Hello, Terri Lowe.

Clynol Moisture Dream

2012-02-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

Clynol is a range of hair care I've not heard of before, so when @immediatePR1 mentioned it via Twitter the other day I was intrigued about what the products would be like. Clynol is a range available exclusively in salons and considering I haven't had my hair cut or been in a hairdressers for over 18months now I thought it might be the first step in getting back into the hairdressers chair haha. I was sent a range of products to try out including a gel spray, moulding jelly and volumising powder (which I want to review in a comparison post of other hair powders I've tried) but the Moisture Dream conditioner spray is my favourite over all.

I did exactly what it said by shaking it well and spraying it all over towel dried hair. I let my hair dry naturally now and haven't used heated styling tools for a good few months. The shampoo and conditioner I'm currently using is Aussie Miracle Moist. I must say I only buy this when it is on offer and because of the smell. It leaves my hair really fluffy which makes it look even more damaged than it is so I have to use loads of serum to calm it down. But since having this I haven't used any serum and just this product alone post washing.

The end result is pretty good. I know I'm never going to get really healthy looking hair until I summon up the courage to go to the hairdressers again! I know it sounds like I have a massive phobia of hairdressers, but it's not even that. It's just every time I go, no matter what salon or what hairdresser they NEVER cut it how I want. I've been trying to grow my hair for years and each time they chop about 3inches off at least leaving me to start from scratch to get the long tresses I desire. So this time after a mental 'mushroom' cut the last hairdresser gave me I've just left it to it's own devices. Anyway back to this product; it left my hair feeling soft and smooth that's for sure. I think if I had straightened it I would DEFINITELY see a vast improvement in shine and manageability. 2 days after it's still feeling nice and looks really fresh. It hasn't weighed my hair down or made it look greasy like serum can. This has definitely replaced the serum for now!

This was a free sample courtesy of @immediatePR1 via Twitter.

Thornton's Chocolate Blocks

2012-02-27T02:09:00.002-08:00

I discovered the range of chocolate blocks in Thorntons a while back, they really appealed to me because there was such a wide variety of flavours and packaging design really stood out. I've tried a few in the past and quite liked them, so when having a look in Thornton's the other day and spotting these flavours I just had to give them a go.

I chose the Limited Edition Lemon and Sea Salt, Orange and Cardamon and Lightly Salted Pistachio. I'll admit the choice was not just made based on the interesting flavours but also the colours of them. The shit green shade of the Pistachio for example was just meant to be in my life.

I'll start with the most 'out there' flavour. When I first saw this I actually thought ''Sea Salt - normal. Lemon - ergh'' which demonstrates how backwards I am probably! I've tried the Lindt salty chocolate before and it was really nice and for some reason this day I was in the mood for something sweet yet savoury. The flavour of this one was a tad more subtle than I expected. The lemon was delicate and you got just a hint of sea salt. I always find Thornton's chocolate blocks to be very creamy, almost like they're inbetween Galaxy chocolate and Dairy Milk on the creamyness scale. I was't overly taken by this but it was repugnant like most would assume!

Next up we have the Lightly Salted Pistachio. If you know me, you would have probably felt the wrath of me moaning about salt in food lately, so sorry for the contradiction by buying two salty based chocolates (?!) I just love pistachios! This one is really nice, once again the base chocolate is that lovely creamy Thornton's type. I can see why this won an award, it's such a nice flavour and the tiny little pistachio pieces inside make it just the right consistency. Probably my favourite of the three here.

And finally we have Orange and Cardamom. You've probably tried cardamom when having a curry or it's sometimes found in the rice in the form of pods. It's a distinct almost bitter but slightly minty flavour. It's quite hard to explain unless you've tasted it. Anyway with the orange it's a really nice contrast of flavours. Not quite as bold a contrast as the sea salt and lemon but this one seems to cleanse your palette a bit more (Jesus I'm starting to sound like Heston here, it's only chocolate!) But yeah, it's kind of refreshing. A really delicate yet distinct flavour.

You can pick this range up from most Thorntons stores or online for £1.79 each of 3 for £5.

Morning Rice Drink

2012-02-27T01:41:00.000-08:00

What's that? More China Town goodness? Yeah that's right.

Bought this during my chinese supermarket mini haul last week and tried it today. I bought it purely because I just hadn't tried it before. I can't read the label apart from 'Morning Rice' So it was all a bit of a mystery.

I figured with it being a 'morning' drink it would be pretty refreshing if not energising in some way. Oh the other bit I could read was that it contained 95calories. That's quite hefty for a drink isn't it?

Reading the ingredients I still didn't really get a sense of what the taste would be like. But I did notice it contained Vitamin C. I'm so healthy.

So what did it actually taste like?

WEIRD

It was kind of like drinking caramel snack a jacks?! You could definitely taste a rice flavour, which is odd because I never really noticed rice had a 'flavour'! But really really sweet. Not sickly sweet either, just like a sugar coated sweet. It was quite interesting! Once again not sure of the health benefits of this but it was ok. You can try your own for around 59p at the chinese supermarket in China Town Manchester if you like.

Benefit Hervana

2012-02-26T07:39:00.000-08:00

So with all my Benefit posts lately, you're probably wondering where the review of the new wonder product Hervana is... Well, it's HERE. I must admit, when I first saw Hervana I did wonder what all the fuss was about. After seeing countless reviews it just didn't appeal to me. But then when I attended the Manchester Bloggers Event and saw a detailed tutorial on how to use it, I finally *GOT IT*

The packaging is the usual quirky style Benefit is renowned for. I do like the overall design of the packaging the way the lid flips up and the size is really good BUT I must admit I do not like the material. Making something like this out cardboard just irritates me a bit. Mines already looking a bit tatty after being in my make up bag for only a week, which is a shame. I like things to look new for as long as possible!

The powder is marketed as a 'good karma' face powder. And that it is.

With lovely little slogans and such a pretty design it kind of makes you feel good just looking at it....

Hervana contains 4 different shades; lucky shell, divine peach, heavenly rose and berry delight. There's a contouring brush within the box and also a little mirror which is always a handy feature to have....

Now the reason I 'got' the fuss after the event was because they demonstrated all the different ways you could use Hervana. Not only is it a lovely pink peachy tone blush but it can also be used as eyeshadow AND on your lips, who'd have thought eh?

When we were first told about using it on lips my immediate thought was that it would dry the fook out of mine. I am constantly having to use lip balm! But I must say. I've tried it twice now and it's been absolutely fine. Using the darkest shade - 'berry delight' it creates a natural but nice hue to your lips. If you use it as an eyeshadow simply find a little eyeshadow brush and swirl it in 'lucky shell' to start with (the lightest one) and dust that all over your eyelids and up to the brow (it's really natural and light so doesn't make you look like a drag queen when you do this btw) Then swirl about between 'divine peach' and 'heavenly rose' for the crease of your eye. To finish off get a swab of 'berry delight' on your brush and fill the outer bit of the lids. If you can make sense of that then 1; you're a genius at interpretation and 2; you're gonna have some freakin' sweet peachy pink eyes going on! I always get a bit anxious that pink coloured eyeshadows will make one look like you've been crying for 4 days straight, but these colours are so subtle yet effective it just brightens your eyes and doesn't look 'sore' at all. It's all been a bit unexpected really.

The other thing I will mention about Hervana is the SMELL. It's really strange for a powder make up to smell but it does. Like a really delicate sweet fragrance. Wonderful. And apparently these little boxes they make last for ages.You can pick up Hervana for £23.50 at your local Benefit Counter.

Benefit The Porefessional

2012-02-25T10:20:00.003-08:00

Hands up if you're getting sick of the Benefit posts yet?? Haha. Sozzz..... But tough potatoes, I'm loving trying all these new things though so you're getting some reviews whether you like it or not. Today we have The Porefessional primer which has been a massive hit on the ol' beauty scene for a while now. No one can say anything bad about it can they? Well, being a massive stick in the mud, I have to admit - I'm slightly undecided.

I got one of the little sample tubes in my goodie bag. It's marketed as a 'PRO balm to minimise the appearance of pores'. I have noticed lately I do notice my pores. Which I never used to. I'm not sure if this is because they're becoming more visible or I'm just becoming more aware with pores being the new big thing to minimise in beauty world. Regardless of this though I was very intrigued to give this a go considering all the brilliant reviews of it about. The product itself is a slightly flesh toned cloudy in appearance almost gel like substance... Not what I expected at all. It's not got the iridescent sheer look of 'That Gal' which I was more than dissapointed with when I tried it. The Porefessional glides on your skin with absolutely no effort at all, it feels so so nice and makes your skin feel ultra smooth and kind of 'clean'. It's not heavy at all. I've never quite come across anything of this consistency before so it was all a bit of a new discovery.... But does it do what it claims? Reduce the appearance of those dreaded pores? For me personally, I didn't really notice a reduction in size or appearance of my pores, I'm not sure if that means that my pores are extra large or I'm just being too picky though! But it did help my make up smooth on with a lot less effort, I'm currently using 17 Miracle Matte Foundation which can be quite difficult to blend but The Porefessional helped it to literally glide across my face. It's all well and good and does seem to make my foundation last a tad longer. But would I pay the £23.50 for the full size product? Probably not. As nice as this is to use, its not the product for me for the price. It doesn't give me a flawless enough coverage to invest that much into the product and for now I will make do with my Technic 'Prime It' but don't let my review put you off, I think primers are the type of product that people need to try for themselves as everyone likes a different finish to their FACE.

Nu Jeed Jeedjard Chewy Candy Tamarind

2012-02-24T10:00:00.003-08:00

I hope you're enjoying reading these posts about these new foods I've discovered in the Chinese Supermarket as much as I am posting about them! If not, sorry. I'm scheduling all these posts on my day off to keep y'all entertained whilst I'm working my butt off at my new job. There's some beauty reviews thrown in between though in case you haven't noticed. Today I bring you some Thai Candy in the form of Nu Jeed Jeedjard Chewy Candy Tamarind! It doesn't sound the most appetising does it? But look how cute the packaging is!

Clearly these are aimed at kids for when they're doing the usual stuff.... Driving, working, reading and watching TV. They do contain quite a high sugar level too. I imagine it makes for some super loopy times if they ate the whole tub.

It also tells me on the container to 'shake it chew it' I must admit when I shook it not a lot happened really.

Inside the contents resembles chocolate covered raisins although they have a hard shell not a chocolatey one.

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I bought these, I was aware Tamarind was a spice so the concept of them being candy coated was quite strange. They're really chewy once you bite through the hard shell and quickly develop into a subtle spice flavour. It's not dissimilar to cinnamon but not as fiery. It's really quite hard to describe. They cost £1.10 which isn't too bad and came in a few different flavours. I've just been researching the health benefits of Tamarind and it's quite good for a few things such as aiding digestion, dry eyes, sore throats... The list goes on. So I will pop them in my car for some on the go goodness. Have you tried anything like this before? They remind me a bit of some ginger candies I bought from Holland and Barratt a while back, apart from a bit tastier and a bit less spicy!

Chocolate Cats!

2012-02-24T07:04:00.002-08:00

Who doesn't love cats? Who doesn't love chocolate? (Well, actually, I don't quite -love- chocolate, I'd prefer a packet of crisps, but that's beside the point) I found* this rather awesome silicone cat mould in MUJI the other day and just had to buy it (despite the price of £9.95, I know, I know)

Anyway, on the front it showed some chocolate cats so it was pretty self explanatory. But on the back it had some kind of recipe to make something else. I've no idea what though. Oh well.

I melted down a few blocks of milky bar and 3 yorkies and managed to fill all of the mould perfectly. I couldn't of measured if better if I tried (which I didn't)

So we have SLEEPY CAT.

SITTY CAT

and SITTY FROM THE SIDE CAT

LOOK AT ALL THE CHOCOLATE KITTIES.

I think they're wonderful. Although a few more taps of the tray would of got all those air bubbles out of the ears (didn't get that degree for nothing you know) I think I can justify the price by pretending to myself I can give them to people as little presents, because who the hell wouldn't like some token chocolate cats?!

*when I say 'found' I mean saw @whatkatiedoes tweet about them so went in solely to purchase them, shhh.

L'occitane Mini Haul

2012-02-24T02:33:00.000-08:00

I always promised myself I would never do a 'haul' post but I went to Cheshire Oaks yesterday and visited the L'occitane outlet and went a bit.... mad. I only went in for the tiny little Pivoine Flora perfume as the one I got ages ago in a 'Latest in Beauty' perfume sample box leaked in my make up bag - it now smells amazing though! I literally swooped around the store though, picking anything that caught my eye up. I'm blaming my new job making me think I can splurge because I get paid extra if I sleep over (Last night was my first sleep over shift, which was surprisingly OK!)

Anyway, here's what I got! I was a sucker for the discount stickers that's for sure. The first thing that 'caught my eye' was the Délive des Fleurs collection which is the most delicious violet and rose scent.

It contains a solid perfume, hand cream and lip balm. I know I have an abundance of lip balms, handcreams and solid perfumes from Lush but I was TOO intrigued by the l'occitane ones!

The splurge on the previous set was made up for by spotting the bargain that was the Red Rice starter kit which was discounted from a massive £21 to £3.40!!

Although my skin is not oily, it is definitely combination and I am prone to a few spots here and there. So I can't wait to try it. It contains a toner, cleanser and a matte face fluid.

Continuing the bargain trail I then spotted this 95% Shea Butter Apricot Flower balm. Discounted from £10 to £2.50! Once again I have so many balms (favourite being the Body Shop Hemp balm)

This one smells lovely and fresh though and the main appeal was that you can use it anywhere including your hair. You heat it up in your palms and it turns into a oil. I've got it on my hair now and unlike some things I've used like this (Superdrug Coconut Oil for one) It's not left my hair heavy and greasy looking. It's also an amazing lip balm!!

Oh and here's what I actually went in for. A small 5ml size of the Pivoine Flora perfume. It's a lot like Paul Smith Rose but not as musky and a lot more floral and fresh.This was £3.35 down from £15 (although I think thats a typo because I saw on the website they were £5 originally)

And THEN I got all this free stuff!

She gave me one of each sample of the hair care range and a sample of Rose 4 Reines body milk. I can't wait to try the hair mask, eep.

And I also got to choose a little bag with free gifts in they must be getting rid of from Christmas. It contained a shower gel, shower oil, soap, hand cream, ultra rich cream and precious cream for mah FACE.

I will do some follow up reviews of the contents. But so far so good! I absolutely love these outlet mall places, they can be a bit hit and miss but there are certainly a lot of discounted bargains to be had when you're in the right (or wrong) mood!

