ClaireSeptember 6, 2013

Autumn/Winter 2013 Makeup Trends.

Hello dear pals!

Whilst some of you may shake your heads in horror, I’ve been having a natter on Twitter about how much I’m looking forward to autumn/winter and all the trends we’ve got coming our way! It may still be roasting outside, but lets be honest: the lead up to Christmas is a fantastic time of drinking mulled wine, laughing at people in sexy santa fancy dress and generally knobbing about in scarves and coats.

We’ve covered some of the autumn/winter 2013 fashion trends here at Stylingo, but haven’t yet touched on what makeup trends we’ll be rocking when the weather turns chillsome.

Now, Claire and I had a mild tiff about this earlier in the week. She is of the opinion that makeup trends are stupid and that nothing really changes in that arena (she has a point, berry lips for winter? CALL THE PRIME MINISTER, WE HAVE A SITUATION ON OUR HANDS). At the same time, it’s fun to get involved and find new looks to try out – and if we look ridiculous, we can blame fashion.

So, I’m ploughing ahead and finding out what ~~we should be slapping on our faces~~ autumn/winter makeup trends we should all be getting involved with in 2013. And yes, before your pantaloons fly off in anticipation, berry lips is on the list.

1. Wine Berry stained lips.

For the alcoholics among us, the wine stained lips are a fabulous excuse to neck a bottle of Merlot and stagger around in the name of fashion. For those who are more sensible, pretend you have been nibbling on a load of blackberries, forgotten how to eat properly and smeared them all over your lips. Or you know…you could invest in a red/purple lip stain or lippy like a normal human being.

My top products:
Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain – £7.99
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Glossy Lip Stain – £22.50

2. Big eyebrows, full of secrets.

Well, to be fair, most of us have been getting involved with eyebrows that probably have the ability to enter a room and introduce themselves all on their own (I know I have). I love big eyebrows and I am hugely pleased that this is a trend that’s going to continue. What I can gather is that the bold brows of autumn/winter are more natural and ‘grown out’ rather than the intense filling in that I partake in. Channel your inner Wolverine gals and remember: extra eyebrow hair means that your face will be extra warm in winter.

My top products:
Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil – £2.99
Sleek Brow Kit – £8.50

3. Eyes that make a statement.

(like: I saw a man with brown shoes and a beard that said ‘I’m a guy who likes to try new things’.)

Basically, what I can gather eye-wise regarding the autumn/winter makeup trends for 2013, is that you have to go somewhat mad. Purple, blue, metallic and all other kinds of equally frightening eyeshadows need to make an appearance. If you are like me (i.e. a wimpy sap) and can’t face anything that isn’t brown, black or nude – fake eyelashes will become your best mate. Glue them on with gay abandon and don’t worry too much about the fact you are sticking bits of plastic on your face.

My top products:
Collection Extreme 24 hr Felt Tip Eyeliner – £2.99
MAC Pressed Pigment – £17.00

4. Pink blusher agogo.

The inner cynic in me is saying things like: ‘PARDON, isn’t pink blusher the point, you giant nonce’. Well, to him (yes, my inner cynic is a man, do not ask me why because I don’t know)I say shut up. Autumn/winter is about making your blusher a beautiful girly feature, so keeping everything else quite nude (by that I mean your face, I take no responsibility if you get arrested for streaking). I’m keen for this actually, it’s a nice fresh look for the colder months!

My top products:
Benefit Sugarbomb – £23.50
Sleek Blush By Three: Sweet Cheeks – £10.00

5. Naked lips.

Speaking of nudes, another great trend for the eternally lazy (like me) is forgoing any lip colour whatsoever. Popping on a bit of lip balm and strolling out of the house is pretty much all you need to do to work this one – c’est fantastique! If you like a bit more product on your pie hole, try mixing a bit of foundation with lip balm for lips that are closer to your skin tone. OR you can pop on a trusty nude lipstick. Phew, so many options. I think I need to lie down.

My top products:
Burts Bees Super Shiny Natural Lipgloass: Nectar Nude – £7.99
MAC: Creme D’Nude – £15.oo

WELL. Those are my top 5 autumn/winter makeup trends for 2013: what do you all think? Are you a nonbeliever like my dear blondey pal Claire? Or are you excited to give some of these bad boys a whirl?

