We went shopping for our tree and decorations on Sunday so I decided to make an extra festive effort with my outfit.
Hat-Primark
Dress- a shop in Brighton Lanes
Boots-Ugg
Jewellery-Tiffany & Co
Since it’s so cold I wrapped up in my faithful Primark military coat- had this baby for 3 years and still good as new
Coat-Primark
Bag-Primark
Scarf-Dorothy Perkins
It started to snow whilst we were out shopping, which made the day feel even more Christmassy.
That’s right, until Thursday, I had never used a China Glaze polish. After seeing the promo pics for their Holiday collection I knew I had to have Party Hearty. On Ebay, I found the Party Hearty set, for £13 inc P&P and knew I had to have it. 3 polishes for £13 (full sized) was such a good deal (they’re normally about £6 each I believe.)
I managed to resist slapping on Party Hearty immediately (it’s not even December yet!) and cracked out Jolly Holly- a beautiful green instead.
It reminds me of Christmas baubles, rather than holly though.
Formula was lovely, really speedy drying time and only 2 coats. I’ve lost my China Glaze virginity and I can feel we’re heading for a long term love affair.
Apologies for the lateness of this post, I totally forgot to post it last night.
Cheap foundation is the name of the game this Friday.
I was doing a post work purge of some birthday money in Boots recently (trying to get those pesky Barry M lip paints) and abusing the 3 for 2, when I found myself with 5 items and the lights being turned off. I grabbed this foundation and fled to the checkout. I was annoyed all the way home- why get another new foundation when you could’ve gone for something pretty (nails, lips, eyes, y’know me) until I used it the next day.
Woah. I just love it. My skin looked so clear and even. Coverage is excellent without cakey. The swatch looked really bad (again, no idea why I initially bought it) but it’s actually an excellent match for my skin tone, the best one I’ve found with a budget foundation.
Collection 2000 Perfect finish is £4.99 and available from Boots and Superdrug
Another hair product this week-Umberto Gianni Grunge Glamour tousled salt spray
This is my first ever salt spray so I’m not expert but I like it.
I wanted one to achieve the tousled bed head of Miss Alexa Chung and found this whilst looking for Lee Stafford.
Firstly, it smells UH-MAH-ZING. Like I’m spraying expensive perfume in my hair. Secondly, it just seems to work. I like to use it on dry hair, either when I can’t be bothered to straighten it or when I want to add volume. I spray and rub in. I’m bad at describing so here’s a before and after.
So here we have sleek hair 
and massive hair
It’s just easy. and smells good.
Grunge glamour is currently £5.49
I know I don’t venture into food posts but I whipped this up for G and myself yesterday and couldn’t resist sharing it with you.
Sian’s signature hot chocolate.
For this you need:
Milk
A cup
Any hot chocolate
A jug
and my special milk frothing tool- 
An old plastic milk bottle.
Start by heating a cup of milk (I use the microwave for speed) and pour your heated milk into a jug.
Allow your milk to cool slightly and pour into a clean, empty plastic milk bottle. Make sure the lid is screwed on tight, and cover the bottle, including the lid, with a tea towel.
Hold onto the handle and lid and shake! Shake it like a Polaroid picture.
Put the required amount of hot chocolate powder into your cup and once you’ve shaken ‘til your arm aches, pour your hot milk into the cup.
Something about the hot milk, the shaking and the bottle causes it to foam up, just like it would in a cappuccino maker, and you’re left with a thick, foamy topping for your hot chocolate. This also works the same with coffee, so you can make your own cappuccino, minus the expense.
and it was cheap!
I’ve been looking for a small satchel for a while but haven’t found any that have been just the right size.
This lil beauty caught my eye in Primark and it’s perfect
It’s small enough to just carry my essentials, but big enough to comfortably fit my massive purse in.
The flap lifts up to reveal a tiny front pocket and a huge zippered pocket. The 2 handles are useful, and the longer one can be adjusted to be a shoulder bag or an across the shoulder bag.
Massive purse fits comfortably.
My Satchel cost £6 from Primark.
As I mentioned in my ELF custom palette post, I thought the 2 eyeshadows I bought were dupes for MAC Woodwinked and Black Tied. I compared them today and I was way off with Woodwinked but almost spot on for Black Tied.
(L-R) Woodwinked, Moondust, Black Tied, Dusk
Woodwinked and Moondust are nothing like each other! Moondust is a proper brown whereas Woodwinked has far more golden/amber tones.
However, Black tied is almost identical to Dusk, in fact, I think Dusk is better. It’s what I want Black Tied to be. Pigmented, easy to blend, and the glitter is finer so it’s less chunky than Black Tied.
