Urban Ears

Drawing Eyeliner on with a Sharpie

I was going to post a review for Collection 2000’s signature Fast Stroke Eyeliner as I do have one scrawled in a notebook somewhere. However, I can’t photograph it because I forgot to bring it with me and pen eyeliners seem to be appearing everywhere at the moment, and I am a bit in love with mine.

I bought this a couple of months ago after seeing someone else talk about the new style; knowing that pencil eyeliner has always been easier for me to apply (despite the fact I rarely wear it) I thought this could be a useful purchase. I picked up the Collection 2000 one just because I wanted to check I liked the style before I committed to a more expensive purchase. It’s called EXTREME: 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner. I think they had various colours but the shade for this one is presumably just black. It’s just £2.99 and is now every bit as staple in my makeup bag as liquid eyeliner.

It has a felt-tip nib which is about a centimetre long; the base is very sturdy but the top is slightly more flexible.  The best part of this nib is that drawing flicks at the corner of your eye can be done with so much more precision because it cannot split or bend like a brush can. The resulting look is very similar to wearing liquid eyeliner but feels much lighter, and the product is very fast drying. The other benefit is that if you find put liquid eyeliner on your lower lid to be a bit taxing, applying it using this pen is a lot easier. It’s also worth noting that the claim that it is a ’24 Hour Product’ isn’t completely unfounded; it doesn’t crack and is a lot harder to smudge than other liquid eyeliners, the only downside of this is that it’s a lot harder to cover up if you make a mistake whilst using it!

New and SHINY

This nail varnish from the new Hed Kandi collection for Models Own is undoubtedly gorgeous. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out exactly as it looks in the bottle but with a good base coat and a few layers it looks pretty damn good. It contains various coloured sequin style glitter. There are none of the hundred and thousand style flecks that you get in some other shiny nail varnishes, and I think that’s a good thing.

In the picture I only have two coats on (and no topcoat) and I felt that those were enough. (I only have it on one finger cos I really wanted to see how it came out but cannot wear glitter to work, boo). It is just as shiny as in the bottle, and depending on your choice of base varnish you can accentuate certain colours in the glitter. It dried v e r y slowly, although it is possible that this is because I put the two coats on immediately after each other, and to get maximum glitter you do need to layer it on quite thick. I’m not a massive fan of top coats but for this I would definitely recommend one, you don’t want rough textured nails and it would seal all the shiny bits in place.

The only downside of this polish is that it smells BAD; like paint and paint stripper rolled into one, so maybe have something sweet smelling on your desk when you use this! Oh and although they haven’t said, it’s probably limited edition so if you see this in a shop, i’d snap it up now.

Maybe It's Becuse I'm A Londoner..

Opia Jubilee Earrings

I am from the South, but currently spend the majority of my time in the North; this is what I blame for how excited I got about these earrings when I walked past them this morning! Primark is going all out to celebrate what I presume to be the jubilee, but imagine will also be the Olympics as well. This set of 6 pairs of London themed studs is just £2 and it includes recognisable landmarks, the famous I <3, and a pair of hearts with the union flag on. If your one of those people who likes to mix up earrings to create a more original look these would work perfectly.

When taking the photos I did notice that one of the hearts is already missing a piece of enamel, but that’s what you get for walking through Primark to get to work instead of on the street like a normal person (and what you get for 33 pence a pair!). Part of the reason I’m not so bothered is because those are probably my least favourite of the set. Whilst I think all the icons are adorable, I’m particularly excited to rock the Big Ben ones. I think there is something deliciously ‘kitsch’ about them. They are about 1 cm tall with the wire to go through the ear fixed to the back of the clock face. The gold colouring isn’t too lurid and they don’t have any of the plastic covering that the others use.

Regardless of whether you’re purchasing these for home-town pride, touristy love, or just for fashion I’d rate them as an excellent purchase for the fast approaching summer. 

Chocolate That's 'Good' for You...

ohso - probiotic chocolate

The postage that these come in is adorable, and it was a nice suprise because I had no idea what was going to be inside when the package arrived. I believe the premise of the bars to be that you consume one each day, whilst this seems like an attractive prospect at first I worry that it may take the ‘treat’ element of chocolate away. Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is something I consume indulgently. The dark flavour is definitely there, but the consistency is actually quite creamy making it a bit more palatable than some of the more bitter chocolates on the market.

There are “Only 72 Calories per bar”, only?! That seems a ridiculous amount for a piece of chocolate which is about the same size as my little finger. I may be overreacting a little bit but for 99calories I can eat a Dairy Milk bar or have a flute of champagne apparently (I may have got distracted on Google!). However, I proceeded to munch one of these for a midmorning snack each day and it was nice to have a little sweet treat whilst knowing it was doing me more good than those swigging their probiotic yoghurts. Plus on further inspection I realised that they are dairy-free which is great cause unfortunately I am one of those people whose skin is not a massive fan of milk (apparently its the cow hormones in the milk that causes this, you can learn more about that delightful fact here if you're interested!). But if you would prefer to learn more about chocolate you can visti ohso website, here.