B.Right Intro Kit

2012-02-23T07:00:00.002-08:00

I purchased this Benefit b.right! Radiant Skincare 6 Piece Intro Kit after the visit to Harvey Nic's on Sunday. The staff were so friendly I felt like I could finally approach and ask about the kit as I'd seen it on blogs and such for a few weeks but I'm always so apprehensive about make up counters for fear of hard selling or forced into the chair for a make up session in front of passers by! Fortunately after the Benefit Bloggers meet I felt really comfortable though and wouldn't think twice before approaching a Benefit counter in future (still doesn't mean I'll go to just any make up counter though, they still scare the bejesus out of me) Anyway this lovely little set set me back a mere £10! I'm sure you've seen me moan before about the price of certain things, including Benefit, I'm so cheap I think over 50p for a chocolate bar is pushing the boat out. Anyway this is a bargain by any standard. It gives you 6 little sample size potions of most the products in the b.right! skincare range (I could of done with a little sample of the 'boo boo zap' on my forehead right about now though)

The set comes in a nice little travel sized plastic carry case. The bottles are all glass and I love the apothecary feel of the range. It's like you don't want to use them because they all look so precious!!! But you can definitely use the bottles afterwards if even just for a cute little display.

The products within are as follows;

Foamingly Clean Facial Wash

Refined Finish Facial Polish

Moisture Prep Toning Lotion

Triple Performing Facial Emulsion with SPF15 PA+++

Total Moisture Facial Cream

It Potent! Eye Cream

The Total Moisture Facial Cream is by far my favourite product out of the range, it's so thick and creamy and instantly makes your skin feel amazing. It also doesn't make my skin break out like a lot of moisturisers can do. The entire range smells so fresh and clean (I know, cleaning things smelling clean right? But have a whiff you'll get what I mean!) I'm not sure about the price tag on the range though, as they do have an RRP between £16.50 and £23.50 so to 'catch 'em all' you're looking at a small fortune. If I was to buy any full size it would definitely be the moisturiser though.

The only criticism I have on the range/set is the lack of instructions. You can briefly work out what order to use the products through common sense or the name of the item BUT I would of loved to of had a more in depth instruction booklet to reassure the order of which to use them. Especially for the price. I'm unsure if the full size products contain this information within though so you might want to check that out. I would defo buy this set again though as it's an absolute steal for the price!

Despite my adventures in Benefit lately, I did buy this set myself and it wasn't a gift.

Handmade Mochi

2012-02-22T08:44:00.000-08:00

My culinary adventures in China Town continue this week with the sampling of some Handmade Mochi. I recently blogged about some Mochi I found that I think were more of a 'kids version' of this popular East Asian dessert. They were ok but not 'all that', so when I spotted this more refined version of Mochi by the same brand 'Yuki & Love' I thought I'd give it a go.

The flavour of the filling is red bean with milk. I've only tried red bean once in a japanese restaurant in some of those little pancake things and remember it being pretty tasty, hence why I chose this flavour.

As you can see they're a different shape to the other mochi I tried before which were more like 'balls'. These ones are like long soft sausages (so much innuendo to be had with this part of the blog post, huh?)

The first thing I noticed was that they were absolutely coated in icing sugar(?). I'm assuming it's icing sugar anyway. I imagine this is so they don't become all sticky. But it did go EVERYWHERE. You get 5 in one of these packs as opposed to 12 in the other pack I tried.

The filling is once again not the runny, gooey consistency I expected when looking at the image on the box. I think that is clearly for illustrative purposes only and mochi filling is always a very squidgy and not runny.

Overall I do like these A LOT, I've now eaten the whole packet in the time I've written this blog post! They were from the Chinese Supermarket in China Town Manchester and cost me a bargainous £1.95. If anyone has any information about how good (or bad) these are for you then please tell me. I'm currently fooling myself that they're a healthy alternative to sweets ;)

Benefit They're Real Mascara

2012-02-22T04:08:00.001-08:00

Every man and his dog has been harping on about Benefit They're Real mascara, so I was so excited that I got it in my goodie bag from the Manchester bloggers event. I have been on the prowl for a new mascara for ages. I always always stick to the Maybelline Volume Clubbing mascara as it's the blackest black and so affordable, but lately have been branching out and trying new things. Currently my go-to daily mascara is 17's peep show which I bought purely for the free eye shadow palette but I must admit it's not the best I've used ever. My 'going out' mascara is the Blink n Go one I received in Decembers Glossybox which is absolutely AMAZING. The only problem is that as it's waterproof it dries my eyes completely out and after about 4 hours wear it gives me the worst blood shot eyes ever. I've also tried Benefits' Bad Gal Lash mascara in the past and was so unimpressed! But now I've got what appears to be the Holy Grail of eyelashes I'm quite pleased....

It come's in fairly chic packaging; A nice champagney grey colour tube inside a box which gives you some instruction on how to apply, I like this packaging as unlike the other Benefit products I've tried as it's not too busy or colourful and it looks more suited to the price tag. The first time I tried this yesterday I didn't read the box I was too inpatient so put it on as I usually would. Then today I read the box and realised the way I put mascara on is apparently the 'right' way according to this anyway. Seems I'm not such a make up n00b after all.The brushey stick thing itself is quite prickly. But this is ok. It doesn't hurt or anything and I haven't stabbed myself in the eye yet. You use the brush horizontally at first and wiggle a bit as you brush up the lashes. Then turn the brush vertically to separate and curl them. Pretty standard really. I generally apply 3-5 coats of mascara. I'm a bit addicted and will keep going back to top it up before I go out anywhere. Although this one isn't as 'untop-upable' as the blink n' go which dries within seconds, it doesn't like being topped up too much too long after the first application. It still works though but a bit more wiggling and effort is required. I think if I hadn't used the blink n' go (God Terri, just MARRY Blink n' Go already) I would be really really impressed by this! The price tag is £18.50 which is £4 more expensive than Blink n' Go BUT I could use this a lot more frequently as it doesn't dry my eyes. This is definitely my new 'going out' mascara and I'm quite chuffed to now have it in my make up bag. Although I do find spending nearly £20 on a mascara pretty bad, I mean, I could get 2 dresses off ebay for that much! But now I'm no longer a student I guess I should probably start to treat myself a bit more.

And if you're not aware this was a free gift. It doesn't change my opinion at all. Thanks.

Koh-Kae Tom Yum Peanuts

2012-02-21T05:10:00.000-08:00

Ooooh someone's been to Chinnnaaa Townnnnn this week. You psyched? I am. I got quite a few treats this week but this one is the tastiest I've opened so far! Koh-Kae Tom Yum flavour coated peanuts.

They come in a huge canister type container and cost £2.20. I have tried the coconut coated nuts from this range years ago and remember them being quite the taste sensation, so when I saw the Tom Yum ones I just had to try. If you don't know what Tom Yum is it's usually a spicy but sour flavour of soup (although it comes in other forms) that you can get from Thai restaurants. As nice as the Tom Yum flavour is I do prefer Tom Kha but that's a whole nother story.

The nuts have a cripsy coating of the flavour all over them. The best way to describe them is if you've ever had Nobby's Nut (Do they even still make those?!) They're really tasty and moreish. The flavour is quite rich but the spice doesn't hit you until you've swallowed them. They're not overly spicy, just the right level. I hate when spicy things have no flavour and all you can taste is BURN.

Have you tried these? Do you remember Nobby's Nuts? I had to refrain from so many nut innuendos during this post.

Benefit Goodies

2012-02-21T04:46:00.000-08:00

As you may have read in my last post, on Sunday I attended Benefit's first blogger event UP NORTH DUCK. They're really getting in to the idea of the ol' blogging lark and like us northern bloggers (well, I'm actually Midlands btw soz) are getting a bit tired of all the events happening in London. So being super savvy this was the first of {hopefully} many events based in and around the Manchester area. As I mentioned non of us had any idea what to expect during the 1hr 30min's there. It was at Harvey Nic's though so we knew it'd be good. After the make up tutorials which were SO informative I feel like I've spent the last godknowshowmany years putting my make up on all wrong they treated us to a goodie bag.... And here's what was inside!

B.Right Refined Finish

Hervana

The Porefessional

Brow Zings

and

They're Real.

ALL of which were products I haven't tried before. If you're a reader of my blog on a regular basis you may remember my previous post about the Smokin' Eyes Palette which I was so disappointed with that I gave up my search for my perfect Benefit product.... Well. That search is no more as each and every one of the things in this goodie bag I think is pretty darn good. I will post some more more detailed reviews of the contents over the coming week(s), god bless scheduled posts! My new job has started in full swing now. 8am til 11pm shifts are going to be the death of me! And I missed some training today, how useless AM I?!?! Ergh. Anyway, lot's of posts to write now so keep a look out daily for updates.

Benefit Manchester 1st #bbloggers Event!

2012-02-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yo yippy yo! If you follow me on Twitter you would of seen a few tweets today about my attendance at my first ever beauty bloggers event. I know, I know, you probably think I get invited to THOUSANDS. Well, I get invited to more like one.... every YEAR, so this was a bit exciting. The idea behind it was to bring a bit of this blog meeting culture to the north. Every event I've had the chance to attend so far has been London based, hence why I couldn't go! The lovely ladies at Benefit invited 5 of us little ol' bloggers to Harvey Nichols in Manchester and we got a chance to be shown tutorials on how to put our make up on like a pro. I for one learnt a LOT. I can't wait to spend about an hour perfecting my eyebrows tomorrow morning! There was only a small group of us (5 to be exact) which was dead good. It meant it was more personalised and we got the chance to ask any questions directly to the ladies showing us all about the products. They also let us in a sneaky secret preview of the new foundation Benefit are set to launch in the very near future (apologies for the quality of these pictures, I left my camera at home even though I charged the batteries especially for today!!)

So it's called 'Hello Flawless'.... how ingenious is that name? I heard the best people develop their greatness by sticking 'hello' in front of things *cough*helloterrilowe*cough*

The great thing about this product is the SPF 25 and this PA +++ malarky. I'm not gonna lie, some of the technical detail of the product recipe went a bit over my head.... But as long as it makes my face look AWESOME who cares?

The shade range looked rather spiffing too. I swatched some on my hand and it actually blended really well. I often find it hard to discover the right foundation for me due to my pasty weird skin but this one seems the right balance of pale without orange.

We also got treated to a goodie bag - BAZINGA! I will be reviewing every single product that I received in here over the next week or two so make sure you check back!!!

And because I didn't take many pictures of the event I'll leave you with my 'outfit of the day'. I've had this French Connection coat for over a year now and NEVER WORN IT OUT. Why not?!?! What's wrong with me? It's my new favourite garment!

what's your favourite Benefit product? I'm SO hoping I find something I can cherish forever in my goodie bag. Like I've said before, I really WANT to love Benefit, their employee's are so nice and helpful but I've yet to find the right product for me. I know it's out there, somewhere!!!

And if you're from THE NORTH make sure you follow @Shell_benefit on twitter for news and updates of the latest happenings in beneworld. Also, if you want a more detailed account of this event please head over the Becca's blog - http://bdpworld.blogspot.com

Meow Meow - The winners are;

2012-02-18T05:10:00.001-08:00

Cat Ring - Megan Elizabeth from Velvet Bows

Cat Ticket Necklace - Belle Du Brighton.

Camera Brooch - Sarah at Almost Delightful

Congrats ladies!

E-mail me your address to; helloterrilowe@gmail.com !

Also massive apologies to the guys who didn't win. I felt massively guilty that I couldn't choose EVERYONE.

Bargain of the Day - 17 Femme Noir

2012-02-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

You may recognise the 17 Femme Noir set from a few months ago as it was a free gift when you purchased any TWO 17 products... I almost succumb to the offer but there wasn't 2 items I wanted and I couldn't justify buying anything just to get this for free, as I thought I would just use the eyeliner and nothing else. So I left it, forgot about and purchased the no7 eyeliner with one of those £5 off vouchers instead (which I reviewed here:Review 17 Amazing Eyes Liner). Anyway, I was browsing Boots today and noticed they had a stand FULL of 17 Femme Noir sets...and guess how much they were?!?!?! £1.50! That's right - ONE POUND FIFTY. So I grabbed 3!

It contains: 1 x Ultimate Volume lipgloss in 'very berry'

1 x black liquid eyeliner

and 1 x glittery eyeshadow 'night sky'

Alone the liquid eyeliner retails for £3.99. Which is what I went into Boots to buy anyway, so it worked out a pretty good deal. I was expecting not to like the lip gloss at all but when on it's actually a really nice colour and not as bold as I thought it would come out. The lipgloss once again retails at £3.99. I'm still not sure if I will use the eyeshadow very often though. But regardless of that I still got 3 products which add up to around £11 altogether for £1.50!! So glad I got 3! I'm not sure of the availability of these nationwide but the Boots store I visited was in Hanley, Stoke on Trent so you'll have to see if your local one has them or brave a visit to Stoke!

H & M Nail Varnish

2012-02-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

I got this cute little set of nail varnishes from H & M they're apparently something to do with saying No to Racism (I'm not going to lie, I didn't even notice this was their 'selling point' until I got home because I was smitten with the lovely array of colours)

You get 4 altogether and I paid £2.99 for them all. They are smaller than the average size varnish bottle but the colours more than make up for that.

I chose to go with the green and the purple for the first try although I was tempted to paint each nail each colour but I would of had one nail plain as there's only 4, darn it.

So I went for a bit of a 70's block colour vibe. I painted the whole nail the light green colour and swooshed across with the purple. I made such a good job of my left hand but the right one ended up a bit of a disaster so I might have to use some masking tape next time to get a good diagonal line!

The varnishes are OK quality for the price. Non have chipped so far but I do have a habit of picking them and it does pick off pretty easily. But for £2.99 for four what can you expect?!

P.S this is my first 'scheduled post' so I've kept it short and to the point just in case it doesn't work!! Ha.

CHEESE

2012-02-16T06:34:00.000-08:00

Olá! Well, I thought I wouldn't have time for another blog today but alas, whilst treating myself to a nugget of cheese I realised it was too good not to share. I recently discovered in Asda that they sell little meshes of Branston Cheese and Marmite Cheese. I love a bit of cheese so picked up both. I'm quite apathetic towards Marmite; I neither love nor hate it. Despite their advert claiming that you must feel one way or the other about it. Anyway in these meshes you get 5 rather large pieces of cheese packaged individually....

The packet itself is fairly tricky to open. I think the old or a child would struggle slightly. But me being a super savvy mid 20yr old had no trouble releasing the cheesy goodness inside. ...

The Branston cheese looks like regular chedder with a bit of a rash....

And the marmite variety is a slightly smoother look and consistency.

The Branston cheese can be quite hard to get out of the packet in one piece. I think because it has real bits of branston pickle in it...

It's not laced with onions and stuff but it does have a nice little bit of crunch in there, yum.

The marmite one is easier to get out of the package in one piece.

As you can see the pieces of cheese themselves are on the large side (compared to a babybel or something) I think this is so you can have it in other ways than just eating on its own as a snack. The pieces are large enough to cut a few small slices from and I imagine having one of these bad boys on toast would be a bit of a taste sensation (note to self; try this later)

The ultimate taste test comes from the cats though. As you can see my little Piss Rat (aka Kitty if you follow me on Twitter) is apprehensive towards trying the cheese. She seems intrigued by the smell and knocked it around a bit but didn't even lick it...

Where as the fluffy little fooker known as Dillon lapped it up. He liked both the marmite and the branston cheese and was meowing for more when he's nommed the bits I gave him. (he's got a really floppy tongue, freak)

You can try these cheeses yourself at Asda for about £1.29 a packet. Even if you don't like marmite much the cheese has a kind of nice 'meaty' taste to it and the branston one is a lovely little snack.

