Revlon ColorStay LipLiner

LipLiner is an absolute must have for me, I can very rarely wear lipstick without it. Recently, I placed a fairly big order on fragrancedirect.co.uk after hearing on the #bbloggers chat that it sold good quality make up brands at bargain prices (usually because the shade or packaging has been discontinued).  I threw in a few cheap lipliners for good measure and luckily one of the ones I chose was Revlon’s ColorStay in Wine.

I also picked up Jemma Kid Neutral Lip Liner and Rouge Couture in Bois De Rose all for around £1.99 each, but this one rose fair above the rest. Firstly, it’s an automatic lip-liner meaning that I never have to locate a sharpener, something that despite owning several never seems to be available when I need it. Secondly, the consistency and colouring of the product is so strong that they easily outlast any other lipliners I’ve tried.

I was so impressed that I ordered another of the discontinued bargain pens (Raisin) and then went out and bought a full price - £6.29 – current version (Pink).

You get about an inch and a half (oo-er) of product - 0.28g in real terms - which I’m not convinced is the greatest of value compared to a pencil liner, however, application is smooth and only needs one application so they probably have quite a good shelf life (oddly they don’t appear to have an actual shelf life printed on them).

The only downside to this product is that I can see how some people may find the darker shades slightly drying. Personally I favour matte lips and moisturise heavily before applying lip products instead of after so it blends with my lipstick no problem.

The current range of these lipliners, which consists of Nude, Pink, Rose and Red, are available in both Boots and Superdrug stores. The discontinued products are still available on fragrancedirect, or theres a couple of sellers floating around on eBay.

   

More Models Own

I recently wrote a post explaining why Models Own was my favourite brand for nail varnish. So, when they had their 50% off sale, it was inevitable that I would purchase something. In an attempt to save money I did put of placing an order for a while, however, at 11.30 on the night the sale was ending (ridiculous, I know) I caved.

I bought 5 polishes, and one packet of nail wraps.

Jade Stone – This is beautiful, I actually don’t consider it to be Jade in the traditional sense it is more of a mint green. It applies opaque almost immediately and has a lovely creamy texture. I will definitely be repurchasing this.
Bare Beauty – I’ve wanted this one since I saw it in a blog post ages ago, but I’ve never been able to find it in shops. When it arrived I was pretty disappointed as it looked incredibly orange, not the beautiful nude I remembered it being, but it does applies as beautiful dusky peach. It was what inspired be to place the order and I’m certainly glad I did.

Thunder and Lightning – For this polish I might have been a little enthralled by the way the website portrays it as it is not my usual style of polish. It has a slightly gel like consistency, and is almost transparent. It's as if you're meant to layer it over something, but unless you layered it over an already black polish I don't see it looking too great. It does have a nice amount of glitter in it though.
Lili’s Pink – My first, and favourite, Models Own polish was Mystic Mauve from the Champagne collection. There is just something about the finish of that polish which makes it look almost professional when applied, however, I didn’t really want to get the exact same one as purple isn’t really my colour. I hoped that this pink would be of similar quality and I wasn’t disappointed, it is a beautiful candy floss/barbie colour. The only downfall is that it seems to have the shortest on-nail life (Is that a thing?) but a decent topcoat should give it a little extra staying power.

Hed Kandi Ibiza Mix – This is my second bottle of this cult favourite, at one point I thought I’d found the perfect dupe but there’s just something about the colour palette of the glitter in this that you just can’t replicate.

I have not used the wraps yet, I want to wait until I’ve got some time off work to really get some good wear out of them. You get 2 sets per packet, and I think it’s a quirky cheap alternative to a manicure, but I don’t think I would ever pay the full £7 for them.

Did you pick up anything in the sale?

PS: Whilst I am on the subject of nail varnish bargains, today is the last day that you can pick up the issues of More Magazine which comes with a free Models Own Polish. I want to try out the 'Nude Beige' one.

Shoes, glorious Shoes.

