goodbye twenty eleven

So here we are, my final post of 2011.

For me I think 2011 has been a good year overall. It has seen me change as a person after some harsh lessons in friendship and life, and some positive moves at work. These changes have also helped me sculpt my blog to make it more me.

I would just like to thank each and everyone of my readers for being lovely and loyal and for taking the time to comment on my posts. It means so much to me and I love reading all your comments.

I wish each and every one of you a happy 2012 filled with good health, love, happiness and everything your heart desires.

sourced

Happy New Year!!!

x.x.x

Mission:Possible - No Spend

This time of year is always filled with the promise of new year resolutions which usually, for me anyway, fall flat come the middle of January.

 This year, instead of a resolution to last the full year, cause let's face it, they never last that long, I have set myself a mini resolution. Not to buy any makeup or beauty products between now and the end of February. I'm sure you have seen lots of beauty bloggers set this resolution, this is nothing new, but I think it's a great idea, and think it's a great opportunity to help each other through this *tough* time.

So I have decided that unless I run out of something I need majorly, (which I very much doubt I will) then not a beauty product will go in my shopping basket. I got a Boots gift card for Christmas as well so if I DO urgently need to buy anything I can use that and it won't have come out of my budget.

I'm pretty excited at the prospect of this challenge as my boyfriend and I are hoping to save a deposit for a house within the next year and I really am a terrible saver. Hopefully, this will show me how little I actually need to spend within a month and allow me to to save a little more and reduce my overdraft. Eeek.

image source

So, with payday being today, my mission possible begins. Are any of you guys taking part in a spending ban in the new year? If so, good luck and happy saving.

x.x.x

Christmas eve face and nails

I can't believe it's finally Christmas eve. Sooo exciting. I'm about to embark on an evening of Christmas movies, mince pies and wine. Happy days.

For today's post I just thought I'd show you my face and nails of the day.

what I'm wearing..

Bourjois healthy mix foundation

Rimmel Match Perfection pressed powder

MUA eyebrow pencil in Brunette

UD Buck for eyebrows

Mac Constructivist Paint pot

UD Half Baked

Green No7 eyeshadow (see below)

Maybelline Cat eyes mascara

ELF contour kit

Jane Iredale 245 karat gold dust in Rose Gold

Mac lipstick in Snob

I used a green eyeshadow from a No7 quad I got as a Secret Santa gift. The quad is gorgeous I thought you'd like to see.

The colours are beautiful jewel toned colours. They are all un named but I used the top left colour in my crease and lower lash line.

I also tried out the Jane Iredale shimmer powder that came in this months Joliebox. I'm very impressed.

On to nails...

Snowflake ring finger mani.

Products used:

Sally Hansen double duty base and top coat

Elf Light Red

MUA green polish shade 13

Elf white polish

Dotting tool for snowflake.

It's not the neatest but hey, I'm just learning. I think this makes for very cute festive fingers.

All that's left to say is that I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas with lots of love and happiness.

Deborah xxx

barry m bold black waterproof eyeliner

If there's one thing that really puts me off wearing black liner in the waterline it's the almost certain panda eyes that develop by the end of the day. There really is nothing worse.

However, I have found one of few eyeliners that really saves me this enormous pain, Barry M Bold and Black Waterproof Eyeliner.

I bought this out of Superdrug a few weeks back. I wanted a new one to wear  for my Christmas night out. I haven't bought a pencil liner for a while. As I said, I hate when it bleeds down to my under eye. But, I thought I'd try this. I haven't used a waterproof liner before and thought this might be where I was going wrong.

It was.

First of all, it's one of the smoothest, creamiest eyeliners I have ever used. It applies so easily with absolutely no tugging what so ever. It is also incredibly dark black.

Applied to the waterline, it is incredibly striking. It is definitely one of the blackest liners I've used.

The thing that impresses me most is the longevity. I am very bad for watery eyes, in that when I yawn, people genuinely think I'm crying. This lasts ages on my eyes. It certainly lasted my whole night out without any touch ups needed, and I've worn it to work and found it lasted around 6 hours before I needed to re apply it. Plus, no panda eyes. Win.

