My Julie/Julia Inspiration

Last night I accidentally fell upon the beautiful film Julie & Julia. If you haven't watched it.. Do. I don't really want to reiterate the story, so watch it instead. It really broke down blogging to me into a more meaningful thing. When I tell people I blog about beauty and nails they often question why I do it and the answer has always honestly been 'I don't know'. But it was actually because I was jobless and needed something to take my mind off my impending doom that was .. moving away from London and finishing my wonderful year at home with my parents, freedomless, penniless and missing the city I fell in love with. As soppy as all this sounds reading it back, I'm not going to delete it. Really it was just about doing something fun.

In the film the main charater Julie challenges herself, and I love challenges, another reason I took on this blog. I didn't do it to become the famous Zoella or Essie Button or Tanya Burr, hell no. But just to see if what I had to say was worth a damn.

I still don't think it is but it is really nice to vent every now and again about things I love.

And the fact is i love more than beauty products and nail art, I mean I'm not completely 1 dimensional.

So I am going to transform this blog, into something more 'lifestyle'. I study fashion so I'll talk about that, I live at home in a rut of student life with my parents, I am an auntie to two beautiful nieces, I love to bake (Mary Berry being my one and only) and I am above all a girl who just likes .. things. 

The next challenge I want to set myself is the Mary Berry Challenge. I got her Baking Bible for Christmas you see and I want to bake from it ALL the time. Only having attempted a few recipes so far I would like to challenge myself to work my way through her book.

I have no intended deadline so far but I would really love to do one recipe a fortnight (I mean I have a life... and am penniless, ingredients cost money you know!)

Watch this space for the first recipe... And more challenges to come! :)

how to be a single valentine

On Valentines Day I am always single.. And I actually love it that way. I devote the day of love to loving myself and allowing myself to be alone and pampered. This year is slightly different I am spending it with my best friend, white wine - and Juliette will be there too..

But if you are alone and the only valentine through your letterbox was from your grandad (or in my case friends mum!) then I have the perfect pamper plan for you.

After a long day in your red lippie, GOSH Cosmetics Velvet Touch Yours Forever (found here) (slightly ironic I know) it's time to wind down...

Start by running yourself a hot hot bubble bath using the stunning fragrances of this Laura Ashley Bath Soak (found here)

Once the bath is to your bubbly requirements, light a few Yankee Candles to add to the atmosphere of what will be your haven today (found here), I recommend this valentines special set with sweet strawberry, grapefruit and hibiscus scents and a gorgeous glass holder.

Now pour yourself a well deserved glass of wine and slink into the bath, lights down and relaxed.

Once you have started to soak as you should, this Argan Oil Hair Mask & Conditioning Treatment (found here) is perfect for treating your hair as you have treated the rest of you, while this softens each strand of your hair apply this lovely Aroma Actives Mask (found here) to make your skin glow just for you.

Now when you have pruned as much as you can handle use this Soap & Glory Righteous Body Butter (found here) to keep yourself velvetty and spritz yourself with I Love... Strawberries and Cream (found here) to cool down and keep sweet.

Now for my favourite part... your nails. Pop on your dressing gown and grab your favourite polish colours, perfect for valentines day I used Avon Real Red, Avon Viva Pink, Avon Pink Creme, GOSH Special Edition Holographic Hero and GOSH Frosted Soft Blue. Pick a design, mine from this year is below, and polish away...

Now kick back order your chinese takeway and stick your fave scary film on!

Happy single valentines day xxx

'Avon it

Another one of my presents Santa left under the tree, an Avon Selection Box. This was a gift I spotted on Instgram and instantly sent the picture to my mum, subtle hint, and it worked. She emailled Santa and there it was.. 12 stunning nail enamels.

I didn't own many Avon polishes before I got this Selection Box (just my Opal glitter that I adore) but my mum has had them in the past. I am so happy with the quality of the polishes, I've only ever heard good things about these enamels so I wasn't surprised, just happy! The colours I got were quite varied, including another Opal polish (never can have too many), 2 Gel Finish polishes in a pale pink and red that again are really good quality polishes.

 My favourite is so hard to choose! I love the pale pink Gel Finish P805 Sheer Love because it is perfect to use as a base for my nail art, but I also love my classic Real Red Nail Enamel. It's so hard to choose a favourite.. I cannot do it.

