** bargain topshop clogs ** we love hello kitty

These little beauties were purchased about 2 months ago now from Topshop online, and they were in the sale for £35!! Reduced from £70!! Sometimes I think Topshop bring stuff out that people don't go for at first, so they stick it in the sale, only to then bring out something pretty much exactly the same the next season. The same thing happened with a pair of pleather (plastic leather) trousers I got from Topshop, they were £10 in the sale about 2 years ago (if not longer) and they are still bringing new ones out each season at full price. I guess when I bought them maybe the world just wasn't ready for them yet hehe! Sooo, here are the clogs, they aren't the easiest things to walk in, but I do love them and think they look totes fab!

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M&S, among other high street stores (John Lewis, H&M and even Tesco) have some really cute Hello Kitty beauty items/accessories in store at the moment, and I picked up this little tin of lip balm for £2.00. 

It's what I would say as rasberry flavoured and is quite thick in consistency. Its described on the back of the tin as "a fabulously fruity lip balm that will leave your lips super soft and sweet". 

Although its not the most of moisturising of lip balms, it does do the job and lets face it, I only bought it for the tin anyway, being a total sucker for anything Hello Kitty. Im glad to see it becoming more widely available.

Have you found any fab bargains lately?

** naked without false lashes!

These days I absolutely have to wear false lashes on any night out I go on. It's become an addiction, and I think its something that when you start doing, you just cant stop, I feel naked without them, and hate the way I look on photos without them on!

At the moment I use Naturalash by Salon System. When I want the more natural look I use number 116, and numbers 101 or 107 for the more dramatic look. 

I find these lashes to be more than adequate in quality, and I do sometimes think about going for some more expensive ones (these cost around £3.50), but then realise I really don't need to. 

I would say you could get a good 5 wears out of each set, maybe even more if you look after them and remove all the glue after each wear.

In this photo I'm wearing 116, I was a bridesmaid at my friends wedding and these were perfect for the occasion.

In this photo I'm wearing 101, perfect for a night out I think, giving thick full lashes.

What lashes do you use? Do you feel naked on a night out without yours?

** kardashian twitterness

Eek! Khloe Kardashian just replied to me on twitter! Maybe a little sad I'm so excited about this, well according to my sister anyway! But just wanted to post!

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**H&M habit **OPI MY Private Jet

Hello to anyone reading!

I thought I'd just do a little post on things that I have bought recently (even though I really shouldn't have, but getting my student loan has just made it too tempting!) H&M opened a new store where I live, which to be honest, is pretty poor for shopping, but seems to be slowly improving. 

Every time I go in there, I find something I love, and most stuff is reasonably priced. Last time I visited I got this set of really cute gold rings and a skirt I had seen Kourtney Kardashian wearing a few months back, so it just had had had to be bought!! Because the skirt was blue, I didn't have any shoes that would go with it so, Hello Kurtgeiger.com! I got the lovely Carvela shoes, £79.00 (were £140), they are majorly high, but nothing I cant cope with. 

I actually just went on the site to see how much they were originally to find that they had been reduced to £59! Gutted! I hate it when that happens!! grrrr!!

This set of rings were just too cute not to be bought, I think they were either £2.99 or £3.99, I cant remember, but love the idea of mixing and matching and th it,  I got these wearing more than one ring at a time! (my favourite is the one that says Love!)

 

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At the weekend I also bought 2 new OPI varnishes, I got myself My Private Jet and Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous which is from the Swiss Collection. (swatch to follow :D)

I was umming and aahing about My Private Jet for ages, I'd seen it online, and couldn't make up my mind whether I liked it or not. But in the end, I succumbed to it and I actually really like it! 

In the bottle it looks brown, but applies much darker. It has multi-coloured sparkles which show up really well with the flash on my camera as you can see and in the daylight, they just look like silver flecks. it only lasted a day without chips, so a little dissapointing, but I havent found a varnish yet that this doesnt happen with.

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** review: illamasqua intense lipgloss ** leopard print jumpsuit

I bought these two Illamasqua Intense Lipglosses a few months back now, and although I haven't used them much, I do really like them.

I bought them online through the Debenhams website, and at the time they were doing 10% off and free delivery, so that made the purchases even sweeter!

I got Absorb (a creamy biscuit nude) and Mistress (a bright coral orange).

 

They smell gorgeous, very fruity and not sickly at all. The texture and consistency is pretty thick, but I would say that this is necessary to get the amazing colour pay off that these lip glosses have! Saying that though, a thin layer can be applied to achieve a more subtle look, but I don't think that's the point of these glosses. I find that patting the gloss on with my finger helps to apply it more evenly. I also love the fact that you can get such a great colour in a gloss as opposed to a lipstick which I can sometimes find a bit drying on the lips.

I think you definitely need to prime your lips before applying this gloss, as it looks great for the first 5 minutes, and then I sometimes find that the colour can go slightly "stringy" on my lips. I also find I get it on my teeth a lot, and that is for me a huge downside to wearing these intense colours. Maybe I need to try a product that sets the gloss on my lips??? That's something I'm definitely going to look into, because I love these glosses, and would probably buy more if it weren't for this problem!

