Wednesday 30 October 2013

BEAUTY BOX SWAP

Evening lovelies!



After chatting to my lovely friend Chloe from Clo's beauty spot  about my holiday to America we decided to do a box swap - I would buy cosmetics in America for her and she would buy cosmetics from the UK for me and we would post them out to each other. I'm sure you have all heard of a box swap before but if not basically you both choose a budget, mention things you really don't like, for example I told Clo I don't think red lipstick suits me, and then you buy items you think the other would like! Its a great way to find new products you haven't tried before or to get your hands on some items you can't get in your country.


So below are the items Chloe sent me, she put little notes with each item to explain why she bought it which I thought was super cute =)



MUA Undress me too eye shadow palette




Barry M Eye shadow pencil 


If you can read the note she has put noticed that you love statement necklaces so thought you'd like this one. I love it!! From Primark. 



This bracelet she brought all the way back from her holiday in Turkey!!

I am so happy with all the items Chloe bought me - I love MUA I have one of their other eye shadow palettes, I've always wanted to try the colour tattoo and love burgundy at the moment (I think we all do this time of year =)), never really tried eye pencils so that was great and always need a lip product for the winter I have a terrible habit of biting my lips.

So first impressions were great! Unpacking the box was really exciting especially reading all the notes and seeing why she had chosen the products she had. The jewellery was completely unexpected but is so me and I love it.

So far I have experimented with the MUA eye palette and the Maybelline colour tattoo eye shadow; below are the looks I created. (I also created a more neutral look for a wedding here.)




MUA palette using colours Shy in the tear duct and under the brows, Lavish in the crease, Exposed on the lid and corrupt in the outer corner.


Here I used Maybelline Colour Tattoo as a base and then Fiery (gold) from the MUA palette on the eye lid, Naked in the tear duct and Wink in the outer corner. Used Lavish in the crease again.


Here I used the Maybelline as the base, and a mixture of all the golds and bronze tones in the palette and blended it out with Lavish again.




Here is just a fun look I created for Halloween! 

 I have used the Barry M eye pencil on my water line and it definitely brightens up the eye area and is easy to use, doesn't hurt the eye at all. The Nivea smells incredible, gives the lips a neutral sheen which I love.

I adore the MUA palette will definitely be a staple in my collection - the colours are stunning I love golds and bronze tones they blend really well and have fantastic staying power! The texture is really silky and the colour pay off is top notch. I adore the Maybelline Colour Tattoo - it takes on new dimensions and colours when you use it as a base and layer it with other colours but also stands well on its own if you use it as an all over lid colour by itself. Its really easy to blend and layer and doesn't feel heavy on the lid for a cream shadow.

Thank you so much Chloe! I love my goodies =)

Have you done box swaps? Have you tried any of these products?

See you soon =)
Nicola x




Sunday 27 October 2013

MY FLORIDA DIARIES: FASHION EDIT

Hi Lovelies!

Here is a quick post on my holiday outfits, I kept to floaty materials and dresses and little shorts and chiffon cami's as it was so hot in America. 



Coral and White Lace Midi Dress (holiday bargain)


Floral Maxi Dress, Tesco Sale £4


Aztec Print Maxi Dress, Primark £13


Black Chiffon Cami, H&M £12
Green Mini Shorts, Zara £12 Sale


Burgundy Chiffon Capri, Primark £5
White Tulip Skirt, Boohoo £12


White and Black Trimmed Chiffon Cami, Primark £5
Burgundy Denim Cut Offs, New Look Sale £8


White Strappy, Primark £2
Spotty High Waisted Shorts, Forever21


Black Strappy, Primark £2
Tulip Skirt as above


Top as above
Aztec Print Shorts, eBay


Supporting my team the Tampa Bay Rays! Old Navy $19.99

What are your holiday wardrobe staples?
xx

Friday 25 October 2013

MY FLORIDA DIARIES: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Hi Loves!