Barry M, you have really surpassed yourself.

What is your favourite pencil liner?

x.x.x

and the winner is...

Thank you to everyone who entered my first giveaway, it has now closed and the winner was chosen at random using random.org.

I'm please to announce the winner is:

Pretty Wonderful 

Congratulations Alice, I have emailed you for your address.

Thanks again to you all for your entries.

x.x.x

giveaway

Just a little reminder that my giveaway closes tomorrow (Monday) at Midnight GMT.

Click HERE to enter.

x.x.x

the christmas tag

I've seen this Christmas tag floating around a lot of blogs now and wanted to share my answers. I love fun tags like this.

1.What's Your Favourite Holiday Movie?

Without a doubt 'It's a Wonderful Life' It's one of the most heartwarming movies I've ever seen and the fact that it's black and white makes me love it more. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend having a watch.

2. What's Your Favourite Christmas Colour?

I think gold. My Christmas tree is a traditional red and gold.

3. Do You Like To Stay in Your PJs Or Dress Up For Christmas?

I always, always dress up. It wouldn't feel like Christmas otherwise.

4. If You Could Only Buy One Person a Present This Year Who Would It Be?

My mum. She deserves it.

5. Do You Open Your Present Christmas Eve Or Christmas Morning?

Christmas morning.

6. Have You Ever Built a Ginger Bread House?

Nope, looks too fiddly for me.

7. What Do You Like To Do On Your Christmas Break?

I love relaxing, spending time with my boyfriend and family and of course a spot of sale shopping.

8. Any Christmas Wishes?

Just for a happy and healthy 2012 for my friends and family.

9. Favourite Christmas Smell?

Mulled wine and cinnamon. mmm...

10. Favourite Christmas Meal Or Treat

Christmas dinner - roast turkey and all the trimmings. And mince pies.

source

I'd love to see your answers to this tag.

Nearly time for Santa...

x.x.x

cream puff

A month or so ago I saw lots of posts about the Collection 2000 Cream Puff. I really liked the look of them so I went out and bought my own. Then lost it. Thankfully, yesterday I found it tucked away in a bag of Christmas shopping, so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

I picked up shade 1 in the colour Cotton Candy. It's a really nice, wearable pink.

If you haven't seen these before they are basically lip creams which, instead of acting like a gloss, dry to a matte finish.

I find this to be super moisturising on my lips and love the way it looks. I think I'm going to pop back and get another of the shades as I really love the finish of them.

Collection 2000 lip creams are available in Boots and Superdrug and are priced at the bargainous price of £2.99.

Have you snapped up one of these? What do you think of matte lips?

x.x.x



pretty party fingers

So there seems to have been a glitter explosion all over the beauty blogging community just now, we can't seem to get enough. I thought I'd share with you my current festive fingertips, which will be perfect for my Christmas party.

Now if you've read my previous posts you'll know my nails are a disaster and I use falsies. These are the Nailene ones I mentioned to you before. Excitingly, Nailene are featuring me as their current Blogger of The Month, you can check it out HERE.

First of all I applied two coats of e.l.f nail polish in the colour Plum. This is the first time I've used this and I am totes in love with the colour. A deep berry colour, perfect for this time of year.

I then finished off the look with one coat of Model's Own Juicy Jules, et voila. Perfect party nails.

What's your favourite party nail wear?

Don't forget I have a giveaway going on, please pop along and enter it if you haven't already done so. I've linked it here.

x.x.x

time for a little giveaway CLOSED

I've been blogging for around a year and a half now and have enjoyed updating my little corner of the web with my ramblings, and discovering new interesting people and blogs. I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all my old and new subscribers by holding a little giveaway...

What you can win...

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette

MUA Lipstick in Bare

MUA Makeup Primer

EOS Lipbalm in Summer Fruits

Models Own Glitter Polish in Gold Finger

Stila pan eyeshadow in Jezebel

and I've also thrown in a brand new sample sized Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish.

