I absolutely love it. Application was to my biggest disbelief very easy and I achieved opacity in 2 coats.

Now, this is Moon Dust, a very sheer polish which reminded of 'Not like the movies' from OPI but without the green drama. This is very much a layering polish really, and it would be in your best interest to treat it as that, as you will have completely emptied the contents of this teeny weeny bottle if you were trying to achieve opacity with Moon Dust alone. So I layered it over just one coat of Cappuccino and the result really impressed me.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the object of my latest obsession, this is Fantasy Fire. I have no idea when this polish was first released, probably ages ago, as Helen Nice Things suggested that people have been trying to find dupes for that colour for years. Fantasy Fire reminded me straight away of my first time with a holographic nail polish (read my review here if you're bored), not for the result but for the emotions it provoked in me. It basically took my heart and did what it wanted with it. Let's have a look at the bottle: Yes, this is the same bottle.

Now try to imagine having all these shades at once on your fingers as you move them in the light: absolutely out of this world. Could this polish qualify as a polychrome? I don't know but what I do know is that I've never experienced anything like it. The richness of the red inside the purple is a like a firework burning on my fingers. Even just looking at the bottle, it feels like it contains a firework ready to pop, like a jack-in-the- box. Absolutely mesmerising!



Again, like Moon Dust, this polish is very much a layering polish. If you were trying to achieve full opacity with Fantasy Fire, you would need about 7 coats which, I am sure you would agree wouldn't be the best use of your time and money (£3.99 for such a tiny bottle). However what is a major drawback could also be an advantage. Think of the limitless colour combinations Fantasy Fire could give you. I have wished to layer my fantasy fire over Cappuccino but I can't wait to try it over other colours. If you haven't guessed it by now, I am absolutely head over the heels about Fantasy Fire and it has not become one of my most special polishes.



What: Max Factor Max Effect Mini Polishes
How much: £3.99 a bottle
Where: Anywhere around the world which sells Max Factor. Be warned as Fantasy Fire has become quite a sought after shade.

Do you own any Max Effect mini polishes? Please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to see your photos, if you have posted some xx

Crushed Grape, whatever the season. Free Leighton Denny Manicures

2012-02-16T23:53:00.000Z

There are times when I spend ages trying to find that first sentence on how to start a blog post and others, like tonight where billions of way to start a blog post comes bustling in my head and I am overwhelmed. Please excuse me for I am very excited tonight. It's been a while since I've played with a Leighton Denny nail polish and I forgot how good it was.

When the gorgeous Nic, from Strawberry Blonde Beauty Blog told us informed us about the Magazine Freebies offers in March 2012, I got a bit hot under the collar: 3 shades of Leighton Denny nail polishes can be yours for free, if you purchase a copy of the March 2012 edition of Red Magazine (£3.80)

Nic warned us that the actual magazine with the free polishes would be hard to track down but being a massive fan of Leighton Denny, I was not going to give up so easily. I was lucky, they had some in my local Marks and Spencer and I managed to get my hands on 'Crushed Grape' a dark berry polish and a lilac polish annoyingly called 'Whatever'.

I can't explain in words the delight it was to experience 'Crushed Grape' and 'Whatever' on my nails: smooth, creamy, easy peasy to apply, opaque in one coat, dries fast, only £3.80. What more can a girl want? Well perhaps spending some time en-tête-à-tête with Leighton Denny himself.

I didn't do any clean up whatsoever on my manicures, (it probably shows but I would be quite happy to parade with my nails like that) I went really sloppy with it so much so that it felt like that the polish applied itself. I am in love, totally in love. As a consequence of my infatuation, I am going to leave you with an avalanche of photos.

Crushed Grape in all its glory, one coat only:

Now with slightly warmer lighting

and this is, ‘Whatever’. I am not going to lie. I feel the name doesn’t do justice to the beautiful shade and finish. Again, this is one coat. I know!!

Now with warmer lighting

If you have not yet tried a Leighton Denny polish and can hunt a Red Magazine with freebies in, you will not regret it. It will probably be the best £3.80 you've ever spent

Needless to say, if the third free shade ‘Vamp’ had also been available at my local Marks and Spencer, I would have also bought it. Let me know if you managed to get your hands on it, I would love to see!

Leighton Denny, will you marry me?

What? Leighton Denny nail polishes in 'Crushed Grape' and 'Whatever
How much? Free on purchase of Red Magazine, March 2012 edition, £3.80
Where? I don't know. In some Marks and Spencers. xx

The Losing Weight Journey: Back to basics? Weight Worries Wednesday

2012-02-16T00:14:00.000Z

'You don't need to lose any weight' is what most of the lovely people who know me on twitter and in real life will tell me. What people don't know is that my weight has been creeping up slowly and steadily for the past year and half and this has made me very uncomfortable. I don't remember the last time I bought clothes for work. Other than the odd cardigan bought by mail order, I think the last time I bought some trousers for work was 2 years ago. Weight gain, coupled with a unfortunate pear shape making it a nightmare to purchases trousers which fit properly has made me avoid the shops at all costs.

There is only 1 pair of trousers which fit me now (a hideous pair of dark very stretchy jeans which would make Simon Cowell look like he's wearing low cut hipsters) which I wear every single day at work, no fail. I have officially entered the overweight zone according to my BMI and I can't fool myself anymore: I need to take action, stick to a diet, regain some self esteem, and like myself again.

I won't bore you today with the details of my diet. I don't know if there will be other episodes of my Weight Worries Wednesday series (Wednesday tends to be the day when my willpower fades and I vandalise the corner shop) but today I wanted to share with you a little something. A little something which has motivated my colleague in her weight loss journey, and who has proudly managed to lose 3 stones in the past 6 months. The secret to her weight loss?

The good old calorie counting way and a certain formula.

We all know if we eat more than what our body needs to function, we will put on weight. How much does our body actually need? How many calories can one eat to lose weight? Can the typical 1200 calories limit apply to us all? Where does this 1200 calories limit come from anyway? You might already all know about this formula. I didn't, so I thought maybe some of you might not either and that it might (or not) inspire you.

My friend has been using the Harris Benedict formula (which I like to call the 'Eggs Benedict' Formula) based on her BMR number and it has worked wonders for her. The Harris Benedict formula is not a diet, it's a nifty equation which helps you to calculate exactly, according to your height, age, activity and gender how many calories you can eat to maintain, lose or even increase your weight.

1) First of all, you need to know your BMR number. BMR, for the non initiated stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, or 'the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day'.
2) Once you know your BMR, you need to know your Daily Calorie Needs. This is where the Harris Benedict Equation comes into play.
3) Once you know your daily calorie needs, and if you want to lose weight in a ‘sustainable’ way the guideline is to reduce your calories by at least 500, a day.

- So, to calculate your BMR, you just need to enter 4 values (height, weight, age, gender) on the webpage here.
- Armed with your BMR number, you can calculate your daily calories needs using the Harris Benedict formula here.
- Then, to lose weight, just substract 500 from your daily calories needs number.

Because I am quite small in height, that I am not so young, and that my idea of exercise is taking a bus instead of taxi, my daily calorie needs is 1650. In other words, I can eat 1650 to maintain my weight. However, if I wanted to lose weight, without increasing my exercise, I wouldn't be able to eat more than 1150 calories. Bang, that's where your infamous 1200 calories come from.

It was quite a comforting thought for me to know that at my current weight, I could, in theory, not put on weight if I ate as much as 1650 calories. It also made me despair at my height. Had I been 6 foot, I could have been getting away with a lot more calories. The 'Eggs Benedict' formula finally made understand in practical terms how my metabolism slows down as I age, and also made me realise how much of a nightmare it would be to stick to very slim figure, as I was able to put in different values in and imagine different scenarios. Sadly, it won't help put food into my gob but has comforted me in many ways and opened to my eyes more than ever to the necessity of exercise really.

Please forgive me if this has totally bored you.

Finally, I would like to end this back-to-basics post with a little anecdote. Mc Donalds, as you know, have changed their menus dramatically, in the sense that they have been providing us with exact amount of calories their food is bringing and how it fits in the whole scheme of things. For them, the whole scheme of things and the average calories need of a female is 2000 calories. Using the Harris Benedict equation, I've found that only a 18 year old female, measuring 5ft7, and weighing 12st9 can get away 2000 calories to maintain her weight. Not so your very average woman, huh?

Are you on a diet at the moment?
Are you watching your calorie intake?
Were you pleasantly surprised by how many calories you can eat after playing around with the HB formula?

Going further than Nanoblur?

2012-02-08T23:11:00.003Z

Buying a new beauty product is a risk. Fact. What if it doesn't do what it says on the tin? The team at Buyapowa knows this so well and is helping us in taking a more calculated risk through buying their products on their portal, at a much cheaper price.