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I just thought I would share a purchase I made yesterday with anyone who reads this.....I saw this leopard print jumpsuit (£29.99) in H&M last week and although it is a little bit "out there" and maybe an acquired taste, I just loved it!! I'm not normally a fan of the old leopard print, but recently I have found myself gravitating towards it, maybe it comes with age!

I asked my Big Old Bean to go and have a look at it, and his opinion was lets say, less than enthusiastic! But in true Small Old Bean style, I went ahead and bought it anyway....I wouldn't wear it as day wear, but I'm so excited to wear it the next time I go on a night out....so here's to wearing it out and getting probably more than a few funny looks that come with living in a small town where nobody knows how to dress!!

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** review: tigi catwalk your highness volume collection ** superstar queen for a day

Slowly but surely, I seem to be working my way though the whole range of TIGI shampoo and conditioners. I love the packaging, and the smell of them (well, most of them, the catwalk oatmeal and honey products are just not my cup of tea!). I hate my flat horrible hair, and will do anything to give it a bit more volume, so thought I would give the new TIGI Catwalk Your Highness elevating shampoo and nourishing conditioner a go. I have a need for BIG hair!!

I normally buy the tween packages where you get a 750ml shampoo and a 750ml conditioner and they last me for about 8 months?

They have recently just hanged the catwalk collection packaging, and now I'm loving it even more, especially as the volume range features the words "Your Highness" :D Just how I like to be addressed!

I do find that the Catwalk range has a slightly thicker consistency to them so you really don't need much when washing the old bonce (and they last longer). They are sulfate-free and contain lavender, wisteria, jasmine and violet that in their words "impart a fresh, lightweight finish".

This range smell delish and I would definitely buy again.

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I thought I would also stick a little review on about one of my favourite styling products (also by TIGI). It's Queen for a Day Thickening Spray and part of the Bedhead Superstar range. I love love love this, and spray it on my roots before blow drying with a brush. It gives my hair great volume, and I would buy this again and again. It is in now way sticky or makes my hair look greasy, it just does exactly what it says on the tin!

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** review: dermalogica skin smoothing cream

When I was studying for my Beauty Therapy qualifications at college, we had a sort of beginners training day in Dermalogica products. Dermalogica is part of the International Dermal Institute which was founded in 1983 by fellow Brit, Jane Wurwand.

Luckily for me, I won Student of the Year in my final year at college, and got to spend £100 on any Dermalogica products that I wanted. One of the products I got was Dermalogica's Skin Smoothing Cream, and lets just say I have never looked back since!

My skin is pretty clear most of the time, but whenever I had a hot shower for longer than 2 minutes, the skin on my cheeks for some reason would totally freak out. It would turn bright red and would I get loads tiny tiny white pimples on my cheeks. 

Totally Eeeeew!

Then along came Dermalogica, woohoo!

I began using Skin Smoothing Cream (around £30 for 100ml) as part of my skincare routine. It doesn't really have a fragrance, maybe slightly botanical? I would say it has a medium consistency, its not too thick or too thin,and it soaks in pretty quickly.

It contains

• Silk Amino Acids which help smooth skin and improve skin texture.
• Extracts of Mallow, Cucumber and Arnica soothe and hydrate the skin.
• Antioxidant Grape Seed Extract plus Vitamins A, C and E to help to reduce free radical activity.
• Aloe moisturises and promotes healing and helps to prevent the appearance of lines.

I would definitely agree that it does all of these things! 

I think that the Skin Smoothing Cream alone has made a dramatic difference to the way my skin reacts to hot water, and although I still get the odd little white pimple on my cheeks, they do not go anywhere near as red as they used to.

I like the way that their products are aimed neither at males or females, and keep their packaging plain and simple, and its pretty impossible to pick up a magazine that doesn't feature a Dermalogica product in it somewhere!


I know that on first glance, this brand can seem a little pricey, but there's no doubt in my mind that for me they are definitely worth it! A 100ml bottle of moisturiser last me about 6-8 months, and a 500ml cleanser lasts 8-10 months (using twice a day). When you work out price per day, it really isn't that expensive at all!

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** fyrinnae swatches

Here are the swatches of the shadows that I ordered from Fyrinnae. I only ordered sample sizes ($2 each,Fyrinnae label them as mini), and I must say that they are pretty generous samples, and will probably last me a while anyway, heaven knows how much you get in the full size shadows!! They came wrapped in a really cute skull wrapping paper (I have a small thing going on for anything with skulls on!?)

I got 11 "mini" colours, and they also included a sample of Arcane Magic - Faerie Glamour. I also ordered samples of Pixie Epoxy ($1.50) and their Velvet Gel Silica Primer - Dry Skin ($1.50).

The three colours I'm definitely liking the best are Fyre & Ice, Immortality and Dragon Magic, the intensity of these colours are WOW (especially when put over Pixie Epoxy!)