Images sourced from Glamour Maga zine.

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ClaireSeptember 5, 2013

How to Bleach Your Hair at Home

Last weekend, I was sitting on my bed having a casual catch up of blogs and Youtube videos, when suddenly an idea hit me. I was like Paul on the road to Damascus (big up the Catholic school kids who get this reference), struck with a blinding light and a life-changing epiphany: I wanted to go back to being bleach blonde.

I used to bleach my hair for about four years during sixth form and uni, and then in a moment of wanting to be a grown up, decided to take it a more natural mid-blonde. Since then, I’ve realised being a grown up has nothing to do with your shade of hair, and people will never take me seriously as long as I go round acting like a tit (ie always) so bleach was calling me.

Enthused by my decision to go back to the light side, I set off into town first thing Sunday morning for supplies. I then pestered my extremely hungover sister until she agreed to assist me in my mission.

Before I go into how I did it, I will put a couple of huge disclaimers out there:

I’m NOT in any way, shape or form a professional hairdresser, nor do I really know anything about colouring hair beyond a couple of years of my own experiences
I have no idea whether these same steps would work for you
Your hair may well fall out if you do this, I don’t know
Your hairdresser will probably hate you. I’ve become quite accustomed to annoying hairdressers over my years of bleaching, straightening and gluing and sewing random wefts of hair into my head
I’m used to having hair that has never been in good condition. and am truly okay with this. If you’re not, then definitely definitely seek the advice of a professional before doing anything as dramatic as this to your hair.

Okay, now that I’m sure nobody can sue me – on with the show!

What I Used:

Jerome Russel B Blonde Blonding Kit in ‘Medium Lift’

To bleach my hair, I use powder bleach and cream peroxide. I used to buy these separately, but when I went into my old haunt of Bodycare today they didn’t seem to have any of the powdered bleach in a separate box, so I bought this set (which is the brand of cream peroxide which I used to use, so I knew I was in good hands). This cost around £4 (much cheaper than it is in Boots or Superdrug, FYI), and I picked up two because my extensions have meant my hair is very thick.

I got the ‘medium lift’ option because I was bleaching dyed blonde hair, and also because my own natural is a very mousey brown so not much lifting was really needed. They’ve got a higher lifting option for people who have darker hair so make sure you get one strong enough for your hair. The set came with the cream peroxide, powder bleach and a conditioning shampoo. It also came with a handy little brush and pot to mix it all in, but I’m stupid and I didn’t realise this, so bought a toning brush and bowls when I made my next trip into Sally. I therefore insisted on using my newly purchased ones, which you can see in the top photo.

Method

You mix the cream and powder as so, until you get this very nice blue paste. I wouldn’t recommend applying the bleach yourself, in case you miss bits. This is where my hungover sister came in. After making me move from the conservatory into the garden, and then into a more shaded bit of the garden (hangover sweats, what can you do) she started applying. My sister always used to bleach my hair for me, and always did a good job. The method? You SLAP IT ON. I don’t think that’s a technical term, but as I’ve stated – I’m a rookie and I just don’t care about doing things in a remotely proper way. She had a vague system which involved doing all of my roots first and then working it through the lengths. The bleach doesn’t work in quite the same way as normal hairdye; the thicker consistency means that you have to really apply it to all of the hair on both sides, instead of just kind of squidging it in as you can with other dyes (more technicaly terminology for you there).

It was quite a lengthy process and so by the time we were finished, a lot of the bleach had already been on for an hour. The instructions said that on dark blonde/light brown hair the bleach should be left on for 90 minutes. I had no idea how long it should be left on dyed dark blonde hair – so as usual we guesstimated and I left it on for a further half hour after we’d finished applying.

Aftercare

Stating the obvious here, but bleached hair needs a lot of TLC. I headed to Sally which, if you don’t have a physical store in your city or town, is a hair and beauty suppliers that stock salon brands. It is also potentially the most exciting place on earth (no exaggeration). To take care of my new straw-like hair I purchased Osmo Colour Mission Silverising Shampoo, Osmo Silverising Conditioner and Osmo Intensive Deep Repair Mask, which were each around the £6 mark. The silverising shampoo and conditioner are both designed to be left on for between 3-5 minutes for maximum results, and are supposed to take the brassier, yellow tones out of bleached hair. Seeing as I’m a trampo and basically never wash my hair (should I admit to that?) I think these should last me a fair few weeks so should be well worth the money.