One thing I would say against this selection box is that there are a few polishes I won't use, like perfectly flesh and romance and maybe coral reef. If Avon continue the selection boxes next year (which they should!) I would advise making them more tailored. For example, soft and sweet with pinks and light colours; glitter me happy with glitters and metallics; bright and bubbly with brights, neons and stand out polishes; mix and match with completely random polishes. That is what I would do!

Here are the swatch pics I took:

Coral Reef

 

Opal - Opalesce (on top of Real Red below)

Real Red

 

Decadance

 

Viva Pink

Perfectly Flesh

Pink Creme

 

Romance

 

Golden Vision

  Sea Breeze

pre-christmas winter christmas new years party make-up

Doing what it says on the tin, this blog post is about winter make-up trends from the catwalk and mags as well as friends and celebs that are perfect for Christmas work does, family does and New Years parties. These are just a couple of ideas I loved the look of and have adapted as my new make-up styles for this years cold and flu season.

Have you been in a fight?

My favourite area to come up with make-up ideas for is for when you are going'out out' with your girls and with your cocktails and your best dress. Something I am going to be doing in a few weeks time.. I have decided on my dress so this make-up is made to match of course.

Deep purple eyeshadow - now this is an unbranded palette I got many a Christmas ago, but it works. I would recommend however - a palette I would buy if I had the pounds to spend - Vintage Romance or the stunning Arabian Nights I Divine palette by Sleek (both going on my xmas list). Bad Girl also has some stunning purple hues. When applying it is difficult to make it look like you haven't got a black eye... So to avoid the ruffian look I tried to keep neat lines and blended a lighter shade into a darker shade. Using liquid liner as my guide at the edge of the eye.

ombre ombre

I have been seeing ombre lips all over my instagram feed for a few weeks now and decided it was high time i give it a go. I tried a red and pink colour combo first but I think I was a little too daring using a dark shade of red for my first ombre! So I started again with purple and pink. These light hues are colours I don't normally wear but they felt very Christmas and cold and actually worked quite well despite my pale complexion.. I am now in love with ombre lips...

To get this look is actually quite easy (but easier said than done). I started by applying a line of Make Up Revolution Lipstick in Depraved around the outer line of my lip. I would recommend using a liner instead for your outside line or at least a brush to apply, as it will make the blend less messy. Then I applied GOSH Velevet Touch lipstick in Romance 156 to the inner part of my pout and smudged the two together with a brush. Blotted. Et Viola.

glitter underline

Another look I have seen a lot of on instagram actually this one.. I've seen it many times before of course but witht he glittering sequins we love to wear in winter and the approaching Christmas holidays everyone seems to just want more glitter! And I am not complaining. 

 

 

I used MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence to shade in and blended my cut crease subtly. Blending light into dark (rule 1 in shadow application).

Then I use a very thin (wet) brush dipped in lots of 17 Eye Dazzle in Bronze to create a glittering underline. So so simple to do and so so pretty. 100% using this one come Christmas Eve!

Other products I used include: Avon Extra Lasting Eyeliner in Black, Shavata Brow Perfector, Max Factor Clump Defy Mascara in Black

Not so green with Envy

I have been very queit on my product reviews lately as I have tried to concentrate on my nail art as it is the original reason I opened this blog up. However, that doesn't mean the beauty posts will come to a halt, don't worry your little noggins. This post is actually a nail produt review for the week and I have a few Christmas and winter themed posts in the upcoming weeks .. I am even going to try something fashion-y this weekend, see how you like that :)

So.. O.P.I Nail Envy.

What did I think? When my mum told me she had ordered us both a bottle I was ecstatic. I paint my nails ALOT and have always applied my trusty Avon Nail Strengthener or another favourite Sally Hansen Diamond Strength (which I have featured on here a fair bit), and I've not had much cause for complaint with them. HOWever... My nails do seem to break frequently, probably down to my clumsiness and excessive handbag clutter. So when the package arrived I was rather giddy.

I tried the routine for a week -

2 coats on day 1 > 2 coats on day 3 > 1 coat on day 5 > remove on day 7.

And I honestly wasn't all to impressed with the results, I think I got overexcited and expected a little too much. So I waited a few weeks and tried again, and this time I noticed a difference!..