I don’t usually do giveaway blogposts but I think I have a bit of a girl crush on the writer of this blog – Hello, TerriLowe – she has a horrendous sense of humour, unfortunately similar to mine, and runs a beauty-come-lifestyle blog about/from Stoke. Also, the requirement is a blogpost about shoes and it has come to my attention recently that I am suffering from shoe addiction.

I never believed I had too many until someone called me out in an intervention style meeting, however, you have to live with things and if given the opportunity to get more I definitely wouldn't say no. This is a link to the giveaway, hosted by Terri and Barratt’s. The prize is £70 of shoe money and this is the post on what I would like to spend that on

Immediately I picked out these somewhat vibrant ‘Timeless Court’ Mid-Heels. I am 5”7, and whilst I love being tall I am verging on the side of lanky. This, coupled with the fact that everyone in my little section of the West Midlands appears to be significantly shorter than me, means that the 6 inch heels I used to lust over aren’t really a feasible fashion accessory unless I want to look like Godzilla in the photos the next day, however, kitten heels strike me as the most horrific invention ever (sorry, if anyone reading this harbours a love for them) so chunky mid-heels are my new must have items.

Flats, although sometimes making my silhouette resemble that of a golf club, are my day-to-day go to shoes. For the £32 I had left over I managed to scoop out an impressive 3 lovely pairs; one with bows (for girly days £7), one with cats (for crazy cat lady days – they happen, trust me £7) and one with spikes (for edgy days £12).

At this point I would technically have £7 left over so I had another look around in the non-shoe section and found these adorable gel cushions (wearing heels and party hard anyone?) which come in leopard print!

What would you spend the money on?
Why don’t you enter yourself?

CCLUB: August/September

I have previously written about the Correspondence Club run by Nnenna of Star Crossed Smile. However, this time around the format has changed slightly meaning that this time I was paired with the lovely Blair for two months. Blair is from the US and doesn’t actually have a blog (I didn’t ask how she got involved with the project) and was an absolute delight. It turns out both of us are a bit scatterbrained which meant that instead of sending out our letters on time – and receiving them at the same time - we were able to have a proper conversation.

Being scatterbrained I forgot to take a picture of my first letter before I wrapped it up. The theme was ‘Hometown Glory’ because of the Olympic hype that was going on at the time. What with me coming from the home of the games I thought it only fitting to send something 2012 themed, I went looking for a keyring but ended up with socks – you can never have too many cute pairs I guess!

Blair’s package to me took a minor detour to the post office sorting depot as I went to stay down south for a while. However, when it did find its way back to my house I was delighted. Blair had a crazy busy summer and hadn't actually been in her hometown at all, she did however holiday in New Mexico and pick me up this hilarious cactus shot glass. There was also a CD she’d burnt and some page markers (which I am now building up quite a collection of, maybe if I actually started my dissertation they would go down a bit!).

For the reply month the theme was ‘Fashion Week’, unfortunately I had no grand experiences of this but did go out and pick some cute jewellery out. I actually bought the bow bracelet for myself and at the last minute decided to pick up another to keep encase I needed a present for someone as it’s adorable. The earrings come from Dorothy Perkins. Blair facebook’d me yesterday letting me know they had arrived (so I know it’s safe to put this post up) and also letting me know that she’d send a reply soon, excited.

I have already been assigned my partner for the next two months (and for Christmas, yay) but if you did want to get involved it’s worth having a look through this link, or getting in touch with Nnenna.

3-Minute Clay Mask

I think one of the best (and sometimes worst when I consider my bank balance) things about being a blogger is discovering new products. Whilst reading Megan's July favourites post on A Scholar Life I decided I wanted to check out the 3-minute Clay Mask from Boots.

Boots Essential is stocked in all highstreet Boots stores and I know that a lot of people regularly buy their face wipes as they do their job and are reasonably priced. At £2.03 for 50ml I think this product can be categorised in a similar manner. 

