Lifestyle and Parenting blog based in Surrey.

Tuesday 30 December 2014

No 7 Christmas Makeup Look 2: Day to Night Chic


Eeeeeek - how is Christmas over so quickly? And it NYE rapidly approaching, its time, if you haven't done so already to start thinking about your look to see out 2014. Before Christmas I shared with you a Christmas makeup look from No 7 (click here) so here is the next look in the mini-series.

Named by No 7 as the Day to Night Chic, it uses a classic combination of a flawless base, gold eyes, red lips and lashings of black mascara and eye liner. I've listed all the products at the end of the post, below the photos.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am loving the Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation which is really breathable whilst still giving a decent amount of coverage. I'm using it more as a daily foundation and will probably crank it up a notch for NYE, but if you are normally a bare-face gal, this would be part-perfect.
To add warmth to your complexion add No7 Natural Blush Cream in Maple Silk to the apples and cheek bones. But as with all cream blushes, they do work best built up, so start off with on a little of the product. Some people find applying with fingers is easy, but I find using a brush much easier (if fact I tend to use Real Techniques Stippling Brush - £11.99 - for cream blushes - even though thats not necessarily what they were designed for!)
On NYE you need some sparkle which comes from the No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter used on tops of cheek bones and Stay Perfect Shade And Define in Glistening Ray over the eye lids. 
To intensify the eyes use Stay Precise Liquid Eye Liner to frame and even add a party flick if you are feeling steady handed!  Then finish with layers of Lash Impact Mascara which is one (many!) of my fav No 7 mascaras.
A red lip is essential for NYE in my opinion, but the High Shine Lip Crayon in Statement is really easy to wear due to its glossy consistency. You don't get any harsh lines that you need to get perfect and is easy for no mirror top ups.

Happy NYE prepping!




Products:
 No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter £9.99 
No7 Stay Precise Liquid Eye Liner £7.50 
No7 High Shine Lip Crayon in Statement £9 
No7 Lash Impact Mascara in Black £13.50 
No7 Natural Blush Cream in Maple Silk £8 
No7 Stay Perfect Shade And Define in Glistening Ray £8.00 
No7 Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation in Calico £14.50 (not shown)

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Monday 22 December 2014

Christmas Gift Guide: Pefumes


This maybe stereotypical, but it tends to be the chaps that leave their Christmas shopping to the final hour. Mr BMB still has to buy all the presents that he is meant to be getting and I know has no idea what he is going to get for me... 

So I thought I'd lend a helping hand to all those struggling guys out there. Women love a perfume. Here are some scents that I would love to find under the tree this week. Top tip thought boys, if you are getting your lady a fragrance she hasn't had before, at the counter staff to give you a mini sample or the fragrance on a paper strip to pop in the parcel, so she can try it before removing all the packing, incase it really isn't up her street!

Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Eau de Parfum Intense is the new composition of the classic - which every women will have tried at some point. This sensual and vivacious fragrance contains notes of tiare, pomegranate and gourmand accords at the top, with the heart of orange blossom, rose and jasmine and the base of patchouli and vanilla. £50/50ml Boots.


Benefit's Maybe Baby was my fav fragrance for years until it was discontinued, so I was excited when a really similar fragrance was brought out this year in their Bathina Range - Just Confess You're Obsessed. Containing golden peach, sun-kissed Sicilian lemon with a tumble of white blossoms lingering hint of velvet plum, its a fun young fragrance that I can't get enough of. I'd love the 'Sweet Dreaming of You' Gift set that contains this fragrance along with a matching body oil £34.50 Boots.


For the more sophisticated lady, Fendi's latest addition, Furiosa which combines amber with florals would be perfect. The bottle is designed to symbolise a caged wild animal - I love. £66/50ml Harrods.

The fresh and sexy My NY DKNY is combines fruit notes with musks and florals, which I love as a day to day fragrance. The peach fragrance in the heart shaped bottle with its 3D chrome top depicting the NY skyline will get any SITC girl's heart racing. £37/30ml Debenhams


If your lady loves deep, rich velvety fragrancesm Terry de Gunzburg Rose Infernale (purple) might be the signature fragrance she has been looking for.  Conveying luxury and excellence this spicy scent includes turkish rose with frankincense - how festive -  and woody Haitian vetiver. It does come with a hefty price tag of 100ml/£127 from House of Fraser. Rouge Nocturne is the sister fragrance (red) which again is a twist on the rose fragrance. Combining amask rose with powdery amber and Indonesian patchouli 100ml/£127 Selfridges.



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Saturday 20 December 2014

Christmas Beauty Decorations

I love christmas and I love beautiful beauty products and when they are combined - oh my! So I have been super excited this year at the number of brand that have made beauty goodies to hang on my tree. They look super cute and then you can enjoy heir contents after Christmas, of be extra pressies to give on the big day. 











