Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara

One of the newest offerings from Rimmel London this summer was the Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara and I've been itching to try it out. The sixties style advertising campaign really caught my eye, I love the wide eyed doll look which is what this mascara was promising. The hour glass shaped brush is supposed to work with the shape of your eye to evenly distribute the product whilst separating the lashes to help create a false lash look.

The retro glam mascara certainly delivers on it's promise of the appearance of longer lashes and to be honest I need all the length I can get! It also has to be one of the longest lasting mascaras I've tried and although it takes a while, once dry it doesn't crumble off after a few hours or smudge under the eyes. I'm not so sure it really thickens the lashes but it certainly makes lashes look darker which gives a fuller look. I have to say though that I didn't really find the hour glass shape of the brush to be any more helpful than other brushes in fanning out the lashes. However after a bit of practise I realised that you can use the thicker end of the brush to separate the lashes. Overall it's a great lengthening mascara which last well through out the day, what more could you want. 

The Retro Glam Mascara doesn't quite replace my love for the Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara but considering it costs half the price, I'd certainly be tempted to buy this mascara again.   

Available here for £4.99 for a limited time only, after which it will be £6.99.

25 Facts About Me

 

Seeing as I'm new at blogging I thought it might be nice for you all to get to know a little more about me. I don't know about you but I love reading these kinds of posts on other people blogs so here's 25 facts about me.

1. I've just turned twenty and it's pretty darn cool being a part of the grown up club.

2. I have an sister who is three years older than me. She is my best friend and general adviser on life.

3. I'm currently learning to drive, I've put it off for ages but I'm determined to have passed my test by the end of this year.

4. I'm definitely a pet person, I have a Dalmatian called Freddie and a cat called Archie and I love them to bits.

5. I'm half Scottish and half English/Kiwi. My mum is Scottish and my dad is English although he was born in New Zealand.   

6. I can do a mean Scottish accent and I especially love imitating my Mum. Och aye the noo!

7. I find it really difficult talking to new people and I worry I come across as rude but I'm just really shy.

8. Before the age of one I had lived in 4 different places. My Dad left the Navy when I was born so my parents moved around a lot until they found a place to settle.

9. My favourite fashion era is the 1950s, I really admire how much effort men and women put in to their appearance.

10. I've got three tentacle shaped scars on my arm from when I was stung by a jellyfish about 5 years ago on holiday. 

11. I'm at my most productive in the middle of the night which is when most of the writing on my blog happens.

12. I absolutely hate the heat. Don't get me wrong I love sunshine as much as the next person but heat/humidity gives me headaches and itchy heat rash so I get very grumpy.

13. A lot of my family lives half way across the world in Australia and New Zealand and I'm hoping one day I'll be able to go out and visit them.

14. I'm 5 foot 5 and have always wished I was taller. I've no idea why, I guess we always want what we can't have.

15. I have an addiction to Pickled Onion Monster Munch but I don't recommend eating them in public unless you have tic tacs at hand.

16. I don't have a middle name and other than my sister I've never met anyone else who doesn't have one.

17. I had violin lessons from the age of 7 but stopped when I was 14. If I were to pick up a violin now I think it would take me a while to remember how to play.

18. I had a complete obsession with the spice girls when I was younger and Spice World The Movie is still one of my favourite films.

19. I'm really claustrophobic and I'm currently trying to overcome my fear of lifts (elevators). I'd much rather take the stairs, even if it means trekking up ten flights! 

20. I walk really fast and am forever waiting for people to catch up with me.

21. I'm a huge animal lover and I hope that one day I will have a job that involves animals.
   

22. I absolutely love baking. For my sister's 21st birthday party I made 60 cupcakes, it took me 2 days but I loved every minute of it.

23. My favourite lesson at school was history and I really regret not taking it at GCSE.

24. I've never been drunk, I just don't like the taste of alcohol. However I'm always one of the first people up on the dance floor.

25. If I didn't pluck my eyebrows I would have a full on unibrow (Ha just thought I would throw that one in there, I'm proud of my bushy brows!)  

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me!

Bourjois Laser Manicure Toppings

Taking advantage of the recent deal on Bourjois products in Boots, I decided to buy one of the new Manicure Laser Toppings in 'Sun Scales', a gold/rose gold glitter polish. I have to say I'm not really a fan of glitter polishes, I love how they look but hate how difficult they are to get off your nails. However this glitter polish is a little different to others I've tried, instead of round pieces of glitter it contains thin strands of glitter. This makes it so much easier to remove from your nails than regular glitter polishes which is a big thumbs up from me! What's more it has a really easy to use flat brush which is perfectly shaped to evenly distribute the glitter across the nail so no more annoying clumps. I have to say I think it looks great used as an accent nail and will be perfect for parties or just for a little added glamour.