A few weeks later I tried again again.. and now my nails are so tough it took a bowling ball to break one. They feel thicker, are growing faster and seem to be invincible. The protein must take a few goes to really get to work on them.. If you aren't a nail painter, then I do suggest you keep this on and repeat the process over and over to have impeccable nails for those special occassions when you do lacquer up. If you are a nail painter like myself, then I suggest giving yourself a week break every 3-4 weeks on this formula. Just like your skin needs no make up days, so do your nails.

Take care ladies.

the invisi-brow

 Now I am sure I have reviewed brow kits on curiosity before now but I cannot for the life of me find a link. For those of you who are wondering there is a definition below that will help you understand this post...

Invisi-brow (n) definition: an eyebrow that is deemed invisible to the naked human eye. E.g. 'Look at that ginger girl, she has no eyebrows!' also known as: when the hair of an eyebrow is extremely blonde naturally

Not many can say that they have invisible eyebrows, I am unfortunately one of the rare few that can. I won't go into the whole back story but I have learnt in the past few years as a teenager, a beauty pr intern and a girl who loves make up that eyebrows are essential. I started using eyeshadow as an experiment to fill in my brows, getting darker as I got braver. When I realised there were fabulous brow kits available I jumped at the chance and got a GOSH brow kit for myself. It has 3 shadows and a gel - it's brilliant. I then advanced to a stunning Shavata brow kit with creme shadows that I still have in my make up bag. Next I think I will try the Sleek brow kit but until then I have discovered an easier solution.

I have recently been encouraged to try tinting. I thought it would be a perfect idea for my trip to Thailand to get both my brows and lashes done, so I treated myself and went to Shavata in Harvey Nichols. If you have me on instagram you will have see the results there, they were amazing and I swore never to go untinted again.

Since I daren't try anywhere cheap and tacky in the borough of Rochdale.. I was very excited to see a brow and nail bar had opened in Primark Manchester called Love Beauty by Monica Mohindra! I ran straight down there and got my brows tinted, as they desperately needed it, for an amazing £5. It's situated on the 1st floor in the back corner, nice and cosy and the ladies in there are lovely and very well trained. I am very happy with my brows.. next it's nails and lashes!

How would you or do you solve your sorry brow problems?

moving out empties

Sooo I may have mentioned in my previous post that I was in the process of moving from London back home to Manchester to finish my degree. I finally made the move this weekend and given that ALL my stuff is packed in the next room here in Manchester I can't get to the rest of 500 products of summer before I go to Thailand on Monday. SO to make up for my 1.lack of posts and 2. my ditching 500 POS .. as I packed everything in my room I found a pile of empty beauty products...

HAIR

TRESemme Salon Silk Shampoo... I have talked about how much I love this shampoo before so I don't need to reiterate that it is a favourite of mine! Then there is the kms Hair Play Texture Spray, again I have spoken about before a while ago .. it is a really light texture spray that gives you a bit of oomph if you have flat hair. It smells lovely too, which is actually always something I pick up on in any beauty products.

BODY

To start, I need to say, the other day my friend said to me that I have an obsession for sprays.. and I am slowly realising it might be true! One spray I love is lynx, I actually have a men's lynx in my vast collection that I loooove. But this Lynx is actually the Attract body spray for her that I nicked off my mum! It's really nice and there is that classic lynx back fragrance to it, can't say it works attracting men as the adverts say but it is nice! Another spray I've emptied is Ghost Sweetheart that I got for Christmas, one of mine and my mums favourite affordable perfumes.. it's sweet and slightly musky too. It stays on all day and I always get compliments on it.. my mums dressing gown actually reeks of it! Then there is the wonderful and sadly empty bottle of St Tropez tanning mousse, again I have reviewed this product before.. my favourite tan of all time. I am actually getting the tanning oil that stays longer for my trip to Thailand.  Last but not least, the Revive Morning Bath & Shower Oil by Aromatherapy Associates, this little bottle of miracle oil is the only thing that made my 6:30 morning showers possible, a few drops rubbed on my belly get into the steam of the shower and make me feel so much more human! I love it.

HANDS

My hands always need to be looked atfer, as a nail art amateur I am always polishing and removing polish and so I need to always be moisturising. So it's only natural I have two empty hand creams and an empty polish remover. The Soap & Glory Hand Food is absolutely gorgeous, marshmallow fragranced light and silky hand cream that sinks in fairly quickly and doesn't leave a sticky layer which I hate! Another lovely hand cream is Nivea Express Hydration Hand Lotion which is made to sink in super fast and it does.. it disappears and hydrates your hands in seconds.. I love Nivea moisturisers they smell fresh and don't irritate sensitive skin. The Sally Hansen Acetone Free Polish Remover is a really nice and soft remover, I prefer acetone free because removers with acetone tend to hurt the cuts I get on my fingers and dry skin around my nails.