Steam Cream Christmas Star Moisturiser 25ml (£7.99 Look Fantastic)
Molton Brown Frankincense & Allspice festive bauble 75ml (£10 John Lewis)
Ciaté Tree Trinket with Glitterball polish (£6 Boots)
No 7 Nail Polish Christmas Star Bauble (£6 Boots)
No 7 Christmas Cracker Collection pack of 6 (£14 Boots)
Eve Lom Kiss Mix Star (£8 was £14 Space NK)
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Friday 19 December 2014

Bourjois Christmas Make Up

Bourjois christmas makeup

So it is the day where most of us have our work Christmas parties! I'll be off to a friends for Christmas drinks too, so I thought it would be a good time to share with you some makeup goodies from Bourjois to help create your festive look. For me, this time of year is all about getting glammed up, so bright lips and smoky eyes are the order of the day. 

Bourjois christmas makeup

To achieve this, I have used one of Bourgeois new(ish) eyeshadow pallets, aptly named Smoky Stories (£7.99 ASOS) and I opted for Good Nude - a mixture of 3 different browns and a sparkly silver to highlight and embellish.

Bourjois Quad Smoky Stories eyeshadow palette

Bourjois Quad Smoky Stories eyeshadow palette

To add extra drama, to my eyes, I added Bourjois Mega Liner  (£7.49 Boots) on my upper lids which has a chunky angular nib which does make application more accurate (and I don't have the steadiest of hands). I then finished my eyes with lashings of Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde mascara in Ultra Black. I fell in love with the regular version of this mascara back in the summer (see post here) and this doesn't disappoint - although I don't notice it being any darker than the original...

Bourjois mega liner

To finish the look, I swept Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick - which is more of a matte gloss, across my lips. I choice the Hot Pepper bright red for classic glam, but Peach Club is a more subtle option. Although I love the colour and the staying power it did take a little while to get the colour consistent across all of the lip.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipstick

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipstick

So ladies, I hope I've given you some inspiration for your Christmas parties this weekend!

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Tuesday 16 December 2014

Christmas Gift Guide: Beauty


Eeeeeeek! Less than 10 days to go! Either you are super organise with everything smugly wrapped and under the tree, or, like me, you are only now getting the ground rush to get everything organised and ready. If, like me you still have a good few pressies to buy, here are some of my top choices for your loved ones.


Being a Benebabe, I'm always thrilled to introduce friends and family to the Benefit brand, and this gift set filled with minis of their best sellers will get any gal converted. It's £29.50 from Boots and contains some of my fav products from the brand, such as 'Their Real' mascara 'Dandelion' blush - (which was the first Benefit product I ever tried over a decade ago!) and the amazing POREfessional primer which leaves your skin silk-smooth and refuses to let your makeup budge.


New nail polishes are always a welcome treat, and the Perfectly Polished gift set (£14 Boots) comes in the CUTEST box ever! The 3 full-sized bottles come with a set of nail stickers and a nail art pen, so will keep a nail addict busy for a merry while...

You'll have that hand-cream obsessed person in your life who will just love this Ultimate Hand Therapy Collection from Crabtree & Evelyn (£45 Feel Unique). This rainbow of creams is just so pretty and she can choose her favourite to buy a full-size version when she's eventually got through these pocket friendly babies. There are smaller options available too, with a cute musical tin containing 6 creams is only £15 - reduced from £25.

For the lipstick lovers, a collection of new goodies to try will have them smiling on Christmas day, Jack Wills Chubby Lips (£14 Boots) and Fresh Sugar Lip £44 - from their shop on Marylebone High Street are two sets that caught my eye.


Who doesn't love a gorgeous goodie from Lush? Inspired by the fairytale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, The Nightingale gift set has on each of the ornate panels on the box depicts a different scene from the story, its such a beauty to look at its a shame to wrap! Contained within are 20 of Lush's best sellers - such as the Dream Time bubble melt. At £82.50 - it will have to be for a special friend or family member.


I hope I've inspired you with a few gist ideas - look out for some other last-minute gift ideas to come later this week...



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Monday 15 December 2014

Mani Monday: Nails Inc Gel Effect Old Burlington Street

nails inc old burlington street

Not a particularly festive nail today, but I am loving dark blue nails at the moment and this petrol-blue version - Old Burlington Street (£14 Look Fantastic) from Nails Inc is a particular fav. Stylish on shorter nails, the colour is really rich and opulent teamed with the high gloss shine from the gel-effect. Despite this, it drys really quickly, which can be a problem I've found with some other gel-like nail products. So will you be giving navy-nails a go this season?

nails inc old burlington street

nails inc old burlington street


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Thursday 11 December 2014

No 7 Christmas Makeup Look 1

In the summer you may have seen my 'Summer Make Up Looks' from No 7. Well as the Christmas parties have started in ernest, No 7 has challenged me to try out some make up looks for this season.

No 7 Christmas Makeup

The first I have tried is the Sensational Party Sparkle featuring shimmering eys make up, nails and cheeks combined with extra black lashes and a plum lip.

