Friday, April 23, 2010

Cute Topshop jewellery haul

I normally don't buy jewellery from topshop as I've thought them to be a tiny bit overpriced, but they were having a big sale and I couldn't resist having a look.

I found loads of gorgeous things, I have to put a few back to stop myself from going a buying crazy. I found that even the non-sale items were fairly reasonably priced. For non special occasions, I like to go for really cute and pretty jewellery, including bows and cupcakes.


I think almost all the items above were on sale. Topshop also stocked this beautiful brand of jewellery called 'Orelia'. I was drawn to their display like a moth to a flame as their jewellery was both eclectic and so pretty at the same time. I also like their packaging, which had a slight vintage feel.


Below is a cupcake necklace I was so excited to find:





I also got a gift for a friend of mine. She really likes statement jewellery, so hopefully she likes this!


I would never be able to pull of wearing this necklace like my friend can.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Guerlain FOTD

Looking through my makeup kit I've realised I have enough Guerlain products to do a FOTD with them.



What I love about is Guerlain that it's a really old company, founded ages ago in 1828. I'm not sure when they started producing makeup, but I do know that I really adore this brand. Their eyeshadows are beautiful, really silky with a touch of shimmer.

The products I've used for the FOTD are shown below. Not all are from Guerlain:


Face:

Guerlain L'OR Radiance Concentrate with Pure Gold

Skinfood Mushroom BB Cream

Guerlain Blush 4 Eclats in Rose Vent 05

Eyes:
Guerlain Ombre Eclat in Bal de Minuit
MUFE Aqua Eyes in 2L
Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Mascara

Lips:
Guerlain Rouge G inBianca B21


I used the Radiance Concentrate as a base under my skinfood BB cream.




It contains gold particles to create a nice radiant glow. The gold particles seem so extravagant that I have been pondering weather to buy it for a long time. Now I'm glad I did as i love it so much. I sometimes quite like to use it on its own.

My skin with both Guerlain base and BB cream:



For the eyes, I used a Guerlain palette in Balm de Minuit, a very neutral but pretty palette:



I used the pearly white shade to highlight under my brow bone, and the pale peachy-beige shade over the upper lid:


I then used the light browny-grey shade over the eye socket, and the dark brown shade on the bottom portion of the upper lid as well as the outer corners of the lower lid:


I'm trying out a pair of circle lenses here. My eyes are not used ot wearing them yet, but they make my eyes look alot bigger!


I tightlines my upper eyelid with brown eyeliner, followed by mascara on my lashes.
I used a peachy pink colour to blush my cheeks:

And a pale rose colour on my lips:
That complete's my Guerlain FOTD:

I'm quite liking the circle lens!


Here's a NOTD thrown in. This is my first and only Dolce and Gabbana nail polish. It's in Nude 210. I really like how this colour goes with all the colours of this season (well it goes with any colour really, seeing as it's nude!) The nail polish was really easy to apply, and needed a couple of coats to get the desired colour.


Friday, April 16, 2010

MAC Pro Longwear Lipstain Markers & Liberty of London Beauty Powder

Just a quick post about a mini MAC haul. I've been to MAC recently to check out their latest limited edition collections. I came home with an item their Liberty of London collection, as well as several of their new pro longwear lipstain markers:


The Liberty of london item that I bought was their beauty powder in Shell Pearl. I just love the foral and bird print on the casing! This design was based on an old Liberty & Co. fabric print.


I really do love this beauty powder. I've read some good reveiws about it, and couldn't wait for it to come to the UK. Shell Pearl is a beautiful pale peach with gold pearl.



Hopefully, you can see in the swatch below that it gives a nice glow without being too shimmery. I use this beauty powder as a blush on days when I want a really natural look. It's also great for highlighting due to its glow:



I've been excited about the Pro Longwear Lipstain Markers eversince I've first heard about them. I love lipstains, and the maker pens make them so fun to use. I bought them in the colours; Full of Flare, Puposefully Red, and A Classic.



Below are lip swatches of my new lipstain markers.