17 Miracle Matte Foundation

2012-02-16T04:38:00.001-08:00

Heeeeyyyy, you'll notice my blogging it going to be rather sporadic over the next few weeks. I started the new job Tuesday and discovered it's 8am til 11pm shifts but then you get 2 whole days off! I definitely prefer a working week to be done in chunks like that but also don't appreciate the early start as I'm totally not used to them yet.... So for my 2 days off I've slept til at least 11am and I'm knackered! Anyway a quick post to share with you the new 17 Miracle Matte Foundation. I bought this after reading a review on Miss Budget Beauty's Blog. The reason I try not to use liquid foundations is that you kind of always need to use a powder over to make it last and make it non shiny (well I do). So when I read about this I thought it sounded perfect.

The range of lighter colours is really good, I've got one of those skin tones where foundations are either too light or too orange. I can never get it just right! But The 17 Miracle Matte Foundation in 'Fair' matches my face perfectly! It's really easy to put on, I just use my fingers and blend it in. It says it provides medium to heavy coverage but I think it does sway more towards to medium end. Although a foundation must be a miracle if it can cover these massive spots I have going on at the moment! It doesn't 'dry' as matte as I expected which is actually quite good as I can 'top it up' a bit if I want and still blend it in ok, I was expecting it to be a finish like Maybelline Dream Matt Mouse or something. But it's not. It's nowhere near as heavy looking and doesn't dry out the skin at all. For the introductory price of £4.99 it's definitely worth trying!

New Beginnings

2012-02-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

If you don't follow me on Twitter (@hello_terrilowe) then why not? You're missing my LIFE man!! If you do though then you would have noticed that I am starting a new job tomorrow and had a lovely GARLICKY leaving curry with some of my bestest work buddies from the last 7 YEARS last night. I'm not going to lie, I was absolutely blown away by the presents they got me, I honestly wasn't even expecting a card, not because they're bastards or anything.... but because I am haha. Working in a supermarket has pretty much destroyed my soul over the past 7 years but the people who I have met and worked with have kept me sane and prevented me from jumping off a bridge during the time there. I've had quite a few jobs before from crappy warehouse ones, other smaller retail companies and even worked a stint for a Labour MP as an Administration Assistant, but this place is by far the most corporate and soul destroying employment I've ever experienced.... It all started as a full time job in stock control to get money to pass my driving test and get a car... What was a 6 month plan ended up being a 7 year one, I ended up moving departments a few times to prevent my mind from numbing itself and also the hours were perfect when I was at uni. At £7ish an hour I was earning a bit more than most student jobs usually pay out there. I'm not going to sugar coat the fact that to cure the boredom during this working arrangement I did tend to rub a few people up the wrong way, mainly managers..... But the amount of shit you can get working in retail is really disgusting. I mean some of them would have preferred it if you went home weeping every night rather than laughing off a hard day. Once I got blamed for the morale of the store being low.... 200 members of staff I was apparently 'influencing' with my 'negativity', shit, with skills like that I was definitely in the wrong job anyone want to join my new CULT?! I think the word they were really looking for was 'cynism' though, I bask in the ability to laugh of any situation! It is funny though how as a Community Champion for the store I nearly doubled the charity fundraising amount for the year, set up a Twitter account and arranged more activities in the store in 2 months than the previous girl did in a year, yet the one point the manager wanted to focus on was grammar and spelling for the Twitter account which was all correct anyway?! Some people's minds are a mystery they really are! But I wont dwell, whilst I'm off doing new and exciting things the people who criticise and bring their employee's down will probably still be working in a shop in 10 years time and the people they belittled, criticised and made working life a chore for will go on to bigger, better, happier things! I know I am.

Anyway my new job starts tomorrow though in a completely different line of work. Working with teenagers and young people is what I always wanted to do, I initially wanted to be a teacher and did get onto the Design and Technology PGCE course but after being a full time student for 4 years I couldn't afford it this year and also would have received over a grand less in loans and grants, boo hoo, in a year or two I will reconsider and depending on financial status reapply but who knows I may fall completely in love with my new job and not bother with teaching anyway, you can't predict the future..... Anyway, here's what I received from the lovely LOVELY people that were once colleagues but are now awesome friends.....

There were a few more little gifts but the bag and the purse were the best things EVER.

Love love handmade cards!!

The presents and cards were all well and good.... But then they bought out a surprise cake!!!

I look absolute MUNT in all the pictures from last night which is a massive shame, because I'm usually so hot haha.

So I just thought I would write this blog post as a thank you to all the wonderful people I have met, worked with and served over the past 7 years you've been a blast!!! Even the ones I may have had disagreement with in the past and who didn't come to the meal, I still think you're great! Honestly! THANK YOU...... But no thanks to my now ex manager who demonstrated her petty immaturity by not giving to my collection and the comment she made..... Must suck to be so bitter all your life eh love! :)

And for my chums still there - Don't let the bastards bring you down!

Fresh Look Colors Contact Lenses

2012-02-13T05:09:00.001-08:00

This is a bit of a different review than I would usually like to do, but the opportunity to try some coloured contact lenses courtesy of http://www.getlenses.co.uk/ would have been a silly one to pass on. I've been intrigued by the concept of coloured contact lenses for years now. I've been wearing glasses since my early teens and contact lenses since I was 16. My prescription is terrible - a -5.50 in both eyes which means I can barely see a foot in front of me without some seeing apparatus. I'm glad contact lenses exist because my glasses are slowly becoming more like the bottom of milk bottles as time goes on....

Apparently the reason for short sightedness is because people who have it also have big eye BALLS (so the optician told me anyway) He reckons that as you get older your eyeballs actually shrink so once it kicks into your peepers you start to see a slight improvement.... Interesting huh? I'm not sure how true that is though as the older I get the worse my sight seems to become!

So I chose two colours to try out. I have naturally green GREEN eyes, which are apparently the rarest colour (score!)..... Even though I'm not a fan of blue eyes I thought the Blue Sapphire colour looked interesting. I chose the 'Fresh Look' ones because they are made by the same people who I get my regular contact lenses from so I knew they'd be fine in my eyes.

I also chose Violet because it was a bit more unusual. The lenses weren't what I was suspecting in the sense of the colour on the actual lense. I was expecting a block colour but it's more a pixilated print. I've not seen coloured contact lenses before though so that was just an assumption. As you can also see they have 'FL' printed on too. Which I feel is a little pointless. I mean, I know what make the lenses are and no one can see that close into my eye to see it as an advertising ploy so what is the point? If you know please tell me!!

The lenses themselves are slightly thicker than my usual lenses too. It doesn't feel any more uncomfortable though. The only trouble is that I'm not sure if the lense is inside out or not. As I have a very mild astigmatism in one eye one of the lense seems to move a little when blinking at times so I get a slightly cloudy view for less than a second. Which is a little bit weird. But regardless of that they are comfortable, non drying and you know, I can see! Now apologies for the cringey eye close up pictures now (eye close up shots are my pet hate, no idea why!!)

Apologies for those images. My skin tone is completely different in each one, damn lighting. But you get the general jist right? The violet wasn't the strong shade I expected. I realise now it's because the colour can vary depending on your original eye colour. So with mine being quite dark its just a hint of colour. I imagine on light blue eyes they'd look really good though.

So in conclusion, they're a bit of a change and can give you a slightly different 'look'.... But for me personally there aren't any pro's or con's to the coloured lenses although it is really interesting seeing who actually notices!

*in case you didn't read this fully the lenses were a complimentary sample from http://www.getlenses.co.uk/ sent for review. Thank you to Best British Bloggers (@britbloggers) for the opportunity to try them!

Benefit Smokin' Eyes Kit

2012-02-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

So in my quest to find a Benefit product I actually like I bought this Smokin' Eyes 'sexy eye & brow makeover kit' off ebay. I feel this quest is going to end very soon, not because this is a miracle product but because it is shit. I need to stop wasting my money on this brand. They are a mega case of their 'attitude is their latitude' as I really WANT to like Benefit products but once again I found this overpriced and poor quality.

The initial thing that puts me off is the word 'sexy'. 'Sexy' is not a cool word. It's cringeworthy. But that's a non entity if the product is good.... But it's not. The packaging feels and looks cheap. And the contents I would liken to kids make up. Especially the eye liner pencil. Non of the shadows are very pigmentated, not even the charcoal one. They're so wishy washy when applied. The eye brow gel stuff is about the best thing in the kit but even that lacks in quality. It glides on as a very light brown but leaves the brows with a kind of greyish hue. The only thing it does well is keep the eyebrow hairs in place, I have found myself going over with a powder eyebrow colour from a cheapo marks and spencers brow kit with was a third of the price and ten times the quality.

Now before you ask, I know it's an ebay purchase and it could have been fake. OH how I WISH it was fake!! Honestly I scoured the internet looking for a discrepancy which indicated it was a cheap fake. But no it's 100% real. I honestly can't believe this kit retails at £28.50!!! I luckily only paid £6.99. For a nearly 30quid product though I would at least expect the packaging lid to stay closed too, but they didn't even succeed in that.

Sorry Benefit, I give up.

Benefit 'That Gal' Primer

2012-02-09T04:31:00.000-08:00

So as promised last week here is my review of Benefit's 'That Gal' primer so I can compare it to my recent discovery of Technic's dupe 'Prime it'. I got this sample size off eBay for £1.99. It's 7.5ml which is a rather large sample for that price when you consider the full size which retails for £21.50 is only 11ml! I know some people are dubious about fakes on eBay but after reading reviews online and then using this product there is no doubt in my mind that this is the real thing. The texture, colour and smell are all what I expected and also the seller had 100% feedback, some buyers saying how much they had saved by buying this smaller size for a fraction of the price of the full size.....

.....And saying that's what I expected, this doesn't mean it's a good thing. The consistency was too runny. The smell was slightly too sickly and the colour was really a non entity.

I'm really quite disappointed by this product over all. I find this with most Benefit products I try and admittedly I've not tried many. The reason for this is that I think they look and feel cheap for the price. If I want to pay that much for a product I don't want cheap cardboard packaging. I want something nice not something over hyped. Anyway that's another story. This primer overall was a massive disappointment and if I had spent the retail price on it I would have taken it straight back! It didn't help the application of my foundation, it just made my face sticky and the foundation kind of clogged in places. I didn't notice it lasting any longer than usually and it didn't have the brightening effect it claimed. So it's a massive NO from me. I will be saving this for back up for when my £3.99 Technic one runs out! Because that was so much better without a ridiculous price tag attached!

Give Away - Meow!

2012-02-08T05:14:00.000-08:00

So as promised yesterday here is my little give away! To thank you all for being so lovely and following my blog and to welcome any new followers that may have just discovered my little corner of the internet, I'm giving away 3 little things. As the internet is made of cats I thought that would be a good theme to go by (well, for two of the prizes anyway) which are as follows;

1 x Wood cut vintage camera brooch

1 x Cat vintage style cinema ticket necklace

And 1 x Cat ring.

The ring is a medium size so should fit most depending on which finger you want it on!

The camera brooch is lightweight so wont snag your clothes, it has a basic brooch back on the reverse.

And the cat ticket necklace is also made from wood like the camera brooch, complete on a chain.

Both the brooch and the necklace were made by the awesome Amethyst Annie Jewellery which you can find on facebook by clicking the link! Go have a look, she makes some wonderful stuff!

There will be THREE winners; one for each prize.

Winners will be selected at random.

TO ENTER:

Follow this blog with Google Friend Connect and leave a comment below with how to contact you (Twitter/Email/Blog link)

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE GFC BUT FOLLOW ON A DIFFERENT SITE (blog lovin'/HelloCotton) Then please comment and leave details of which one you follow on.

You can also enter if you do not have a blog/gfc account. My comments are set up so ANYONE can post a comment. So you can leave a comment the same as bloggers but please make sure you leave your contact details AND you must tell me where you saw my blog.

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hello_terrilowe (and @ me so I know you want to enter the competition)

'Like' my Facebook page for my online store (which is coming soon): https://www.facebook.com/goodmorningmagpie (and leave a comment on the wall for the competition)

Oh and if you have a preference to what prize you would like state that too.

I hope that makes enough sense!! I tried to keep it simple!

Ends on Friday 17th February with winners announced that day!
Competition open to UK and Europe only.

Tomorrow

2012-02-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Today I have had the busiest day I've had for a while so not had time to prepare a proper post for you this evening. Saying that it's probably been a lot less busy than most normal peoples' have been, I'm currently waiting for my new job to start so life is a bit of a void on a daily basis right now, it all kicks off on Monday though eeep!Just to let you know though, tomorrow I will posting up my first ever give away on my blog to thank you lovely lovelies for stopping by. The winner will be selected at random alongside the usual blog competition schpeel.
And here's a sneaky peak at the prizes....

To get a bit 'ahead of the game' though you can follow me on Twitter;

Or even like my highly neglected facebook page (which is a bit irrelevant to the give away actually but I might be adding something handmade from there too!)

Pretty Pastel Carnival

2012-02-06T05:33:00.000-08:00

Technic nail varnishes are definitely becoming my budget beauty buy of the year, I have a steady collection growing and these are my latest ones. I picked up the lilacy colour from the new Pretty Pastels collection and also got the OPI Rainbow Connection dupe (which has been doing the rounds in bloggerville) - 'Carnival'

Both bottles were 99p each. They have such a vast collection in Bodycare but you have to grab them quickly because they do sell out pretty fast.

The Lilac varnish is just the colour I've been looking for. It's not too bright and not too dark. I like it.

And Carnival I got just for the sake of it. I have another similar one to this from Claires that I blogged about recently. But this one seems much better quality with a lot more glittery bits in.

So I layered them up. I applied 2 coats of the Lilac and a 2 of the Carnival. I might go for a third if I'm feeling fruity today.

I do like the colours in Carnival and like I said it does have a lot of sparkle in it unlike some cheaper glitter varnishes that you have to put layer upon layer on.

And like I said this colour is the perfect one I've been after.

The downside to Technic polishes is the lid. Twice now I have shaken them and it's come off! Not the entire lid, just the long bit and there's the screwey bit separate underneath (does that make sense, basically the varnish doesn't fly out everywhere because the lid is in two bits is what I'm trying to say) But this is easily solved by just pushing it back on again. When you consider the price of these being 99p versus up to £20 for the OPI varnishes I think I can handle some small quality issues such as that. The varnish itself is hard wearing and long lasting. I've had it on for 3 days now and not a chip to be seen.

''You buy cheap you buy twice.'' -Which is fine by me because I love buying.

Technic ''prime it''

2012-02-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

I've been eyeing up this Technic Primer in Bodycare for some time now, mainly because it's obvious similarities in packaging to Benefit 'that gal' primer but without the price tag of £21.50... This comes in at a fraction of that price for £3.99. The reason I hesitated buying it for so long was purely because I'm not sure if I need a primer. As most of them cost as much or even more as the foundation itself. I'm wondering if the price tag for some is worth the hype, but even I can't argue at £3.99 when compared to the price of other primers.

