Dizzybrunette3

My New Favourite Fake Tan: Xen- Tan Dark Lotion Review

2012-02-26T16:33:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

If you've been reading my blog for a while you will know I'm a little tan obsessed. I'm what you'd call a tanorexix, I hate being pale and luckily in the summer I tan well naturally but in the winter I like to keep the bronzed glow up so I turn to fake tan. I've used so many fake tans over the years but one that I'd always wanted to try was Xen-Tan. Raved about by so many of my favourite bloggers, and known for having some of the darkest fake tans around, I knew Xen- Tan would be right up my street. So one day I had a little impulse splurge and bought Xen-Tan's Dark Lotion from Feel Unique. I'd always been convinced that Xen-Tan was really expensive but you get 236 ml for £17.99 where as my other fake tan St.Tropez you were getting 120 ml for £20.00 so a big difference in value there.

Xen-Tan boasts that their Dark Lotion gives you a natural olive tan that can last up to ten days. When I read this, I was like 'alight then we will see how long this lasts.' The majority of fake tans I've used tend to last five days before going patchy and fading, I was interested to see how Xen-Tan's dark lotion fared to the claims. But before all of that let's talk application.... The bottle has a pump dispenser which means applying is made so much easier, you can measure out how much you want for each limb so for example 2 pumps for a full leg, 1 pump for your arm and then layer till you reach your desired shade. Having the 'darker the better' motto I applied about two/three layers and was happy with the result. The lotion is easy to apply, it has a guide colour so you see where you've missed and it smells so much better than other fake tan I've used. It smells of marzipan which I'll admit I'm not a fan of to eat but the smell is a lot nicer than the usual potent fake tan smell. Also the next day I didn't reek of biscuits, I smelt normal which was brilliant as I always feel a little conscious that when at uni people can smell my fake tan! I applied this with a mitt as I always do to avoid orange hands and I mixed a half pump in with some gradual tanner for my face and hands. I then popped on my fake tanning onesie and left the dark lotion to develop in my sleep, in my opinion the longer you let it develop.. the better.

On the left we have me on day 1 of wearing Xen Tan's Dark Lotion and on the right we have me looking like a tit but on day 6 of wearing Xen Tan and I think I'm still looking pretty tanned!

So once I'd had a shower, I was seriously impressed with the colour, it was a natural colour that looked like the colour I go when I tan naturally. I was impressed with my face though, as tanners don't usually work on my face that well but woah.. I looked like I was from a different ethnic descent! I know from now on to only put a teeny tiny bit on my face! But what I've most been impressed with is the longevity of Xen Tan's Dark Lotion, one week on, I've not got any patchy areas and I still feel tanned which is impressive in my eyes especially as I tend to have two showers a day. Seriously impressed with Xen Tan's Dark Lotion as I seriously think it may take the crown of my new favourite fake tan. Over all I'm really impressed with Xen Tan's Dark Lotion, it layers really well and gives you a natural colour that does last a week. But keep in mind I do moisturise twice a day so this may of helped the longevity of my tan. Though the only thing is now I'm craving more Xen Tan products... after a weekend spent watching the first and second season of Geordie Shore, I'm channelling my inner geordie and wanting Xen Tan's darkest fake tan Absolute Luxe...

Have you ever used Xen Tan? What did you think? I'd recommend getting Xen Tan from Feel Unique as that's the cheapest I've seen it and the delivery is free and my products came within a couple of days, you can find more information about Xen Tan on their official website here..

I hope you've all had a good weekend, like I mentioned above mine has been real productive as I've spent most of it watching Geordie Shore, I've watched so much of it that now whenever I think it's in a Geordie accent! Think that's a sign to wean myself off it! Hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening..

*I bought this product with my own money.

Playing Coy: Topshop Coy Lipstick/Pencil

2012-02-24T16:37:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I am quite a fan of Topshop make up and I am currently going through a phase of LOVING their cream blushes. Flush is my current favourite which is a bright barbie pink but when browsing the make up stand in my local Topshop the other day (which is never a good thing because you just get tempted) I came across Coy lipstick/ lip pencil. I've seen this on many of my favourite blogs mainly Anna and Laura's, and after seeing it on Laura quite recently I made a mental note of needing it in my life at some point. After swatching it, I dashed to checkout and before I knew it the bad boy Coy was mine!

Coy is ultimately a lipstick but it comes in the form of a pencil which is a little odd for a lip pencil colour newbie like myself, the colour is a peachy pink which just screams spring time but it's very matte and quite drying. I find that I have to take a good five minutes applying this as if you rush it I find it doesn't look great. My lips don't get particularly dry or chapped but even so Coy manages to high light any flaw, so I always prep my lips before with a little lip balm and then put a gloss/lip balm over the top to avoid the chalky matte look. Difficult application aside I am loving Coy, it's such a pretty colour that can be toned down or applied quite heavily for quite a bright look. I've been loving pairing it with my Sweet Kiss Love Heart lip balm from MUA and keeping my eye make up quite simple so that my lips do all the talking. I was sure I'd heard this was being discontinued but it's still online, so worth getting if you like bright lips but not too bright if you get me. I also love the fact that this colour stays on your lips for quite a few hours, probably due to the formula. Yesterday when shopping I just kept applying lip balm over the top for a pretty muted peach look. This is also looks great with a tan so I can't wait to wear this in the summer :)

I've been pairing Coy with a peachy pink blush, in these pictures it's Topshop's Cream Blush Flush with Maybelline dream matte mousse blusher in Peach.

Overall £7.00 well spent and a new staple in my lip department. You can get Coy from topshop online here and it's half price delivery at the moment too :) What's your favourite spring lip colour?

I hope you all have a great Friday, I need to get off my bum and tidy my flat as it's doing my head in! I hope your Friday evenings are a lot more exciting :)

Spring Bloom: Motel Rocks OOTD

2012-02-23T18:39:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

How nice was today? It was really warm for this time of the year and I was loving it! I got very excited that warmer weather and lighter evenings are on their way so I celebrated by wearing my new Motel Rocks playsuit to do some shopping. When I saw this playsuit on Motel Rocks' website I instantly fell in love with it, the bright floral print and the shape were completely up my street. I fell even more in love with it when I received it and it fitted like a glove. It's really comfy to wear and I felt nice and summery with it on today :) at the moment I'll be rocking it with tights but come the summer this will be rocked with bare legs and flip flops/sandals. Summer can literally not come quick enough!

Jacket: Miss Selfridge

Playsuit: Motel Rocks*

Tights: Primark

Have you been getting into the summer mood? Remember you can get 15% off at Motel Rocks by entering the code Topblog15 :) I hope you all have a lovely evening :) I think mine will be spent looking for jobs for when I finish uni... how exciting ;)

*PR Samples

VIDEO: My Nail Polish Collection

2012-02-21T14:00:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I don't know if it really comes across anymore on my blog but I am a massive nail polish addict. When I first started Dizzybrunette3 I would religiously post my nails of the week but soon I started to repeat colours and the posts gradually stopped. Now nail posts seem to be quite few and far between so I guess my nail polish addiction can sometimes be unknown. I'd had a lot of requests on Youtube to film a video showing my nail polish collection and how I store them. So here it is, fifteen minutes all about polish!

My favourite brands of polish have to be Models Own and Barry M and beat any high end polish in my mind. I hope that if you like nail polish you like this video and thought I'd pop this up on here too as I don't think I've ever really spoke about my nail polish collection before! Maybe I'll start doing more nail posts again!

You can subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE and I also want to just say a big thank you to anyone who watches my videos and leaves lovely comments. I sometimes get a bit put off Youtube as there are so many snide people ready to leave comments that leave you feeling a little bit poo so it's always nice to read nice ones of you lot :) I hope you enjoy the video and have a great Tuesday :)

Rediscovering an old love: Maxfactor False Lash Effect Mascara

2012-02-20T17:52:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

With being a beauty blogger I can be quite fickle when it comes to beauty products, one minute I'm saying I love a product but when it's used up, I find myself looking for a better alternative. I always think there's something better out there just waiting for me to try it. One product that I like to chop and change with is mascara's, there's so many on the market that all claim to do different things it would be a shame to not try out every one. I rarely re-purchase mascara's and the other week I re-purchased Maxfactor's popular False Lash Effect mascara after a two year break and even then it was only bought because Boots were offering a advantage card points deal with every purchase. Though once I got this home and started using it again I did wonder why I'd gone looking for better alternates and was reminded this was one of the better mascaras that I've used. Retailing at £10.99 this is a pretty pricey drugstore mascara but in my opinion it's worth the couple of pounds extra when compared to it's opponents on the high street. It has a big plastic wand which usually I don't like but because the wand is quite big I think it works quite well, it also has little bristles which separate the lashes to give you a false lash effect. Curling your lashes before is a must and I've really been enjoying using this mascara again, it's also great for the bottom lashes as it grabs each one thanks to the bristles.

I know this isn't a very technical review but I don't really know what else to say, this mascara works and I got the gold version which are limited edition to mark the Olympics this year, I'm not even that bothered by the Olympics but I thought the gold was prettier than the usual black version. I also wanted to get this post up so I could alert you all about a special Lash Hour which Maxfactor are holding tomorrow morning (Tuesday 21st February) Taking part at 11am (bit of a funny time which unfortunately I'll be in uni for) Maxfactor are celebrating the Lash effect mascara success with having a hour full of chat about all things lashes. The hash tag to join in with the chat is: #MFLovesLashes and there's going to be tips from make up artists and Maxfactor will be giving out 100 mascaras during the hour for the best tweets. It's definitely worth checking out if you're free at that time and tweeting any lash related questions you may have and be in the chance with winning a free mascara, definitely worth a cheeky look!!

So what's your favourite mascara? Have you ever tried False Lash Effect?

I hope you all have had a great Monday, I should of spent mine doing uni work but instead it's been full of making you tube videos. Oh well! Hope you all have a great Monday evening :)

Perfect Pastels: Models Own's Latest Offerings

2012-02-19T14:39:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

Pastels are a massive trend for Spring/Summer 2012 and about this time of the year I find myself longing for warmer weather to hurry itself up and adorn myself in summer colours in the hope it will help me forget the grey days of winter. However I don't think I can quite get away with summer dresses quite yet but my nails are always currently painted with summer colours so you can imagine my joy when Models Own released a new range of pastel polishes entitled the Freshen Up range.

I love Models Own nail polishes and have a current obsession with pastels so you can imagine how excited I was to see a new array of pastel colours and before I knew it three of the new polishes were on their way in the post. There's a range of five new colours and I decided to go for just three (being very sensible here) and went for the shades; Bare Beauty, Soda Pop Pink and Peaches and Cream. The colours are even prettier in the flesh and have the same great usual Models Own formula; creamy, opaque and fast drying. One of the many reasons why I love Models Own polishes so much! So what are the shades like as you can never quite tell online...

Peaches and Cream: I love orange nails, they scream summer and I instantly fell in love with Peaches and Cream. A pastel version of Fuzzy Peach also by Models Own that reminds me of peach sorbet and will look gorgeous accessorised with a summer tan.

Bare Beauty: I'm really loving nude nails at the moment, they look sophisticated and polished, but nude colours are usually quite grey toned and wintry. Bare Beauty is a peach toned nude which is so up my street it's untrue, I'm so happy to of finally found a nude colour that's suitable for the summer months too.

Soda Pop Pink: This is my favourite polish out of the three, a gorgeous raspberry pink which is unlike any other pink polish that I own and I own A LOT of pink polishes. I have a feeling this will be my nail polish of the spring/summer.

All of the polishes are gorgeous and as always I can never recommend Models Own polishes enough, I picked these up online on the Models Own website and got them for 3 for £12.00 which is a pretty good deal in my eyes saving yourself £3 (every little helps eh) Do you like Models Own polishes? Will you be buying from the new Freshen Up range?

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, I'm finally getting over my cold (hurrah) and I've bought the perfect Spring dress for my baby sister's Christening but now I am on a definite spending ban!! Have a great day :)

Disclaimer: I bought these polishes with my own money. :)

My First Dip into the Nars Ocean: Nars Laguna Review

2012-02-17T19:47:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

It suddenly dawned on me that I haven't yet blogged about one of the key items in my make up bag. Nars Laguna is very well known within the beauty blogsphere. It features on many blogs and youtube videos and I'd always had it on my list of 'to buy one day' products. Luckily for me I received a John Lewis voucher for Christmas and decided to treat myself with my first ever Nars purchase. Being a massive bronzer lover and never one for the pale look I decided this was the perfect for my first purchase from Nars.

So this is quite pricey for a bronzer, £24.00 it retails for but I decided it was worth the money and well I wasn't wrong. To be honest when I first got Laguna and got over the initial 'oh my god it's so pretty I may never use this' moment, I was a little disappointed. Laguna is what I'd call as a golden bronzer which wasn't what I was expecting. To be honest I think maybe Casino may be more my shade but now after a few weeks I've totally warmed to Laguna and haven't touched another bronzer since. Laguna is the perfect bronzer for this type of the year, perfect for achieving a sun kissed look that looks totally natural. I've also changed the way how I apply my bronzer, I used to apply it all over to my face but I've found that Laguna works really well when applied to key areas of the face; cheekbones, temples of the forehead and nose. It lasts all day and is a staple product in my make up bag. The only thing now is that I want more Nars products! Deep Throat blush is next on my list that's for sure.

Have you ever tried Laguna? What's your favourite bronzer?

I hope you all have a great weekend, I'm supposed to be heading to London tomorrow for a couple of events but I'm still full of cold and debating whether to just stop at home especially as I've hardly mustered enough energy to leave the bedroom never mind trek round London. Bad times. I hope you all have a much better weekend :)

Oooh also a BIG thank you to everyone who answered my questionnaire yesterday for my dissertation. I managed to reach my sample of 100 respondents in just six hours so I was very happy and have some gathered some interesting data. You've all helped me out big time :)

Slowly building up my perfect make up brush kit: No.7 Eyeshadow Blend & Contour Brush

2012-02-15T17:01:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

Hope you're all having a great week so far, it seems to of been a really busy tiring week so far and I will be glad when Friday rolls around when I can have a little chill. I also feel like I'm about to be hit by a cold, in fact I know I'm going to get a cold as my nose feels all funny and horrible. I think I'll have to take some cold and flu tablets and man up! Hope you lot are all okay though and hopefully not suffering from the dreaded lurgy!

So I've been really into finding the perfect make up brushes lately, as much as most of mine are fine some have been in my collection for a little while and I decided that I needed a bit of a brush over haul. My eye make up brushes were in the firing line, my beloved blending brush from Avon was about three years old and was starting to get really rough. I'm not sure if brushes actually go rough over time but mine had started to and it was hurting my eyes *cue violin playing* I had some of those £5 off No.7 Boots vouchers lying around and decided to spend mine on a new eye make up brush. I'd heard that No.7 brushes were good and picked up the Eyeshadow Blend and Contour brush which was something like £2.75 with the voucher which I thought was a bargain. I thought that even if this brush was rubbish it was only £2 so I was going to lose much. However this brush is blimmin' brilliant and bargain of the century.

This brush reminds me of a little of the MAC 217 brush which I had actually been tempted by so I'm glad I managed to find a dupe for just £2.75! The bristles are really soft and blend your eyeshadow perfectly. However it's a little too big for crease work but I did buy a Real Techniques brush today which hopefully will be the partner in crime to this brush, a review of this new brush will be up soon. Over all I love this brush and would pay full price for it. I would recommend spending your £5 vouchers on this brush when they next come out! What's your favourite eye make up brush? I hope you all have a good Wednesday evening :)

3 Ways to Wear: Missguided Blouse

2012-02-13T16:44:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So a bit of a different post from me today, I do occasionally post outfit posts on here and they usually go down quite well, so I thought that I'd do more of a style post using a gorgeous sheer black blouse from Missguided. It has a heart design on the collar which I really like as sometimes blouses like this where you do the collar up it can look quite manly but the hearts add a girly touch that even the girliest of girls like me is happy with!

So the three ways I have styled this blouse for is, daytime, so a look perfect for going to uni/college or even just popping to the shops or for a bite to eat. The next look is a bit of a weird one, it's casual but not dressy but it's a bit more than what you'd wear to uni if you get me. This is the kind of look I'd wear for a meal out, a drink or something like that. Ha can you tell that I don't do this fashion blogging malarkey very often? Then finally a night time look, so look 3 if a look I'd wear if I was going out or clubbing but clubbing sounds like something an old person would say, but you know what I mean!

Look 1

Jumper: Topshop

Blouse: Missguided*

Jeans: Topshop

This is the kind of look which is perfect for uni, it keeps you warm with the jumper but you're not looking like you've just rolled out of bed. You can also still see the gorgeous collar and the colours really compliment the acid wash jeans which is a perfect look for spring.

Look 2

Leather Jacket: Miss Selfridge

Blouse: Missguided*

Shorts: Topshop

Tights: Missguided

Another favourite item from my wardrobe, my black Miss Selfridge shorts which Caroline Flack has been seen in too! I think the blouse and shorts look almost like a playsuit!

You all know just how much I love my shorts and these tights make the shorts a little more dressy, the blouse really compliments the leather jacket and it's an outfit I'm regularly seen in.

Look 3

Blouse: Missguided*

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

So there we go my first ever three ways to wear post, I might do some very similar posts to this on my uni fashion blog HERE. I hope you've all had a great Monday, I am already looking forward to my bed like an old woman!!

* PR Samples- I was sent this blouse for review purposes but this does not affect my opinions in any way.

My New Favourite Thing: Cream Blushes

2012-02-12T15:24:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

I've lost count the times that I've said that I don't 'get' cream blushes, I didn't understand how they worked, how to apply and generally thought they weren't for me. Well I used to think like this, not anymore as I am now completely hooked on cream blushers. I've been having a bit of a make up change up lately, I've seen myself turning towards a new dewy look at the moment and am always in the mood for trying new things. I was having a look through my un-loved make up and came across my three cream blushes from Topshop. I bought them last summer, used them a couple of times, didn't get on very well with them and admitted defeat. I had a brainwave though that maybe using my Real Techniques Stippling Brush with them may work and well that was sometime last week and I've not looked back.