 L to R:  Snow Leopard, Beholder, Cookie Dough, Polar Bear

(Applied with a brush)

 

L to R: Arcane Magic - Faerie Glamour, Arcane Magic - Warrior Mage, Arcane Magic - Dragon Magic, Kuroneko

 (Applied with fingers)

 L to R: Bastet, Medieval Haunting, Fyre & Ice, Immortatlity 

(Applied with fingers)

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I then put a little of the Pixie Epoxy over my skin and swatched a few of the colours again. As stated by Fyrinnae, 'this unique "glue" is designed to hold the sparkliest, most shimmery eye shadows in place, minimize "fallout".'

With flash

Without flash 

L to R: Dragon Magic, Warrior Mage, Bastet, Fyre & Ice, Immortality

(Applied with fingers)

I must say that the Pixie Epoxy really made a difference, it made the glitter stick to my skin a lot more than without it (the glitter just seemed to drop off without it just leaving the colour underneath) It made them super sparkly! I would definitely recommend applying with a finger rather than a brush, in a sort of pressing action as this helps the glitter to stick.

I did apply some pixie epoxy to my lids, and applied cookie dough and medieval haunting, and it didn't come out too well. The colours sort of came out a bit streaked, and the glitter that is in medieval haunting, just disappeared, but maybe this was something to with the amount of pixie expoy I applied?? Maybe too much?? It just seemed to stick sooo much in some place and not in others, but I will keep trying with it.

I'm yet to try any of the sparkly ones on my eyes, but I hope they come out as well over the pixie epoxy as they did on my arm, I think they look fab!!

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As for the velvet gel silica primer, the first thing I noticed was... the smell!! Now this may sound a bit strange, but to me, it just smelled like dried spit, OK I know,  this is a bit gross, but that is what I think it smells like! 

Fyrinnae describes this as "Contains NO silicones! Similar to the original Gel Primer, this one is geared toward dry skin, while still keeping excess oil and sweat at bay. This primer creates a smooth velvety finish, blurring fine lines (not made to "erase" pores, though) and allows any type of foundation to be applied more evenly. The aloe is pure, not a commercial variety with alcohol and colourants."

Nevertheless, I gave it a go, and applied a small amount all over my face prior to applying my foundation. It didn't have the velvety texture I was expecting that some other primers have. Its like a slippery gel and once applied, it dried instantly,and had a sort of tightening effect. I wasn't too sure whether it made much of a difference to how my make up appeared, but I will keep at it, and try to note any difference I think it makes!

xXx

** river island scarf ** docs first outing

I went shopping today with my sister, and was totally not going to buy anything as I only went with her because she asked me to.....but.....you know when you go shopping with the intention not to buy, you always end up buying! I didn't splurge, but I got a lovely scarf from River Island that I saw and just had to have, OK, needed to have! Anything that's covered in skulls I gravitate towards!
I had to force myself out of MAC to stop myself from buying one of their digi-dazzle lipsticks! :(



River Island Scarf £19.99

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Popped into Superdrug to check out mememe cosmetics, and I would like to get some of the Blush me! boxes in all colours, apart from perhaps bronze as it is very frosted, as well as their Shimmy shimmer compact in gold, so they can go on my long wish list!!

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Today was also the first day I gave my super shiny new 1406 patent Dr Martens their first wearing, and they were pretty comfortable, it is impossible not to bounce when you walk in them though! But I do love them!

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When I got home from shopping, my little Fyrinnae package was waiting for me! Woohoo! So I'm planning on posting some swatches, hopefully tomorrow. Also coming soon, Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream review, and Tigi Catwalk Your Highness Volume Collection Shampoo and Conditioner

xXx

** h&m online **fyrinnae order shipped! **where for art thou dr martens

I got an email this morning from H&M Fashion News titled "VIP online shopping invitiation". Now I'd heard it through the grapevine that H&M were launching their online shopping site this month, and with it being one of my faaave shops, I was excited to be able to get first look at the site before it goes live on 16th September.

So, Im having a little browse on the site and although the inventory seems quite limited at the moment, I am pleased to see they have a cosmetics section as well as a home section too. I am guessing that over time the items available will increase (That is what I am hoping!), but it looks promising so far!

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Also, I checked on my fyrinnae account last night and my order has finally been shipped, woohoooo! I can't wait to get my little shadow samples, along with some pixie epoxy and I am also going to try out the gel silica primer, so I hope to do another post on that when my order arrives with swatches and some reviews! I don't even remember where I first read about fyrinnae (no doubt on a blog somewhere),it's a US based company with an unbelieveable amount of loose shadows on sale for amazing prices, and they even do samples of everything, so you can try before buying the full size.
I couldn't believe the sheer amount of different colours of loose shadows they have! I think I sat for about two hours trawling through them all, my boyfriend even said "I don't know how you can sit there and look at all those for hours on end", to which my reply was "It's just what I like to do!!". He just doesn't understand!

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Where for art thou Dr Martens?? I am still waiting for my patent Dr Martens to be delivered, another eBay buy. I know a lot of people don't like them, as they think they are a bit, how shall we put it, "butch", but I just love boots!! I can't wait to have a good bounce around in mine, and I think with the right outfit, you can offset the "butchness" and really make them look good! Well, I hoope I can anyway! So fingers crossed they come soon, oh how I do hate waiting!!

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