FACE

I try not to put a lot of things on my face or change my routine but my constant experimenting and curiosity means I do switch foundations and concealers and cleansers so here a few old products I've loved and used up. I've always struggled with foundations .. finding they weren't light enough or they were too thick, I think a foundation should look natural. I found this light liquid foundation last year, it's MUA Undress Your Skin in Porcelain it's really light and perfect for winter, it doesn't cover up my freckles and doesn't feel caked on. Then there is the Nip + Fab CC Eye Fix which is a colour correcting eye concealer, it's the perfect shade of orange (opposite to purple) that covers my under eye bags when I'm tired and worn out. I love the Porefessional primer by Benefit, my pores just disappear! when I am switching between make ups and cleansers my skin can break out, or just from a rush of hormones!!, I find my Witch blemish stick a complete must as a bedside essential, I sit and rub it on while I watch telly and by morning my spots have gone down by a mile.

So that's all my empties from moving out of my London house :( .. I will be posting again this week before Thailand with what me and Shauna are packing and then I will be away for a month!!

500 products of summer (almost!) part 2: everything

I really couldn't nail a theme for the products I selected for this post. I wanted to do the 5 senses until I realised tasting and hearing beauty products wasn't really as possible as I thought it would be. I also then realised i had originally decided to only do 2 posts so had to cram everything in - Now the 500 products of summer posts will be a 4 parter of colours, everything, nail art and protection. Hope you are as excited as I am!

Summer for my face...

will be hopefully as exciting as summer gets for a face. I have a lot of products I use for my face, I try to keep them pretty regular so not to disturb the PH balance or get a reaction to new products but I do love to try new things! (Hence why we are all here today). I have added a few new and exciting products to my face routine such as oils, day creams and masks but I picked these products as they were specific to my summer needs.

In the summer my face gets quite red and warm - meaning it sweats! - so I have to protect my make up. I try not to wear a lot in the summer but when you have work and then parties and birthdays and dinners and nights out planned you can't not put on a bit of tutti. To make sure my make up sets and stays where it is I have started using UR Cheeky Freeze Frame, which is a makeup setting spray. I never knew these existed until a few months ago, I used to use hair spray to set my make up as I am sure most of us do - but I can only imagine that that is terrible for your skin. This spray is light and non sticky (unlike Asda's own extreme hold hairspray) and actually does the trick of keeping my foundation and eyeshadow pretty perfect for longer!

To wipe away the end of the day make up we all love so much I have started using these Vitamin E by Superdrug Facial Cleansing Wipes - I LOVE these wipes due to my ever talked about appreciation of Vitamin E with all it's healing qualities, and the fact they smell gorgeous. I have taken a step away from my long routing, these are much easier and quicker for cleansing after a long day at work.

Shiny & sleek strands 

Once I have a hair cut my hair will be in perfect condition for now I have to take extra care of my dry ends and dull colour, i am dying for a trim (it's only been 7 months eek). To keep my hair perfect this summer I will use a lot of sleeking and shining and taming products alternatively, depending on how my hair feels. It's an ad hoc kinda deal. My current favourite product for my hair is Color Wow's Pop & Lock, which is perfect for summer - it is a just-in-time addition to my dressing table. This crystallite shellac is different to your regular hair serums as they would normally sit on hair, where as this non sticky shellac sinks in and protects the hair from toxins while blocking out toxic bits and bobs (we don't need technical terms here!). It makes your hair shiny and sleek like you have just stepped out the hairdressers. I use it pre-blow dry on wet hair and give myself a salon style blow dry for the best results, but you can put it on dry hair and dry it through roughly with a brush too if you prefer.

Skin that is ready for the sunshine...

No matter how pale. Aside from the obvious protection (which I will elaborate on in my next 500 products post) my skin has to have extra special treatment during the summer. Starting with cleansing, in the summer I use a creamy and milky shower gel as apposed to my usual clear fruity ones because my skin can get quite dry when it it dries after a shower I have to give it as much moisture as I can, this summer I have got (the same as last year!) Soap & Glory Clean On Me Creamy Shower Gel. It has a lovely orange scent to keep me fresh and summery smelling and a creamy and silky texture and built in body lotion that leaves my skin feeling utterly gorgeous.