Just a few hours ago, they launched the sale of an anti ageing serum I have been waiting for since the same day I first heard about Nanoblur. The product is called 'Snoxin' and oh my word, does it sound promising:

Snoxin features the highest allowable concentration of the most effective anti-aging peptides come together in this advanced serum to combat all aspects of skin aging appearance, including the look of dynamic wrinkles, deeper folds, fine lines, crow’s feet, textural irregularities and sagginess. Snoxin incorporates the highest concentration of next-generation advanced peptides to target multiple aspects of skin ageing. The number and concentration of the peptides in Snoxin are higher than most luxury skincare products on the market.

While most products on the market incorporate one main anti-aging peptide to target skin aging, Snoxin incorporates multiple peptides that target aging through 3 synergistic mechanisms at once:

--- Reduced muscular contractions that lead to the appearance of dynamic lines and wrinkles
--- Increased collagen production through stimulating the skin’s natural processes
--- Formation of a more uniform collagen support matrix through stimulation of repair processes

I can't tell you if it really works, I have yet to try it myself and give it a go.

As with Nanoblur, Boots has the UK market exclusivity over Snoxin, and I doubt they will be offering it any cheaper than £22.99 which is the best price you can get it with Buyapowa. The recommended retail value of this product is 39 Dollars (not sure if it's Canadian Dollars or American Dollars) but the conversion rate is roughly the same and would come to £24.99, and the Buyapowa monkey is offering it for £22.99. Sweeeet! There are only 50 available though, so don't delay if you want to get one!

Come and try the Snoxin with me and let's see if it works on our wrinkles :)

Cosmetic Candies

2012-02-08T22:04:00.000Z

The teasing is finally over and MUA Cosmetics has announced the release of their latest makeup collection. Just in time for St Valentine's Day, MUA Cosmetics have inspired their latest collection on the theme of the famous sweeties 'Love Hearts'.





The adorable collection comprises 6 pastel polishes and 5 lip balms. The prices couldn't be any cuter: Each item is £2.






No need also to wait for the items to arrive in your local Superdrug as they are already available on the MUA website, with a low shipping cost as usual (£2.95) and possibility to pay via PayPal. Don't want to fork out on postage? The brand has announced that they will be doing free postage offers :)

MUA Cosmetics didn't make their job easy with this collection. Good pastel polishes are notoriously hard to find. Have they cracked the formula? Will they be patchy? Time will tell :) I am very tempted to try 'You and I', the lovely yellow polish. But most of all, I am very much looking forward to try their upcoming BB cream which they will sell at £4.

Now, if the free postage offer coincided with the release of the BB cream, it would make my heart and purse very happy :)

Will you be getting some love hearts?

Pictures sourced from Mua Cosmetics Facebook Page.
Top picture was also sourced from Mua’s page and lil montage done by me x

So you're a brunette and want blue eyes, huh?

2012-02-06T20:15:00.004Z

Many of you will know already about my passion of fancy dress and dramatic makeup transformation. About 2 years ago, I bought some blue contact lenses, I am not quite sure why, now come to think of it but I bought some. They were not suitable for Halloween (I needed yellow ones for the second year running) so I thought what a better time than New Year's Eve to wear them. The lenses I bought were from Colour Vue and the actual model is called 'Solar Blue'.



I had seen plenty of people wearing some people with dark eyes like me wearing blue lenses but the result had always been a little underwhelming and screaming 'not blue and not dramatic enough.

Were Solar Blue going to turn the same way? Umm, it went pretty much the other way: too dramatic and too freaky looking frankly. In real life, and away from the strong camera flash they appear less bright but still definitely too bright for my liking. In case some of you are into colour contact lenses, here are some pictures of the transformation.



So there you go. If you wanted to have a dramatic colour change, this is what solar blue could look like on your dark eyes.


In case you’re not into contact lenses, here is an attempt at capturing my outfit of the night. My dress is a very simple dress from ASOS, bought in sale at £10 ages ago but it’s my mock stockings tights which I like the best. They were £4.99 and I bought from New Look. I hate my knees so this is perfect to hide them

The quest for dramatic but less freaky colour lenses carries on. Next I want green eyes

Are you into contact lenses? If you are, and blogged about them, please please please send me a link. Or if you have some funki tights, spam me with your link as well. I am nosy and I want to have a look.

x

Mink & Heart Beat Nails–Accessorize {notd}

2012-02-05T00:38:00.000Z

Once upon a time on twitter, there was a beauty blogger/PR who was looking for some keen nail bloggers. There was not much more information provided in the tweet, I could list hundreds of nail bloggers better than me, but upon encouragement of a certain Kellie, I decided to put myself forward. The lovely blogger got back in touch very quickly and accepted my expression of interest. I soon found out that I was offered the possibility to review 2 nail polishes from the latest Accessorize collection.


I was very lucky to have been chosen but I had a very mixed reaction. I didn't have an overwhelming successful experience with Accessorize polishes before, so much so that I decided not to blog about the polishes I had purchased from the brand and only talk about one of them. My main issue had been with the formula, leaving me with patchy coverage: covering the nail line with no problem but leaving some patches of blank every now and then. I absolutely hate writing negative reviews about products I have received for free by a company and I was dreading receiving the polishes.

My two polishes reached me in the speed of lightning. The same day they arrived I had to swatch them on one nail and I felt much lighter. I don't know what Accessorize has done to the polishes but the formula is totally different from all the previous polishes I have tried and this makes me really happy and relieved, mainly because I won't have to write a negative review. *phew*




So ladies and gentlemen let me share with you my experiences with the 2 little beauties I have been lucky to trial. The first one is MINK. Mink is a delightful light browny/pinky/nudy/taupey beige.

I am not very good at describing colours as you can tell. What I do know is that I am in absolute love with the colour. But what really blew me away was the coverage I was able to get from one coat. All my photos show you just one coat of polish, something which I didn't think it would be possible, given my previous experiences with Accessorize Polishes.

The formula is not perfect, mind you. It reminded me of Nails Inc typical formula: applies a little funky and bumpy at first but then dries beautifully smooth. So MINK made me really happy and exceeded all my expectations.

HEART BEAT is a beautiful dark raspberry shade and was identical to MINK in application. The level of coverage in one coat was phenomenal. My flash photos make it appear a little brighter than it really is. I was scared looking at the bottle that the shade would be a big 'grandma' ish but grandma it certainly isn't and it is a very elegant shade.



I love this shade. Sorry I couldn’t shortlist my selection of picture any further.

MINK and HEART BEAT put my 'patchy' memories firmly to the past and made me want to try some more from the new collection. In fact, I have already bought 'Dream' the purple & blue 3D glitter (4th one on the right) but let me get some decent hard core glitter nail polish remover before I can play with it.



What: Accessorize Polishes
Where: Selected Acessorize Stores and Larger Superdrug shops
How much: £4


I couldn’t leave you with sharing with you the remaining shades of the latest vast collection of Accessorize polishes.

My bargains today - Superdrug Special

2012-02-04T19:10:00.004Z

I usually don't really do 'haul' posts. I don't even like the word the word 'haul' but I am very excited about the bargains I've made today and before taking 6 months to review the products, I thought it'd be more beneficial to write about them now, while the offers are still on. I can't tell you if the following products are good, I haven't had the chance to try them but I am super excited about them. As part of their beauty month, Superdrug is doing lots of offers and here are the ones which I couldn’t resist.

First things first, I bought this round eyeshadow brush (no.13) from Superdrug, from the Superdrug Pro Range. Ever since I saw the range blogged about on lipglossiping.com, I couldn't wait to try them. The brush was £4.99 instead of £6.99 so I thought there couldn't be a better time to purchase it.



As you will see from the picture below, the brush handle of the Superdrug Pro Brush no.13 is much longer than a Mac blending brush 217, but the actual brush is smaller, rounder and I can't wait to use it into the nook and crannies of the crease of my eye. The offer is valid until 14 February. Not all Superdrugs hold the pro line, so check with your makeup addict friends beforehand to avoid any disappointment, tantrums and all that jazz.


I used to have a Revlon eye contour brush ages ago. The handle was too long. It would ping out of my coca cola glass which doubles up a brush holder and its mere existence would annoy me so much that it had to go a new home. However I really liked the brush in itself so when I saw the 'travel size' contour shadow brush also on offer at £3.99 (usually £5.99) I just had to get it. Please scroll down below to see how it compares handle length wise to the mac 217 blending brush and why I like to call it ‘travel size’.



It also would have been rude not to get the bargainous Revlon covered lid brush at £3.99 (RRP £5.99)

Then I treated myself to a spare glass file, to complement my beloved Barbara Daly glass file. The Revlon glass nail file was £3.99 instead of £4.99.

Last but not least, the ‘Special Brunette dry shampoo from Superdrug was looking at me with puppy eyes and it had go home with me. It was just £0.99 and it would have been a crime not to buy it. Not tried it yet, I can't tell you if it is as good at the Batiste brunette or any other batiste but the chocolate brownie scent is to die for. YUM.



Interested by any of these offers, be quick. They are only valid in February, with some offers ending on February 14th.