So as you can see the label screams dupe of Benefit 'That Gal' the bright colours, the city scape, even the font is slightly similar. I do think the bottle feels kind of cheap, mainly because it WAS. Like I said in contrast to other primers on the market this is a snip at half the price of most. Even the Tesco Vivo primer costs around £6.

You got 33ml as opposed to the 11ml of the full size That Gal.

Although it doesn't claim to have the same range of 'healthy' ingredients. I'll be honest I know nothing about what the jiberish on the label actually means. Apart from aqua is water and limonene is some form of lemon extract? Stab in the dark for you. If anyone has any information about any of these ingredients good AND bad then please comment and let me know!

The primer itself is white, unlike That Gal which has a slightly pinky hue from what I've seen online, there's no fragrance, it kind of doesn't smell of anything....

It rubs in fairly easily. It almost feels like it creates a slight bit of friction on the face, which I suppose it what primers are meant to do so the foundation 'sticks' on better. (I'm thinking like when you use undercoat before you varnish a door or something!) Saying that though, it doesn't make the application of foundation difficult, It does seem to help it smooth on a lot better and I also found myself using nowhere near as much as I usually do. The primer gave better coverage overall.....

And here's a gratuitous picture of my face after using the primer with my regular Bourjois healthy mix foundation with a touch of Corn Silk translucent powder over.

In conclusion; I think this primer was totally worth £3.99. It does seem to have made a difference to the application and longevity of the foundation.

And FYI:

You can pick up on Ebay a 7.5ml tube of Benefit 'That Gal' primer for as little at £1.99 (plus p+p) which I have now ordered to see how it compares to the Technic dupe. I must say the £1.99 price tag is very reasonable considering the full size Benefit is only 11ml and retails for £21.50! Do the math yo! I'll do a comparison review when it comes off Mr Postman.

Valentines what?

2012-02-04T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've seen so many posts lately about 'Valentines Gift Idea's' and what people would like for Valentines day.... All I want to say is-stop it, stop it at once! Stop buying in to this sloppy excuse for a celebration. Stop wasting you and your partners money on tacky gifts. Stop using it as an excuse to get a bit of attention with a thoughtless generic present. Just stop it! Stop it NOW.

Don't get me wrong, I have a boyfriend and I'm happy with that. I'm not a bitter single cat lady (yet.... thats the ultimate dream though). I just don't like pointless celebrations. If you're in that much of a loving relationship you wouldn't need a particular day of the year to express your 'love' with corporate hoo-har. The other day I saw cupcakes in Asda being marketed as a special limited edition valentines gift.... which went out of date a week before valentines day?! If you do need to show your 'love' at this rather pointless time of the year, get a bit creative eh?I know I sound awful and like a bad person but I'm not. I just dislike the idea of being made to celebrate something just for the sake of it! (Saying that, I will probably be showered in wonderful gifts because I'm the best girlfriend ever!) So anyway, here's my short list of things I do not want this Valentines day (and my reasons why);

Number ONE. Flowers:

Flowers are number one on my list of most pointless present EVER. They're not just pointless as a present. They are pointless in LIFE. Seriously, I don't get it. Why would you buy someone you had affection for a bunch of things you could find in a good garden for free that ultimately DIE. It's like saying 'Hey, I like you, but not enough to buy you something thoughtful and worthwhile so please have these things that look pretty for now but will wither and die as quickly as our relationship is going to' I would probably end the relationship there and then.

Number TWO. Chocolate:

Why would I need some chocolate as a token of 'love'? I could go to the shop myself and buy a freaking mars bar. It's like saying 'Here ya go you tubby cow, I could of taken you for a nice meal but I know deep down you're happiest stuffing your face with fancy crap' I would much rather a bag of crisps. If you really loved me you'd make them Kettle Crisps, Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar and nothing less, thanks.

Number THREE. Bath and Body Products:

Oh right, just because I live in a house with 3 cats means I stink of cat piss? Thanks for the hint, love!

Number FOUR. A Teddy Bear:

Especially one that says 'Be Mine'... Who are you? Charles Manson??? CREEPY.

There are things I do find acceptable, but not on valentines day, just like, throughout the year. Things like cooking me a nice meal, making me a funny card, writing me a cute note. Even making me a mix CD which contained cheesy love ballads would be better than the above tat (srsly, don't do this for me, anyone).......I think I've said enough. I'm not completely miserable, but receiving some of those gifts would certainly make me.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Joy Division//Love Will Tear Us Apart

Icicles

2012-02-04T12:39:00.000-08:00

Whether you have left the house today or spent the duration on social networking sites, I'm sure it's not escaped your attention that yes, it is snowing in most of the UK right now. It's been at it since dinner time. I was particularly concerned this time though as I had to make a little adventure from Manchester to Stoke on Trent in a 1ltr Automatic Nissan Micra that is barely road worthy during this ALMIGHTY BLIZZARD (I'm exaggerating, it wasn't actually that bad at the time) Anyway on my travels I came across this absolutely wondrous site. On a country lane where the vehicles going past had splashed the puddle up the bush it had developed in a draping of icicles. So I abandoned my car and took a few snaps on my phone.

Sorry if you're sick of the snow talk, I just really thought it was a bit amazing. It's been a slow day, I know.

Have you seen any awesome sights during the frosty weather?

Pantene Instant Repair...

2012-02-03T04:47:00.000-08:00

....& Overnight Protect Spray.

I've been eyeing up the Pantene Instant Repair and Overnight Protect Spray in Tesco for a while now. It's for Normal to Thick hair which suits my hair just fine and also sounded like an interesting product to get my mitts on.

I wanted this product out of sheer curiosity as to what it would be like. I hadn't read any reviews or heard anything about it. I used it last night on dry hair before I went to bed. The first thing I noticed was that it has an amazing smell. Not like the Pantene shampoo and conditioner, but almost an apple like smell. I sprayed some in my hand to rub straight into the ends of my hair and it's like a non sticky cloudy liquid.

The thing I didn't like about the packaging was the weird use of asterisks in the description. It says 'Instant repair* & overnight protection** for dry/damaged hair *to smoothness **against styling damage'.... Now is there any need for all of those? REALLY? It goes on to once again explain the * and ** further down the description. Ever so weird (in my opinion anyway) So it instantly repairs your hair to smoothness? What does that even mean? Regardless of this though the instructions are pretty simple; 'Before bedtime, spray on full head. Leave overnight, don't rinse out' And that is what I did....

So overall, I'm quite pleased with the end result. The good things about this product are;

-It smells nice

-It doesn't make your hair sticky

-When you wake up your hair does feel soft and smooth and not like it has a product in it

-Doesn't weigh your hair down

-It does pretty much what it says on the bottle.

-It comes with the affordable price tag of £2.99

The only downside to the product is when I go to bed with my hair ever so slightly damp I do tend to wake up with mental kinks and weird curly bits randomly scattered about. As I'm still making a point of not using hair straighteners this isn't the best thing to have in the morning. BUT nothing that can't be easily solved either by just wetting my hair with the tap and brushing through or even spraying a bit more of the Pantene spray in. It's pretty much, for me, the complete opposite of the Pantene Ice Shine Creme which I posted about last month.

Indecisive Bowler

2012-02-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sometime last week I purchased this lovely little bowler hat from H & M in Manchester for £7.99. Now I'm usually not into things like this. Y'know those daft hats people wear and take themselves seriously in. I usually stick to hats I can wear ironically just in case it does look stupid then I have an excuse. But this one, I tried on for a joke and actually thought I looked pretty darn good in it in the store. Now I've got home though I am undecided. Can the people of Stoke on Trent take someone looking this good in a hat that isn't ironic?? I really don't know. People around here tend to be about 10years behind with fashion so wearing something this TRENDY might get me a few dodgy looks. I know that paints Stoke in a bad light but really, it's not that bad here, I do love this city (in a way).Now I'm being incredibly indecisive and not sure whether I can 'get away' with wearing it outside.

What do you reckon?

That last shot is my 'indecisive' face by the way.

I will also add it is pretty hard to take pictures of yourself in a hat. Hence why you can't even see it very well.

Would you wear a bowler hat on a casual basis? Let me know your thoughts!

Toffifee

2012-02-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

Toffifee are my all time favourite chocolatey, caramely, hazelnuty snack. I recently picked up a 'bumper' pack of them from Makro for about 3quid. I could literally eat them until I barfed.

Lecker! Delicious! Superbe! boasts the box..... and that they are.

They are presented in little rows of delicious goodness. You just pop them out from behind and begin the taste sensation.

They cup itself is chewy caramel. Filled with nougat and a whole hazelnut with a splodge of chocolate on the top....

They're just such tasty little things. If you can't make it to a Makro I've often seen the smaller packs in Poundland.... retailing at.... £1.

Fashion is Danger

2012-02-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

So after my post asking for a little bit of feedback for the contents of my blog, you guys were super lovely and said I had a really good balance of what I post about, huzzah! However, one topic that did come up was that a few wanted some style/outfit posts. Now even though I am what's technically known as a 'super hot female' (I JEST) I'm a little camera/internet shy. So I'll ease it in a bit gently with some outfit pictures I took a while ago that I feel comfortable sharing with the world wide web! Now I will point out that even though I dress super savvy, I am by no means a follower of fashions. I like what I like. If what I like happens to be 'in' at any particular time it's a massive bonus. I don't want you to raise your expectations to find that I'm just not that cool.

On to my style (or lack of) then... Like I said, I will wear what I feel comfortable in. I like anything with a hint of irony. Usually the ironic factor coming in the form of cats.....

This cat print dress was from A Wear, I actually wore it for my graduation because the colours matched the Staffs Uni colours.

I also like anything colourful although I've tried to tame that a little bit lately. Burgundy and mustard yellow is my all time fave combo.

& you saw this dress before on my Pasty Pastel post.

This is what I wore to The Look Show back in August. I must admit I felt a little out of place because everyone was so 'on trend' and I rocked up in my brightly coloured ensemble. Whoops.

And once again back to the mustard yellow. It just goes with my hair, what can I say.

So thats a little glimpse into what I wear. I'm not sure if I will do any other outfit posts as like I said I'M JUST SO SHY!! Hahahaa.

Flight of the Conchords//Fashion is Danger
(in case you were wondering the relevance of the title to this post!)

Cici Bubble Jelly Drink

2012-02-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

After yesterdays scathing review of this months Glossy Box I really need to bring my blog back into the sunshine. And what better way to do that than with some lovely goods from China Town! I bought this at the same time as the Grape Mochi and on the same day as the Bubble Tea but forgot all about it.

The Cici I chose was apple flavoured, it's a quite transparent jelly with 'nata de coco' in it. I just had to google what that was and apparently it's a type of fermented coconut water that turns into a jelly like food.... yum? I don't mind a bit of something to chew on within a drink. My favourite drink to get from China Town is the Aloe Vera King drinks. They have real bits of Aloe Vera pulp in and come in loads of nice flavours.

Anyway.... Cici comes with a convenient straw in the lid. I quite like things like this as it's such a clever yet simple design (even if it is just a drink)

So, not a lot else to say about the packaging or what's in it. But I'm sure you really want to know what it tastes like....

IT TASTES LIKE APPLE JELLY. Ha. Yes, a simple apply jelly but the jelly is 'runny' enough to be DRUNK. It's a bit of an odd consistency and takes you a bit by surprise when you slurp it up the straw. I know it sounds ridiculous but even though I read it was a 'jelly drink' I still expected it to be a liquid?!

I got one of the coconuty jelly bits almost straight away and they're a really odd consistency too. I can't think of what I could liken them too. Nothing in it tastes offensive. It's all quite pleasant but I can imagine a lot of people wouldn't be a fan (like many things I blog about!). Maybe I will make my own variant but with a slosh of vodka. Hmmmm.....

Bye Bye Glossybox

2012-01-31T04:05:00.000-08:00

After being subscribed to Glossybox since October, I think it's time to say goodbye. I am so dissatisfied with this box it's unbelievable. I know on the reviews I've seen knocking around blogsphere some people are really happy with this months box and usually I'm one to defend poor contents in these beauty boxes. I understand the work that goes into securing good products to keep consumers happy and defended the Boudoir Privé face mask scandal no end via social networking sites. But unfortunately this months box really REALLY disappointed me and my reasoning is below.

First and foremost. I understand it's been Christmas, yadda yadda yadda but the wait for this months box didn't contribute well to the disappointment. But that's not a massive issue here. (I'll start out with the niggling reasons I'm cancelling my subscription and save the 'best' til the end.)

Secondly.

The Box;

The most sickly putrid pink I have ever seen. It actually offended my eyes. I don't like it when they send different coloured boxes, if you're keeping them to store other stuff in it messes up the whole aesthetic of the system! (like I said the first few were minor, niggling downsides)

Everything looked pretty good in the box on first perusal....

I was most pleased with the primer as I had been after a new one for a while now....

But apart from that the other products were massively disappointing!

First up, the Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in 'Plum'..... Now when you fill in that little questionairre thing on the site, is that just to make you feel a bit special because they clearly take no note of what you put. Why would you send me plum after reading my eye colour/skin tone/hair colour/other preferences on your questionairre. OHIKNOW because it means nothing taking that 10 minutes out to fill that in. I notice some people had hair products in their box, another box I distinctly remember ticking over make up. Another thing I hated about this product was the wasted packaging. The box the extra long bit at the end of the pencil etc. Now I read the long end bit was so you could carry on using the pencil well when you had sharpened in down. Cool Story Bro' I'm glad some people fell for that one. I really do not like the Eyeko rebrand either and how they have used it as an excuse to charge 3 times as much for what is essentially the same products as their 'cutesy, anime' era.

The F-A-B Body Moisturiser is alright. I just don't like that it's fragrance free. The idea of these boxes is to have a little bit of a treat once a month and a product that smells of nothing isn't really a treat to me. I could get fragrance free body moisturiser from Superdrug for a quid.

Anyway these things aren't the main reason for the cancellation. The product I am most dissatisfied with is the Clarins samples. I know a lot of people were over joyed to get such samples in their box. And I'll admit when I first opened and saw I got this selection, so was I.... Until I went to use them....

Can you see that? That tiny smidge of cream in the '15ml' tube?? I did read a lot of people saying their samples of this were EMPTY and to be honest I would have preferred that, as this feels like someone is (excuse my french) taking the piss. Surely this is against some kind of trading act to mislead people into thinking theyr have x amount of a product and give them the tiniest slither?

And again with the Night Cream. A tiny little bit of cream in a 15ml tube.

So I have paid £12.95 this month for a range of products that are either not suited, almost empty or a waste of packaging. Not to mention the environmental implications of sending thousands of people empty plastic tubes too. Like I said, I am usually the first to see a good side to any of these boxes. But sorry Glossybox. This one is just disappointing on SO many levels. I know this sounds like a completely scathing review but I am a bit cranky and waited more than the regular time for this 'special limited edition' box.

Oh but I got a sweet in the box too so I guess that makes it all ok.

*Edit* Further to this post, I've have been tweeting about my disappointment. About 12 tweets later (including other people expressing their disappointment) Here's the response:

After working for 7 years in customer services I can't help but feel that tweet lacks a little something.... OH that's right... the worD 'sorry' Here's what they should of said - ''Hi Terri, sorry you feel this way and the products haven't been up to standard. Please e-mail us so we can help to resolve this issue'' I feel that response MAY have been a little more fitting. But no.