After I have showered with this in shower gel I still need to moisturise to lock in the nourishment, here I will be using Nip + Fab Yoga Blend Body Lotion with yummy and scrummy lavender, coconut and rose. It's really lightweight so perfect for summer, and I tend to shower in the evening in the summer so it's unwinding and de-stressing lavender scent will help me wind down after an exciting day in the sun!

My skin can dry out over night too in the summer annoyingly so I can loose some of that lovely silkiness from my evening lotion, so to wake me up for my day and keep my skin refreshed and nourished I will use Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel. This fragrant gel sins into the skin so quickly and wasn't at all as thick and gloopy as I first expected, it's so easy to apply and soothes the skin as well as evening out my skin tone and texture (sounds lovely doesn't it?)

Don't let those cuticles dry out

I have to keep on top of mositurising my hands in the summer, but I always manage to get dry and flaky cuticles (not pretty when you take so many pictures of your nails). I will be using the wonderful Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover, it has a built in pusher tip so you don't need all the tools of the trade to keep your cuticles perfect. it is so easy to use - it makes manicures easy and keeps my cuticles looking very pretty.

Hairless legs

Avoiding waxing my own legs after waxing my friends I turn to the second best thing in hair removal. Veet hair removal cream is miraculous, it gets rid of all the hairs so quickly. I put it on before my shower as I have still not mastered the in-shower hair removal cream routine (it just comes off, or I am stood there like a naked melon in the shower for 10 minutes with no way of timing myself - i don't get it). So, on it goes before I ditz around playing on my phone, making a hot hot coffee for after my shower or whatever pleases you then bish bash bosh silkiest legs I've ever had!


So there we have it, part two. What is on your summer products list?

april favourites

so april is well and truly over - it went so fast - and over the course of the month I gained many new favourite products. Ranging from make-up to exfoliators, I have it all in my little beauty hoarding corner.

But my favourites make it to my dressing table, where I keep the best of the best. And here it is my first monthly favourites post, I'm also going to give away some hints on upcoming posts I have planned for the month of May.

body

I Love... Strawberries & Cream Exfoliating Shower Cream

Smells like a bottle of heaven, I get quite bad spots sometimes on my back and chest and this exfoliator has really worked wonders in making them go down! It is also handy to have a body exfoliator for when you start to get the fake tan out. Keep your legs, arms and torso free from dry skin and dead skin cells so your tan is smooth and perfected - it is very important.

Hugo Boss, Boss Orange Eau de Toilette

My staple perfumes are Prada Candy or Ghost Sweetheart (cheaper option), I've stuck to these scents for a couple of years and on really special posh grown up occasions I use Vivienne Westwood Let it Rock. This perfume however has taken over as my day scent - it is a little different to the super sweet and fruity scents I normally go for at first, but the fragrance develops into a really light and sweet one. It is definitely a  new favourite.

Aromatherapy Associates Intensive Treatment Oil

A bottle of miracle oil that I don't want to ever run out of. I used to use Bio Oil for the stretchmarks and scars I have (from growing quickly on my hips to operation scars) but no difference was ever made and someone told me it is mineral oil, so doesn't actually do anything. This oil however is designed down the the last ingredient to treat scars. My stretchmarks are looking so much better these days and I am hoping will be practically gone by the time I go to Thailand!

hair

VO5 Volume Dusting Powder

I have previously bought the Schwarzkopf OSiS Dust it, Mattifying Powder form my hairdressers and I loved it in my college years where my volume was always ten times the size it probably should have been. These days volume is back and bouncing (I am going to review my favourite root raising products soon so look out for that) and this particular VO5 product has made the favourties list this month. Whenever I raid Juliette's cupboard (see more about her stash here) I hunt for this bottle of wondefullness and this month I invested. It's perfect for flat hair days and handbag size too.

KMS California Hair Play Playable Texture Spray

This product has become something I use every day. I have hair that goes frizzy and wavy with  a touch of static if I don't blow dry it and when I do blow dry it, it becomes flat and 'too straight' within half an hour. This spray ensures that whether I blow dry or not it works with me. I love it - I combine it with a lovely oil I'm going to post up to have a textured and smooth look (I'll show you what I mean later this week).

hands & nails

Nourish Skincare Anti-Ageing Argan & Kale Hand Cream

Never found myself looking for anti-ageing products but recently as I am officially out of my teens and into my adult years I find myself panicking about getting old and wrinkly. Given the benefits of this cream, especially with it's wonderful ingredient of Kale, (which I will expand on soon in an upcoming hand creams post - look out!) it is perfect for my mani regime and preventing me getting super old hands like my dear old mum. The scent also reminds me of climbing trees as a kid and biking around the woods - always helps with the anti-ageing process.