Here is another entry for my holiday diaries - although a little late! I have visited the Disney parks before in Orlando Florida however my boyfriend has not, we were a little short on money so decided to just visit one park, Universal Studios. The weather was perfect - beautiful blue skies, sunshine and a slight breeze and because of the time of year we went the longest waiting time was 30 minutes and that was for the newest ride Despicable Me (it was grrrreat!!).

We had such a fantastic time and really acted like tourists getting the souvenir cups, our caricature done and eating everything in sight! So instead of me blabbing on about all the rides etc I thought I'd just leave it as a photo diary. Enjoy =)








Biggest donut ever!




Have any of you visited the Disney Parks in Florida? What did you think? I love Universal Studios you can't help but walk round the park smiling takes you back to childhood with the mixture of film character parades, roller coasters and simulators. The Terminator 3d experience will never get old!

Though I'd leave you with our caricature, what do you think?!





Tuesday 22 October 2013

A COMIC BOOK WEDDING

Hello Lovelies!

At the weekend I went to my cousin's wedding in Whitstable - a lovely little seaside town littered with small independent shops and souvenirs. My cousin and his bride are massive comic book fans and therefore based their wedding around this theme - they did it in such a cute and subtle way with decorations such as comic book bunting and individual papers flowers made out of comic book pages in each of the bouquets.

After a last minute trip to Bluewater and a few 'oh my gosh what am I going to wear' moments I settled on this gorgeous spliced flower print maxi dress from Topshop which was amazingly in the sale for £18! Only one in store my size - fate! I paired it with a top knot with pink flower head band from Primark, gold and black Aztec inspired earrings also from Primark, the most comfortable cream canvas wedges from New Look that I bought inthe summer (not available online any more) and my Nanny's classic black handbag and gold chain necklace that I used as a bracelet. (My gorgeous Nanny passed away two years ago and all the women in the family took one of her handbags so she could be there with us =).)


I kept my makeup very simple with neutral eyes using my new MUA palette, Clinique blush and a Wet and Wild pink lipstick, below is the finished look.


The bride and groom both wore comic book inspired converse continuing the theme into the reception with a personalised comic book sweetie corner, comic book wedding cake made by one of the guests and a polaroid camera with costumes to dress up and personalise your page in the guest book. The theme was subtle but done very well running along side a shabby chic element with lace table runners and white wooden lanterns. The wedding was inform and so much fun, below are some pictures from the day.


The Groom showing off his Aqua Man Converse Hi-tops.


The Brides footwear - paired with super cute and fashionable lace ankle socks.


The back of the dress, pleats, lace, diamonds all in an elegant a-line cut with a short double layered veil scattered with jewels. Stunning.



The cake with the Groom as Aqua Man bursting through the top to save his Bride!


I have to mention the gift we got them as I think it is so cute and the company I bought from are fab! Alphabet photography is relatively new but incredibly expensive, after a lot of research I came across Grace and David's website http://alphabetphotodesign.co.uk/. The price is much more reasonable compared to other sites and the service is first class, check them out for special occasions =)



I always struggle with a winter wedding worried that I'm going to be too cold - it took me such a long time to find a suitably warm and pretty outfit that wasn't black!

So what do you think? What would you wear for a winter wedding?

Nicola x

Monday 14 October 2013

BAKING BEAUTIES TAG

Evening sweets!


The wonderful Nicole Baxter from coleoftheballl33.blogspot.co.uk tagged me in this relatively new baking beauties tag - so excited to be doing this I adore baking and creating things.


So here it is:



1. What is the first thing you remember baking?



My first cook book was the Winnie the Pooh and Friends cook book and I made Eeyore's cheese straws! Nanny and Grandad were looking after my sister and I for the weekend while my parents went away and we made these for their return - along with some stuffed and scented coat hangers!



2. What was the last thing you baked?



My soaked lemon cake and chocolate ganache filled cupcakes for my step-dad's retirement party. 