L-R Head Over Heels, Flush & Neon Rose

Swatches: Top to Bottom: Neon Rose, Flush, Head Over Heels

The RT stippling brush working amazingly well with the cream blushes, it picks the colour up and with a gentle dabbing motion the blush is applied effortlessly to my cheeks providing a flush of colour that compliments the more dewy look I've been rocking lately. I have three different Topshop Cream Blushers which are Flush ( a barbie/coral pink) Neon Rose ( a bright coral) and Head Over Heels ( a peachy pink) Head over Heels is of course my favourite, you all know how much I love my peach blushers and it completely goes with the usual tanned look that I like to sport. I find that these blushes work really well on the skin, they apply easily, though take a little at the time it's easier to add more not take away less and they last for a few hours, but add a natural flush to the cheek. I'm so glad that I've finally found a brush to apply my cream blushes but now I'm finding myself craving more, especially one that's more dewy as the Topshop blushes go from cream to powder. So if anyone has any recommendations for a cream blush in a peachy shade please let me know!!

FOTD with Head Over Heels on cheeks

I am loving cream blushes at the moment and think my RT stippling brush is easily one of the best brushes I've ever used :) Do you love cream blushes?

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday :)

MUA Love Hearts Event..

2012-02-10T19:04:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So on Wednesday evening I tootled down to London to attend the launch of MUA's newest offerings which are a collaboration with Love Hearts. First of all I met up with Anna, Laura and Yu for some cheeky cocktails and a giggle and gossip. We then made our way to The Piccadilly Institute which is just off Piccadilly Circus and went to mingle with some fellow beauty bloggers.

MUA are known for their inexpensive prices and have become very popular with some gems such as the Heaven and Earth palette reaching cult status. I was very excited to see the Love Hearts range being a massive fan of MUA and Love Hearts. The range consists of nail polishes which are just £2.00 and lip balms also priced at £2.00. All the colours are pastels/brights but there's something to suit everyone. I particularly loved the lip balms. They remind me of the Sleek Pout Paints in relation to size but these are of course a lot cheaper and have a nicer colour range in my opinion. They have a hint of a vanilla smell which is always a winner to me and are a great glossy balm which can be applied over lipstick or just on your lips. We were very lucky to be given a goody bag full of treats and I received three Love Hearts Lip Balms to try; Sweet Kiss ( a Flamingo baby pink) Sugar Lips ( baby pink) and Hot Lips (dark fuchsia pink) Sweet Kiss is my favourite and was the one to catch my eye at the event, it looks gorgeous applied over a nude lipstick.

Nail polishes are also part of the range, an assortment of pretty pastels which are perfect for Spring and also a very good price at £2.00. I received the colours U Rok (pastel purple) and U R Fab (raspberry pink) I swatched both colours and can confirm that with two coats are creamily opaque and brilliant value for £2.00. I'm currently wearing U Rok which is just the perfect pastel purple and a completely unique colour to any I own. I keep looking at my nails and thinking 'ooooh such a nice colour.' I will let you know how well they last so far so good though!

The event also showcased some new and upcoming products that MUA are launching, among them were Out There Plumping Lip Glosses, Glitter Nail Crackle Polishes, Contour Eye Pencils, BB Creams and False Lashes. I did receive some of these products in my goody bag so look out for reviews on them in the future.

The gorgeous beauty bloggers I am surrounded by: Kate, Laura, Me, Laura and Anna

It was a really lovely event, we were plied with fruity drinks in jam jars, ate lots of sweets and had a good old chinwag. I also managed to get a picture taken of some us (please ignore my pasty face!) I had a lovely time and events like these make me realise how lucky I am to be a beauty blogger! I would definitely recommend checking out the MUA Love Hearts range which will be in Superdrug's next week but is already online now (link) Thanks to the MUA team and Zoe for a brilliant event :)

I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening, ooooh talking of Valentines and Love Hearts Motel Rocks are doing a special promotion this weekend where you can get 20% off the Valentines range which the link is for HERE, the promotion runs from today (10th February) till Tuesday (14th February) so go pick yourself a treat whether you're spending Valentines with a loved one or on your own. Go on you deserve it ;)

Shopping my stash: FOTD

2012-02-07T18:07:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

With being a beauty blogger it means I have an abundance of make up and beauty products, of course you can't use every single product every single day so some products become unloved and forgotten about. This is when 'shopping the stash' happens, a phrase which I'm pretty sure was brought about by Laura aka Lolipop26 (my beauty blogging god) and involves you having a browse through your collection and discovering new products but for free.. hence shopping your stash. I did this yesterday afternoon, I have a system of two make up bags, one massive one and one for everyday make up. I try to mix up the products in my massive bag as that holds unloved products and swap them for ones in my everyday bag. You see I don't want the other products to get jealous of each other ;)

Yesterday when I was having a little look through my collection I came across my cream blushers from Topshop and had a brain wave to use them with my Real Techniques stippling brush which worked an absolute treat! I'd always found applying cream blushes mightily hard and had found myself giving up with them so I'm happy I have finally found a technique/brush to use with them, a more detailed review of this will be up in the next few days. I also had a little play around with my Naked 1 palette which I have neglected lately, I've been trying to use my Naked 2 palette every day to get myself used to it and whilst I am slightly warming to the palette I decided to pay some attention to my favourite palette. Using Sidecar and Smog I created a smokey brown eye which is a look I am LOVING at the moment and I have a feeling it will be a combo of eyeshadows I won't be giving up anytime soon! It's always nice to discover new ways to use products in your make up collection, it makes you feel satisfied that you have something new and you didn't need to spend any money. Brilliant.

FOTD:

Face:

Benefit Porefessional Primer

Jemma Kidd Light As Air Foundation & Estee Lauder Double Wear

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose

Estee Lauder Doublewear Max as concealer

Benefit Erase Paste as under eye concealer

Nars Laguna

Topshop Head Over Heels Blush

Eyes:

Frontcover Shadowbase primer

Sidecar (all over lid) Smog (in crease of eye) Sin (to highlight brow bone) from Urban Decay Naked 1 palette

Rimmel Day 2 Night mascara

Look Beauty Stretch Factor waterproof mascara

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner

Models Own Smokey Eye Kit- Simmer- To fill in eyebrows

Lips:

Nothing aahhh but I did put on Shy Girl and Hue from MAC after this photo was taken.

Have you shopped your stash lately? I hope you all have a great Tuesday night, mine will consist of chilling watching tv as tomorrow I'm off to London for an event for MUA, if you're going let me know and I'll see you there :)

My new miracle worker: Origins Super Spot Remover Review

2012-02-06T15:23:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So it's no secret of mine that I struggle with my skin, I sometimes think my skin gets confused by my height and questions my age so gives me teenage skin. I've tried so many lotions and potions over the past few years but none seemed to work so I went looking elsewhere for a miracle product to help me out when my skin went a little crazy. I thought I'd found a keeper in Sudocrem when it came to eradicating spots, unfortunately though me and sudocrem fell out of love when I realised it wasn't doing much for my skin anymore and giving me a pale chalky white face which is every tanorexix's worst nightmare. I knew I needed something else and being an avid reader of beauty blogs a wealth of knowledge was at my fingertips (is this the right saying? I always get my sayings mixed up these days, last week I was proclaiming that I had my finger on the ball and eye on the pulse. Really live up to the Dizzybrunette name at times!)

Anyways I had a little look around my favourite blogs and they all unanimously recommended the Origins Super Spot Remover. I'd heard of this product before but I'd never really investigated into it, I think the £12 price tag put me off, but when my skin had a really bad break out last month I'd of spent any amount to get it looking normal again so £12 didn't seem so bad. I had a £1 John Lewis voucher left so I got it for £11 and three weeks later I'm still singing it's praises.

The Super Spot Remover contains Salicylic Acid, Caffeine and Red Algae as a combination to blast spots away. You squeeze a little bit of the gel onto the area and then let it work it's magic. The gel does sting but personally I like that as I think 'ooh it's working' and I always think 'ha take that you nasty spot!' I've used this on spots and they've gone over night and some it's taken a few days. I have found my spots have gone a lot quicker and haven't touched my sudocrem since. The lotion/gel does give you slight flaky skin (ah how lovely) in the area you apply but it's nothing a little cleanser and muslin cloth can't fix. You can also put this on underneath your make up and no one would know any wiser. I think I'm currently going through the purging stage with my Clarisonic so this is definitely helping out. You can get this product from Boots, department stores such as Debenhams, John Lewis and I'm sure it's going to be on Buyapowa soon too! If you want some more information on it, here's the link to the Origins page.

Do you have a favourite product to use when you get a spot? Let me know!

I hope you all have a great Monday, I'm having a chill day after going to see Olly Murs last night (who I've decided is now in my top 10 of fit celebrity men) I'll maybe get some pictures up of him soon! Have a great day :)

A bubble bath makes everything better: I Love Cosmetics Review..

2012-02-03T18:11:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies,

It's Friday hurrah :) one way I love to end a busy old week is by having a relaxing bubble bath. Always a little treat and some quality time to unwind and relax. Choosing the right bubble bath is always important, I always love bubble baths that smell heavenly and create lots and lots of bubbles but don't break the bank either. I think I may of finally found my perfect bubble bath companions in the shape of I Love Cosmetics.

I love cosmetics can be found in Superdrug, Morrisons and the Co-op, I had noticed these products before in Superdrug and always made a mental note to check them out sometime as the flavours seemed right up my street. I was offered by I Love Cosmetics to be sent some products to review, I received them a couple of days ago and I'm already hooked. I was sent the limited edition scent Juiced Up Blackcurrant Bubble bath and shower gel and Coconut and Cream Bubble Bath and Shower Gel.

So let's start with the important stuff, the smell! Juiced up Blackcurrant is a vibrant fruity scent that reminds me of fruit pastilles and wine gums. This is the type of shower gel you'd use in the morning to wake yourself up. When used as a bubble bath, the scent lingered making my bathroom smell like it was encased in a fruity haven. Coconut and Cream however is my favourite scent out of the two, I am a big lover of coconut scents, in fact most of what I own is coconut scented. I love cosmetic's coconut scented products could be my new favourite though as these smell GORGEOUS. There's a twist of coconut and then the most gorgeous sweet smell which reminds me of Yankee Candle's Christmas Cookie. I love the smell so much I went out and bought the body butter today and I keep sniffing it, I think I'm getting a little addicted ;)

Lots of bubbles :)

Onto the bubbles, I used both bubble baths last night and both of them filled my bath with fluffy bubbles that lasted most of the duration of my bath. Both products made the bath smell lovely and my skin felt soft when I got out. When used as a shower gel both lathered up into a rich foamy bubble substance and a little goes a long way. The best bit about these products is the price. These massive bubble baths/shower gels are JUST £2.05 and the body butter I bought today was exactly the same price. What an absolute bargain! Even my boyfriend was impressed and that's saying something! I Love Cosmetics have a range of scents to choose from including Strawberries and Milkshake, Vanilla and Ice Cream (need to try this) and Mango and Papaya just to name a few. I literally cannot recommend these enough, they smell so gorgeous, work really well and are so cheap. Look even ducky's liking them!!

My little pink duck loving life...

For more information about I Love Cosmetics, you can visit their website HERE which has links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, I Love Cosmetics can be bought from Superdrug, Morrisons and the Co-Op.

I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening, tonight I'm looking forward to tea, we're making homemade cheese and bacon burgers with chips and then peanut butter kit kat chunky for dessert. I tell you what when I paid for my kit kat chunky the man was like 'eugh this sounds horrible' to his work colleague. I was like excuse me don't call what I'm buying horrible and then ignore me. That's shoddy customer service right there for you. Ha rant over.. have a lovely night and bubble bath if you have one! :)

* I was sent these products for PR purposes but as always my opinion is 100% honest. I'm not just raving about these products because I was sent them , it's because I genuinely think they're the bees knees! (Do bees even have knees?)

Flutter Flutter: No.7 Eyelash Curlers Review

2012-02-02T18:16:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Achieving long fluttery eyelashes is always a daily challenge for me. My lashes are what I'd call average, they're medium length and pretty black but I'm always striving for the type of lashes which touch your eyebrows. I have a love/hate relationship with false lashes, alot of the time the lash strip ends up halfway up my eye or me almost gluing my eye together. This means that most of the time I tend to make the most out of my natural lashes. Along with a great mascara, you also need a great pair of eyelash curlers if you want to achieve long, curled lashes.

Eyelash curlers always used to scare me when I was little, I used to think that they were for removing your eye and was always a little wary to try them, about five years ago I took the plunge and never looked back. I've noticed lately that my Boots eyelash curlers were past their best, they weren't doing much for my lashes and I couldn't work out whether it was my lashes that were duff and wondered if they hadn't recovered from eyelash extensions last summer. Anyways I had a couple of those £5 off No.7 vouchers and decided to pick up a new pair of eyelash curlers with them, the No.7 Lift and Curve Eyelash curlers were something like £2.75 with the voucher which I thought was a bargain! I had been contemplating buying the Shu Uemura curlers so these saved me a lot of money! These are quite stiff to work with at first and took me a few days to get used to, now that I'm used to these curlers I am loving them and noticing a massive difference in my lashes. I've included photos below of my lashes without using the curlers and with using the curlers, please note in both pictures I have the same mascara's on (Rimmel Day 2 Night and Look Beauty Stretch Factor) but you can see a massive difference!

Before using old eyelash curlers..

After using No.7 Eyelash Curlers

I really am liking these curlers and recommend picking them up, even full price at £7.75 they're a good buy but even better for just £2.75! I am very pleased that I managed to spend my No.7 voucher on something worthwhile for once! What's your favourite eyelash curlers?

I hope you all have a great evening, I'm off to put a wash on, have a tidy and watch some YouTube videos, what an exciting life I lead ;)

Jemma Kidd Light As Air Foundation- Review

2012-02-01T18:04:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

I treated myself to the infamous Jemma Kidd Light As Air foundation back in the beginning of January, I was in the market for a new foundation and after seeing it raved about so much in the beauty blogsphere, I just had to try it for myself to see if it was worth the hype. Just after Christmas Feel Unique had a 20% offer on Jemma Kidd products so this foundation was reduced by £5 to £20.00. Still pretty pricey for a foundation (after being a drugstore girl for so long I'm still adapting to prices) but I'd heard so many good things so thought let's just go for it!

Now a major problem is the fact that Jemma Kidd make up isn't easily available, you can't swan into Debenhams and get swatched unless you're in London, so I decided to have a little guess with what shade to go for and opted for shade 3 which is Light/Medium. It's too light for me which shows just how orange I am! But hey at least I know for next time! The packaging is quite simple and chic but the packaging does let this product down, one there seems to be loads of air in the foundation (maybe it really is light as air) and the foundation tends to make a run for it as whenever I open it there's loads of product in the lid. It's not a major problem and my foundation brush manages to pick it all up so there's no wastage but still it's a pain!

So the million dollar question is how did I get on with this foundation? I'm a bit of a fussy madam with foundations, I like them medium/full coverage but to not look too cakey, and to be matte and dewy at the same time (ha don't ask for much do I?) So what are the claims? It boasts to have " silicone coated pigments, for a velvet feel and soft focus finish (in other words the airbrush effect) balancing benefits ( to keep the skin matte and even) and unique long wear technology so it lasts all day." So do the claims live up to the real deal? I have to say YES. After using this for a good three and a bit weeks I can totally see why there was so much hype about this foundation. I'd say this has a medium coverage which is fine, any bits that aren't covered get swiftly covered up by my Estee Lauder double wear max which I use as a concealer. The finish is dewy and matte at the same time, it gives you a really healthy glow but a nice glow not a glow that says ' I've just ran up ten flights of stairs' more like 'yes I am this naturally radiant.' I have noticed that with the recent cold spell my skin has been drier so I'm not as oily as I usually am but this has kept me matte on my t-zone so much I've not used powder in about two weeks! This foundation does last all day but this could have something to do with the fact I use the Body Shop mattifying day cream as a primer and the vitamin E face mist as a setting spray which both help make up last, but to be honest it is a long lasting foundation and find that I don't need to top my make up during the day. I'm really enjoying using this foundation and it does give you an almost airbrush effect especially in pictures, though it does have an SPF of 18 which means you can have a ghost face if there's a digital camera about.

Jemma Kidd Light as Air Foundation in action..

All in all I'm liking this foundation, and I'm sure it won't be long before I'm ordering a darker shade. You can buy Jemma Kidd from websites such as Feel Unique and it's priced at £25.00 but there is free delivery. Also another little heads up ASOS have 25% student discount for 48 hours (whoooo) I'm going to make a cheeky beauty purchase ;) Have you used Jemma Kidd Light as Air foundation? What did you think?

I hope you all have a great Wednesday evening, I've had a busy old week tonight's the first night in over a week I've had a chance to just sit down and chill! I've also managed to get a draft of my literature review and methodology for my dissertation so giving myself a well earned night off! Hope you all have a great evening :)

Thinking Pink..

2012-01-27T19:21:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

I've always been a real girly girl and pink has always been one of my favourite colours. A lot of what I own is pink from my laptop, Kindle cover and well much, much more. Even though I have a love of the colour pink this doesn't exactly follow through with my wardrobe. I'm a bit guilty of picking neutral colours when it comes to clothes, I just find them easier to mix and match but you know it's time to add a bit of colour when you realise you look like you're going to a funeral not a day at uni.

I was in Topshop browsing the sales just after Christmas as you do and came across a little gem! Before I'd gone shopping I'd had in my head that I'd wanted to get a pink jumper, I'd probably seen one on a blog or something so I was on the look out. So low and behold when I walk into Topshop I see a bright pink jumper on a rail reduced from £40.00 to £25.00, I was like that is exactly what I've been after. I have a little thing of saying to myself if it's in my size then it's meant to be and what do you know it was in my size! I knew now this jumper had to be mine.

Ever since I've bought this jumper I've loved adding some colour to my wardrobe and some other pink items have made their way in to my wardrobe but that's for another date! Pastel knitwear seems to be a big trend this spring so I've been eyeing up some more colourful items for my wardrobe! I also love the fact that this jumper goes with everything, shorts, jeans, skirts, even could be thrown on top of a dress or playsuit. It's so versatile and livens any outfit up!