Sally Hensen Gel Cuticle Remover

You may have seen this product in the back of my nail posts or mentioned in them - but it is a new addition to my collection this month. I have a few oils and creams for my cuticles because they are terrible so I am always looking for new and wonderful ways to keep them prim and proper. This product is the best I've tried for removing cuticles during my mani process - it's definitely a keeper and so easy to use if you aren't a regular with cuticle removing.

Rimmel Matte Finish Top Coat

Having used GOSH's and George @ Asda's matte top coats in the past few months I have developed a love for them - it means there is no need for buying all your fave shades in a matte version, you can transform them with a quick coat of this polish. This one is my favourite because it isn't as thick as the others, but I would recommend GOSH's top coat too if you are looking to invest in a decent mattifying polish.

face

Aroma Actives Purifying Clay Mask

A down-priced collection by the wonderful makers of Aromatherapy Associates (a newly loved brand of mine you will see popping up here and there on curiousity), the Aroma Actives collection is full of treats. I particularly love this face mask, I've always been a fan of mud and clay on my face is appeals to my weak spots and works wonders on my skin. I am going to test it against another couple of my favourtie clay and mud masks to see which is truly the best and see what benefits they have, but for now this is the best one I own.

B. Brilliant Rich Colour Lip Gloss in Morello

Having not been brave enough in the past to try purple lipstick (and being ever loyal to my millions of red shades) this lippy has been in my draw for a little while waiting to be cracked open. I braved it the other day and asked the lovely people of my Facebook & Instagram world how it looked. It is now my new favourite shade of lippy. This one is quite a dark plum shade and I am going in the deep end with it (I don't do things by halves). If you aren't brave enough to go dark like me then try a lighter softer shade. If you have red hair, go for it because purple and orange are on opposite sides of the colour spectrum so they match perfectly :) 

there you have it, what are your new favourites this month? 

tube strike survival kit

Having suffered through the tedious (yet understandable) tube strikes of 2014 twice now, I have developed a bit of a knack for them. In fact yesterday I was an hour early to work and even though I felt so exhausted I thought I might pass out by 12 o clock - I felt there were some key essential items that really got me through this weeks strike. If you are dreading the three day stint they have planned for next week you may want to take my advice...

1st is food & water (the obvious)

The wonderful and deliciousso Volvic with a Touch of Strawberry really cheered me up and stopped me from fainting in the sweaty crowds of the carriages.

Food wise a breakfast bar or piece of fruit is easiest in the morning as you can eat it quickly whilst (if you are lucky and extremely strategic like me) sat on the tube or whilst stood waiting for one (or if you have the pleasure of having to do a 20 minute walk from Waterloo to Westminster like me (or similar) - scoff it then!

On the way home a yummy chocolate bar actually does cheer you up - it is true what they say about it releasing your happy hormones - and the sugar gives you a little rush to keep you going until you get home to the warmth of food in the oven and your cosy duvet wrapped around you.

2nd is a personalised first aid kit 

Now these items are some what first aidy and medical seeming in their advantages as well as essential for your journey. Once you have fed and watered yourself you need to consider A. Cleanliness - This is where the Carex Refreshing Handy Wipes come into play, also here an antibacterial hand gel or cream would be perfect (I hear Lanolips is launching a new one with aloe, I can't wait to take a whack at it because I hate the alco-gels that smell like the bottom of a vodka bottle) anyway the wipes are perfect for cleaning you up, or moping up the orange juice you got all over your hands from successfully peeling your nectarine on the go.

B. Falling to the floor because your head feels so sensitive newspapers are too loud. 4head - my miracle worker. My all time love and one of those motherly tricks I'll never forget. The tingling sensation makes your headache seem miles away without having to pop pills mid journey. It really helps in the morning when you feel like your head is going to fall off your shoulders, and in the evening when you feel totally out of balance.