3. Something you've always wanted to bake?



Ooh thats a tricky one there are so many! I would say the major one is a Christmas cake - I don't actually like many Christmas cakes myself but a lot of my family do so I'd love to make a really yummy one!



4. Tell us about something you baked and it went terribly wrong



This is easy! I really fancied making some cookies one night - envisioned biting into a gooey super chocolatey cookie so found a recipe online, chopped up LOADS of chocolate (milk, white and dark, I was really going for it!) and followed the instructions. Watched them bake and when I took them out of the oven I almost danced with glee I was so excited to eat these - as you can imagine once you have built something up this much they were a major let down. They went rock solid once cooled, couldn't even break them by throwing them on the floor! They smelt like gone off eggs and tasted like stale popcorn! Threw them in the bin!



5. Be honest, do you lick the spoon?



Definitely not, I've never understood the appeal! I eat the chocolate while cooking though =)



6. How often do you bake?



Depends how much time I have but as often as possible maybe once a week. Also depends on if I've got any cakes on order. I'd really like to bake more, I have so many fantastic cake tins, cookie cutters and piping bag tips and ideas but its difficult when not in your own kitchen.



7. What baking success are you most proud of?





Hmm that's also a tricky one as recently I've made some pretty cool (if I do say so myself!) cakes, I really try to experiment with different ideas. If I had to choose it would probably be this one: 

I think the home made honeycomb and the little bees really make the cake.


8. Do you tidy up as you go along or leave a big mess until the end?



While baking I tidy up as I go along but while decorating I leave a mess until the end, don't want to ruin the creative flow. Paha!!



9. Do you use recipe books or get them online?



Nearly always use recipe books, I have a few that I stick to like glue, they have never failed me.



10. Do you stick to the recipe or experiment a little?



Always like to experiment I find it more fun - unless like I said before I have a cake on order then I stick to my classic recipes, don't want to disappoint after all that hard work.



11. Who are your favourite food bloggers?



http://www.whatrachelate.com/ - she hasn't posted in a while but love looking back at all her yummy eats! And http://eatlikeagirl.com/ great mix of food and travel.



12. What is your favourite thing to bake?



I love trying new things but probably my favourite things are biscuits - simple, so many variations, different ways to decorate and can eat straight from the oven =)



I hope you all enjoyed the read, now I tag:



Tamsyn Elizabeth at http://peachpowxo.blogspot.co.uk



Looking forward to reading all your answers xx




Sunday 13 October 2013

AUTUMNAL MAKEUP LOOK

Hi lovelies!

So one of my many beauty purchases from America was the Cover Girl eye enhancers palette in colour 222 - I bought quite a bit of CG as I have always loved the brand but really struggle to get hold of it in the UK so really wanted to stock up while I was in the US. With my Walgreens card all CG cosmetics were buy one get one 50% so I really went to town! This palette in particular stuck out for the mix of colours and the gorgeous deep shimmery burgundy colour at the end. This palette is a great size to keep in your handbag for touch ups throughout the day or for an easy day to night transition.
 The colours have a silky texture and blend really easily together, for today I wanted to create a deep autumnal look with strong eye make-up and keep the rest of the face really neutral.
I used the burgundy all over my lids, blended it out into my crease along with a bit of the black and used the white shimmer to high light my brow bones and the corners of my eyes. On the rest of my face is:
Benefit They're Real Mascara
Bourjois Perfect 123 Foundation
Rimmel Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder
Clinique Blusher in 114 Iced Lotus
MUA Pro-Brow Kit
Nivea Lip Gloss
I am a massive fan of CG but I really adore this palette - there are so many combinations without bringing in any other palettes so its really handy for use on the go or last minute plans! The colours wore really well - I always prep my eyes with MUA eyeshadow primer but the intensity of the colours lasted all day with very little creasing. I really like the contrast of strong, dark eyes with light neutral lips perfect for day wear.

Have any of you tried the CG eye palettes? What looks would you create with these colours?
Nicola x