Are you loving the pastel knitwear trend as much as me? Hope you all have a lovely Friday evening, mine will be spent with the Celebrity Big Brother Final (Frankie or Gareth to win) and some of Mum's home cooked lasagne! YUM :)

ST.Tropez Skin Illuminator Review..

2012-01-24T15:51:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So technically right now I should be writing my dissertation, instead I'm staring at the screen trying to motivate myself with a special 'working playlist' on my Itunes which has specific songs to get me in the mood to do some work, it's not working though. Boo. So I thought I'd put some productivity into something else and get a blog post up as that seems to be the only thing these days that I can muster energy for!

I mentioned that last week I was lured in by ST.Tropez's offer of half price Christmas gift sets which is still going on HERE, I picked up the luminous kit which contained a gradual body moisturiser/tan in medium/dark, the face version and a skin illuminator in Rose. The three products probably totalled to about £40.00 so getting the kit for £15.00 was a bargain! I was intrigued by the skin illuminator, quite a new addition to the ST.Tropez range and aims to 'give the illusion of effortlessly polished skin.' There are three types of the illuminator which are Gold (really want to try this) Violet and Rose which is the one that I have. The three types of illuminator are aimed at skin tones with different undertones. I actually have the violet one as it came with a St.Tropez kit I received last year and to be honest the colours not for me. The rose shade is aimed at people with pink undertones which I don't have but thought it was worth a try nevertheless.

I'm really into the whole dewy highlighted look at the moment so first of all tried this accompanying my blush by applying it on my cheekbones. It left a really lovely sheen, not too shimmery at all it just gave me a really lovely glow that looked great paired with a pink blush. Then I decided to get a little more creative and used it mixed in with my foundation just to see how that worked. Well everyday since that's what I've been doing. I really like this product as it gives you a glow and a dewy look. It looks really healthy and works great with my current foundation Jemma Kidd Light As Air. Another plus point is that it hasn't broke me out, MAC's strobe cream breaks me out so I have to use it on places that I don't get spots so I'm pleased to finally of found a illuminator that is kind to the skin whilst creating that dewy look I've been craving. There is a slight pink undertone to it but it's hardly noticeable and works on my skin when it's both tanned and pale and remember I have quite olive/yellow tones. I do think that when the illuminator is first squeezed out of the tube it looks like strawberry milkshake!

The subtle glow that the skin illuminator in Rose gives..

If you're after the dewy look I would have a look at the skin illuminators and even better have a look at the Christmas kits as you can really pick yourself a bargain. My order also came the next day so I was really pleased with the service of St.Tropez! The Skin illuminators by St.Tropez retail at £12.26. What's your favourite product to cheat your way to dewy/glowy skin?

I probably should get back to doing my dissertation now or something else productive. Hope you all have a great Tuesday afternoon/evening :)

A Very Early Easter Present,

2012-01-23T15:31:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Picture the scene, Friday afternoon I get a text from my boyfriend saying 'would you like a early Easter present?' My boyfriend and I usually get each other little Easter presents as when I was little that's what my parents would do, last year my boyfriend went and bought me my laptop as mine was bust for an Easter present and I'd strictly told him to not go spend any money like that on me this year. I thought that maybe he'd come across some discount selection boxes so I was like ' okay then why not.' Though when he arrived home he hadn't found some discount chocolate nope he came home with a Clarisonic.

It was only the other night I was telling him about how I was going to get one and we watched some YouTube videos showing demonstrations as he couldn't get his head round the fact that it was basically a big toothbrush for your face. Secretly I think he was intrigued and bought one so he could use it too. But bless him though, he also bought the Clarisonic Plus as he said it would be good to use on the body, the thing with my boyfriend he always has to go for the top model. So the initial excitement wore off after we found out that you have to charge the Clarisonic for 24 hours before using it, I'm not looking forward to doing that every 20 days or so! I've only been using this for a couple of days so can't really comment too much on it just yet, but I just had to get a post up and let you know I'd got one.

I'm still getting my head around what's the best way to use it, I've been using it on the one minute setting and think I've been using it correctly, it's a bit like aaah am I doing it right, should it be on my cheeks or chin right now? I'm sure with time I'll get my own way of using it! My face has been super soft after using it and feels really clean. I've heard a lot of other beauty bloggers saying after a month or so the results are great, I am prepared for the 'purging' stage but I'll let you know more about that when it happens when I do a more detailed review in a couple of months or so!

All in all I am a very lucky girl and my boyfriend shouldn't be spending his money on me! Though now cause he's bought it he said I can't moan at him for messing the flat up.. (men eh?) Do you have a Clarisonic? If so how are you getting on with it?

I hope you all have a lovely Monday evening, I'm working tonight for the first time in ages! So spare a thought for me working at a cold football stadium tonight! Brrrrrr!

New Hair: DIY Dip Dye/Ombre

2012-01-22T15:21:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So for ages and ages I've been lusting after ombred/dip dyed locks. I've loved the look on other bloggers and celebrities including Caroline Flack. I do get bored with my hair colour quite easy, about every other day I want a new hair colour but I rarely act on it, one day last week I thought 'I'm just going to do it' I've wanted to do it for so long and well I thought to myself if it goes wrong I have a lot of hair to play with. I did some research first on how to achieve the look at home, I read several posts and watched several YouTube videos and sourced some pictures for inspiration. As well as doing research I also prepped my hair by applying lots of conditioner to the ends of my hair and dousing it in Moroccan Oil.

I decided to get the L'oreal Perfect Blonde Creme highlighting kit which I'd seen that both Lily and Zoe had used and their hair had turned out lovely so thought I'd go with the same product. I didn't take any photos of the box or the process ( I know call myself a beauty blogger eh?) But if you click on Zoe's link above you will see the post that inspired me and guided me through the process. I carried out a strand test first so I could see what colour my hair would go and when I was happy with that, I separated my hair into bunches with a clear elastic band and painted the dye on. I decided I didn't want the dye too high as I wasn't sure how it would look so I really concentrated on the ends. I ended up doing the process three times as my hair seemed to take ages to lift. The final time I even wrapped tin foil round the dye to help the process out a little and then I was finally happy with the outcome. The whole process was really easy though and I don't know why I haven't done it before. The final colour is a light brown almost gingery/copper colour to be honest but I think it looks good, it works well with my hair colour and looks quite natural. I probably will re-do it at some point as I want it to go a little higher now but for the time being I'm really chuffed with the look! My ends do feel a little bit dry but to be honest it's nothing that a bit of conditioner and Moroccan Oil can't fix.

Have you ever dip dyed/ombred your hair? I hope you like my effort :) I hope you all have a great Sunday, today was the day I was meant to get cracking with my dissertation but it's already past three.. whoops! Hope your Sunday's are much more exciting :)

FOTD: Rediscovering my love of liquid eyeliner..

2012-01-20T17:50:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

Every now and then I like to have a little switch up with my make up, I'm one of those people that gets very bored easily hence why I could never have a tattoo and I'm forever clearing my wardrobe, I go through phases and I'm the same with make up. Usually it's only eyes and lips that get changed about, I usually tend to keep my base the same which is flawless, bronzed, and full coverage. Though at the moment yes I'm still liking lots of bronzer and peachy blush but I'm actually liking a bit more dewiness which usually I only tend to save for the summer.

But recently I've been shunning the eyeshadow for more natural looks and giving my eyes some drama with liquid eyeliner. I used to wear liquid eyeliner all the time a couple of years ago and then I just decided to stop, but after watching some Made in Chelsea repeats (seriously obsessed with that programme at the mo) and thought Louise's make up was just gorgeous and have decided to take inspiration from her in the make up department. I usually go for a smokey eye but I've actually been liking a more natural eyeshadow look and I've achieved this with the help of the first naked palette.

Face:

Jemma Kidd Light as Air foundation

Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum foundation

Nars Laguna Bronzer

MAC Melba Blush & Bourjois Rose D'or blush

St. Tropez Face Illuminator in Rose

Eyes:

Naked and Buck from the first Naked Palette

Bootycall from the second Naked Palette used a highlight

The Body Shop Liquid Eyeliner

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner (for waterline)

Rimmel Day 2 Night Mascara

Look Beauty Stretch Factor Waterproof Mascara

I'm definitely liking a more natural look, I doubt I'll be shelving my overly made up ways anytime soon but it's nice to have a change now and again ;) I hope you have a great Friday night, my boyfriend brought home a little surprise for me today, but I'll be blogging about that tomorrow ;)

The make up products to help you cheat your way to flawless skin...

2012-01-19T17:44:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So I think I've mentioned on here quite a few times about how I struggle with my skin. At the moment I am going through a particularly bad skin phase, it's like it's a two year old having a temper tantrum and throwing all it's toys out of the pram. Deciding enough was enough I'm now taking some tablets from the doctors to help clear my skin c and I've also decided that as soon as a 25% student discount for Asos comes up I will be ordering a Clarisonic Mia. Though for the mean time whilst the tablets get to work and I wait impatiently for a code for Asos,I've been using some clever make up items that make the outside world think I have almost flawless skin.. if only they knew eh.

So what are these little miracle make up items that help me out most days? Well I'm going to share my secrets with you all so I hope you all appreciate this ;) These are four items that are all foundations but all you need is a good foundation sometimes to create a flawless base.

Bourjois Healthy Mix: I'm sure you've probably heard me harp on about this foundation before it's a great little drugstore foundation that I love for the fact that it's not too heavy, gives you a dewy effect but not too dewy and gives medium coverage. More of a summer foundation but still gives you that dewy fresh faced look that makes you look like you have a perfect complexion.

Jemma Kidd Light As Air: Now I've not wrote a proper review of this foundation yet but I'm sure you'll see one pop up soon so I won't say too much about this foundation. I've been using this for just over a week and I'm really liking it, it's a medium/full coverage and gives a lovely dewy effect in the places you want it and matte in other places. I know that probably doesn't make sense but with this foundation I don't need to wear powder and I've even noticed that my skin looks quite airbrushed when using this foundation, a new love? I think so.

Estee Lauder Doublewear: I love this foundation so much, it has full coverage but doesn't feel all cakey on your skin and lasts all day and all night. The amount of times that I have used this and it has helped me cover blemishes, under eye circles and give me a fresh faced look that nothing else has managed. With this foundation you don't need to wear concealer it does it all in one go. If you suffer from breakouts I cannot recommend this foundation enough, definitely one of my holy grail products.

Estee Lauder Doublewear Maximum Cover: I've blogged about this quite recently so you all know that I use this a concealer not a foundation, now that I've found the way it works the best for me, I can honestly call this my new best friend. At the moment my skin is so bad I don't want to leave the house, as vain as that sounds but sometimes a bout of bad skin can really knock your confidence but this helps me so much. Every day I am amazed at how little of this can cover everything up, using it with my Real Techniques stippling brush it covers any flaws and makes my skin look as flawless as it can. Another one of my holy grail products that I doubt I will ever be without again.

So that's my four foundations that help me cheat my way to flawless skin, all of them are little life savers whether it's creating a healthy glow, giving a even complexion or covering spots up these are products to do the job. Hopefully in a few weeks time my skin will start to be a lot better, I'd love to be one of those girls who just rocks a tinted moisturiser and looks blimmin' amazing. I aim to be like this one day!

What's your favourite product to help you out on a bad skin day? I hope you all have a great evening :)

Real Techniques Stippling Brush- Review

2012-01-18T17:20:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

When it came to writing my Christmas list back in November, I decided to pop a couple of the Real Techniques brushes on there as I'd seen them in action in the Pixiwoo make up tutorials and knowing one half of Pixiwoo Samantha Chapman had designed them, I knew I just had to try them. Luckily Santa was very good to me and brought me the Stippling Foundation brush and the Blush brush. After using the Stippling brush for almost a month I feel I can give a proper review.

A little bit about the Real Techniques Stippling Brush..

The bristles are Taklon which means they're super soft, and cruelty free as taklon is 100% synthetic. Both the stippling and blush brush are so soft and among the softest brushes I've ever used, there is literally nothing worse than having a rough make up brush. The brushes are colour coded and there's three colour sections,yellow for flawless base, purple for enhanced eyes and pink for a perfect finish. Both the stippling brush and blush brush that I own are both pink.

How I use this brush and my thoughts

I'd not really been aware of using stippling brushes for your foundation till a couple of months ago but believe me they make a huge difference in the application of your foundation. The brush buffs the foundation into your skin making it look very natural, even and sometimes almost airbrushed. I think you all know that I suffer with my skin and I do believe that this brush is brilliant for really hiding problem areas but the buffing technique means even if you're wearing more foundation than normal due to a break out no one would ever know. I tend to pop a blob of foundation on different areas on my skin and then using my brush to basically buff it into the skin, when using the stippling brush I've found applying foundation has taken less time as the stippling brush seems to get to work really quickly. I also use this brush for my concealer where I use Estee Lauder Doublewear maximum cover foundation which I've mentioned before is one of the hardest foundations I've worked with, when using it in conjunction with the stippling brush it applies beautifully and literally conceals a multiple of sins. I know there is a lot of similar brushes like this on the market, of course this is my first stippling brush so I can't comment whether this is the best one but ever since I got this for Christmas I've really enjoyed using it and have noticed a difference in my foundation, it looks a 100x better than before. I will do a updated foundation routine on my YouTube channel soon where you'll get to see this brush in action but I'm waiting till my skin calms down a little as I don't want to scare you all by being make up free ;)

Of course now the problem is I want some more Real Techniques brushes, I've got my eye on the starter set next! Of course the downside is that these aren't that readily available in the UK, you have to buy them online which I think is a shame. My boyfriend got mine from Cocktail Cosmetics but the stippling brush is out of stock there so another stockist is Victoria Health, for £10.99 I think this stippling brush is a good investment as foundation is one of the most important parts of your make up and you can fake a flawless base without any trouble at all ;)

Have you ever tried the Real Techniques brushes? I hope you all have a great evening, I'm pretty sure mine will consist of more procrastinating which will include reading magazines, checking twitter and watching CBB, what a life I lead ;)

The perfect nail polish to brighten up a grey day..

2012-01-17T14:01:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So where I am today it's very grey outside and cold, and my mood is definitely feeling suitably grey too but something that is definitely not grey is my nails. Oh no, in fact they're screaming summer at me and making me wish for summer to hurry it's bum up. I think I've spoke of my love for neon nail polishes before, some find them tacky but personally I love them. During the summer months it's very rare to see me without neon polish on either my fingers or my toes. Bright pinks and oranges are my favourites, they compliment a tan and make you look even more tanned and catch everyone's eyes. During the winter months, my nail polish colours dull a little, it just seems a little wrong to have a summer polish on when it's all cold outside or is it?

I've been after a neon coral nail polish for what seems like forever and after doing some extensive Internet research I thought I'd found the perfect one: China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy. I've used China Glaze polishes quite a few times and own a handful of shades, mine have always been from Sally's beauty supply but another great stockist which is where I got this one from is the Ebay shop Beautyzone2007. I find the China Glaze polishes are easy to paint with, have opaque colours and don't chip easily. The only downfall is that they're quite hard to get hold of in the UK. Flip Flop Fantasy was described as a neon coral so for only a couple of pounds I decided to get it. Beautyzone2007 is based in America but the prices are very reasonable, I think I got this polish for about £4 ish including delivery from America so that wasn't bad at all as that's the similar price you pay in Sally's.

Of course when it arrived I couldn't wait to paint my nails with it, and for the first time in what seems like months all five fingers are the same colour. Yes that's right no accent nail for me at the moment, I think that says something ;) However this isn't what I was looking for, it's not a pure coral, but there are hints of coral in this polish. I would describe this as a neon version of Barry M's Flamingo pink which is one of my all time fave polishes, a coral bright pink affair. So even though this isn't pure coral I still blimmin' love this polish. Like all other China Glaze polishes, it painted on perfectly, and after two coats was suitably opaque and gorgeously bright. I literally keep finding myself staring at my nails which is always a good sign that I like a nail polish. My hands look tanned and I'm getting that pang of 'I never want to take this polish off ever again'

If you love neon polishes, I would totally recommend this, but there is a downside to this polish, it makes you crave summer like nothing else. I'm finding myself wishing for long hot sunny days where you don't need to wear tights! One thing's sure though that this polish will definitely be my accompaniment for summer 2012, I don't know about you but I think this is going to look pretty fab paired with a bikini on Miami beach which is where I'll be in July.

Are you a fan of neon polishes? If so what's your fave? I'm going to go do something productive now, I want to clear out the bedroom today and sort out some clothes for Ebay and maybe some beauty items for a blog sale as I have wayyyy too much stuff! Also talking of summer, St.Tropez which is my ultimate fave fake tan brand still have all their Christmas gift sets at half price, there's some great offers and I was very naughty and purchased the everyday kit with a face illuminator for just £15.00, I think I saved something ridiculous like £30.00 and it was a medium/dark kit so I couldn't say no really.But I have promised myself no more spending now. I would check it out as you're getting a bargain and you can look super tanned even though it's grey outside :)

Currently Loving: Bright Lips..

2012-01-15T12:49:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I think I gave some of you a laugh when I posted my favourite beauty products of 2011 (LINK) and my favourite and only four MAC lipsticks were all similar shades of nude. My boyfriend said to me at Christmas 'I don't get the difference between those two lipsticks I bought you, they look the same'.Whilst trying to explain to him how Shy Girl was a peachy nude and Myth was a matte light nude and getting a look from him as if I had a second head, in the end I just gave up. So yes you can tell that I love nude lipsticks. Being a girl who loves a smokey eye even for the daytime, I like to keep it simple on my lips, well until now.

My Current fave bright lipsticks..