Results – Before and After

This was how my hair looked after its initial bleaching and one wash and condition with the Osmo products. There were still some strong yellowy tones, which was to be expected considering I was bleaching not only coloured hair but also extensions, which have been through Laaaawd knows how many processes before they landed on my head.

Some people might be happy with this as a final colour but I had a lusting for white blonde hair, so knew my work was not done. Because I’m a bloody mysterious bitch I’m not going to tell you what I used just yet because I have a full review of the product planned buuuuuuuut…. THIS is the final result!

Have any of you ever bleached your own hair? Share your tips in the comments below!

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ClaireSeptember 4, 2013

Barry M Liquid Brow Marker Pen: Review

I hate to be the bearer of bad news (what am I talking about, I LOVE BEING THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS), but this is going to be a blog post full of hatred and disgust.

I’m usually a ~~big slut~~ big lover for all beauty products and I don’t usually dislike things very often. As long is it vaguely looks ok, then it will have a place in my leopard print makeup bag. Unfortunately, today is a day that I have to hate on a beauty product. I have tried to like it, I truly have. But I just can’t, mainly because it doesn’t do the job properly and makes me look like an idiot.

This mysterious product, if you hadn’t gathered from the giant picture and the title of this blog post, is Barry M’s Liquid Brow Marker Pen. I bought it at the weekend because I’m on the dregs of my Sleek Brow Kit (which I love by the way!) and I also needed some change for the bus (which is a great excuse to pop into Boots if you ever need one). I decided to branch out and get something different to my Sleek Brow Kit and spotted this eyebrow product lurking in the Barry M makeup display. You might have heard me shout ‘GREAT SCOTT, what sorcery is this’ if you’d been there at the time, as I rushed to shove it in my basket and pay.

I really like the idea of marker pen style makeup. They’re great for the cack-handed like me, and it makes me feel a little bit like Picasso every time I draw on my face. Unfortunately, the Liquid Brow Marker Pen actually made me look like one of Picasso’s abstract paintings and I have to say that this is THE MOST USELESS product in the history of useless products. I have a few main issues with it, which I have decided to list in a handy list (oo-er) for you all.

1. It doesn’t work properly if you have any foundation/makeup lurking in your eyebrows: This is an issue. I don’t know how you all do your makeup, but I tend to whack on my foundation/concealer and then do my eyebrows. This means that there tends to be a bit of product in there and while I could remove it with a cotton bud, why on earth would I bother doing that?! The problem with the Brow Marker Pen is that once the nib (ew) gets a bit of other product on it, it stops working. Basically, no more brown eyebrow stuff comes out of it and you look like a fool scraping away at your face with useless marker pen that is progressively ruining your morning makeup.

2. The colour that comes out is uneven: Even if you manage to get the pen working normally, the colour that comes out isn’t that even. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t have time to faff around going over and over my eyebrows to make sure they don’t look patchy and bald. NO THANK YOU. (This is particularly problematic for me, because I have to draw my eyebrows on from scratch. I have blonde brows, so it is a full on mission rather than just filling in!)

3. The ends of your eyebrows are DIFFICULT to do: As you can probably see from my tragic eyebrow picture, doing the outer ends of your eyebrows is really difficult with the Brow Marker Pen. I find that it slips a bit and gets all wonky. If the nib has stopped working too, then you have to faff around trying to use the side and IT ALL GOES HORRIBLY WRONG AND YOU END UP LOOKING LIKE A MAD PERSON.

All in all, I ended up spending longer on my eyebrows than the rest of my face when using the Barry M Liquid Brow Marker Pen. What is the point I ask you? This product might be ok if you already have dark eyebrows and just want to fill them in a little bit, but if you’re looking for heavy duty eyebrow makeup like I am, don’t bother. I was forced to fill in and try and fix the Brow Pen disaster with the last of my Sleek kit, and this was the result. Much better, ja?! JA.