So here goes. The cancellation process. More like an mini endurance test really....

Yes I FINALLY want to unsubscribe THNX....

No, PLEASE cancel it, for the love of god!

BUT THATS NOT THE FINAL STEP.....

FINALLY....

KTHNXBAI.

I have emailed like they told me too, but I apparently have to wait up to 48 hours for a response, can't be that hard to sort out a refund, REALLY.

A Macaroon a day.....

2012-01-30T04:47:00.000-08:00

.....Keeps the gym away?

After discovering the Marks and Spencers seasonal Mini Macaroons just before Christmas, my macaroon adventures continue. The only other establishment I can find these wonderful things within a 30 mile radius of Stoke on Trent is Waitrose in Sandbach! And they don't come at a bargain price I can tell thee. Anyway, I've invested. A whole pack of 7 wonderful macaroons.....

Because there is 7 in a packet I've decided to savour them a little bit and limit myself to 1 a day haha.

As you can see, 7 different flavours. I'm looking forward to the Earl Grey one the most!

I wish I could handcraft them in my kitchen. I did half heartedly attempt macaroons once (bought a book and everything) but alas it didn't work. I'll try again one day.

They look so lovely all lined up with their lovely colours and shape. Yum Yum. And not only are they a culinary sensation they are also bang on trend this season - see my Pasty Pastel post.

They have numbers down the side too so you actually know which flavour you're having instead of just guessing.

The pistachio flavour was very subtle but just right. It could have maybe done with a little more filing in the middle too.

And the texture was slightly less gooey than the Marks and Spencers version, but they were about a third of the size of these ones so that may make a difference.

Anyway, I cannot wait for tomorrow's Raspberry macaroon. And I wonder why my waist is no longer 26 inches.... *sigh* I just love food.

Objects of Desire - My Sweet Delirium

2012-01-29T16:22:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered this awesome Etsy shop when Lily from Beautys Bad Habit tweeted about. I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with antlers and taxidermy, considering I'm not a goth or owt (owt is Stoke talk for 'anything' by the way) The other week I almost succumb to a beautiful taxidermy polecat in a local antiques shop, but thought it might freak the cat out too much! If's its macabre, handmade, beautiful or quirky I am in. And this shop ticks all the boxes.
Anyway, here's my favourite picks from My Sweet Delirium!

Magpie skull and wings necklace.

£45

Antlers Headband

£45

Rabbit skull bib necklace

£35

Apart from being absolutely amazing, one of a kind pieces they are also a really affordable price. All the skulls are sourced ethically too. So you don't have to worry about any creatures suffering to make such aesthetically pleasing things! And also these images of the products being worn are so good!

What do you think? Grotesque or Beautiful?

Dibs on the Antler Headband!

all images taken from http://www.etsy.com/shop/MySweetDelirium?ref=seller_info click the link to visit the sellers etsy shop!

Hey There!

2012-01-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

Having a lazy Sunday and looking at my Stats and Content on my little Blog. It's got me wondering what people want to see more of?

I kind of want to keep my blog open for as many types of readers as possible. I like posting about beauty and cosmetics but then don't want to make it just for females. That's why I include food posts and such so males have something to read also! (oh and the little fact I love to try new food and drinks) I also need to keep it a bit true to my crafty roots (y'know, having that degree and all) so more tutorials on making things? More finished products?

I know fashion blogs are really popular and I do like having a little online perv at people's wardrobes, but do people really want to see mine? I have a vast collection of dresses that could be shared with the world though. I like the idea of doing a focus on a particular artist (in any medium) each week too.

Oh so many topics I could and would cover! But alas, I want to know what you want.

So I'm asking for a little feedback from my lovely followers. Tell me what you want to see!

Thanks in advance guys!

Mochi Mochi

2012-01-28T03:22:00.000-08:00

It seems this week I am a little bit obsessed with anything from East Asia. I had a little spree in Manchester's China Town and came back with some Grape Mochi. I've eyed up Mochi before because they look SOOOO CUTEEEEE! But never tried them. I had my first taste last week when I went to that Japanese Restaurant I mentioned >here<. The one I tried was Matcha Green Tea and tasted amazing so I just had to buy some from somewhere to take home! Mochi are gluttonous rice cakes which come in kind of ball shapes and have a filling inside, sometimes gooey and sometimes a bit jelly like.

I am loving anything grape flavour lately so spotted these ones in one of the chinese supermarkets in china town. The bright coloured box looked adorable. And I appreciated the fact that brand name was Yuki & Love; how cute is that?!

I actually expected them to be big. I know I should of read the box properly and seen it said 12, but I was assuming there was 6. Because I'm a bit ignorant like that, ha.

As you can see the cuteness continues with the individual packaging.

Now the actually FEEL of the mochi is SO WEIRD. You can't really explain it. It's like really really soft but.... (this sounds daft) CUTE feeling.....So odd!

I was expecting the inside to be a bit more runny but it was like a solid jelly. The taste was really subtle. I'm not sure how healthy they are for you either. The bright colours and kind of stodgyness of them indicates to me that they are slightly fattening but I can't read Taiwanese so can't tell you from the box! If they are a bit healthier than the average snack though - I'm definitely in! I'll have to research a little bit more I think. And please excuse my ignorance with that one!

Have you tried Mochi? What dya reckon?

I Love Bobo Tea!

2012-01-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

If you know me, you will know that I love anything; new, cute or colourful. Bubble tea ticks ALL of these boxes. If you haven't already heard of bubble tea, I imagine you will do VERY soon, because if these don't take off properly in the UK this year there is something very wrong with our society!

I'll fill you in for the time being though.... Bubble tea can come hot or cold. The 'bubbles' are traditionally tapioca pearls which become chewy and gooey when prepared for the drink. I understand the tapioca is not to everyones taste and I'll admit they're a bit weird and I can imagine some people may be a bit grossed out by the consistency. But never fear, some companies have mixed this up a bit and put juice bubbles in or flavoured jelly (I've yet to try the jelly version) to give the same bubble tea goodness in a fruitier, more universally enjoyable form - huzzah!

The three bubble tea's you see before you are Honeydew Melon, Grape and Apple. In each one I chose different 'bubbles' - passionfruit, mango and strawberry. Yum yum yum! I also bought a hot matcha green tea on with tapioca pearls in at the time to wake me up (it was early and I didn't think a coffee would be as super tasty and healthy) It was delicious.

The bubbles look a little bit like frog spawn, but you musn't let this put you off!

Really, I should of chose the darker coloured flavour for the lighter drinks but I didn't plan to blog about these. But I simply had too haha.

It's just the right amount of tea and flavour combination. I know a lot of people aren't keen on flavoured tea's as they can be slightly bland and tasteless. Not bobo tea's though! They're fruity and delicious. And unlike iced 'tea' you get at high street coffee places *cough*Costa*cough* they're actual TEA, not a syrup concentrate splashed in a bit of water *shakes fist* So disappointed when I got charged about £4 for that in Costa during the summer!!

I wont dwell though.... This is a bubble! They're quite large. you won't choke though, honest. They pop really easily as you're drinking through the extra large straw.

They remind me a little bit of Cod Liver Oil capsules but a lot yummier and not as good for the ol' joints.

My Bubble tea was from this awesome little stand in the Arndale Centre in Manchester. The address is on the picture in case you get lost looking for it!

They explain everything there is to know about your bubble tea.

They have such a varied selection, it really is hard to choose what you want. This is why you must go back and slowly try them all.

So far I have tried a few of the iced fruit ones, my favourite over all though is the matcha green tea frappe with cream on top, I'm sure the antioxidants in green tea counteract the sugar and cream ;)

I really hope the bubble tea revolution hits Stoke on Trent very soon, then I wouldn't have to transport them back from Manchester and burst all the bubbles on the journey! I've had them in a few places and I must say no others have lived up to I Love Bobo Tea's version. They have every detail right down to the cutesy leaflets and logo design.

You can find I Love Bobo Tea on facebook here https://www.facebook.com/IloveBoboTea

And on Twitter! https://twitter.com/#!/ilovebobotea

Which bubble tea would you try?!

Pantene Ice Shine Créme

2012-01-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

I bought this Pantene Ice Shine Anti-Frizz Smoothing Créme a few weeks ago, and I'll be honest, I don't quite get what it's meant to be or do. I bought it because I thought it may be a bit like a serum but in a cream version, if they even exist. Either way the ice shine range hadn't really let me down yet. But this has. Because it doesn't seem to have a purpose in life.

It says 'frizz control with added shine' so I squirted a bit out and smoothed it onto my hair. I didn't even use that much and it made my hair lank, greasy looking and heavy. So yeah it smoothed the frizz but also made me look like I'd been dunking head first in a chip pan.

It's just a really odd product, definitely not what I wanted or expected. Even the tiniest amount doesn't work or do what I wanted and thought it was for. However, all is not lost. Even though it does not work on straightened/neat hair that you want to wear down, it could work for smoothing an 'up do'. I have also been using it to create a waved effect. I curl my hair with some medium barrel curlers brush it through then rub this through out. It's the only way I can find to use it that doesn't end in greasy looking disastHAIR.

Superdrug Vitamin E Range

2012-01-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

After discovering the Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser the other day I have a new found obsession with this range. The offer is still on where you can purchase 2 products for £3.99 - so I'm certainly making the most of it. All the things I bought today should be £2.99 each. So what I bought should have come to £11.96 but I paid £7.98, which is pretty good going for 4 products.

I wanted a range of things that were pretty different, I almost opted for the night moisturising cream but the Skin Oil appealed to me slightly more. The Eye Cream is simply because this week I'm having a 'OH MY GOD I'M 26 IM GETTING OLD' meltdown. I also got the Face Scrub as a contrast to the Hot Cloth Cleanser and finally the Radiance Moisture Cream as I read online it was a good dupe for MAC Strobe Cream.

So onto the actual products, I've just tried all of them and NON have disappointed. The Skin Oil I think maybe I shouldn't use on a regular basis though. I'm prone to breakouts and something about it being an oil screams to me that it's gonna cause trouble! However, it's totally non greasy and absorbed into my skin really fast, you can use it on other areas too, I think it would even work as a hand moisturiser because of how quickly it does soak in. I am finding the instructions on the products could be slightly more detailed but for the price I wasn't expecting Wordsworth to right a monologue on how best to utilise your cheap and amazing new skin care regime.

Next I tried the face cream (yeah I was a bit wasteful and washed my face so all the oil kind of came off so I could see what the moisturiser was like on its own) It smells amazing. All of this range does, like a light coco butter type smell. It contains light reflecting pigments to instantly make your skin look fresh and dewy. I've not tried the MAC Strobe Cream to compare, but if it's anything like this it must be pretty good! It's SPF15 as well so perfect for the summer (when it comes) and once again the instructions do lack a bit. I'll be using it as a base for make up definitely though rather than just 'rubbing it in' like the tube says.

The eye cream to 'match' the moisturiser is just as lovely. It's a thicker consistency though but smooths on just as well. Once again with the nice coco-y butter fragrance. It's left my eyes feeling really fresh and hopefully with continued use will sort out those little wrinkles I'm imagining are there. Ha.

And finally the facial scrub. The consistency of this was a lot runnier than I expected so ended up squirting a tad too much out! A little would have gone a long way. The scrubby stuff is oatmeal, which I found really suiting for the purpose. It's not too 'hard' like the bits in Apricot scrubs and it's not too 'soft' so still scrubs your skin smooth.

Overall I am just so impressed with the range. For the price and quality of the products you really can't go wrong. I want to try other things in the range but will work through this little lot first. Definitely worth a try if you've not yet discovered it!

No 7 Amazing Eyes Liner

2012-01-24T05:48:00.000-08:00

I got my mitts on a £5 off any No 7 product in Boots this week. I don't usually bother with No 7 make up as I find their foundations are a really orange tone on me and it's kind of put me off the entire range. Regardless of that though, £5 off made me look again. I've been after a new liquid eyeliner and spotted their 'Amazing Eyes Liner' on the shelf for around £8.50. That's a pretty expensive price for eyeliner but I figured after the £5 was taken off it was a bit of a bargain.

The eyeliner boasts that it's a 'new formula'.... I'm not sure what the 'old formula' was but I find the consistency of this really gloopy and sticky. It doesn't really 'glide' on the eyes like you would expect a liquid liner to do. Don't get me wrong - the pigmentation is great. It's a really good 'shade' but it kind of sticks.... If that even makes sense? I'm not sure how to word it.

The brush applicator is fine. It's what you expect from any liquid eyeliner. It's not one of those hard ones, it's an actual brush. But it is fairly thick. With a light hand you can get quite a fine line though.

Overall I probably wouldn't purchase this again. Not at full price anyway. I much prefer the bourjois liners. But it'll do for now. It's definitely not the worst one I've tried!

Music Monday #6

2012-01-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

A music Monday on an actual Monday.... I'm getting good at this.

I'm gonna keep it to one band this week -Voxtrot. I don't think enough people listen to Voxtrot. They sound like summer.

The Start of Something is my all time favourite Voxtrot song.

Closely followed by Firecracker

& finally Kid Gloves! Amazing.

Japanesey Treats

2012-01-22T14:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went for a meal at Stoke on Trent's only Japanese restaurant - Miso. It's located in the deepest most darkest depths of Stoke town centre; an area I do not choose to frequent very often unless good food is promised! It is a truly horrid place (proven by some suspect chavs who walked past and shouted I was a 'dirty cow' on the way in haha!) But regardless of this the food was worth it and one day when I summon up the courage I will venture back and do a proper review of their goodness - that may be fairly soon as they currently have an offer on lunchtime Bento boxes for buy one get one free on Thursday's and Friday's!

Anyway, whilst I was there I noticed they now have a super mini shop bit where you can buy some little treats to take home - and being a sucker for anything new, cute or brightly packaged I got this little selection:

Altogether it came to £4.40 which isn't too pricey considering the price some of these fancy sweet shops sell foreign goodies for.

Here's what I got:

Pucca are little fish shaped pretzel snacks, chocolate on the outside and a creamy chocolate on the inside. I do not think that the restaurant have been keeping them in a 'cool dry place' though as they creamy inside was quite hard and gritty. The flavour was alright but I don't think you can beat good old fashioned English chocolate brands though.

Melon Milk sounds disgusting but I bought this after trying a few too many bubble tea's and love melon flavour drinks now. It was a really see through melon flavoured milkshake and was just the right amount of sweetness. I really liked it - a lot!

Pepero almond and chocolate pretzel sticks were once again not up to scratch due to the storage of them. The chocolate had gone all white and horrid looking but they still tasted fine. I like these because they have the right amount of almond within the chocolate. You don't get very many in the pack though which is a shame. They're the same as popular Japanese snack Pocky if you've ever tried those.

And finally

Well, I don't even know what the weird little sweet things were called but apparently they were ramune flavour, which I believe is a popular drink in Japan. They just tasted like sugar to me. And disintegrated very strangely in the mouth.

I have tried worse Japanese food, I used to like with a Japanese girl at uni and some of the strange and often wonderful food stuffs she would share was a really good experience. My favourite were those sour hot candies that are popular over there too, the least favourite being wasabi flavoured whitebait in a packet like crisps, yuck!