I don't about you but when you're obsessed with beauty and make up you sometimes want to change up your regular make up look, I'm having a bit of an obsession with the Made in Chelsea girls at the moment, I love how simple their make up is but they look blimmin' stunning. I decided I wanted to take a leaf out of their book and try to keep my make up a little more natural (well as natural as you can when you're ~~orange~~ tanned) but of course when you have simple eye make up and base you can bring in some drama with your lips. I recently bought the Cheryl Cole lipstick by L'oreal which you all know which is a gorgeous bright red and I have been loving wearing it (albeit in the flat) with a simple eye look. I've also re-discovered my love for my Look Beauty Double Hit Lip in Pink Punch which is just the most gorgeous barbie pink colour. I wore it yesterday to film some YouTube videos accompanied by a pink jumper and really liked the look. So much that I intend to wear this look when I return back to uni.

Me wearing L'oreal Cheryl Cole lipstick in Red Passion in the top picture and Look Beauty Pink Punch in the bottom.

I know that first and foremost I will always love nude lipsticks and to be honest if ever see me in person or on this blog 95% of the time I will be wearing a nude lip, but I'm liking the fact that I'm no longer convinced that bright lipsticks don't suit me. I love these two lipsticks, they last ages, are really pigmented and for bright lipsticks are easy to apply. They're also both budget friendly with both being under £10.00 and can be bought on the high street! What's your favourite bright lipstick? Maybe one day I'll actually take the next step and wear these out the flat ;)

I hope you all have a great Sunday, I probably should start with some uni work but I think we all know I'll probably spend my Sunday as usual; watching YouTube videos and reading blogs. :)

It's finally here...Naked 2 Palette

2012-01-11T13:31:00.000Z

Hey lovelies,

So you all probably know just how much I love my Urban Decay Naked palette, ever since I got it at the end of April in a Royal Wedding enthused 'let's spend money' mood, hardly any other eyeshadows have touched my eyes. So much so that some of the colours such as Half Baked have hit pan which Yu still can't get over ;) So you can all imagine just how excited I was when I heard a Naked palette 2 was going to be released.

Now I'm going to keep this post short but sweet, I realise that there are a lot of other beauty bloggers who have bought this palette so dashboards will probably full of Naked 2 posts for the next few days, but I just couldn't not post about this palette especially as I've been looking forward to having my hands on it since like November!

So here it is in all it's glory... first thoughts on it is my favourite colours is YDK and Chopper, also loving the fact there's a shade call Busted (named after one of my fave bands when growing up!) I'm seriously looking forward to creating some new eye make up looks with this palette. I did try some swatches but I just couldn't get the lighting right so if you want some swatches head to this post from Anna, her post was the reason why I wanted this damn palette so much in the first place ;)

Okay so with the excitement over of finally receiving my naked palette 2, I'd best get back to doing my essay, I never usually leave things to the last minute so this is a bit of a rarity for me trying to get it all done in time for Friday.. whoopsy! Other good news though I had a presentation on my dissertation back before Christmas and I got the results today and I got a first for it! I'm so made up as I've never had a first in whole 2 and a half years of being at uni and I was never one of those who got A*'s and A's at school, I've always been more of a B/C girl (like my bra size I suppose ;)) So I'm really chuffed and has definitely given me a little confidence towards my dissertation!

So did you get the Naked palette 2? If so what are your thoughts so far? I hope you all have a great day and that it's way more exciting than my day of essay writing! :)

Pore Off!

2012-01-10T12:09:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

One of my very favourite ways to relax after a long day is to run a bath and pop on a face mask. I do have problem skin and about once a week I treat my face to a little luxury to give it a deep cleanse. I have tried many face masks from all sorts of different brands and I think I've finally narrowed my favourites down now, one of these favourites is the Soap and Glory Fab Pore Facial Peel.

Soap and Glory are a favourite of mine in the bathroom, I love their shower gels, bubbles baths and well pretty much everything else from their range but I'd rarely investigated their skincare range until I heard a lot about this face mask, so me being me just had to go out and give it a try for myself. Yes the name is misleading with this product, this isn't a facial peel, it's a face mask. It contains Fomes Officinalis extract, Salicylic Acid, Kaolin and Vitamins E and C to help tighten up your pores and reduce excess oil. Being a oily skinned gal with stupidly big pores this product is right up my street.

You take a small amount of this as a little goes a long way and massage it around your face until the green beads have dissolved and then leave the mask on for as long as you wish, the box recommends five minutes for a quick refresher and fifteen for a deep cleanse. I tend to usually leave it on for about 15-20 minutes to really get the most out of this mask, I tend to pop it on my problem areas that are more porey (is that a word?) I really liked the smell of this product, it smells minty and fresh and the minty smell gives you a tingly feeling on your skin.

So does it work? Well I'm not going to lie to you my pores don't magically disappear but they do seem to temporally be a bit less noticeable, but my skin always feels really soft, really clean and cleansed. The box recommends you use this 2-3 times weekly but I usually tend to only use it once a week as my skin always get a bit iffy if I use too much on it! I do like this product thought, it's fresh and is good for when you're getting ready to go out or go to an event the next day as your pores temporally are less noticeable. I almost treat this face mask as a exfoliator sometimes as the green beads are great at scrubbing away the daily grime that has collected on your skin.

You can buy the Soap and Glory Fab Pore Peel Face Mask from Boots and online for £8.00, but like I said a little goes a long way so it should last a long time!

Now just before I go, I found out last night that I've been long listed in the Best beauty blog category for the Marie Claire Blog and Twitter awards, I was really confused as I received an email earlier in the day saying I'd made the list but I wasn't anywhere to be seen on the list, but by the evening the proper list was up and there was little old me! You all probably know the drill that the next stage is voting and if you want to vote for Dizzybrunette3 in the best beauty blog category you can do HERE- of course there's no pressure, there is some amazing blogs in the same category so just vote for your favourite, but you would make me a happy girl if you did vote ;)

I know there was a lot of talk about blog awards yesterday and personally I like aspects of them and I don't like other aspects, I don't like that they can sometimes be popularity contents and at the end of the day we don't need a magazine to tell us our blogs are great because we should all be proud of our little space on the Internet, but it's also nice to be told your blog has been shortlisted because well it's a compliment isn't it? Also being a third year student who desperately wants to get into either beauty PR or beauty journalism, being given the chance to blog for a magazine is an achievement that looks great on the CV as long as the magazine links back to your blog of course. So yes that's my little say on the topic.

I hope you all have a great day, today I will be writing an essay for my uni work, how delightfully boring!

Osis Refresh Dust- Review

2012-01-08T17:37:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So most of you will probably know that I have quite long hair, and if you have long hair yourself you will know how tasks such as washing and drying your hair can be quite time worthy and sometimes you just can't be bothered. I know I'm guilty of doing this, I try to wash my hair every two days as I'm quite lucky that within that time my hair doesn't get greasy, though as soon as it gets greasy I head straight to the shower and that's one of my pet hates! To keep my hair looking refreshed in-between washes I turn to dry shampoo.

Dry shampoo can sometimes be my best friend, but my favourite Batiste as good as it is can feel quite yucky in your hair and usually by the end of the day I'm hopping into the shower to wash it out, however I think I may of found a dry shampoo that doesn't actually feel yucky in your hair... dun de duh (that was a drum roll if you couldn't tell) the dry shampoo that I'm talking about is Osis Refresh Dust. I was sent this to review and thought today was the perfect day to try it out as I was only popping into town very quickly to pick up my John Lewis order (HELLO FIRST NARS PURCHASE!) and grab some tea for tonight (oh what a glamorous life I lead) because I'd only be in town for a little while (well I was in town longer than I thought as the John Lewis customer collection point was harder to bloody find than Narnia.) I knew I didn't need to make too much of an effort.

I sprayed the refresh dust into the roots of my hair and was pleased to see it wasn't as grey and powdery as other dry shampoo's, I gave it a few sprays, massaged it in and then gently brushed it out. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do as the packaging said to just spray it so I just did what I do with other dry shampoo's. My hair wasn't particularly looking greasy today but the dust definitely gave my hair a re-freshening but I was most impressed with the instant volume it gave me. I do love using dry shampoo's for adding volume to my hair but with this Osis one I hardly needed to touch it to get volume. I took some pictures for you to see, let me assure you no backcombing was involved just a simple tousle with my fingers.

I'm also impressed that my hair feels clean and soft, no product build up in the roots which is good cause this means you could use this product just for volume and not need to wash your hair instantly the next day. However this seems to be pricier than other dry shampoo's on the market which is a bit disappointing, I've had a little look online and found it varying in price from £8-10 so it might be worth having a look round to find the best deal. You only need to spray a small amount so hopefully it will last a long time. I do like this product, I think it will be great for adding some volume to my hair without making it feel horrible, the price just lets it down slightly.

Have you ever tried anything from the Osis range? I've also heard a lot about the volume dust, I don't think that's the official name but you probably know what I mean! I hope you all have a great Sunday evening :)

Disclaimer: I was sent this product to for review purposes but my opinion as always remains 100% honest.

My thoughts on Estee Lauder Doublewear Maximum Cover Foundation..

2012-01-06T15:11:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies,

Right first things first before I launch into my review of this product I just want to clarify that with some beauty products such as foundation they can work for some people but not for others. Please keep in mind that just because something may of or may not of worked for me doesn't mean it will be the same for you, this is just my thoughts and how I use this product. Also keep in mind that my skin type is oily/combination which suffers from breakouts and I have slight marking/scarring on my cheeks from acne so this is how I use this product to compliment my skin.

Okay boring stuff out of the way, we'll begin with the review. This is a bit of an odd one for me as usually I know very quickly whether a foundation is going to work for me or not, I can usually tell within the first day if I'm honest, the good old test of how long it lasts, how it looks and whether it makes me look like a big shiny disco ball are all major factors for me. Usually though when I need a new foundation I tend to do my research before I buy as with foundation, they're not cheap even drugstore ones tend to be rarely under £10.00 so you don't want to buy something for it not to work and waste your money. However with the Estee Lauder Doublewear maximum cover foundation (phew what a mouthful) I have needed the past month to work out how to use this foundation to get the best results for me and it's only now I feel I have enough experience with this product to give you all a worthy review.

So why did I choose this product? Well my beloved Estee Lauder doublewear is on it's last legs and I know that soon the bottle will of run dry which is not surprising I bought it back in July and it's been used almost every day since. Back in the beginning of December, Debenhams were holding a 15% off discount on all beauty products, this was good news to all us beautyahlolics as high end beauty products rarely have discounts or sales so it meant we could snap a couple of bargains. I decided now was the time to purchase a new foundation, I first of all thought that I would just purchase doublewear again but then after a lot of hype on some of my favourite blogs about Maximum Cover, Doublewear's big sister I decided to look into that foundation instead. December was a bad month for my skin, with the stress of uni deadlines, Christmas shopping and lack of money my skin broke out and I knew I wanted something full coverage to cover my skin up over the Christmas period. Max cover (as we'll now call it) seemed like the foundation for me, heavy coverage almost camouflage make up, suited for oily skin and a matte finish it seemed a definite perfect match for me. Silly old me decided to just order it and not even get colour matched, I know what a schoolboy error but I kind of guessed the colour I needed and I was worried if I dallied about going to get swatched I may miss out on the offer and I always find going to beauty counters really intimidating so I thought I'll risk it. I got the shade Creamy Tan which isn't the right shade for my skin, it's almost too ashy if that makes sense but I manage to get it to work with my skin tone so all was not lost.

How I use it: So when this bad boy arrived through my letterbox I had every intention of using this as a foundation, I knew this was heavy stuff though and thought it would work mixed in with my Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation as after watching a Lisa Eldrige YouTube video, she gave a very good tip that you don't need heavy foundation all over your face as it means all of your face looks covered in make up. This applies to me as my chin, nose and sometimes my forehead can be alright meaning I need less coverage, it also makes your make up look more natural. So with this in mind, I thought I'd be fine with it mixed in. I decided to try this on a day where I knew it would need testing, a day where I was working for nine hours and then Christmas shopping afterwards, this was a hardcore challenge for a foundation, the ultimate test. I have to admit it survived very well, the foundation stayed matte, remained in place and after being on for 12 hours+ it still looked pretty perfect. But there was something that I didn't like, I just didn't like the way it sat on my skin, I felt it made my skin look old which I know is a really weird thing to say, but I just didn't like it.

I thought to myself 'oh bugger' I was so sure this foundation was going to work for me, so sure I forked out £20.00+ without even giving it a trial run. I decided I must be able to get it to work for me. After doing some research, I saw that other bloggers used this as a concealer. My concealer like the doublewear was on it's way out so I thought right we'll give this another go then. I used it as a concealer the next day and well I've never looked back since.

What does this foundation do then? Now don't be under any illusions this foundation is hardcore stuff, it's very full coverage, smells like stage make up and is advertised as camouflage make up. I do have some areas on my face that I am conscious of that other foundations and concealers fail to cover up, however with the max cover this covers everything and makes my skin look almost perfect. It covers blemishes, scars, under eye bags and well anything else that gets in it's way. It's not too heavy though used as a concealer so it doesn't mean you look like you've been trowelled in make up, it's just your skin but 100x better. This gives a matte finish that lasts pretty much all day and the littlest amount goes a very long way, here's hoping this means this will last me a long time.

Application woes:So as I'm using this as a concealer I was applying as you would a concealer, I'd use my concealer brush and blend it into my skin, for a while this worked and over Christmas my skin cleared up and my skin had never looked better thanks to Max cover. I was so impressed with this that I even popped it into my 2011 favourites post, I'd only had a month and it had already made the prestigious list that all my beauty products had been fighting to be in. However as soon as I mentioned it in my faves post/video, it started to misbehave like a small child after Christmas who'd got what they wanted. I found that the foundation especially on my cheeks was just sitting there, and then when I went over with my bronzer, the brozner would stick to the foundation leaving me with dark brown areas on my face.

I thought to myself 'oh bugger' how else will I use this product now? Shall I just admit defeat? Then I had a brainwave, the foundation needs to be treated like foundation not concealer because it's not concealer. It needs to be buffed in as you would foundation and I needed to use a different bronzer brush as the flat top one I was using was just not working. So the next day I buffed the foundation in which I used as concealer (are you keeping up here?) with my Real Techniques stippling brush, once buffed into the skin, I then changed my bronzer brush to a round fluffy brush and just applied bronzer to my temples, nose and cheekbones and stayed well away from any concealed areas. By doing both these things it meant that the bronzer was no longer sticking in patches because the foundation had been buffed into my skin giving me an almost airbrushed look. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this earlier to be honest.

So there we go, I finally feel a month on that I've finally found a way to use this product that works for me and that I'm happy with. It's been a challenging journey but I finally feel that I know what the hype was about this product, it's bloody brilliant at concealing everything and even though my skin is shocking again at the moment, it looks blimmin' marvellous with my make up on, no one would ever know what lies beneath (ha how sinister)

Errr what scarring and break outs?

Would I recommend this product?Yes I would but ONLY if you have problem skin, if you have semi perfect skin- no scarring or breakouts then I'd probably stay away from this. This product is hard to work with (in my opinion) and you really only get a benefit from it if you have problem skin. If you are interested in this foundation then I urge you to go and get colour matched and request a sample to play with before you buy it! Don't make my mistake of just thinking everything will be alright on the night. Now that I've got to grips with this product, I bloody love it and when I didn't use it the other day I noticed such a difference, the only bad thing is now I've got myself hooked to a very expensive concealer!

Estee Lauder DoubleWear Maximum cover retails for £26.50 and can be bought from various department stores and Boots stores which stock Estee Lauder.

I'm sorry for such a lengthy review but I really had a lot to say about this product as you can tell! I hope you all have a brilliant Friday! :)

"Because you're worth it" Cheryl's latest offering..

2012-01-05T17:15:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

So if you've been reading this blog a while you will know of my love for Cheryl Cole. I don't know what it is about her that I love, she just holds something over me, so much that I waited NINE hours to meet her. Yes I know how sad, but hey I've met her now so that's been crossed of my list of things to do before I die. But yes anything that Cheryl puts her name to, I am there like a shot and there was no exception with her latest offering- lipstick.

So we all know Cheryl has been working with L'oreal for a while now, she's been the face of shampoo's, hair dye, lipgloss and hair spray which are all very good (and I purchased them all) but when I heard she was releasing a lipstick with L'oreal and some of the proceeds going to Cheryl's charity the Cheryl Cole foundation which is in aid of The Prince's Trust, I was more than a little bit excited. The colour she's released is a signature red lipstick named Red Passion (original there Chez ;)) and it is a matte ruby red colour that easily glides onto your lips. I think that it looks different in real life to the promo pictures of Cheryl wearing it as it looks darker in the pictures but in real life it's quite bright.

So you're probably wondering why I even bought a red lipstick considering I should join myself up to Nude lipstick anonymous society, but in fact lately I have been craving a red lipstick and was even considering spending part of my MAC voucher on Ruby Red by MAC, so when I saw Cheryl's lippie for a bargainous £6.19 in Superdrug (£2.00 off folks) I was sold. I mean if Cheryl made it and wears this lipstick, it's good enough for me. I think the colour is quite flattering and I'm looking forward to giving it a try when I have more of a tan, I do think one of the reasons Cheryl went for a red is because that it will suit every skin tone and hair colour. So would I recommend this lipstick? Yes I would, one with the £2.00 off it's not a bad little price and remember some of the proceeds are going to charity, also it's a gorgeous flattering red which strangely I don't have in my lipstick collection and it's a CHERYL COLE LIPSTICK.

To be honest Cheryl could release a line of bin bags and I'd be on them like a car bonnet ( I do like a strong bin bag though) Have you tried this lipstick out yet? If not what's your favourite red lipstick? I am enjoying flirting with a brighter lip, who knows maybe I'll even step out the door one day wearing one ;) I hope you all have a great evening :)

Not another peter pan collar...

2012-01-04T18:42:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

Just a little outfit post from me today, this was taken a couple of days ago on New Years night when my boyfriend and I went for a meal with his Mum and her partner. I always like to dress up a little bit especially when going for a meal in the evening, so I went for a dressier version of my uniform- peter pan collar blouse with some shorts!