The primary ingredients are Kaolin (a clay mineral, hence the name) and Glycerin, which is designed to help the clay dissolve when you wash it off. Clay is widely regarded has being great for skin because it usually absorbs oil. Kolin is white clay which is one of the most gentle forms of cosmetic clay – making it genuinely appropriate for ‘all skin types’ as the tube claims. It aims to draw out oil whilst cleansing and stimulating the circulation to give you a healthy glow. I do generally tend to reach for this when I feel like my skin has been acting just a little bit too oily. The packaging says it can be used either once or twice a week. I do probably put it on weekly, but with a shelf life of 24 months I’m in no rush to get through it. 

As I’m sure you guessed, you apply the mask for 3 minutes. I like to apply a good, thick layer and even though it’s only on for the short period of time it does begin to feel slightly tight. However, it does not actually dry hard and washes of more like a luxe face wash. I have found that the best way to remove it is using a large cotton wool pad run under the tap (I use Large Ovals which are 65p for 50 here). 

The best thing about this mask is that it genuinely leaves your skin feeling healthy and clean. It has a slight cucumber smell, as the product does include a small amount of cucumber extract, which makes it refreshing. I imagine that on a hot day if you put this in the fridge for a short amount of time it would be luscious. 

I would definitely recommend this little tube of goodness as it leaves my skin feeling really freshl; if you have oily/combination skin this is definitely worth spending the pennies on for a weekday skin pick me up.

Justifying a Models Own Haul

Everyone has that one brand whose nail polishes outnumber any other in their collection and Models Own is definitely mine. I actually only discovered the brand a relatively short time ago when a friend gave me a bottle of Mystic Mauve as part of a birthday present (January 13^th, thanks for asking!). At first I thought it would be destined to lay dormant in a draw because it looked far too shiny and the light purple-silver just wasn’t what I was used to, tending to gravitate towards slightly bolder nail colours. I can’t remember the exact circumstances but somehow it did end up on my nails and I was in awe. It applies incredibly easily and the shine I was worried about dried into a salon nail looking sheen. Then on a shopping trip I stumbled across the now much loved Ibiza Mix which is also incredibly beautiful. I quickly added Lemon Meringue and Aqua Violet (Beetle Juice) to my collection and thus my love affair with Models Own was born.

Whilst browsing the ASOS sale website at the recommendation of Beauty’s Bad Habit I discovered that I could indeed get the Mini Trio, RRP £8, for the bargainous £4.50 – cheaper than one full size polish. This trio contains a two-toned pinky-brown, a golden green and a bubblegum pink with a slight iridescent sheen all in 6ml bottles. They all apply easily with good coverage from 2 coats and excellent coverage with anymore. (Shown in the picture is only 1 coat, except for the on the middle finger). I have a tendency to put my nails through hell during the day but can get a good 3 days wear out of each of these. I was worried that these miniatures would be below par because I do know a few companies whose sample-size products often have formula inconsistencies but these are the same as their bigger 14ml brothers.

I also found that the Beetlejuice trio was reduced to £7.50, RRP £12. Since my favourite nail polisuh is from that collection I quickly added this to my basket. It contains Emerald Black, Golden Green, and Pinky Brown. (admittedly at the time of ordering I didn’t register that both trios contained the same pink, I should’ve read the description). I thought the Emerald Black polish would be similar to Aqua Violet but, by itself it applies as a beautiful, almost matte, black. All these polishes an also be applied over other single tone nail colours to re-invent the shades.

I love all these products and surprised myself by even liking the golden-green shade. I couldn’t wear it on every finger but as an accent nail I’ve had many compliments. (I know that I don’t need two bottles just to do accents so I may put it in a giveaway). If you haven’t already tried Models Own nail varnish I would recommend checking them out as they have a great range. Personally, I really want to visit the Bottleshop but their regular stands can be found in select Boots stores.

Once again apologies for horrendous photos, I cannot wait to be reunited with my camera.

Wonderful Wednesday ♥ Minimalist DIY

I love DIY projects; I will occasionally scroll through the DIY tag on tumblr for hours looking at the brilliant things people have made. However, I am also blessed with an incredibly short attention span so unless I can see results immediately I may never actually make it through to the completion of a project.