I love my Superdrug and that is all. ^_^

Have you bought anything from Superdrug lately? xx

Bargain Alert and Fearnesque Lime Green Nails {notd}

2012-02-02T23:21:00.003Z

To say that it's been a while since I have not blogged properly and share my nail colour adventures is an understatement. I’ll spare you the drama about my computer woes. My nails have been in a bad condition since the beginning of November and everytime they grew a little, they shortly lived and broke and grew and broke etc.. The nail on my little finger is way too small compared to the rest of my hand, my index looks it's been filed with in pitch black but hey ho, I really want to get back into the swing of things and get to blogging again more frequently.

Today's manicure was not planned. I happened to visit a big boots shop (well bigger than my local one) on Tuesday and they had all the Fearne Cotton nail polishes on half price, reduced from £5.50 to £2.75. (It should really be £2.25, Boots, tut tut). Lime Green is one of my favourite colour, I fancied this particular polish for ages so it was too good an occasion to be missed.

So how did Fearne 'Lime Green' perform? I found the polish a little bit too runny for my liking but managed to get the coverage that you see in 2 generous coats which I am really pleased about. The colour is absolutely divine. If I had to come up with a shade of lime green, this would be exactly how I would like it to be.

Application wise, I don't like it as much as my other 2 lime green polishes the Superdrug 2true ‘Shade 4’ and 'Early Green' from Gosh, but the application remained very easy nevertheless. Colour wise, this is now my favourite lime green. The 2true is too 'apple' and not lime enough while I find 'Early Green' from Gosh a bit too neon. Below an attempt a comparing the 3 polishes, in a bid to show the nuances in colour.

All the individual polishes from Fearne Cotton are at half price.
Snap them up here online in your local boots store before they're all gone.

What? Fearne Cotton Lime Green Nail Polish, 9ml
How much? £2.75 reduced from £5.50
Where? Larger Boots.

Boots versus Superdrug: Two can play that game…

2012-01-30T01:01:00.001Z

While I was checking my emails, this little ad popped up on my screen. I don't know about you, but I felt the advertisement was of poor taste. Advertisement based on price comparison have been done before, nothing new there, but there is a fine line between being cheeky and being downright low. I think Boots Marketing Team has crossed my line.

Well, Boots: Two can play that game ;)

My little impromptu 'face off' with a little comparison on products entirely designed for the face.
Excuse my poor puns, this is the best the French native speaker in me could do, on the spot, recovering after a night of debauchery...

top photo credit: image source

The one which fluttered away…

2012-01-20T00:12:00.002Z

You might already have seen these if you've been around on twitter today but I just could not not blog about them. I am a massive fan of Eylure false lashes and equally massive fan of Katy Perry's makeup. Katy Perry's eye make up looks always excite me: it's fun, it's colourful, dramatic, glittery and fluttery.

In February, Eylure and Katy Perry fans will be able to purchase nationwide (Boots and Superdrug) the amazing creations of their collaboration. I am not quite sure of the prices but I would imagine that these would retail around the the £6 mark.

Katy Perry's collection is to die for and boast 4 pairs of eyelashes: from the dainty, delicate 'sweetie pie' to the full on drama of 'Oh my'. I prefer a fuller lashline personally (easier to conceal) so will probably pass on 'Oh Honey' and 'Sweetie Pie' as they both sport an invisiband but I just cannot wait to play with ‘Cool Kittie’ and ‘Oh My!’.

Hurry up, February!

Have you got any favourites?
Will you be checking these out in store?

photo credits: source.

Nanoblur Optical Cream: My experiences

2012-01-09T00:26:00.003Z

Well, hello there :) This little garden has been left alone for so long, I can’t even see the wood for the trees or whatever the expression goes. Before a lengthy post on what the heck I have been to lately, and an overdue update, I would love to share some news with you. Today I was published on Perfect Polished for a little guest post I wrote.I would love to invite to read my experiences with Nanoblur, the most hyped about optical skin cream, which promises no less, no more to make you look 10 years younger in a matter of seconds.

So please, hop along to Perfectly Polished Nails blog and find out how I got along with Nanoblur. Oh and if you would like to leave a comment there, this would make me very happy!

Thank you xx

Christmas Coundown Slendertone Toning Challenge: My Journey and Progress

2011-12-15T22:47:00.000Z

I've been pretty quiet on the blogging front lately, nor have I been very active on commenting on my daily beauty reads. This is not the usual me and I am not happy about that. But there is one thing which I am really really chuffed about: to have embarked on a body toning challenge routine and to have stuck with it implacably, which is for me, something of a miracle.

Which toning challenge is that? Well... :)

In the last week of November, I was approached by Slendertone to see if I would be happy to embark on a 'Christmas Countdown Toning Challenge' and share my experiences on the 'Slendertone System Abs' belt with my readers. My abdominal / tummy area is not too bad compared to the lower half of my body (bum, thighs and legs) but it has never been as toned as I wanted it to be. Why? Because addressing this area with exercise is hard work and painful.

Ask anybody on what they think would be a good form of exercise to tone and improve the muscles of your tummy and they will all reply in unison: 'crunches and sit ups'. I can't do crunches and sit ups. I try to do it for 2 days, and then I spend the whole week with stomach cramps, when laughing even becomes painful. Sit ups also give me pain in the neck area. In fact, while I try to do my sit up, I feel more pain in the neck than in the tummy area, which surely isn't right. So when I was given the opportunity to try this Slendertone System Abs, it was a no brainer, I had to say yes and I just couldn't wait to start my challenge.

So what does this belt designed to do?

The Slendertone System Abs is a belt designed to tone your abdominal muscles. It delivers a complete abdominal workout for the rectus, oblique and transversus abdominis muscles, giving you firm and flat stomach. Replicating abdominal exercises, wearing the belt for 20 minutes is equivalent to 120 sits ups targeting the abs muscles (rectus, oblique and transversus abdominis muscles)

Yes, you heard: 20 minutes is equivalent to 120 sits ups. I know!!

I was very impatient to try the belt but I was also very anxious. As I said earlier, I don't do pain. To give you an idea of my pain threshold, I'd have some anaesthetic cream before a blood test, would usually have my whole mouth numbed before dentist could approach me and categorically refuse to have my eyebrows threaded. I have my tache waxed every now and then but this usually comes with me swearing at the beautician and calling her a wicked witch. I knew I wanted to have a firmer tummy but I was really scared to have an electrically charged belt around my tummy. Did I need to expect a pain similar to electrolysis, or perhaps some mini electrical shocks?

I received my belt bang on 24 November, which fitted perfectly with the Christmas Countdown Toning Challenge and decided to start my slendertone adventures on the same day. The belt arrived in a nice posh box and ready to use in 2 simple steps: charge the belt for 3 hours, stick the 3 pads on and you're ready to go. What does it feel like? I felt so silly as I realised instantly that I had really nothing to worry about. Depending on what level the belt is on, wearing the belt feels like a tingle or a strong massage of your tummy and whole abs area.

The way the belt is programmed is brilliant and takes the guess work out of how long you should do the exercise. Their prime objective (the way I personally understand it) is to provide you with a safe and gradual/progressive work out. The belt has 7 programmes and the first time you switch it on, it activates the programme 1. The belt remembers how many times you followed programme 1 and then it declares you ready to move on programme 2. I don't remember the figures but it's something like once you've done the programme 1 five times, then the next time you switch on the belt they move you on the higher programme.

No need to choose how long to wear the belt as the programme you’re on has a predefined time. To top it all off, and to mimic the effect of a real work out session, each programme even comes with a warm up and cool up phase. All you do is to choose the level of 'contraction intensity' of your workout and you are encouraged to increase the level of contraction intensity as and when you feel ready.

There is a special section in the manual which gives you suggested intensity levels if you're doing a 4 week challenge. They recommend for example to start it at level 20 the first time you switch it on (I started it at level 30 on my first work out, you'll understand why below) with a view to progressively get to level 80 in your last week. A lot of emphasis is put on safety throughout the manual. While they encourage you to increase the level of intensity as you go through your 4 week challenge, they also discourage you to put up with a work out which causes too much discomfort/pain.

During a 7 day week you are also supposed to exercise 5 days and give you 2 days of rest, to give you and your muscles a chance to rest. I find it very sweet. When I wear my belt, I am usually sat on my fat arse, watching telly and they still ask me to make sure to allow 2 days of rest :) aww.

Which brings to my next point: How difficult is it to follow the programme day after day? To be honest with you, doing the slendertone challenge is as easy as watching 'I am a celebrity Get me Out here on telly' for 20/30 minutes (minus the eating challenges which make it very uneasy watching) I have been naughty on a few occasions, whereby sometimes I have not allowed my body to rest after 6 or 7 days in a row but other than that, I have followed my work out programme/challenge religiously for which I am extremely proud about. I can't recall the last time when I have followed an exercise routine so assiduously! Probably never.

