NOTD: Barry M Pure Turquoise

I'll start by telling you that I actually bought this shade by mistake... Whoops. I actually wanted the powder blue shade, but a combination of the harsh lighting in Boots and me not feeling well at all (kidney infection, now almost departed) led to me choosing this one by mistake. I actually really like it though; it's vivid, long-lasting and gives great coverage with just one coat. One thing I don't like - on the base, it says "pure torquoise". Call me stupid if I'm wrong, but isn't it spelt "turquoise"?!


Here it is on my fingers;

I picked up the powder blue shade today (think it's called Blueberry Ice Cream) so I'll report back shortly!

Baking

I love baking cakes, and as today was the annual family barbecue I had a perfect excuse to get in the kitchen and beat the living daylights out of some cake batter. Trouble is, I decided to bake at 12pm and we had to be out of the house by 12.45pm. Cue me running to Tesco to buy eggs, then dashing back to make cake batter more quickly than I've ever done before. Cakes were in the oven by 12.15pm, out at 12.30pm, cooled by 12.40pm and iced/jammed by 12.45pm. Result! The speed explains why the cakes are a bit messy, but I got away with it by calling them "rustic"... They went down a treat, but we made sure to keep two back (each) for supper tonight. Here's a picture;

Yum.

NOTD: Barry M Coral

I'll start this post with a FACT: I LOVE Barry M nail polishes. They have a huge range of colours, are readily available, are long-lasting and, best of all, they are really cheap! I actually don't mind paying a lot for nail polishes as I prefer to buy things that last and find that, generally, the more expensive the nail polish, the better it is. But Barry M is definitely an exception to the rule, and therefore I have lots of BM nail polishes in my collection.


I bought today's polish at Bristol airport at the start of the month, it was one of two I bought at they were 2 for £5 in Superdrug so it would have been rude not to indulge... The shade is "Coral - 296" and I bought it as to me it is summer in a bottle. I chose to apply it this morning as summer has all but disappeared in the Midlands and I wanted to be reminded of sunnier times! Please excuse back-to-front photo, for some reason my computer takes mirror-image photos! Also, please excuse my face - I got rained on!

New dress!

I went shopping in my town-of-birth, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Friday and came home with 200g of toffee bonbons and a gorgeous Fever dress (Cezanne side lace style). I've been eyeing up this dress for ages online, but didn't buy it as I thought it was a bit expensive and also because friends had told me that Fever sizes come up small and I wasn't sure which size to order, so I was really pleased when I saw it in a tiny boutique shop in Stratford (Aspire Style, www.aspirestyle.co.uk) and was able to try it on. I was even more pleased when I saw it had 50% off, so was on sale for £34.50! I found that the sizing was pretty standard actually, I am pretty much always a size 10 and the size 10 dress fitted me perfectly, especially with the ribbon ties at the waist which enabled me to take it in a little. I'm planning on saving this for a wedding in October, but we'll see how that goes...


Here's a quick picture, courtesy of the Aspire website;

Also, if you're ever in Stratford I urge you to go to this fabulous shop; not only does it sell clothes, but it sells gorgeous jewellery, cards, gifts, bags and even shoes - everything a girl could ever need, apart from good books and a gin and tonic with ice. Perfect!

NOTD: Topshop Parma Violet

I've always loved Parma Violets, so when Topshop released a nail polish with the same name, I just had to buy it, especially as I have a bit of a thing for pastel nails! 

Here's a (terrible) picture of it on my nails;

It's a gorgeous colour in the bottle, a sort of bluish lilac. The first coat is very translucent and quite patchy, but don't be put off - the second coat makes all the difference. It's very easy to apply (quite a nice size brush, unlike some other brands) and it is long-lasting - I've been wearing it without a topcoat for four days now and it's only chipped once (middle nail, you can see it in my photo). It costs £5 for 8ml, so it's good value too. 