Because of this one of my favourite ‘DIY’ (I use the term loosely) things to do is paint jars with white paint. No joke, you should try this as it is amazing – you don’t even just have to use white! Staying within this vein I recently discovered a new old kitchen object that looks amazing smothered in paint.

Like pretty much every girl in my age bracket I love candles. My room is full of large jar candles, little decorative candles, and I also have a large collection of tealights. Tealights are cheap and cheerful, but I’m not a massive fan of having them spread about the room loose as I feel like they don’t look so great (and I often worry I might accidentally put something next to them that will set on fire!). That’s why I am absolutely in love with these tealight wall holders made from empty tuna tins.

The potential for making these more exciting is also huge. If you are more artistic than I am you can put any sort of design on, or you could wrap them in ribbon or lace. Plus you have unlimited possibilities for how to display them on the wall; I am in my uni house at the moment and we have zero tools at our disposal so it is currently affixed with white tack (Health and Safety freaks, yes I know, I will not be leaving them unattended). But if I take a few home with me I will poke some holes in them so that I can either hang them down with some pretty strings or pin them into the wall.

As I (or my housemates) get through more tuna in the upcoming year I will for sure be making more of these, possibly incorporating some sort of hanger/mobile design which might look a bit more fancy than this picture. I will most likely put a picture on twitter if I do get it completed so feel free to follow me @GRTBlog.

Hope you had a Wonderful Wednesday!

PS: Apologies for poor photos, I've left my camera daawn Sarf (down South).

Welcome Back (Me).

I don't know what happened over the last few weeks; it was one of those where I kept thinking about writing a blog post but they just never materialised. I'm still playing the fun game of commuting, working and generally not having the most exciting summer (there's still time, hopefully!) so don't really have a great excuse for not updating. However, I will be finishing off all the posts I have half written over the next few weeks. This means I will be one of those annoying people who appear unrelentingly onto your Bloglovin' reads list - I didn't check it for one day last week and came back to 67 unread posts, either I follow to many blogs or people have more time on their hands at the moment!

Anyway, to ease me back in I thought I'd do a quick Instagram round up of July. I'm a bit late to the game and am just getting properly into it so feel free to leave your Instagram names in the comments, and I'll check them out. You can find me at @MissAniYates.

Riding Ripsaw at Alton Towers - ASOS Models Own Sale - In London with my Northern Roomates and an American

- Providing Tea and Cake for a night in - Playing Rounders - Classes for 3rd Year (Hello Shakespeare) - 

Indulging in Millies Chocolate early at Euston Station - Giving Blood - Grapes in 2 forms for the train journey home.

Since I rambled about it a bit earlier, I should clear up that I do actually love Bloglovin'. I think it's the best way to make sure you get your daily dose of your favourite blogs. If you've not used it before I'd strongly recommend getting an account, it just has a better interface than Blogger's reading list and also has an excellent Android (and presumably iPhone) app. I am currently using it to keep up with We Were Raised By Wolves, Tattooed Tealady, and essbeevee.

Freebie Friday | Freebie BB

Since the recent explosion of BB Creams into the UK make-up world every company has bought their own out which means an abundance of accessible samples. The three that appeared on my radar were Maybelline Dream Fresh BB, L’Oreal Revitalift 10 Repair BB Cream and Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector. Each company sent out 3 sachets of product storing between 1-2ml each (more than enough to cover your face in each circumstance).

With L’Oreal Revitalift I didn’t check the shade of the sample before putting it on, presuming I had requested the lightest shade and was shocked at how dark it (Medium Tinted) was. I do have fair skin but this was like applying facepaint so I threw the other samples out. It did apply fairly easily but ends up drying into the skin; I’m unsure if you can see from the photo but when applied to the back of my hand it went quite patchy and actually peeled in places. It does contain SPF 20, which puts it above the Garnier product in terms of protection, but below the Maybelline one.

Maybelline Dream Fresh has SPF 30 which is pretty good, but it don’t know if working towards this coverage has affected the consistency in any way as it is different to the other two, it’s incredibly watery this makes it hard to blend without spreading it too much. However, if you used small amounts to add to your natural glow I think this would work well. It makes the skin look dewy but not overly so. It says it’s an 8-in-1 product but I think this is its main attribute.