I started the programme on 24 November, wear the belt pretty much every night, (funny enough i like to wear during watching masterchef or best dish) and I am now on programme 4 and level 70. Level 70 is not for the faint hearted, it feels there was a massive gap between level 50 and level 70 but I am really really happy. At the moment it feels like I am never going to be able to move on to 'contractions' further than level 70, but I have still have some time before Christmas Eve to get there. What pushed me to move higher and higher in my work out and keep stuck to it was this little diagramme I saw on the website. You see below why I wanted to be at intensity 30 from the very beginning. I don't want a tingle, I want muscle contraction baby :)

How efficient is it? Does it work?

Yes, yes, yes. I really feel my tummy is much much more firm, toned and I am loving it. I am also a bit shell shocked about 2 things: how I managed to stick to the programme to the letter and how the belt abs managed to tone while so little input was made from me, as the most active things I've been doing have been walking to work and watching tv. If I had to pin point one uncomfortable thing about the belt is this 2 second moment when you attach the belt on, as your tummy gets into contact to the cold fleshy-like pads. It’s a bit like the mindset you would have before taking a cold shower, the 1,2,3 count you take before going in, but at a much smaller scale as it is only 2 seconds. I really don’t like that 2 seconds bit though!

I am really hoping that the before and after pictures I am hoping to post when my challenge is over will show the improvement. The system belt is not cheap (£119) if you don't already own a controller. But very little active input is required from you, it's easy to stick it to so I really think it's a worthwhile investment. I don't know how you're all doing with your party season / christmas diet but if you've fallen off the wagon or planning some form of diet/exercise regime comes the new year, but if you have the funds, this seems to be like the perfect way to reward yourself, and have a little help while you're putting your 110% efforts cutting down in portions while your appetite is raging and you could eat a horse and everything else in sight.

See you soon for another update x

disclosure: the system abs belt was offered to me for review purposes and I still can’t believe how lucky to have been chosen for the experience/challenge

Deal Alert Shu Uemura Smoky Layers False Lashes for £10 at Buyapowa (RRP: £20)

2011-12-14T13:00:00.000Z

I don't usually treat myself to high end beauty products. Also if a product is not usually sold in an average size Boots or Superdrug store, I am not usually interested. But I am a massive false lashes addict and I have been lusting for as long as I can remember for a pair of Shu Uemura False Lashes and specifically the 'Smokey/Smoky Layers' variety. These babies usually retails at £18.50-£20.00 and even though I know for fact (and from my friend Cat (@perfectpolished) that they are extremely good value for money, I just can't bring myself to spend 20 quid in a single pair of lashes.

They say 'Layers of thin black lashes add volume to your lash line, creating a sultry eye look reminiscent of old Hollywood glamour' *cue photo*

Well today, the lashes are available to buy on Buyapowa and this makes me excited like a kid on Christmas day. The lashes were available twice before on buyapowa, but I missed both sales or co buys as buyapowa call them. The principle of buyapowa is simple. There is a very limited number of products available for purchase. The more people buy the items, the cheaper the item gets. In the words of buyapowa themselves 'Co-buying is a new form of shopping which brings shoppers together into a single transaction, so that you can benefit from the sort of discounts which have until now only been available to retailers buying in bulk'. To top it all off, the postage and packing (for makeup items) is £1 but in most cases free.

Are you tempted to try the 'Smoky Layers' yourself? You can buy them here but you need to be quick! At the moment they are £13 and there are only 15 left (14 December 2011. 12:53) and together we can get them down to a tight lovely round £10. Postage and Packing is just £1.

Boy, this is definitely the quickest blog post I have ever written.
I am so excited aaaaaAAaAaaaaaa :) :)

:: OPEN :: 100K Twitter Party Madness. 3-Day Celebration and Giveaways

2011-11-24T19:04:00.002Z

Would be able to pinpoint, out of the blue, something you've done more than 100 000 times in your life? I couldn't either, apart from thing: tweeting. I am not sure how I managed to get that point but it appears that I have tweeted more than 100 000 times. Addicted much? Twitter is a much more than an addiction for me though, it's a place where I met loads of lovely people.

To mark the occasion and thank you for following me through happiness, rants, tears, tantrum, {makeup} tweets and much more, I would like to invite you to a little 3-day twitter party.

Each day, starting today, I will be giving away a beauty product. To take part, you'll have to watch out the giveaway tweet of the day (this will contain the #100kmadness tag) and retweet the message it until midnight that day. Winner will be chosen at random and the 3 winners will be announced on Sunday, after the X Factor shenaniggans.

What to win: This is a 3-day twitter party, 3 prizes in total, 1 prize a day (photo and details below)
Who can enter: Open to all my twitter followers , the giveaway is international
How to Enter: Follow me on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/tsunimee) and retweet the giveaway tweet of the day.

Prizes
Day One: 3 pairs of Eye Candy false eyelashes
(model numbers 006, 009 and 010)

Day 2: Festive Red Party Pack: - 1 metallic red Ruby and Millie hard cased cosmetic case with mirror
- 1 Barry Red Glittery Red Lipgloss
- 1 Ruby and Millie foundation brush
- 1 red Revlon eye contour brush
and last but not least 1 Ardell Lash Starter Kit (101 lashes, glue, and lashes applicator/facilitator)

Day 3: Wash Off Instant Glow Kit containing - 1 St Tropez Wash Off Instant Glow BODY Lotion (150 ml)
- 1 St Tropez Wash Off Instant Glow FACE Lotion (50 ml)
- 1 St Tropez Powder Bronzer (12)

Rules & Other Boring Information:

- Must be a follower of @tsunimee on twitter http://www.twitter.com/tsunimee
- Multiple entries are accepted
- Winners will be chosen randomly.
- This giveaway is first and foremost for my twitter followers: you can naturally comment on this blogpost, but they won’t count as entries for the twitter giveaway
- All prizes were purchased by me, over the past 12 months. All items are brand New and never been swatched or used.

Happy tweeting and good luck :) xx
@tsunimee

Free Manicure anyone?

2011-11-23T17:20:00.001Z

"The decorators, the pixies, the time of the month, mother nature's monthly gift etc..." We dislike our monthly periods so much, we like to rename them to make them more bearable. If only we could be rewarded to have to live with them! Well... we are. Tampax and Always have teamed up to launch its limited edition ‘Free Manicure’ offer, available at hundreds of beauty salons across the UK. That's right.

Buy a special pack of Always or Tampax and get a free manicure! No catch!

To take advantage of this limited offer, this is what you need to do:

1. Purchase a special pack of Always or Tampax featuring the ‘Free Manicure’ sticker before 31st December 2011
2. Visit www.alwaysmanicure.com or www.tampaxmanicure.com to find their nearest participating salon (I am so happy, there is a place in my little poxy town who does it, woop! :)
3. Book a nail treatment with the salon before 31st March 2012 quoting ‘Always and Tampax Manicures’
4. Print the voucher and take it, along with the on-pack sticker, to their appointment.

Thank you mother nature! :)

Ultimate Strapless by Wonderbra: Ultimate party accessory?

2011-11-20T22:55:00.000Z

Sharing your impressions on a strapless bra on a beauty blog might seem a little bit odd and unexpected but if you think about it, it might not seem too much out of place. You can wear the most amazing makeup ever and have the most gorgeous mane but wearing the wrong bra might let down your whole appearance and the way you feel about it.

The last four times I've gone on a night out I've found myself wearing a strapless top/dress so I thought it was high time I treated myself to a nice strapless bra from a very well established brand. The gorgeous ultimate strapless bra from Wonderbra has been on my radar for a while but its recommended retail price of £36 had always put me off. When I saw it reduced to £24 on Amazon with free delivery, I thought the time was right.

I have tremendous respect for the brand Wonderbra. My very first cleavage enhancing add-a-cup push-up padded bra was a Wonderbra. The fabric was stiff coarse lace, very noticeable under soft fabric, it gave me boobs like missiles but I absolutely loved it, and I wore it to death, until it became yellow and it had to bra cemetery. I also have in my wardrobe the amazing Wonderbra plunge multiway and a everyday black one with a little unexpected saucy red lining. I love Wonderbra and I had big expectations for the ultimate strapless.

So what makes the ultimate strapless special and stand out from the crowd? What makes it worth £36?

Instead of underwiring that sits underneath your boobs, the Wonderbra Ultimate strapless bra uses innovative polycarbonate "hand" shaped structures moulded into smooth, seamfree microfibre cups.

So the idea of this bra is to give you the support as your own pair of hands would. To top it all off, Wonderbra subjected their ultimate strapless bra to rigorous fun tests on YouTube: the wriggle, the jump and the twist tests. . I particularly loved the jumping test, when the girl tries to flatten the suitcase and I just had to get this bra.

So, how the ultimate strapless perform? Well, Wonderbra definitely didn't exaggerate about the support. Once this baby on, your bosom is truly well supported and won't budge. However I felt it did nothing to lift my breast nor boost the size of my cleavage. I felt it made my breast appear smaller and somewhat dragged down even though it did a good job of maintaining it firmly in place. I felt that Wonderbra spent so much time making sure this bra gives you amazing support that they forgot the 'lift' part.

