Beauty and the Biryani is 3! Time for a Giveaway!

Bonjour!

Yep ... 3 years ago (give or take a day!) I published my first post (on the iconic Philip Kingsley Elasticizer - just in case you were wondering!). And here I am 3 years later  - still waffling on - can hardly believe it!  Talking about beauty (and music) gets me ever so excited at times (I know I'm weird but hey ... I'm old enough to embrace it now!).  I certainly don't get to 'hit that spot' at work (pensions admin - let's all yawn together now shall we!) - so the blog has been a way to unleash myself on you poor souls and get it all out there and as Bow Wow Wow once sang ... Go Wild In The Country! (Youngsters will have to google this!)

I still get a kick out of every new follower and it may seem a bit corny but I need to say a big thank you to everyone who reads, comments (apart from the dodgy ones of course!) and comes back for more of the madness - it is very much appreciated!  With all of the above in mind ... I've decided to hold a little celebratory giveaway - haven't had one since last year so I reckon a 3rd blog birthday is as good a time as any!  Here's what you can win ...

Illamasqua Multi Facet Palette in Semblance ... I love the look of this palette (I wanted to keep it for myself but I'm being good/generous/mad and giving it away instead!) it includes products for eyes and cheeks to create a variety of looks. Obviously I'm unable to swatch myself but you can take a look at a full description and swatches here.  

To enter just complete Rafflecopter below (entries will be checked). The Giveaway will run until 23 May 2015 and is open internationally. Please obtain permission from an adult if you are under 18.  A winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter and contacted by email.  If no response is received within 7 days another winner will be chosen.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and May The Force Be With You!

Jen x

Makeup Revolution Blush & Contour Palette in Hot Spice - Review

Bonjour!

As it was Valentine's Day yesterday I had to share one of my current loves ... the Makeup Revolution Blush & Contour Palette in Hot Spice.  Bought it back in September and been using it loads ever since ...

It comes in a sleek black case with a mirrored lid and consists of  8 pans, a mixture of matte and shimmer in shades from darker to lighter, some more warm peach and some more of a pink tone, 1 baked blush and 1 baked highlighter (on the right there). Because of the range of colours I can see this palette being suitable for most skin tones.   The blushers have a lovely texture and the pigment is crazy (once on they last for hours and hours!) so you only need to touch your brush to the pan - any more and you'll end up looking Aunt Sally!   I'm not very good at this contouring lark and have only really had a bit of a go with the top left hand corner pan but as these shades are on the warm side I mostly just sweep from apple to temple, sometimes it's a matte, sometimes a shimmer and sometimes add a bit of highlight - I couldn't tell you which is my favourite, I like them all!

Swatches ... top row on the left and bottom row on the right ...

And on the kite ...

This has been my go-to palette for the last few months - a pop of warm peach really helps wake up the complexion on these cold, grey mornings and keeps me from looking too much like an extra from The Walking Dead!  Hot Spice is excellent value for money considering it's priced at £6.00 and the quality is amazing.  I may have just put in a cheeky order for a couple more bits from Makeup Revolution - there may be another palette or two on it's way!

What do you think of the Hot Spice palette?  Have you tried any products from Makeup Revolution?

Jen x

Laura Geller Baby Cakes Baked Blush Palette - A Firm Favourite!

Bonjour!

I bought my Laura Geller Baby Cakes Baked Blush Palette a couple of years ago  from QVC.  I've mentioned it before with a view to 'Shopping my Stash' but I'm so into it I thought it deserved a little post of it's own!

I've been a fan of Laura Geller baked products (especially her blushers) for a while now. They start off as creamy liquid pigments, are baked (in Italy I believe) for 24 hours and formed into compact domes. These blushers have the most amazing silky texture - soft as a baby's bottom, glide on effortlessly, are extremely blendable and packed with those crazy pigments - so much so that you have to remember to go easy on application! This particular palette comprises one matte blush  - Sugar Free Raspberry and three shimmer blushes, Pink Grapefruit, Golden Apricot and Sunswept - when I say 'shimmer' I'm not going down the big chunks of glitter route, but more of a subtle, gleaming affair, makes you look healthy and glowing (not in a sweaty way!). You can restrain yourself and use just one of the colours at a time or swirl the brush very lightly round a couple or even the whole lot to create a lovely mix!