Top: Primark

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

Tights: Primark

Boots: Dorothy Perkins

How cute is this top though and from Primark too! It was only £10.00 and they also have it in black and white too, I only picked this up last week so it hopefully should be in stores still! Though I can't work out whether I need to wear a vest top with this top or not, I didn't to dinner and one of the buttons kept gaping so I spent most of the evening worrying I was flashing some booby to my boyfriend's family, not that there's much to flash but y'know!

I hope you've all had a good day, I've had one of those days when you're just fed up, my skin is playing havoc again so I've been online doing research of trying to find some new skincare products! At the moment I'm swayed by the Liz Earle superskin concentrate as I think my skin needs a little TLC! I'm also still deliberating what to spend my John Lewis voucher on and at the moment Nars Laguna is completely winning, I'll probably let you all know once I've made my final decision though! :)

I hope you all have a lovely evening, I'm going to get up off my bum, give the flat a tidy and make some tea.. OMG just realised I bought Heat earlier and I haven't read it yet *feels forehead to see if I'm ill* this has never happened before.. well that's my evening sorted! Ha I bet you all really wanted to know that didn't you ;)

My beauty favourites of 2011..

2012-01-03T16:23:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

So it's 2012 and it seems for most today was the day to get back to reality. Being a uni student, I'm not back until next week *smug grin* so I'm making the most of that little extra time off as next year I will hopefully be back at work this time *fingers crossed I get a job that is.*

So to celebrate the new year and all that I thought I would have a rummage through my make up bag and choose my favourite products of 2011, I've also recorded a video for YouTube which is HERE, there you can see me ramble on a little more in detail as I plan to keep this blog post quite short and sweet. I've been planning this post since mid November so I've thought very carefully about my favourites (yes I know that sounds very sad ;)) So without further a do, let's start.

Foundation & Concealer

(Everything that is mentioned suits my skin which is oily/combination and I do suffer from breakouts so these all help with my skin problems)

Estee Lauder Doublewear foundation: Full coverage but not cakey, my absolute saviour as it makes me look like I have 'alright' skin.

Bourjois Healthy Mix: A fab drugstore foundation which is medium coverage with a dewy finish, I mix EL doublewear with this and they make a perfect duo.

Estee Lauder DoubleWear Maximum cover foundation: Use this as a concealer and it hides everything but doesn't make you look like you have an inch of make up on, you just look like you have perfect skin. Not a fan of it for foundation but more detailed review to come soon.

YSL Touche Eclat: Great for making you look like you got twelve hours sleep instead of five.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer: Full coverage concealer that doesn't break the bank.

Blusher

aww Mummy and Baby blushers..

MAC Blushes- I've loved dipping my toe into the MAC blush water, in 2011 I have loved Warmth of Coral and now Melba which I received for Christmas, long lasting and pigmented.

Bourjois Blush in a Pot: I've loved Rose D'or in 2011, a gorgeous girly pink which suits pale or tanned skin and smells really nice. Also doesn't break the bank :)

Eyes

Urban Decay Naked Palette- Words cannot describe how much I love this palette. Nothing comes close to it.. well until I get Naked 2 that is ;)

Rimmel Day 2 Night Mascara- A cheapie mascara that makes your lashes long and luscious.

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner- This is amazing for your waterline, lasts all day and all night, it's cheap and creates the most amazing dramatic eye. LOVE.

Lips

MAC lipsticks: I discovered MAC lipsticks in 2011 and well it's a love affair that will continue for a long time, I love them so much, they smell gorgeous and the colours are just beautiful. I look forward to building my collection in 2012.

The rest of the best

Morrocan Oil: Expensive yes but leaves your hair shiny, soft and healthy.

Aussie Leave in Conditoner: Detangles and conditions hair, perfect for my hair as it gets all knotty once washed. Amazing.

The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter: Smells like holidays in a tub, moisturising and helps prolong your tan. #winning.

Models Own Nail Polishes: What can I say? Fab colours, fab price and just fab. Favourite shades of 2011: Pink Fizz, Pink Punch (pictured) Emerald City (pictured) and Utopia.

Tangle Teezer: Makes brushing my hair actually enjoyable. Well not enjoyable but you get my drift..

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish; Hot Cloth Cleanser: A lovely product that leaves your skin clean soft and just well lovely. I love the menthol/herby smell and my skin has been clearer since using this. Would never go back to just make up wipes now.

Phewwweee they we are, my favourite products of 2011! What have been your favourite products of 2011? Any that I need to check out for 2012?

I hope you all have a great Tuesday evening, I'm looking forward to watching the new season of 90210 SCREEEEAMMMMM and having a steak pie for dinner! Ha I think it's safe to say that my appetite has well and truly returned, though I don't know whether to be happy or sad about this! Ha! :)

New Years Eve Make Up..

2012-01-02T16:09:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

So first and foremost Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2012 already? I can't but it's exciting isn't it! I hope you all had a brilliant new year's and weren't too delicate yesterday. I feel like I was the only person who didn't really drink on NYE but we'll blame my two day illness for that one! So with any big night, the most exciting part for me is the make up. Even though we were just off for a meal, I wanted my make up to be a little bit more than normal, I mean if you can't up the drama with your make up on new years eve then when can you?

I decided to go with a bronzed base, smokey eye and big lashes! I used a mixture of new and old products and lashes were courtesy of Eylure Double Lashes which sadly after being used four times are now needing to be put in the bin as they seem to resemble dead spiders. Lovely.

Products Used:

Body Shop Mattifying Day Cream

Eyedew eye drops

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation

Estee Lauder doublewear foundation

Estee Lauder doublewear maximum cover foundation as concealer

YSL Touche Eclat

L'oreal True Match powder

Bobbi Brown Matte bronzer

MAC Melba blush

Eyes:

Bobbi Brown eye palette- ivory (all over lid & brow bone) champagne quartz (lid only) and mahogany (crease)

Urban Decay Naked Palette- Half baked (lid) and Darkhorse (Outer crease and corner)

Eylure double lashes 202

Maybelline gel eyeliner

Models own smokey eye kit- for eyebrows

Lips:

MAC Myth lipstick

Body Shop Roll on lip balm- used as gloss

To Fix:

Body Shop Vitamin E Face Mist to keep make up in place all night

So there we have it, my NYE face! Did you do anything special with your make up for NYE? I'm kind of glad Christmas and NYE is all over now as I'm ready to have a rest as the past two weeks have just been non-stop! I hope you all have a lovely day and I've finally got round to making some YouTube videos today so look out for them which will all be uploaded very soon :) Have a lovely evening!

2011 Round up..

2011-12-31T13:55:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

Can you believe it's New Years eve? I can't, it only seems five minutes ago that it was last NYE, time is going scarily fast! I thought as I'm having a lazy day I would have a little look through old photos from earlier in the year and well some just made me laugh so compiled a little 'best of' collection of outfits and FOTD's. Hope you don't think I'm vain or anything but I've been really enjoying looking through other people's outfit round ups and I thought I'd add a twist with the FOTD bit as I am a beauty blogger and all that ;)

I've also complied a favourite memory scrapbook, my highlights of the year have to be holidays to Menorca and Crete, spending time with my family and meeting some of my blogging faves. The Cosmo Blog Awards was a massive highlight for me and actually gave me confidence that I've finally found something that I'm good at. Blogging is a massive highlight of 2011, and it's a community that I would not want to be without!

I hope you all have a great New Years Eve tonight, we're not up to too much, my boyfriend's Mum is down so we're going to TGI Fridays for a meal and cocktails but I'm hoping I'll feel better as I spent most of last night up with a tummy bug :( always the way isn't that you get ill when you don't want to be ill! I hope you all have a great night, what are you all up to? I hope 2012 brings great things for you all, 2012 is a very exciting year for me as it means I will be graduating from university and turning 21. I will be becoming an actual grown up! Scary! I want to thank you all for reading Dizzybrunette3 and for always being there! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful night and I'll see you all in 2012 ;)

What did Santa bring down the chimney?

2011-12-29T16:43:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

Tell you what I think this may be the last post where I can get away with a Christmas inspired title! I'm rather sad Christmas is over, you always spend so much time preparing and buying presents and then it just whizzes by in a blur of turkey, wrapping paper and tinsel! At least we still have NYE to come...

So I know these posts can be a little controversial but personally I love them, I love seeing what people receive for Christmas as it almost gives me inspiration for my next wish list, I'm also a right nosey so and so so I love having a little peek at presents. I received some gorgeous presents this year so wanted to share them with you all, everyone knows me so well ;)

I haven't photographed everything, I've missed out the mountain of chocolate for example and clothes, underwear and pyjamas but right now I am typing this post up whilst sitting in my new fleecy leopard print pjs, you know you're getting old when you love lounging around in fleecy pjs! I also got lots of lovely underwear and socks but I thought that might be a bit weird putting that on the Internet!

So let's start with the make up, I received some lovely make up items this year, my boyfriend took note of my Christmas wish list and treated me to two MAC lippies, a MAC blusher and some real techniques brushes which are amazing! My Mum treated me to some gorgeous Bobbi Brown goodies, I especially love this eye palette which has a beautiful champagne gold and a matte brown! I also got some lovely drugstore goodies, 17 eyeshadows, Body Shop items and much more!

MAC Lipsticks- Myth & Shy Girl,

Body Shop eye glitter pink,

17 eyeshadow Regal (gorgeous matte navy)

Bobbi Brown eye palette

MAC blush- Melba

Bourjois blush

YSL eyeshadow

Bobbi Brown single eyeshadow- Silver

Body Shop Coconut Lip Roll On

Moving onto bath stuff now, I got enough to last me till next Christmas I'm sure! I got some old favourites, Body Shop coconut goodies and lots of Soap and Glory lovelies! My Dad got me a few kits which included Soap and Glory body lotion, shower cream and I've finally got my hands on the Breakfast Scrub which just smells DIVINE!

Body Shop Coconut gift set; Shower Cream, Body Butter, Soap, Body Scrub, puffy thing

Giftable Soap & Glory box; Body Wash, Shower Cap, Puffy thing, Body spray, body lotion

Soap & Glory- Breakfast Scrub

Soap & Glory- Hand Food

Radox Bath Smoothies- Tropical Tranquillity

Sanctuary mini gift set

Finally moving onto the main present from my Dad which was an complete surprise, a Kindle! Accompanied with a baby pink case! I wasn't expecting a Kindle at all, but will be very useful indeed as I love reading but tend to not buy books as they're quite costly and you don't know what to do when you've read them! I've already downloaded a couple of books and can't wait to get stuck into them! I also received a couple of books from my Mum which are based in New York and a Cheryl book! I also received the Cheryl 2012 calender! :) I think my boyfriend was relieved it wasn't the One Direction one, though speaking of those boys look at the AMAZING card my sister gave me! Personalised and it says inside 'Keep Calm and Love One Direction.'

I'll leave you with that little quote now! I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I got, link me up to any posts you've done with your presents, please note I'm not bragging at all, I've been very lucky and spoilt by everyone! I will be posting reviews on these products once I've used them a little more :) I'm finally going to leave you with a little snapshot of our Christmas, being the very modern family we decided to take a family portrait at each family house as we never take pictures, this picture is my favourite out of the lot, purely for my boyfriend's face (he was joking btw, he didn't dislike his presents that much!)

I hope you all have a brilliant evening, tonight me and my sister will be partaking in some cleaning (boring) and painting our nails!

I wish it could be Christmas every day.. [OOTD]

2011-12-27T22:14:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

I hope you're all okay and all had a lovely Christmas, sadly Christmas is all over for me, we returned to our flat this evening as Henry (my boyfriend aka Justin Bieber) is back to work tomorrow, but my sister has come to stay with us for a few days which shall be nice and we intend to hit the sales tomorrow! Yay.

I had a lovely Christmas and received some lovely presents, I will take some photos and put a post up, I know this is a little of a controversial post but personally I love seeing other people's presents as I'm nosey and just enjoy reading them. So if you enjoy those posts, one shall be up soon! I thought for now though I would just pop a couple of outfit pictures up from Christmas day and boxing day.

For Christmas day I wore my Topshop playsuit which I purchased specifically for the day, it was really lovely to wear and I'll probably wear it NYE too, how shocking eh! It also was comfortable and even when I ate my body weight in Christmas dinner, it wasn't tight so that's always a bonus ;)

Playsuit: Topshop

Belt: Topshop

Pumps: Primark

Boxing day saw us go to my Dad's for Christmas round two, I wore my new Zara top which my boyfriend
bought and my old favourites, my shorts. Both days I curled my hair using my Enrapture Extremity Heated Rollers, which I've discovered work the best the longer you leave them in.

Top: Zara

Shorts: Topshop

Boots: Primark

I've had a lovely few days, but as always don't feel we've been away and Christmas just seems a blur! I'm looking forward to using all my new lovely presents, I got quite a few lovely make up bits so watch out for reviews on them ;) What did Santa buy you girls?

I hope you all have a great evening :)

T'was the night before Christmas..

2011-12-24T19:30:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

My current view..

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! So I know I said I'd try and blog when I was at home but unfortunately since I've come home, I've been way too occupied with eating lots of quality street, chilling and spending time with my family. I thought I couldn't not put a blog post up tonight though so thought I'd show you all my festive nails, I thought this was quite original but I've just went down my dashboard and seems everyone had the same idea ;) great minds think alike and all that!

So I did my nails on Thursday evening whilst watching the Made in Chelsea special which totally blew TOWIE's special out of the water! I had originally wanted all glitter but the sway of Chelsea made me think that I should opt for something a little classier. I found myself reaching for Models Own Utopia which is a creamy white/lilac shade which reminds me of snow and Emerald City a gorgeous glittery green which reminds me of Christmas trees. I decided to go for three nails in Utopia and the other two in Emerald City. It's a little odd but I like it and I have the best of both worlds; classy and tacky ;)

So just a short post from me tonight, I am back off to watch some more television and munch on some more biscuits, which is what Christmas is all about! I hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and that Santa brings you everything you wished for!

I don't know if I'll get a post up over the next few days but you never know a cheeky one might pop up at some point! Again hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow and I'll see you in a few days maybe :)

Driving home for Christmas & Cheryl Cole party look...

2011-12-22T17:18:00.001Z

Hey lovelies!

So I was in two minds whether to pop a blog post up today but I decided I'd best had in the end, today hasn't been as stressful as I anticipated as today we are preparing for going back home for Christmas. That being said my boyfriend hasn't packed yet and he still has a couple of presents to wrap ( I would help him out but I've done the other 100 presents and the present left is a really odd shape.) So probably come 11pm tonight I will be very stressed! I'm all packed though, I've tried to pack quite lightly and tried to plan my outfits, hoping that the weather forecast stays the same and that it doesn't snow as I haven't really taken any practical clothes, it's all shorts and dresses!

I'm also half excited to get home and half not, I'm very excited to see my family and hopefully finally get in the Christmas mood, tomorrow I get to see my sister who I've not seen since August and finally get to meet my new baby half sister so that will be nice. If you have parents who are divorced you will probably know just how stressful Christmas can be, especially when your boyfriend's parents are divorced too, it means we have four sets of parents to get round and that means double the Christmas presents to buy. It's always hard trying to spread yourself out and work out who you're going to see when and it doesn't help when some of them get very demanding. The stress of it all has broke me out in a few spots :( but I'm hoping a couple of nights of sudocrem face masks should sort me out! I know once I'm home, I'll relax a little so y'know. Sorry for the rant but I feel I've been keeping it all cooped up inside, which is probably why I'm getting so damn stressed!

So that's one half of the post done, the next is my latest YouTube video which is based on Cheryl Cole, it's a smokey winged eye make up look which is perfect for Christmas parties, New Years eve parties and well for whenever you feel like rocking a winged eye! I've used a handy little piece of paper to create the winged effect and it works a treat :)

The finished Cheryl look

I hope you enjoy it, I do like making videos, I know I'm not the most amazing make up person but I just find them fun and it's always lovely when people comment saying they enjoy it!

So I'm going to tootle off and have a little relax as all presents are wrapped and bagged ready to go in the car, our hallway looks like Santa's Grotto and I'm all packed. I'm going to have a little pamper tonight, nails, fake tan whilst watching Made In Chelsea Christmas special! So excited :)

I hopefully will have some time to post over the next couple of days, it will probably only be outfit posts though so don't get too excited ;) If I don't however, but I'm sure I will, have a brilliant Christmas, and I hope you all have a lovely day, I am so excited about my Christmas dinner already :)

What's inside my December JolieBox?

2011-12-21T15:58:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So unless you've been hiding in a cave, you will know how big the beauty box business has got. The more upmarket samples box as I like to call it, Boudoir Prive announced late last month how they would be joining forces with JolieBox who are the leading beauty box subscription in France. They guaranteed that the boxes would be very similar, capturing the Parisian sophistication. When I found out about the 'marriage' I did do some research on JolieBox and was excited to see brands such as Benefit, Essie, By Terry and many more who are associated with JolieBox.

JolieBox has the same concept as Boudoir Prive, you get five luxury beauty samples for £10.00 per month plus p&p, everything else stays the same, but with the first month of JolieBox being a big launch, we have been treated to an extra two products yay!

I received my box this morning and couldn't wait for it to arrive and boy it doesn't disappoint. The box is a chic black and is slightly smaller in size to other sample boxes. I quite like this though as it's very cute and the products seem jammed in which makes things always more exciting! Beautifully packaged with a red ribbon and sticker, I carefully unwrapped the box to find an array of treats.

So what's inside? We have a OPI gold shatter nail polish, Mitchell and Peach shower wash, New CID Cosmetics I-gloss, Jane Iredale 24-Karat Gold Dust, Yon-Ka Vital Defence face cream and Kusmi Detox tea and a JolieBox concealer brush.

My Favourites

I think with any beauty box when you are trying to cater for a number of people and tastes, it's hard to have a box where every product is liked by everyone. Usually I like about 2 of the products but with the JolieBox I love four of the products especially.