It could well be that a bigger size than normal could have flattered me more but personally, for a bra worn under a top which shows cleavage, I prefer to go for a bra which is a tad on the small side to give the illusion of land of plentiful (one could hope) and it's almost spilling with boobage. What I expect first and foremost from a Wonderbra is a lift and the illusion of a fuller enhanced breast and then and only then unconditional support as you jump, wiggle, and whatever you do.

Another thing which disappointed me is that the only way you can wear this bra is strapless and there are no hooks to put a strap if you wanted to, or transform it as a halter neck bra.

Trialling this bra made me appreciate even more my soft moulded £9 bra from ... Matalan, of all places. It might not have the fancy lace, not the wide band coated with silicone under the bra itself for added stay on power, but it gives me cracking cleavage, support, flexibility and most of all confidence to wear a strapless top or dress. Girls with bigger breast or who feel that their breast is big enough would absolutely love the support of this bra, it's nothing like what I've experienced before but sadly this is not the one for my modest 32C plums.

Do you often wear strapless numbers?
Which strapless bra do you swear by?

Tiggress Trio from Max Factor

2011-11-15T15:00:00.000Z

Back in September, when Boots was doing an amazing 3 for 2 offer for a whole month, this little trio eyeshadow from Max Factor ended up in my basket. This is tiggress eyeshadow trio, which can be used dry or wet.

I need to confess I have never used an eyeshadow wet, I am scared of ruining it. I was hoping this would be the perfect opportunity to pop my 'wet eyeshadow cherry' but I just can't do it. I am scared I won't be able to blend the wet texture once on my eyes.

So what does it perform applied dry? It's ok. Definitely nothing to shout home about. The yellow is a nice shade but overall I was hoping the whole trio would deliver more pigmentation. I want my eyeshadow to have more punch, and sadly this screams more 'pussy cat' than 'tiggress'.

Before I fall asleep writing this review, a little picture on how it applies on the eyes.

Adventures in Leeds – Bloggers Meet up: Photos Galore

2011-11-14T20:41:00.000Z

There are not many bloggers events organised in the north of England: Fact! So when there is one, with an opportunity for cheeky boogie and drinks afterwards, it would be rude not to attend, right? Last Saturday, I had the pleasure to attend a big bloggers' meet up in Leeds, meet up organised by the lovely Ray @RayWhoisShe and Tor @tornumber9.

I was, as usual incredibly nervous about attending. I always dread this moment when my blogger friends and acquaintances who never seen in my real life realise that I have an incredibly kind camera and notice the big gap between my flattering angle posy blog photos and the reality. So I gave the activities of the day a miss and arrived late afternoon, when the sun had gone down a little bit. Did it help? A little bit but not much. I can't believe how nervous I was. I felt really self conscious, I felt so much older than everyone else, but the lovely warm welcome from Ray and my partners in crime Ellie and Cat, and the flowing wine really helped a lot with the nerves.

I had planned this day in my head for so long. I had imagined I would have lost 10 pounds of weight for the event, that I would be wearing some lovely French manicure and the most outrageous evening eye makeup. In the end, I turned up at my fattest point ever in my life, minimal makeup (no eyeshadow whatsoever and just some king kong lashes and foundation), and wearing some tracksuit bottoms as I don't have many daywear nice clothes to wear which suit my new fuller figure.

Aaanyway, enough about my insecurities. Let's have a look at some photos, shall we?

Gorgeous girlies: Ellie (@missy_ellie_uk) and Clare (@bigbeautyblog)

Clare and myself

This is Cat (@perfectpolished) and her friend Dave/Davide/Jean Jacques

The lovely Carla (@carlito86) and Sinead (@daintydollymix)

Sinead (@daintydollymix), her new shoes and Catherine (@perfectpolished)

Adorable Lauren (@laurensdressing)

I forgot the names but this is @sparklyvodka in the middle and Tor on the right x

The coolest RayRay @RayWhoisShe

Change of clothes and getting ready to go out. I have tried to take pictures of my eye makeup but failed at capturing the glitter on my eyes. Lipstick and a bit of bronzer was applied after photo. I need to go on bronzer and blusher classes for dummies and learn once and for all.

Photo of the gang before going out in town.

How fabulous is Ellie’s hair!! (far left)

I had such such such a lovely time. It was so nice to be able to meet bloggers in real life!

Little Red Riding Hood met Barry M ...

2011-11-10T15:05:00.000Z

I can't say I am a very charitable person. I don't give enough money to charity really. But there is one charity which always dear to my heart Breast cancer Research Campaign. As every year, I like to ~~force~~ encourage my office to wear pink on pink Friday. It was so much fun. I didn't take photos of my outrageous pink eyes but I managed to take some pictures of the pink manicure I had for the occasion.

I chose to wear my little red riding hood nails (limited edition 2true nail polish in shade 2) with a fresh coat of Barry M pink crackle which got me lots of compliments. I hope you like them too.

and now with ambient lighting :)

Did you also 'celebrate' pink Friday and did pink things on the day?

Hopefully more exciting posts will be coming soon. Please bear with me xx

Simmer Smokey Kit from Models Own

2011-11-10T14:04:00.000Z

I've always been on the look out for small compact eyeshadow palettes where I can achieve a look just by using the colours contained in that one palette and no separate products. When I first laid my eyes on the smokey eye (trio eyeshadow) kits from models own, the first problem for me was to choose the colours and I wanted to buy them all: They have 6 trios on offer, with suitable sexy smokey names, all starting with the letter S: Sultry, Seduce, Smoulder, Sensual, Simmer and Sassy. But I decided to be ... sssensible and just buy one.

So I waited for the half price sale and purchased 'Simmer' trio, the only true matte eyeshadow trio from the collection, at £4 instead of the usual £8. The trio comes up with fully detailed 6-stages instructions on how to achieve a smokey eye and two cute brushes.

Had my local Boots stored some Models Own at the time, I would have had the chance to swatch it beforehand and make a more informed decision. You've guessed it, the trio is just not good enough for me and I can't use it really. The main problem for me is low pigmentation. The light shade hardly shows on my hand (I should have marked the spot really) The warm and dark brown offer better pigmentation but I find them a bit patchy and not just good enough. Cue swatch:

I've tried to create a makeup look with the trio to demonstrate the colours applied on the eyes but I was unable to create a look I was happy with it and I found I needed to add some darker brown to add a bit of depth to the look, which totally defeated the purpose of finding a handy self sufficient eyeshadow palette.

Matte eyeshadows palettes are renowned to be a little more difficult to get it right and I knew it would be a gamble before buying it. Thanks goodness Simmer was a half price gamble, as I would have been ever more sorely disappointed. Don't let it deter you from swatching the other smokey trios, but you'll be better off skipping simmer. Right, there's no more words starting with S I can find..

Thank you for reading.

Return to Pandora - My Halloween antics

2011-11-08T15:21:00.000Z

It's been so long since I last blogged, I feel I have forgotten how to do it. I hope you will excuse this very simple post from me. I am nowhere near sorted computer wise but I can finally talk about computer gate without crumbling into tears (this lump in the throat won't give me a rest though)

Time away from it all has helped me but nothing has been more uplifting than the amazing & overwhelming support from you all, from blogosphere and twitterland. Then something else happened: you guys were so lovely, I felt I just couldn't come back on twitter, with just tweeting about doom and gloom. Until one of you - and you will recognise yourself - told me I could come back, no matter what tweets I was up to post. That gave me the biggest lift in the world and I happy I have come back to twitterland. Coming back to the bloggosphere (this for me includes blog reading and commenting on your wiriting) is taking longer but it is on the cards, when access to technology permits it.

To ease myself gently back into blogging, I wanted to share a few photos with you, photos from one memorable and happy week end: Halloween weekend. Some of you will know that Halloween is a big a deal for me. It's quite simply my favourite day of the year. With the computer apocalypse happening, I was feeling so low that I didn't even know if I was going to celebrate it. Being a whopping 10 pounds heavier (my all time heaviest) didn't help my confidence but I couldn't live with myself not doing anything for Halloween. I am so glad I made the effort. It was such a blast. Nothing could have spoilt my mood: not the uncomfortable lenses, the rain or the fact that my camera broke in the middle of the night!

A big fan of Avatar movie, I wanted to be a (tsu)na'vi again this year but wanted to jazz up my makeup a little and make it a little bit more three dimensional. I went out dressed as an avatar twice: Saturday 28 November and the actual Halloween night, Monday 31st October. The pictures below are from 31st October, where a new camera had to be purchased in emergency for the occasion.

I prefer the look of the lenses I wore on Saturday night but I prefer the avatar marking of this makeup look.

Necklace (as I lost the one from last year) was a bargain from BHS: 50p ladies and gentlemen. Get in!

No way on earth I could have fitted in my brown skirt from last year. This bargain back up from eBay just had to do.

Posing with Beetlejuice and the only thing I could think of at this stage was the new polishes from Models Own bearing the same name

I don't who he was but he did scare me!