I think I’m just going to go back to my Sleek Brow Kit but if you guys have any other recommendations, please let me know! I would love to try something new and not tragically horrible.

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ClaireSeptember 3, 2013

Autumn/Winter 2013 Mini Trend: Cut-Out Ankle Boots

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to my new loves. I featured these boots in my recent haul post, but thought I’d write a bit more about them seeing as they’re ~~SEXY~~ definitely one of my key A/W pieces.

Cut-out ankle boots are something that bloggers have been loving for a while now, with the Topshop Arabel boots becoming almost a cult item. This winter though, cut-out boots are really coming into the mainstream and are ALL over the high street. I think they’re a really fun take on the winter staple that is the humble ankle boot, and easily add edge to any outfit.

Although the clunky, biker boot style is the real on-trend choice, I opted for this slightly more feminine version, deciding that the slight heel would give me a much-needed boost in the height stakes and also that I could get away with wearing these to work without attracting too many strange looks (which me and Lauren are quite used to). These are from New Look and, at £28, are definitely at the cheaper end of the scale which I was really happy with.

I think the key to these boots is what you wear under them. During autumn you can flash some ankle flesh through the cut-outs (though I definitely recommend wearing those footsie socks unless you want to become the sweatiest, most blistered girl about town), and then as the temperature drops there are a whole host of fun socks and tights options for you to frolic round in. I’ve bought six new pairs of frilly socks just to wear with these (excessive, meeee?), including two pairs of lace socks, the black version of which are pictured above. These were only £1.19 each from this eBay seller in China, and thankfully the shipping was amazingly fast and they arrived after only about 8 days. My sister said I looked like a creep Victorian porcelain doll in them, but I decided to take that as a positive.

I’m completely in love with these boots, and they’ve already received loads of compliments each time I’ve worn them. I’ve scoured the rest of the high street and web and tracked down a good range of alternatives, ranging in price, style and colours (though I still think trusty black is my fave).

River Island – £45 / Topshop – – £70 / Zara – £79.99 / Primark – £18 /

eBay – £19.99 / New Look Limited Edition – £59.99 / New Look – £27.99 / Office – £85

What do you all think of cut-out ankle boots?

ClaireSeptember 2, 2013

A Week in Instagram

Hey there lads and lasses. We don’t know whether anyone is remotely bovvered about what we get up to in our day to day lives, but we like to pretend that you are and insist on telling you all anyway. This is why we thought it would be a good idea to squidge together some Instagram photos to give you a visualisation of what we did last week, just in case you were dying to know (don’t lie, you were).

1. Lauren wore a hat one day, which caused quite the stir in the office. We snuck off round the back of the building to snap her OOTD pictures, which was an experience that mainly involved me shouting “STOP SQUINTING YOUR EYES” (a very annoying habit she has) and keeping our fingers crossed that nobody would come out for a fag break and catch us being idiots.
2. It was Lauren’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, and one of the lovely gifts she received from her… gentleman caller (she may kill me for writing this)… was an amazing champagne and spirit tasting event at Selfridges in the Bullring. While I spent my night at home in the Bitch Shack, seething with jealousy, she spent her evening ‘sampling’ fine wines and spirits – i.e. getting twatted for free. Jammy.
3. Embracing texture in my new fluffy Primark cardigan with my new quilted leather iPhone case at work last week. Yes, that is our work’s toilet.
4. We went on a soup and fruit detox for three whole days in an attempt to clear our bodies of the utter junk we had filled them with. After our carb-less cleanse, we gorged ourselves on sweets and crisps. That’s how it works, right?
5. I went out for lunch with my friend Lisa on Saturday, to a lovely new bar called The Artisan. It is SO pretty, plus they do lethal cocktails, thus I have chosen it as the place I’m going to go for my birthday next month so I can pretend that I’m going to be sophisticated once I’m 23.
6. Lauren’s FOTD for an evening out in Birmingham over the weekend.
7. I bleached my hair! But more of that in a post to come in the next couple of days…
8. Monday mornings… enough said.

These photos were all taken from our blog Instagram @StylingoUK and my personal account. Don’t forget to follow us!

ClaireSeptember 2, 2013

Sexting: Is it really that bad?