I have four of the Topshop shades now (plus the matte topcoat) and will definitely be buying more!

Make-up Review: Topshop Skin Tint

Like many others, I was very excited when Topshop released their much-anticipated make-up range earlier in the year. Unfortunately, none of my local branches stock it (they are tiny) and I don't like ordering make-up online if I haven't tried it before so I had to wait a while before I could try any of it. I bought a few products when I visited Bath a couple of months ago, and a couple more in Glasgow at the end of July and have been impressed with the quality - I'm a MAC girl normally, so it's nice to find products on a similar level (in my opinion) but which aren't quite as expensive.


The first product I'd like to review is the Skin Tint, which I bought after reading many good reviews online. I alternate between using foundation (MAC Studio Tech) and tinted moisturiser (Benefit You Rebel Lite) and thought this would be a good compromise! I have fairly pale skin (MAC NW15/20) and ended up buying the palest shade, called "fair". I really liked the look of the product, and was impressed by the price (£10). 

Picture courtesy of www.topshop.com

Good points; 
* the packaging is lovely
* lovely consistency
* blends well
* long-lasting
* good value for money.


Bad points; 
* not a great colour match owing to the fact that there are only four shades (whilst I am pale, I am certainly not the palest person I know, so there's no option for very pale people, and there are also no options for black skin and I'm not sure if the available colours would work on Asian skin)
* leaves a sheen on the skin which I don't like and end up covering with mattifying powder.


So, although I don't hate the product, I don't think I'll be buying it again. If the colour match was perfect, I'd reconsider though as it's good for days when I don't want the full coverage of a foundation.


3/5.

Skincare Review: Trilogy Vital Moisturising Cream

I must admit that until I purchased a subscription to InStyle magazine and received a free gift containing their products, I had never heard of Trilogy. However, I have been using their moisturiser (and cleanser, review to follow) since July and have been really impressed with it, so much so that I am considering purchasing more of their skincare items. 


The moisturiser I received was the Vital Moisturising Cream, which came in a really nice glass pot that looks lovely on the bathroom shelf. 

Picture courtesy of www.trilogyproducts.com

The Trilogy website says this about the product;


"Our most popular daily moisturiser provides pure and immediate nourishment and hydration for all skin types.

Perfect for most skin types this ultra-nourishing cream deeply hydrates and protects skin. Made from a blend of 12 of nature's most beneficial botanical actives including Rosehip, Evening Primrose and Orange Flower, this lightweight and fast-absorbing cream assists healthy skin renewal and helps minimise signs of ageing."

Sounds great, yes? When I read the list of ingredients, I expected the product to have a lovely smell, but it is actually almost fragrance-free - not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. The cream is quite thick, but sinks in incredibly quickly and doesn't leave my skin greasy - no mean feat as I have very oily (and sensitive, lucky me) skin. Immediately after application, my skin feels smoother and looks slightly brighter. I've had no breakouts since using it, which is excellent as moisturisers tend to give me spots or soreness. My only complaint is that when I wear it, my make-up doesn't seem to last as long as it does on days when I don't wear it. For this reason, I have been using this cream at night only.

It can be purchased from http://www.trilogyproducts.com/ and costs £24 for a 60g jar (which lasts a long time).

I'd give this product a 4/5 and, as I said before, I'll be looking into other products in the Trilogy range in the next couple of months.

New day, new blog...

Hello and welcome to my new blog! I've had blogs in the past, but have never got past the six-month stage for some reason, call it a lack of commitment I suppose... I decided it was time to start a long-term and purposeful relationship with a blog, but didn't feel that I could do this with my old one as I wouldn't know how to apologise to it for the months of neglect...


Anyway, I'm going to use this one for product reviews mostly, but I'm sure I'll also fill its pages with pictures of things I want and you can pretty much guarantee that there will be posts full of my inane thoughts and ramblings too. Maybe even some science, I do love a bit of science.


So, here goes...