I'M BACK!

Hi there! I'm sorry to those of you who are reading this for my absence. I know it's been a stupidly long time, but I started my new job a few weeks ago and a lot of my time has therefore been taken up with work and adjusting to my new routine. I have been making a list of things I wanted to talk about and so I will start here...with my Tangle Teezer.

What can I say? This brush is amazing. It has become somewhat of a cult beauty product and I had heard so many rave reviews that I thought I would check it out myself. I suppose I had always been a bit reserved about purchasing the Tangle Teezer because it retails at a hefty £10.99, and for a hairbrush, this sounds very expensive. But I must say it is worth every penny. I don't believe it is an exaggeration for me to tell you that it has transformed my hair! I have damaged, brittle hair that grows fairly slowly as the ends are forever breaking off! For this reason (and also because I prefer to sport the messy look! :D) I only ever tend to brush my hair when I get out the shower and then on the very odd occasion between washes. In the past, after brushing my hair, I would look down and see hundreds of broken ends that had fallen down onto my clothes. Now, with the help of my Tangle Teezer there is virtually no fallout whatsoever. Brushing my hair has become a pleasure and I have noticed it to be visibly more shiny.

The Tangle Teezer glides through knots and is designed to fit comfortably and securely in the palm. I have the sparkley purple one and I just love it! It can easily be picked up from most Boots stores in an array of colours. What are your thoughts of the Tangle Teezer?

SHELLAC, OH SHELLAC

CND Shellac manicures have been the talk of beauty bloggers and youtubers for a while now and finally I understand why. CND gives us an innovative nailart formula, a hybrid of a nail varnish and gel nails. The result couldn't be any more pleasing. The pictures above come from my second Shellac manicure, created by a lovely lady in Beautiful U in Hayle, Cornwall. My first Shellac manicure had left me so impressed that I was under no doubt that I was going to go back for another.

I have always had problems maintaining my nail varnish. I would marvel at people whose nails would be chip-free and when asked how long it had been since they painted them they would reply 'ten days', 'two weeks'. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that if I applied my nail varnish in the morning it would be chipped, not just a little, but a lot by that very afternoon. I tried everything I could; high end brands, different top coats and base coats but nothing seemed to make any difference. That's why I looked upon getting my first Shellac manicure as an investment.

One of the wonderful things about Shellac is that after a quick spell under the UV light your nails are completely and utterly dry. You wont leave the salon fearful to rummage in your bag for your keys. Another benefit is that there is absolutely no damage to your nails because, at the end of the day, it is just nail varnish, applied in the same way and removed in virtually the same way. There is no need to buff your nails in preparation or during removal, as is the case with acrylics and gels, and this is the part which is damaging.

What I love most, perhaps, is that they are your nails (Shellac is simply a nail varnish with  a super special formula) and so you dont risk having that false-nail look, which can sometimes be a bit too apparent. With my previous Shellac manicure I found that they lasted a good 3 weeks before the grow-out was getting a bit extreme. To me, though, the grown-out look is far more preferable to chipped nails, mainly because it is a neat line and from a distance it's not actually noticeable.

All in all, I am in love with Shellac. I can't see this changing anytime soon and I'm already excited about choosing my next colour! In the pictures above I am wearing Wildfire red with a glitter top coat and I am so pleased with it. So I definitely recommend checking out where your nearest Salon that provides the Shellac service is. You won't be dissapointed! xxx

 

TINY TOWER

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you my Tiny Tower obsession. Unlike other phone game obsessions I don't feel that this is a particularly bad one and I'll explain why in a moment. I remember Doodle Jump being a major threat to my Degree (not good) and the day when I discovered Tiny Wings and me and my best friend passed the phone between us, having a go each for THREE SOLID HOURS. Oh dear :/. But Tiny Tower is one of those games that you can simply leave and it will take care of itself while you're away. The concept is this: You have Bitizens (residents) you live and work in your tower. In order for Bitizens to move in you must build a residential floor. Each bitizen will have a particular skill set, for example in my tower Ronnie Gomez, who lives on Floor 17, has a Food score of 9 (9 being the best, 0 being the worst). Therefore I have employed Ronnie at my coffee house. Oh gosh, just becoming aware how incredibly sad this makes me sounds, but I know that others, including some of best friends, can relate to this...Siobhan? Lucy? 

Anyway, even better than employing someone in a 'department' where they are best suited skills-wise, is hiring someone into an estalishment that is their dream job. When someone moves in you will be notified of what their dream job is. For example Neslson Beck's dream job is at the Laundromat and because I have a Laundromat in my tower, I hired him there and was awarded two tower bux! Hurray!