You know when at first you hold off using a product because it works so well and you don't want to use it all up too quickly? Well, I'm past all that now and have been wearing these blushes for work and nights out (unfortunately the former being the more frequent activity!) - they are so long lasting, applied in the morning they last for much of the day with hardly any need to touch up! I wondered whether this was a bit pricey when I bought it at around £23, but looking back it's been well worth the money and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. Sadly I don't think it's available in this combination over in the UK at the moment so will have to bide my time!

Have you tried any Laura Geller Baked Blushes? What's your favourite palette?

Jen x

What the Haul.....? #1

Morning!

So where does this 'haul' thing come from I wonder - I mean - who was the first blogger to use the term and why - was it because they purchased so many items that they had to 'haul' them all home...?

Anyway ... just thought I'd share a few goodies recently purchased...

Took advantage of the recent MUA offer - bought my £8.00 worth of product (actually all came to £8.50 but who's complaining?)

MUA Nail Varnish in Frozen Yogurt - £1.00
MUA Extreme Volume Mascara in Black - £2.00
MUA 3 in 1 Contour Pen in Gunmetal - £1.50
MUA 12 Shade 'Undressed' Eye Shadow Palette - £4.00

I've been wanting to get hold of the 'Undressed' palette for a while but it's always sold out in my local Superdrug, looking forward to using this, it's a firm favourite with many bloggers - some lovely soft colours in there.  Swatches and reviews to follow (I won't be opening the mascara for a while yet - I don't think I need explain further...!).

And with the above products received a free 24 shade Immaculate Collection palette. Not that I need any more eye shadows but it was just too good an offer to resist! Some really lovely colours in this palette too - I imagine something for almost every occasion.  I really need to get back into my singing again and organise a few gigs - then I could really go to town ...smokey eyes, shimmery eyes, the world could be my eye make-up oyster.....!

Anyway - back to life/back to reality and a couple of offers on in my local Sainsburys  -

Dirty Works Bye Bye Dark Circles under-eye concealer - this was on offer in my local store - reduced from £4.99 to £3.32 so I grabbed it.  Not used it yet - but I always need a bit of help with dark-circles so let's see how I go on - will report back in due course.

Dirty Works You Soft Touch Hand Cream - selected Dirty Works products appear to be on offer at half price both instore and online so this was reduced from £2.99 to £1.49. I've not tried this hand cream before - the ingredients include Cocoa Butter and Jojoba Oil - it rubs in really easily and leaves hands feeling soft and conditioned but not greasy and with a very subtle cocoa butter scent. Now that the colder weather is here I'll be going through hand cream like cold water, so think I'll try and get another of these whilst it's on offer.

And how could I resist?  On offer at '3 for £12.00' - it would have been rude to ignore this lot...!

What would be your preference - red, white or rose?  Think I prefer white or rose but I do like a glass of red with selected meals!  Of course my hubby isn't nearly as fussy - good job seen as he ends up drinking most of  everything we get in!

So...any thoughts on the origins of the 'haul' type thing?  Who drinks the most in your house?


Jen x

MUA Bronze/Blush Palettes!

Morning!

You may be aware of the current Superdrug/MUA offer - 2 for £4.00 on selected MUA Professional - the choice is between 3 different blush/bronze palettes and/or several eyeshadow sets.


After much indecision (my friends will tell you I'm the most indecisive girl on the planet!) I ended up with these two palettes - Mosaic Bronzer/Sunkissed Glow and Mosaic Blush/English Rose. 

As you can see both the blush and bronze are made up of different sectors of colour - light, medium, dark,  and shimmer - which can be swirled together for a really pretty look.  I imagine you could carefully pick out a couple of shades with a smaller brush if you so desired or could avoid certain sectors if you wanted something more matt or shimmery! I just swirled my brush around the entire palette for these swatches.

I ended up photographing my hand inside and outside on this particular day because the sun was going in and out and it was doing my head in!

Inside with sun shining in - bronzer on top/blush below  

Outside with sun out - bronzer on left/blush on right

Back inside in shade - bronzer on left/blush on right 

Obviously I wouldn't wear this much product on my face, but I just wanted to show the difference between the two palettes. I'm an olive skintone, as you may know and both these were suitable on my kite. I only needed a small swirl because they do colour up quite nicely!  I wore the blush to work and avoided the shimmer aspect, as far as possible, for obvious reasons and used the entire bronzer on a night out when I wanted a bit of sparkle! I'm liking both of these and at £2.50 each you can't go wrong, even better with the current offer!

I can see these two coming away on holiday with me this year!

Have you picked up any MUA from Superdrug lately?

Jen x