Want to see what I used to do my makeup? Here, here :)

Thank you so so so much again for your support
liloo xx

Becoming Blue for Halloween

2011-11-08T15:19:00.001Z

Take one liloo with no makeup on. This is so scary in itself, it could have been perfect to scare the kids out, or anyone for that matter.

Leave your hair to grow for a year, braid your hair and put the coolest looking contact lenses in. I bought them with my own money from eyesbright.com and I chose the ones which were actually called 'avatar' lenses. The lenses looked absolutely amazing, the perfect shade of yellow with darker brown on the outer circle. However, I think I must have worn them inside them out as I could really feel the lenses throughout the night. To make matter worse, I forgot to remove them at the end of the night, slept with them and ended up with a blurry vision for a day which spooked me out. For the love of Halloween, no matter how tipsy you are, please please please remember to take out your special effects lenses before going to bed, ok?

I was asked if I was going to the full works and get my whole body blue but I chose to do a half mask again and I am so glad I did. It was raining on both nights (Saturday preceding Halloween and Halloween night itself) and I can't begin to imagine what it would have been like to be rained on with wet paint smudging all over the body.

This is what I used: For the actual paint, I mixed a bit of blue and white Ben Nye Magicolor Liquid Paint. No need to mix it water, it's already the perfect consistency. I only mixed the blue and white to make the blue a smidge lighter. I absolutely love this face paint, and I have used the blue many times as a eyeliner on my toucan look and on my flamingo look

I chose the biggest eyelashes I could find in my stash, added a bit of black in the crease to define the eyes a bit more than last year. The face paint is great, very resisting to the elements. The downside is that it's very hard to blend eyeshadow on top. Blend too much and you start to wear off the paint underneath. To add a little bit of sparkle, I added some glitter pigment from Mac on the eyelids.

Once the base was on, I added my markings very very gently with a random brush and some plain black eyeshadow. The little white dots were done by simply dipping an old eyeliner brush straight into the white liquid paint.

The piece de resistance was my lovely handmade ears from my best friend @joannadelilah, the ultimate master of disguise on YouTube. She made them herself, from scratch, first making a mould and then creating them with some liquid latex! I love my ears, I've worn them 4 times now. I have the nose to go with it but I am a bit shy to wear it.

Finishes touches were some mini crystals stuck on some white dots and a generous spray of Ben Nye Final Seal all over my face. My avatar mask stayed so well through the night. Even the little crystals stay put! The response I had throughout the night was absolutely amazing. I was the only avatar in the hood but people recognised me instantly. 'Oh it's Avatar' they kept on saying. I had such a buzz, despite my fuller figure this year.

I think I might have gone overboard on the white dots, I prefer the look I was wearing on Halloween Night itself (Monday 31st October) but much prefer the look of these avatar lenses.

Did you go out for Halloween? Feel free to link me to your piccies. I'd love to have a look! x

tsuna'vi
(liloo)

The thing with hope

2011-10-18T19:49:00.000+01:00

They say hope is good, that hope gives you the fuel to continue on in the face of adversity. I'm not convinced any more. If I hadn't been hoping that a second doctor could revive my hard drive, I wouldn't feel the crushing pain I am feeling right now. In fact, I had so much hope, I had already a third course of action planned: if 2nd computer doctor can't do anything, there is always the ~~crooky~~ costly data recover specialist route. I have just received the final diagnosis, and it really *is* the end:

"He found out the problem was something called 'spindle wear' which is when the needle inside is damaged so it can't read the data at all. He said it's from either damage to the HD or just because the HD wasn't that good quality maybe because of this he can't extract any data off it at all.... and even if you tried to send it off to a company they won't be able to either. I'm really sorry Liloo, I know it meant a lot but it really *is* the worst thing that could happen to it :(("

There is really nothing that can be done now and I really have lost everything. I can now fully concentrate on grieving my loss and moving on. But for now I am crushed and memories of what was stored on this hard drive is making me feel sick and cry uncontrollably. There are some makeup looks on there which I am never going to recreate, it's too painful. For that, I guess it's better if I try to believe that it never existed.

The thing with me is that even though my frequency of posts was not necessarily there to show it, I had been building slowly but surely a huge bank of blog posts and not a week end or evening passed which wasn't dedicated to blogging in some sort: whether it'd be just plain writing, or taking photos, editing them, practising makeup looks etc. While I had been quite an active tweeter, there was rarely a moment of my time at home which wasn’t spent on working on something for the blog.

Recently, the very few small blog posts which you've seen on my blog were some survivors from the memory card of my camera, and hope gave me the courage to work on there while my hard drive recovers. Now I am faced with recreating stuff which I have lost and I simply don't have the courage to face the thought. It's simply devastating and once again I am broken.

While this netbook I am using at the moment gives me internet access and a wider-than-a-phone keyboard, it is no means suitable to function as a blogger. The very few posts you saw were written and edited on a normal computer, which necessitated me staying behind at uni to work on them. You'll appreciate that after a full day at work, the last thing I want to do, is to stay behind at uni, while I am dying to go back home, in the comfort of my flat.

Also, while I could technically comment on blogposts read on this netbook, I can't even see the colours properly (the display is of very poor quality - even my phone offers a better display) therefore not being able to appreciate fully the blog updates of my dear 350 blog subscriptions. It might sound pathetic and extreme, but I really feel a bit disabled without my computer.

While technically I could just buy another new drive (£50?) and have installed it in this machine, and be ‘up and running’ I was strongly discouraged to do so, as it turns out, as three of my computer friends have observed, that it's the machine itself and its cheap components which could have contributed to its failure.

I could kick myself for many things, many things I should have done to prevent from recent events to have happened, but now what I am kicking myself the most with, is to have hoped that things could get better. Nietzsche was right: "Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man".

Allow me some more time to get better and get back on my feet, as I am beyond broken at the moment and really need to recover properly this time.

Biscuit Nails by Next Oh So… Cosmetics

2011-10-16T18:39:00.001+01:00

To promote the (recent?) release 'Oh so...' their affordable range of Cosmetics, Next is offering four shades of nail polishes when you purchase of copy of Easy Living Magazine. I had no idea Next was doing makeup, so this operation is perfect for me, if only for one slighty detail...

There is a problem right away: the magazine costs £3.70 and the nail polish retails for just £2.50. Ooops. But it's worth it if the shade is stunning, right?

There are 4 shades on offer: biscuit (nude) shimmer (white with golden shimmer shining through it) blush (a delicate pink) and metal (dark metal grey).

My friend and I went half and half and bought 'biscuit'. I now wish we bought shimmer and biscuit doesn't suit her nor me. The shape of the bottle will remind you straight away of the bottle from Beautyuk, apart from the top of the bottle which less round than the bottle of the Beautyuk.

Biscuit applied beautifully, had a little bit of dragging but gave me perfect coverage in 2 coats. Drying time was fantastic. I am very impressed by the quality. Sadly this shade is not for my friend, nor for me, and reminds me a little bit of Caramel from Nails Inc, another magazine/bottle of coke freebie, but not as 'horrendous'.

If any of you bought 'shimmer' and fancy a swap let me know and let’s do business

Little Red Riding Hood Sparkly Red Nails

2011-10-15T19:20:00.000+01:00

I am really excited to present to you this little beauty of nail polish. As part of their brand new 'crystal' collection, Superdrug owned brand 2true has released 4 gorgeous ultra sparkly and ultra festive nail polishes. Ditch the 'crystal' name, they scream 'party' all over, so much so that I have decided to rename this collection, the 'party' collection as I feel it's much more appropriate and more fun.

For those of you new to 2true polishes, these eyeko lookalike bottles polishes are exclusively sold at Superdrug, for the price of £1.99 and they have a permanent offer, whereby you can get 3 polishes for £4.99. Thank goodness my store only had the red polish in as otherwise, I think I would have bought the whole blooming lot.

For you today, I have stunning shade 2, which is described on the website as VAMPISH RED and about 10 billion pictures. I just couldn’t narrow it down any further. The shine and the richness of the finely milled sparkle/glitter inside is absolutely incredible and I can't believe how pretty it is.

Application was ok. Not a fairy tale, but not your worst nightmare also. The polish is a liiiittle bit too thick for my liking but other than that this polish is a little stunner. On the budget side of 'party red' polishes, I still would prefer ELF red velvet, but the advantage with 2true vampish red is that you can find in any Superdrug, whereas Elf is a bit faffy and you need to place an order online and before you know it you end up with £30 in your basket because they have an offer on.

What I like the most about this polish is that it almost gives the illusion of a very rich glitter polish, but without the grittiness and removal nightmare of a real glitter polish (I am looking at you Barry M). The finish is very smooth and removal was a doddle. Had the formula been a little bit thinner, 'Vampish Red' would have easily beaten my ultimate favourite nail polish from 2true, the gorgeous lime green. For now Vampish sits comfortably at spot no.2

This polish would be ideal to compliment a vampire, a little red devil, a little red riding hood etc halloween outfit on a budget. Make sure to apply a base (I had some staining with the lime green polish from 2true), make a point not to overload the brush during application and you'll love it. Vampish Red is a limited edition. I would imagine it'd be gone after Christmas so grab it now while you can.