I haven't yet exaplined how you come to aquire these establishments, but it's a simple as this: the bitizens move in, you then employ them on any given floor and the more workers means the more custom and the more custom, the more profit. And this profit goes towards funding a new floor! There are five different types of establishment; Food, Retail, Creative, Service and Recreation as well as Residential. As you can see from the pictures above, the floors will be under construction for a period of time. The more floors you build, the longer this time will be (I'm on 47 floors now and my current floor will take 21 hours to build!). Along the way, always be sure to restock each floor everytime you notice that you are sold out. It's very easy, all you have to do is check on your tower every now and again and it'll be clear what you have to do!

I guess the one last key element is the visits from VIPs. These VIPs will be either celebrities (who generate custom), big spenders (who will buy out stock and earn you profit), delivery men (who will reduce your restocking time), constructions workers (always very appreciated) who will reduce the time it takes to build a floor)) and Real Estate Agents (who are always handy for moving new bitizens into your tower).

Ooh one last thing! The elevator, as you can see in the picture on the right, will be used by visitors. They will ask to be taken to a certain floor and you just have to lift them up there. This isn't by any means vital, but it will earn you those lovely Tiny Tower bux which come in handy for lots of different things. At the moment I'm working towards my next elevator upgarde which is going to cost me a hefty 499 tower bux, eeek. But it will go at a speed of 42 PPM! (saddo) But this will be very useful because, now that I have quite a tall tower, taking people up to one of the highest floors with a relatively slow elevator can seem like a bit of a chore.

For aesthetic purposes I've rearranged my floors so that all my residential floors are together and so are my retail floors and my serve floors and so on. I've also dressed up my bitizens according to their profession! By adding your friends on Game Center you can also check up on how their towers are progressing. It's all very fun and free on the iPhone app store. I've just done a bit of research and apparently Tiny Tower is also available on Android!

Anyway I've got some restocking to do in my tower so I will see you very soon! xxx

THE SKIN STORY

From top to bottom: Bioderma Micelle Solution for combination or oily skin, La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel for oily sensitive skin, Clarins Lait Demaquillant Velours (Cleansing Milk) with Gentian for combination or oily skin, Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic, Cinique '3 Step' moisturizing gel for combination oily to oily skin.   



Within the last year or so my skin has dramatically changed. I've always had relatively good skin on my face, a few breakouts here and there but nothing too severe. As for my skintype, that was something I had never thought about too much until I started reading blogs and watching Youtubers. I remember wanting to try the Clinque 3 Step solutions range and, having had the products in sample sizes, I went into Debenhams and when the consultant asked me what my skintype was I distinctly remember replying 'Umm, I'm not too sure...normal I guess?'. Looking bck at that, I always think what were you thinking?? as now I have three barely touched, full-sized Clinque products that cost a hell of a lot of money and for nothing. This is because, within a few weeks of puchasing the products I realised Iactually have very oily skin and the lady had given me the range aimed at Normal to dry and, in the case of the moisturiser, dry to very dry skin. It could be argued that it was these skincare procusts that had caused my skin to react in such a way but my skin has since then become increasingly oily, even after I stopped using this Clinque range. At one stage, not too long ago, this starting really getting to me. I was incapable of making my makeup last all day when previously this had not been a problem and it was just so frustrating and felt like I was pouring money down the drain. Then within the last three or four weeks I switched up my routine again and I've definitely noticed a poisitve change. Hurray! I can't say that I've seen miracles but I don't wake up every morning now and jump straight out of out of bed and run to wash my face because I am so desperate to relieve my skin of the horrible excess sebum, yuck. So, that being said, I will give you a quick rundown of the products I use and what they claim to do and what I find they actually do!

1. I bought this Bioderma cleanser when I was in France. There was a brilliant deal so I got two for the price of one so at 500ml each that's an amaing amount of cleanser. I love this product just for the fact that it's so each to use. I just use a splash with a cotton wool pad and instantly feel refreshed! I can't say that this works wonders or anything but it's a really handy product to have. If you were travelling or something (I lived in a tent for three months in France!) this cleanser is perfect, even if all you use is this and a moisturiser. This is the version for combination or oily skin which claims to 'cleanse the skin gently without drying it, through the micro-emulsion of impurities and excess sebum'. I would say that it achieves this as it does leave my skin feeling taught but not uncomfortably so. I use this to remove my makeup before I cleanse my face. Or occasionally I will use this is place of my La Roche-Posay cleanser (mainly when I'm feeling a little lazy!)