Garnier is the least liquidy of the 3 which could possibly be why it is my favourite, as I find the concentration makes it easier to work with. It would make a good base, or give a light coverage if you already have lovely skin. I used the ‘Light’ shade of this, and unfortunately I do think it’s still a bit dark for me. I find that all the creams have a light fresh scent and this is strongest with the Garnier product which could put some people off, but is something I find quite enjoyable.

Overall I think BB creams are something that represent different things to different people; whilst I think that the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector is the best product I would be reluctant to buy a full size bottle as it creates a dewy effect and I’m very much a matte girl. If I had a long time to prep my make I might consider using Maybelline Dream Fresh as its final finish is nice and natural, however, if I’m in a rush it’s not going to make my morning routine any easier. The only one I won’t be in a hurry to try again is the L’Oreal version, however I did notice today they do have another version L’Oreal Nude Magique which perhaps I might get on better with..

You can get your own samples using these links; L’Oreal Magique Sample or try L'Oreal Revitalift,

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector or Maybelline Dream Fresh BB.

Correspondence Club

There is an American blogger called Nnenna who runs a project called ‘Correspondence Club’ since I have an unnatural love for receiving mail I couldn’t wait to get involved. The premise is simple; each month you say you fancy getting involved, then are paired (via email) with another blogger whose url & address Nnenna sends out to you. You check out this persons blog, write them a letter and include a little gift to make them smile.

The first one I was able to get involved with was July and I was paired with Jessica from BeautyGnome. I wrote her a rambling letter, then wrapped up some nail foils, a lipstick and a freddo! (Freddo’s aren’t sold in the US).

Shortly after I found this adorable little envelope on my doormat containing a cute little letter, some page flags (something I actually love at the moment, hello the 100s of books I have to read for my dissertation) and adorable little woodland creature stickers.

If this sounds like something you would like to get involve with you can check it out here; Join the Correspondence Club

Birmingham Bullring Haul

You might be saying ‘why is a girl on a spending ban doing haul posts?’. Weeell. Firstly, I am quite weak willed, and secondly, I was offered the chance to go to Birmingham and I’ve actually never been before despite it being fairly close to my uni home. It turned out to be a pretty good day, and because of the ridiculous summer sales (and a few surprise freebies!) I don’t feel too bad for shelling out a bit of cash during what meant to be my month of restraint.

Firstly, heres what I wore; Jacket – H&M // Shirt – Primark via eBay // Skirt – H&M US. It felt nice to wear something feminine as I'd been stuck in my work uniform for ages. To give it a bit more edge I tried the double floral, a trend which I'm a bit in love with.

We went straight to Birmingham Bullring because it was raining, and you don’t even have to really leave the station to get there. My first purchase was these Topshop ‘Leigh’ Jeans for £15. I was originally looking for floral jeans but I have a bit of a thing for yellow and these were my measurements. They are super soft and stretchy and I have fallen in love with them a little bit. (However, I am also at risk of turning into my 13 year old emo self if I run out of adult ways to wear these. If anyone has done an OOTD with yellow , please link it below)

I think went into H&M, why are there not more H&M’s in smaller places in the UK? And picked up this playsuit for ridiculous money - £5! - as well us some napkins (exciting) for 49p.

This dress is from the Fashion Against AIDS collection for H&M. I got it for half price at £7. Unfortunately it photographs like a optical illusion, but in real life is a bit more lovely and has an amazing fit. I actually found H&M seemed to have a lot of clothes in for ladies with less ample bosoms, I was impressed.

Then out of the blue we met some ladies advertising Special K. I got a t-shirt and a little Special K goody bag, which to my surprise had a full size Max Factor 'Ruby Tuesday' Colour Elixir Lipstick in. Not bad at all.

On the hunt for lunch we passed the ‘Malibutique’ where we sipped free cocktails and picked up this Models Own freebie. It’s a nice thick gloss which smells (and a little bit tastes) like Malibu. I also had used some Boots points to pick up a lipliner in Rose.