What you have to do to enter...

1. You must be a subscriber of my blog

2. You must leave a comment on this post, it can be anything you like, but please only leave one comment.

3. You must leave your email address so I can contact you to notify you if you win.

4. If you are under 16 you must have your parent or guardians permission as I will need you to provide me your address so I can send the parcel if you win.

5. The giveaway ends at MIDNIGHT GMT MONDAY 19TH DECEMBER and the winner will be randomly selected and notified shortly after.

6. This giveaway is open internationally.

Good Luck and Thank You

x.x.x

FOTD - Pink To Make The Boys Wink

I am not normally a girl for pink eyeshadow. I find it a really hard colour to pull off, but I wanted to show you a look I created recently using pink eyeshadow. I wore this recently when I went Christmas shopping with the boy, but I definately think this is a look that can be pulled off day or night.

I used a pink eyeshadow from my Sephora Pin Up Show Palette

The pink on it's own is a bit lairy, but I applied MAC's constructivist paint pot as a base, then the pink shadow. This made it a bit darker than how it shows here, but still very much pink. I then warmed up the eyes by using Hustle from the Urban Decay Naked Palette and finished off with Studio Makeup Eyeliner Pen and lashings of Maybelline Colossal Cat Eyes mascara.

I am really pleased with the final look and one I shall definitely be recreating very soon.

What do you think? Are you a fan of pink eyeshadow?

x.x.x

Currently Lusting After...

I always see so many things that I want to buy myself around this time of year, but of course, I need to keep my pennies for presents and Christmas nights out. I thought I'd share my little lust list with you. These would also make great gifts for someone special...



Lush Christmas Favourites Tin

£29.95

Who doesn't love Lush? Especially at Christmas. This little box is packed full of festive favourites to keep you warm and smelling great all through the Holidays.

Dalmatian Print Bag, Miss Selfridge

£49

Dalmatian print is all the rage right now and this will look super stylish tucked under your arm on New Years.

Prada Candy

From £40

This beautiful, oriental scent is gorgeous. Everyone needs a touch of Prada in their lives.

Stila Daydream Palette

£11.50

This is part of Stila's new Holiday collection, this gorgeous palette will look tres pretty on your dressing table. And it's a complete steal.

What are your current lusts?

x.x.x

Rose Petal Salve

My pet hate in winter is dry cracked lips. I have tried numerous different creams, balms and glosses to try to get rid of the flakiness. So with that in mind I was extremely pleased to find the Rose & Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve in my October Boudoir Prive box.

It comes in a little round tin similar to that of Vaseline. I love how pretty and girly the tin is though, with a hint of vintage. 

The salve itself is also a gorgeous, girly pink.

It's marketed as an 'excellent all round salve' and that is exactly what it is. I primarily use this on my lips. I put it on last thing at night before I go to sleep and my pout is perfectly soft in the morning. It can also be used on patches of rough or dry skin, to keep eyebrows in place and it also makes for a good cuticle balm.

The thing I love most about this though is it's gloriously sweet scent. Although it is marketed as rose petal, the smell really reminds me of traditional Turkish Delight, which I adore. I love that after I've applied it, I can still smell the sweet aroma for ages after.

This is the first Rose & Co product I've tried, although I've had a little nosey around their website and I am very keen to try out the Cherry Kiss lip balm. Mmmm cherries.

Have you tried any Rose & Co products?

x.x.x

Dotty P Dresses

I am a big fan of Dorothy Perkins when it comes to dresses, and I thought I'd show you my picks from their website. The thing I love about them is that they have lots of nice things from their own brand, but also carry concession brands in some stores and online, so there is always plenty of choice.

£38

This is the dress I have actually bought for my Christmas night out. I love how it's really simple, with a pleated skirt, but has beautiful pearl detailing on the shoulder.

£39.50

I love this beautiful rust colour. I think it could look just as great dressed up for a night out as it would with tights, boots and a chunky knit cardi.

£28

I'm a big fan of this colour just now, and also of peter pan collars, so this is a big win for me. I think this dress is very Caroline Flack-esque.