I have two main hatreds in life: brown t-shirts and cheating boyfriends/girlfriends. As I have grown wise and old in my old age, I have noticed that more and more people in relationships are ending up in the tragic pool of being cheated on. This month’s Cosmo told me that 47% of men have cheated on their girlfriends, which is quite shocking really – IT’S PRACTICALLY HALF. But what about the murky waters of sexting*? For those of us who have been victims of stupid boys with equally stupid technology, there are always the doubts of ‘…well he didn’t physically do anything’ and ‘maybe it was only harmless’.

Well, I am here to put my foot down with a firm hand and say it most certainly is not harmless. Sexting might be new territory (though I firmly believe that some Victorian sleezes probably quilled dirty letters to scullery maids behind their wives’ backs) but at the end of the day, it can be just as hurtful.

Why do people sext in the first place?

I have thought long and hard about this one and have come up with a few reasons why boys (or girls, no sexism here!) feel the need to message other people while they are in a relationship.

For an ego boost: There’s nothing like a bit of attention from someone you find vaguely attractive to make you feel good about yourself. In theory, the person you’re in a relationship should be there to make you feel good. But for some people, that’s not enough. For some bizarre reason, being told that you are sexy by random boys or girls is a better way to boost your ego than by your girlfriend/boyfriend who loves you. It is a strange world we live in.
To sow the wild oats: This applies to boys mostly, but I think there is some subconscious evolutionary trigger in guys that make them want to make sure that they have lots of offspring. Whatever natural urges you have, laddies, remember: we are not animals. We have thumbs and the capability to learn the words to every Lady Gaga song ever made. Keep your wild oats for your woman only.
Because we can: Technology is great and I love Twitter with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. But it can be our own worst enemy too. Let’s be honest, physically cheating on someone is so much effort these days. You have to actually go out of the house, find somewhere to do the dirty deed AND get rid of the smell of unfamiliar perfume. Snore. Why bother when you can just hop on Facebook or iMessage and get rid of the evidence with a single click?
Out of boredom: This is one that is not very nice to accept…a relationship might just be on its last legs and that can drive people to stray. It’s not a valid excuse in the slightest and it’s still a cowardly thing to do, but it can be a knee-jerk response if things aren’t going well relationship-wise.
They are knobs with no knobs: Some people are just not very nice.

Is sexting really that bad?

My immediate response would usually be ‘yes, with bells on’ but it’s a bit more complicated than that I reckon. It’s easier to forgive a naughty message or text and easier to convince yourself that your significant other only has eyes for you really. But in my mind, if your boyfriend or girlfriend is looking/thinking/describing (ugh, get a grip) sleeping with somebody else, it’s a bit irrelevant if they actually do it or not.

It will turn you into a crazy person: No one wants to be the girl that has to dictate who her boyfriend sees or what he does. But at the end of the day, if he can’t be trusted to behave like a normal human being then it is his own fault if his girlfriend becomes a crazy paranoid stalker.
You will feel like crap: Nothing dents your self confidence like a boyfriend/girlfriend who has to find gratification through a phone or a laptop.
It’s a slippery slope: Whatever your boyf or girlf says, people who sext behind their partner’s back are definitely more likely to cheat physically.
It’s disrespectful: Relationships are about being bothered about the person you are with. If you are willing to risk hurting the person you should in theory care most about, then away with you. There is no place for you here.

What to do if your boyfriend/girlfriend is sexting.

Well, it’s really up to you. I’m a believer that you shouldn’t let what other people think influence your decisions too much. If you’re not bothered about it, then that’s fine. But if you are, have a long and hard think about whether it’s worth staying with him/her. It goes without saying that things are going to be MEGA different if you do, and you’ll have to work at things to make sure it’s all ok.

But also don’t worry about saving face – who cares if a few people think you are an idiot for staying with your sexting boyf or girlf? Second chances are worth it. BUT third chances are not. If they carry on being useless, then no matter how brilliant they are in other ways, they are the dregs of society and don’t deserve you.

And thus concludes my two cents on the matter. It’s always worth remembering that no matter how great a person can seem, if they’re treating you badly, then they shouldn’t have a place in your life. While it seems that every person ever treats sexting as an ok activity these days, there are certainly people out there who won’t tell a random strangers that they want to have sexual relations with them.