I do enjoy trying everything twice!

Follow Up Review - Hot Cloth Cleanser

2012-01-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

After posting about the amazing offer on Superdrug's own brand Vitamin E range, I had a few requests to do a follow up review on the product. So here it is! (If you're not aware of the previous post it's on offer as 2 for £3.99 but retails for £5.99 each anyway saving you around £8 quid!)

Anyway, since the post I have used the cleanser a few times. I'll admit I'm a bit of a cleanser n00b and not really bothered with it before. I usually just use Soap and Glory Soap & Clarity face soap which is quick and refreshing and has also kept spots at bay.... But the hot cloth cleanser has appealed to me for it's vitamin E goodness and the fact it's for normal to dry skin.

It's a really nice, creamy consistency and smells amazing. Like a floral coco butter type smell. You rub it around your face in a circular motion then dunk the muslin cloth in warm water, you then buff the cream off your face until it's all gone. Finish off with a splash of cool water and pat dry.

I must admit, I do find things like this a bit of a ball ache. I like the quick and easy option but saying this the results are really worth it! It's left my skin looking and feeling a lot smoother. I think for me personally, because I'm lazy, I will use it in the bath though for when I have a little bit more time to relax and take my time washing my big round face. I will definitely be investing in more of the Superdrug Vitamin E range though, especially whilst it's on this amazing offer. I almost bought the face oil and moisturiser and truly regretting it now, nothing a trip to town wont fix though!

Bargain of the Day - Hot Cloth Cleanser

2012-01-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

I was perusing the shelves of Boots earlier specifically after a Hot Cloth Cleanser. The ones they had were so expensive, ranging from £12-£20! So I remembered the horrid little town I was in had a Superdrug as well so I nipped across and immediately noticed the awesome offer they had on their own brand Vitamin E skin care range; 2 for £3.99.

The offer is fairly reasonable as all the products in the range hit around the £2.99 mark.... apart from the Hot Cloth Cleanser that comes in at a whopping (or not so whopping) £5.99..... But regardless of this, IT WAS STILL ON THE OFFER. So I got 2, saving myself....£7.98. Bargain, huh? I'm yet to try it as I've just got in, but I do hear good things about these cleansers. If you've tried one, what do you think?

Intergalactic PlanniTERRI

2012-01-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

Initially, I'd just like to apologise for the abundance of nail posts this week (well, two, but that's two more than I would of liked really!) All my stuff is still in boxes because I'm a professional procrastinator. However, I nipped to a local outlet mall called Freeport yesterday and spotted this rather splendid Glittery nail varnish in Claires. I'm not sure if this is common knowledge but Claires outlets that are in these 'outlet malls' offer 30% off the high street price. And they still stock current products, so if I see something in a local Claires I always check out the Freeport one (which is about 2 miles down the road) and get it for a cheaper price! If you've not heard of Freeport it's the same company as Cheshire Oaks, I don't know the name of any others outside the Stoke on Trent/ Cheshire area though I'm afraid!

Anyway, I was drawn to this nail varnish because it reminded me of the OPI Rainbow Connection Nail Varnish that I'd seen on LLYMLRS blog. She had discovered a Technic dupe which was a fraction of the price for £3. This one from Claires comes in even cheaper at £2.50.... and with the 30% discount EVEN cheaper £1.80. You really can't go wrong. The only problem being that Claires nail varnishes don't tell you a shade number or name so I can't tell you which exactly it is! But they had quite a good range of glittery polish to choose from anyway.

I've teamed it with the w7 Metallic Jupiter, which is an amazing colour. It's a dark dark purple with fine iridescent glitter in it, but when the light hits it it changes into a goldy, greeny hue. It's amazing.

I applied two coats of each of the varnishes. Both seem quite chip resistant thus far despite the heavy coating.

It's like having a little galaxy on each nail.

I just need to learn how to apply it a bit neater next time.

Oh and extra kudos if you 'get' the titles' reference.

Frosty Heartbeats

2012-01-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

Frosty weather equals frosty finger tips. This also means inspiration for some frosty inspired nail varnish. I came across this '2true' nail varnish in Superdrug the other day for £1.99. It's a really lovely iridescent white/silver glitter, when its on alone its a bit wishy washy so I teamed it up with 17's new shade 'Heartbeat' (£2.99) for some wintery goodness.

These colours are also quite inkeeping with the Pasty Pastels trend I blogged about last week!

I do like the 17 Lasting Finish varnishes, they last for days and days and have some of the most lovely shades. I particularly like 'Chaperone' which is a nice grey tone. The 2true nail varnish despite it's cheesy name is a really hard wearing one also.

It's really hard to get a picture that shows how nice the colours are together, when the light hits in the right place there's a nice purple/pink hue.

One day I'll work out how to take a decent photograph of nails.

Ground Control to Major Tom.....

2012-01-18T04:14:00.000-08:00

Olaaaa!

I've not posted since SATURDAY, but it feels like it's been about two weeks! I've not abandoned a sinking ship though, I've simply moved abode and have been busy packing, moving, unpacking, going back, packing a bit more, doing some cleaning, then unpacking, and....oh it just goes on and on! So many belongingssss!!

Anyway just a quicky to tell you I am alive and will be back to regular blogging activities very soon, the internet here isn't the best so does make life a little harder *woe* but hopefully a quick phone call can sort that out...... In the meantime check out this little fluff ball, one of my new house mates!

Hey Foxy

2012-01-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

Wanna see something cute yet practical?

Here ya go!

My new Foxy bag from Temporary Secretary! Ain't it sweet? Yeah it is! I've been lusting after it since before Christmas so bit the bullet and invested. It's a great size. Not too big, not too small - Fits all the essentials in! I love how his little nose is also the button to close him up (yes, it's a him)

Another thing I like about Foxy is his buckle strap. Like a belt you can adjust the size to suit and it looks good too.

Although he does look slightly freaky when he is open. Poor little foxy.

You can purchase your own little Foxy from http://www.temporary-secretary.com/ for £18. Swish swoo! He comes in a few different colours too, because he's good like that.

BOOKS - The Wasp Factory

2012-01-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

To add to the reportoire of reviews on my blog I thought I'd do a little book one. I don't read very much I'll admit, so this therefore proves that if I make it all the way through a book it must be mint. Now before I start this blog post, I will just tell you a little but about the correct pronunciation of the word BOOK.... I know a lot of you say it 'bUk'; I will tell you now, you are wrong my dear friend! If you're from Stoke on Trent and pronounce it correctly as 'bOOk' then bravo! You're a winner! So if you're ever in the city or talk to a Stokie dunna you dareeee pick up on the accent. Stokies say it better!

Anyway on to the book itself.....
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks.

I was recommended this book by a friend. I had never heard of it and really did not know what to expect. When I read it was a 'Gothic Horror Story' I expected all kinds of Twilight shit going down. Alas no vampires, no werewolves and definitely no Edward bastard Cullen. It's hard to write a book 'review' without giving away the entire plot of it all. But basically it follows a young Scottish lad called Frank. It's fair to say Frank is a bit odd. His days are made up of pissing on heads of dead animals and generally being an absolute loner and freak. Frank keeps a little contraption in his loft which he uses as a little house (or factory) to kill wasps, the wasps meet their demise in many ways, the most notable ways being set on fire or drowning in Franks piss.... He has a 'disability' which doesn't become clear until the end of the book. That's the serious twist. You simply don't see it coming but when it does - BOOM! It's a 'what the fuck' moment indeed. In fact there are many 'WTF' moments throughout the book. When you find a chapter becoming slightly dull and lengthy a massive twist happens and you find yourself sucked in again. If you want to read more about the actual storyline check out the Wiki Page, but it does contain a few spoilers.

Like I said, if I have finished a book, that alone means it's pretty good! Read it and be prepared to gasp...

GASP I TELL YOU.

Back to the old's cool - Corn Silk

2012-01-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Ever since they discontinued the amazing Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals I've been on the look out for a new miracle product to give me the same flawless complexion that did. I recently bought a lot of it in bulk off eBay but now eBay's supply has run out and I can't live off the ones I have forever. So, I was thinking -which make up powders have been around since TIME BEGAN? Then I remembered a product my Nan always used to use - Corn Silk. The young whipper snappers may never have heard of this mystery product before, it's not even stocked with the make up in Boots. It's with the skin care!? So I nipped in today to see if they still had it and they did! It costs £8.75 for a 12g tub and is on offer at the moment as 2 for £12. So I grabbed one of each of the loose powders. They only come in the translucent shade and as a loose powder, in Semi Matt or Satin.

It's still in rather retro style packaging....

It's not the same coverage as the Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals as that can be used alone over a moisturiser and still produces a good coverage. Corn Silk is more to seal your foundation in place, but I will be using it over boots Natural Collection Tinted Moisturiser....

The secret of the formula contains Walnut and Silk (although not that secret if it says it on the front of the box)

And it has a really retro poofer in to apply it with too. I've opted to use a big face brush instead though as I find the poofer awkward.

The powder itself is a really silky smooth one and easy to apply. It's has a slightly shimmery lustre to it giving you a nice fresh complexion and lasts throughout the day. I think in comparison to come translucent powders on the market you're definitely getting value for your money. Although it is not as good as my beloved Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals it is definitely a good contender for a replacement during a day to day make up routine. I will use this for the daytime now and the remainder of my beloved for nights out or special occasions. The other thing that attracted me to Corn Silk was the fact it doesn't clog your pores and it's doesn't feel heavy on your face.

Have you got any retro beauty must haves? I've seen a few blog posts about the 80's classic Lipcote knocking around, I wonder what else will become popular again this year!?

You can see the rest of the contents of my budget make up bag here.

& in case you weren't convinced, watch the advert!

Tangle Teezer

2012-01-12T05:09:00.000-08:00

I know the Tangle Teezer reviews have been done to death, but I recently received one for free by winning a competition via their Twitter account. The delivery was super fast, in fact I received it within 2 days after being told I was the winner! I had been debating getting one for a while, my hair is over processed and brittle, breaking off very easily. The reviews I have seen have been excellent for the Tangle Teezer but I think the fact things can be very over hyped in the blogosphere and the £12ish price tag kept putting me off investing in one....I do think £12 is a lot for a brush, but I guess a brush is for life, not just for er, a day, or something....

The first thing I noticed about the Tangle Teezer was the size. I'm not sure if it's just me who has abnormally small hands (I find it hard to play xbox games because of the clunky controller?!) but I find it very hard to hold. I must drop it at least twice each time I brush my hair. I think if they developed the design further and had a handle it would appeal to me a lot more and I'd drop it a lot less.

The bristles are soft plastic and vary in size, alternating between short and long. They cover the entire surface of the brush side. I think the idea of this is that it means you need less strokes through your hair therefore preventing damage a bit that way. I must admit the brush does glide through my hair really well. It seems to disperse the knots really quite easily compared to my previous brush (which was one of those denman ones) I do find the bristles are a bit too soft for wet hair though. My hair is fairly thick so it takes a bit more effort to brush it with this when wet. But it gets there in the end and as a result I am appearing to have a lot less breakages.

Overall, I am impressed with the Tangle Teezer. It does exactly what it claims to do! I do realise it's a pretty new product on the market so there is plenty of room for improvement. If they developed the range further, maybe different ones to suit different types of hair; with slightly harder bristles or something, then I'd be fully taken with the product. They do make a smaller 'compact' version which may be more suitable for me personally but once again the price tag does put me off, especially now I've got the original one anyway! Saying that though, I am a massive cheap skate who's been living on a student income for the past 4 years.
You can buy Tangle Teezer from most Boots store or by visiting their website
http://www.tangleteezer.com/

Music Monday #5

2012-01-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

This weeks music Monday is a little early I know, but this weekend I am moving home and might not have a chance to do this post on Monday! I'm pretty certain a majority of readers of this blog won't 'get' my choices this week, I'm guessing by the lack of comments on last weeks post, nobody liked those either!....

I'll be honest I've no idea what type of music you guys are in to! So comment and let me know, it's always good to discover new music and share your favourite bands. I'm into a bit of everything. From quaint folky bands like Belle and Sebastian and The Moldy Peaches to some electronic beats in the form of m83 or Aphex Twin with a bit of cheesy motown and noisy punk in the middle. If you're into your noisy punk and alternative music you couldn't possibly have missed the massive musical news this week of two of my favourite bands of all time (!!!!) At The Drive In and Refused getting back together and doing some shows. So far they've only announced non UK gigs, but I've heard whispers of them doing some UK Festivals this year. I just really hope it's not going to turn out to be the massive FAIL that Glassjaw were at Leeds....

Anyway.

At The Drive In // One Armed Scissor

Refused // New Noise

And in case these aren't your cup of tea, go back to your happy place with this;

What type of music do you like?

What is your favourite song right now??

Wilko Fruity Berry Hair Mist

2012-01-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

Wilko's have launched a new hair care range, in some super colourful packaging. I went in today for some dull parcel paper but saw the massive display containing the new range and was drawn towards it. Prices ranged from £1 - £3 and included shampoo's, conditioners, body wash and even hand sanitising gels in an array of fruity scents. Because I have way too many of the other products already I opted for the Hair Mist which cost a whopping £1.30.

I'll be honest. I'm not sure what exactly the hair mist is meant to do. It says it keeps your hair fresh and conditioned. Fair enough. But is it a conditioning spray or does it make it shiny or does it just make your hair smell nice? I'm not too sure. A few more details on the label would be nice. Or maybe just tell me it's only purpose is to make my hair sniff friendly?! I dunno, I'd be interested to know what other people gathered from the label?

Anyway you spritz it on dry hair (which I have) and that's about it really....!

I must say my hair does smell very nice after using this. It's would be really handy the day after a night out or after being at work if you don't want to wash your hair. It doesn't leave any sticky residues and you can't feel it in your hair after it's dried. I guess it's just body spray for hair?! Have you tried any of this range yet? What do you reckon?

Pasty Pastels

2012-01-10T03:45:00.000-08:00

I was browsing the magazines yesterday and noticed that pastel colour palettes were going to be mega big this season. I absolutely love pasty pastel colours, but as of yet can't find a very wide selection of things to buy. So seeing that there's going to be some goodness of this variety hitting the shops soon I got a little bit excited.

Here's a few images (all taken from Tumblr unless otherwise stated) to get your creative pastel juices flowing.

And here's a few of my own snaps involving a light pasty colour palette. Both these dresses were from vintage shops.

Revisited; Degree Show Work

2012-01-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

Now I have a nice number of followers I thought I would revisit some posts I made in a time before I blogged 'properly'! You may or may not know I recently graduated from a BA(hons) in 3D Design; Crafts and specialised in Contemporary Jewellery and Accessories. Since finishing the course I've not been taking my craft seriously though, mainly due to lack of motivation and space. I do have an Etsy Shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodMorningMagpie) and a Facebook fan page (https://www.facebook.com/goodmorningmagpie) and it would be wonderful if you could like that for me! But I do often find myself really neglecting any creative things lately! So here are a few images from my final degree show! I hope you like them! And I am selling some of these items too. I will list prices below the images and if you're interested please don't hesitate to get in touch! Each item is 100% handmade. From sheets of metal all saw pierced, filed, etched, enamelled and soldered to death!