After lunch, I had one of the most restrained Primark trips that I have ever done. Can you tell from the photo what type of shirts are my favourite? These cost between 4-6 pounds, however I also saw a cat print one on the way to the checkout so may be picking that up soon.

Despite 90% of my clothes already having collars I picked up this necklace from Dorothy Perkins as it was £2 down from £10 and means that I can pretend all my clothes have collars! (Excuse the beautiful reflection of my phone).

I was surprised how much self-control I exercised around so much sale jewellery since usually this is my weakness, but it might have been because I received one of the things I had actually said I could get during No Buy July.

The eBay listings for 4 rings ended on the 8^th and they appeared at my doorstep on the 17^th, which is not bad for a Chinese listing. Baring in mind I paid 81p for four, I was unlikely to be disappointed regardless of what showed up. But they are infact, amazing and came in the most adorable little boxes which will be recycled for Christmas. You can check out the seller here.

DIY DYE.

The title of this post looks overly aggressive if you don't read it properly the first time, but I couldn't think of anything better to name it! When I say 'dye' what I'm talking about is simply changing the colour of your clothes to different (better) one. I have dyed clothes once before; I dyed some black highwaist shorts black. I know that makes me sound crazy, but I wore these shorts aaall the time and couldn't stand the fact that they'd faded because of the numerous washes.

 

This time however I branched out a little bit as the item I chose to dye was a bit too dark to accept colour as it was (I should probably introduce the item I chose to play with. It’s a yoga jumper from Sweaty Betty which I love since it has thumbholes, but don’t wear often because of its ugly grey/green colour, which oddly does not show up in the photo) so I purchased Dylon Pre-Dye. I was a bit wary of this as it has to go inside the washing machine, something I’d rather not be responsible for breaking! The instructions say to put the item on the hottest, longest wash then add in the pre-dye mixed into boiling water. I chose to do this in my student house - less backlash if I accidentally dye the floor -  and didn’t really fancy the expense of the longest wash so stuck it on for the standard 30 minute quick wash. The pre-dye mix smelt absolutely disgusting so I quickly poured it in the drawer and let it be. 

30 minutes later I was pleasantly surprised, my jumper had lightened to a yellowy/green colour. I put it back in for a quick rinse to be sure there was no residue left on it. Then set about prepping the dye. I has been waiting for Wilkinson’s to re-stock pre-dye for so long that I couldn’t be bothered to wait for them to get the pastel colour I wanted to try out, I  picked up ‘Burlesque Red’ instead. This is an odd choice of name since even the picture on it is a displays a maroon/purple colour. Hand Dying takes 15 minutes of constant attention and 45 minutes of ‘checking up on’ so that the item moves enough as not to absorb more dye into creases.

I am quite happy with the final product, I think the burgundy colour is nice for sports/leisureware and the process to transform this into a new item was releatively easy. I will definitely be using these dyes again (especially at £2.99 each), and would probably purchase the pre-day pack (£3) too providing the smell comes out in the wash as I really dislike it!

Please excuse the horrendous photos, I was using my phone :/

Wonderful Wednesday ♥ Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream

I will openly admit that before I received this product as part of a mystery package I had no desire or knowledge that I needed cuticle balm in my life. However, I am now a little bit in love with this 8g pot of lemon scented cuticle cream.

This pot is supposedly a ‘sample size’ but it actually contains half the product of a full size jar (that retails for £5.99) so is a fair amount product. The first thing you notice is that it smells luscious, similar to lemon and honey cough drops. The smell absorbs into the skin when the product is applied, leaving smooth, scented skin and no greasy residue.

The second thing about this butter is that it genuinely works wonders. I have a (horrible) tendency to bother the skin around my nails when I’m waitng or nervous and this cleans these blemishes up quickly and leaves the nail bed and surrounding skin feeling soft and healthy.

This tin has graduated from my desk drawer (for application when removing/apply nail varnish) to living in my hand bag so I can massage it into my fingers whenever I have a bit of free time. I would be interested in trying out Lush’s Lemony Flutter, but considering this pot has a shelf life of 12 months and will probably last me that long even with frequent applications I probably won’t be converting any time soon.