2. This La Roche-Posay foaming cleanser is my latest skincare purchase. It retails at a rather pricey £10.21 from Boots and typically I would regret such an extravagent purchase if it was anything less that extraordinary but there is something about this product that leaves my skin feeling amazingly clean and in  more than one way this cleanser is a pleasure to use. Firstly, the smell! I'd be interested to know if anyone else thought this, but I would describe the scent as a mixture of soap and daffodils and so this is super lovely for this time of year when we are catching the first glimpses of Spring! Secondly, and probably more importantly, you can lather up a really thick, creamy foam, which is fantastic because there's nothing worse than a cleanser which claims to foam and then doesn't. I use this cleanser both in the morning and in the evening, except for a few times a week when my face is looking dull, in which case I replace it with my St. Ives Apricot Scrub. One down side to the La Roche-Posay is that after I have cleansed with it, very subtle red marks appear on my skin (although they subside within ten minutes). But this does make me think that perhaps it isn't quite so suitable for sensitive skin (which I don't have), despite being marketed for oily sensitive skin. So if you do have sensitive skin, then perhaps this isn't the right cleanser for you. On the plus side, they do give you 200ml which makes me feel slightly less guilty about the expense!

3. If I have washed my face with my St. Ives scrub, I will follow this up by using this Clarins cleansing milk aimed at combination or oily skin. I purchased this along with Clarins Toning Lotion for combination or oily skin (which I loved, but went through rapidy) and the moisturiser of the same range which I still occasionally use but I don't think is anything special. I love of the smell of this, it reminds me of fresh sheets, and it's very gentle on the skin. But, again, I don't think it does anything extraordinary but I'm determined not to waste it. The product retails at £17.00 so I won't be purchasing this one again.

4. I received a generous sample size of Liz Earle's skin tonic the first time I purchased Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. That's one thing I love about Liz Earle, it feels very much like they care about you; my online order was beautifully packaged with a lovely freebie and lots of glossy leaflets with all the information you need (I'm a sucker for this kind of thing). Anyway, the skin tonic had such a heavenly scent and I really felt like I was taking good care of my skin for the first time and so, after meaning to for a long time, I finally purchased the full size product just before Christmas. The product claims to brighten your skin and I genuinely agree with this statement; the chamomile and the cucumber leave me looking really awake and my cheeks feeling really soft and silky. It claims to be suitable for all skin types and I can imagine this is true. I actually think at £12.25 for 200ml Liz Earle gives you excellent value for money with this product and I will most definitely be repurchasing this is in the future.

5. When I was having a bit of a tidy up recently I discovered that I had a sample of the Clinque 3 Step moisturiser for oily skin. So I thought I would test this out again, but this time using the one actually meant for my skin type. So far I'm really enjoying using it. It has a gel formula, meaning that it's not too heavy on my skin and I don't feel like it's making my skin more oily like I've found a lot of moisturisers do. The full size, 100ml product retails at a huge £29.00 so I definitely think it's worth getting hold of a sample first if you want to check this out. Samples are readily available! It's 100% fragrane free so if you have sensitive skin this would probably be brilliant for you.

So, that's my skincare routine. I hope this was useful for anyone who suffers with oily skin and I'd love to know what others use xxx 

 

FRANKLY SCARLET

Blush: MAC Frankly Scarlet (Matte)

I felt compelled to do a blog post about this product as I am literally in love with it. I have always wanted to purchase this blush ever since Tanya Burr first mentioned it, but I thought it was a pro product and would therefore be more difficult to get hold of. But then I was having a browse in MAC's Covent Garden store and squealed with excitement when I saw this out on display! I have always liked the pale skin, red lips, rosy cheeks look on me and so, for me, just the look of this blush in the pan epitomises everything I love about Makeup.

I understand that to some people this blush probably looks very scary but if you make to sure to apply it very softly it just creates a beautiful flush on your cheeks. But I even enjoy applying it with a slightly heavier touch because, even though you can't pass this off as natural, it's just so pretty I really think this can be forgiven!

Basically, I cannot express my love for this product and it's perfect for these colder months. But I do think that this could also be used throughout the summer as it would give a much more subtle effect with a tan. I recommend this to anyone and everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous day xxx

WELCOME TO DAY ONE

Hello! Lipstick: MAC Cyber (Satin)

After spending many months reading fantastic blogs like gh0stparties, llymlrs and sprinkleofglitter I decided I really must start my own. In fact, this is something I've been deliberating for a while now and there's always a thousand excuses not to. In all honesty I suppose I've mainly just been worried that noone would be interested in reading what I've got to say but even if that were the case hey ho! I really think that I'm going to enjoy this and I suppose that's all that matters! 

Also, there is no better time for me to do this than right now...I've just moved home from London (a much thought-over, tearfull decision) but London was inevitably very expensive and I am determined to get as many positive things out of this time at home as possible. I don't intend to to be here for any longer than a year but while I am here I am going to save up, learn to drive and have a good old think about what I want to do with my life!  That's a place I've been for a while now: I graduated this year and was then working abroad for three months. As soon as I returned to England I realised that I'm in the real world now, eeeek! I guess that is exciting as well as daunting.

Anyway, you can expect posts about makeup, clothes and general life from this blog. So I shall see you soon! xxx