OPI Gold Shatter Nail Lacquer- I was obviously very impressed to see a full size bottle of OPI in my Jolie Box, although I'm not the biggest shatter fan, I've heard it makes a lovely gold polish on it's own and the colour is perfect for Christmas.
New Cid Cosmetics- i-gloss- I don't know but whenever I see this brand I want to say new kid on the block cosmetics! God knows why! I love this lipgloss that is in this month's box, one of the main reasons is because it lights up and has a mirror on the packaging. So many times, I have been in a car, or in a dimly lit classroom when I want a little top up of my lipgloss but can't see what I'm doing, so this lipgloss provides the answer to my worries! I got the shade Babydoll which is a dusky baby pink colour.
Jane Iredale- 24 Karat Gold Dust- This is probably my favourite product, this a dust which can be used on cheeks, eyes, body and even hair.. how you can use it on your hair I'm not sure. Now in the little information card it says the shade Rose Gold and on the other posts they've received Rose Gold. I received the shade Bronze which I think is way more up my street than Rose Gold. It's a gorgeous shimmery bronze which is just going to be gorgeous on the eyes, it will also look fab on cheeks accompanied with a cheeky bit of fake tan.
JolieBox Concealer Brush- I love the fact JolieBox have put their own brush in, this concealer brush is so soft and I can't wait to give it a go and hopefully blend away my dark circles!

I'm not too keen on the shower gel, the tea or the face cream but hey I think four products out of the lot that I love isn't bad going. I also loved the little message on the card from Therese which explained exactly why every product was chosen for the box, everything was chosen with Christmas parties in mind. I think that's a lovely touch.

I am very impressed with this month's JolieBox, and cannot wait to see what else they have up their sleeves in the next following months. Have you subscribed to Boudoir Prive/JolieBox? What did you think of this month's box?

If you're interested in subscribing to JolieBox you can do HERE

I hope you all have a great Wednesday afternoon, I'm going to crack on with some present wrapping. Also sorry for posting twice today, but I thought the two posts are very similar so it shouldn't matter too much! Hope you're all getting into the festive spirit!

Disclaimer: I was sent this box for review purposes, but this does not affect my opinions, all views are 100% honest.

December Glossybox Thoughts & Video

2011-12-21T14:09:00.001Z

Hey lovelies,

Now apologies for posting another Glossybox post, I realise that when you've read one post you've read them all! But I thought I'd be a little different and make a video of my thoughts of what's in this month's Glossybox. I also couldn't resist taking some pictures of the gorgeous festive red box, I'm not going to lie this is a sexy box. Ha can't believe I've just said sexy box, I'm going mad!

There seemS to be a few variations of the box this month which I love because it varies the posts slightly, though it does mean that you can look at others and think 'ooooh I'd of liked that!' I hope you enjoy the video below, I've tried to make it as short as possible and check out my attempt at a little outtake at the end, it's me doing a funny wave!

I hope you enjoyed my little take on my review of the December Glossybox, maybe I'll stick to this method in the future? Let me know!

Also if you watched the video you will know of my trouble of opening the shower gel and it going everywhere, here is the after math.. My sofa's never smelt so nice!

I hope you all have a great evening, I will be wrapping some more Christmas presents, lighting some candles and hopefully getting into the festive spirit!

Disclaimer: December's Glossybox was provided to me to review for PR purposes, however this doesn't affect my opinions.

Enrapture Heated Rollers- Review

2011-12-20T18:42:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I was contacted by Enrapture last week who asked if I'd be interested in reviewing one of their hair tools for my blog and YouTube channel. Of course the answer was yes and I opted to try the Extremity Heated Rollers. I've been wanting some heated rollers for ages now and almost put some on my Christmas list this year, Santa must of heard my wishes and granted me an early Christmas present.

The Enrapture Extremity Heated Rollers are different to other rollers out on the market due to their unique duo heat technology. What's that I hear you say, well these rollers are very clever, they heat up within two minutes, they aren't hot to touch so you're not going 'oooh ahhh oooh hot' when putting them in, they heat up whilst in your hair. The rollers emit heat from the core and the butterfly clips have two metal plates which emit heat. The duo heat sources from the clip and the roller lock in the curl and the high constant heat means that any hair length or type can be styled, even really long hair like mine.

I've always been a little bit worried about rollers, especially with my long hair, I always thought it wouldn't work or I'd never find enough rollers to cover my whole head. Enrapture though have proved to me that rollers can be for long hair too. There are 20 rollers in this set, 10 large which are more for adding volume and loose waves to your hair and 10 medium rollers which are for tighter curls. I've found a technique of using the large rollers for my roots for volume and my front layer for a slight flick and then the medium rollers for the longer bits of my hair to add more of a curl.

I've only had a play with these a couple of times now so I'm not an expert, I'm sure the more I play with them, the more I'll get used to them, but at the moment, the whole process takes about 15/20 minutes.. which I don't think is too bad as it takes the same amount of time or even longer when I use my conical wand and I'll usually do my make up once the rollers are in so I'll actually save time when getting ready.

Before using the rollers- this is my hair straight after being blow dried.

After: This look was created with mainly medium rollers to create a more curly look

After: The voluminous blow dry style created using large rollers- Kate Middleton eat your heart out ;)

I'm really impressed with these rollers, they're not hard to work with and leave my hair with voluminous loose waves which would leave even Cheryl Cole a little bit jealous. I've recorded a video on how I use them, that will be up on my YouTube in the next couple of days so look out for that.

Enrapture also have two other hair tools, the jumbo waver and the totem styler, both which may be added to my next birthday/Christmas list!

You can purchase Enrapture Extremity Heated rollers from stockists such as Debenhams, John Lewis, Boots and Argos. If you google them though, many stockists come up so find the one which is nearest to you! They retail for around £74.99.

For more information on Enrapture products visit their website, Facebook Page or Twitter

Remember to keep an eye out for the tutorial if you're interested how I use them, have you used Enrapture hair tools before?

I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday evening, I am SO excited for the TOWIE Christmas special, it's going to be REEM! Also in other news, I finished my Christmas shopping today! yay :) have a lovely evening :)

Disclaimer: These rollers were provided to me for review purposes but as always my opinion remains 100% honest.

The perfect product for the Christmas season...

2011-12-19T15:22:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

So Christmas is almost upon us, and what comes along hand in hand with Christmas is lots of parties! Being the boring sod that I am, my Christmas usually consists of a couple of nights out, lots of family meals and some kind of new year celebration. Even though my festive period isn't full of exciting soiree's it doesn't mean that I don't like to dress up and make an effort to get in the Christmas spirit.

I was contacted a few weeks ago by skincare brand MÁDARA and was asked if I would like to try a product to review on my blog. I did some research into the brand and was suitably impressed with MÁDARA's eco ethics. I also love discovering new beauty brands and love alerting you lot to new brands. Now let me tell you a little bit about MÁDARA," it's a natural, organic as well as eco-friendly award winning skincare brand, which is sold in Wholefoods, independent stores nationwide and online from leading online retailers." MÁDARA also boasts celebrity fans such as Gwyneth Paltrow.

I was sent the Flower Dust shimmering body lotion to try, which is a body moisturiser with adds an subtle shimmer to your body which is perfect for Christmas parties. The body lotion which in my opinion is quite pricey at 22.00 per 150ml, is a definite luxury in the body care department. The lotion is full of natural and organic ingredients and is a rich creamy lotion that moisturisers your skin to keep it soft, hydrated and protected from winter elements. One of my favourite parts of this lotion is the fact it adds a gorgeous shimmer to your body, I love a shimmer body lotion when I'm going out for an special occasion, this adds just a subtle shimmer so it can even be used in the day time and you won't be asked if you're part of the Cullen clan.

A shimmering body lotion is fantastic for parties, my top tip is to concentrate on your legs, apply the shimmer lotion on the middle part of your legs as this will create the illusion of longer legs. Being a massive shorts fan, I will be pampering my pins with shimmer lotion.

My gripe with this product though is the smell, I love gorgeous smelling lotions as it usually keeps my skin smelling lovely throughout the day, this lotion however has a bit of an odd smell, to me it smells of those peas in a pod. I don't know the exact name as I'm not a pea fan but it definite has a whiff of peas. This soon disappeared so you're not left with pea smelling skin, but to be honest if I was spending £22.00 on a body lotion, I'd want it to smell gorgeous!

I do like this lotion, I like the subtle shimmer and the rich consistency, but the smell puts me off a little. I think I will probably mix this in with my regular body lotion, but I will definitely be using this lotion over the festive period as you can't beat a shimmery body!

Have you ever tried anything from the MÁDARA skin care range? You can buy MÁDARA skincare online from www.lovelula.com, www.naturissimo.com, www.feelunique.com and www.madara.co.uk

I hope you all have a lovely Monday afternoon, mine is going to be spent tidying the flat (oh the joys) and probably indulging in some watching of some YouTube videos :)

Disclaimer: I was sent this product to review for PR purposes, however my opinions remain 100% honest and un-bias.

Little Mix make up tutorial...

2011-12-18T19:51:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Hope you're all having a great Sunday so far, I have most enjoyed a day of Christmas shopping, watching festive films and doing some more present wrapping! Can't believe this time next week it'll be the big day, are you all ready for Santa?

Now last week saw the Xfactor final and we all saw girl group Little Mix crowned as the winners, well deserved in my opinion :) of course they won due to their singing and likability but I would of awarded them the winners purely based on their make up. I couldn't take my eyes off their glittery eye make up that just screamed Christmas party! I had to have a go at re-creating the look and I've done so in the video below. Once looking back at the video, I realise the glitter doesn't show up that well, I probably could of done with applying some more glitter but it's always hard when you're filming yourself!

Also quite a few of you mentioned my make up in my latest post and I'd just recorded this video before I took the pictures :)

Products Used:

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation
Estee Lauder double wear maximum cover foundation (used as concealer) L'oreal True match powder
Bobbi Brown bronzer
Bourjois Rose D'or blush

Eye make up:
Urban Decay Naked palette: Virgin, Sin, Toasted and Darkhorse
Look Beauty triple hit eyeshadows- Party Punch
NYX Glitter cream palette
Rimmel Glam Eyes liner
Eylure double lashes 208
Rimmel day 2 night mascara
Maybelline gel eyeliner
Missguided clear lipgloss

Finished Look:

I hope you enjoy the video, I've been on a bit of a filming spree lately so have one to put up most days this week :)

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening, mine will be spent consisting of eating some pie and roast potatoes (yum) and then watching the Micheal Buble Christmas special (my boyfriend's ultimate man crush!)

Sparkle, Sparkle...

2011-12-16T17:49:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I hope you've all had a great Friday! I've had a lovely chill day, it's consisted of sleeping (I'm not even going to feel guilty at the time I dragged myself out of bed, I also had a weird dream about Olly Murs, but that's enough about that) taking photographs for posts, making YouTube videos and catching up with blog posts. Tomorrow I aim to the do the same. Bliss.

Now if you've read this blog for a little while or watch my videos, you will know of my love for Peter Pan collars, I love them and anything with a collar is an instant winner to me. I think one of the reasons I like them so much is because I'm not very big in the booby department so it means I can get away with covering up and not looking like a frump. I'm more of a get your legs out girl to be honest and we all know you only either get your boobs or your legs out, not both.

I saw Kate from Dollybowbow tweet about these Peter Pan collars and I clicked on the link and ordered one so fast, as I just knew I had to have one. I'm sure you all know about Kate, I've had the pleasure of meeting her in real life and she's not only gorgeous but also so, so lovely. She has a lovely online shop which has amazing jewellery, clothes and accessories. These peter pan sequin necklaces are £10.00 which I think is a great price as you can create new looks with tops that you already have, so it saves you spending money on a new outfit!

There's a multi coloured sequin one and a black one, I went for the multi one as I am loving glitter at the moment and thought it would jazz up my boring black tops! I wore it today with my trusty black lace Zara top and loved the look! It definitely will be a look I'll be rocking over the festive period. The link to the collars are HERE Both the colours are out of stock at the moment, but I'm sure I saw Kate tweet that they'd have more soon!

Do you like the peter pan collar trend?

I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening, my evening will be spent editing my Little Mix make up tutorial video and cooking a quorn curry :) YUM!

It's a pirates life for me...

2011-12-15T18:46:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

Well first things first, I hope you are all well and have had a good week so far! Can you believe it's just over a week till Christmas? Crazy. I finished uni for Christmas today, when I was walking home I was humming a mixture of two songs in my head ' driving home for Christmas' and 'school's out for summer.' I don't know why I had these two in my head because I was doing neither, 1 we're not driving home till next week and 2 it's winter. A little insight into my strange thoughts. So yes I had my final presentation today and I am so, so glad to have 3 presentations and 4 essays handed in, yes I do have work to do over Christmas but it will be nice to have a break and not have to go to uni or feel guilty whenever I have an afternoon nap, I had one this afternoon and it was great!

So I thought I would just post a quick outfit post today featuring my new blouse from Primark, I did have a couple of comments on my Primark haul video asking to post an outfit so here it is, I always like to dress quite smart for presentations so I teamed my blouse (which makes me feel like a pirate in for some reason hence the post title) with my 'Flack' shorts as I like to call them because Caroline Flack has them. I also wore my trusty Primark boots with them, my winter h&m coat and my berry snood.

Top: Primark

Top underneath blouse: Primark

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

Tights: Primark

Also if you do watch my YouTube videos (Link here if you don't) and saw my Primark haul video, little word of warning the Primark fur stole is blimmin' hard to wear. The one side is silky so it slips around your neck like no one's business, I kept looking down and I'd have a long side and a short side which looked totally stupid, then when I pulled the one side through the loop it kept coming un done! It got so annoying I took it off and put it in my bag, I bet my berry snood was chuckling thinking 'ha that's what you get for ditching me' also no one called me Cruella De'vil so that was good.

Also sorry my hair looks an absolute state in this picture, when I woke up this morning after 6 hours sleep I kind of didn't care, I thought with the blouse and hair I looked like Captain Hook. Oh I realise this is such a ramble post, sorry about that but if anyone was wondering, not sure if I mentioned it on here or not but yesterday I spent NINE hours in a shopping centre wrapping people's presents for the charity I work for. I was so worried as I am the world's worst wrapper and I had visions of people throwing presents back in my face, luckily it was really quiet, we only wrapped about 10 presents over the day and all the presents were neatly wrapped so that was good! Of course my favourite present to wrap was a One Direction calender, the man looked at me very oddly when I said ' I want one of these!' He looked at me as if to say ' How old are you?'

I hope you all have a great Thursday evening, I am so excited that Christmas can now begin :) hope you all have a great night and I'll hopefully be back with regular posts again now my uni work is done! Yay

WRAP up warm this winter..

2011-12-12T16:24:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

If you're a regular reader of this blog you will know of my love of nail polish and all things nail art. I wish I was more skilled in the nail art department, I can't even master the leopard print technique! It just looks like a doll was sick on my nails, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered nail wraps/stickers. There are so many nail wraps on the market, many though put me off with the faff of heating them up with a hair dryer etc, so I tended to stay away.You see I am a fidget and it's usually a challenge for me to sit still for twenty minutes to let my nails dry never mind a malarkey with a hairdryer! I discovered some more sticker like nail wraps from Elegant Touch when I went to their event with Eylure back in October time. I was given some blue crocodile print ones to try which I reviewed HERE, however I was impressed with the ease of application but wasn't crazy on the design. Not good for a girl with a huge phobia of all things reptiles (especially lizards.)

I was sent three packs from Elegant Touch a couple of weeks ago and the designs that I was sent are much more up my street, no reptile prints in sight! I received a metallic silver and gold almost leopard print and then a turquoise shade of the kind of leopard print. I thought I cannot wait to try these! Last week if you watch my YouTube videos you will of noticed my pink nails with an accent nail, the accent nail was in fact one of the gold nail stickers from Elegant Touch. I loved the wraps so much I thought I can't use them all at once on all ten fingers, so thought I would ration them by only putting them on individual fingers. The gold sticker is amazing, over a week later it's still going strong on my nails and only has a tiny bit of wear on the end of my nail which I think is pretty fantastic for essentially a sticker.

This week I decided to match my nails to the cold weather we're having and went for a blue, using Essie Mint Candy Apple (which is already chipping boo) on my fingers and then the turquoise nail wrap on my index finger and I kept the gold wrap on my ring finger as it still looked perfect. I've found the turquoise one which is more of a paper sticker than the gold which to me seems more like a foil definitely doesn't wear as well as the gold. I am seeing after 3 days of wear the same amount of wear on the end of my nail as the gold one which has been on my nails for 9 days. I also found the turquoise a little harder to apply.

The application of these nail stickers is really easy, you put a base coat on, then apply the sticker to your nail, secure it down and then trim/file the length till it fits with your nail length. Then you put some top coat on and bob's your uncle. I am very impressed with the gold colour and I'm hoping the silver will be just as hard wearing. I would definitely recommend a pack of these (in particular the foil ones) especially with Christmas so soon, they are perfect festive nails which attract lots of compliments! The Elegant Touch Envy Wraps are about £5.00 and can be bought from places like Boots and Superdrug.

Have you ever tried nail wraps? What did you think?

I hope you've all had a good Monday, mine has been filled with uni work which has been exciting (not) definitely looking forward to Friday when uni is finished for Christmas, then I will allow myself to get in the festive mood! Hope you all have a great evening, I am looking forward to indulging in some fajitas and watching the Young Apprentice final :)

P.S Marie Claire magazine have launched their own blogger/tweet awards, if you would like to nominate me and my blog Dizzybrunette3 you can do HERE there is obviously no pressure too, the link is also there for you to nominate other favourite beauty and fashion bloggers :)

Disclaimer: I was sent these products to review on my blog for PR purposes, but as always my reviews are 100% honest and un-bias.

MUA Pro Glamour Days Palette review & video..

2011-12-10T16:41:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies!

I'm sure many of you will of heard of MUA pro make up, a add on to MUA cosmetics which can be found in Superdrug. MUA pro is affordable just like MUA and has had lots of praise in the beauty industry. I was sent this new palette from MUA Pro to try out, so after having a play with it, I feel I'm finally ready to write up a review on this palette! The palette is called Glamour Days and has a collection of pastel, neutral shades to suit everyone. There also is a Glamour Nights palette which has more striking and bright colours, usually I keep my eyes quite neutral so thought the days palette was more up my street.