C. Puffy eye syndrome. Another thing that helps you feel less like death at 6.30 in the morning, is the Nip & Fab Viper Venom Eye Fix - a cold eye roll on that stops your eyes from making your journey to Westminster stop at Stanmore, and makes your eyes look more Shakira than Puff Daddy...

3rd is the nice smelly beauty things

Vaseline with aloe vera smells nice, does the job on cuticles, lips and sore dry bits (like my nose atm) so HAS to go in the handbag whether there be a tube strike or not.

Speaking of cuticles, once you've cleaned your mucky mits up with your wipes or anti-bac be sure to keep them moisturised throughout your journey with some hand cream (if you have anti bac hand cream - well - two birds and all). This is one of my new fave hand creams (Soap & Glory Hand Food), mainly for the smell and lightness of it. It's like sticking marshmallows up your nostrils - not that I have ever done this but I know my brother has once upon a time, and the image just came into my head... - anyway, it smells nice so I recommend it for all you pink and pretty lovers out there.

Another pink and pretty essential is the I love... Strawberries & Cream Body Spritzer - obviously you need this for when you start to sweat and stink (or smell someone else start to sweat and stink), but you should also use a mist or spritzer on the tube or in crowds because deodorants and body sprays aren't fair on your neighbouring passengers with asthma (so I've learnt). This one smells like heaven in a bottle (reminds me of the strawberry and cream chubba chub lolly).

Take head, and do as I do and say and you will survive the tube strike too. What's in your survival kit?

how my prom make-up should have looked

Ever since my prom, this being all of 5 years ago give or take a few months, I have said that my make up was the worst it has ever been and it totally ruined my night. Well not totally, I still had an amazing time with my best friends and I may have cried, I can't remember, you know, having slept since then. So I am now dedicating a post to how I actually wanted it. There was never any thick green eyeshadow or pencil eyeliner under my eye or tranny eyelashes in the equation (never should have been!)..

before - apologies for looking so miserable

after - I've just now discovered my wonky lip

what I used

To achieve this simple (yet my favourite) look I used all the below products and steps :)

These are the brushes I used, I keep it simple obviously, with a flat small lippy brush, one big soft brush for all my facey needs and a small shadow brush for well .. shadowing. 

skin

To start I primed with my favourite new GOSH primer (see review here) Prime 'n' Set Powder (<<remember its a link). Next I used my new concealer - never been a concealer person, I don;t know why but I've never been able to get a good 'un until this beauty came into my life - 17 Stay Time 18 Hour Concealer. Next a light layer of my Max Factor Whipped Cream Foundation in Light Ivory (40) - also a new addition to my make-up bag but it's going so quickly which is a disadvantage next to the way it clumps on my hand but makes my skin look sooooo smooth and silky. Then I contour, highlight and blush with my Sleek Definition Kit (review also here). 

eyes - with another shot cause i care

I shade in my eyebrows with my new Shavata Brow Perfector Kit, I don't pluck or wax or do anything to my brows (I never have) I can't be bothered to make a fuss when I don't need to so I don't. All I do is give them so colour with a brow shadow (because they are invisible) - my new one is from Shavata and the shadows are cream and so go on my easier and quicker than a powder shadow. I then highlight my brow bone with my eyeshadow brush and a bit of highlighter from my sleek kit, after this I use my MUA Trio Eyeshadow in Innocence. Here I apply a generous amount of the white shadow, it has a lovely sheen to it - and then I give my self a light cut crease ( this is a darker shadow in a line under my brow bone) in the mid brown shade, then blend with the white (keeping it very sinples). I also apply white the the inner part of my eye by the bridge of my nose to highlight, and under my eye to widen them. Next comes a thick (but not too thick) liquid eyeliner line with a love flick at the outer edge (my favourite part of this look). My new liquid eyeliner is  the best I've had to date, it is B. by Superdrug B. Dramatic Liquid Eyeliner. It's a felt type pen, which is the best way to apply liner! I followed all of this with my BEST EVER mascara, Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam in Extreme Black (review here!) - I neatened up with my Urban Decay Supercurl Mascara brush because it is very spiky and great to seperate those annoying lashes you can't get to.

lips

I got very excited today and bought two MUA lipsticks for £1, one is in this look because its Matte and beautiful and I love it and the other is a deeper red (because mine is running out so it's totally justified). This one is actually MUA Matte Lipstick in Scarlette Siren, I used my lippy brush to neaten up the edges. 

The sequel to this post will be 'how my prom hair should have looked' ... See you soon :)