You can purchase this product here, or in Boots stores, and I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday. x

Deep Fried Freckles

I recently spoke to Malia Carter (from Deep Fried Freckles) and she asked if I would consider 'reviewing' her blog, I put reviewing in inverted commas as I am not entirely sure I'm qualified to review another person's blog! There were in fact two things that swayed me into agreeing to do it; one, her blog is good! and two, her blog is not the same as traditional blogs...

Malia's blog infact contains a few less words than most blogs that I have stumbled across and this is because she uses it to showcase her (excellent) graphic illustrations. I infact came across her first when Abelia, from Abelia's Corner, showcased her new blog button which featured a shiny watercolour(?) portrait by Malia.

Deep Fried Freckles in fact contains a fair few pictures of members of the blogging community, I particularly like the one of Laura (Petit Chatons) shown here on the far right. However, Malia also spent two years studying fashion before switching to graphics and many of her drawings include beautiful clothes. My personal favourite (below) is an image of two models wearing aztec print swimsuits which she designed.

 As well as posting these faboosh mixtures of paint and computing Malia often includes a few words about each picture which I like reading and has (very) recently added a 'Printables' page which despite being 20something years old and not ever thinking I needed colouring pages before is very appealling to me! There are line drawings of people and faces, as well as some cute images of food and cosmetics which can be downloaded by readers to be used for whatever your heart desires.

 

Since this is meant to be a review I will just stick in a tiny critique which is that her links bar does not match the rest of the blog since it uses a different font than the rest of her sidebar links/titles. But, realistically you'll probably be too distracted by the pictures to even notice this!

   

Wonderful Wednesday ♥ The End of June

Today is unfortunately not a wonderful Wednesday for me due to circumstances beyond my control (and now because this post is going up late it is actually Friday!) However, it does have one redeeming factor about it though, as I am back down South for a short period of time. This excites me for many reasons , not least because for the last week I have been stuck in an empty house working overtime - woo. This means that I haven't really done anything particularly exciting, but I do have a few cute photos to make up my roundup of last month.

I booked my driving test! Yes, I'm 20 years old and cannot drive. Cringe. - Had to walk through this ridiculous collection of pigeons - Adorable loo roll at my friends house

- I passed this as I came out of the tunnel to exit the station. I was a bit down at the time and this reminded me to smile. - I picked up my Olympic accreditation pass. - A Reeses cab which drove past me, I had to snap a pic to send to my old housemates in Canada. If you've never had Reeses Cups you should check them out (: -

My very old puddy-cat taking a nap. - I had such a craving for Egg Custard Tarts the other day (and was able to indulge since it was before my spending ban was introduced) - the Roberto Cavalli jubilee crown

Hope Everyone Had a Wonderful Wednesday, and here's to a good July! x

No.7 Natural Blush Cheek Colour

I recently tried out a few blushes (mainly baked ones cos they look so snazzy) but found myself making my way back to this product. No.7 Natural Blush has been my staple blush for a few years now mainly because it’s classic and easy to wear.

Admittedly their is not much choice within the range as these ‘Cheek Colours’ are only available in  4 shades. I have tried others but my favourite is 10. Soft Damson (how do they choose the numbers when there are only 4 colours?). They use a fairly sheer, powder formula and come in simple 5g pots, which is the same weight of product you’d find in a traditional Nars blush.

Soft Damson is a matte carnation pink. To my eye it also has a very subtle peach undertone. Each of the four shades seems designed for a certain skin tone and Soft Damson is definitely for the paler girl and it works to enhance the cheeks with a nice girly glow but isn’t overpowering. However, depending on your personal choice it is also fairly easy to build up as it has quite good pigmentation. It also has amazing staying power, and I very rarely have to re-apply during the day/ night-out.

At £9.50 a pot, i think it’s a good, mid-range product. Plus, with the ever present Boots £5 off vouchers it becomes an excellent, low-end product.

Do you use these blushes? What's your staple brand?