No 7 Christmas Makeup


No 7 Christmas Makeup

Of the products I worked with, I loved the Radiant Spheres Highlighter which looks fabulous highlighting cheekbones and is super pretty in the pallet. The new Midnight Lash Mascara is also a great addition to No 7's lash wardrobe, adding party volume to your lashes and is super black in colour, making your lashes look party-ready.

The Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation in Calico has become my daily staple since trying it out for this look, it gives a medium coverage and is really light on the completion, fabulous.

I've tried the Stay Perfect Shade And Define in Glistening Ray before and although I do like the effect it gives as soon as it is applied,I do find that it doesn't fix well to the skin, and it ends up in the creases of my eye lids if I use as a eye shadow. I think it is more effective as a liner, in particular in the inner corner of your eyes. The Metallic Eyes Pencil in Camouflage is a really pretty colour and particularly striking for brunettes, but the pencil itself is a little hard, so application isn't the easiest on soft areas of skin.

What make up goodies will you be trying out for your Christmas parties?

No 7 Christmas Makeup

No 7 Christmas Makeup

Products
No7 High Shine Lipgloss in Plum Blush £9.00
No7 Metallic Eyes Pencil in Camouflage £6.50 
No7 Stay Perfect Shade And Define in Glistening Ray £8.00
No7 Midnight Lash Mascara normally £13.50 - currently reduced to £10.00
No7 Radiant Spheres Highlighter £12.00
No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter £9.99
No7 Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation 30ml in Calico £14.50
No7 Gel-Look Shine Nail Colour in Golden Sands £7.00

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Monday 8 December 2014

Mani Monday: Seventeen Glitter Nails Effect Polishes


gold and black glitter SEVENTEEN.jpg

I am completely on christmas countdown - my favourite time of the year! I went to buy my first ever REAL christmas tree yesterday, can't wait to put it up tonight after its obligatory overnight soak...


It's not just my house thats getting festive, I've been giving my nails a little shrimp makeover too with the help of Seventeen's Glitter Nail Effect polishes (£3.99 each from Boots). 

For the first look I popped the Black and Gold glitter polish which contains a mixture of large and tiny glitter flecks over Golden Sands polish from No 7 (£7 Boots) as I do think that a base colour helps to set the glitter off more effectively than a clear base coat.

Then, feeling super festive yesterday, I added the White and Silver Glitter polish over No 7's Hot Lava (£6 Boots) which I wore to the beautiful Emily & Dan's wedding on Saturday. Sorry about the photos of this polish - I didn't get round to taking a snap until it was dark and I'd chipped the tips washing up, but you can get the idea....!

Don't try and take these polishes off in a rush, as just like most glitter nail vanishes they do take a bit longer to remove than its regular counterparts.

So which is your favourite? What festive nails are you opting for this advent season?


gold and black glitter SEVENTEEN.jpg

Seventeen Glitter Nails Effect Polishes


gold and black glitter SEVENTEEN.jpg



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Thursday 4 December 2014

Winter Skincare


So after the mildest autumn, winter has hit. I totally wasn't prepared for the low temperatures yesterday, but luckily over the past few weeks I have been prep-ing my skin for the change in season. Gone are the light moisturisers, it is time to get some serious moisture locked in to keep dryness and irritation at bay. Here are the skincare heros that have been donning my dressing table.

You don't want to be stripping the natural protective oils from your skin with a vigorous soap in the shower, so I have opted for ultra mild Sc (approx. £20 QVC) which hardly lathers and helps inject some moisture of its own too.

After showering I'm lathering on Dove's Winter Care dry skin moisturising lotion (£3.99) which is rich enough to protect, but isn't a thick butter that gets you perspiring when you hit the office central heating. On any super dry areas (and at night) I've been hitting the hard stuff with Clarins Huile Tonic (£) which gets the driest skin feeling supple and happy again.

Although I tend to keep my ice-white pins hidden in the winter months, thats no excuse to let them get hairy - I've been keeping mine soft and smooth with Venus' Proskin Razor (£9.99 - currently £4.99 at Boots), which has 5 blades (I remember when 3 was revolutionary....!) which reduces pressure, irritation and dryness which can be caused by shaving. It also contains a moisturising ribbon which helps the blades glide smoothly over your limbs.

On my face I've been using Vichy's Aquaria Thermal serum (£17), which is really light under my normal moisture. Containing a micro-encapsulated delivery system of Activ Hyaluronine, it helps to improve the diffusion of moisture into the surface of the skin through the day, to slow down any dry patches forming.

Night time is a great opportunity for your skin to recover from the day and Orico's Dream Dew Night Perfecting Cream (£32) helps to firm and lift the skin whist you sleep, as well as the much needed hydration. I noticed from first use that my skin felt plumper in the morning, which is probably due to the increased college production and boost of oxygen in the skin.

So what are your winter skin essentials?






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