Floral Pin Brooch £10

Floral Pin Neckpiece £20
The idea of the floral pieces is to show some deterioration in the metal to communicate the life cycle of the flower (or something like that, or so my design blurb harped on) Anyway the burnt metal/edges was done on purpose!

Honeycomb Brooch £20

Honeycomb Brooch £20
These are all saw pierced copper which has been enamelled then set in orange resin to resemble nectar, then set in a completely handmade brass bezel with a painstakingly made brooch back!

Honeycomb Brooch £20

The final collar necklace didn't get finished until the day of the show so I didn't have time to take a final picture of it!!

I'm quite proud of achieving these final outcomes when I think about it. I mean it's quite amazing that I have developed the skills to literally make something out of nothing....!?

And this was my final display.
The dress is from Retro Rehab in Manchester FYI

Coconut M & M's

2012-01-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Found these lovely looking coconut M&M's in one of those overpriced shops that specialise in imported treats. I know a lot of the stuff you find in there you can often come across in places like TK Maxx or Home Bargains, but alas, I was feeling frivolous so splashed out a ridiculous amount of pennies (read; quids) for these bad boys.

They do actually have that 'totally tropical' coconut flavour. I was quite amazed as I thought it would be a horrid artificial taste. However, there is definitely something in candy from America that gives me a sore throat. I don't really know what it is! They taste really nice but for the price and side effects I think I'll pass next time.

Music Monday #4

2012-01-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Its a bit of a mixed bag this week. I've had my iTunes on shuffle which throws up all kinds of mental shit. But here's a select few I've hit repeat on.....

Beirut//Nantes.

Aphex Twin//Come to Daddy

Flight of the Conchords //The hiphopopotomus vs the rhymnocerous

IS IT BECAUSE I RAP ABOUT REALITY? LIKE MY AND MY GRANDMA HAVING A CUP OF TEA??

Enjoy.

Cool Story Bro

2012-01-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

This week I found a wonderful little crafty gadget in Aldi for £2.50; Recently graduating from a BA(hons) in 3D Design: Crafts (or as I like to deem it making cards for grown ups {I jest it was a bit more technical than that}) I'm always on the look out for little crafty goodness to keep my degree relevant to my life (and make me feel better about accumulating £1000's worth of debt for a degree not really relevant to getting a 'real job')

ANYWAY......

Rubber stamps can be pretty pricey, (I know someone who paid around £30 to have their own customer stamp made which was on a par with this one!) so this one where you can simply pop in your own wording was a bargain. It would have come in amazingly handy when I was creating my own business cards for my degree show, but it will still come in handy for when I make occasional sales from my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodMorningMagpie for personalised, handmade thank you tags.

You have a little set with tiny little rubber letters on, you just pop them off this and onto the stamp.

It's really quite simple, if not a little fiddly

And there you go! You can switch and swap the letters to say whatever you like. It comes with an extra ink pad too!

Glitter Bug

2012-01-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've been intrigued by glittery nails this week and was looking for just a nice, cheap, plain and simple clear silver glitter to put over the top of my existing nail varnishes. Alas this task is harder than it sounds! I scoured everywhere for some glittery nail varnish below £3 (as you can tell I begrudge spending more than certain amounts of money on certain things)

Anyway, I nipped in Beauty Fresh and found these rather splendid Technic Nail Varnishes:

The Shine and Shimmer looked messy. And it was. The nail varnish had also separated in the bottle, but nothing a quick shake wouldn't fix.... The lid holds a little container with a glitter shaker with some really fine goldy peach glitter in. I did think when I bought it it was going to be messy.... and it was! I tried shaking straight onto the nail and it went everywhere and then I tried sprinkling it on some paper and dipping my nail in. Both ways were equally as awkward. However, for the price of £1.19 I was more than willing to let a little bit of glitter go to waste. A way I can rectify the messy application is by simply getting a brush next time.

The plain glitter varnish is another goldy peach tone. It's not quite clear but has a nice subtle pink hue with once again, fine gold glitter in. I used it as a top coat in this instance just because I wanted to try and it don't trust the dry glitter on its own not to constantly flake off. For the bargain price of 99p it's lasted about 3 days so far without chipping!

This is 3 days later by the way. And there's the chip.

Front Row Salt Spray

2012-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

I really don't like this.

Front Row Salt Spray.

I have a dream. The dream is to have tousled, wavy, lovely hair. Alas this dream is not to come naturally. I have previously tried the Lee Stafford Sea Salt Spray and was left very unimpressed. It required '50 sprays' at least to make it work according to the instructions and after around 60 all it did was make my scalp itchy and hair feel horrid. So I saw the Front Row one in Boots in a handy little handbag size (and handy little price of £2.50) and decided to try it. I'm sure I saw someone online say it worked a lot better than the Lee Stafford one. I've tried it both on dry hair and wet. And towel dried and naturally dried and hairdryer dried....The results are the same. I end up with weird textured hair thats a bit stick and still straight. Now it may just be my hair that is impossible to make wavy. But either way I wanted a miracle and didn't get it. Dislike.

My Make Up Bag

2012-01-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

I always see blog posts about what people have in their make up bags. I love being nosey and can't help but have a look and a read. However, after seeing the 20000th post of make up bags containing every expensive make up product going, I've decided to share mine. I'm sure a few people probably only buy high end brands to show off a bit. Well, I am going to show off and show you how lovely my face can be without spending enough money to feed a family of four doing so.

I've tried most brands and products from MAC to Collection 2000. And I'm sorry, but I just cannot justify spending SO much money on being vein. I don't think a blusher is worth above £4 and I don't think an eyeliner needs to be £15. I just can't think that way about such a disposable thing I'm afraid! To be frank I think people competing online about the expense of their make up collection is similar to who has the most expensive trainers at school....Apparently if 'you buy cheap you buy twice'... Well that suits me fine because I certainly like to buy!

Anyway here is my current make up bag and what's inside it...

The bag itself is TokyoMilk, if you read my blog you will notice I mention this brand a lot, it's my favourite thing ever (and yes a contradiction in my previous paragraph considering how expensive the stuff is, ha)

A lot of the things in my bag at the moment are cute little sample sizes acquired off ebay or from monthly beauty boxes. The most expensive thing at the moment is my TokyoMilk Iced Green Tea Lip Balm, but you need a good lip balm!

The most ingenious thing in my make up bag at the moment is my 'blusher'. Basically I ran out of my bourjois little round pot blusher and kept putting myself off buying it again. I wanted blusher that was quite pink and with a shimmer but couldn't find the right shade in another brand. Then I remembered a few years ago for Christmas I got one of those Front Cover Eye collection pallets from Boots and it had the PERFECT shade of pink in it with just the right amount of shimmer, so I popped it out and put it in an old mouse foundation pot and saved the bourjois brush which fits perfectly inside with it! (I should be in Take A Break magazine with tips like this!)

The benefit posie tint, mememe seventh heaven, clinique dramatically different and l'occitane perfume are all in good little sizes and I'll be browsing ebay for replacements of these when they've ran out.

I use Natural Collection tinted moisturiser as my base nowadays and Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals powder foundation over the top. I had to buy the Perfecting Minerals off ebay in bulk as Collection 2000 have stopped making it!! Which annoys me profusely!!! It's the best mineral foundation EVER. Why would they stop making it?!?! I've tried others and they are shit in comparison or come in the tiniest tub ever so lasts about 3 days. Every time I use this foundation people compliment on how nice my skin looks. It's just the best. Ever. Argh!!!!!!!

I also use an eyeshadow for my eyebrows. With a flat brush. I don't know if this is how eyebrows are meant to be done, but the eyeshadow was free and I already had the brush so saves me money on expensive eyebrow palettes which seem to be the new thing nowadays.

Other products in my bag;

Natural Collection Liquid Eyeliner - I use this for my daily eyeliner. It's a bargain for £1.99 or 3 for £5. It's not the most pigmented of black liners but it does the job and glides on perfectly.
17 Peep Show Mascara - You can see my review HERE.
Cargo Mini Lipgloss - This was in my December Glossybox and was an unexpected win. I didn't think I'd ever use it, but it's long lasting and non sticky, a lot better than any other lip glosses I've used.

That pretty much covers everything anyway! For nights out etc I do change this selection slightly and also use a bit of Soap and Glory Hocus Focus for highlighter and some eyeshadows when I'm feeling extra fancy.

p.s this is my face:

I'm allowed to pout because I'm a 'beauty blogger'.

Red Rum Red Rum....

2012-01-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

Or should that be Red Hair. And how to maintain it.

Now I'm not going to pretend I'm a hair guru or anything like that, and this post will lack in good pictures I'm afraid (I DO dislike when there aren't many pictures on blog posts!) But I thought I would share a few hints and tips for maintaining your hair colour. In particular red shades, as that is what mine has been for over 9 years now.

A lot of people cannot be bothered with the maintenance of red hair. And I admit it is a massive ball ache at times. So first of all you need to be patient and don't expect that 'just coloured' red tone to last forever because after about 3 weeks it does fade. Also do not expect to get the exact colour on the box either!
And remember a £5 box of dye is never going to make you look like Hayley Williams. Soz.

My favourite red dyes are from the Schwarzkopf Live range. They have the best selection (in my opinion) of red dyes on the shelves. I've probably been through every shade in every brand, but always end up going back to XXL, these ones are my favourites:

Red Passion R43

Real Red 35

Like I said, the LIVE colours have such a good variation. Some can go a little more of a purple tone than a red and others a more orangey one, nevertheless you can probably find the colour to suit you. The Real Red does go slightly more orange, which I prefer. It also lightens your hair as it colours, which makes mine more red. Although this also damages your hair a little more too in the process. I always tend to go back to the Real Red colour, but lately I've been settling for the non lightening dyes to try and be nicer to my hair for a bit to stop it breaking off so much!

The last time I dyed it I tried the new LIVE XXL 'shake it up' foam colour in 488 cranberry kick. You can see my review for that by clicking

>HERE<

Overall I just use these permanent dyes as a base for my hair colour as the temporary ones I use in between don't take to my roots. So I refresh it every 6-7 weeks and get those roots covered up....

So what to do in between the permanent dye to keep your colour fresh?

My secret (or not so secret) weapon is;

la riche directions pillarbox red

With the La Riche Directions you can only use the colour swatch as a guide. These will go a slightly different tone and shade on everyone's hair. Because mine is already a little bit darker this goes nowhere near as vivid as the swatch. But it does an incredible job of keeping my red hair looking healthy and as red as possible. They also condition your hair so the longer you leave it on the better. I tend to leave mine for around 2 hours. It is a very messy process and even after years of practice I still never fail to get it everywhere. I accidentally used the Poppy Red in the range this time and it's been nowhere near as vivid or long lasting as Pillarbox. I have also tried Flame which made little difference on my hair at all!

Another product I discovered lately was the Wella Lifetex colour reflex mask:

I picked it up from Home Bargains for about £2, its a really quick and simple way to refresh your hair and leaves it feeling really soft and smooth too. I just follow it from my shampoo in the shower and rinse it off just before I get out. Its a lot less messy, I just hope they still have it in stock when I go back so I can get some more.

Other Tips;

You can use a semi permanent dye a few days before a permanent colour to help the permanent colour to last longer.
Don't use shampoo and conditioner such as Head and Shoulders or Vosene as these strip the colour of your hair.
Try and wash your hair as little as possible, stick to once or twice a week instead of every day.
Don't use straighteners on a daily basis, they damage your hair and make it more porous meaning the colour fades quicker. I'm currently on a hair straightening strike and have seen my hairs condition improve so much over the past few weeks.

If I think of anything else then I shall add it, but for now here are the products I use to maintain my own. If anyone has their own hints or tips please feel free to add to the comment box!!

Blog Sale!!!!

2012-01-04T05:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, so as Ebay is full of non payers, stalkers and weirdos I've decided to try and have a blog sale. I'm not sure how successful these things are, but I'll have a go.....

I have SO much stuff to get rid of because I'm moving soon so this is the beginnings of the clear out! Now I must apologise that things are a little bit creased, they've been stashed in a bag for months (infact, almost a YEAR) not being worn! Some of it is new without tags too, my new years resolution is to not waste money on impulse buys!! Anyway, everything will fit a UK size 8-10 unless stated otherwise (some labels say 12 or similar but I am a size 8-10 and everything fits me fine). I will run them through the washing machine before I post out too, might even splash some fabric conditioner in for extra smelly goodness. Postage will be a flat £2 for any item. Any questions PLEASE ASK! Also open to offers on prices! Payment by Paypal unless you have a super good alternative.

VINTAGE St Michael at Marks and Spencers Midi Skirt. Waist High. Label says size 12 but would fit a 8-10.

£8

Primark Trapeze Shape Top, loose fitting.

£3

~~ALL SAINTS DRESS, RRP £125. Will sell for £20 ono.~~ *SOLD*

It's such a nice shape and with a corset style top. It's so flattering too!

YUMI cat print dress. The cats are printed on the fabric in this weird velour like stuff. So you need to be careful when washing it as they look like they wear off quite easily.

£8

Florence and Fred Lumberjack shirt, 3/4length sleeves and long enough to cover your bum

£5 *ON HOLD*

Hello Kitty T Shirt

£3

Primark Ditzy Dress, did have shoulder pads so I took them out.

£4

Hello Kitty Jumper from the kids section at h&m but fits a size 8-10

£6

Strapless Dress from Pop Boutique.

£8

I love the print on this!

~~Little Black knee length Dress from Wallis Petite Section~~

£5 *SOLD*

Tweed Skirt from NEXT with velour bows all over.

This will fit a size 12 comfortably on the HIPS. Can be worn higher on the waist with a belt.

£6

Upcycled DIY Tennis bat/wimbledon skirt. Elasticated Waist.

£6

Japanese style T Shirt

£2

~~Red and White Pin Stripe shirt from UNI QLO~~

£8 *SOLD*

Drape Skirt from h&m NEVER WORN. Without the creases its a really lovely shape with the material draping around the sides. A really nice fabric also.

£8 *ON HOLD*

Peter Pan Collar dress from Primark

£7

Primark Horse Print peter pan collar dress/top

£5

Pepper Tree Cat Print Dress

£6

Primark Skirt Size 12.

£4

So much more to sell too!!

Once again apologies for the quality of pictures and creasing I hope you get the jist of how the items look with a good iron!! I will also offer a discount for multiple buys.

If you don't want to comment below email helloterrilowe@gmail.com

or @hello_terrilowe on twitter!!

Bye Bye Lovely Dwellings

2012-01-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

So in 2 weeks time I will be moving out of my beloved apartment to become a mere lodger at my friends house. I do love my place ever so much so a bit sad to be leaving, my house mate is going travelling and I can't afford the rent on my own and don't want to be living with anyone I don't really know that well! The good thing is I can save what's technically known as a shit load of money lodging at my friends, I wont have noisy couples upstairs arguing (never met the people in the flat upstairs but I can tell you their names are Carl and Emma and he just ''DOESNT KNOW HOW HE MAKES HER FEEL'' winge winge winge 24/7 and kitty will have 2 new feline friends to run around with. I will also be starting my new job at some point in my life (if they ever put my CRB check through and email my references, its beginning to annoy me slightly as I can't start my new job until both of these are done; one ref got lost in the post, the other wasn't signed so got sent back and now I feel that is also lost and the final one they sent to my manager even though it was a personal reference and not for her to do!)
Anyway!