  

Base colour: E-nuf is E-nuf from Essie

New Bedroom Decor

It's been months in the planning but my bedroom is finally finished! I've been wanting to redecorate for ages seeing as my room's been the same since I was about 14 and my taste has changed significantly since then. I was starting to get sick of all the pink, not that I don't still love pink, but I just wanted something a bit different and  a bit more me.

If you've seen my previous post, you'll now realise that I went in a different direction to what I had previously planned. (If not you can read it HERE). I saw a picture of a bedroom in one of my Mum's interior magazines and straight away I was like 'That is what I want!'. The colour scheme I chose is aqua blue and white with coral as an accent colour and I don't think I could love it more! It's exactly what I wanted and I just have to say thanks to my Dad for helping me to put it all together! Although saying that, where were you when I decided to start stripping wallpaper on the hottest day of the year! Just kidding.      

The chevron print cushion I made myself (you can see a tutorial HERE) and the blue

cushions duvet cover and shelving units are all from Ikea. The colour on the walls is Javan Dawn 3 from Dulux. The colour changes throughout the day from aqua blue to more of a green blue which I absolutely love. The Sabrina Movie Poster Print is originally from TK MAXX and I 've had it for ages but I think it looks great above my new bed. 

These are the Expedit Shelving Units in white from Ikea with the grey drawer inserts which you buy separately. I've always wanted a wall of book shelves but sadly my room is just not big enough. However I love how I'm able to show off my favourite books and knick knacks and I think they look really great either side of my bed. 

   

Not much has changed with my dressing table, just a much need de clutter and a new chair which fits snugly underneath to free up much needed floor space. I've also since made another chevron print cushion for my new chair. Also, you might not even have noticed but I am definitely planning on replacing all the glass balls which have fallen off the drawer handles and nope I haven't been saying that for the past two years. 

  



The poster was a present from my Mum and Dad a few years ago when they visited Ronda in Spain. I've always loved it and the colours match perfectly with my new colour scheme. It's always just been stuck up on my wardrobe door but it definitely looks much better framed on the wall. Next to it is a reproduction print of an autographed Audrey Hepburn photograph which I love so much. Hopefully one day I'll be able to afford a real signed print of Audrey Hepburn. 

There's a few more things I'd like to do such as painting the opposite wall the same colour and I'll update this post as soon as it's finished.

OxJam Music Festival 2012

Last summer I had such an amazing time helping my sister to organise a music festival at one of the pubs in our village. Our aim was to raise money for charity and we decided to get involved with OxJam. OxJam is organised by Oxfam every year, the idea being that people around the UK organise their own local music events to promote local music talent and predominantly to raise money for Oxfam. Since the first Oxjam in 2006, more than 40,000 musicians have played to over 800,000 people at around 3,000 Oxjam events nationwide. Oxjam has raised more than £1.5 million in total for Oxfam: enough to buy 13,000 emergency shelters, 60,000 goats or 900 classrooms, which is pretty staggering really and it's amazing to know that we've been a part of that. In the end around 500 people turned up to our event which was a lot more than we were expecting and we managed to raise £1300.     

Let me tell you, organising an event entirely for free is not an easy task. At the beginning we were wary that performers may not be interested in performing for free but thankfully most of the people we contacted were really enthusiastic and willing to get involved. A lot of the success of the day was down to the amazing music talent we had playing throughout the day.

Another obstacle we had to over come was providing most of the sound and stage  equipment for performers. Sound equipment is expensive to rent so you can imagine with zero budget we weren't holding out much hope. But yet again we were pleasantly surprised at the generosity of local businesses wanting to help us out. It's so great to know that people are willing to do what they can to help you out.  

It was such a fantastic day and a great success all round. The response we had from people afterwards was incredible and it seems as if many people are looking forward to OxJam 2013! I haven't been as involved in organising this years OxJam music festival but my sister has been working her little butt off to pull it all together to make it even bigger and better and I can't wait! Look out for a post about this years OxJam in the near future!   

Have you attended any of your local OxJam events or maybe you are organising your own event? Let me know below! If not I would definitely recommend taking a look at their website http://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxjam.

Day Time Smokey Eye Look

 

I generally don't wear much eye make up during the day, just mascara and a flick of liquid eye liner if I'm feeling daring but today I felt a bit more experimental. I ended up creating a day time smokey eye look which is really wearable and definitely doesn't look too much for day time which was what I was afraid of.