They look very similar in pan too
So a very cheap MAC dupe at £1.50.
You can buy it here
It was my birthday on Saturday and G treated me to lovely meal at a local restaurant called 8 Kings Road. The restaurant was gorgeous and the food was delicious.
Here’s what I wore
Sheer cream blouse- New Look
White vest-Primark
Boots-Primark
Jewellery-Tiffany
I wanted something simple yet classy (but also comfy so I could stuff my tummy) I was really pleased when I found this blouse as it was exactly the look I was after.
Really simple make up with curly hair, I didn’t want to be too done up
Face- Revlon Colourstay and MAC Bite of an apple blush
Eyes- C2000 liquid liner, Cover Girl lashfusion and brown from Sleek Storm on my eyebrows
Lips- Maybelline 18hr wear superstay lipstick in Red Passion- my fave red lip.
I was a little nervous that my outfit wasn’t dressy enough (G wore a suit!) but it fitted in perfectly.
Looking back through my photos I found some of Formidable, one of the duo chrome polishes from the MAC Villainous villains collection.
This polish is BUSY! I guess they all are, that’s the point of a duo chrome but they still amaze me. Formidable reminded me of a bruise. Black-purple-blue. TURQUOISE glitter!
Gah. I couldn’t photograph it, despite many attempts
Is probably the thing I say or think the most every day at the moment.
Ever since I got the cocoa butter Vaseline Lip Therapy, I’ve become a little obsessed. I’m constantly digging in my bag for it and slapping it on. Even walking along. Even writing this post has made me want to apply.
I’ve now heard it’s available in stick form. Which makes my walking and applying more easy. I’m tempted..
It’s my birthday today so no beauty related posts.
Have some cake and celebrate!
Cake lovingly made by my grandma (for my 18th)
This week’s Friday Featured product comes from Aussie- Dual personality Coloured hair protection + shine serum 
I got this after dying my hair red last year and it’s been a bit unloved after losing it. I used it before blow drying recently and it made such a difference to my hair. It’s the first ever serum I’ve owned that doesn’t make my hair greasy (I’m even able to put a little through my roots.) It smells good, and makes my hair smooth and soft. Regarding the colour protection- my red hair certainly didn’t fade whilst I used it but I can’t fully say whether that was my hair type or the product.
I use two pumps on my hair as it’s thick, run it through whilst it’s still damp and then blow dry and straighten. My friend has also used it on her naturally curly hair and it definitely helped smooth hers out too.
It’s currently £4.59 in Boots and a curl definition version is also available
I managed to photograph Mean and Green by MAC a little better than Formidable. Another polish from the Villainous Villains collection and another duo chrome.
This one reminds me of oil slick, just because it has so many colours in it.
PURPLE GLITTER
Green!
An unfocused picture was the only one I could get showing the green and purple
Beautiful!
I’m going out for my birthday on Friday and I wanted to match my nails to my dress (think sequins, skulls and roses- OOTD next week) so I looked through my reds, with an eye to put silver glitter on top.
I had unused Nails Inc in Tate in my drawer and the colour looked perfect. I’ve never tried a Nails Inc polish before but I was impressed. Nice one coater that dried in an acceptable time with no streaks. I applied a second coat to be safe but it really wasn’t necessary.
Time for the glitter. I used ELF’s Glitter Glam from their Christmas collection and then whole thing failed. The glitter was too jam packed and just looked patchy and vile. SADFACE.
I had to remove it.
I wanted the glitter more than the red so I just applied Glitter Glam on it’s own. It’s really a pretty, pure silver glitter This is 3 coats, and it does need a top coat to get rid of the gritty feeling. I’m already dreading the removal though..
I got two of these beauties in my ELF haul and they were my sole reason for going on to buy anything.
You’re probably familiar with them by now, they are little shimmery sticks of £1.50 loveliness.
I got 2 colours- Lilac petal and Golden Peach 
L-R Golden peach, Lilac petal.
These are just so pretty. I’ve been using them on my cheeks, under powder blusher to give a nice glow. No fussy application, straight from the stick, blend with fingers, which means I can add them into my 5 min, pre-work face without adding extra minutes. To be honest, I wanted to try more but these were the only 2 colours in stock.
Any colour recommendations for my next order?
We usually spend our Sunday’s very lazily. It’s the one day that I don’t want make much effort so my outfits normally look like this.
Long jumpers, jeggings and Uggs.
and if I’m feeling chilly?
My Primark knitted headband!
A few weeks ago I picked up some bargains in the M&S shoe sale. I’ve often lovingly looked at their shoes online, they aren’t particularly expensive but I never seem to have the money at the time to buy them. I’d never thought of checking our their shoe sale until my workmate Laura suggested it whilst helping me find a going out outfit.