New year

New job

New dwellings.

Just whilst I'm reminiscing here's some pictures of how I made my own place feel a bit more like 'my own'. Nothing here cost me more than £15, and that was for the mini antlers. The rest of the frames etc were salvaged for free or charity shops for £1.

I know the 'keep calm and carry on thing' is done to death now, but when I first painted these frames in duck egg blue the keep calm imagine matched perfectly. It's now replaced with a Flight of the Conchords pictures though. Eat, Sleep, FOLK! The post cards in the other frames are Mark Ryden, he is possibly one of my favourite artists ever.

This wall is my favourite thing to look at ever. I got the large and small baroque frames from my grandad who is a massive hoarder and painted them an off white-ish grey. The mini canvases are upcycled material from Ikea which I simple stretched around some old mini pictures I had and stapled on the back and the two vintage style metal wall hanging were from TK Maxx in the sale. I got the antlers from a place called Dagfields near Nantwich which can hold many a treasure I tell thee! They're stuck onto the frame with some epoxy resin glue.

Before the antlers were on the frame they temporarily lived on this notice board, once again the cork board itself was salvaged from Grandpaps house and covered in the Ikea material. I'm not gonna lie, I just like this image for Kitty posing in it.

I tried to keep to all light and pretty colours, this duvet cover was from Tesco and it was so Cath Kidston-esque but at like a 3rd of the price.

And once again, everything here apart from the cat and the mannequin was salvaged/free/cheap as cheaps. I think I probably only spent about £200 altogether on furniture etc for the place!

I guess its all a but unintentionally 'shabby chic'. I think the key factor to decorating a place and making it look your own isn't money or expensive items, I just chose one colour I liked and worked around it. I didn't think in my head I would only spend a small amount, it just kind of happened. Which is pretty good in my opinion.
Loads of fun times have been had here, I will just share with you my favourite image so far me and my friend have created....

We name it 'The Evolution of Cat!' (we were actually trying to recreate the picture on the tray by my feet though, blame spiced rum, its always the spiced rums fault)

Music Monday #3

2012-01-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, a day late! I've been doing way too much binge drinking and recreating the evolution of the cat (if you follow my Twitter it makes sense)
Anyway my top 3 artists this week have been;

WEEZER

KANYE WEST!

and DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979

All these bands remind me of the festivals I've been to this year! Weezer were the best band of the weekend at Sonisphere, Kanye West was an unexpected awesome experience at The Big Chill and I was lucky enough to be backstage to watch Death from Above 1979 do their first UK come back gig for like ten years at Leeds festival!

17 Peep Show Mascara

2012-01-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Spotted the new 17 Peep Show Mascara in Boots today and thought it was in some pretty lovely packaging so bought it. The whole burlesque thing and pink packaging never usually appeals to me but for some reason this did! It was £5.29 saving £1 on the RRP and you also got a free 17 Peep Show Eye Palette. I do like these free gifts you get with 17 cosmetics now and again, the last one I got was the Nude Eye Palette (in a time before blogging) and it's one of the best things in my make up collection if only for the cremé blusher inside it.

This palette just contained eyeshadows, I don't actually own any in these shades so thought they'd make a nice change. They're a really nice quality, the colours are rich and they have a creamy matte consistency. All basic, neutral tones which would suit most people. Probably a staple selection of colours for most people.

The mascara itself doesn't seem to be the highest quality, you're getting what you've paid for though.... Although I am probably going to frown upon any mascara's after using the amazing Blink + Go Mascara from this months Glossy Box which is amazing to say the least. However for the price of this it's pretty good, you can build up the layers even when it's dried. After about 7 applications later you can get quite a nice false lash look.....It's on a par with the Rimmel Scandaleyes for quality but without the chunky brush so you don't make a mess of yer peepers.
£5.29 for the two products is a pretty good price!
Have you tried this or the blink + go/scandaleyes yet?
What do you think?

2011

2012-01-01T04:08:00.000-08:00

I promised myself this week I would do a post about how amazing 2011 was! But alas didn't realise what day it was and before I knew it it was NYE and I didn't have time.....!

This year didn't get off to the greatest start. The biggest disaster was that we got evicted from our old flat in the first week of January because the landlord didn't bother paying his mortgage, which was nice of him and a lovely treat for us (/sarcasm) But we found a *nicer* flat anyway pretty quickly so it worked out ok again pretty quickly.

The main awesomeness for me this year was going to THREE festivals all for FREE. It was amazing. Leeds, Sonisphere and The Big Chill. I'd never been to Sonisphere or The Big Chill before! The Big Chill was the best festival I have EVER been too! Even though the bands were all a bit random the festival itself was how a festival should be. Loads of different things going on including a Mr Scruff Tea Tent which was of particular appeal just for the novelty. It was at a Eastnor Castle in Hertfordshire and was such a lovely place itself. A little lake, these weird pod things you could sit in, there's a family section too for if you wanted to take kids which had a petting zoo! The best part though, like THE BEST part ever was watching Kanye West and 2 many DJ's. I'd never been a massive Kanye fan but he was seriously amazing and now one of my favourite artists ever. Which is a bit strange as my favourite genre of music is folk! And 2 many DJ's did such an awesome set. It was so much better than their Leeds gig.

Going onto Leeds a bit more I was lucky enough to get a wristband which meant I could go ANYWHERE apart from the mainstage! Met a few 'celebs' in the guest area, you know how it is, la de dahing with Colin Murray haha ;) I watched DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 WITH INTERPOL FOR CHRISTS SAKE!!!! Well jeal? I would be! (not bragging or anything, honest)
I won tickets to go to The Look Show in London earlier in the year too, which was amazing in the end! I'd never been to London properly before that!!

I've done a few other things too I thought I would NEVER do....Like, graduating. I never even heard of uni when I was at school (a whole 11 years ago!!!) So to actually go to University and get myself a degree was a massive achievement. I got accepted onto a PGCE to become a Design and Technology teacher and the biggest regret of this year was not being sensible with money which mean I couldn't afford to do the course (tuition fee's and living costs loans thoroughly fucking me over) but I'm intermitted now so when I save up some money I can fulfill the dream of being a real teacher!! For now I'm waiting for a start date for my new job which is working in a childrens home! Another thing I've done this year was have a job doing presentations on my own in front of 100-200 6th form students. Something I thought I would never have the guts to do! I'm hardly the most sociable ept person and HATE putting myself on show so to do this was such a massive achievement. I know loads of people that even the thought of that freaks them out - It did me! But I threw myself in at the deep end and did it!!

I was also a bridesmaid at my brothers wedding. If you knew my brother you would know why him getting married is such a shock! haha. I also got my tattoo finished.... So much stuff has happened this year!!

Anyway I've rambled enough. Here's some pictures(which are in no particular order, soz);

So many great memories!! I also started my blog properly (had it for years but didn't know what to say!) So for everyone who has followed me recently thank you so much!!

And what did 2011 teach me? Throw yourself in at the deep end and you will surprise yourself at what you can achieve.

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Polaroid Pogo Printer

2011-12-29T07:47:00.000-08:00

One of the awesome gadgets I received this Christmas was the nifty little Polaroid PoGo Printer. It's a handheld instant printing device that requires no ink and prints cute little 2" x 3" images in seconds, it's amazing! You do need to buy the special Polaroid ZINK paper to go into the printer but you can pick it up relatively cheap and it does come with 10sheets in the box to get you started. They also come in a few different colours so if pink aint your bag don't worry they come in red and black too.....

The first thing that amazed me about the Polaroid PoGo Printer was the PRICE, you can pick them up on eBay for under £30. When I first read about them a few years ago I thought they'd hit at least the £70 mark....

You print mainly via bluetooth from your phone or your laptop.... note though that they DO NOT work with iPhone. Fuck you apple!!! If your laptop doesn't have bluetooth you can get a dongle from ebay for about 50p nowadays which is always handy anyway! I'm using a HTC Desire to print my pictures in this blog post....

So simply select the image you want to print....

Share it via Bluetooth....

Select the Polaroid printer from the device list... If you are pairing for the first time the code you need to put in the code 6000 and it automatically hooks it up to your phone (or whatever you're printing from)

It sends across to the printer in a few seconds....

You know it's working when the little (!) symbol is flashing.... You'll also notice the little USB hole. This means you can print directly off most cameras too, check the compatibility if you're wanting it for this though as it may not work with some....

And then watch the magic happen! Haha....

The final printed image can be a little less vibrant than the original but it's still a good quality photography for such a nifty, cheap, convenient gadget!

The pictures are also stickers too.

It's definitely my favourite thing ever right now, I've been printing like crazy. Mainly pictures of the cat.

I've been looking on ebay and the paper is selling for around £15 for 70 sheets and the printer itself for about £30. Definitely worth the investment in my opinion, just for the novelty factor of it all.

Camila Prada treats!!

2011-12-28T11:39:00.000-08:00

If you're a regular reader of my blog; 1. congratulations on following me, I'm ace and 2. You may remember my little blog post featuring Camila Prada's cute-tastic ceramic designs. (see here: http://helloterrilowe.blogspot.com/2011/12/objects-of-desire-camila-prada.html if you didn't)

Anyway, a friend of mine actually saw my blog post and by chance saw she was doing a fair that very weekend. So being the lucky little munchkin I am, they went along and got me these treats!!

I got the Lucky Egghead Egg Cup!

And also these amazing little tea light holders I didn't even realise existed!

Their names are Illuminati Jones and Spirit Gyde, argh so cute!

You can find these and many more lovely items on her website http://camilaprada.com/

Bags of Initiative

2011-12-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

I spotted this amazing 'shit green' shade bag in Debehams the other day and absolutely was in awe of the colour. I've been after a new bag for a while but wanted something more in the style of a 'Cambridge Satchel' (& I did get one in this style from Spitalfields Market last week as well though,typical you find what you originally wanted after you've purchased the next best thing, but huzzah! anyway)

So, because this one ticked a few boxes and I'd given up hope finding the one I wanted for the right price I got it anyway. The thing that really bugged me about it though was the buckle on the front. It says 'Jasper Conran JEANS'.... Why does it say JEANS when it's a BAG?! I really don't appreciate it..... So I used a bit of initiative. The two things I love almost as much as 'shit green' are BUGS and BROOCHES.....

Take one beautiful bug brooch.... (sorry it's out of focus, my DSLR is broken)

...And attach it to the bag!

Ok, it's not a massive DIY/craft project I know, but I'm just so glad I thought of it! Now the bag feels like its MINE and I know no one will have the same one. (unless someone sneaks out and buys the exact same things now maybe)

Also green and purple are the perfect contrasting colours, I like it a lot. And to be honest I'm surprised something so simple has made such a difference (to me anyway! haha)

Matryoshka Round TWO

2011-12-24T12:49:00.000-08:00

Just getting my 'craft on' this fine christmas eve....

I know they're not too festive but still, I'd rather a russian doll on a card than Santa!

I'm considering making these to sell in the new year. How much would you pay? (If you liked them of course, if you didn't you wouldn't pay anything haha!)

All 100% handmade!!
Oh and the table is a thrifted 60's original, I like it a lot.

Matryoshka Felties.

2011-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

I had some left over felt I wanted to play with so made some cute little Russian Doll keyrings. They were really simple to make and cheap too! (felt costs about 49p a sheet at HobbyCraft)

What dya think?

Should I do a tutorial?

Organix Hair Care

2011-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

I spotted the Organix haircare range in Boots a while ago, I was initially drawn to it because of the bold packaging and the new essential key ingredient in hair care 'moroccan argan oil'....I've previously blogged about hair care and trying to work out what it best for mine (being dyed for over 10years and incredibly dry!)....

I was put off buying them though because they were rather expensive for a brand I'd not heard of (£6.99 a throw) and on the bottom shelf (generally, in supermarkets anyway, the 'value' brands are lower down on the shelves and the more expensive 'better' brands are higher up on the shelves) so with that subliminally in my head I always talked myself out of buying them....

I noticed this week though they were on offer as 2 for £8 which means you get one for £1.01, a rather good offer considering the price per bottle....I had a look on the Boots website though and the reviews were literally 50/50 for the range. On the moroccan argan conditioner there were 4 people with 5 stars saying it was the best thing ever and 4 people had given it 1 or 0 stars saying it was the new bane of their life?!

So I invested in the moroccan oil conditioner....

& because they were out of stock of the shampoo to match I chose the brazillian keratin therapy shampoo. I thought it would be good to compliment the conditioner and the combined descriptions seem like the ideal match for my hair.

The shampoo smells really nice, like a sweet cocoa butter and its a really thick consistency for a shampoo...

& the conditioner smelt even nicer!

However, the thing that did put me off was the instructions saying to apply it 'generously' to hair. Don't get my wrong, I use a good handfull of conditioner anyway but when it's telling me too I kind of think I shouldn't have to if its that good(?!)

One of the reviews I read said that after they had used the products their hair was really brittle and hard to comb through. I see what they mean, BUT after I had brushed through my hair afterwards and it began to dry it did feel really soft and looked so shiny. Also I have visible split ends and you can see where my hair is going to break off near the ends (I know, I know I do need it cut, but I have mental hairdresser anxiety, not been for over 2 years now!)but now my hair is dry I can't see any?! Obviously it's not repaired my hair fully as no product can do that, but it's definitely smoothed over a multitude of flaws. Even though I don't feel it's been the miracle hair care product I've been desperately searching for I'm still pleased with the results considering the price, fragrance and overall final result of the product. I may have to revisit this post to update after using the whole bottle but for now a definite 7/10.
It also doesn't boast it on the product but my hair has taken much less time to dry naturally. I've been just giving wet hair a blast with the hairdryer lately and leaving it.
I'm still on straighteners strike and not used them for over 2 weeks now (and used curling irons once) it does seem to be at the stage now where it looks healthy and better without being straightened (the first few days looked frizzy and horrendous) but the less you use them the more your hair gets used to sorting itself out I guess. Remember the 90's when no one owned straighteners *sigh*

Mini Macaroons

2011-12-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

For a while now Macaroons have been high up on my 'wishlist' of awesome looking grub. I've seen them in Waitrose many a time but simply couldn't justify spending £7.50 on the buggers. In comes Marks and Spencers and their seasonal party food range......

For £4.99 you can bag 12 'mini' macaroons....

3 different flavours, yum yum yum....

Now, you might be thinking £4.99 is expensive for a sweet treat, but seriously, have you ever tried to make these little bastards?!? I have and I can tell you now £4.99 is a small price to pay to keep your treat baking pride.....They're so difficult!

LOOK HOW PRETTY THEY ARE....

The flavours so vary from the Waitrose selection with only 3 kinds....Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I thought the vanilla would be my least favourite but it is the best!

Their consistency is gooey with a slightly crisp coat. So so delicious. I do hope M&S continue them after the party season has ended. I really do!