The shadows I used were two I mixed together from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette to create a taupe brown and a dark grey shadow I used from the 'I'm Glam Therefore I am' Benefit palette. I kept the rest of my make up really simple using the bourjois cream blush in shade 03 on my cheeks, one coat of Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara and dabbed a small amount of the Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in Shade 110  on my lips as more of a stain.

I followed Lisa Eldridge's Classic Smokey Eye Tutorial which is really simple to follow along and you only need a couple of products. If you haven't already I would definitely recommend you have a look at more of her tutorials on her website www.lisaeldridge.com  or her youtube channel.

Easy Nail Art Using A Cocktail Stick

I did a little experimenting last night on my nails and I think it really paid off. I really wanted to do a leopard print design on my nails but couldn't find the nail art pens I would normally use. Instead I decided to use cocktail sticks and it was surprisingly easy to do and something which I will definitely do again. I just put a couple of drops of nail polish on to a piece of paper and used the pointed tip to draw on the nail. Here's a tip, if you find it difficult to paint your nails using your non dominant hand start with that hand because then you won't be so concerned about smudging the polish on your good hand and you can afford to be a little less careful.

For the pink nails I used: Barry M Nail Paint in Strawberry Ice Cream, TopShop Nail Polish in Subterfuge and Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Prickly Pear.  

For the blue nails I used: Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Blueberry, Nails Inc in Motcomb Street and Urban Decay Nail Polish in Love Train.

For the top coat I used 17 Nail Xtras Double Gloss Top Coat.

Bourjois Cream Blush

Another buy from Bourjois, this time the new Cream Blush in 03 Rose Tender. I had never owned a cream blush until I bought this so was very excited to try it out and I definitely wasn't disappointed.

Firstly on to the packaging which is the very familiar little round pot of blush synonymous with Bourjois. It's so cute and light weight, the perfect size to keep in your handbag and also includes a handy little mirror and new style magnetic closing.

As for the blush itself It's a pale pink when on the skin and a very natural flush of colour which gives a very healthy look. I like to apply it with my fingertips (you could just as easily use a brush) and was so impressed at how easy it was to blend out from it's cream consistency to powder for a natural look. It's incredibly long lasting and I haven't need to touch it up during the day but it's also buildable to transition from a day to evening look.

The only negative I can come up with about the Bourjois Cream Blush is that there is a very limited range of only three colours, but I'm sure Bourjois will be planning to bring out more colours of this very popular product. 

Available here for £ 7.99     

Have you tried any of the Bourjois Cream Blushers? Let me know what you think below!

Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon

Bourjois' Colour Boost Lip Crayons have been available for a couple of months but for some reason they never came up on my radar until now. A 3 for 2 offer on Bourjois products in Boots was all the fuel I needed to pick up one of these lip crayons.

I was really drawn to Orange Punch because of the vivid colour but also a little scared it would be too bright. Thankfully it's more of a subtle pink, orange colour on the lips which is really wearable. Normally I'm not brave enough to wear lipstick during the day so the sheer colour of this lip crayon is just perfect for me and perfect for the summer months. What's more Bourjois claims it's waterproof, spf 15 and provides 'a bare lip sensation'. I'm not sure I agree with the last claim, it feels quite sticky even half an hour after you've applied it and it definitely did not last 10 hours, BUT it does feel very moisturising and it stayed on relatively well when drinking and eating. 

There's an obvious comparison to the Clinique Chubby Sticks but overall I much prefer the price and colour pay off of the Bourjois Lip Crayons and I'm definitely considering buying the rest of the colours in the collection.

Available here for £7.99.       

Vibrant Vintage Style Bedroom

First row: Butterfly Art (Available here), Pink Trunk (Available here), Picture Frame (Available here)

Second Row: Blue Chair (Available here), Yellow Bed (Available here)

Last row: Desk Lamp (Available here), Pink Alarm Clock (find similar here), Floral Bedspread (no longer available), Duvet Cover (Available here)

                        

I really enjoyed my last interior post so I thought I'd do another! I LOVE these colours together and originally this was what I wanted when I was deciding to redecorate my bedroom. The only reason I decided against it was because it was too similar to what I already had and I really wanted a change. The look is vintage patterns and furniture in vibrant greens, blues yellows and pinks. I think it could look great with a statement colour on one wall, perhaps blue, with white on the rest of the walls. What's great about this look is that there are so many great buys in the shops at the moment as it's such a popular look so you can get some really great bits and pieces for not much money. Also it would be pretty easy to incorporate this look in to your current colour scheme.