* I’ve used the word sexting, but this post isn’t just focused on whether your boyfriend or girlfriend has sent explicit messages. I think any sort of message that’s flirty or has sexual undertones OR is to someone they have no need to message (i.e. a random gal on Facebook at 4am) is definitely not ok. NOT OK GUYS.

ClaireSeptember 1, 2013

Beauteco August Box Review: A Glossybox Replacement?

Goooooood morning you ratbags. I’m here to regale you with yet another tale of my experiences with beauty subscription boxes – this time, the Beauteco Box.

Regular readers of this blog might know that for the last two months I’ve subscribed to Glossybox, which is probably the most popular beauty box in the UK and is bought by gazillions (yes, that is a real statistics) of bloggers and non-bloggers alike each month, who fancy a little surprise box of products landing through their door each month. You can read what I thought of my July Glossybox and August Glossybox in more detail if you like, but generally I felt a little underwhelmed each time.

So when I saw the Beauteco Box reviewed over on the lovely Hannah’s blog Cosmetic Crave I was extremely impressed and decided that maybe this lesser-known box was the one for me. I cancelled my Glossybox subscription and joined Beauteco instead (this meant that I was still eligible for the August box, so two beauty boxes for me this month, OOPS).

Beauteco works in a slightly different way to Glossybox. Each month you get a selection of three ‘menus’ to choose from, so you know exactly what will be arriving in your box. This aspect definitely appealed to me, as each month with my Glossybox there were products I saw in other people’s boxes that I would have loved to have in mine (yes, I am still talking about the Sleek Pout Paints – I’ll never get over it). With this month’s Beauteco box, I think the only item that was different across the menus was the Melvita product – and your other options were still just other Melvita items – so maybe it’s not quite as big of a deal as it could be but still, it’s a nice touch.

Now, with less rambling, here is what I got in my Beauteco box…

Lord & Berry Intensity Satin Lipstick in ‘Peach Glam’ / Lord & Berry Kissproof Lip Colour in ‘Blossom’

I was really impressed by these two products in the box. The lipstick alone retails at £12 and the lip pencil (which can supposedly be used either as a pencil or a lipstick in its own right) costs £7.50. The shades, which you can see below, aren’t the colours I would usually be drawn towards myself – but I think that’s kind of the point of these boxes, to make you try something new.

Both products seem highly pigmented and long lasting so I’m really looking forward to giving them a proper go. They’re both full size and so have straight away made the box well worth it’s money.

Melvtia Fresh Moisturising Body Milk / S5 Purity Serum / Arran Aromatics Lavendar & Tea Tree Facial Gel Wash

I’m also really happy with this selection of products. The face wash is the only full size product, but considering this 100ml bottle usually retails at £12.95 you can see what a good addition to the box it is .The serum is only a 10ml sample, but this is actually still really good value as a 30ml ‘full size’ bottle of this stuff will set you back over £40! I think it’s also the sort of product that you only use sparingly (you won’t believe how excited I am to use a pipette) so it will probably actually last quite well. I chose the body milk for my Melvita product as you can never have enough moisturisers, can you? This smells amazing and feels really nourishing – I think it’ll be great for a pre-tanning night.

Headline Colours Nail Varnish in ‘Spotlight’ / Eve of St Agnes Body Balm

Now THIS is exciting. Because I was a new customer and used the code FRIEND07 which Hannah put on her blog, I received an extra two products. The nail varnish is a metallic purple which isn’t a fave of mine, but this costs £9 to buy. The body balm is absolutely beautiful, and this travel-sized version of the full product costs £6.

I think it’s quite obvious that I am REALLY impressed with Beauteco. The menu feature is brilliant; the products are truly from luxury ranges (who spends £40 on a serum?!) and the value of the box is incredible. My two ‘freebie’ products this month were worth more than the whole box – which, seeing as I haven’t mentioned it, is £10 plus p&p, just like Glossybox.

I fully recommend these beauty boxes and will definitely be keeping my subscription next month. Even if you only get the first month’s box and take advantage of the introductory discount (code FRIEND07, don’t forget) then I think that is money well spent.

Have any of you tried Beauteco?

ClaireAugust 31, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Acid Wash Jeans and H&M Pork Pie Hat

GOOD DAY TO YOU DEAR FRIENDS,

This is an outfit I wore to work a couple of days ago and you may have seen Claire’s shocked tweet about my hat wearing adventures. Thankfully we work in an office where we don’t have to dress particularly smart, so outfit choices in the morning can either be tragic (like the day I wore double denim and didn’t straighten my hair) or a bit more fun. I’m putting this into the a bit more fun category and its one that I’m quite pleased with casual-wise. While, I got a few ‘…you’re wearing a hat’ comments throughout the day and one of the guys put it on and looked like a Victorian mill owner, on the whole I AM SOLD ON THE HAT THING. I can’t wait to invest in a few more when Autumn/Winter arrives. View Full Post

ClaireAugust 30, 2013

Estee Lauder Double Wear: Review

I have pretty much been using the same foundation for about 4 years: Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 Hour in Soft Beige. I really love it, I find it has a good heavy coverage, stays on for ages (albeit not quite 25 hours…) and it’s also hugely cheap (usually around £6.99). I’m a gal who is not a fan of change, particularly when it comes to makeup. So using a new foundation hasn’t really occurred to me until recently. I think it’s part of my ‘I am now a grown up, it’s time to stop being ridiculous’ phase (which has included buying a pair of brown shoes and saying ‘indeed’ a lot) and part of that phase is using better makeup products.

I decided on my new grown up adventure to ask our lovely Twitter followers what foundation I should get for heavy coverage, and the general consensus was that Estee Lauder’s Double Wear is one of the best around. I definitely trust you lot when it comes to makeup recommendations, so I swiftly got to my nearest Selfridges to get involved with the Double Wear hype.

I was colour matched by a lovely lady called Charley and we decided to go for a colour that was a bit warmer than my actual skintone because I fake tan a lot and no one wants the whole pale-face-orange-body situation. I ended up buying the ‘Dawn’ shade, which blends well with my St Moriz colour but can also be lightened up with a bit of concealer in strategic places if necessary.

Excuse my HORRIBLY freckly skin but that is just how my hand rolls.

I won’t go into too much detail, but the product is quite a bit ‘runnier’ than the Rimmel foundation and is also LOADS less oily, mainly because it doesn’t contain any oil (surprise there, eh?!). I’ve found that this means I use a lot less because it glides on quite a lot easier than my usual foundation. It also feels really light, which is excellent – heavy coverage with a light feeling is something I’m definitely not used to! I feel like I have lost about 2 pounds from my face.

Staying-wise, I’ve been pretty pleased with how it keeps throughout the day. Being totally honest, I don’t think it performs any better than the Rimmel Lasting Finish product. Set with powder, they both are on a par. What I do like is that the Estee Lauder Double Wear is lighter, matches better with my skin tone and also has a smoother finish than the Rimmel product.

Higher end makeup is something I want to get more into, and this is an excellent starting point! I would most defs reccomend it to anyone who likes ~~to trowel on their foundation~~ a heavy coverage.

What do you guys think? Anyone else given the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation a whirl?

ClaireAugust 29, 2013

Outfit of the Day: Cami and Leather Look Leggings

Cami – Primark / Leather Look Leggings – River Island (old) / Shoes – ASOS /Necklace – eBay / Ring – Primark

Greetings earthlings! I’m going to state the obvious and say that this is not my OOTD from today. Today’s a Thursday, I’m at work, and I don’t think the world of digital marketing is quite ready for leather-look leggings and 7 inch heels (much to my disappointment).

This is actually what I wore when we went out on bank holiday Sunday for a couple of drinks. I know it’s incredibly, painfully, momentously, catastrophically dull but basically a nasty encounter with some sort of bug left me with a really ugly bite mark on my leg so I had to cover up. Well, that and the fact that I managed to get attractive tan streaks on the white dress I was considering wearing. I really am such a failure at life.

I never really got on the disco leggings hype and instead managed to blag my way through that fashion phase by re-wearing my old leather look leggings. I thought I did well to get away with it for a while, but am confused by the fact that, seeing as leather is sticking around again into Autumn/Winter, I might still be able to wear these? It just doesn’t seem right to get so much wear out of one item, it’s like living during a war!*

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* forgive me for this slight exaggeration.