WOW.
I got two pairs, for £9 each! Originally £29.99 so less than half price. I couldn’t choose between either pair so I went for both. They look really good and are very comfy. I had a little problem with the peep toe rubbing but nothing I’m going to complain about for £9!
This is a new kind of post I’m going to try-let me know if you enjoy them. Each Friday I’m going to be featuring a product on my blog, either something new or something I’ve loved that week or something I’ve re-discovered. You get the picture.
So this week’s Friday Featured Product is Sally Hansen Insta-dry anti-chip top coat 
My make up pet peeve is polish that takes too long to dry. I’m way too impatient. I really don’t like Seche Vite. It smells bad, it’s too thick and it makes my polish peel off. So I’ve been looking for an alternative and this ticks all the boxes. It has a really thin formula so there’s no peeling a la Seche. It’s pretty simples to use- paint your nails as many coats as you need, let the last one dry for a few minutes, paint this on top and your nails are touch dry in 30s. FAAAAHBULOUS.
This doesn’t mean that your nails will be completely knock free, but certainly means that you can be off doing other things within a few minutes. It has cut down my nail drying time so much. Longevity isn’t amazing; my nails have been chipping within a few days, but this is nothing out of the ordinary.
I got mine from Boots for £5.95
My hair is definitely looking longer but I just want it to groooow!
Laura came over and dyed my hair for me on Friday. My last dye was def fading and it needed a spruce.
We used L’oreal casting creme in Plum, which is a semi containing no ammonia. I wanted a really rich dark colour but with a nice sheen and I think we acheived that.
Here comes the purple!
In real life it doesn’t really look like either. It’s not as flat as the first pictures and it’s not as vibrant as the flash pictures. It sits nicely between the two. It’s really nice but now I think I want more. Considering using a permanent purple-black to give it a really noticeable tone. Or going back to my red…
A lot of my ELF haul was part of the ELF elements range, something I never read much about. It’s their version of the MAC palettes but I was drawn in by the blushes and lipsticks more than the shadows. I often want to re-touch my blush during the day but forget to put it in my bag.
From this range I got one empty palette 
I really like the giant mirror and the tiny lip brush.
From the pan range I got
2 blushes in Flushed and Shy
(L-R) Shy, Flushed
2 eyeshadows in Dusk and Moondust 
(L-R) Dusk, Moondust
and 4 lipsticks in Crimson, Sugar Plum, Earth Rose and Peaches 
(L-R) Earth Rose, Sugar plum, Peaches and Crimson
I am seriously impressed with everything I got. Considering each item is £1.50, the quality is extraordinary. Everything is pigmented, blends easily and long lasting. I tried to choose shades that I would need everyday in my bag but there are plenty to choose from. I’ve been popping an item of each in mine, to have a whole look ready to re-touch. I’m pretty sure I spy some MAC dupes with those shadows (Black tied and Woodwinked possibly) so I’m compare later.
These also fit into MAC palettes, so you don’t have to have the ELF one, if you have a spare MAC palette or want to add to your own. 
Revlon Midnight affair
I wish you could see this shimmer all the time. It is a nice navy though. Pretty standard polish all round. Decent drying time, 2 coater. I just wish Revlon brushes were a little bigger.
Obviously I could only last one day with a, such an average colour on my nails, and b, not immediately trying out Twinkle by ELF from my haul
OOOO SA-NAP! Love it.
In the bottle it does look like multi coloured glitter but only appears to be blues and oranges on my actual nails. This may just be due to the base colour.
There’s definitely a £1.50 disco on my nails right now.
My postie rang my bell this morning and gave me a big box full of ELF goodies. I took advantage of their £5 off code on Sunday and ordered a couple (LOTS) of bits and pieces
Here we have
PHEW! I’m going to post separately with swatches and thoughts.
![DSCN0913_thumb[9]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_dWgptTOcEgg/TM2CFaALxBI/AAAAAAAABRA/oVWAt9iL5qc/s1600-h/DSCN0913_thumb%5B9%5D%5B3%5D.jpg "DSCN0913_thumb[9]")
I’ve been using this for a few weeks now and I think I’ve formed enough of an opinion to review it.
The product- Boots Coconut & Almond Body Butter
How much was it? £2.99
Where can you buy it? Boots- in store or online
What they say- With extracts of coconut and almond, Boots Ingredients Coconut and Almond Body Butter is specially formulated to moisturise and hydrate your skin leaving it soft and smooth.
Would I buy it again? Absolutely. This gets thumbs up all round; good price, generous size, nice smell and fantasticproduct . There is also a mango and orange blossom one that I’d like to try next.
Any drawbacks? None so far