Oh did I say it was £1.99? s-weet!

p.s
I wouldn't wish to be fussy, but a sparkly green nail polish would have been a lovely addition to the collection my wallet is not complaining though.

Taking your Halloween costume to the next level...

2011-10-14T13:23:00.002+01:00

Do you know what's frustrating? You want to make an impression, take your fancy dress costume to the next level, go and make the effort and expense to buy some fancy coloured contact lenses and they're rubbish: You try them on and they look nothing like the picture, and they are 10,000 times darker and duller. If only you could see it on a real person. Unless contact lenses buyers/wearer start to blog their experiences share their real unedited pictures or videos, buying contact lenses is always going to be a risky business.

Whilst looking for some contact lenses yesterday, I stumbled upon eyesbright.com who have been going the extra mile to show us what their lenses look like on a real person. They have set a whole youtube channel full of normal people like you and me, men or women, showcasing the lenses in a video footage and it's quite simply genius! And and and they really made an effort to create a makeup look around the character to showcase the lenses.

Not all the lenses that eyebrights sell have got youtube videos for them but it's a start.

Fancy, for example, some Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter's eyes?
This is the official picture and this is the video for it.

Quite a difference huh?

If you're wondering, despite the strong 'advertorial' tone of this blog post, no one has contacted me to tell you about eyebrights. Probably the whole world already knows about them. I didn't personally and wanted to shout over the rooftops about their youtube channel, as I think it's simple, revolutionary and helpful.

Will you be getting some lenses for this Halloween?

Irreplaceable Crush: NOTD

2011-10-11T00:40:00.003+01:00

Another nail post? Yes, please bear with me as I muster the courage to take some new photos and blog about something else. At the moment, I am using the materials which survived the computer apocalypse and which were stored on my camera memory card.

There are nail polishes that you like, nail polishes that you really like and polishes that you like so much, you just can't help but looking at your nails constantly. 'Irreplaceable' nail polish from Essence belongs to the third category and has captivated me like no other polishes,well if you don't count Holographic from Gosh, which frankly belongs to a league of its own. I first came across 'Irreplaceable' on a Slovenian Blog, Biba's Beauty Corner, a blog I have become very fond of, as the photos are incredible and it features different products from the typical British nail blogs I follow.

Back to 'irreplaceable' and my attempt at trying at to explain to you why it fascinates me so much. Imagine a sunny and golden sandy beach, and this is what the polish reminds me of. In fact, forget the 'irreplaceable' name, I would like to call this nail polish 'golden sands'.

This is how I would have liked my Boots No. 7 (Sundowner Collection) 'Sultry Sands' to have been like. The colour is absolutely gorgeous, it applies beautifully, smoothly, so easily and to top it all off, it is dries very quickly. Drying time was a major issue with the sultry sands from No.7, so much so that I m convinced that an hour would not be enough for it to dry fully, it's that bad.

Irreplaceable could also be called 'unfindable' as sadly, if you live in the UK this is a very hard to find nail polish. Yes I might be lucky to live in a country which sells really good quality polishes at a low price (Barry M, BeautyUk and 17 Cosmetics polishes spring to mind) but I will always be jealous of my fellow European Bloggers (the swatchaholic and nihrida - to name but a few) and their easy access to stunning and budget friendly Essence polishes.

I am very emotionally attached to this 5ml bottle: I acquired it in a makeup swap with Biba herself and if I break it, I know this is really going to be irreplaceable. This polish gives me gorgeous golden sandy nude nails in minutes (2 coats), goes pretty much with anything, and is for me a minimum effort maximum impact polish.

I am in love.

Want to see more Essence Polishes? Pop over to Biba's blog. I left my heart on there.

Fury, Sulk and Revenge

2011-10-08T18:25:00.000+01:00

Can anger ever be a good thing and lead to positive things? I'm never going to be proud of the countless times I've lost my temper and said outrageous things in the heat of the moment but I do feel that, if channelled properly, anger can lead to good things, such as getting over a past boyfriend or help produce great pieces of writing. 17 Cosmetics took inspiration from strong feelings and emotions a woman can go through and produced a great collection of eyeshadows and nail polishes. They named their collection 'A woman Scorned' after 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned' a verse from The Mourning Bride, a poem from William Congreve.

Today, I would love love share with you my impressions on the nail polishes from the collection.

Emotional indeed I was when I first held the bottle of 'Fury' in my hand. After rolling it in my hands, I felt my heart skipped a beat as I thought 17 Cosmetics produced a dupe of Chanel Peridot. Well, Chanel Peridot it isn't but deep rich bronzy perfect gold it is, with specks of green and red shining though: red and green, incidentally echoing the 2 others shades of the nail collection.

'Fury' was a delight to apply and opacity was achieved in 2 coats. The colour reminded me of my favourite gold nail polish from Avon mixed with a little stinker from Bodycare, which I had to throw away as the smell was too bad. I was very impressed with Fury.

Revenge reminded me straight away of Chanel Paradoxal but redder and better. I only own a dupe of Chanel Paradoxal but one things which annoys me is the elusive subtle shimmer, which unless shown under the right lighting, won't show at all.

Revenge is not moody as Paradoxal and will more readily show you its gorgeous shimmer inside. Application was a doddle, required no clean up whatsoever (then again, I do apply my polish 1 mile away from the edges) and dried very quickly.

And last but not least, this is Sulk, a gorgeous shimmery green nail, with bright specks of lime green and blue shining through it. Don't be fooled by the apparent brushstrokes on my pictures. Application was very easy, so easy that I rushed through it, taken by the moment and forgetting that I should probably make more of an effort knowing full well I was going to blog about it.

If you like one of the best seller from 17 Cosmetics (Peacock) , Sulk ... won't leave you sulking *badum, pssh*

The best about this collection: the prices. Each polish costs £2.99, and if you buy 2 polishes at the moment, you get rewarded twice: a gorgeous festive gift with 17 cosmetics (containing a glittery eyeshadow, a black eyeliner and a lipgloss) and a no.7 voucher expiring in November. Be quick, the gift with purchase is flying off the shelves. I went to Boots earlier on (yes, because no week end is complete with a visit to Boots and Superdrug) and there was only one box left!

Fury, Revenge and Sulk: which one gives you envy?

What? 17 Cosmetics 'A Woman Scorned' Collection, Nail Polishes
How much? £2.99 each
Where? Boots
Disclosure: Samples provided by the company. I know I can't believe it myself! ^_^

A younger looking skin in 30 days?

2011-10-07T13:57:00.000+01:00

I don't go to the beautician very often (twice a year maybe?) but when I do when I like to treat myself with a micro dermabrasion treatment (around £30). Money doesn't grow on trees so I'm always on the lookout for exfoliation products to try at home in between my beautician treats.

I've seen this kit today and I'm getting all excited, as excited as I was when they first started to release micro dermabrasion kits to use as home. It's a glycolic acid 30-day treatment and it's from The Sanctuary, a brand I know I won't have any problems sourcing and that even my rubbish Boots shop will have. The name is ever so pretentious, it's called 'the 30 Day Youth Revolution' but I really want to try it.

It's a two-part treatment system (£22.50) which combines a skin renewal Glycolic Peel-off Mask and anti wrinkle Serum which promises to reveal, used on a daily basis, over a period of 30 days to reveal younger, smoother and brighter skin.

They could have maybe chosen an older model in the video but other than that I am really tempted: The peel off mask is only to be used twice a week and it's the serum that they use every day, which I should be able to manage. Santa, if by any chance you're reading, you know what to do...

Lucky Lilac Nails

2011-10-07T13:56:00.000+01:00

In the style of 3 for 2 Boots offers, I wanted to offer you swatches of three no.7 nail polishes, but external circumstances decided otherwise and I only have this lilac number to share with you. This is 'Lucky Lilac' from no.7 and it's quite a beauty. It reminds me of my beloved Models Own Utopia but in a lilac variation.

I first wore it on Friday a month ago, before a special euromillions roll over. Guess what? It didn't bring me any luck and I didn't scoop the jackpot but it gave me hassle free coverage in 2 coats and pretty nails for the week end.

If you have a spare no.7 voucher (the current one expires this Sunday 9 October), you can also get your mitts on Lucky Lilac for £2, same price as a ticket for the euromillions incidentally..

What do you think?

Overglaze: the latest gossip

2011-10-06T18:27:00.001+01:00

Can't get your hands on 'Rainbow', the gorgeous discontinued 'flakie' top coat from Gosh? Not a problem. Inspired by the main female characters (Blair, Lily and Serena) of the 'Gossip Girl' American TV series, Nails Inc have released 3 gorgeous collections of special effect nail polishes. Don't call them 'flakies', these are 'overglaze' top coats, dahling!