There's twelve colours to choose from, colours range from icy blues, to girly pinks and luxurious golds. There is so many looks that you could create with this palette, which is great considering the price is £4.00. I do think that MUA pro have excellent eye palettes for the price, some eye palettes can cost a small fortune so it's nice to have a drugstore brand that has lots to choose from.

Twelve colours for £4.00 is a bit of a bargain, but I do kind of feel with this palette the colours need quite a heavy hand to get a really swash of colour on your eyelid, I suppose I am comparing this palette with the eye palette I use every day which is my Urban Decay Naked Palette which of course is like £35.00 so the MUA palette is £30.00 cheaper so I can't moan too much. For the price the colours are great though and I like the mixture of matte and shimmer shades as I usually find matte shades are few and far between on the drugstore market.

Top & Bottom row of swatches.

I've shown swatches above of the palette, I've also included a little video of a eye make up look inspired by Xfactor judge Tulisa. When I saw the pinks in this palette I thought they would be great for re-creating the pink smokey eye that Tulisa has rocked a couple of times on the Xfactor live shows. There's so many looks you could create with this palette, a icy cool blue smokey eye, a gold smokey eye, a neutral everyday look or a girly pink look. There's lots to choose from! I hope you like the video, I thought by adding a video you could see exactly how the shadows apply on the eyes and how pigmented the shades are, because you can't always tell that by a swatch on the arm!

Tulisa inspired make up look using Glamour Days palette

Ha I thought I'd pretend to be Tulisa.

You can buy this palette from MUA pro stands in certain Superdrug's, you can also buy online from the official MUA website HERE

Also I apologise for the state of my brows, I think I'll probably go them done tomorrow! I'm off now, I hope you all have a great Saturday evening, I've done no uni work today which is disappointing of me, but I did work this morning/afternoon so it's not like I haven't done anything all day! I'm now snuggled up in my comfy clothes waiting for the XFactor final! How exciting eh ;) I hope you all have a great evening :)

Disclaimer: I was sent this palette to review on my blog for PR purposes, but as always my reviews and opinions remain 100% honest and un-bias.

VIDEO: 13 Personal Questions

2011-12-09T20:41:00.000Z

Hey lovelies!

Hope you're all having a great Friday evening so far, I've just ate a yummy tea and now sitting in front of season 2 90210, cannot beat it! I thought I'd just pop up my latest YouTube video which is the tag video 13 personal questions. I have to admit I did take inspiration from Anna, after seeing her video I thought what a fun video to do. I also thought that it's a good way for you all to find out a little bit more about me, I always love watching these videos as I love finding out more about bloggers and YouTubers. You probably won't find me very interesting though!

I really hope you like it, and don't think it's too boring!
I hope you all have a lovely evening, I'm off to watch some more 90210 and feel guilty about the fact that I haven't done any uni work today, whoops!

Mii Cosmetics Review..

2011-12-08T17:28:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

First things first, I have just woke up from a nap and I'm always still a bit half asleep when I wake up from afternoon naps, especially when you dream that you're awake so when you do actually wake up, you're really confused.

Now Mii Cosmetics have recently been launched online for worldwide delievery, Mii Cosmetics are a cosmetic brand that until a little while ago were only exclusive to spas and salons across the UK. But due to popular demand, Mii have broadened their horizons and we can all now have a slice of the action!

I had never heard of Mii Cosmetics before, I'm not really a big spa/salon goer, but I was intrigued by how the products had been chosen for the brand.

"Mii's creation has been inspired by the wants and wishes of thousands of beauty spa and salon devotees, as well as a team of beauty experts. Combining the finest ingredients, Mii offers effortless application and unrivalled expertise to reveal your natural beauty. The collection also includes a mineral makeup line infused with precious gemstones, thirteen tailored brushes, and handbag heroes; Flawless Face Base, Moisturising Lip Lover, Pure Wonder Concealer and Glamorous Trio Bronzing Face Finish."

I was very excited to receive a couple of products to try from the collection, I received the luminous tinted moisturiser and the moisturising lip lover lipstick. All the products names are luxurious and the packaging is black, sleek and reminds me a little of the Jemma Kidd make up packaging.

The Luminous Tinted Moisturiser: Now when I first saw that I had received this, I was very happy. I absolutely love the effect of dewy, flawless skin (think Millie Mackintosh from Made in Chelsea) This tinted moisturiser also has an spf 15 so it's also great for protecting your skin. When I tried this I realised that to work with it properly you need quite a bit of moisturiser/primer on your skin, once I'd put a little more of my favourite Body Shop mattifying day cream, it worked and blended in a lot better. The shade is a too dark for me at the moment, it's okay if I've faked tanned but to be honest with it being December and everything I lean more towards matte, full coverage foundations to give my skin a bit of a perk. I also feel that right now my skin isn't clear enough to just rock a tinted moisturiser, stresses about uni work, money and lack of sleep is not kind to your skin. But this doesn't mean I am writing this tinted moisturiser off, for me this will be perfect for the summer. It's very light on the skin which means it'll be great for hot sunny days, also the dark shade will be better for when my face is naturally tanned again. However the staying power isn't amazing, by the time I went to take this off, I noticed patches on my face where the moisturiser had faded, so this definitely needs accompaniment with a powder and possibly a setting spray.

Moisturising Lip Lover- Gossip: When I first saw this shade I thought 'hmm I don't know if that's me.' Gossip is a rich, deep red lip, to me it screams 1950's glamour, a perfect for parties that's for sure. Mii boasts that this lipstick "our ultra moisturising lipstick’s active ingredients help soften and improve the condition of your lips with every wear" This does glide on very nicely to the lips and has a lovely smell, it smells quite fruity, a nice smelling lipstick is always a winner in my books. I decided to have a play around with the shade when I was just pottering around the flat and I was pleasantly surprised to see how lovely Gossip looked on my lips. The red instantly made my face look more tanned and made me feel oh so glamorous pottering around the flat. I even tweeted a picture of myself wearing the lippie, I was that impressed! There are plenty other shades available if Gossip doesn't sound like it's up your street. The moisturising lip lover lipstick is priced at £14.95.

Me wearing Gossip (mind the shiny-ness, this was after a day of shopping and uni work!)

You can buy both these products and much more from the collection from www.gerrardinternational.com (though I think at the moment the website is down as I've tried on both my Internet servers Chrome and Internet explorer and it wouldn't load, let's blame the wind!)

I definitely think Mii Cosmetics are worth a look if you have a few pennies saved up and want some salon quality cosmetics in your life.

I hope you all have a lovely Thursday evening and are all snuggled inside safe and warm. The weather seems to horrible across the country and even down south we have had some mighty winds, at one point this morning the wind carried me along the pavement, I thought I was going to do a Mary Poppins at one point!

* Disclaimer: I was sent these products to review for PR purposes, however my reviews and thoughts are always 100% honest and un-bias.

New winter hair & OOTD

2011-12-07T18:10:00.000Z

Hey lovelies!

So if you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I dyed my hair last night. I've been wanting to dye my hair for a little while now as I was getting a little bored of my natural colour and just wanted a change. In the end I decided to opt for a plum/dark brown colour and chose Superdrug's new foam hair dye in the shade Deep cherry brown. The dye itself was a bargain at £3.99, compared to it's rival John Frieda which is £9.99. I'm pretty pleased with the dye, it's left my hair feeling like silk and super shiny. There also was so much foam, my hair is really long and usually takes quite a lot to cover but by about half way through I was thinking ' well I've got enough on my hair now!'

I know this is a really weird photo, just what is my hand doing? But at least you can see the shinyness

It is a little bit dark at the moment and I can't quite decide if in some lights I look like a goth or the Kardashians ugly cousin. I'm sure once I've washed it a couple of times it will fade slightly, but I'm liking the added glossiness and a richer colour for the winter!

I also thought that I would just pop at outfit photo in this post too, kill one bird with two stones and all that. I just had a boring day of uni today, feeling shattered now for some reason and literally so excited for my tea, nice sausages, roast potatoes and gravy! Ha my world definitely revolves around food!

I don't know why I look about 5 in this photo...

Cardi: H&M

Top (Lace): Zara

Top (peter pan collar): H&M

Shorts: Topshop

Tights: Primark

Boots: Primark

These shorts are super short and I had another case of looking like I had no trousers on again when I had my coat on!

Have you changed your hair lately? Do you like the new plum colour?

I hope you all have a lovely Wednesday evening, like I mentioned before I will be having some yummy tea, watching Gossip Girl and sobbing about the fact Caroline Flack and Harry Styles are basically official. (Just joking, I'm not THAT obsessed!)

Video: Caroline Flack inspired make up tutorial...

2011-12-06T12:44:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So just thought I'd pop a post up with my latest video whilst I kill some time waiting around for my dissertation presentation which is at 2pm. I will be very glad to get it over and done with as I had another presentation yesterday and it means that the real bulk of my uni work ( 3 essays and 2 presentations) will be completed. Tonight I will definitely be indulging in some relaxation, I'm thinking heat magazine, yummy tea and dying my hair (don't worry nothing too drastic a subtle plum/dark brown colour)

Now if you've read my past few posts you will already know of my love of Caroline Flack, I love her style, her hair and her choice of men ( can Harry Styles be classed as a man?!) Before my presentation yesterday I thought I would distract myself from stressing by filming a Caroline Flack inspired make up tutorial. I've re-created her smokey eye and nude lip look but adapted it for the day time as when she's on Xtra Factor she usually has a lot of black eyeshadow which is sometimes a bit much for the day, I may do a night time version at some point.

I hope you like the video, at the very end I do a quick OOTD. Also I am a little orange in this video, over did the fake tan on Sunday night! I'm blaming the dodgy lighting in my bathroom!

Also in other news just wanted to say a big thank you to you all as this week I have reached 1000 followers on here and 1000 subscribers on YouTube which is just mental. I can just about get my head round 1000 people wanting to read my waffle but 1000 people want to hear my horrible voice? Crazy? A big thank you though you've all made my week!

I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday evening :) also Marie Claire have launched their own blog awards, you can vote for your fave blogs/twitter accounts HERE If you want to vote me that's lovely :) but don't feel pressured too, thought you all might like to know the link!

Plump up the volume...

2011-12-04T16:59:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

I'm sure you've all heard of the MUA (Make Up Academy) make up range that has taken the beauty world by storm. The original MUA stands which are in Superdrug boast affordable make up with many items all being £1.00, the launch of MUA Pro also saw affordable make up with eye palettes at prices such as £4.00 and rivalling the Urban Decay Naked Palette. MUA have a few new things added to their Pro collection and today I am talking about their new Out There Plumping lipglosses.

Priced at an amazing £2.00 and come in eight different shades, these are a new exciting addition to the MUA Pro stand. I was offered the chance to try one of the new plumping lipglosses, which I jumped at, I've always had a little obsession with plumped up lips and products that boast about plumping your lips up. I'd never have collagen or anything like that cause I do think sometimes that can look a little ridiculous, but I remember when I was younger and I had an operation in my mouth, the first couple of days after the op I was very impressed with my slightly swollen lips. Like I've always said, I was weird when growing up. (My boyfriend will probably argue that I am still weird.)

Shade choice:I chose the shade "Nude" mainly for two reasons, I love my nude lips and secondly I've practically run out of my beloved Barry M toffee lipgloss so I needed a new one to take it's place. The eight shades to choose from range from nudes to baby pinks to vibrant bright pinks and corals. There is a shade for everyone. My nude shade is a typical nude colour and is very well pigmented. I will attach a photo below of me wearing the lipgloss below with nothing else on my lips to show the true colour.

The 'Plumping':Now these lipglosses boast that they will get your pout looking perfect and plump. Now when you first put this lipgloss on you feel nothing then within two minutes you feel a slight tingling sensation which lasts for about thirty seconds. My lips felt a little more plumped up but I didn't feel like I had a new set of lips. However this lipgloss is only £2.00 so I wasn't expecting collagen effects, but you definitely feel something happen. Though a little word of warning, don't get this lipgloss in your mouth as the plumping effect ingrident doesn't taste very nice, it very slightly felt like I'd just eaten a very hot chili.

Longetivity: When you pay £2.00 for a lipgloss you don't hold out much hope for a lipgloss that lasts a long time, you usually accept that you'll have to reapply regularly. This gloss lasts a little while, I'd say probably up to a hour max before I find I'm reaching for a top up.

Overall Thoughts: This lipgloss didn't move the world for me, but it's a nice lipgloss with a lovely variety of colours and remember costs just £2.00. It's probably the best lowest costing lipgloss I've used so far. It's well pigmented and does slightly plump your lips which is perfect for all that kissing under the mistletoe!

Me wearing the shade Nude from the MUA Pro Out There Plumping lipglosses. This is the gloss on it's own, I used no other products on my lips.

You can buy any of the MUA range from their new official website HERE

Have you ever tried any of MUA's offerings? I have another review on a MUA product which I will pop up very soon so look out for that :)

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday afternoon/evening, mine will be spent practising for my presentation tomorrow, listening to One Direction, eating casserole and Pavlova (not at the same time) and watching Xfactor. What an exciting evening eh ;) I hope that yours are a little more exciting than mine!

N.B I was given this product to review by MUA's PR, but as always my opinion remains 100% honest and reliable.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

2011-12-03T19:42:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Hope you're all having a lovely Saturday so far, just a really quick post from me this evening and no make up tonight (shock horror) I actually have a little blog 'to do' list full of make up items to write posts about so keep your eyes peeled for them over the next couple of weeks!

My boyfriend has this weekend off work which is a lovely luxury as my boyfriend never has weekend's off and I usually work Saturdays so I'm used to spending my weekends by myself listening to Radio 1 and doing uni work, so it's nice to have him home. Unfortunately instead of snuggling down and watching films which is what we should be doing with a weekend off we are both bogged down with uni work so we've been trying to crack on with that, how boring eh. Another boring coupley thing that we did today was the food shop, Tesco was rammed and made me realise just why I usually do my shopping online! We spent a small fortune (whoops) but have a fridge full of yummy goodies. Particularly looking forward to sitting in front of X factor tonight with a stuffed crust pizza, garlic bread and a toffee pavlova for desert. (Ha best start on the 30 day shred again!)

We decided to add some excitement into our day by putting up our Christmas tree, if my boyfriend had his way, he'd of had it up (ha that sounds really rude ;)) last week but I told him we couldn't have a Christmas tree up till December. I know you're not supposed to put all your decorations up for another couple of weeks but we couldn't wait and thought we'd put them up together as we don't get much time off together. I also did some present wrapping and lit some festive candles which are definitely one of my favourite things about Christmas.

I love the smell of Christmas (spiced apple, cinnamon, chocolate, sweets) are the smells of Christmas to me, so we picked some candles today from Tesco (buy one get two free) to fill the flat with Christmas aroma's.

So that's my day, hopefully tomorrow I will really knuckle down with my uni work, I cannot express how excited I am to finish uni for Christmas really need some time to just chill, I'm sure many of you feel this way too though!

Have you put your Christmas decks up yet or are you waiting? Also how exciting is having an advent calender? I wish I could have a little chocolate everyday, definitely makes my mornings! Also hope anyone who went to the South Bloggers meet up today had a lovely time, sorry I was a let down but I couldn't afford to go really or afford a day off from uni work :(

Have a lovely Saturday evening, I am very excited about the Xfactor as per usual ;) Little Mix to win! :)

Who likes short shorts?

2011-12-01T16:08:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Well in reply to my post title, I do indeed like short shorts. I thought I'd pop up a outfit post as I've not put one up in a couple of weeks. This outfit is what I'd probably call my 'uniform' at the moment, this is the type of outfit that I wear most days and it consists of denim shorts from Tophsop, opaque tights, a top with collar detail or a peter pan collar and then my trusty workman boots from Primark. I'm not a lover of jeans as my three pairs are either too baggy, too tight so they give my legs a mini workout when I'm walking fast or upstairs and my berry jeans are a bit too long so I tend to turn to my shorts. I've also started to realise that now I'm twenty I may only have a few years left of wearing short shorts, well I say a few years I'm going to try to keep wearing them till I'm about 35ish. Though we will see how I feel then and whether the ageing process has been kind to me!

Oop left the little hanger labels in the post and also excuse my paleness, I realise I look like the abominable snowman!

Top: Primark

Shorts: Topshop

Tights: Primark

Boots: Primark

This is what I like to call my 'Henry the 8th' top as I feel like a Tudor ( was Henry the 8th a Tudor? My primary school history knowledge escapes me) because of the huge collar, I prefer wearing it with my hair down as that counteracts the Tudor collar slightly. My boyfriend calls it a nun top, but then again he calls anything with a collar a nun top, I just don't think he understands fashion. Talking of nun's I saw one in my local shopping centre the other day, she was blates doing some Christmas shopping for the other nun's and monks. A little fact for you all when I was little I would call nun's- nur's. Wow bet you'll all sleep tonight now knowing that little fact ;)

Sorry for the weird photos, but the only good one in colour my face looked like a right moody cow so I couldn't put it online! The last picture is my boyfriend trying to be all arty farty!

Coat: H&M

I also want to introduce you to my winter coat, I only went and jinxed myself the other day by saying ' oh it's still warm enough to wear my leather jacket with 3/4 sleeves' but even though it's still quite mild, I don't particularly like facing gale force winds and rain with half my arms out. This coat was from H&M and was the third winter coat I bought this year as I couldn't make my mind up, actually it was the fourth! Don't worry the others have gone back, oh my god I've just realised it was the fifth. Wow indecisive or what?! Anyways I like this one because it's pulled into the waist so doesn't swamp me and was reduced by 50% so that meant this coat was only £12.00! What an actual bargain. It's warm too but it's a little longer than the coats I usually go for, so this means when I wear shorts which I do like all the time, I look like I'm wearing no trousers. I feel like I'm Kitty from the Xfactor!

I hope you all have a lovely Thursday evening, I am feeling a little more positive today after a successful dissertation tutorial, but I am still feeling a little fed up with certain things, I was tempted to take a break from blogging as I'm feeling like a bit of a loser blogger at the moment but I told myself to stop being so pathetic! Hope everyone else is dandy.