£30

I like the simple style of this little dress, and the colour is just gorgeous and perfect for winter.

Is Dorothy Perkins a winner for you?

x.x.x

I am in no way affiliated with Dorothy Perkins nor is this a sponsored post. I just really like them!!

Dolly Rocker

Not really a beauty post tonight, but since Sunday is for me, a pamper night, I thought I'd show you what I've had burning next to my bath tub recently.

I was given this candle as a gift from a friend a few months ago, and I thought it was too pretty to burn. Lately, my candle collection has expanded so I thought 'what the heck' and lit it.

The candle is from the company called Lily-Flame, who hand make these candles in Somerset, England. They have lots of different designs and scents, each comes in a tin with a pretty design on the outside.

The candle I have, Dolly Rocker, is a gorgeous pink, girly candle. It doesn't say on the candle what it's supposed to smell like, but to me it is very similar to the Yankee Candle 'Baby Powder' just a tiny bit sweeter.

I like the design of the candle as well, baby pink with what looks like little dolly mixtures on top. Lily-Flame candles claim to burn for 30-35 hours; I can't confirm or deny this as I haven't used it long enough, but I am a few hours in and it's still looking good.

I had a look on the Lily-Flame Website and they have loads of Christmas scented candles which I am dying to try out.

These retail for £8.50 each which I think is a great price for a pretty, long lasting candle.

Have you tried Lily-Flame?

x.x.x

NOTM

Just a quick post this evening. I really wanted to share my nail of the moment with you.

This is ELF nail polish in the colour Light Red. I bought this really recently and this is the first time I've worn it. The picture is really true to colour. I think this will make a fab festive nail colour and for the first time in a while I'm planning on matching my toes to my fingers.

ELF nail polishes retail at £1.50.

What's your favourite festive nail colour?

x.x.x

Nailene Nails It

I've been naughty. I bit my nails. I was doing so good and my nails were just starting to look pretty, then I started my new job, got stressed and bit them off. Eeek.

I hate having grubby looking nails, so I needed a quick fix, pronto.

I popped into my local Semi-Chem about a month back (I am unsure if this is just a Scottish store? You can let me know) Anyways it's a cheap chemist store, kind of like bodycare and I saw these fasle nails.

Nailene 200 full cover nails in active square.

I couldn't believe this pack of 200 nails was only £6.99. I decided to pick these up and give them a go.

The nails come in 10 different sizes, 20 of each, so there is a good selection depending on your nail size. I actually have pretty small nails, and the smallest one fits my pinky nail perfectly.

They are clear, they have no french tip or colour to them, so you will have to paint them, or manicure them yourself. This is not a problem for me. I'm really bad at french manicure and I prefer to paint my nails with a colour.

As you can see the nails, once applied, are quite long, but not crazy length. I prefer to cut them down and make them quite short. I wear contact lenses quite a lot and really struggle with long nails when it comes to taking them out. I wonder if any other long nailed lens users can share their secret?

This is the length I usually cut them down to.

I like this because they look girlie and groomed but natural. I have worn them longer in the past and hate not being able to open cans and fasten my jeans. Not practical.

As for staying power, I've gotten about a weeks wear out of them each time before nails start to ping off. I really recommend the glue that comes with these, it's really strong and long lasting.

You can also buy this on it's own from stores like Boots or Superdrug.

I would definately recommend these nails. I look at it in the way that if each set of nails lasts around a week, and I am using ten nails a week, I can get ten weeks worth of use out of one £6.99 box. That's a real bargain in my eyes. (I know there are 200 nails in the box, but I only use the sizes that fit my own nails).

Have any of you guys tried these? What are your favourite false nails?

x.x.xx

My Christmas Wishlist

I've put this off for a while as I'm trying to stop myself getting too excited for Christmas so early. I'm like the little boy in the John Lewis advert, I just want it to be Christmas NOWWW!! Aha.