Using hand cut particles, overglaze top coats will give your nails a futuristic finish which is bang on trend for this season. Applied over a deep glossy nails inc polish, overglaze provides a unique and exciting look for your nails

Meet Blair, a Teal black Blair nail polish teamed with Privileged blue / green overglaze top coat

This is Lily, a Plum black Lily nail polish teamed with High Society red / green overglaze top coat.

and last but not least, meet Serena, a patent black Serena nail polish teamed with It Girl electric blue overglaze top coat

Now, I know what you're going to ask. Can you buy the overglaze top coat separate? No, as far as you know you can't and you need to buy the whole collection, which is £20 per 'character'. But if you don't mind spending £17.50 in Chanel polish, then £20 in a collection of 2 polishes, with limitless combinations brought with the fancy top coat shouldn't be too much a problem :P

Do the nail polish correspond to the personality and look of the characters of the series? I couldn't tell you, I need to confess that I've not watched the series, but boy these polishes are gorgeous and get me more excited than any magnetic polish could ever do!

What? Nails Inc Gossip Girl Special Effects Overglaze Polishes
How much? £20 for one set of 2x10ml bottles
Where? Nails Inc website.

Location, Location, Location

2011-10-06T15:01:00.000+01:00

A few days have been passed since HDA (hard drive apocalypse) and I'd like to feel that the worst about mourning for my lost data is behind me. What kills me is remembering details on what I've lost.

Fortunately, before this week end, I didn't delete a 3GB full to the brim camera memory card so I've got a bit of raw material to work with. The problems are finding the motivation to redo some work which took me ages before to complete and finding a computer to do it on. But now on top of feeling broken, deflated and generally unmotivated, I am beginning to feel more and more guilty about time accumulating, and posts and reviews which have not been done. I know full well I am not a magazine, and the world won't stop turning if I am not posting but I just don't feel right about it and it bugs me. That and there is only so much 'come dine with me' (dear me, the people in 'come dine with me' can be so rude to each other.)and freaking 'location, location, location' I can watch.

I might be despising tv more than usual as I know I have a serious amount of blogging to do, and a serious amount to redo it all. I don't know where to start and how to go about it again. It is seriously daunting.

All is not lost for definite definite yet, and I have another lifeline to use, before going the final costly 'specialist data recovery route' but this could take weeks before an outcome, with a chance or not to have something back at the end of it. Do I could stand behind at work, when my work day is over, go to computer room or whatever and do some blogging done and have a happier conscience or do I go home, with guilt accumulating, and be bored to death at home, fixating on Kirtie Allsopp's eyebrows and counting down the minutes till bed time?

I did back up my data but not often enough and I didn't have a set routine about it as it was a very faffy operation. If you're reading this, learn from my mistakes, plug your external drive in (or get one even - Comet or Currys is not closing till 8pm, no excuse!) and give your data a little back up. I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to go through what I'm going through.

I miss blogging so much. However the balance between 'proper' reviews, nail posts, makeup looks and 'press releases' isn't going to be good for my immediate future posts. Please bear with me, while I pick up the pieces of myself and find my feet again. Thank you guys so so so much for all your kind messages. xxx

p.s
@bigfashionista: kellie, how about a Phil Spencer Nom or Vom Special?

The verdict

2011-10-03T22:03:00.002+01:00

Dearest Liloo,

I have reached the end of the road with the hard drive. I am unable to communicate with it. It is making regular mechanical sounds which are not normal; I believe a piece of hardware inside the drive has failed.

I've only tried relatively basic things such as trying it in a couple of different computers (...) and trying to plug it into the hard drive caddy and use with two different laptops etc. The computers can see that there is a 160GB hard drive plugged into the system but cannot do anything with it.

With the data being as important as it is I think it's best one of the specialist companies with a lab have a look at it. There are more aggressive ways of trying to make it work but if they don't work it means that chances of recovery are lower.

I know it's no help but with hundreds and hundreds of computers at work I see a failed hard drive every week. It's a sad situation but happens to all hard drives at some point. I have had three fail on me.

Do you want the computer back and put together as it was or do you want it back without the hard drive inside it so you can do something with it?

So this is it. I can't believe I am through this again. Just over a year ago, the same thing happened and I can't take it anymore. This is truly heart breaking. I've lost so much stuff it's unreal: from halloween looks I was waiting to post for a while, tribute to my best friend recreating some of her looks, thousands of photos i took for the blog, hours and months of work all gone. My computer is everything to me. I live on my own and I basically spend every hour i am not sleeping on it. The thought of proper blogging and posting reviews and so on is just beyond unimaginable. I've lost so much writing, and photos. It takes me for ever to take photos, it solely depends on sunny weekends and as you know they dont come often in england, despite the surreal weather we had to start October.

I got £300 left in the bank to finish the month, and this will be all gone if I choose the 'data recovery specialist route', some even charge £400 to do it. There is no even guarantee they retrieve stuff. Then add £400 to buy another pc and my bank won't let have a loan. London for towib2 is out of the question. Can someone tell @lbqblog about it cos I don't have the courage to let her down again. I am not going to make the #nin thing either, the newcastle thing as it seems very superfluous, when money is so tight. I am sorry ladyfromatramp (sp?)

Thank you you all so much for your all kind words fo support, love, hope and candles. It helped me through yesterday and today. Right now i cant hold the tears any longer. On the plus side, my boiler is now fixed, after three weeks of cold water. Here's the thing though, I couldnt care less about hot water, greggs pasties or halloween even, and that's my favourite day of the year. All I wanted was my little baby to be revived.

My head is pounding with so much crying. I am not sure what to do right now to make me feel better
I am not the kind person wh will do anything silly, you dont need to worry about that but right now I feel broken, totally broken. Thank you for your support

xxx

liloo

Why me?

2011-10-02T21:59:00.001+01:00

Dear god, please not again...

To say that this week end has been a roller coaster of emotions is an understatement. It feels like I've been put through some test. I don't have much in my life in england, other than a crap ton of makeup, a permanent job, good health i guess, plenty of virtual friends, and my baby: my computer, holding some precious data which is very valuable to me. Tonight, after a very nervous visit by the landlord, the worst has happened: computer won't boot, windows won't start and I am very worried. My computer friend from work, who can't see my computer before tomorrow is very pessimistic. He fears a hard disk failure, which would mean, in his words, that the computer might be f*cked and the data with it. Of course I've backed it up but it's been so long since I backed up and I am very worried. About a year ago, i lost everything, and i mean everything, from childhood photos, to other bits and pieces which was my life basically. I can't go through this again. Some of you following me on twitter will remember that I solicited your good vibes and good luck wishes for the visit of the landlord today which I am very grateful for. (My boiler is broken, damaged the storage room through leaking and I was very nervous to inform the landlord about it).

My computer - well the data stored on it - is everything to me. If you have a minute, and a virtual candle, please spare a thought for me and hope my hard drive has not died.

As for 'les petits cadeaux' (you know the giveaway thing which I update every Monday) I am really sorry. I dont think I will be in a position to update it time or at all for tomorrow.

xx

liloo

The foundation I've been looking for?

2011-09-30T17:34:00.000+01:00

What time is it? It's time for another 'ghetto' press release. Brace yourselves. I don't know about you but I haven't found my holy grail foundation. I'm a bit bored of Revlon Colorstay, Mac Studio Fix is not helping my dry skin and the 3 latest foundations from Max Factor left me very unimpressed. What I need is full coverage and suited for dry skin. This new foundation from Revlon popped under my eyes today, as I was paying a short visit to Superdrug and I wanted to share it with you.

This is the latest from Revlon and it is called 'Age Defying with DNA Advantage' foundation.

NEW Revlon Age Defying with DNA Advantage Cream Makeup combines makeup + powerful anti-aging skincare to help protect skin's DNA to fight the signs of aging. 96% of women saw flawless, younger-looking skin in two weeks. Lines and wrinkles are visibly diminished while skin is refreshed, hydrated, revitalized. SPF 20

There's some more ~~blabla~~ information on the website here, but I'll skip to the bit which got me more interested:

provides flawless, moisturizing, complete coverage to even out skin tone and hide imperfections.

Complete coverage did you say? This sounds like music to my ears.

Yes, the DNA bit sounds very fancy and they made an effort to replicate the shape of the dna in the design of the bottle but what I am most bothered about is how it looks on my skin really. Having a quick play with it in the shop, I found the lid to be a little bit on the tacky side but there was something which caught my attention: the non smell of the foundation. I would need to double check that, as I still can't believe it myself, but I *think* this has a virtually non detectable smell.

As you can see from my 'professional official photo' the foundation is on special offer and I am really tempted. Ageless Elixir from Mac Factor left me with too much glow on my face. Is the DNA age from Revlon going to be the same? I am scared.

I am scared and annoyed. There are only 4 shades. I am sure I can find one which will suit me, but is it too much hard work to stick to the same shades, Revlon? *grumpy face*

Have you tried Revlon DNA thingy bob foundation yet?