Full of Flare:


- a bright coral


Purposefully Red:


- a nice vibrant red colour


A Classic:
- a rosy red (sorry the pic is so dark.. I ran out of natural light)

The markers were pretty easy to use. However, I found that they tend to stain the dryer parts of my lips more, making the colour slightly unevenly distributed on my lips. The colours are great though, for when i'm in a mood for something more vibrant on my lips.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Husband and I go hiking

A non beauty related post...the sun's come out! It seems like everyone in England is enjoying the outdoors. My husband and I have restarted one of our favourite past times - hiking through the English countryside.

Last weekend's hike started at Lyme Park in the Peak district. Lyme Park consists of a large Grade 1 listed mansion surrounded formal gardens and a deer park. Our hike took us out of the park and over some hills of the Peak District, so we didn't get to see any deer.

This is my husband in his hiking gear.


Five minutes into our hike, we realised that our clothes were matching in every way. I have the ladies version of his boots, vest and bag. Our trousers are the exact same colour, and our sunglasses are horrifyingly similar. I must stress that this is all unintentional, we did not plan to dress like twins.


The hike was great as the weather was beautiful...


... and so was the scenery


The hike brought us through a couple of farms. We came across these lovely cows. It's enough to turn me vegetarian. My husband thinks I'm a wierdo, but I do find cows very beautiful. They have very soulful eyes.

Us (me), happy to see the cows:



Anyway, near the end of the hike we turn back into Lyme Park. In the park there is big hill with a three story building called 'The Cage'. Built around 1735 as a banqueting house, it's since been used as an observation tower, lodging for gamekeepers, and as a prison for poachers. you can see the Cage at the top of this hill. (I have to say, i thought the hill was alot steeper than it looks in this pic!)


It's occasionally opened for visitors, but sadly not when we were there. You can see they sky starting to turn pink in the background.


At the bottom of the hill is the mansion I mentioned earlier. We didn't go inside as it was closing by the time we got there. We were looking abit scruffy and muddy anyway, so we gave that a miss.


Us looking tired and scruffy at the end of the hike:



I thought I'd finish with this picture. It's not one taken from this hike. It was one taken about a month ago when we went hiking with our friends. This hike was terrible. We ended up desperately lost and completely reliant on a compass that cost under a pound. As we spent 6 hours being lost, I took the opportunity to take lots of pics. This is one of my favourites, showing my husband and our friends in the distance, morale plunging, with the sun beginning to set.


Saturday, April 10, 2010

Sakura Inspired FOTD

Finally it's springtime! And around this time Cherry Blossoms are beginning to bloom. The sakura cherry blossoms are incredibly beautiful. I'm going to Japan this spring/summer, but sadly I'll miss the blossoming!


Anyway, in the spirit of Sakura and springtime, I've decided to do a fresh looking FOTD using spring colours of green, pink and peach.



The products used for this look is shown below:


Face:
Skin79 The Oriental Gold BB Cream
MAC Cremeblend Blush - so sweet so easy (Mac in lillyland)
MAC Cream Colour Base - Luna

Eyes:
Paul and Joe Eye Colour Primer - 01
MAC Eyeshadow - Pearlmatte (Mac in lillyland)
MUFE Aqua Eyes Eyeliner - 2L
Clinique High Lengths Mascara (not shown in pic - oops)

Lips:
Chanel Rouge Coco - Gardenia 13
Shu Uemura Gloss Unlimited - RD133S

This is the BB cream I am wearing:


This BB cream has a fairly thick consistency and provides light to medium coverage. It has a light floral scent which I love. What I like most about this BB cream is that it gives a nice glowing finish, with no need for powder to set. The coverage is light enough to let enough of my real skin show through, for a natural look.


I then applied a tiny amount of the MAC colour base in Luna to my cheeks to highlight my cheekbones, followed my the MAC cremeblend blush on the apples of my cheeks.



On my eyes, I used the MAC pearlmatte.



After applying the Paul and Joe eye colour primer, I used the pearly white shade all over the upper lid. I then used the spring green colour on my upper eyelid, and lined the lower eyelid with the pink.


I then added a touch of brown eyeliner, followed by mascara:




On my lips, I used Chanel's new Rouge Coco in Gardenia. It gave a really pretty pale petal pink colour.



I applied Shu Uemura's gloss unlimited on top for extra shine, and to deepen the colour.




Here's the finished sakura inspired FOTD. I wore a peach dress to match:




To finish this spring look I've added a sweet pink NOTD, using Essie nail colour in Princess Pink.