Anyways, surprisingly I'm almost set for the big man coming. I've only a few more gifts to get. This is so unlike me, I am normally running around at the last minute trying to buy things and praying for things to arrive. I think I've been forced to be prepared this year due to the extreme weather we got up here in Scotland around this time last year. Anyways, once the gift buying is over I can concentrate on the fun festivities.

Just thought I'd share with you a few items that I'm hoping the lovely Mr Claus will leave under the tree for me...

Illamasqua Skin Base Foundation

This first one I already know I definitely have. I went to Debenhams in Glasgow with my Mum a few weeks ago and purchased it. I got colour matched by the lovely assistant and had my full face applied. It was a nice experience and made my skin feel so nice. Can't wait to unwrap this.

I'm also after a new pair of brown boots. I really like the style of these Chelsea boots, available from Dorothy Perkins.

I really love the colour and style of this duffle coat from New Look. I tried it on in store and it's lovely and thick and will keep me really warm.

I've asked my Boyfriend to get me Diesel Loverdose for Christmas. It's a pretty new fragrance but it's beautiful and very girlie.

I've heard so many good things about this movie and I've still not got round to seeing it. So I hope to see this is my stocking. I'm sure it will be a perfect Boxing Day film to watch when I'm hungover and stuffing my face on selection boxes.

So that's my list for Santa. What are you after this year? Link me to your wish lists.

x.x.x

Fat Hair "0" Calories

As you guys all know I am a sucker for anything that promises to add life to my fine mane. So when I saw this thickening spray, the name grabbed me straight away. I'm a girl consistently on a diet...

Fat hair "0" calories claims to transform fine hair into thicker fuller hair. You spray it directly on to the roots of your towel dried hair and then blow dry or leave to dry naturally if preferred. The zero calories comes from the way it is specially formulated so as not to weigh down your hair.

I picked this up from Superdrug on a 2 for £6 deal. I also got a hairspray which I gave to my mum.

For me, this sadly did not live up to expectation. I completely agree, it does not weigh down my hair. It just doesn't do anything. I don't feel any added volume given to my hair, nor do I feel it has any benefits when it comes to styling. I have tried various volumising hair products and this is one I would not repurchase.

Have you tried this product? What is your favourite volumising hair product?

x.x.x

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

I never used to think I needed a toner. That was until I tried a toner, and the one I tried was this.

I first ordered this a while back along with the Cleanse and polish as part of a starter pack. I'd never really used toner before and just thought it was an unnecessary part of a skin care routine. Boy was I wrong.

The instant boost skin tonic boasts a lather impressive list of ingredients including aloe vera, calendula, chamomile, cucumber and vitamin which promise to soothe, revitalise, soften and refresh. It also contains floral essential oils which provides a beautiful, sweet scent.

I use this morning and night, after cleansing, on a cotton pad and sweep it all over my face. The thing I like about it is that it makes my skin feel really clean. I feel like it helps to remove any last bits of makeup and oil on my face and also gets rid of any residue left from my cleanser. It makes my face feel wonderfully refreshed and revitalized and my skin is left immensely soft. I just can't praise this product enough, I am positive it will remain a life long staple in my skin care routine.

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic is available from the Liz Earle website priced £12.25 for 200ml.

What's your favourite toner? And do you deem in necessary?

x.x.x

Studio Makeup Liner Pen

I'd never heard of this brand of makeup before, so it was a welcome little treat in my October Budoir Prive box.

I've been really enjoying felt tip liners recently, I find them so easy and quick to apply, and also very precise. The Studio Makeup liner pen is no different. The felt nib is very fine which makes for very precise application.

The liner itself is very pigmented, which I love. It's very black.

I am able to use this easily to create fine or thick lines, and beautiful winged looks. Here's a little swatch of the colour...

I've had a little look online and Studio Makeup have their own website here.

Items are not yet available for online purchase and when I checked out the 'stores' section it said coming soon. I'm definately going to keep my eyes peeled for this becoming available as there are some nice blush shades and lipstick shades which I can't wait to try.

Did any of you get October's Budoir Prive box? What did you think?

x.x.x