P.S Now a couple of weeks ago I almost (the italics on the word almost mean I didn't actually do this just almost) wet my pants (did I really just say that) with excitement over the fact Urban Decay are releasing a Naked Palette TWO. Now if you've followed this blog for a while or watch my YouTube videos you will know how much I love my naked palette. So you can imagine how damn excited I was when I saw that Anna (the lucky so and so) has reviewed the palette and done swatches of the new palette. I am so excited for it to be released in January and already putting £36.00 aside for when it launches! Okay I'm really going now! Bye :)

Find your perfect Christmas dress with Motel Rocks

2011-11-30T17:00:00.051Z

Hey Lovelies!

Hope you're all having a lovely Wednesday so far, hopefully when this post goes live I will be getting stuck into writing my dreaded dissertation... eeek. I am struggling a little bit with all this uni work but I'm thinking to myself I have another two weeks full of stress and then it will be time for some Christmas relaxing! I will be indulging in lots of chocolate (hello quality street tins) and watching lots of trashy Christmas specials on the telly (hello Justin Bieber special... aaah just when you thought I couldn't sink any lower down the cool scale!)

Talking of Christmas, it's a time of year that everyone loves to dress up. I always like to make an effort on Christmas day even if we're just staying in the house, but I always like to dress up and put some make up on (that hopefully Santa brought me.) The past couple of years I didn't get myself organised and ended up wearing clothes that I always wear and feeling slightly disappointed with my Christmas attire. This year I have decided that I WILL have a new Christmas dress as me and my boyfriend are going to do a little whistle stop tour of visiting all our families on Christmas day. I needed something special and this is where Motel Rocks have stepped in.

My pretty Motel Rocks Gina dress

Now I wrote a few weeks back about the Motel Rocks and Glossybox event that I attended, after the event Motel very kindly let us pick an item of our choice to have and to review on our blog alogs. I chose a gorgeous wine coloured Gina dress. I really liked this dress because the colour is unique and I don't own anything like this colour and I also like the lace applique on the neck line and sleeves. I haven't decided yet if this is going to be the actual Christmas day dress but I will definitely be wearing at some point round the Christmas season. It's lovely quality and the perfect length even for me being 5ft 2. I think there's so many ways you could style this dress and I think I may pop that post up on my uni fashion blog so look out for that if you follow! And if you know me by now you will probably of already guessed that I probably will be popping a peter pan collar underneath to give it a bit of Corrie style!

Now if you're looking for your Christmas day/Boxing day/New Years Eve dress then I would recommend popping over to Motel Rocks because they have some FAB offers going on at the moment. In fact there's three for you to choose from... are you ready?

Bargain 1- I am officially a Motel Top Blogger which means that you lovely people and me get an exclusive 15% discount online- all you have to do is type TOPBLOG15 and voila discount!
Bargain 2- Motel have an amazing discount of 2 dresses for £50.00 at the moment, with most dresses being over £35.00 you're really saving yourself a bargain, here are my two picks from the range.

Bargain 3- Now remember you heard it here first but TONIGHT (starting right now!) Motel are having an exclusive 24 hour 20% discount event off EVERYTHING! All you need to do is enter PARTYTREAT at the checkout to get 20% off. Don't say I don't do anything for you guys ;)

So you now have three ways to grab a bargain with Motel and a gorgeous dress for the festive season. If you do buy a dress/playsuit etc let me know which one you went for! Right I should probably get back to uni work now, so I hope you all have a lovely evening and happy shopping :)

Visit the Motel Rocks website HERE: http://www.motelrocks.com/shop/

I did receive this item for review purposes but as always my thoughts are 100% honest. This post is no way sponsored I wanted to share some great discounts with you all.

VIDEO: Flawless skin & Golden Smokey Eye Tutorial..

2011-11-27T12:00:00.001Z

Hey Lovelies,

So this weekend I have been a busy bee and filmed a couple of Youtube videos which again feature me make up less. Cringe. The first tutorial is a 'flawless skin' make up tutorial, this is just me putting on my base make up and what I use and how I use those products to get my skin to look the best that I can possibly make it. All the products are ones I've used for a while, so I know they work and are long lasting which is always something I look for in a make up product!

Products used in this video:
The Body Shop mattifying day cream
Superdrug brightening eyedrops
Estee Lauder Doublewear Foundation
Bourjois healthy mix foundation
collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer
YSL Touche Eclat
L'oreal true match powder
Bobbi Brown bronzer
Bourjois Rose D'or blusher
MAC warmth of Coral mineralise blush
MAC Strobe Cream
Lips: MAC Hue lipstickI also just want to mention the fact that my foundation is a little too pale for me in this video as I had recently fake tanned!
Now onto Part 2 of this post: part 2 of this make up look is a golden smokey eye tutorial using just eyeshadows from the Urban Decay Naked Palette. I edited this video and then realised that at the very end of the video I have a black gel eyeliner mark on my forehead. I literally slapped my palm on my forehead and thought how did you do that?! Seriously I'm such a loser sometimes it's untrue!

Products Used: Urban Decay Naked palette: Virgin, Sin, Half Baked, Smog & Hustle
Rimmel Day to Night mascara
Look Beauty Stretch Factor mascara
Maybelline gel eyeliner
Models Own smokey eye kit- Simmer
Barry M 155-Pale Pink lipstick
MAC Hue lipstick
Barry M toffee lipgloss
Body Shop Vitamin E face mist
I hope you enjoy both the videos and don't find them too cringey! I do quite enjoy filming these kind of videos and of course they're my favourite to watch. Other people's videos by the way, I don't sit there and watch myself!
I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, I will be spending my day completing uni work! Fun!

Barry M's Latest Offering...

2011-11-25T16:49:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

So it's Friday whooooohoooo, to celebrate the handing in of my first essay of the term I decided in my wisdom to go Christmas shopping but alas every other person seemed to have the same idea and I ended up going home after realising I didn't really know what I wanted to get and was fed up of being barged into or being stuck behind slow walkers who make me to just punch them in the back of a head. I'm not usually a violent person by the way, Christmas shopping just stresses me out!

Rant over, onto the actual post, Barry M have released a couple new lipstick shades "oooh" this was pretty exciting to me as the new shades which are 'Pale Nude' and 'Pale Pink' actually looked like wearable shades! I went to Boots and decided on Pale Pink otherwise known as 155 (catchy name there) Pale Nude was nice but it still looked a little too pale for my liking, nothing like the 101 Marshmallow pale (that lipstick shade should be banned imo) so settled for the pink which reminded me of a nice pink lipstick that Millie from Made in Chelsea was wearing in a couple of episodes. So I thought buying a lipstick would ultimately turn me into a beautiful, flawless make up artist, it didn't... when will I ever learn?

It's not that bright in real life, silly lighting!

I like this colour, but I only dab it on to my lips to get just a swash of the colour, it's a cool toned pink which I don't think is that flattering for my skin tone *damn the lighting in Boots* but with just a dab of the colour and some nude lipgloss it looks lovely. I think this is great for just adding a little bit of colour to my face and I've been pairing it with a pink blusher to achieve a girly look. The consistency isn't great, a little drying and definitely matte, I much prefer it with a gloss. But for £4.00 ish you can't really complain too much.

The result of a dab of Pale Pink lipstick with Barry M nude/toffee lipgloss

It's quite long lasting when topped with a gloss, but I think this is due to the lipstick's consistency as it's matte so it almost sticks to your lips, ultimately I think this lipstick is a really pretty colour but I don't think I'll be rushing to buy another Barry M lipstick in a hurry. Have you ever tried Barry M's lipsticks?

I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening, I am planning to try and get on with some more uni work, oh the joys eh! I hope you all have a much more interesting evening! :)

Drop Dead Gorgeous

2011-11-24T16:53:00.000Z

Hey lovelies!

I hope you are all having a lovely week so far, mine has been bogged down with uni work, writing many Christmas lists and listening to One Direction's album over and over (don't judge me.) So today's post is about a lovely little goodie which the team at Missguided sent me. I'm sure all of you have heard of Missguided, if you haven't it's an online fashion store which stocks gorgeous, fashionable yet affordable clothes, accessories and shoes.

I'm a regular visitor to the Missguided website, I love the clothes as they're reasonably priced and many of them resemble things from more expensive high street stores such as Topshop and River Island. I met the lovely Sara who is the creative executive/stylist for Missguided at the Cosmo Blog Awards who then very kindly emailed me after the awards and offered to send something to review. I was literally stuck for choice and opted for a bracelet from the website.

Now I've just had a little look online for the website I received but I can't find it, I'll pop up a link up though if it becomes available again. The bracelet I went for was a Shamballa bracelet, I decided to opt for this bracelet as I'd seen this bracelet on television shows such as TOWIE and Made in Chelsea, I'd always wondered where you could get these bracelets as I loved them so was so made up to be sent one from Missguided. The bracelet itself is everything I hoped it would be, gorgeous design which is different to any other bracelet I own. Though I was a little embarrassed when watching Made in Chelsea with my boyfriend and he says " Look Spencer's wearing your bracelet!" I was like... ah well, it could be worse, it could be Francis Bouille.

Also Missguided have recently revamped their website and launched a television advert which the campaign is called 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' I've popped the LINK of the video of the advert in, so you can see if you haven't seen it on the tellybox before, I love the clothes that are featured in the advert, I'm in love with the white peter pan collar playsuit!

You can visit Missguided HERE

I hope you all have a lovely evening, I'm sure I will be trying to get through my 'to do' list of uni work! Joy!

*NB I was sent this product to review for PR purposes, however like always my opinion remains 100% honest.

Video: My Favourite Drugstore Products...

2011-11-21T19:13:00.000Z

Hey lovelies,

Just thought I'd pop a post up with my latest Youtube video which is me waffling on about my favourite drugstore products. It's all products that I've used myself and that I've loved and that work. Whenever I do these videos I always put in the products that I've found work the best for me. So I'm letting you all know my make up secrets!

If you like my waffley videos then you can subscribe to my channel HERE and then you will be the first to know when my next waffley video is up :) you may not want to though, there's no pressure obv's ;)

Yes I was sad enough to printscreen. Hey I may never get another celebrity tweet me again.

Also in other exciting news, something very exciting happened..... Caroline Flack tweeted me AND retweeted my tweet! I know, how exciting eh? I did have a little fan girl moment, I'm sure you all know how much I love her. Though off the back of her retweet I got a very rude tweet... someone said 'they wanted to blow my legs off and that I was bang tidy.' I was like BRILLIANT. (that's a sarcastic brilliant by the way)

Also, also, remember to go check out my new uni fashion blog HERE I posted my first proper post today and there's much more to come (ha how cheesy does that sound?) Thanks to everyone who has followed already, you're all ace.

I hope you all have a lovely evening, I have officially given up with my essay writing and I'm looking forward to watching Made in Chelsea tonight! EEEEEK Showdown!

A Grand Unveiling...

2011-11-20T17:19:00.000Z

Hey lovelies!

Just a quick one from me today, can we still count right now as today? It's dark outside which to me means night but it's five pm so that's a tad too early for night time but hey ho, I'll stop blabberring, here's just a little post from me at this very moment in time! I just pointed at the screen in a 'that'll do' way. Ha I shouldn't be left alone all day I tell you.

Basically the reason for this very random and out of the ordinary post is to introduce you all to my bit on the side... my new fashion blog *drum roll, carnival music, applause* I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about how one of my uni modules this year requires me to set up a new media project. Being a blogger already it seemed to be honest the ~~easiest~~ best option to set up a new fashion side to Dizzybrunette3. I was going to slam it all into this blog but I thought I've worked really hard on this blog and the beauty side so thought I'd just set up a new one and it makes everything a little easier to follow!

So please go and have a look if you want and follow if you like! There's only the one post up at the moment but there will be more to come very soon! I'm going to be posting outfit posts, my favourite fashion picks, celebrity styles and well whatever else takes my fancy. Of course it'll all be written in the same rambley style which my posts are normally like here!

So the all important blog link and seriously un-inventive name (I swear I am so un creative when it comes to thinking of names for stuff, I think when I'm older and have children they'll probably be called boy/girl as I just can't think of anything original these days) sorry I digress.. the name and link is.......

Fashion According to Dizzybrunette3

If you click on the big words above it will take you to my new blog! OOOOOOOH.

I hope you all realise I am being a bit sarcastic here and don't worry I am not dropping all things beauty, Dizzybrunette3 will be my main priority but 'Fashion According to....' is a little sideline project. I hope you like it and don't think it's too naff.

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening, I bet you can all guess what I'll be doing tonight.... Watching the Xfactor of course :)

When two becomes one...

2011-11-19T16:49:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies!

I really didn't know what to call this post so I thought ' when in doubt, quote the Spice Girls.' Although this is a outfit post, I felt I'd be a bit boring if I just labelled this OOTD or OOTN cause this was a night outfit. I wore this on Thursday night when my boyfriend and I went for a meal with my boyfriend's Dad and Step-mum who had come to visit us for a couple of days. I always like to dress nicely when I go out and even though we were just going to for a meal in a nice country pub I wanted to look nice cause like I've said before you never know who you might bump into!

Lady in Black! Cheery colour Corrie

Also say hello to my boyfriend who you can see in the background!

But something that makes this outfit a little different to normal and where the Spice Girl title starts to make sense is the fact that I've used two tops to create one different looking top. Yes I realise that doesn't make much sense but basically the peter pan collar is on a H&M vest top that I have and I layered it underneath my Zara lace top to create a new look. I really like this and think you can't tell it's two tops together and I'll definitely be doing this to my other tops as I have a thing about peter pan collars at the moment! This is also another outfit which is inspired by my current style crush Caroline Flack as she also loves her peter pan collars and shorts! I think my boyfriend doesn't know what to worry about more either my current obession with Caroline Flack or my infatuation with Harry Styles!

Peter Pan Collar Top: H&M

Lace Top: Zara

Shorts: Miss Selfridge

Tights: Primark

Shoes: Primark

Lipstick: Look Beauty Double Hit Lip in Pink Punch

Nails: Emerald City- Models Own

I think I should get more creative often as it makes your old clothes feel new again which is great for saving money! Do you ever adapt your clothes like this? Or by any chance know where I can get a vest top with a white peter pan collar to layer underneath tops?

I hope you all have a lovely Saturday evening, mine will be spent watching Xfactor and trying to find something to eat from the non existent food in our cupboards. As a snack I just ate a little travel sachet of Nutella with a spoon. I have reached a new low. Also I am recovering from shock after when waiting for my taxi to pick me up from work a seagull dropped a sausage on my leg! It had some force, I was like what was that?! Then they all stated to circulate around me, was a very scary moment I tell you!

Ooh also, also, I went to see Breaking Dawn on Thursday night/Friday morning and all I have to say is WOW. Seriously so intense, I almost bit through my finger at one point and started crying from about ten minutes in which my boyfriend found HILARIOUS. I won't ruin it for you all but there is one scene that has scarred me slightly. If you've read the books you'll probably know which one! Also I now definitely fancy Taylor Launter over Robert Pattinson. Sorry R-Patz but you've lost it.

Have a lovely evening :)

All That Glitters...

2011-11-18T16:55:00.000Z

Hey Lovelies,

Other Girls Aloud fans will notice a song lyric from them from the title there. Ooh what an interesting start to my post eh? So yes let's get on with the post eh? It's about glitter, if you hadn't already guessed! Glitter nail polish to be more precise.

At the moment, I cannot get enough of glitter nail polish especially Models Own glitter polishes. I used to love glitter polish when I was younger and would wear it to discos accompanied with glitter hair spray, glitter on my face (my mother was very inventive with make up) and glittery Tammy Girl clothes. But I got older (funnily enough) and you start to look for more sophisticated choices in the nail polish department. However even though I am like seven months away from turning 21, I seem to have reverted to my child like ways of craving glitter.

It's like a disco but in a bottle.

Now I would love to wear a sequin dress all the time, but I feel I may get a few odd looks in my lectures, especially as most of the time I am the only one not hungover so they may even think I was an hallucination so I add a little sparkle in my life by wearing glitter on my nails. Now one reason I love Models Own glitter polishes so much compared to other brands is because the glitter is so opaque, two coats give you a full on discoball nail and isn't any of this measly just a top coat business. Also you get the Models Own formula which means it dries quick and when aided with a top coat it will last you a good five days. Btw this is what happens with me, if you're job is a builder or something then your glittery polish may not last as long.

Omg I've just realised I haven't even told you about the new shades I bought the other day, I've been too busy reminiscing about my childhood. Basically I had a craving for new polish, as I was starting to wear Pink Fizz by Models Own ( a gorgeous pink glitter) like all the time and I didn't want people to think 'oh she has a beauty blog but only one nail polish' I'm a bit funny with my nails it's like clothes, you can't wear the same outfit two days in a row and you can't wear the same polish two weeks in a row. Nothing against anyone who does do this, these are just a few of the rules in Corrie World. Another one is no flesh tights are allowed unless it's for work reasons. Today I saw a girl in shorts and flesh tights and I thought 'one it looks like your legs so just get them out if you want to show them off and two they won't be keeping you very warm' I sniggered wearing my SUPER COSY tights from Primark.

L-R- Silver Fox- The Philip Schofield of the nail polish world, Emerald City and Disco Mix

To cut a long story short, I fell in love with Emerald Green ( a jade glitter) and ended up ordering three polishes from Asos, Emerald City, Disco Mix and Silver Fox. I had an exclusive discount which I was given when one of my deliveries was two weeks late. I am in love with Emerald City which is what I'm wearing right now, I keep looking at my nails and staring and thinking 'my nails are soooooo pretty.' I keep saying to my boyfriend 'LOOK at my nails.' He just ends up giving me an odd look and then continues to say how I fancy Caroline Flack. N.B I don't fancy her, I just like her style and have a girl crush which is totally different to a boy crush. I don't think about her in the same way that I do about One Direction for example. Also Emerald City has earned me lots of compliments about my nails, even a lady in the Co-Op said she liked them.

I just want to stare at them forever.

I realise this is such a rambley post. All in all I love Models Own glitter polishes, I am eyeing up their glitter set on their website and have directed my boyfriend to it in case he wants to buy it me for Christmas! I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening :)