25 facts about me

1. I have an obsession with handbags, designer to be precise - Prada your next ;)

2. I worry about everything. Work, family, my dog, absolutely everything. 

3. I can't stand bad breath, I always carry mints and gum.

4. I still don't know what I'm doing with my life. I graduated with a degree in history hoping to teach but after working in a school for two years I decided it definitely wasn't for me.

5. I can't watch scary films, I cry when someone gets hurt and shout at the hubby for making me watch it.

6. I own about 50 bottles of foundation and still haven't found my holy grail.

7. I love the idea of high heels but prefer to be dressed down in converse.

8. My black leather jacket from river island is the most worn item in my wardrobe.

9. I joined the gym 3 months ago and have only went to it twice.

10. I failed my driving test 4 times and luckily passed it the week before my theory ran out.

11. I love dogs, especially my beautiful lab Diesel.

12. I first got into reading blogs during my 3rd year at uni. Laura aka lollipop26  back in the day was a daily read.

13. I love bread, If I had to choose one thing to live on for the rest of my life it would be Veda.

14. I prefer crisps over chocolate.

15. I adore watching the Kardashians just so I can look at their makeup and handbags.

16. I have to have my nails done or else I don't feel tidy.

17. I must sleep on the left side of the bed, and turn at least 5 times before I can fall asleep.

18. I'm double jointed.

19. I couldn't ride a bike without stabilisers until I was 9.

20. I can't swim. My mum took me to lessons when I was in primary school but I walked across the pool the whole time.

21. I hate taxis and refuse to ever get in one. 

22. There's only 5 people in the world that I fully trust.

23. I can't stand people who have no manners. It isn't hard to say please and thank you.

24. I hate jealousy. Be happy for other people's blessings, it's healthier than spending your time being jealous.

25. I spend half my day thinking about moving to America. It's a dream of my husbands too, so we definitely plan on making it happen soon.

A little treat

It's been ages since my last post, I have been so busy lately with work, and decorating our house, that blogging has definitely taken a back seat.  However, I'm back this month with lots of posts and a very empty Wallet thanks to a recent visit to my favourite shop.

As you can see from the picture below I made a sneaky visit to Mulberry. Recently I have been more interested in accessories to go inside my bag than actual bags - weird I know. I'm obsessed with glossy goat leather, I love how soft and squishy the it is. 

Drum roll please

How beautiful is my new blush coloured pouch with rose gold hardware? I'm absolutely in love with it. It holds a lot and can be used as both a makeup bag and an evening clutch. In fact, I read recently on the Purse Forum that some clever girly decided to put a long rose gold chain inside the bag to use it as a cross body bag. I thought this was a genius idea and a really versatile way to style the pouch.

Have you treated yourself to anything extra special lately?

Rimmel Apocolips: Review and Swatches shade Apocaliptic

I recently got the chance to try Rimmel's new Apocolip lip lacquer in Apocaliptic - a vibrant fuchsia shade. There are 8 shades in the range, and they run from the usual muted nude to classic red.

Although I have only tried one from the range I cannot praise these lip lacquers enough. The consistency is really creamy and opaque. The applicator itself is quite unique. It has a slight dip in the middle which seems to store extra lip product so you don't need to keep dipping into the tube to get more product out.

Once applied to the lips it feels really moisturising, but after 15 minutes or so I found it dried matte but didn't leave my lips looking dry, which is a major bonus! The lasting power is fantastic. I applied it early morning and there was still a stain on my lips late on in the day.

I'm really impressed with the Rimmel lip lacquers and will definitely be purchasing some other shades in the range.

Updated FOTD

Step 1 - Apply a small amount of MAC strobe cream all over the face, and let it sink into the skin for about 5 minutes.

Step 2 - Shake MAC face and body foundation and apply it with a Real Techniques foundation brush. It takes about 30 seconds for this foundation to set on the skin and make it look instantly radiant.

Step 3 - I always like to leave a few minutes between applying my base and highlighting, so during this time I like to move onto eyebrows. At the moment Im enjoying Benefit Browzing wax applied with a MAC angled brush.

Step 4 - Now that the foundation has set I take my Mac highlighting pen and apply it around my eyes, down the bridge of my nose, my forehead, chin and temples.

Step 5 - Contour cheeks with Nars Laguna bronzer. I have tried many bronzers but I always come back to this one.

Step 6 - Apply a small amount of MAC peony blush on my cheek bones. I tend to not apply it to my cheeks as they're chubby enough without making them anymore noticeable.

Step 7 - Apply Rimmel lash accelerator to the bottom lashes and NYC big curl to the top lashes.

The final two steps are to spritz Urban Decay all nighter spray all over to set my makeup and then add whatever lip colour I'm in the mood for. Lately my lip colour of choice has been Rimmel Apocolips - it's a gorgeous fuchsia colour that really makes my eyes pop!

Here's a picture of me with the finished look.

Updated whats in my makeup bag.

I have two favourite posts to read, the first is "what's in my purse" and the second is "what's in my makeup bag." These posts have been done many times by hundreds of bloggers, and to me they are an insight into what a person is really like - FYI I'm a hoarder.

I recently purchased this beautiful Ted Baker makeup bag and decided to empty out the contents and give you all a peak inside.

MAC Face and Body Foundation

MAC Peony Blush

NARS The Happening Palette

MAC Prep and Prime Highlighter

MAC Strobe Cream

Dior Amber Diamonds Highlighter

Benefit Browzing

Rimmel Apocolips

NYC Big Curl Mascara

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara

Nars The Happening Palette

Nars spring collection 2013 has 2 limited edition palettes. One called And God Created The Woman and the other called The Happening Palette. The first palette contains 6 eyeshadows a mini eyeshadow primer and brush. I already have both Urban Decay naked palettes so I skipped this palette and went straight for the little beauty below.

I debated this palette for so long that it sold out everywhere. I rang Space nk out of desperation and was told I had no hope of getting it as it was limited edition and they had completely sold out. Fast forward 5 days and my coveted palette is back in stock at SPACE NK of all places.

The palette contains my all time favourite orgasm blusher and Laguna bronzer. The 4 eye shadows are all wearable everyday shades with the top two colours being my go to colours. A huge bonus with the palette is the huge mirror inside that makes it a perfect handbag essential.

Laguna bronzer is my all time favourite, it's the perfect matte brown colour that contains a very small amount of shimmer so it doesn't make it look completely flat on the face. Orgasm blusher is a salmon colour with quite a bit of shimmer. A similar colour without the shimmer is Benefit Coralista.

The centre of the palette contains 4 eyeshadow a:

Night star - sheer peach shadow with a lot of shimmer.

Gstaad - exclusive to this palette, it's a dark taupe colour.

Kuala Lumpur - shimmery plum colour. I don't like purple shades on the eyes so I doubt I will use this much.

Coconut grove - dark matte brown with a hint of shimmer.

The palette currently retails for £45 at Space nk

NYC Polishes

This week I had the opportunity to try out some vibrant nail polishes from the NYC s/s13 range. I've never tried any NYC products so I was excited to see what they had on offer. The shades I got to try were high end green - a gorgeous grass green colour, water street blue - a bright sea blue shade and Lexington yellow - it reminds me of a yellow taxi in NYC.

Im so glad I got to test out these colours as they're not shades I would of purchased for myself. All 3 shades are perfect for summer - if we get any sun in rainy NI that it. I applied 3 coats to give a completely opaque finish and used nails inc Chelsea bridge to give a glossy finish.